Influences on the Selection of Dietetics as a Career

Objective To gather information on the factors that influence students’ decisions to choose dietetics as a career.Design Self-administered questionnaires regarding the point at which career decisions were made were completed by 1,695 students in Plan IV/V dietetics programs throughout the United States.Subjects All Plan IV/V dietetics programs that reported greater than five graduates in the academic year 1989 to 1990 were selected from the 1990-1991 Directory of Dietetic Programs for the sample population. Of the 156 schools that were mailed questionnaires, responses were received from 84 schools (54%). Almost 90% of the students were women, 10.6% were men.Statistical analyses Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. A χ² analysis was used to examine the relationship between point of decision and factors that influenced career choice, including people who influence career choice.Results The majority of students (55%) questioned reported making their career decision in college. Students rated interest in nutrition (96.3%) and job enjoyment (93.8%) as factors that were important in their decision to pursue a career in dietetics. College catalogs were rated by 48.3% of the students as being either useful or very useful in helping them make their career selection. With respect to gender differences, women rated a diverse work environment as being very important to their career decision more frequently than men (χ²=15.44, P<.01). Women were more likely than men to rate part-time work opportunities as being very important (χ²=26.75, P<.001); and selected working with people as being very important to their career decision (χ²=17.59, P<.01).Conclusions Findings identified that recruitment strategies need to be audience specific. Because career decision making appears to occur during one of three time frames (high school, college, or work experience), recruitment activities should be developed to specifically target students at these times. One way to increase the exposure of students to the profession of dietetics is for registered dietitians to give guest lectures in introductory college courses and high school upper-class courses in health, home economics, and biology. The use of university/college catalogs as effective marketing tools should also not be underestimated.Data suggest that gender differences exist in factors that influence persons to choose dietetics as a career. To increase the number of men who pursue careers in dietetics, future research should be designed to more fully explore gender differences, so that strategies to recruit more men into the profession can be developed. J Am Diet Assoc. 1997: 97;254–257.     

Urinary oxalate and glycolate excretion in healthy infants and children

The molar ratios of oxalate and glycolate over creatinine were determined in single urine samples of 26 infants and 27 children aged 1–5 years. In 135 children aged 5–16 years, two urine specimens were collected, one before breakfast and one at noon. Oxalate was determined by oxalate oxidase, and glycolate was measured by a colorimetric method (improved chromatotropic acid-sulphuric acid assay after prior purification by cation and anion exchanger). Both ratios (expressed in mmol/mol creatinine and analysed on a log-normal basis) were highest in infants 0–6 months old [mean oxalate 147 (95% confidence interval: 60–360), mean glycolate 175 (72–425)]. The mean oxalate ratio was 72 mmol/mol (29–174) at the age of 7–24 months, 44 (19–101) at the age of 2–5 years and 22 (12–40) in adolescents aged 16 years. Molar glycolate ratios were higher, but disclosed the same pattern. Oxalate and glycolate ratios in fasting urines did not differ significantly from those in noon samples (except glycolate in the oldest age group). Oxalate ratios correlated well with glycolate ratios in children up to 5 years of age only. Random urine samples are thus suitable for screening. However, interpretation of data requires use of age-specific reference values that are based on comparable methods.     

Budesonide versus prednisolone retention enemas in active distal ulcerative colitis

Methods: Efficacy and safety of the topically acting glucocorticosteroid budesonide retention enema (2.3 mg/ 11 5 mL) were compared with prednisolone disodium phosphate enema (31.25 mg/125 mL) in patients with active distal ulcerative colitis. The study was a randomized, multicentre trial, with two parallel groups and single-blind to the investigator. One hundred patients with active ulcerative colitis, not reaching beyond the splenic flexure as determined by endoscopy, were treated for up to 8 weeks. Results: Forty-five patients were randomized to receive budesonide and 5 5 to prednisolone. Both treatment groups improved significantly in terms of endoscopic and histological scoring during the study, but there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups. Clinical remission, defined as no more than three daily bowel movements without blood and endoscopically non-inflamed mucosa, was achieved in 16% of the patients in the budesonide group after four weeks and in 24% in the prednisolone group (N.S.). After 8 weeks treatment the clinical remission rate in the groups had increased to 36 % for budesonide and 47% for prednisolone (N.S.). Mean morning plasma cortisol levels were unchanged in the budesonide group, whereas they were significantly suppressed in the prednisolone group after 2, 4 and 8 weeks (P < 0.0001). Side effects were mild and rare in both groups. Conclusions: Treatment with budesonide enema in active distal ulcerative colitis was comparable, regarding efficacy, to treatment with conventional prednisolone enema. A prolongation of the treatment time from 4 to 8 weeks doubled the clinical remission rate in both groups. However, budesonide may be preferable to prednisolone since it causes less systemic effects as reflected by a lack of plasma cortisol suppression.     

The US economic and social costs of Alzheimer's disease revisited.

OBJECTIVEs. An earlier paper estimated the per-case and national incidence costs of Alzheimer's disease for 1983. This paper updates the estimates of costs per case to 1991 and presents new national prevalence estimates of the economic and social costs of the disease. METHODS. All data for the cost estimates were taken from published sources or provided by other researchers. RESULTS. At midrange values of the estimated cost and epidemiological parameters, the discounted (at 4%) direct and total costs of Alzheimer's disease were $47,581 and $173,932 per case, respectively. The estimated 1991 national direct and total prevalence costs were $20.6 billion and $67.3 billion, respectively. Assuming conservatively that the prevalence of the disease remains constant, the estimated discounted present values of the direct and total costs of all current and future generations of Alzheimer's patients are $536 billion and $1.75 trillion, respectively. CONCLUSIONS. The $536 billion and $1.75 trillion figures are minimum estimates of the long-term dollar losses to the US economy in 1991 caused by Alzheimer's disease.