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PubMedDate not supplied

Partner notification for sexually transmitted diseases: proposed practice guidelines.

Using the results of an analysis of available scientific evidence and a survey of current practice in Canada, as well as expert opinion, these guidelines attempt to consider current partner notification practice in Canada and recommend an approach to determining practice which is flexible enough to address local circumstances. Priority areas for future research were also identified.

Advisory Committees↗
PubMed2003

The impact of mandatory versus voluntary participation in the Alberta ignition interlock program.

Research has demonstrated that participation in an interlock program significantly reduces the likelihood of subsequent driving while intoxicated (DWI) convictions at least so long as the interlock device is installed in the vehicle. Despite the growing number of jurisdictions that allow interlock programs and the demonstrated success of these programs, the proportion of DWI offenders who actually have the device installed is minimal. In an effort to increase the proportion of offenders using interlocks, some jurisdictions require offenders to install an interlock as a condition of license reinstatement whereas others merely offer offenders a reduction in the period of hard suspension if they voluntarily participate in an interlock program. The objective of the present study was to determine the extent to which voluntary interlock participants are more or less successful in terms of subsequent recidivism than those for whom interlock program participation has been mandated. The issue was addressed using data from the interlock program in Alberta, Canada, which provides for both mandatory and voluntary participation. The recidivism experience of voluntary and mandatory interlock participants was examined both during and after the period of interlock installation. Cox regression revealed that, after controlling for (or equating) the number of prior DWI offenses, the survival rates of DWI offenders who were ordered to participate in the interlock program did not differ from those of voluntary participants. These results suggest that further use of mandatory interlock programs should be just as successful as voluntary programs when offenders share characteristics with those studied in Alberta.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1994

Facilitating faculty development and research through critical review of grant proposals and articles.

BACKGROUND: In 1983 the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston established a faculty development program to address faculty needs for continuing education and improved resources for research. At first a part-time coordinator was hired; then, in 1985, a full-time, faculty-level science communicator provided help with strategic planning of projects and intensive review of grant proposals and journal articles. Faculty participation in the program was voluntary. METHOD: Pre- and post-intervention data for 1983-1992 included numbers of faculty using the program, faculty evaluations of the program, grant dollars awarded, counts of grant submissions and awards, and numbers of published articles. RESULTS: The review services were used heavily for grant proposals (75% of the department's proposals), but were used lightly for research articles (18% of publications). Grant funding quadrupled from 1983 to 1988; although funding peaked in 1988, it thereafter remained at three to four times the 1983 level. In contrast, the mean number of publications per faculty per year dropped between 1983 and 1990. CONCLUSION: The program provided valuable assistance to the faculty in writing grant proposals, and it helped to generate critically needed resources. However, the program's failure to increase the publication productivity of the faculty suggests that despite financial pressures, similar programs should use their influence and resources to promote a balance between scholarly publication and grant acquisition.

Faculty, Medical↗
PubMed1987

[Social psychiatry in private practice].

Though in general the practice of Community Mental Health (or "Social Psychiatry") is a task of the State, the County or the City governments, the panel discussed two instances of sizeable contributions by private practices to the tasks of community mental health, such as crisis intervention or the care of the chronically psychiatrically handicapped, which are not commonly treated in psychiatrists' offices. The "Psychosoziale Arbeitsgemeinschaft" of Basle began in a psychiatric group practice through common sessions with public health nurses, social workers and other community helpers and served a workers' section of the city. In the course of five years several other services could be built up, such as a day-care center for psychically handicapped, a patient visiting program through voluntary helpers and a rehabilitation workshop. Ultimately subsidy from State and Federal funds could be obtained. Another program, in Zurich, started in a nonpsychiatric general practice, also in a workers' section. The physicians of that group hired, at their own expense, a social worker-educator and psychotherapist with a five year experience in community mental health work to care for the social and psychological problems commonly found in every general practice. The costs of her work cannot be generally billed to the health insurance carriers, but it is possible for the therapist to negotiate case by case with the insurance, this with success in a good many cases. The discussion with the audience shows that, in spite of considerable difficulty, it appears that private practice and especially a group practice, can make a valuable contribution to the mental health care of a disadvantaged segment of the population.

Chronic Disease↗
PubMed1994

Syringe and needle exchange as HIV/AIDS prevention for injection drug users.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate an all-volunteer syringe exchange program in San Francisco, Calif. DATA SOURCES: Syringe exchange program records and 11 semiannual surveys administered during a 5.5-year period, using standard questionnaires. Interviews (N = 5644) were conducted with injection drug users recruited in two 21-day drug detoxification clinics and three street settings. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Use of the syringe exchange program and self-reported data regarding sources of syringes, frequency of injection, initiation into drug injection, and frequency of syringe sharing. RESULTS: In spring 1992, 45% reported "usually" obtaining injection equipment from the syringe exchange, and 61% reported using the program within the past year. During the period from December 1986 through June 1992, the median reported frequency of injection declined from 1.9 injections per day to 0.7 injection per day, the mean age increased from 36 to 42 years, and the percentage of new initiates into injection drug use decreased from 3% to 1%. In logistic regression analysis (of fall 1991 through spring 1992 interviews; n = 752), we found six independent factors associated with syringe sharing. Protective from syringe sharing were use of the syringe exchange program, having received human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing and counseling, condom use, older age, and African-American race. Injection of cocaine was a predictor for syringe sharing. The strength of association between use of the syringe exchange program and not sharing syringes was greatest in injection drug users younger than the median age of 40 years. CONCLUSIONS: The syringe exchange program was rapidly adopted by injection drug users. Health interventions associated with not sharing needles included use of the syringe exchange program and voluntary, confidential HIV testing and counseling. Our data did not support the hypothesis that a syringe exchange program would stimulate increased drug abuse in terms of frequency of injection or recruitment of new and/or younger users.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

To tell or not to tell: the ethical dilemmas of HIV test notification in epidemiologic research.

Epidemiologic studies involving HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) antibody testing create ethical dilemmas, particularly about notifying asymptomatic seropositive subjects. Four study designs address this problem: mandatory notification, optional notification, anonymous testing, and blind testing. No single design consistently optimizes the trade-off between valid and ethical research. Each strategy differs substantially from the others in its effect on response rates, bias, ability to perform longitudinal studies, numbers of subjects who learn their test results, and the number of subjects counseled about HIV risk reduction. Both local institutional review boards and potential subjects of study (and their sexual partners) should participate in decisions regarding the conduct of sensitive AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) research.

Epidemiologic Methods↗