Biomedical subjects

R Sanson-Fisher

Publications and source records attributed to R Sanson-Fisher.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1998

Cervical cancer screening in rural NSW: Health Insurance Commission data compared to self-report.

There are several sources of data for estimates of community Pap test rates, including self-report, pathology laboratory records and Health Insurance Commission (HIC) data. Estimates of screening rates can vary considerably according to the sampling frame and data source. This study aimed to compare the self-reported estimates of cervical cancer screening with HIC estimates for women in rural NSW towns. Self-report of a Pap test in the past two years from 2,498 women in 19 rural towns of NSW was compared to HIC-provided Pap test rates. Self-report levels were adjusted for non-HIC providers and HIC levels included data from the Victorian Cytology Register. Self-report estimates were significantly higher than HIC estimates in 18 of the 19 towns, with discrepancies ranging from 13% to 29%. HIC-recorded providers accounted for between 65% and 100% of Pap tests per town, according to self-report. The highest Pap test rate by self-report was 70.1%, the highest by HIC was 49.2%. The lowest Pap test rate by self-report was 45.2%, the lowest by HIC was 26.1%. There was significant variation in Pap test rates between towns for adjusted self-report estimates, but not for the crude self-report estimates. Researchers should always be aware of both the possible variations according to data source and the inherent biases for whichever data source is used. An extra caution is given to consider the public/private provider profile when exploring possible geographical differences in Pap test rates.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Who can provide antenatal care? The views of obstetricians and midwives.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the types of antenatal services in NSW maternity hospitals and examine the views of midwives and obstetricians about who can provide adequate routine antenatal care. MEASUREMENTS: A mail-out questionnaire to nursing unit managers (NUMs) explored the types of antenatal services available in their hospitals. The questionnaire for 196 midwives and 114 obstetricians asked whether they believed six provider/service types could provide adequate antenatal care either alone or in conjunction with an obstetrician. FINDINGS: 80% of hospitals had GPs providing antenatal care, 53% had obstetricians and 3% had visiting midwives; 33% had a public antenatal clinic, 28% a shared care program with GPs and 26% midwives' antenatal clinics. Midwives were more likely than obstetricians to rate the following as able to provide adequate care alone: hospital antenatal clinic (4.7 times more likely); independent midwife (42.9x); and community midwives as an outreach hospital service (17x). Obstetricians were 8.2x more likely than midwives to rate private obstetricians as being able to provide adequate care. Midwives were more likely to perceive that independent midwives (24.7x more likely) and community midwives as an outreach hospital service (15.3x more likely) were able to provide adequate care either alone or in conjunction with an obstetrician. CONCLUSION: Most NSW hospitals have GPs providing care, but midwives' clinics and independent midwives are less available. While midwives and obstetricians hold similar beliefs about GPs providing care, substantial differences emerged about the midwife's role. Such disparity in opinion may be central in providing options and consistency in care for women.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed1998

A community-based randomized trial encouraging sun protection for children.

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the impact of an intervention promoting sun protection behavior among children 2 to 11 years of age through schools and day care centers, primary care practices, and recreation areas. METHODS: Ten towns in New Hampshire were paired, then assigned randomly to intervention or control status. The multicomponent SunSafe intervention was provided to children and caregivers through primary care practices, day care centers, schools, and beach recreation areas. Training support and materials were provided by the SunSafe project, but project staff had no direct contact with children or parents in providing the intervention. All intervention components promoted the same message: avoid the sun between 11 AM and 3 PM, cover up using hats and protective clothing, use sun block with a sun protection factor >/=15, and encourage sun protection among family and friends. The impact of the intervention was determined by observing children's sun protection behavior at the beach during baseline compared with 1 year later. The primary outcomes of interest were changes in the proportion of children per town using at least some sun protection and changes in the proportion of children fully protected. Children were clustered by town, with the town thus being the unit of analysis. The primary care practice component included one practice meeting for clinicians and staff at which project staff presented background on skin cancer and how to promote its prevention; a sun protection office system manual based on our previous work, which provided specific direction on how to share responsibility among office staff and clinicians in carrying out routines that promote sun protection; and educational posters, pamphlets, and self-adhesive reminder notes designed to enhance sun protection counseling. SunSafe removable tattoos and stickers were offered to children at well-child and illness visits during the summer months. Schools each received three project staff visits: a brief visit with the principal to describe the intervention and to answer questions; an in-service program to educate teachers about skin cancer and to introduce curricular materials; and help with one parent outreach program. Larger day care centers each received one project staff visit. An additional six smaller day care centers received curricular materials through the mail but no visits. Two similar sets of curricular materials were used, one for grade schools and the other for preschools and day care centers. Both emphasized the importance of sun protection rather than the danger of skin cancer. Materials emphasized dynamic activities modeled after the "Slip, Slop, Slap" and "SunSmart" programs and included new material developed to suit regional needs. Both manuals offered structured plans but also provided a variety of activities from which teachers could choose. Teachers agreed to devote a minimum of two class periods to these materials. For recreation areas, lifeguards in each of the intervention communities attended an in-service meeting, during which background about skin cancer prevention was presented by project staff. The project also provided displays about the ultraviolet (UV) light index and about sun protection to be posted at each beach. Subsequently, project staff called beach staff in each community each morning with the predicted UV index for the day to post on the display. Educational pamphlets about the UV index and free sun-block samples were available to beachgoers through the lifeguards. One brief follow-up visit by project staff was made to each beach area to provide reinforcement. RESULTS: We observed 1930 children. Use of some sunscreen on at least one body area increased in all 5 intervention towns compared with paired control towns. In intervention towns, this mean proportion increased from 0.56 of those observed at baseline to 0.76 of those observed postintervention, with a minimal increase among control town children. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED

