Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Health Status Indicators”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 649 records · Page 36Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Family planning services and programmes in countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

This paper presents the findings of a 1999 survey of 19 countries of the World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Region on the family planning services and programmes in the Region. Data were collected using a questionnaire which explored the following areas: the presence of population or family planning policies and family planning activities, the family planning services available, promotional and educational activities on family planning, quality assurance, family planning data collection, analysis and dissemination, and the use of such information. The results indicate that 13 of the countries have national policies on population and family planning but even in those that do not, family planning services are widely available. The scope of the services provided varied. There is still a need to implement or strengthen family planning programmes in the Region, a need which is recognized by the countries themselves.

Data Collection↗
PubMed2004

Measuring disability with parsimony: evidence for the utility of a single item.

PURPOSE: To provide evidence for the utility of a single item measure designed to quantify disability in the past 30 days. METHOD: Australian data from studies comprising a community-dwelling elderly sample (N = 328) and a sample of chronic osteoarthritis (OA) patients (N = 119) are reported. Degree of disability was classified as 0-30 days, 0 vs. 1 or more days, and 0-9 vs. 10 or more days. Associations between disability and a range of demographic, health-related, and psychological variables were assessed. RESULTS: Participants with OA reported a significantly higher level of disability than participants from the community sample regardless of how disability was classified. Modest levels of association were noted between the number of disability days (0-30) and both health and psychological indices in both samples. The three alternative classifications of disability made little difference to the significance of associations. On balance, the comparison of 0-9 vs. 10 or more days appeared the more predictive classification of disability. CONCLUSIONS: The performance of the single item measure of disability was generally very satisfactory. Future investigations into the clinical application of the item across a range of patient groups are encouraged.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1986

How to construct a subjective index.

We present a method of constructing quantitative indices, which is based on the subjective opinions of a panel of experts, and discuss how a Bayesian probability model and panel opinions can be used together to produce an index. Among the advantages of the method are its face validity and ease of construction. Research shows that when expert opinions are solicited according to certain guidelines, subjective methods may be as accurate as the more objective ones. Guidelines along with a brief report of a recent application are also discussed.

Abstracting and Indexing↗
PubMed1978

A case control survey and dysmenorrhea in a family practice population: a proposed disability index.

Dysmenorrhea, though rarely coded as a diagnosis in the records of family physicians, is a common problem in their female patients. Responses to a questionnaire indicated that at least 50 percent of women experience menstrual pain at one time with a minimum of 29 percent experiencing pain in any two-month period. The average duration of pain was greater than one day. A disability index was developed which revealed that half the women were Grade 3, or severely disabled. This study suggests that menstrual pain is a common problem in family practice and clearly ranks as a major cause of temporary disability in women patients.

Dysmenorrhea↗
PubMed1991

Sampling elderly in the community: a comparison of commercial telemarketing lists and random digit dialing techniques for assessing health behaviors and health status.

A study of health behaviors in four communities in the western United States in 1988 provided the opportunity to compare two methods of sampling elderly respondents for a telephone interview. The Polk telemarketing lists were used to identify 1,407 respondents aged 65 years and older in four communities, where 253 respondents in the same age group were also identified by the method of random digit dialing. Individuals identified from the Polk lists received a letter prior to the initial telephone contact. The overall response rate was 49.3% for random digit dialing and 57.3% for the Polk lists. On the average, the identification of one elderly respondent using the Polk lists required about 20-25% as much interviewer time per subject identified as was required by the random digit dialing method. The elderly identified by the Polk lists were significantly older than those identified by random digit dialing, and the proportions of the Polk sample who were married, white, or had an income of greater than $10,000 were slightly higher than those of the random digit dialing sample. Among 40 variables measuring various health behaviors, indicators of health status, and participation in health-related programs and classes, only three differed significantly between the two samples. The authors conclude that sampling from commercial telemarketing lists was an efficient method of identifying elderly respondents and that in these four communities, the estimates of health behaviors and health status were comparable with those obtained by random digit dialing techniques.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

Prediction of neuropsychiatric outcome following mild trauma brain injury: an examination of the Glasgow Coma Scale.

