Health Component (health + component)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Tuberculosis control and managed competition in Colombia

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT, Issue S1 2004
Maria Patricia Arbelaez
Abstract Law 100 introduced the Health Sector Reform in Colombia, a model of managed competition. This article addresses the effects of this model in terms of output and outcomes of TB control. Trends in main TB control indicators were analysed using secondary data sources, and 25 interviews were done with key informants from public and private insurers and provider institutions, and from the health directorate level. We found a deterioration in the performance of TB control: a decreasing number of BCG vaccine doses applied, a reduction in case finding and contacts identification, low cure rates and an increasing loss of follow up, which mainly affects poor people. Fragmentation occurred as the atomization and discontinuity of the technical processes took place, there was a lack of coordination, as well as a breakdown between individual and collective interventions, and the health information system began to disintegrate. The introduction of the Managed Competition (MC) in Colombia appeared to have adverse effects on TB control due to the dominance of the economic rationality in the health system and the weak state stewardship. Our recommendations are to restructure the reform's public health component, strengthen the technical capacity in public health of the state, mainly at the local and departmental levels, and to improve the health information system by reorienting its objectives to public health goals. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Interceptive orthodontics in the real world of community dentistry

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRIC DENTISTRY, Issue 2 2000
K. Al Nimri
Objective. To test the applicability and effectiveness of interceptive orthodontics in a community field trial. Design. Prospective screening for suitable malocclusions, implementation of treatment and analysis of outcomes 12 months later. Setting. Community dentistry in urban and rural areas of Northern Ireland, 1996,98. Subjects and methods. The initial sample consisted of 2002 children (1014 boys, 988 girls) who were screened in routine community dental inspections. One thousand and sixty (523 aged 9 years, 537 aged 11 years) were domiciled in the urban area of greater Belfast and 942 (479 aged 9 years, 463 aged 11 years) in the rural area of Enniskillen and Omagh, Co. Tyrone. Interventions. Interceptive orthodontic treatment. Outcome measures. Dental health component of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) and specially devised local indices of treatment outcomes. Results. With the use of an interception gauge, orthodontic screening was included in the community dental inspections without difficulty. Thirty-three per cent of children were in need of interceptive treatment. Only 20% of those in need both attended for recall and underwent treatment. Compliance was better in the rural area but the need, with particular reference to extraction of carious first molars, was greater in the urban area. The numbers of children in IOTN grades 4 and 5 fell from 69% at the beginning of the study to 42% at the end. The outcome judged by local indices was 94% in the range of complete success to minimal improvement with only 2% showing deterioration. Conclusions. One in three children screened in community dental inspections at age 9 and 11 years would benefit from interceptive orthodontics. Parents and children seem reluctant to accept offers of interceptive orthodontics and to having the treatment carried out. Among those complying fully, the interceptive measures are very successful. Not only does community interceptive orthodontics improve the condition being treated but also reduces the need for further treatment. [source]


Baseline characteristics of participants in the oral health component of the Women's Interagency HIV Study

COMMUNITY DENTISTRY AND ORAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 2 2004
Roseann Mulligan
Abstract ,,, Objectives:, This study described baseline sociodemographic and oral health characteristics of a subset of HIV sero-positive and sero-negative women who participated in the oral health component of the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS). Methods: In 1995,96, 584 HIV sero-positive and 151 sero-negative women from five WIHS core sites were enrolled in the oral study. Data on oral mucosa, salivary glands, dentition and periodontium, along with demographics, socioeconomics, and behavioral characteristics, were used to characterize this population. Results:, Mean (SD) age was 37 (8) years for HIV sero-positive and 36 (8) years for sero-negative women; 27% of sero-positive women had CD4 counts ,200 and 34% had viral loads >50 000 copies/ml. Sero-positive and sero-negative women were similar demographically, as well as on plaque index, gingival bleeding, linear gingival banding, and numbers of DMF teeth and surfaces, but sero-positive women had more abnormal gingival papilla (P = 0.004) and fewer teeth (P = 0.01). Among sero-positive women, those with <200 CD4 counts had more DMF teeth (P = 0.007), and the number of DMF surfaces increased with decreasing CD4 counts (P = 0.04). Sero-positive women who fit the Center for Disease Control (CDC) AIDS criteria were also more likely to have more DMF teeth (P = 0.004), DMF surfaces (P = 0.003), and decayed and/or filled (DF) root surfaces (P = 0.0002) compared to sero-positive women without AIDS. Conclusions:, Dental and periodontal variables showed little difference between HIV sero-positive and sero-negative women. Among sero-positive women, there were significant differences in coronal and root caries by AIDS diagnostic criteria, but no periodontal indicators by either AIDS diagnostic criteria or CD4 status, were observed. [source]