Child↗

PubMed1997

Practitioner provision of preventive care in general practice consultations: association with patient educational and occupational status.

Socio-economically disadvantaged individuals experience significantly greater mortality and morbidity relative to advantaged individuals. General practitioners have been suggested to occupy a position which has the capacity to ameliorate the health consequences of socio-economic disadvantage. Community studies of preventive care status suggest, however, that socio-economically disadvantaged individuals are less likely to receive appropriate preventive care. Using a convenience sample of 22 general practitioners, 579 consultations were audiotaped to determine whether practitioner provision of preventive care was associated with the educational and occupational status of patients. Practitioner provision of preventive care was assessed in terms of: the proportion of consultations in which discussion of at least one preventive care topic occurred; the number of preventive care topics discussed; and the proportion of consultations in which each of six specific preventive care topic were discussed. Practitioners were significantly less likely to discuss at least one preventive care topic with patients of high occupational status. No significant differences were observed between patient groups in the number of preventive care topics, discussed, and in the likelihood of receiving preventive care discussion concerning each of six preventive topics. However, a consistent trend of practitioners being less likely to discuss preventive care topics with patients of high educational or occupational status was evident for all outcome variables. The pattern of results suggests that previously reported findings of socio-economically disadvantaged individuals having a poorer preventive care status may not be attributable to differentials in practitioner's provision of preventive care. Greater attention should therefore be given to identifying and resolving barriers other than practitioner-based barriers to preventive care provision if these differentials in preventive care status are to be reduced.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Duration of general practice consultations: association with patient occupational and educational status.

Past studies have demonstrated that the majority of health care visits are made to general practitioners, and that socio-economically disadvantaged individuals are significantly more likely to use such services. Relatively little is known, however, about the quality of general practice care provided to patients of different socio-economic status. The specific aims of the study were to determine whether an association existed between consultation duration and patient educational and occupational status, and if an association was evident, to determine the extent of association after taking into account a range of identified confounding variables and the effect of a clustered sample design. Consecutive consultations from a randomly selected sample of general practitioners were audiotaped and their durations measured electronically. Patient education and occupational status were obtained by questionnaire. Information concerning a range of additional patient, practitioner and consultation variables was also assessed in order to identify possible confounders of the association between consultation duration and patient occupational and educational status. No association was evident between consultation duration and level of patient educational qualification. Independent of identified confounding variables and the effect of a clustered sample design, general practitioners spent less time with those patients employed in unskilled occupations. Unskilled patients received 2.1 min or 21% less time per consultation than patients in professional occupations. The odds of patients in unskilled occupations receiving a long consultation (> 10 min) were 26% less than the odds of patients in professional occupations. The finding of an occupational status differential in the duration of general practice consultations suggests that socio-economically disadvantaged patients may not be receiving the health care they require. Further research is required to confirm these findings and to identify whether similar differentials are evident in more specific elements of general practice care.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

The accuracy of self-reported Pap smear utilisation.

