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French-speaking Switzerland (French-speak + switzerland)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

The psychological determinants of low-rate daily smoking

ADDICTION, Issue 10 2004
Jean-François Etter
ABSTRACT Aims To compare low-rate daily smokers (one to five cigarettes/day) with other daily smokers, using the Transtheoretical Model of Change as a framework. Design Mail survey with a follow-up after 7 months. Setting A randomly selected population sample in French-speaking Switzerland, in 1998. Participants A total of 2338 daily smokers aged 25 + years, including 95 smokers of one to five cigarettes/day, 324 smokers of six to 10 cigarettes/day, 399 smokers of 11,15 cigarettes/day and 1520 smokers of 16 + cigarettes/day, and 1765 people (75% of 2338) at 7-month follow-up. Findings Compared with smokers of 16 + cigarettes/day, low-rate smokers of one to five cigarettes/day included more women (67% versus 46%, P < 0.001), were 4 years younger (P < 0.001), were less motivated to quit smoking (62% versus 37% in the ,precontemplation' stage of change, P < 0.001), thought that quitting would be easier (,3.4 points on a 0,10 scale, P < 0.001) and were less bothered by the risk of smoking. Low-rate smokers were taking control more actively over their smoking, e.g. they more often stayed away from places where people smoked, sat in the no-smoking sections in public places and tried to delay as much as they could their first cigarette of the day. Only 45% of low-rate smokers were still in the same category 7 months later. Conclusions For many smokers, low-rate smoking may result from a conscious effort to limit their cigarette consumption. Being a low-rate smoker was a temporary condition for most people. Low-rate smokers should be considered as a specific, although heterogeneous group. [source]

Prevalence of psychotropic drug use in nursing homes for the aged in Quebec and in the French-speaking area of Switzerland

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 8 2005
Micheline Gobert
Abstract Background The use of psychotropic drugs is high in institutionalised elderly, which raises the question of its appropriateness. This study aimed to: (1) estimate the use of psychotropics, for each family, in terms of the prevalence and dosage among the elderly in nursing homes in French-speaking Switzerland and Quebec; and (2) assess, for each family of psychotropic drugs and for each care facility, the prevalence of use and departure from average prescription (ratio of observed-to-expected prevalence). Method An administrative database was used for this cross-sectional analysis. The sample included 8183 Quebec and 7592 Swiss long-term care residents. Three classes of psychotropics (antipsychotics, antidepressants, hypnotics-anxiolytics) were defined as dichotomous variables. Logistic regressions were conducted to identify residents characteristics associated with the use of each psychotropic type and to compute expected prevalence. Results Swiss residents were slightly older and less dependent than Quebec residents. Use of psychotropic drugs was higher in Swiss than in Quebec residents, on the whole as well as for each family of drug. A total of 78.1% of Swiss residents used at least one drug as compared to 66.9% in Quebec. Ninety percent of residents were given less than 7 defined daily doses per week, irrespective of the drug family. According to Beer's criteria, only 4.9% of prescriptions were inadequate. In Quebec and in Switzerland, the prevalence of antidepressant use was associated with the prevalence of hypnotic-anxiolytic use. No ratios of observed-to-expected reached statistical significance. Interpretation There was a considerable use of psychotropics in Quebec and Switzerland with, seemingly, no dramatic departure from the average practice. Our data cannot tell if there is a global overuse of psychotropics, but indicated that dosage and medication selection seem adequate. Physicians should critically reassess the necessity of prescribed medications for their patients. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Marketing of cultural institutions in French-speaking Switzerland

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NONPROFIT & VOLUNTARY SECTOR MARKETING, Issue 3 2007
François H. Courvoisier
Marketing in cultural institutions is a field that has rarely been studied in French-speaking Switzerland so far. Therefore this paper explores the way in which visitors-clients appreciate qualitatively their contacts with cultural institutions concerned with the visual arts in comparison with the communication strategy of the curators and directors of museums. A survey has been conducted amongst 20 museums and over 200 visitors of French-speaking Switzerland to evaluate the way visitors perceive the marketing of cultural institutions and behave accordingly or not. The paper concludes with recommendations to improve the knowledge of the visitors' background and expectations. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]