Postpartum Mothers’ Attitudes,Knowledge, and Trust Regarding Vaccination

Objective To examine attitudes and knowledge about vaccinations in postpartum mothers. Methods This cross-sectional study collected data via written survey to postpartum mothers in a large teaching hospital in Connecticut. We used multivariable analysis to identify mothers who were less trusting with regard to vaccines. Results Of 228 mothers who participated in the study, 29% of mothers worried about vaccinating their infants: 23% were worried the vaccines would not work, 11% were worried the doctor would give the wrong vaccine, and 8% worried that “they” are experimenting when they give vaccines. Mothers reported that the most important reasons to vaccinate were to prevent disease in the baby (74%) and in society (11%). Knowledge about vaccination was poor; e.g., 33% correctly matched chicken pox with varicella vaccine. Mothers who were planning to breastfeed (P = .01), were primiparous (P = .01), or had an income <$40,000 but did not receive support from the women, infants, and children (WIC) program were less trusting with regard to vaccines (P = .03). Although 70% wanted information about vaccines during pregnancy, only 18% reported receiving such information during prenatal care. Conclusion Although the majority of infants receive vaccines, their mothers have concerns and would like to receive immunization information earlier. Mothers who are primiparous, have low family incomes but do not qualify for the WIC program, or are breastfeeding may need special attention to develop a trusting relationship around vaccination. Mothers would benefit from additional knowledge regarding the risks and benefits of vaccines particularly during prenatal care.     

Factors influencing mammography use among women in Medicare managed care

This article presents findings about the mammography screening experience of Medicare members of a health maintenance organization (HMO). Based on a mail survey of 309 women, we assessed factors that may be facilitators or barriers to this service for older women. The results indicate that these respondents generally are receiving timely mammograms; over three-quarters (79 percent) reported having a mammogram in the past 2 years. Multivariate analysis showed that women who were younger (under 75 years of age), believed in the importance of screening, had been told by a physician to obtain a mammogram, and were more satisfied with their physician and more likely to report mammography use.     

Increasing trends in childlessness in recent birth cohorts - a registry-based study of the total Danish male population born from 1945 to 1980

The fertility rate has recently declined in many parts of the World, including Europe. To a large extent, this change can be explained by the socio-economic development. However, increasing fertility problems and widespread occurrence of poor semen quality could in part explain the few births. The objective of this registry based study was to investigate birth cohort related trends in fertility and childlessness among Danish men. The study population comprised all 1 616 677 men in Denmark born from 1945 to 1980 of whom 1 359 975 (84.1%) were native Danes. Data were obtained from Statistics Denmark and contained information from The National Danish Birth Registry and The Danish In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Registry. For consecutive birth cohorts of native Danish men cumulative fertility rates at age 45 declined from 1.91 children per man in the 1945 birth cohort to 1.71 for men born in 1960. The proportion of childless men at age 45 increased from 14.8% to 21.9% in the same birth cohorts. Assisted reproductive technology (ART) seemed to compensate partly for the lower fertility and to reduce the proportion of childless men. In contrast, recent reports on corresponding birth cohorts of Danish women showed that the proportion remaining childless throughout life has been lower than in men and has not shown a similar increase. In conclusion, using unique Danish registries the study showed a birth cohort related decline in fertility rates and an increase in childlessness among men. In the more recent cohorts more than one in five men remained childless. The causes behind the findings are likely multi-factorial. Hitherto, most attention has been given to socio-economic factors which undoubtedly play a major role. Our findings lend support to the hypothesis that the high prevalence of low sperm counts among young Danish men may be a contributing factor.     

Parent experiences questionnaire for outpatient child and adolescent mental health services (PEQ-CAMHS Outpatients): reliability and validity following a national survey

Background

Mood disorders including depression and bipolar disorders are a major cause of morbidity in childhood and adolescence, and hospitalizations for mood disorders are the leading diagnosis for all hospitalizations in general hospitals for children age 13 to 17. We describe characteristics of these hospitalizations in the U.S. focusing on duration of stay, charges, and geographic variation.

Methods

The Kids' Inpatient Database was analyzed to calculate hospitalization rates for 2000, 2003, and 2006. For each year, information was available for over 2 million hospitalizations, representing 6.3 to 6.5 million hospital stays annually in acute care, non-psychiatric hospitals.

Results

The rate of pediatric hospitalizations with a principal diagnosis of a mood disorder was 12.4/10,000 in 2000, 13.0 in 2003, and 12.1 in 2006. In the same period, the incidence of hospitalizations for depressive disorders decreased from 9.1 to 6.4/10,000 children while the incidence of hospitalizations for bipolar disorders increased from 3.3 to 5.7/10,000 children. The mean length of stay increased from 7.1 to 7.7 days, while inflation-adjusted hospital charges increased from $10,600 in 2000, to $13,700 in 2003, to $16,300 in 2006. The proportion of mood disorder stays paid by government increased from 35.3% to 45.2%. The Western region experienced the lowest rates (9.9/10,000, 11.6 and 10.2 in 2000, 2003 and 2006) while the Midwest had the highest rates (26.4, 27.6, and 25.4).

Conclusions

Mood disorders are a major reason for hospitalization during development, especially in adolescence. Mood disorder hospitalizations remained relatively constant from 2000-2006, but diagnoses of depressive disorders decreased while diagnoses of bipolar disorders increased. Hospitalization rates vary widely by region of the country.     

Assessment of professionalism: recommendations from the Ottawa 2010 Conference

Over the past 25 years, professionalism has emerged as a substantive and sustained theme, the operationalization and measurement of which has become a major concern for those involved in medical education. However, how to go about establishing the elements that constitute appropriate professionalism in order to assess them is difficult. Using a discourse analysis approach, the International Ottawa Conference Working Group on Professionalism studied some of the dominant notions of professionalism, and in particular the implications for its assessment. The results presented here reveal different ways of thinking about professionalism that can lead towards a multi-dimensional, multi-paradigmatic approach to assessing professionalism at different levels: individual, inter-personal, societal-institutional. Recommendations for research about professionalism assessment are also presented.