This study assessed the accuracy of self-reported Pap smear utilisation over four different time frames, examining the magnitude of errors in self-report and sociodemographic predictors of accuracy. Self-report data on women's cervical screening was collected by interview in a random household survey (Hunter Region, NSW, Australia), with pathology laboratory data collected by a search of records within laboratories. The magnitude of error in self-report was assessed by comparing it against longer intervals in pathology laboratory data. Sociodemographic predictors of accuracy were explored using chi square analyses. Low values for specificity and positive predictive value across all four time frames indicate a considerable degree of inaccuracy in women's reporting of those instances where, in truth, screening has not occurred. Of women reporting a smear within the last three years, only 61.2% were verified within pathology laboratory records. Allowing women some "leeway" in their reporting, comparing self-report to longer intervals of pathology laboratory data, did not greatly improve the accuracy of reporting, confirming that the magnitude of inaccuracy involved is of real clinical significance. Demographic variables were not related to the accuracy of self-report and, while a woman's certainty of her response was predictive, this had little impact on the measures of agreement. Self-report of Pap smear histories consistently results in over-reporting of screening. Other means of assessing the prevalence of screening may be preferable to self-report. Where self-report data is collected, techniques to improve accuracy should be employed, and care should be taken in comparing screening rates obtained by different methods.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

Patient-provider agreement on guidelines for preparation for breast cancer treatment.

Guidelines for preparing cancer patients for threatening medical procedures were developed and refined and their perceived relevance and importance rated by three concerned groups--84 breast cancer patients, 64 doctors, and 140 nurses and nurse oncologists. All three groups indicated strong support for the guidelines. Patients and nurses rated more of the guidelines as essential aspects of good quality care than did doctors. Items in which a significant discrepancy existed included the importance of (a) consistent information, (b) involvement of others in preparation, and (c) assistance to the patient in coping with treatment for breast cancer. Doctors, compared with patients and nurses, underrated the importance of some aspects of preparation. These issues should be given more prominence in undergraduate and specialist medical training, as well as in continuing medical education.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Effective teaching of communication skills for medical practice: selecting an appropriate clinical context.

Increasingly, courses in communication skills are being incorporated into medical training. In order for communication skills to be effectively maintained in post-training medical practice, they must be taught within an appropriate clinical context. The present paper describes and provides rationale for seven criteria by which to select clinical issues which are appropriate foci for communication skills courses. The criteria are: (1) the issue must be one which is encountered frequently in clinical practice; (2) the issue must be associated with a high burden of illness; (3) there must be evidence that practitioners need to improve skills for dealing with the issue; (4) there must be an intervention, of which communication skills are an integral component, that is demonstrably effective for dealing with the clinical issue; (5) the intervention must represent a cost-effective means of dealing with the issue; (6) the intervention must be acceptable to doctors and be able to be incorporated into routine medical practice; (7) the intervention must be acceptable to patients. Examples of clinical issues which fit these criteria are given in the paper and include smoking, hazardous alcohol consumption, non-adherence to treatment instructions, overdue cervical screening, inappropriate diet, recovery from medical interventions, and breaking bad news to patients.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMed1997

Accuracy of women's recall of opportunistic recruitment for cervical cancer screening in general practice.

Evaluation of strategies to improve opportunistic recruitment via general practice of women overdue for a cervical smear requires an accurate behavioural measure. As part of an experimental trial to evaluate the effect of a postgraduate workshop on preventive care, we conducted this methodological study to determine the accuracy of women's recall of an opportunistic discussion about cervical screening, by comparing it against audiotapes (n = 524). Taking the taped evidence of the trainee's verbal behaviour as the gold standard, sensitivity was 85 per cent (95 per cent confidence interval (CI) 73.1 to 92.0 per cent) and specificity was 78 per cent (CI 73.9 to 81.6 per cent). Given the low rate of opportunistic recruitment by trainees in the main study, only one-third of positive recollections by women of an opportunistic discussion about cervical screening were correct. Until other measures have been validated, women's recall may continue to be used to measure general practitioners' behaviour, but an appreciation of likely bias is recommended.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Trainees' interactional skills when performing Pap smears. A needs assessment.

OBJECTIVE: Specific interactional behaviours are known to reduce the anxieties and discomforts associated with Papanicolaou (Pap) smears. Few studies have documented doctors use of such strategies or the needs of young doctors to learn them. This descriptive study was conducted to identify trainees learning needs as part of a larger study in the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACCP) Training Program in New South Wales. METHOD: Audioptaped consultations with women seeing a trainee for a Pap smear during the first 3 weeks of the CP term were analysed using a 29 item interactional skills rating scale. Intra-rater reliability (i.e. consistency of rating of the researcher) was checked on a random sample of audiotapes. RESULTS: Rates of specific interactional skills in the 23 audiotaped consultations were low. Trainees explained the procedure in seven consultations (30%). No trainees explained a stop signal. Ten women (43%) were told how to find out the result of their Pap smears. No trainees offered written information Smoking status was ascertained in only two consultations (9%). CONCLUSIONS: This study adds to increasing evidence that undergraduate medical education in Australia fails to equip graduates with practical skills in preventive care. Our findings have implications for GP supervisor and the RACGP Training Program. Specifically, trainees clinical behaviour when taking Pap smears should be observed improved and assessed during supervised training before entry into independent practice.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMed1997

