Articulation of Asthma and Its Care Among Low-Income Emergency Care Recipients

Low-income minority patients from East St. Louis, Illinois, a depressed midwestern urban city, who had visited acute care settings with asthma symptoms, participated in a focus group. Questions were constructed around the Health Belief Model to characterize participants' experiences in receiving asthma care, their confidence in long-term asthma self-management, barriers they perceived to managing their asthma, and recommendations they would make for improving asthma care in their community. Analysis of comments suggests an appreciable understanding of asthma triggers, limited coping behaviors for asthma symptoms, very limited practice of active asthma management, perception of the health care system as frequently insensitive to their needs or their knowledge of their own care, exchange of well-articulated information regarding how to deal with the system, and an apparent lack of awareness of any potential contribution of patient education or support system.     

上海市少年儿童住院医疗保险费用分析

本文研究了上海市少年儿童住院医疗保险的费用水平、特点和影响因素。研究结果表明:手术与否、患者年龄、就诊地点、家长医疗保健制度和医院等级的差异造成次均费用的差异;次均费用构成比较合理,药品费比例低于全市水平。病种费用居前三位的是白血病、肺炎和先天性心脏病;特殊病种占总医疗服务人次的4.90％,而医疗费用占总费用的32.57％。     

肺结核病人健康教育现状调查与影响因素分析

目的　调查活动性肺结核病人在诊断前接受结核病知识的教育现状 ,分析病人接受结核病知识与社会经济因素的影响。方法　对 2 0 0 0年全国结核病流行病学抽样调查中的 1 2 78名活动性肺结核病人进行社会经济个案调查 ,调查以问卷的形式进行。结果　 1 2 78例肺结核病人在诊断前有 5 1 4例接受过不同形式的健康教育 ,占 40 2 % ,男性接受健康教育比例为 41 8% ,女性为 3 6 9%。各年龄组接受健康教育比例 <1 5岁组最低为2 5 9% ,其次是 65～年龄组为 3 0 9%。随着病人文化程度的增高和家庭人均年收入的增高 ,接受健康教育比例增高。肺结核病人各种职业的分类中 ,无工作者接受健康教育比例最低为 3 5 5 % ,其次为农林牧渔劳动者。按照病人是否有症状、有症状后是否就诊及最后诊断为肺结核病人的 3个过程接受不同形式的健康教育的频率 ,均以广播电视、健康教育和亲友教育为主。结论　在开展健康教育活动中 ,应注意对儿童和老年人群 ,对于文化程度低、家庭经济收入低、无工作者和农林牧渔劳动者等重点人群的教育     

南通市居民健康知识水平现状及对策

为全面了解和准确掌握南通市各行各业、中小学校健康知识的知晓情况,对创建国家卫生城市健康教育工作进行效果评估。调查显示,南通市11个片区健康知识的总知晓率居民为93.42%,学生为91.08%。要真正提高全体市民的健康教育水平,下一步必须采取三大对策,即:形成“抓反复、反复抓”的常态机制;加大健康教育投入;教育部门加强全市学生的健康知识普及工作,对卫生部门列入学校卫生的指标加以考核。只有这样,南通市的健康教育工作才能跃上新台阶。     

Inadequate dietary magnesium intake increases atherosclerotic plaque development in rabbits

Epidemiological studies have shown dietary magnesium (Mg) intake and serum Mg levels to be inversely correlated with the development of atherosclerosis. We hypothesized that low levels of Mg would promote atherosclerotic plaque development in rabbits. New Zealand white rabbits (4 months old, n = 22) were fed an atherogenic diet containing 0.12% (−Mg), 0.27% (control), or 0.43% (+Mg) Mg for 8 weeks. Blood samples were obtained at baseline, 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks and were assayed for total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), non-HDL, triglycerides (TG), C-reactive protein, serum Mg, and erythrocyte Mg. Aortas from −Mg had significantly more plaque, with an intima thickness 42% greater than control and 36% greater than +Mg. Serum cholesterol levels rose over time, and at 8 weeks, −Mg had the highest and +Mg the lowest total and non-HDL cholesterol and TG levels, although these results did not reach significance. Over time, serum Mg levels increased, and erythrocyte Mg levels decreased. C-reactive protein significantly increased in all groups at 4 and 6 weeks but returned to baseline levels by 8 weeks. This study supports the hypothesis that inadequate intake of Mg results in an increase in atherosclerotic plaque development in rabbits.     

