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Surveillance Tool (surveillance + tool)
Selected AbstractsUsefulness of prescription monitoring programs for surveillance,analysis of Schedule II opioid prescription data in Massachusetts, 1996,2006,PHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY AND DRUG SAFETY, Issue 2 2010Nathaniel Katz Abstract Purpose Electronic prescription monitoring programs (PMPs) have been developed in many states as a public health surveillance tool. We analyze herein 11 years of Massachusetts PMP data to evaluate trends in opioid prescribing, dispensing, and usage. Methods Prescription records from the Massachusetts PMP for Schedule II opioids from fiscal year 1996 to 2006 were analyzed. ,Questionable activity' (potential ,doctor shopping') estimates were based on individual use of multiple prescribers and pharmacies, and early refills. Results The number of prescriptions, doses prescribed, and individuals receiving Schedule II prescription opioids steadily increased from 1996 to 2006. Most individuals (87.5%) used 1,2 prescribers, 1,2 pharmacies, and had no early refills (2006). The greater the number of prescribers used, the greater the number of pharmacies used. When defined as the use of ,4 prescribers and ,4 pharmacies, questionable activity accounted for 2748 individuals, 47,953 prescriptions, and 2,966,056 doses (2006). The Schedule II opioid most highly associated with questionable activity was short-acting oxycodone. Conclusions PMPs can become a useful public health surveillance tool to monitor the medical and non-medical use of prescription opioids and to inform public health and safety policy. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Utilizing hospital discharge data (HD) to compare fatal and non-fatal work-related injuries among Hispanic workers in New JerseyAMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 2 2010K. McGreevy PhD Abstract Background This study explores the utilization of Hospital Discharge (HD) data to obtain estimates of work-related non-fatal injuries rates in NJ to determine if Hispanics workers have an increased risk of specific work-related injuries. In addition, HD data are used to compare the rate ratios between fatal and non-fatal injuries in this population to demonstrate the effectiveness of using HD as a surveillance tool for monitoring injury trends and performing evaluations. Methods Several types of fatal and non-fatal injuries were modeled using Poisson regression with the following predictor variables: gender, ethnicity, and year. The estimated number of workers by ethnicity employed in NJ each year was obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau, DataFerrett, Current Population Survey, November 2006, a data mining tool which accesses CPS data. Results These analyses, utilizing estimates of working population at-risk, indicate that Hispanic workers have an increased risk of four particular work-related injuries compared with non-Hispanics, and Hispanics were injured at a younger age than non-Hispanics. In addition the rankings of the rate ratios from the comparison between non-fatal and fatal risk estimates were similar; indicating that occupational surveillance of non-fatal injuries is a viable component to be considered. Conclusions HD data are effective for monitoring trends over time across ethnic groups and injury types. Therefore, non-fatal injury surveillance should be considered for targeting specific worker populations for interventions to reduce exposure to workplace hazards, and can be a valuable surveillance tool in efforts to reduce occupational injuries. Am. J. Ind. Med. 53:146,152 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] 111Indium Pentetreotide Imaging in the Evaluation of Head and Neck TumorsTHE LARYNGOSCOPE, Issue 10 2005David Myssiorek MD Abstract Objectives/Hypothesis: Peptide receptor imaging with 111Indium pentetreotide is useful in the diagnosis of diffuse neuroendocrine system tumors (DNEST) of the head and neck. Uses of 111Indium pentetreotide scintigraphy include tumor and metastases detection, familial tumor screening, and surveillance for recurrence. Using target to background ratios (TBR) could generate a comparative scale for these tumors. Study Design: A retrospective study evaluated the size, TBR, conventional imaging, and outcomes of patients imaged with 111Indium pentetreotide scintigraphy for suspected head and neck DNEST. Methods: Patients with head and neck tumors imaged by 111Indium pentetreotide scintigraphy during a nine-year period were reviewed. Data analyzed were age, sex, scintigraphy, pathology, and conventional radiology. Tumor data included dimension, multiplicity, metastases, and tumor and brain counts. Results: Fifty-three patients underwent 58 scans. The sensitivity and specificity were 93% and 92%. Several different DNEST were successfully evaluated, including familial paragangliomas and multiple paragangliomas. TBRs were variable depending on type of DNEST. Conclusions:111Indium pentetreotide scintigraphy is accurate in determining the presence of paragangliomas, carcinoid tumors, esthesioneuroblastomas, small cell neuroendocrine tumors, andmetastases. It is an excellent surveillance tool. Screening patients for familial paragangliomas can be accomplished. No reliable comparative scale to distinguish amongst the various DNEST could be developed using TBR. [source] A validation study: how effective is the Hospital Morbidity Data as a surveillance tool for heart failure in Western Australia?AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 5 2008Tiew-Hwa Katherine Teng Abstract Objective: To determine the accuracy of the hospital discharge coding of heart failure (HF) in the Western Australian (WA) Hospital Morbidity Data (HMD). Methods: A retrospective medical chart review of a sample of 1,006 patients with a principal diagnosis code indicating HF in the WA HMD was undertaken. Validation was reported against a written diagnosis of HF in the medical chart and using Boston criteria score as a gold standard. Results: The positive predictive value (PPV) of the HMD coding of HF as the principal diagnosis was 99.5% when compared to the medical chart diagnosis and 92.4% when compared to the Boston score criteria for ,definite' HF and 98.8% for a combined ,possible' and ,definite' HF Boston score. Conclusions: With the high predictive accuracy, the WA HMD can be used with confidence to monitor trends in the epidemiology of in-hospital HF patients. [source] The art of public health nursing: using confession technč in the sexual health domainJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 4 2006Dave Holmes PhD RN Aim., This paper explores the sexual health interview from a critical perspective, and to demonstrate how the confession ritual involved in this interview is implicated in the construction of subjectivities (meaning identities) as well as in fostering self-surveillance (self-regulation). Background., The concept of public health depends primarily on several surveillance tools that monitor both the incidence and prevalence rates of certain diseases. Within the subgroup of infectious diseases, sexually transmitted infections comprise a group that is closely monitored. As a result, surveillance techniques, including policing sexual practices, are part of the public health worker's mandate. Method., Using a Foucauldian perspective, we demonstrate that confession is a political technology in the sexual health domain. Findings., As one group of frontline workers in the field of sexual health, nurses are responsible for data collection through methods such as interviewing clients. Nurses play an integral role in the sexual health experience of clients as well as in the construction of the client's subjectivity. We strongly believe that a Foucauldian perspective could be useful in explaining certain current client behavioural trends (for example, an avoidance by at-risk groups of interactions with nurses in sexual health clinics) being observed in sexual health clinics across the Western hemisphere. Conclusion., Clinicians need to be aware of the confessional nature of their questions and provide requested services rather than impose services that they determine to be important and relevant. By appreciating that the sexual health interview is an invasive and embarrassing sexual confession, healthcare providers and policy-makers may be better able to design and implement more user-oriented, population-sensitive sexual health services. [source] | ||||||||||