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Consistent Use (consistent + use)
Selected AbstractsNonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug use and risk of bladder cancer in the health professionals follow-up studyINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 10 2007Jeanine M. Genkinger Abstract Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) use, particularly aspirin, may lower the risk of several cancers, including bladder. NSAIDs may reduce development of bladder tumors by decreasing inflammation, inhibiting cycloxygenase-2, inhibiting proliferation and inducing apoptosis of cancer cells. However, acetaminophen, a major metabolite of phenacetin, may be positively associated with bladder cancer risk. Results from case-control studies on NSAIDs and acetaminophen use and bladder cancer risk are inconsistent. We investigated the association between NSAID and acetaminophen use and bladder cancer risk in a large cohort of US males. Among 49,448 men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, 607 bladder cancer cases were confirmed during 18 years of follow-up. Relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated by Cox proportional hazards models. Multivariate RR were adjusted for age, current smoking status, pack years, geographic region and fluid intake. No significant associations were observed for regular aspirin (,2 tablets per week), (RR = 0.99, 95% CI 0.83,1.18), ibuprofen (RR = 1.11, 95% CI 0.81,1.54), acetaminophen (RR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.67,1.39) or total NSAID use (not including acetaminophen; RR = 1.01, 95% CI 0.85,1.20) and bladder cancer risk compared with nonuse. Consistent use (over 6 years) of aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen and total NSAIDs, compared to nonuse, was not associated with bladder cancer risk. No association was observed between aspirin frequency and dose and bladder cancer risk. We observed no effect-modification by smoking, age or fluid intake. Our results suggest that regular NSAID or acetaminophen use has no substantial impact on bladder cancer risk among men. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Current practices in depression careTHE JOURNAL OF CONTINUING EDUCATION IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS, Issue S1 2007Albert Yeung MD Abstract Despite improved awareness among the medical community concerning common mental health disorders, the high prevalence of depression in the United States remains unchanged1 and has been compounded by increasing evidence of gaps in mental health care for ethnic and racial minorities.1,2 Thus, there is a strong need for the timely creation of comprehensive educational initiatives aimed at improving the quality of care provided by mental health professionals and primary care physicians. Fundamental to this process is the examination of current treatment standards, as well as identification of practices that require improved physician education. Consistent use of appropriate screening tools, diagnostic accuracy and timeliness, continual assessment of illness severity, adherence to practice guidelines, and individualized patient care need heightened attention to improve outcomes. This article describes the most prevalent types of depression and summarizes current practices in depression care, with an emphasis on treatment standards and opportunities for improved performance. [source] Rubber dam usage for endodontic treatment: a reviewINTERNATIONAL ENDODONTIC JOURNAL, Issue 11 2009I. A. Ahmad Abstract Rubber dam has been available to the dental profession for over 140 years. During this time, the use of rubber dam has been perfected, universally taught and recommended by professional organizations. Unfortunately, its consistent use has been rejected by many in the profession. The literature suggests that rubber dam is not used routinely by dental practitioners for root canal treatment. Many unfounded reasons have been cited for its lack of use, including concerns over patient acceptance, time required for application, cost of equipment and materials, insufficient training, difficulty in use and low treatment fees. Failure to use rubber dam has been shown to influence the choice of root canal irrigant, has a negative impact on treatment outcome and places the patient at risk of swallowing or aspirating materials and instruments. Methods to popularize rubber dam amongst general practitioners are discussed. [source] Supporting inquiry learning by promoting normative understanding of multivariable causalityJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 9 2003Alla Keselman Early adolescents may lack the cognitive and metacognitive skills necessary for effective inquiry learning. In particular, they are likely to have a nonnormative mental model of multivariable causality in which effects of individual variables are neither additive nor consistent. Described here is a software-based intervention designed to facilitate students' metalevel and performance-level inquiry skills by enhancing their understanding of multivariable causality. Relative to an exploration-only group, sixth graders who practiced predicting an outcome (earthquake risk) based on multiple factors demonstrated increased attention to evidence, improved metalevel appreciation of effective strategies, and a trend toward consistent use of a controlled comparison strategy. Sixth graders who also received explicit instruction in making predictions based on multiple factors showed additional improvement in their ability to compare multiple instances as a basis for inferences and constructed the most accurate knowledge of the system. Gains were maintained in transfer tasks. The cognitive skills and metalevel understanding examined here are essential to inquiry learning. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 898,921, 2003 [source] Unexpected but authentic use of an ethnically,marked dialectJOURNAL OF SOCIOLINGUISTICS, Issue 4 2002Julie Sweetland Recent work on language crossing in the U.S. has examined the temporary appropriation of African American Vernacular English by white youth in an effort to participate in the current popularity and prestige of hip,hop culture, or in order to highlight racial boundaries. While such verbal behavior probably encompasses most white use of AAVE, it is not the only way in which whites (or other non,blacks) can use the variety. This paper presents a case study of the language of a 23 year old white female who makes consistent use of many distinctive linguistic features associated with AAVE. I argue that the interaction of ideologies of race, class, localness and language allow her to be considered an ingroup member despite her biographical race. This suggests that there is a tension between academic linguistic theory and actual speaker practice in assigning authenticity to individuals, and I conclude that language ideologies and other forms of qualitative evidence should be taken into account by sociolinguists looking at the link between language and race. [source] Oral Sex and Condom Use Among Young People In the United KingdomPERSPECTIVES ON SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, Issue 1 2006Nicole Stone CONTEXT:: The development of UK national targets to reduce the transmission of HIV and other STDs has focused health promotion efforts on advocating the use of condoms during penetrative vaginal and anal sex. However, other behaviors that can facilitate STD transmission,such as oral sex and, in