The relationship between the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and neuropsychiatric outcome was examined in 57 consecutive subjects with mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) attending a follow-up clinic. Subjects were grouped according to initial GCS score (15 versus 13-14) and contrasted at an average of 5-6 months post-injury. As expected, those with GCS 13-14 had longer PTA (p = 0.001) and a higher rate of abnormal brain CT scans (p = 0.005). However, no significant differences emerged for indices of neuropsychiatric status, including measures of neurobehavioural symptoms/signs, overall psychological distress, psychiatric 'caseness', functional and psychosocial outcome, frequency of common somatic complaints, and rate of return to work. Subsidiary analyses based upon the presence/absence of CT abnormalities and the duration of PTA (<1 hour versus 1-24 hours) also failed to predict outcome, although a trend associating longer PTA with lower functional outcome was observed. Thus, despite early neurosurgical differences, the results suggest that initial GCS scores do not clearly translate into neuropsychiatric sequelae at follow-up within the rubric of GCS 13-15.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

A scale of valuations of states of illness: is there a social consensus?

A difficult task in designing indices of health and measures of health output is deriving a scale of valuations of a set of defined states of health or illness. A scale derived by structured interview of 70 subjects and tested on a further 50 subjects is described. The method aims for a ratio scale and the extent to which this has actually been achieved is discussed. Scale values appear to be independent of the sex, age, socio-economic group, religious belief and past medical history of the subject, but have some association with current experience of illness. There is agreement between scale values obtained from medical nurses and patients and agreement between the different values obtained from psychiatric nurses and patients.

Female↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The California wellness foundation's Health Improvement Initiative: evaluation findings and lessons learned.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of the Health Improvement Initiative (HII), a 5-year grantmaking initiative funded by The California Wellness Foundation designed to identify the critical factors needed to bring about population health improvements through community-level systems change. DESIGN: The evaluation of the HII used a case-study, logic-model approach to make inferences about the effect of each community coalition (Health Partnership) on its target community. The primary outcome measure was the creation of significant and sustainable community-level systems change. SETTING: The HII included nine communities in California that received funding to create broad-based Health Partnerships. SUBJECTS: Primary data were collected from a variety of Initiative stakeholders by key informant interviews, closed-ended surveys, and participant observation. INTERVENTION: The HII provided funding over 5 years to nine Health Partnerships that were intended to be a driving force in implementing community-level systems change. The ultimate objective of the systems change process was to improve "population health, " broadly defined to include social economic, and cultural determinants of health, in addition to traditional health status indicators. MEASURES: Both qualitative and quantitative techniques were used to assess the effect of the HII on key community systems. The primary outcomes were qualitative descriptions of community-level changes. RESULTS: At the end of the 5 years of HII funding, six of the nine Partnerships had played a critical role in implementing sustainable systems changes that would likely have a significant effect in their target communities. CONCLUSION: The HII was successful in promoting community-level systems change in the majority of funded communities, although the evidence was mixed regarding the role of the Partnerships in bringing about these changes.

California↗
PubMed1976

Unmet needs as sociomedical indicators.

This paper discusses the Meharry Medical College Study of Unmet Needs designed to measure the effectiveness of alternative health care delivery systems: (a) comprehensive care with broad outreach, (b) comprehensive care with limited outreach, and (c) traditional care. Unmet needs are defined as the differences between services judged necessary to deal appropriately with health problems and services actually received. The central hypothesis is that comprehensive health programs will be more effective than traditional care in reducing unmet needs. Unmet needs are viewed as measures of program outcome and are one of several types of sociomedical indicators which use factors other than biomedical or biological states as measures of outcome. The distinction is made between unmet needs are discussed and the relatively limited focus of these is contrasted with the more comprehensive Meharry approach. Household interviews and clinical examinations provide the data base for deriving professional judgements of unmet needs in the medical, dental, nursing, and social services areas. The Meharry work suggests several areas in which further work on unmet needs would be useful.