Using stories to battle unintentional injuries: Narratives in safety and health communication

After 14 years of rising death rates due to unintentional injuries in the U.S., it is time to ask how safety messages can be redesigned to have a greater impact on risky behavior. To this end, many researchers have called for a new, narrative approach to prevention messages—based on persuasive stories about people who have suffered injuries and illnesses in the past. Still, there is scant evidence that story-based communications are more effective than equivalent non-narrative messages at changing actual (rather than self-reported) safety and health behavior. Our research examined the impact of injury stories on actual safety behavior in a controlled experimental setting at a US university. Teams of participants assembled a product (a child's swing) using written instructions. The instructions contained safety messages targeting assembly mistakes that have been linked to serious injuries in children who play on swings. Participant teams were randomly assigned to three conditions: assembly instructions containing story-based safety messages, instructions with concrete (but non-anecdotal) safety messages, and instructions with traditional abstract safety messages. After adjustment for covariates, story-based messages resulted in a 19 percent improvement in safety behavior, compared with non-narrative communications. Importantly, injury stories did not create undue fear of the message object, demonstrating that brief anecdotes about accident victims can convince people to take reasonable precautions without creating unwarranted alarm about risks.     

北京农村居民健康状况及卫生服务需求调查

目的了解北京农村居民健康状况及卫生服务需求特点。方法从昌平区、顺义区、大兴区、房山区随机抽取25～64岁农民1605人进行统一问卷调查。结果农民高血压自报患病率为22．4％，超重和肥胖率为56．1％；现在吸烟率为34．4％，缺乏运动率为41．6％；家庭主要经济支出为学生上学(35．3％)，建房(25．4％)和疾病(21．2％)；54．9％家庭医疗费用支出占总收入的10％以上；最关心的健康问题主要是慢性疾病防治(70．2％)；最希望获得的健康知识是慢性病预防知识(72％)；希望获得健康知识的途径是广播和电视(81％)；家庭最希望获得的医疗保健服务是方便看病和获得药物(73．8％)。结论慢性病给农民带来沉重负担，并成为农民关心的主要健康问题。     

妇幼卫生专业毕业生的追踪调查

20 0 2年 9～ 1 2月对中山大学公共卫生学院妇幼卫生专业的毕业生及用人单位进行了信函追踪调查。结果表明 :总体而言 ,该系学生思想素质、业务水平、工作能力均较强 ,受到用人单位的一致好评。该系学生保健服务能力是强项 ,体现了“以保健为中心”的办学思想。但同时也发现妇幼系的培养模式、课程设置、教学方法均存在一定问题 ,最突出的是临床动手能力较差 ,其次为社区工作能力、组织管理能力、社交能力相对不足 ,创新能力较差 ,所以教学改革势在必行     

化学染发剂和冷烫精的毒性及对人体健康影响的调查研究

本文通过化学染发剂和冷烫精对大白鼠骨髓多染红细胞，毛囊细胞的微核实验及人群健康影响调查，结果表明化学染发剂，冷烫清具有较强致突变作用，两者同时使用致突变明显增强，并提出研制高效无毒染发剂和加强防护的重要性。     

Health insurance and private providers: A study of the civil servants' medical benefit scheme in bangkok,Thailand

Compulsory health insurance schemes have received attention recently as a means of creating a reliable extra-budgetary source of health care funding. Yet, the full implications of such schemes in a developing country context are unclear; in particular, the impact on and relationship with private sector providers has infrequently been explored. This study examines patterns of public and private sector utilization under the Civil Servants' Medical Benefit Scheme (CSMBS) in Bangkok, Thailand. The CSMBS currently provides limited reimbursement for private inpatient care, but recent proposals suggest increasing benefit levels for care sought in the private sector. The study shows that despite high level of cost recovery in the public sector, charges were much lower than those in the private sector. Different patterns of diagnosis in the two sectors were found with private hospitals tending to treat a less complex case mix. Within the private sector, there was a limited tendency to specialize in certain types of care. It is concluded that under the current payment mechanism of fee-for-service reimbursement, measures to enhance access to private sector care should be approached with caution. In the long run, the scheme should merge with the recently established social security scheme.