particular, fellatio,have received limited attention. METHODS:: Between 2003 and 2005, a sample of 1,373 full- and part-time students, primarily aged 16,18, completed questionnaires about their knowledge, attitudes and experiences related to sexual behavior and health. Chi-square tests were used to assess differences by sexual experience and gender. Supplementary data were obtained from sexual event diaries completed by 108 young people. RESULTS:: Fifty-six percent of survey respondents had experienced fellatio or cunnilingus, including 22% of those who had not yet engaged in penetrative intercourse. Of young people who had had vaginal intercourse, 70% had previously had oral sex. Among those who had experienced fellatio once, 17% had used a condom, but only 2% of respondents who had engaged in fellatio more than once reported consistent use. Reduced pleasure and lack of motivation, desire and forethought were reasons given for not using condoms during fellatio; hygiene, avoidance of the dilemma of whether to spit or swallow ejaculate, and taste were commonly cited as triggers for use. CONCLUSION:: Greater efforts are needed to publicize the risk of exposure to STDs that many young people face because of unprotected noncoital sexual activities before, as well as after, they enter into relationships involving intercourse. [source] Fall hazard control observed on residential construction sitesAMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 6 2009OT/L, Vicki Kaskutas OTD Abstract Background Falls are a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in the construction industry. This study measured fall hazards at residential construction sites. Methods Trained carpenters administered the St. Louis Audit of Fall Risks and interviewed carpenters. The prevalence of fall prevention practices meeting safety criteria was counted and correlations explored. Results We identified a high prevalence of fall hazards at the 197 residential sites audited. Roof sheathing met safety criteria most consistently (81%) and truss setting least consistently (28%). Use of personal fall arrest and monitoring of unguarded floor openings were rare. Safer performance on several scales was correlated. Construction sites of large-sized contractors were generally safer than smaller contractors. Apprentice carpenters were less familiar with their employers' fall prevention plan than experienced workers. Conclusions Safety could be improved with consistent use of recognized fall prevention practices at residential construction sites. Am. J. Ind. Med. 52:491,499, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Criteria for determining native distributions of biota: the case of the northern plains killifish in the Cheyenne River drainage, North America,AQUATIC CONSERVATION: MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS, Issue 1 2009Christopher W. Hoagstrom Abstract 1.Criteria exist to help determine native distributions of species, but they are seldom explicitly used. 2.As an example of their utility, nine revised and expanded criteria are applied to assess the status of northern plains killifish in the Cheyenne River drainage. Use of each criterion is demonstrated. The criteria are: (1) history, (2) detectibility, (3) biogeography, (4) life-history, (5) human affinity, (6) invasion path, (7) invasiveness, (8) phylogenetics, and (9) pre-history. 3.Upon review, only one criterion weakly supports non-native status, whereas five strongly support native status, one weakly supports native status, and two are equivocal. 4.Criteria to determine native distributions provide a rigorous method to assess available information, reveal knowledge gaps, and produce testable hypotheses. As demonstrated here, their consistent use as a cohesive set would greatly improve understanding of species distributions, benefiting conservation efforts and related meta-analyses. Published in 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The impact of prognosis without treatment on doctors' and patients' resource allocation decisions and its relevance to new drug recommendation processesBRITISH JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 2 2008D. Ross Camidge What is already known about this subject ,,The dominant health economic units upon which new treatment funding decisions are made are the incremental cost per life year gained (LYG) or the cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained. ,,Neither of these units modifies the amount of health gained, by the amount of health patients would have had if they had not been given the treatment under consideration, which may unfairly undervalue the treatments for poor prognosis conditions. ,,How certain patients make decisions about their own treatment has previously been explored, but not how they, or doctors, would allocate hypothetical resource within a healthcare system given information on disease-treatment scenarios' prognoses with and without treatment. What this study adds ,,Information on prognosis without treatment is used within the resource allocation strategies of many doctors and most patients. ,,Individuals use this information in a variety of different ways and a single dominant strategy for quantitative modification of health units is not apparent. ,,Information on prognosis without treatment, or prognosis with standard treatment, is available from the control arm of randomized controlled clinical trials and should be used qualitatively to facilitate decision-making around the second inflexion point on cost per QALY/LYG acceptability curves. Aims Health economic assessments increasingly contribute to funding decisions on new treatments. Treatments for many poor prognosis conditions perform badly in such assessments because of high costs and modest effects on survival. We aimed to determine whether underlying shortness of prognosis should also be considered as a modifier in such assessments. Methods Two hundred and eighty-three doctors and 201 oncology patients were asked to allocate treatment resource between hypothetical patients with unspecified life-shortening diseases. The prognoses with and without treatment were varied such that consistent use of one of four potential allocation strategies could be deduced: life years gained (LYGs) , which did not incorporate prognosis without treatment information; percentage increase in life years (PILY); life expectancy with treatment (LEWT) or immediate risk of death (IRD). Results Random choices were rare; 47% and 64% of doctors and patients, respectively, used prognosis without treatment in their strategies; while 50% and 32%, respectively, used pure LYG-based strategies. Ranking orders were LYG > PILY > IRD > LEWT (doctors) and LEWT > LYG > IRD > PILY (patients). When LYG information alone could not be used, 76% of doctors prioritized shorter prognoses, compared with 45% of patients. Conclusions Information on prognosis without treatment is used within the resource allocation strategies of many doctors and most patients, and should be considered as a qualitative modifier during the health economic assessments of new treatments for life-shortening diseases. A single dominant strategy incorporating this information for any quantitative modification of health units is not apparent. [source] The importance of consistent use of denominators across patient groups in assessing responses in clinical trials , response to Davies & CavenaghBRITISH JOURNAL OF HAEMATOLOGY, Issue 6 2006D. Russo No abstract is available for this article. [source] | ||||||||||