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Sociodemographic Items (sociodemographic + item)

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Medical Sciences	100%

Selected Abstracts

Effect of daytime, weekday and year of admission on outcome in acute ischaemic stroke patients treated with thrombolytic therapy

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 4 2010
M. Jauss
Background:, Since doubts were raised, if a challenging medical procedure such as acute stroke treatment including thrombolysis with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rTPA) is available with identical standard and outcome 24 h and 7 days a week our aim was to examine if acute stroke patients defined by onset-admission time (OAT) of , 3 h were treated differently or had distinct outcome when admitted during off duty hours (day versus night and weekend versus weekdays) and if any differences in treatment or outcome were apparent when comparing patients admitted in the year 2003 with patients admitted in the year 2006. Methods:, We analyzed 2003,2006 data of a prospective registry and grouped patients by time, day, and year of admission. The evaluation was limited to patients that were diagnosed with ischaemic stroke and with OAT of , 3 h. Medical and sociodemographic items, use of thrombolytic treatment, complications during clinical course and place of discharge were obtained. Clinical state on admission and discharge was assessed using the modified Rankin scale. Comparison with chi-square test, t -test and logistic regression was performed. Results:, Patient's characteristics, rate of thrombolysis, and outcome were independent from time or day of admission. Proportion of patients with good clinical state at discharge increased significantly from 2003 to 2006 together with a higher rate of rTPA treatment without increase of intracranial hemorrhage. Proportion of patients discharged in good clinical condition after rTPA treatment increased from 34% to 44%. Conclusions:, Stroke treatment in potential candidates for thrombolytic therapy revealed no impairment on weekend or at night already in 2003. During 4 years, it was possible to increase rate of rTPA treatment from 8.9% to 21.8% without increment of complications or death, confirming that rTPA is safe and can be implemented with full daily and weekly coverage. [source]

Relationship Between Personality Traits, Job Satisfaction, and Job Involvement Among Taiwanese Community Health Volunteers

PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING, Issue 3 2007
I-chuan Li
ABSTRACT Objective: To understand the relationship between job involvement, job satisfaction, and personality traits among health volunteers in one Taiwan community. It is not easy to retain voluntary workers as part of health programs even though they have been trained. Previous research has shown that in order to increase job involvement, volunteers must effectively fulfill their needs to achieve and obtain job satisfaction. Design and sample: Cross-sectional design. Surveys were mailed to 317 health volunteers at community health centers in I-lan County, northern Taiwan; 213 complete responses (67%) were received. Methods: The survey instrument included sociodemographic items and scales measuring locus of control, achievement orientation, job involvement, and job satisfaction. Results: Most respondents (94.8%) were female and their average age was 49.6 years. In terms of personality traits, most volunteers showed internal control orientation. Explainable variance for the prediction of job involvement from a combination of participation frequency, on-job training, achievement orientation, and job satisfaction was 33.6%. Conclusions: The results suggest that there is a need to strengthen cooperative relationships among volunteers by initiating well-planned volunteer training programs and growth groups. These should involve the empowerment concept with the aim of enhancing the volunteers' interpersonal relationships and job satisfaction. [source]

Oral health disparities and food insecurity in working poor Canadians

COMMUNITY DENTISTRY AND ORAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 4 2009
Vanessa Muirhead
Abstract,,, Objectives:, This study explored oral health disparities associated with food insecurity in working poor Canadians. Methods:, We used a cross-sectional stratified study design and telephone survey methodology to obtain data from 1049 working poor persons aged between 18 and 64 years. The survey instrument contained sociodemographic items, self-reported oral health measures, access to dental care indicators (dental visiting behaviour and insurance coverage) and questions about competing financial demands. Food-insecure persons gave ,often' or ,sometimes' responses to any of the three food insecurity indicators used in the Canadian Community Health Survey (2003) assessing ,worry' about not having enough food, not eating enough food and not having the desired quality of food because of insufficient finances in the previous 12 months. Results:, Food-insecure working poor persons had poor oral health compared with food-secure working poor persons indicated by a higher percentage of denture wearers (P < 0.001) and a higher prevalence of toothache, pain and functional impacts related to chewing, speaking, sleeping and work difficulties (P < 0.001). Fewer food-insecure persons rated their oral health as good or very good (P < 0.001). Logistic regression analyses showed that oral health disparities between food-insecure and food-secure persons related to denture wearing, having a toothache, reporting poor/very poor self-rated oral health or experiencing an oral health impact persisted after adjusting for sociodemographic factors and access to dental care factors (P < 0.05). Food-insecure working poor persons reported relinquishing goods or services in order to pay for necessary dental care. Conclusions:, This study identified oral health disparities within an already marginalized group not alleviated by access to professional dental care. Working poor persons regarded professional dental care as a competing financial demand. [source]

Predictors of dental care utilization among working poor Canadians

COMMUNITY DENTISTRY AND ORAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 3 2009
V. E. Muirhead
Abstract,,, Objective:, This study used the Gelberg,Andersen Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations to identify predictors of dental care utilization by working poor Canadians. Methods:, A cross-sectional stratified sampling study design and telephone survey methodology was used to collect data from a nationally representative sample of 1049 working poor individuals aged 18 to 64 years. Working poor persons worked ,20 h a week, were not full-time students and had annual family incomes <$34 300. A pretested questionnaire included sociodemographic items, self-reported oral health measures and two dental care utilization outcomes: time since their last dental visit and the usual reason for dental visits. Results:, Hierarchical stepwise logistic analyses identified independent predictors associated with visiting the dentist >1 year ago: male gender (OR = 1.63; P = 0.005), aged 25,34 years (OR = 2.05; P = 0.02), paying for dental care with cash or credit (OR = 2.31; P < 0.001), past welfare recipients (OR = 1.65; P = 0.03), <21 teeth (OR = 4.23; P < 0.001) and having a perceived need for dental treatment (OR=2.78; P < 0.001). Sacrificing goods or services to pay for dental treatment was associated with visiting the dentist within the past year. The predictors of visiting the dentist only when in pain/trouble were lone parent status (OR = 4.04; P < 0.001), immigrant status (OR = 1.72; P = 0.006), paying for dental care with cash or credit (OR = 2.71; P < 0.001), a history of an inability to afford dental care (OR = 1.62; P = 0.01), a satisfactory/poor/very poor self-rated oral health (OR = 2.10; P < 0.001), number of teeth <21 (OR = 2.58; P < 0.001) and having a perceived need for dental treatment (OR = 2.99; P < 0.001). Conclusions:, This study identified predisposing and enabling vulnerabilities that jeopardize the dental care-seeking practices of working poor persons. Dental care utilization was associated with relinquishing spending on other goods and services, which suggests that dental care utilization is a competing financial demand for economically constrained adults. [source]