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The impact of mass media family planning programmes on current use of contraception in urban Bangladesh.

A sample of 871 currently married urban Bangladeshi women was used to assess the impact of mass media family planning programmes on current contraceptive use. The analyses suggested that radio had been playing a significant role in spreading family planning messages among eligible clients; 38% of women with access to a radio had heard of family planning messages while the figures for TV and newspaper were 18.5% and 8.5% respectively. Education, number of living children and current contraceptive use were important predictors of exposure to any mass media family planning messages. There was a negative relationship between breast-feeding and the current use of contraception indicating a low need for contraception among women who were breast-feeding.

Adolescent↗

Fecal occult blood tests. A cost-effectiveness analysis.

A range of fecal occult blood tests are presently on the market and could potentially be used in population screening programs for the detection of colorectal neoplasms. This paper estimates the relative cost-effectiveness of alternative tests and concludes that the unhydrated Hemoccult II is the most cost-effective. However, the incremental costs per life-year of the HemeSelect test and the rehydrated Hemoccult II test are in line with incremental costs observed in breast cancer and cervical cancer programs.

Aged↗

"Primary" rationing of health services in ageing societies--a normative analysis.

While most of the debate on "rationing in health care" focusses on the distribution of scarce medical resources among competing needs, which we propose to call "secondary rationing," this paper is concerned with "primary rationing," i.e., the conscious decision by society to limit the amount of resources devoted to a collectively financed health care system. Based upon a number of transparent normative criteria, we analyze whether primary rationing should be performed and, if so, what type should be chosen (hard vs. soft, explicit vs. implicit). Finally we discuss whether age should be used as a criterion in any systematic attempt at primary rationing of health care.

Adult↗

Predictors of HIV sexual risk behaviors in a community sample of injection drug-using men and women.

Injection risk practices and unprotected sex between injection drug users (IDUs) and their sexual partners are responsible for a high proportion of AIDS cases and new HIV infections in the United States. The purpose of this study was to investigate the links between drug use behaviors and psychosocial factors with high-risk sexual behaviors among male and female IDUs. Understanding the determinants of sexual risk practices among drug users can lead to the development of more effective programs to prevent sexual HIV and STD transmission. This study enrolled a community sample of 101 IDUs (males = 65, females = 36), primarily African American and unemployed, who injected drugs and had unprotected sex in the past 3 months. The sample was categorized into highest sexual risk (multiple partners and intercourse without condoms) and lower sexual risk subgroups. Univariate analyses showed that IDUs at highest sexual risk had lower sexual risk reduction self-efficacy (p =.01) and were more likely to be African American (p =.02). Drug users at highest sexual risk also used noninjected cocaine and crack more frequently (p =.05), were less likely to inject heroin (p =.04), and tended to more often inject cocaine (p =.05). IDUs at highest sexual risk also tended to more often use crack and methamphetamines. Logistic regression analyses showed that injecting cocaine or crack, sexual risk reduction self-efficacy, and race were independent predictors of sexual risk behavior levels. Sexual risk reduction programs for this population are needed, with HIV prevention programs tailored to specific IDU risk reduction needs.

Adult↗

[Geriatrics: the day hospital as a part of comprehensive medical care of elderly patients--also or especially in threatened rationing].

The wrong conclusion of elderly people being the reason for increasing costs of public health is corrected by several differentiated statements. Geriatrics as a comprehensive medicine for the elderly can be realized in an exemplary way, even in a day hospital. An attitude of solidarity and a high level of interpersonal communication play the important and decisive part.

Aged↗

Increase in the incidence of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas: evidence for a recent sharp increase in France independent of AIDS.

An increasing incidence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) has been reported in several areas of the world and often correlated with the occurrence of AIDS-related lymphomas. A registry specialised in haematopoietic malignancies enabled us to report detailed time trends in the incidence of NHL over the period 1980-89. There was an overall significant increase in incidence of + 10.9% per year (P < 0.001). Such a trend was observed both in men and in women (+ 11.2% and + 10.5%, respectively) and in all age groups. It was slightly more marked in the case of high-grade tumours than for low- or intermediate-grade tumours (+ 20.0%, + 12.6% and + 12.6% respectively) and in rural than in urban areas (+ 19.6% and + 8.1% respectively). In this series, only one case was associated with an HIV infection. These data indicate that, although a significant increase in NHL incidence related to the AIDS epidemic might be expected in the near future, there is an independent dramatic trend which started earlier than the AIDS problem and the causes of which should be investigated.

