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PubMedDate not supplied

Multiphasic epidemiological analyses on smoking habits among undergraduate students in Japan.

Little is known about the prevalence and dynamics of smoking habits among university students in Japan, and their association with other lifestyle parameters and biological markers. Data on undergraduate students were here extracted from the questionnaire and laboratory tests of the periodic health checkup of Kyoto University in 2000 and 2001. In addition to simple statistics, longitudinal analyses were performed using logistic regression, and the odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated for each item. Among 11,203 subjects, 12.1% had a smoking habit. The smoking rate was higher in men than in women (14.4% vs 2.4%, P<0.001) and increased from 2.5% (freshmen) to 18.3% (seniors) with advance in year. During one year of follow-up, 5.8% of students newly acquired a smoking habit, and 12.4% of smokers abandoned the habit. Compared with students majoring in natural sciences, the majors in humanities or social sciences were more likely to begin smoking (OR=1.32, 95% CI=1.06-1.65). Taking up smoking was more common among those who consumed alcohol (OR=1.98, 95% Cl=1.56-2.51), and skipped breakfast and dined out more frequently (trend P<0.001 for both), but less common among regular exercisers (OR=0.71, 95% Cl=0.56-0.90). Smoking habits tended to be associated with subsequent proteinuria (adjusted OR=1.39, 95% Cl=0.96-2.00) and subsequent cough or phlegm (adjusted OR=1.56, 95% Cl=0.91-2.67). This study revealed that the proportion of student smokers increases with the year in university, in association with several other lifestyle parameters. Measures should be taken against smoking behavior focusing on freshmen and considering their lifestyle.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

The future of tropical medicine in Europe. Opportunities for intersectoral cooperation.

The author provides a brief history of tropical medicine and describes how it has evolved since its creation at the end of the 19th century. The author proposes a working definition of tropical diseases, including their geographical distribution and their socioeconomic conditions prevailing in these regions. Currently tropical medicine is in danger of fragmenting into a number of subspecialties or being absorbed into the subspecialties of other medical sectors. The broad interdisciplinary nature of tropical medicine may be its weakness, but also its particular strength. The effective interplay between four major areas of work makes it different from other specialties. These are biomedical sciences, medical care, epidemiology and the social sciences. This intersectoral approach should also lead to stronger synergisms between scientists in Europe and institutions in the South.

Europe↗
PubMed2002

A qualitative study to explore undergraduate medical students' attitudes towards communication skills learning.

This qualitative study explores medical students' attitudes towards communication skills learning. Thirty-two medical students, including representatives from each year of the medical degree, participated in five focus-group discussions. Theme analysis of each transcript by two independent analysts produced two attitude-related themes: positive attitudes towards communication skills and negative attitudes towards learning communication skills. Students held both positive and negative attitudes towards different aspects of communication skills learning. Students' negative attitudes were related to communication skills being a subjective social science, which was viewed as 'non-academic' and 'common sense'. Students with negative attitudes towards communication skills learning were thought to be good communicators. Some reported being socialized into developing the negative attitudes held by older students and qualified doctors. The timing of communication skills learning was also thought to be important in determining attitudes. The findings within each of these themes and their educational implications are discussed in this paper.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2006

Science school and culture school: improving the efficiency of high school science teaching in a system of mass science education.

Educational expansion in western countries has been achieved mainly by adding years to full-time education; however, this process has probably reduced efficiency. Sooner or later, efficiency must improve, with a greater educational attainment per year. Future societies will probably wish more people to study science throughout high school (aged c. 11-19 years) and the first college degree. 'Science' may be defined as any abstract, systematic and research-based discipline: including mathematics, statistics and the natural sciences, economics, music theory, linguistics, and the conceptual or quantitative social sciences. Since formal teaching is usually necessary to learn science, science education should be regarded as the core function of high schools. One standard way to improve efficiency is the 'division of labour', with increased specialization of function. Modern schools are already specialized: teachers are specialized according to age-group taught, subject matter expertise, and administrative responsibilities. School students are stratified by age and academic aptitude. I propose a further institutional division of school function between science education, and cultural education (including education in arts, sports, ethics, social interaction and good citizenship). Existing schools might split into 'science school' and 'culture school', reflected in distinct buildings and zones, separate administrative structures, and the recruitment of differently-specialized teaching personnel. Science school would be distinguished by its focus on education in disciplines which promote abstract systematic cognition. All students would spend some part of each day (how much would depend on their aptitude and motivation) in the 'science school'; experiencing a traditional-style, didactic, disciplined and rigorous academic education. The remainder of the students' time at school would be spent in the cultural division, which would focus on broader aspects, and aim to generate a more rounded and social individual. For this to happen depends upon a recognition that science is relatively difficult to teach, requiring non-spontaneous and un-natural cognitive processes from students. Furthermore, it is much easier to learn science when young--if science is missed at school, it can be difficult or impossible to make up the ground later. Modern schools currently try to do too many things, and end-up doing none very well: the one big thing all schools should do for all students is to teach them science. For this to happen, schools need to specialize in their core function.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Health care professionals: a model for teaching the components of society-culture-personality in the delivery of care.

