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Rehabilitation medicine summit: building research capacity.

The general objective of the "Rehabilitation Medicine Summit: Building Research Capacity" was to advance and promote research in medical rehabilitation by making recommendations to expand research capacity. The five elements of research capacity that guided the discussions were 1) researchers; 2) research culture, environment, and infrastructure; 3) funding; 4) partnerships; and 5) metrics. The 100 participants included representatives of professional organizations, consumer groups, academic departments, researchers, governmental funding agencies, and the private sector. The small group discussions and plenary sessions generated an array of problems, possible solutions, and recommended actions. A post-Summit, multi-organizational initiative is called to pursue the agendas outlined in this report.

Biomedical Research↗

Identifying children with special health care needs: development and evaluation of a short screening instrument.

BACKGROUND: Public agencies, health care plans, providers, and consumer organizations share the need to monitor the health care needs and quality of care for children with special health care needs (CSHCN). Doing so requires a definition of CSHCN and a precise methodology for operationalizing that definition. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to develop an efficient and flexible consequence-based screening instrument that identifies CSHCN across populations with rates commensurate with other studies of CSHCN. METHODS: The CSHCN Screener was developed using the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) definition of CSHCN and building on the conceptual and empirical properties of the Questionnaire for Identifying Children with Chronic Conditions (QuICCC) and other consequence-based models for identifying CSHCN. The CSHCN Screener was administered to 3 samples: a national sample of households with children (n = 17985), children enrolled in Medicaid managed care health plans (n = 3894), and children receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits in Washington State (n = 1550). The efficiency, impact of further item reduction, and flexibility of administration mode were evaluated. Rates and expected variation in rates across demographic groups of children positively identified by one or more of the 5 CSHCN Screener item sequences in each sample were examined and multinomial logistic regression analysis were conducted to evaluate the effect of child characteristics in predicting positive identification. RESULTS: The CSHCN Screener took approximately 1 minute per child to administer by telephone and 2.1 minutes per household. During self-administration, over 98% of respondents completed each of the 5 CSHCN Screener item sequences, and respondents accurately followed each of the item skip patterns 94% of the time. Mailed surveys and telephone-administered surveys led to similar rates of positive identification in the same sample. Two Screener items would have identified 80%-90% of children positively identified as CSHCN across the study samples, although using only 2 items eliminates some children with more complex health needs. Rates of children identified by the CSHCN Screener varied according to age, sex, race/ethnicity, health status, and utilization of health services. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study indicate that the CSHCN Screener requires minimal time to administer, is acceptable for use as both an interview-based and self-administered survey, and that rates of children positively identified by the CSHCN Screener vary according to child demographic, health, and health care-need characteristics. The CSHCN Screener provides a comprehensive yet parsimonious and flexible method for identifying CSHCN, making it more feasible than existing measures for standardized use across public agencies, health care plans, and other users.

Adolescent↗

Rehabilitation Medicine Summit: Building Research Capacity-Executive Summary.

The general objective of the "Rehabilitation Medicine Summit: Building Research Capacity" was to advance and promote research in medical rehabilitation by making recommendations to expand research capacity. The five elements of research capacity that guided the discussions were (1) researchers; (2) research culture, environment, and infrastructure; (3) funding; (4) partnerships; and (5) metrics. The 100 participants included representatives of professional organizations, consumer groups, academic departments, researchers, governmental funding agencies, and the private sector. The small group discussions and plenary sessions generated an array of problems, possible solutions, and recommended actions. A post-Summit, multiorganizational initiative is called to pursue the agendas outlined in this report.

Biomedical Research↗

Client empowerment in psychiatry and the professional abuse of clients: where do we stand?

OBJECTIVE: There is a considerable imbalance of power in psychiatry that sits in favor of professionals. The abuse and discrimination of the mentally ill are not just restricted to the mental health system but may also exist in the primary care sector. This article aims to evaluate the effects of power imbalance on discrimination and abuse of people with mental illness by professionals. METHODS: A literature search was carried out on MEDLINE using the key words consumerism, client empowerment, abuse, and mental illness. Publications of two leading British consumer organizations: MIND and the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health were hand searched. Relevant cross-references from the papers reviewed were consulted. Studies with information on the reasons for power imbalance and prevalence of discrimination and abuse of clients were critically reviewed. Explanations are offered as to why abuse and discrimination of clients by professionals may still occur despite the onset of the client empowerment movement. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The available evidence suggests that reasons for abuse of mental health clients fall under two broad categories: 1) direction from the imbalance of power and 2) those pertinent to the nature of physical or sexual abuse. Different grades of client empowerment and ways of strengthening it are described. CONCLUSIONS: There appears to be a link between power imbalance and abuse of clients with mental illness by professionals in all health care sectors. Client empowerment may help rectify the power imbalance. Prospective studies are required to establish whether client empowerment can reduce discrimination and abuse of clients and whether abuse is a consequence of power imbalance. Recommendations for future studies are made.

Humans↗

A safety assessment of fixed combinations of acetaminophen and acetylsalicylic acid, coformulated with caffeine.