Adult↗

Prevention of infectious complications in peritoneal dialysis: best demonstrated practices.

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) related infections continue to be a serious complication for PD patients. Peritonitis can be associated with pain, hospitalization and catheter loss as well as a risk of death. Peritonitis risk is not evenly spread across the PD population or programs. Very low rates of peritonitis in a program are possible if close attention is paid to the causes of peritonitis and protocols implemented to reduce the risk of infection. Protocols to decrease infection risk in PD patients include proper catheter placement, exit-site care that includes Staphylococcus aureus prophylaxis, careful training of patients with periodic retraining, treatment of contamination, and prevention of procedure-related and fungal peritonitis. Extensive data have been published on the use of antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent exit site infections. There are fewer data on training methods of patients to prevent infection risk. Quality improvement programs with continuous monitoring of infections, both of the catheter exit site and peritonitis, are important to decrease the PD related infections in PD programs. Continuous review of every episode of infection to determine the root cause of the event should be routine in PD programs. Further research is needed examining approaches to decrease infection risk.

Benchmarking↗

Antenatal platelet antibody testing by flow cytometry--results of a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Maternal platelet antibodies can cause fetomaternal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FMAT), which has significant mortality and morbidity even in a first pregnancy. Prenatal diagnosis of FMAT has not previously been possible in the first affected pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Using flow cytometry, a sensitive, inexpensive test for the detection of platelet antibodies has been developed. It was adapted for use as a possible antenatal screening test, and 600 pregnant women were tested in a pilot study. RESULTS: In the study group, two women tested positive for platelet-specific IgG antibodies, one for anti-HPA-1a and the other for anti-HPA-1a with anti-HLA. In each case, the fetus was found to be affected in utero, and treatment was initiated before successful delivery. Another woman was shown to have a platelet-reactive autoantibody without IgG specificity, and her infant was unaffected. A total of 95 (15.8%) of the women tested had HLA antibodies alone, and the majority demonstrated IgG specificity. On follow-up of 62 infants born to these women, none had thrombocytopenia; thus HLA antibodies were not shown to lead to FMAT in this study. CONCLUSION: The flow cytometry-based test for platelet antibodies can detect clinically significant maternal antibodies, and it may be that early diagnosis and treatment in utero can enhance outcome in FMAT. A population screening program is planned to determine the predictive power of this test, in addition to its sensitivity, specificity, and efficiency.

Antibodies↗

Adequacy of a vancomycin dosing regimen in patients receiving high-flux hemodialysis.

BACKGROUND: Some investigators have recommended the convenient practice of administering vancomycin doses during the last hour of the hemodialysis treatment. Accepting that a greater amount of vancomycin is lost to dialysis with this recent approach, the objective of this study is to determine the pharmacokinetics of vancomycin and assess the adequacy of this dosing regimen in maintaining therapeutic predialysis concentrations. METHODS: A sampling of 22 consecutive patients administered intradialytic vancomycin, 1 g, intravenously (IV) and maintenance doses of 500 mg during the last hour of high-flux dialysis sessions was studied. A population-modeling program and Bayesian pharmacokinetic analysis were used to identify all global and unique pharmacokinetic parameters of interest based on measured vancomycin predialysis concentrations. RESULTS: For the 22 patients studied, this regimen achieved the targeted predialysis concentration range of 5 to 20 microg/mL for 96% of levels, whereas more narrowly within 5 to 15 microg/mL for 86% of levels. Average amount of vancomycin removed during a standardized 3- to 4-hour dialytic session ranged from 30% +/- 7% to 38% +/- 8%. Average elimination half-life of vancomycin on hemodialysis treatment was 5.4 hours (interquartile range, 5.0 to 5.9 hours). Patients showed an average predialysis plasma concentration of 11 +/- 3 microg/mL for the first 7 days of therapy. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that intradialytic dosing with vancomycin using a 1-g IV load and 500 mg IV with subsequent high-flux dialysis sessions conveniently maintains adequate predialysis plasma concentrations. The lack of drug accumulation with this regimen provides convincing support for a limited blood sampling approach to plasma concentration determinations.

Adult↗

[Switching sickness funds and risk compensation mechanisms in the statutory health insurance system in Germany--empirical results from the cooperative health research in the region of Augsburg (KORA)].