In recent years, the behavioral sciences have contributed tremendously tot he education of future physicians, dentists, nurses, and other health care professionals. With the inclusion of the behavioral sciences component in the National Board Examination (1972), many medical schools have revised their curricula to include sociology in the training of the future physician. However, the tremendous shortage of qualified social scientists made it difficult to meet the needs of medical schools and health programs in the country.In view of this problem, this paper will present a single conceptual model that can be used as an organizational device for teaching some basic social science concepts to health care students and to assist them in the comprehension of the impact of society-culture-personality (SCP) on the health care institution as a whole. Uses of this model have been presented elsewhere.(1,2)

Culture↗
PubMed1999

[From the foreign to the familiar: the discourse on intercultural care and its impact on nursing science].

This article concerns the discourse on intercultural nursing which can stimulate the further development of nursing theories and practices. In introduction, the article outlines the core of the discourse and some formal aspects. Subsequently, the overlapping discourses concerning the situation of migrant people in the social sciences and in society are discussed and the conclusion is prompted that the discourse needs to become part of general nursing theories to avoid a "culturalization" of ist subject.

Acculturation↗
PubMed2005

Endometriosis: internet resources.

Endometriosis is a puzzling disease characterized by pelvic pain, infertility, allergies, fatigue, and bowel problems. It is a non-lethal medical condition that disables only women and frustrates physicians who are frequently limited in their treatment success. Recently endometriosis has been linked with endocrine, environmental, genetic, and immune factors. The public health impact of endometriosis is significant in terms of suffering, lost income, infertility, stress on families, and medical costs. Resources for endometriosis on the Internet include search engines, medical sources, advocacy sources, U.S. government sources, personal Web sites, public library databases, and social science sources.

Consumer Organizations↗
PubMed1991

The event history approach in demography.

"In the present paper, we shall examine...changes in the field of demography, by following the progression from period analysis to cohort analysis. We shall discuss the hypotheses underlying each of these approaches and show how their distance from actual human behaviour could lead to mistaken or incomplete conclusions. We shall then show how event history analysis can solve these problems and we shall define the hypotheses implied by this new approach. Finally, we shall come back to the complimentarity of the different social sciences."

Behavior↗
PubMed1980

On nonscience premedical education: surprising evidence and a call for clarification.

Critics decrying inadequacies in the training of physicians note a lack of "humanistic" education. This deficiency is cited as the cause of a variety of problems perceived among modern physicians. Yet the content of "humanistic" education is rarely specified, and typically little or no data are presented about what medical students actually study during their premedical years. Proposals for change thus do not have an empirical base and instead derive from observations of "symptoms." The present authors report an analysis of the undergraduate transcripts of 465 students from the University of Rochester who applied to medical school. Results indicate a surprising breadth in undergraduate training which is inconsistent with the claims of narrowness. The authors call upon medical educators for further specification of the desired role of the social sciences and humanities in the undergraduate preparation of future physicians.

Education, Premedical↗
PubMed2003

ICT in health care: sociotechnical approaches.

The importance of the social sciences for medical informatics is increasingly recognized. As ICT requires inter-action with people and thereby inevitably affects them, understanding ICT requires a focus on the interrelation between technology and its social environment. Sociotechnical approaches increase our understanding of how ICT applications are developed, introduced and become a part of social practices. Socio-technical approaches share several starting points: 1) they see health care work as a social, 'real life' phenomenon, which may seem 'messy' at first, but which is guided by a practical rationality that can only be overlooked at a high price (i.e. failed systems). 2) They see technological innovation as a social process, in which organizations are deeply affected. 3) Through in-depth, formative evaluation, they can help improve system design and implementation.

Computer Communication Networks↗
PubMed2003

[Social capital, from sociology to epidemiology: critical analysis of a transfer across disciplines].

In recent years, social capital has emerged in epidemiological studies as a new concept, improving our understanding of the relationships between social inequalities and health inequalities. This concept, borrowed from social sciences, has three distinct sociological sources. However, only the most recent theory, which emphasizes the role of civic trust and is useful for analysis at community level, has been used in epidemiological studies. Social capital poses three kinds of problem: i) theoretical problems, because it is defined by its effects rather than by its causes, and because it is presumed that these effects are positive, although they can in fact be negative; ii) methodological problems, because of the heterogeneity of empirical scales, from micro to macro, and because of the diversity of its semantic content, including contradictions; iii) political problems, because of the emphasis placed on individual responsibility and due to the imposition of a model of civic virtue, to the detriment of structural analysis.

Causality↗
PubMed2001

Technology and humane nursing care: (ir)reconcilable or invented difference?

