Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to F Champagne.
The major developments of recent years in computer sciences have led to the creation of large morbidity data bases. Although these data sets are not compiled expressly for research, they serve researchers if certain precautions are taken. These concern definition of the study population, unit of analysis, record linkage and both reliability and validity of the data.
This paper presents a strategic planning approach which provides methods for analysing hospitals in relation to their environment and for assessing their community dependency. Hospitals must not only focus on their clienteles but must also plan their future in relation to the needs of their constituency while taking into account the other elements of the health services network. The proposed approach also takes into account the need for all the actors concerned with the future of the hospital to become involved through an active-reactive-adaptive process.
The purpose of this experiment was to study the effects of electric shocks on voluntary alcohol intake in rats. Alcohol intake was measured using individually determined alcohol concentrations. Contrary to many previous studies, alcohol intake was reduced during the stressful treatment. It is concluded that accounting for individual differences in alcohol intake is important when studying the effect of stress on alcohol consumption.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Evaluation can have three distinct goals: to help plan and develop programs, to provide information which will improve programs and to determine the outcomes and impact of programs. Evaluation questions flow from each of these goals. Described in this paper are different types of evaluation useful in answering these questions. Whatever type of evaluation is chosen, the evaluator must attempt to assess its validity. This validity concerns the equivalence between answers to evaluation questions and the "true value" of the program. It is just as concerned with measurement strategy and instruments as it is with the designs and techniques of analysis used, and the population studied.
Two methods of selection of a single test solution of alcohol were compared with 78 male Sprague-Dawley rats evenly divided into two groups that differed according to the method used. It was found that the method of selection affected many parameters of alcohol consumption, including its stability. It was concluded that the difference in the effects of the two methods was related to the fact that one method permits a higher degree of individuality for the establishment of a single test solution.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
In order to study the effects of a magnetostatic field on the organism, continuous exposure was applied and the resulting effects were observed for a period of 20 days. The Ss were four rats which were continually exposed, one by one, to a vertical field of 2800 oersted for uninterrupted periods of time. In a first series of experiments, the variation of the sleeping period for each of the four SS was observed. An evolution quite characteristic of the different phases of the general adaptation syndrome was noted: reaction, counterreaction, and resistance. The same phenomenon was observed in the response under delayed reinforcement of low rate (DRL) at 5 and 10 seconds. In each case, a slowdown of the weight growth was noted. One can thus consider the magnetostatic field as an agent responsible for a nonspecific general effect similar to other stressing agents. These behavioral observations suggest a verification of these effects on the endocrine system and illustrate the necessity of long exposures for the study of specific and nonspecific effects of the exposure to the magnetostatic field.
Hospitals have traditionally relied on consulting firms to conduct large scale planning studies. Many such "official plans" have been published with no real benefits to the organization. An alternative is to use existing resources and do the work internally. A planning process used by the Ottawa General Hospital (OGH) is outlined here. The planning process used at the OGH is significant for two reasons. It took into account multiple interests of a complex, professional organization. It recognized the need to incorporate input from members of the external environment of the hospital. This process was inspired by an approach developed in the evaluation field, the "active-reactive-adaptive" (A.R.A.) approach. The strategic planning exercise at the OGH opened lines of communication between administration and medical staff, increased awareness of planning principles, and promoted information exchange. The internally developed planning strategy was less expensive and produced information with a greater likelihood of affecting the hospital's future than a more easily ignored plan developed by outside consultants.
This study aims at identifying determinants of satisfaction with medical care during pregnancy, a topic little explored until now. 937 women from the Montreal area answered a mailed questionnaire 4 to 7 months after giving birth. Results show a high level of satisfaction with prenatal care among respondents. Multiple regression analysis reveals that information variables emerge as the main determinants of satisfaction. In fact, not having received desired information appears as the strongest predictor; information pertaining to the delivery process is most often cited by women. The other predictors are events happening during the delivery process. Contrary to findings from other studies, sociodemographic data and characteristics of the physicians do not predict satisfaction. The discussion suggests some guidelines for the measurement of satisfaction with prenatal care as well as implications for practice.
We conducted a survey of 518 patients who had been admitted to three hospitals for selected medical, surgical, and obstetrical conditions. All patients came from the same city. One of the hospitals had put forward health promotion and disease prevention as a formal goal. Almost 40% of the respondents reported that they received health counseling during their hospital stay. Logistic regression analyses revealed that medical care processes and organizational factors were more important than patient characteristics in determining health counseling. The only patient characteristic that was positively related to health counseling was "perceived poor health status." Favorable conditions for the development of health counseling included having an attending physician different from the one who treated the patient before entering the hospital, an adequate number of physician visits, and a longer length of stay. Being admitted to a medical ward rather than a surgical or an obstetrical ward also was associated with more frequent health counseling. No significant differences were found among hospitals. Finally, having a general practitioner rather than a specialist as attending physician did not make a difference. These findings support the view that although hospitals have an important and legitimate role to play in health promotion, organizational and institutional obstacles to implementing such practices must not be ignored.
This paper examines the relationship between mortality and ruralness in the state of Georgia. In 1979, the rural Standardized Mortality Ratio (SMR) for deaths from all causes was significantly higher than expected when compared to statewide levels, while the urban SMR was significantly lower (p less than 0.01). Of the 13 leading causes of death, 9 had rural SMRs significantly higher than expected, while only homicide had a significantly greater urban SMR (p less than 0.01). Although much of the rural/urban difference in overall mortality is attributed to the fact that the rural population is older, figures adjusted for age and race still reveal that the rural death rate is significantly higher than the urban rate (p less than 0.01). Furthermore, there are several specific differences when analyzed by cause of death, age, and race that remain unexplained. Specific rural health problems include congenital anomalies, motor vehicle and other accidents, heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease. Specific urban health problems include homicides and cancer. In addition to metropolitan status, a second indicator of ruralness, county population size, was used to analyze the data and produced similar results. As county population size increases, the total mortality decreases.
Following the reform of the health care system in Quebec at the beginning of the 1970s, 32 Community Health Departments (départements de santé communautaire or DSC) were created; these new organizations were administratively and physically integrated into 32 acute care hospitals throughout the province. Our study investigates to what extent variations in the implementation of DSCs and in the way they have fulfilled their mandate influence the degree of innovation of their practices. The results show that DSCs devoting greater efforts to research activities and to their relationships with other health care establishments and agencies achieve a higher level of innovation in their practices.