Comprehensive Health Care↗
PubMed1981

Health in the United States.

On the whole, the American people consider themselves healthy and, according to the major health indicators, they are becoming healthier all the time. The expectation of life at birth is one and one-half times what it was at the beginning of the century. Many of the leading causes of death have experienced significant declines in rates in the last decade. Nevertheless, the minority populations frequently lag behind the white population with respect to health indicators. Prevention in the health field is being stressed through immunization programs and programs to influence individuals to change their habits. Nutrition is playing a larger role in public life; considerable publicity has been given to dietary goals for promotion of good health. The health service industry has grown rapidly. Health care has expanded and its costs have trebled since 1970. In the 1980s, interest will undoubtedly focus on minority populations and health, on how the economically disadvantaged may better be served, on the effects of an aging population on the health care system, and on how life-styles which undermine health care can be changed. The U.S. Surgeon General has established national health goals for the 1980s that will improve the nation's health if they are achieved.

Health Expenditures↗
PubMed1993

[Health, health-related behavior and gainful employment].

Based on data collected in a survey as part of the Swiss Intercantonal Health Indicators Project (random sample stratified by age of 20-75 year old persons, n = 2106) relationships between level of employment (full, part-time, none) and health/disease as well as health behaviour were studied. Employed men and to some extent employed women as well were found to be less frequently sick and to feel more frequently well than non-employed men and women. Overall employment appears to affect health/disease in men more strongly than in women, whereas influence on health behaviour appears to be similar in both gender groups. The results of the study are discussed both with regard to further hypotheses of health research and opportunities of health promotion.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Use of the Nottingham Health Profile with patients after a stroke.

The Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) is easy to use with stroke patients and may be used with those who cannot manage more complicated mood questionnaires, such as the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Stroke patients rate their health, and especially emotions and feelings of social isolation, as much worse than that of people of similar age. NHP emotion scores correlate with objective measures of disability, length of hospital stay, and GHQ scores. The NHP is a valid indicator of depressed mood, and combining its components into a total score gives the greatest accuracy in detecting depression. Patients with high scores at one month continued to report large numbers of problems at six months after their stroke. Many patients experienced pain, disturbed sleep, and social isolation, which are important, potentially treatable problems not usually considered in the management of stroke patients. Many patients with problems did not see their general practitioner or any other source of help, and additional follow up was needed.

Cerebrovascular Disorders↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Predictors of health practices within age-sex groups: National Survey of Personal Health Practices and Consequences, 1979.

Health promotion-disease prevention programs share with health behavior research the common objective of identifying population subgroups toward whom services can be targeted. For this report, six age-sex groups were examined to determine similarities and differences in the predictors of eight health practice indices. Data were from the 1979 National Survey of Personal Health Practices and Consequences. Results showed very little similarity of predictors across the three age cohorts (20-34, 35-49, 50-64), between men and women, and among the six age-sex groups. No predictor achieved significance consistently for several health practices in any of the six groups, although years of education made the best showing. The lack of overlap among predictors helps to explain why health promotion messages and recruitment strategies may not appeal to as diverse an audience as initially intended. Possible explanations for the absence of similar predictors include differences in the nature of the various practices themselves, absence of data on intentions behind a person's behavior, and the "over-determined" character of an individual person's behavior.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

A comparative evaluation of waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio and body mass index as indicators of cardiovascular risk factors. The Canadian Heart Health Surveys.

OBJECTIVE: To comparatively evaluate cut-off points of waist circumference, body mass index and waist to hip ratio with respect to their ability to predict other individual and multiple cardiovascular disease risk factors. DESIGN: Population-based, cross-sectional surveys. SUBJECTS: A total of 9913 men and women aged 18-74, selected using health insurance registries from five Canadian provinces. MEASUREMENTS: Anthropometric measures, other cardiovascular risk factors, receiver operating characteristic curves, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values. RESULTS: : Waist circumference may be the best single indicator of other individual and multiple cardiovascular risk factors. Optimal cut-off points of all anthropometric measures are dependent on age, sex and the prevalence of the risk factor(s) being considered. For waist circumference, cut-off points of > or =90 cm in men and > or =80 cm in women may be most appropriate for prediction of individual and multiple risk factors in Caucasian populations. CONCLUSION: Health professionals should incorporate the use of waist circumference measurements in their routine clinical examination of adult patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Racial/ethnic differences in access to health care: further comments on the use-disability ratio.

