Modern health worries, health care utilization, and symptom reporting: a cross-cultural comparison

Perception of risk to personal health from features of modern life and technology is increasing across the globe. We investigated whether these concerns exist in the Turkish setting in the same degree and whether symptom reports mediate the relationship between modern health worries (MHWs) and health care utilization in the UK and Turkish settings. A total of 506 University of St Andrews students and a total of 424 Turkish university students in Istanbul Bilgi University participated in the study. The factor structure of the MHW scale was similar in both samples and previous literature with the addition of a new factor, "ingested toxins." Turkish sample had higher scores on all items compared to the UK sample. We also tested a moderated mediational hypothesis in both samples which showed that subjective health complaints mediated the relationship between MHWs and health care utilization in both samples.     

Telesupervision-of-supervision across national boundaries: United States and China

This article describes technology-assisted telesupervision-of-supervision, which is a component of a 2-year U.S.–China collaborative program designed to systematically train clinical supervisors in China. Using Zoom conferencing platform, several U.S.-based supervisors facilitated telesupervision-of-supervision groups, with six to ten participants in each group, from different geographic locations in China. This article employs the perspectives of both U.S.-based supervisors and group participants who are themselves supervision scholars in China, describing their experiences and insights about the rewards and challenges of this telesupervision-of-supervision project.     

The Empathy Quotient: A cross-cultural comparison of the Italian version

Introduction. The Empathy Quotient (EQ) is a self-report questionnaire that was developed to measure the cognitive, affective, and behavioural aspects of empathy. We evaluated its cross-cultural validity in an Italian sample.

Methods. A sample of 18- to 30-year-old undergraduate students of both sexes (N=256, males=118) were invited to fill in the Italian version of the EQ, as well as other measures of emotional competence and psychological distress.

Results. The EQ had an excellent reliability (Cronbach's alpha=.79; test–retest at 1 month: Pearson's r=.85), and was normally distributed. Females scored higher than males, and more males (n=14, 11.9%) than females (n=4, 2.9%) scored lower than 30, the cutoff score that best differentiates autism spectrum conditions from controls. EQ was negatively related to the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) and positively related to the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (SDS). Principal component analysis retrieved the three-factor structure of the EQ. Lower emotional reactivity correlated with higher scores in measures of risk in both the schizophrenia-like (Peters et al. Delusions Inventory) and the bipolar (Hypomanic Personality Scale) spectra.

Conclusions. The Italian version of the EQ has good validity, with an acceptable replication of the original three-factor solution, yielding three subscales with high internal and test–retest reliability.     

A comparison of psychiatric consultation liaison services between hospitals in the United States and Japan

The authors investigated psychiatric consultation in two hospitals, one in the United States, the other in Japan. They examined similarities and differences, and drew inferences on possible cross-cultural values and/or temporary cultural conditions. As compared with the Japanese consultation patients, the Americans had more mood disorders, including anxiety and chemical-dependency problems, in respective diagnostic classifications. Patients in the United States also showed more acute as well as more serious chronic conditions. These differences may relate to disorder base-rates in the respective countries. In general, psychosocial problems emerged as ascendant in Japan, as compared with chemical-dependency difficulties among American patients. The results are discussed in terms of current conditions in Japan that affect the mental health professions, together with attempts by Japanese clinicians to protect collective mores by ascribing causation for disorders to the individual, rather than the societal conditions often invoked in the United States.     

Grief processing and deliberate grief avoidance: a prospective comparison of bereaved spouses and parents in the United States and the People's Republic of China

In this study, the authors measured grief processing and deliberate grief avoidance and examined their relationship to adjustment at 4 and 18 months of bereavement for 2 types of losses (spouse, child) in 2 cultures (People's Republic of China, United States). Three hypotheses were compared: the traditional grief work assumption, a conditional grief work hypothesis, and a view of grief processing as a form of rumination absent among resilient individuals. Although cultural differences in grief processing and avoidance were observed, the factor structure of these measures proved invariant across cultures. Consistent with the grief work as rumination hypothesis, both grief processing and deliberate grief avoidance predicted poor long-term adjustment for U.S. participants. Furthermore, initial grief processing predicted later grief processing in both cultures. However, among the participants in the People's Republic of China, neither grief processing nor deliberate avoidance evidenced clear psychological consequences.     