Premenstrual symptoms in general practice patients. Prevalence and treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the rates of premenstrual symptoms in Australian patients, the treatments they had tried for such symptoms, the perceived effectiveness of these treatments, the proportion of women who reported that they had sought help for premenstrual symptoms and whether women perceived the need for additional help in dealing with premenstrual symptoms. Characteristics associated with higher symptom levels and desire for help were examined. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey of 310 general practices patients aged 18-45 years and who had reported having had a menstrual period in the previous three months. RESULTS: Between 11% and 32% of women reported severe or extreme changes during the premenstrual phase on each of the 10 symptoms in the short Premenstrual Assessment Form, with the highest rates for affective symptoms. Eighty-five percent of women reported that they had tried treatments for premenstrual symptoms, and many reported having tried multiple treatments. The most commonly tried treatments included pain killers rest, drinking more fluid and exercise, which had been tried by at least one-third of women. When women were asked to nominate up to three treatments they had tried and found most effective, the most commonly mentioned were dietary changes, evening primrose oil, vitamins (including B6) and exercise. Approximately 50% of the women had sought help, most commonly from a general practitioner and 45% reported that they would like more help dealing with premenstrual symptoms. Higher overall symptom scores were associated with a history of endometriosis, a lower education level, not taking oral contraceptives, taking evening primrose oil and taking vitamin B6. CONCLUSION: There is a need to further refine, through evaluation of different approaches, programs and resources, ways to effectively help women who report premenstrual symptoms and would like help to deal with them.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

How to prepare cancer patients for potentially threatening medical procedures: consensus guidelines. NSW Cancer Council Cancer Education Research Program.

BACKGROUND: Cancer patients face a frightening array of potentially threatening medical interventions. While the need to prepare patients for such procedures is widely acknowledged, there have been few attempts to clearly specify in detail what adequate preparation entails. METHODS: This study sought to develop a set of guidelines on how to prepare cancer patients for potentially threatening medical procedures. These guidelines were extensively reviewed and modified by a consensus panel of experts. The guidelines were then rated by 101 cancer patients. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: These ratings led to further modification of the guidelines, the final version of which was developed into a training module for junior medical officers in New South Wales.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1996

Training medical students in HIV/AIDS test counselling: results of a randomized trial.

The study assessed the effectiveness of a programme aimed at increasing medical students' skills in counselling patients presenting for HIV testing/AIDS information. Senior medical students were randomly assigned to receive a short course in pre- and post-test counselling, or to a control group which received the usual curriculum. The students' performance in counselling simulated patients was videotaped at baseline and after 3 months. A subsample was also assessed at 12 months. Students receiving the programme showed significantly greater improvement in pre- and post-test counselling skills over 3 months than did the controls. For the sub-sample continuing to 12 months, a significant effect over time was found; however, there was no significant difference between the groups. This may have been influenced by the small sample sizes used for the 12-month assessment. General interactional skills improved for the over-all sample over 3 and 12 months, but again there were no significant differences between groups. Those exposed to the programme did not show significantly greater changes in either knowledge or attitude scores over either time frame, compared with controls. When taught in addition to the usual undergraduate curriculum at Newcastle University, this short interactional skills course significantly enhanced students' ability to provide pre- or post-test counselling for HIV/AIDS.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗

PubMed1996

Community based health education: general practitioners' perceptions of their role and willingness to participate.

This study aimed to: 1. determine general practitioners' perceptions of their appropriateness to conduct community based health education; 2. assess the proportion of general practitioners who had undertaken group health education in the previous 12 months, and identify the factors that discourage and encourage this activity; and 3. identify appropriate health areas and the community groups that general practitioners would be prepared to address if provided with educational packages on the topic. A random sample of 181 general practitioners (66.5 per cent response rate) completed a mailed questionnaire. General practitioners rated health promotion officers (32.6 per cent) and general practitioners (30.9 per cent) as the most appropriate health care providers to undertake community based health education activities. Of the general practitioners, 38 per cent had undertaken community health education in the previous 12 months, with lack of time, lack of earnings while away from the practice, and lack of confidence in public speaking being the main reasons for not undertaking this activity. Being specifically invited to address groups, being provided with an information package on the topic, and being paid for their time were the three factors most likely to encourage this activity. Skin, cervical and breast cancer, blood pressure and cholesterol, and asthma were the topics general practitioners were most willing to speak on. Although this survey suggests that general practitioners would be willing to undertake this community health education, research is needed on whether they are the most appropriate and effective group for this.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Knowledge of cancer risk reduction practices in rural towns of New South Wales.