Indicators of access to health care generally fall into one of two broad groups. The first group of indicators focuses on factors responsible for differential rates of use and often are assessed through reports of patient satisfaction. The second group of indicators focuses more specifically on actual rates of use, and therefore represents a more objective measure of access. One of the most widely used objective indicators of access is the use-disability ratio. This article illustrates some problems in using this ratio in health services research and some strategies one might adopt to minimize these problems. The data reported below were obtained from an analysis of racial/ethnic differences in use of services that was conducted as part of the 1979 Los Angeles Health Survey (N = 1003). Our findings suggest that 1) blacks had greater access to health care than either white/Anglos or Hispanics, particularly for respiratory and musculo-skeletal problems, and 2) the use-disability ratio should be used cautiously, since it is sensitive to subgroup differences in the chronicity and cause of the disability

California↗
PubMed1991

[Functional and humor disorders as health indicators in adolescence].

In 1988, an epidemiological study concerning self-perceived health problems was carried out on a sample of 3,288 adolescents aged 11 to 19. Eight functional and depressive symptoms (FDS) were investigated. Among girls, FDS (especially sleep disorders, headaches, feelings of nervousness or depression) appeared to be common and increased between ages 11 and 19. Among boys, FDS were less common and did not increase during adolescence. Thus, at age 18, sex differences were clearly established. Results suggest a link between FDS and intrafamilial relationships, especially the aggressive attitude or the rejection of the parents and their lack of interest. For the 11-15 age group, FDS are related to school behavior, but not to school performance.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

[Pilot study of The Child and Adolescent Health Survey: methodological aspects and procedure].

In the pilot study of the National Health Survey for Children and Adolescents which has been conducted under the responsibility of the Robert Koch Institute from March 12th 2001 to March 15th 2002, 1,630 children and adolescents from 0 to 17 years as well as their parents have been included. Methodological issues have been very prominent. Questionnaires regarding properties, indicators (for example for psychic well-being) were developed and evaluated, different methods of access to the study participants as well as methods to increase the motivation to participate in the study were tested, and the property for generalisation or validity of the obtained information was investigated. The conduct of the pilot study resulted in a number of experiences and findings that will contribute to an optimised approach in the main course of the survey.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Relative importance of musculoskeletal disorders as a cause of chronic health problems, disability, and health care utilization: findings from the 1990 Ontario Health Survey.

OBJECTIVE: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) are a leading cause of morbidity in the population, yet their prominence seems to be insufficiently appreciated. We describe the ranking compared with other major body systems of the prevalence of MSD, including arthritis and rheumatism, and back/neck disorders, as a cause of chronic health problems, longterm disability, restricted activity days, consultation with health professionals, and use of both prescription and nonprescription drugs. METHODS: We analyzed data from the 1990 Ontario Health Survey, a stratified random sample of the household dwelling population in Ontario, based on 45,650 individuals aged 16 years and over. RESULTS: MSD ranked first in prevalence as the cause of chronic health problems, longterm disabilities, and consultations with a health professional and ranked 2nd for restricted activity days and use of both prescription and nonprescription drugs. No other body systems ranked invariably within the top 2 ranks for the morbidity indices examined. Even when compared to other major disease groups, arthritis and rheumatism ranked consistently in the top 3 and back/neck disorders also ranked high. MSD were mentioned as a reason for 40% of all chronic conditions, 54% of all longterm disability, 24% of restricted activity days and almost 20% of health care utilization. The impact of MSD was even greater in the 65 and over age group. CONCLUSIONS: MSD have a major role in the health profile of the population. This high burden of illness should be considered in planning health care services and setting research priorities.

Adolescent↗