Shellfishborne disease control in the United States: A commentary

Shellfishborne disease control in the United States began in the 1920's. The water quality standard promulgated at that time to reduce the incidence of shellfishborne disease has never been adequately evaluated. Evidence suggesting such an evaluation is needed comes from 1) the frequency of shellfishborne disease outbreaks, 2) the changing nature of disease agents, 3) reports of shellfishborne disease in non-outbreak settings, and 4) microbiological studies indicating a lack of correlation between the standard and potential pathogenic organisms. A proper evaluation will define the standard's ability to protect human health and allow for the harvesting of an important food resource.     

The social relations-physical health connection: a comparison of elderly samples from the United States and Japan

Cross-national comparison of the social relations-physical health association in the elderly can broaden our understanding of the implications of social relationships in this age group. Using representative cross-sectional samples of adults aged 60-93 years from metropolitan areas in the United States and Japan (n = 1005), we used analysis of variance to examine between-country differences in the association of illness with measures of network structure, social support, and negative relations. One significant between-country difference in this association was found: in Japan only, ill women reported more available financial help from their child than did non-ill women (p < .05). Ill women in both countries reported less sick care available from their spouse than did ill men (p < .05) and more negative relations with their child than did non-ill women (p < .05). These results suggest the primacy of gender, rather than cultural context, in shaping the association between social relations and health.     

中美神经科专科医师培训制度比较分析

目的探讨中美两国神经科专科医师培训制度的区别,希望借鉴美国的经验,提高中国神经科专科医师培训水平。方法对比分析中美两国神经科专科医师培训制度的目标计划、管理考核以及培训基地和师资要求。结果美国神经科专科医师培训起步早,至今已形成一套较为完整和规范的体系;国内近年来住院医师规范化培训虽然已经全面启动并逐渐推进完善,神经内科专科医师培训也有了一定的基础,但是由于起步较晚,仍存在较大的不足。结论借鉴美国住院医师培养制度的经验,结合中国实际情况,进行住院医师规范化培训制度的进一步改革和创新,将极大地推动中国临床医学水平的提高。     

Immunologic and genetic comparison of Streptococcus equi isolates from the United States and Europe.

A series of isolates of Streptococcus equi from the United States and Europe were compared by the bactericidal test, immunoblotting, DNA restrictions, and Southern hybridization analysis. All isolates tested were sensitive to the same bactericidal serum. In addition, immunoblotting revealed no differences in M proteins prepared by acid or mutanolysin extraction. Immunoblotting of acid extracts of the isolates with mucosal nasopharyngeal mucus from a convalescent horse revealed the presence of the 41,000- and 46,000-Mr polypeptide fragments of the M protein of S. equi known to be important in stimulating mucosal nasopharyngeal immune responses. DNA restriction analysis of total cell DNA digests, as well as Southern hybridizations using an S. equi M protein gene probe, did not detect any differences among these isolates. Our results, therefore, confirm the antigenic homogeneity of the M proteins of S. equi isolates and suggest that variation in this antigen is not a reason for the failure of commercial vaccines in the field. Interestingly, the protoplast M proteins of all isolates showed remarkable size homogeneity, in contrast to the size variation reported in M proteins of group A streptococci.     

Serologic testing for celiac disease in the United States: results of a multilaboratory comparison study

The aim of this study was to compare the efficiencies of six reference laboratories for serologic testing for celiac disease. Serum from 20 patients with untreated celiac disease and from 20 controls was thawed, divided, and distributed to each participating laboratory, which performed endomysial antibody tests. Five laboratories also performed antigliadin antibody tests. Sensitivity for endomysial antibody immunoglobulin A (IgA) varied from 57 to 90%. In all laboratories, the specificity for celiac disease was 100%. The sensitivity and specificity for both IgA and IgG antigliadin antibody varied significantly. When results from all three tests were combined in each laboratory, sensitivity was 90 to 100%. The specificity for endomysial antibody was 100% in the laboratories. Sensitivity was less than reported previously. Standardization of these tests is needed in the United States.