UNLABELLED: AIM(S) OF THE PAPER: This paper questions the validity of a boundary presumed to exist between technology and humane care. It argues the need for reconciliation of presumed tension(s) between technology and person focused care and the need to reconsider our ways of understanding the relations between technology and nursing. BACKGROUND/RATIONALE: Recent scholarship in the social sciences related to reproductive and imaging technologies and emergency resuscitation are examined and arguments are presented that question the appropriateness of a humanist view that emphasizes technology on the nonhuman and nonnatural side of a human/nonhuman, nature/artifice divide. It is argued that what determines experiences such as dehumanization is not technology per se but how individual technologies are used and operate in specific user contexts, the meanings that are attributed to them, how individuals or cultural groups define what is human, and the organizational, human, political and economic technological system (technique) that creates rationale and efficient order within nursing, health care and society. CONCLUSION: The paper concludes by asking whether the commonplace appeal to resolve tensions between humane care and technology has erroneously highlighted technology as the reason for impersonal care, and encourages re-examination of the relationship(s) between technology, humane care and nursing practice.

Conflict, Psychological↗
PubMed2004

Random drift and culture change.

We show that the frequency distributions of cultural variants, in three different real-world examples--first names, archaeological pottery and applications for technology patents--follow power laws that can be explained by a simple model of random drift. We conclude that cultural and economic choices often reflect a decision process that is value-neutral; this result has far-reaching testable implications for social-science research.

Computer Simulation↗
PubMed2002

The application of vignettes in social and nursing research.

AIM: The aim of this paper is to review the potential for, and the limitations of, the use of vignettes in research that seeks an understanding of people's attitudes, perceptions and beliefs, particularly with regard to sensitive subjects such as health care. BACKGROUND: Vignettes, in the form of text or pictures presented to research participants to prompt responses to interview questions, are widely used throughout the social sciences although their use in nursing research is less developed. REVIEW FOCUS: This review paper begins by addressing the differences between vignettes and real life processes. The following sections explore some of the practical advantages and pitfalls of using vignettes in social and nursing research. CONCLUSION: The paper demonstrates how vignettes can be very useful research tools yielding valuable data when studying people's attitudes, perceptions and beliefs in social and nursing research.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1992

Cocaine in perspective.

In a medical text published in 1883, Dr Benjamin Ward Richardson FRS denounced the evils of tea drinking, suggesting that it commonly gave rise to an 'Extremely nervous semi-hysterical condition'. That this distinguished Victorian physician could take such a view invites a sensitivity toward the perspective within which any debate on drugs is conducted--the historical, cultural and professional assumptions which will colour views as to what needs to be explained and how explanation is to be accomplished. The reality and significance of 'perspective' is further illustrated by examples drawn from contemporary literature which contrast the laboratory and social science approaches to study of cocaine. No one narrow disciplinary perspective on the cocaine problem will suffice; the challenge is to build bridges.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Converging paradigms for environmental health theory and practice.

Converging themes from the fields of environmental health, ecology and health, and human ecology highlight opportunities for innovation and advancement in environmental health theory and practice. In this commentary we outline the role of research and applied programs that integrate biophysical and social sciences with environmental health practice in order to address deficiencies in each field when taken on its own. New opportunities for environmental health protection and promotion are outlined based on the three converging themes: integrated approaches to research and policy, methodological acknowledgment of the synergies between the social and biophysical environments, and incorporation of core ecosystem principles into research and practice. These converging themes are discussed in relation to their implications for new types of intervention to achieve health gains across different spatial and temporal scales at the interface between biophysical and social environments.

Biophysical Phenomena↗
PubMed2003

Assessing village authenticity with satellite images: a method to identify intact cultural landscapes in Europe.

The village with its characteristic zones of different land use from the center to the periphery is a basic unit of Europe's cultural landscapes. However, loss of the authentic pre-industrial village structure characterized by a fine-grained structure of arable land and wooded grasslands is a threat to both cultural heritage and biodiversity in many rural landscapes. Therefore, it is important that the extent and rate of change of such authentic villages in a landscape can be monitored. We studied to what extent loss of authenticity with increasing time after abandonment can be assessed by quantitative analysis and visual interpretation of satellite images. The study was carried out in the Bieszczady Mountains, SE Poland in 1999. Using Landsat Thematic Mapper data from 1998, both the grain size of landscape elements (size of fields) and land-cover composition (encroachment of shrub and forest) were quantitatively described 6 type villages representing different stages of deterioration of the authentic village structure. Historical maps were used to delineate the border of the villages and the former extension of forest and open land was measured. The present land use and the degree of abandonment expressed as grain size and forest encroachment were mapped using satellite data. Deterioration occurred along 2 transformation paths: abandonment and ultimately becoming forest, or intensified agriculture, respectively. To validate these results we classified 22 other villages in a 1000 km2 area by visual interpretation of the original satellite images into 1 of 4 types. We then collected historical data on human population changes over the past six decades. The classification of village authenticity was clearly related to the rate of human population decline. We address the importance of validating and applying this approach for rapid assessment of the authenticity of cultural landscapes in European regions being subject to ongoing as well as expected future change, related to expansion of the European Union. Finally, we argue that the village represents a scale at which integration of natural and social sciences is possible.

Agriculture↗