Overuse and abuse of phenacetin-containing mixed analgesics has contributed to end-stage renal disease. Combination analgesics, especially those coformulated with caffeine, have been implicated as imparting a greater risk of analgesic-associated nephropathy (AAN) than single or coformulated analgesics without caffeine. This has led to a recommendation that the sale of "two plus caffeine" analgesic mixtures be reclassified from over-the-counter to prescription only availability. There is a rational basis for coformulating acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and acetaminophen (paracetamol) as this reduces the dose of each, without altering efficacy. The coformulation of caffeine with these analgesics has a significant adjuvant effect and increases analgesic efficacy 1.4-1.6-fold. Currently available animal and human data do not support the notion that the nephrotoxic risk from coformulated ASA and acetaminophen is higher than the risk from either ASA or acetaminophen alone, in equivalent analgesic doses. There are no epidemiological data that implicate caffeine in AAN, and only limited evidence that links excessive acetaminophen usage to renal disease. There is no evidence that caffeine increases analgesics papillotoxicity directly. The presence of caffeine in mixtures of analgesics are no more addictive than other sources of caffeine. There is no evidence to suggest that adding caffeine to analgesic mixtures enhances the potential for promoting analgesic misuse in the general population. Thus distinct therapeutic benefits of ASA, acetaminophen and caffeine appear to outweigh any known risk. It is doubtful if preventing the availability of these products will significantly affect the role of analgesic abuse/overuse in end-stage renal disease. Better risk management would come from a focused educational program, developed in a close collaboration between industry, healthcare professionals and consumer organizations, such a program must warn against the potential dangers of analgesic and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug misuse.

Acetaminophen↗

Monensin and growth hormone effects on glucose metabolism in the prepartum cow.

Twenty-seven multiparous Holstein dairy cows were used to evaluate the singular and combined effects of somatotropin and monensin treatments during the late dry period on postpartum metabolism and production. Treatments were 1) control, 2) injection of exogenous bovine somatotropin (bST); 3) total mixed rations top-dressed with 300 mg of monensin/d, and 4) monensin and somatotropin in combination, during the last 28 d before expected parturition. A 500-mg subcutaneous injection of sustained-release somatotropin was administered at d-28 and -14 relative to expected calving. Glucose kinetics was evaluated on d 15 before expected calving date using a tracer dose of 45 mg of U-13C-labeled glucose. Jugular blood was sampled 20 times during 8 h after tracer injection. Intake of DM was 1.9% of BW, and daily feed was supplied in six equal meals before the glucose kinetic assay. The CONSAM simulation program, which assumes a two-compartment model, was used to analyze the glucose 13C enrichment curves with time. Average glucose distribution space, glucose mass, and glucose residence time in compartment 1 were increased in monensin-treated cows and were decreased in bST-treated cows. On the day of the glucose kinetic assay, blood concentrations of glucose, NEFA, and urea were similar among treatments. The changes in glucose pool and distribution space suggest that monensin increases propionate supply and bST facilitates glucose flow into glucose consuming organs. It is concluded that dairy cows might benefit from a combined application of monensin and bST before parturition.

Animals↗

Project LEAN: a national campaign to reduce dietary fat consumption.

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation initiated a social marketing campaign in 1987, to reduce the nation's risk for heart disease and some cancers. Project LEAN (Low-Fat Eating for America Now) encourages reduction in dietary fat consumption to 30 percent of total calories, by 1998, through public service advertising, publicity, and point-of-purchase programs in restaurants, supermarkets, and school and worksite cafeterias. The campaign has joined efforts with the Partners for Better Health, a coalition of over thirty national health and consumer organizations that are working towards a common goal of improved health through nutrition. Project LEAN has provided funds to states and communities to initiate local campaigns and work with chefs, food professionals, and the food industry to change norms and customs in food preparation and manufacturing. The goal of the campaign is to accelerate the trend in fat reduction and to stimulate the greater availability of low-fat food choices in the marketplace.

Adult↗

Rehabilitation Medicine Summit: Building Research Capacity: executive summary.

The general objective of the "Rehabilitation Medicine Summit: Building Research Capacity" was to advance and promote research in medical rehabilitation by making recommendations to expand research capacity. The five elements of research capacity that guided the discussions were: (1) researchers; (2) research culture, environment, and infrastructure; (3) funding; (4) partnerships; and (5) metrics. The 100 participants included representatives of professional organizations, consumer groups, academic departments, researchers, governmental funding agencies, and the private sector. The small group discussions and plenary sessions generated an array of problems, possible solutions, and recommended actions. A post-Summit, multi-organizational initiative is called to pursue the agendas outlined in this report.

Allied Health Occupations↗

Psychopharmacologic treatment strategies for depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.