The Australian Cancer Society has published guidelines for recommended risk reduction strategies for breast, cervical, smoking-related and skin cancer. While knowledge may not be sufficient for change, it is argued to be necessary for change to occur. A measure of the level of health knowledge in the community can be useful for health promotion practitioners, identifying where health messages are not reaching their proposed targets. Our aims were to examine the level of knowledge about risk reduction practices for breast, cervical, smoking-related and skin cancers, for a rural New South Wales sample, and to examine sex and age effects on knowledge levels. A survey of 2846 women and 1732 men from rural New South Wales, which used an unprompted recall strategy, revealed some notable deficits in recall of cancer risk reduction practices: only 26 per cent of women identified mammograms as a risk reduction strategy for breast cancer; only 5 per cent of women knew at which ages mammograms should start and stop; only 6 per cent of women could identify when Pap tests should be discontinued; less than half of the sample could identify common solar protection strategies; and less than one-third of people identified passive smoking as a lung cancer risk.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

Important components of antenatal care: midwives' and obstetricians views.

This study sought the views of midwives and obstetricians about what they considered to be important aspects of routine antenatal care. Midwives and obstetricians were randomly selected from the NSW membership lists of the Australian College of Midwives and the The Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, respectively. Seventy-eight percent of midwives (n = 196) and 52% of obstetricians (n = 114) completed a questionnaire which itemised components of routine care derived from the National Health and Medical Research Council's Guidelines for Antenatal Care. Participants were asked to rate each of the 77 components on a 4-point scale as either: very important; desirable but not essential; not necessary; or, don't know. Twenty-four (31%) of the components were rated as very important by at least 90% of midwives and 19 (22%) were rated as very important by at least 90% of obstetricians. 'Recording details of previous pregnancy complications' was the component most commonly rated as being very important by both groups. On 37 (48%) of the components there was a significant difference between midwives and obstetricians in terms of whether or not they rated the component as very important (p < 0.01). There were considerable differences between midwives' and obstetricians' views about the important components of routine antenatal care and a substantial proportion of both groups did not consider many of the components listed in the guidelines to be essential in routine care. The findings suggest that a revision of the current antenatal care guidelines is necessary.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed1996

Accuracy of patient recall of opportunistic smoking cessation advice in general practice.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the accuracy of patient recall of a question about smoking in a specified consultation in general practice; the accuracy of smokers' recall of advice to stop smoking; and predictors of accurate recall. DESIGN: Analysis of 1075 audiotapes was compared blind with matching patient questionnaires administered after the consultation to calculate sensitivity and specificity for patient recall as a dichotomous variable. Predictors of recall were determined by logistic regression. SETTING: General practitioner training practices, New South Wales, Australia. SUBJECTS: Thirty-four trainees and consecutive samples of their patients 16-65 years of age. RESULTS: Patient recall of a question about smoking had a high false positive rate of 21% but a sensitivity of 93%. Smokers over-reported advice to stop smoking (specificity 82%; sensitivity 92%). Predictors of accuracy of a question about smoking included patient sex (women 1.58 times more likely than men to be accurate); smoking status (smokers 1.7 times as likely as non-smokers to be accurate); and interval since consultation (those who completed their questionnaires within a week were 1.84 times more likely to be accurate). CONCLUSIONS: Patient recall is systematically biased towards over-reporting of a question about smoking status and, among smokers, of advice to quit. Although we recommend its continued application in health services evaluation, findings should be interpreted with caution, particularly if subjects are male or the interval between recall of smoking cessation advice and the occasion of service in which it might have occurred is considerably delayed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

Mental health status of a Latin American community in New South Wales.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the levels and predictors of psychological distress within a Latin American community in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. METHOD: Participants (n = 184) were interviewed in their homes by a bilingual interviewer using a specially prepared questionnaire and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). RESULTS: Of the 13 independent variables examined, two demographic and two immigrant-related variables were significantly associated with an above-threshold score: marital status, employment status, perceived discrimination, and dissatisfaction with life in Australia. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to results from other community surveys, the levels of psychological distress within this Latin American community appear to be relatively high.

Acculturation↗