Since 1996, all citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany who are insured in the statutory health insurance system are entitled to switch their sickness fund. The rationale of this regulation was to strengthen elements of competition in this system in order to stimulate the sickness funds to improve the efficiency of health care and to respond to consumers' preferences. Simultaneously, to avoid the implicit incentives for sickness funds to engage in risk selection, a risk compensation mechanism was introduced, including as morbidity-related risk adjusters age, sex and incapacity to work. Based on the KORA survey S4 (1999/2001) we take the case of switching behaviour in the region of Augsburg, and analyse whether this risk adjustment scheme was working effectively. The results show that persons changing their sickness fund were characterised by a comparatively smaller burden of chronic diseases and by a less frequent utilization of inpatient health care. Under these conditions, differences in the contribution rates do not accurately reflect differences in the performance and efficiency of sickness funds. Moreover, the migration of good risk to sickness funds with favourable contribution rates threatens the principle of financial solidarity. Therefore, the system of risk equalisation has to be developed towards measuring the risk volume borne by the sickness funds more precisely than hitherto.

Adult↗

Systemic membrane defect in the proximal muscular dystrophies.

We studied lymphocyte capping in 61 patients with Duchenne, Becker, limb-girdle, facioscapulohumeral and congenital muscular dystrophies. All showed a markedly diminished percentage of capped cells when compared with 86 normal controls, providing support for previous evidence that an alteration in membrane fluidity may be a common pathogenic feature in several genetically distinct forms of proximal muscular dystrophy. Heterozygous carriers of Duchenne muscular dystrophy showed diminished capping that was indistinguishable from that of afflicted males and was often present even when serum enzyme levels were normal. Studies in 25 families with 16 suspected sporadic cases indicated that no more than four out of 30 afflicted males may represent new mutations. These findings imply that most cases of Duchenne dystrophy might be prevented by a population screening program for carrier females combined with prenatal detection of afflicted males.

Adolescent↗

Dietary supplementation and rapid catch-up growth after acute diarrhoea in childhood.

Diarrhoea is a major cause of short-term growth faltering in children of the developing world. If catch-up weight gain is delayed by inadequate dietary intake, or by further bouts of diarrhoea, progressive growth failure occurs. To test the hypothesis that early refeeding is as effective as later feeding after acute diarrhoea with weight loss, we measured the effects of a timed dietary intervention on weight gain after acute diarrhoea in underweight Gambian children. Thirty-four children aged 4-22 months with weight loss following acute diarrhoea were given a high-energy-protein supplement for 14 d beginning either immediately after rehydration or a fortnight later. With a 50% increase in energy intake and a 100% increase in protein intake there was a rapid and highly significant (P < 0.001) gain in weight within a fortnight whether the supplement was given immediately or 2 weeks after presentation. Rates of weight increase were similar whether supplementation was provided early or late, but over the full 28 d (of intervention and non-intervention) children who received late supplementation had greater overall weight gain (P < 0.02) than those supplemented early. Vigorous and early feeding with a high-energy-protein supplement should be central to the management of malnourished children with acute diarrhoea in developing countries, and may be as important as control of diarrhoea in preventing malnutrition and growth failure. This may be achieved in the community using locally available foods, in the face of continuing diarrhoea.

Acute Disease↗

Immunization coverage survey in eight regions of Saudi Arabia.

A study of 1916 children in eight regions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was conducted to find out the immunization coverage of the six expanded programme on immunization (EPI) target diseases. The eight regions surveyed were selected because they showed less than 80% coverage in a previous survey. The WHO cluster sampling technique was employed. The field workers were trained to conduct house-to-house surveys, inspect the children's immunization cards or health registers and complete the data forms. The overall coverage in the eight regions was found to be 97.5% for BCG, 94.3% for DPT and polio and 86.0% for measles. Altogether, 84.8% of the children had completed their immunization schedule by the end of their 1st year of life. The situation improved further in the 2nd year of life to reach 91.9%. The immunization coverage varied from region to region and from one EPI target disease to another. The partially immunized children represented 6-18% while those who did not receive any immunization represented only 0-8%. The drop-out rate between BCG and the third dose of DPT ranged from 1.9% to 9%. The factors behind the success are discussed and recommendations made for further improvement and maintenance of high immunization coverage.

Humans↗