Patients with serious psychiatric disorders are frequently treated by primary care physicians, who may have difficulty keeping up with recent advances in psychiatry. This paper presents an updated synopsis for three major psychiatric illnesses: major depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Current definitions, updated diagnostic criteria, short- and long-term treatment strategies with algorithms, and special challenges for the clinician are discussed for each of these illnesses. On the basis of each illness's distinct characteristics, five treatment principles are emphasized: 1) Treatment strategies should be long-term and should emphasize adherence, 2) treatment choice should be empirical, 3) combinations of medications may be helpful, 4) a combination of psychosocial and pharmacologic treatments may be more useful than either alone, and 5) the family or "significant others" as well as a consumer organization need to be involved. Some of the new directions in dinical research to refine these strategies and meet these challenges are also described.

Algorithms↗

[Study of the new settler Beroe ovata in the Black sea].

Primary data on population, size, and distribution of a new settler--comb jelly Beroe ovata--in the Black Sea are presented. We studied certain aspects of its nutrition, consumed organisms, and digestion time. Comb jellies Mnemiopsis leidyi and Pleurobachia pileus were established as the nutritional targets of B. ovata. Mnemiopsis proved to be more accessible and assimilable. Preliminary data on metabolic level and threshold oxygen content in B. ovata were obtained; proportions of dry and wet weight of B. ovata were determined. Population changes of new settler Mnemiopsis and other jellylike animals in the Northeast part of the sea induced by B. ovata were analyzed. We observed sharp decrease in population of Mnemiopsis, a species that induced degradation of the Black Sea ecosystem within the last decade.

Animals↗

Promoting healthy skin in various settings.

Skin recently has attained a status of importance among vital organs. Consumers, insurance companies, legislators, and regulatory agencies expect that skin health will be maintained, improved, or restored. As health care providers cut costs in response to new payment systems, interventions for skin and wound care must be evidence-based and cost-effective. A comprehensive healthy skin program, guided by the Center for Advanced Nursing Practice's Evidence-Based Practice Model, was designed and implemented by a skin wound ostomy continence nurse coordinator with successful outcomes, including expansion of the program into diverse settings throughout the community.

Community Health Services↗

Guidelines for obstetric anaesthetic research.

Published in May this year, after consultation with a variety of relevant groups including appropriate consumer organizations, these guidelines are designed both to safeguard the interests of research participants and to facilitate the research process.

Anesthesia↗

The FAIR-INNOVATION dissemination project.

The goal of the FAIR-INNOVATION dissemination project (FLAIR-FLOW 3) (1997-2000) was to disseminate R&D results from the EU FAIR programme to small and medium-sized food enterprises (SMEs), health professionals (HPs) and consumer groups (CGs) in 19 European countries. The dissemination routes were: (i) one-page technical documents on research results; (ii) their reproduction on the internet; (iii) their reproduction in journals Europe-wide; (iv) workshops on results from EU-supported food research programmes; and (v) lectures and poster presentations by FLAIR-FLOW network personnel. Of the 135 one-pagers produced, 62% were targeted at SMEs, 18% at HPs and 5% at CGs. The remaining 15% were on food safety and were common to the three target groups. There were 1047 publications arising from one-pages in trade journals, and over 8000 requests (paper route) were received for follow-up information. These were in addition to 240 k downloads from the FLAIR-FLOW 3 web site (www.flair-flow.com). Initiatives for HPs included specially collated versions of the one-pagers for major conferences, 20 focused workshops, and interaction with the European Federation of Associations of Dieticians. Currently, dissemination is continuing through FLAIR-FLOW 4 (2001-2003) in 24 countries. FLAIR-FLOW 4 is co-ordinated by M. Jean François Quillien from INRA-CRIAA (FR) at criaa@rennes.inra.fr.

Communication↗

Point source outbreaks of Campylobacter jejuni infection--are they more common than we think and what might cause them?

Despite being the commonest bacterial cause of infectious intestinal disease (IID) in England and Wales, outbreaks of campylobacter infection are rarely reported. However, data from the Campylobacter Sentinel Surveillance Scheme suggested that outbreaks might be more common than was previously suspected, since a high proportion of cases reported other illness in the home or in the community at the same time as their illness. To identify factors that might lead to these apparent outbreaks, the exposures of cases of Campylobacter jejuni infection reporting other illness, either in the home or the community, were compared with those for cases not reporting other illness using case-case methodology. Illness in the home was associated with consuming organic meats in the winter, having contact with a pet suffering from diarrhoea or visiting a farm in the 2 weeks before the onset of symptoms. Illness in the community was associated with the consumption of foods in restaurants or drinking unpasteurized milk. Prevention of campylobacter infection requires that better methods of outbreak detection and investigation are developed, which in turn should lead to a better understanding of risk factors.

Adolescent↗

Off-label or out of bounds? Prescriber and marketer liability for unapproved uses of FDA-approved drugs.

Professor O'Reilly's study of recent drug review legislation applies a historical and holistic view of promotion practices for unapproved uses of prescription drugs. He faults Congress for moving public health protections away from a strictly protective mode and toward assistance to drug marketers. He argues that the adverse health consequences of "off-label" promotion of drugs are not well understood, and that the 1997 amendments deserved the public health interest while expanding pharmaceutical company profits.

Consumer Organizations↗