Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction and Their Correlation with Educational Standards among Dental Assistants

A disparity exists in the educational qualifications of dental assistants working in various public and private institutions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of professional and personal characteristics on job satisfaction among dental assistants. A cross-sectional survey was performed among dental assistants using a 24-item self-administered questionnaire. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between overall job satisfaction and other variables. The overall response rate was 72.1%. Factor analysis suggested that five underlying factors were related to job satisfaction. The mean score for overall job satisfaction was 3.86 (satisfied) out of 5. Among the work environment factors, the highest mean score, 4.26 (satisfied), was obtained for quality of service, and the lowest mean score, 2.78 (neutral), was obtained for the perception of income. The income and general prospects of the profession was significantly associated with overall job satisfaction. This study suggests that for dental assistants, professional and personal life, quality of service, perception of income and prestige and self-respect are important factors for job satisfaction. Despite differences in professional formation standards, in general, the study participants were considerably satisfied with their jobs.     

Decreased fracture incidence after 1 year of pamidronate treatment in children with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy

Aim The aim of this study was to assess the rate of fracture before and after a 1‐year course of intravenous pamidronate in children with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy (CP) who had previously experienced fractures. Method Twenty‐five children (nine males, 16 females) with quadriplegic CP in Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level IV or V who were treated with intravenous pamidronate for approximately 1 year were identified. All participants had previously experienced at least one non‐traumatic fracture. Each received 15 doses of pamidronate over a mean of 13.6 months. Post‐treatment observation ranged from 1 to 10 years 6 months (mean 4y 1mo). The fracture rate before and after commencement of treatment was calculated using the person‐years method. Results The participants had experienced a total of 86 fractures before treatment began, occurring over 280.6 person‐years, giving a fracture rate of 30.6% per year. During the post‐treatment observation period, totalling 107.5 person‐years, 8 of the 25 children experienced a total of 14 fractures. This fracture rate of 13.0% per year is a statistically significant decrease (p=0.02). Interpretation Pamidronate treatment lowered the rate of fracture, and a 1‐year course appears to provide a protective effect after treatment ends. For the majority of participants, this effect lasted 4 years or longer. However, a subset of children suffered a fracture soon after the drug was discontinued. In these children, a longer course of treatment appears to have been necessary.     

Factors affecting birthweights in Hindus, Moslems and Europeans

Summary. The birthweights of 664 Hindu and 132 Moslem babies were compared with those of 486 European babies born at the same hospital. The mean birthweight of the Europeans was 3362 g, compared with 3146 g for the Moslems and 2960 g for the Hindus. The Asian women were smaller than the European and tended to have a shorter length of gestation. Forty-four per cent of the Asians and 46% of the European mothers were of social classes I and II; 28% of the Europeans and 2% of the Asians smoked. There were no significant differences between Asians and Europeans in the effects of maternal size, parity, gestational age and fetal sex on birthweight. After adjustment for these variables and for cigarette smoking there was no significant difference in birthweight between the Moslems and the Europeans, but the mean birthweight of the Hindus was about 190 g lighter than that of the Europeans. Hindus from East Africa had lighter babies than those from India.     

Eating disorder management in hospital patients: Current practice among dietitians in Australia

Aim:  To examine dietetic practice during the management of eating disorders in inpatient and daypatient settings.
Methods:  A survey was sent to dietitians working in the clinical management of eating disorders within Australia. Thirty-six qualified dietitians including all dietitians working at the specialist units in Australia participated in the study.
Results:  Most dietitians aim to meet patients' nutritional requirements by food alone without artificial feeding. High-energy supplements are the preferred method of increasing energy intake to eating disorder patients. Nasogastric feeding was a standard feeding practice for anorexia nervosa reported by one-third of dietitians. Total parenteral nutrition was not considered an option for nutritional rehabilitation. In the treatment of anorexia nervosa, variable energy intakes for individual patients were prescribed aiming for weight gain of up to 1.0 kg/week in inpatients and 0.5 kg/week in outpatients.
Conclusion:  In Australia, there is no standard nutritional management for anorexia and bulimia nervosa. This survey establishes a baseline for nutritional management and practice of dietitians working with patients with eating disorders. Further research is needed regarding use of nasogastric feeding, and weight gain targets in anorexia nervosa.     

Usefulness of the Widal test in diagnosing childhood typhoid fever in endemic areas

Data are presented for 2382 children investigated for fever in a Malaysian hospital between 1984 and 1987 when Widal tests and blood cultures were a routine part of every fever screen. There were 145 children who were culture positive (TYP-CP) for Salmonella typhi, while 166 were culture negative but were diagnosed as having typhoid (TYP-CN). Analyses of the sensitivity and specificity of combinations of initial Widal titres in predicting a positive S. typhi culture in a febrile child (culture positive vs the rest) showed the best model to be an O- and/or H-titre of ≥ 1 in 40 (sensitivity 89%; specificity 89%). While the negative predictive value of the model was high (99.2%) the positive predictive value remained below 50% even for very high titres of O and H (> 1 in 640), at which point the specificity was 98.5%, supporting the clinical view that a high proportion of the TYP-CN patients really were typhoid but were missed by culture. The TYP-CN patients showed a very similar clinical and age profile to TYP-CP patients. The length of history of fever did not affect the initial Widal titre in culture positive cases. The Widal test in children remains a sensitive and specific ‘fever screen’ for typhoid although it will not identify all cases. In children, lower cut-off points for O- and H-titres should be used than are generally recommended.     

In-vitro and In-vivo Studies of the Diclofenac Sodium Controlled-release Matrix Tablets

Controlled release matrix tablets for diclofenac sodium were developed in this study. Five matrix-tablet formulations were prepared by granulating two viscosity grades of HPMC (hydroxylpropylmethylcellulose) in varying ratios with water in the planetary mixer. The in-vitro dissolution tests indicate that all five matrix formulations prolong the release of diclofenac sodium. The main factors controlling drug release were the HPMC viscosity grade and the amount of HPMC used. The larger the amount of high viscosity grade HPMC used, the slower the resultant release rate of diclofenac sodium. There was no significant degradation of diclofenac sodium or change in drug release rate in any of the five formulations during a three-month period of stability testing. The sustained release ability of four formulations was further demonstrated in an in-vivo study in six healthy subjects. There were in-vitro/in-vivo correlations between C_max, AUC_0–14, and the time for 50 or 80% drug to be released.