The study objectives were to establish the prevalence of breast feeding at birth, at four and twelve weeks after birth and describe the factors associated with its initiation and duration. The study population consisted of all babies born in May 1993 (n = 162) to mothers resident in Kildare. The response rate was 145/162 (89 percent). Mothers were visited within fourteen days of the birth. Breast feeding mothers were re-visited when the baby was four to six weeks old and at twelve to fourteen weeks. Interviews were conducted using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Fifty-five mothers (38%) chose to breast feed at birth. Twelve (8%) had stopped by the first, ten (7%) by the second and fourteen (10%) by the third visit. Higher social class and maternal grandmother having breast fed were significantly associated with initiation (p < 0.05 and p < 0.0005 respectively). Smokers and non-working mothers were significantly less likely to breast feed and smokers had a significantly shorter duration of breast feeding but these associations disappeared on social class adjustment.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Outpatient experiences in acute hospitals.

BACKGROUND: Patient satisfaction surveys are useful in gaining an understanding of users' needs and their perceptions of the service received. AIM; To assess the views of outpatient department (OPD) attendees on the quality of service received. METHODS: OPD attendees were randomly selected from four acute hospitals in one health board region and sent a confidential postal questionnaire to assess their views on their visit. RESULTS: Of 3,037 attendees surveyed, there was a response rate of 75.7%. Levels of satisfaction were high at 94%. Doctors and nurses were perceived as friendly by 61% and 72%, professional by 44% and 30%, rushed by 8% and 7%, and rude by 1% and 1% of patients, respectively. Using logistic regression, age (being older), sex (being male), pain level (no pain), decisions about care (wanting more involvement) and being satisfied with their waiting time from arrival to being seen were significantly associated with a greater likelihood of being satisfied overall. CONCLUSION; Whilst there was a high level of satisfaction with the quality of care received, areas for improvement were highlighted from the patient's perspective.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Home births and antenatal care: the G.P. perspective.

138 General Practitioners (G.P.s) in an Irish regional health authority were sent a postal questionnaire on antenatal services and home births. Replies were received from 100 G.P.s. (72% response rate). Most wanted more involvement in an antenatal care (92%) and were willing to facilitate shorter hospital stays for delivery only (91%). However, only a minority were in favour of midwife deliveries (32%), combined midwife/G.P. deliveries (15%) or complete midwife antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care (15%).

Family Practice↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Influenza vaccine: are those at risk taking it?

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The acceptability of pneumococcal vaccine to older persons in Ireland.

A study was carried out to demonstrate in an Irish population whether older persons at risk from pneumococcal disease would accept an offer of the pneumococcal vaccine at the same time as their influenza vaccination. Of the 450 patients from 2 practices invited to attend for vaccination, 367 (81.6%) accepted both vaccines, a further 17 (3.8%) accepted the influenza vaccine only and a further 3 (0.7%) accepted the pneumococcal vaccine only. Three hundred and seven (68.2%) patients had received influenza vaccine at some time in previous years and these were statistically more likely to accept either vaccine than those who had not. This study has demonstrated that older persons at risk from pneumococcal disease will respond positively to a written invitation from their GP to avail of the pneumococcal vaccine.

Aged↗