1996～2001年北京市城区居民吸烟知、信、行变化趋势分析

目的了解北京市城区居民吸烟危害知识、态度、行为变化趋势,为控烟工作提供参考依据。方法采用三阶段整群随机抽样方法,对北京市城区15~69岁常驻居民进行问卷调查,获得16735份有效问卷,率值根据2000年普查结果采用后权重法进行标化处理。结果知晓吸烟易得冠心病率波动在29.41%~39.06%,吸烟易得高血压率21.37%~33.46%;46.61%~61.97%的人赞同禁止烟草广告,31.34%~47.15%的人赞同提高香烟价格;总吸烟率由1996年的34.56%下降到2001年的28.49%,现在吸烟率从30.30%下降到25.07%,戒烟率从4.30%下降到3.28%。结论北京市吸烟干预工作取得一定效果,但吸烟危害健康知识传播尚有待于进一步加强,尤其是对青少年和吸烟者。     

沼气建设对农民健康相关知识、态度和行为影响的调查研究

目的通过沼气建设对农民健康相关知识、态度、行为影响的调查,了解农民健康教育需求状况,探讨“农村沼气建设及其综合利用”健康教育工作模式。方法在江西、贵州、河北和陕西4省分别对已建和未建沼气户随机问卷调查1209人和410人,并进行对比分析和多因素统计分析。结果已建沼气和未建沼气户影响健康相关知识的知晓率分别低于53.0%和50.0%;4省已建沼气调查对象回答“改善环境卫生”和“能增加收入”的健康相关态度指标的百分率分别达到90.9%和73.9%以上;已建沼气户调查对象“饭前便后每次洗手”、“喝开水”、“夏季每天洗澡”的卫生行为的百分率均高于未建沼气户(P<0.01);健康教育需求显示:被调查对象希望获得预防常见传染病的基本知识并喜欢通过电视、宣传画等形式进行了解。结论通过农村沼气建设及其综合利用及开展多种形式的健康教育,有助于提高农民健康相关知识的知晓率,促健康相关行为形成,有利于提高农民的健康水平,减少传染性疾病及寄生虫病的发生。     

Calidad de vida relacionada con la salud informada por los padres en preescolares españoles: propiedades psicométricas del Kiddy-KINDL-R

IntroductionAlthough several tools have been developed to assess general HRQoL in children, parental reports are required to supplement this information, especially in very young children. The parents version of the Kiddy-KINDL-R was developed to assess HRQoL in children aged 3 to 7 years through the reports of their parents or legal guardians.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to validate the parents version of the Kiddy-KINDL-R questionnaire and assess its psychometric properties in a sample of Spanish preschool-aged children.MethodCross-sectional study in 283 parents or legal guardians of children aged 3 to 6 years that completed the Kiddy-KINDL-R questionnaire and an additional scale to assess anxiety problems. We performed confirmatory factor analysis to assess whether the original Kiddy-KINDL-R version fit the Spanish data; we assessed internal consistency by means of the ordinal alpha and the discriminant validity by means of the Preschool Anxiety Scale.ResultsAlthough the original six-factor model showed a good fit, we propose a model consisting of 22 items and the same 6 factors for the Spanish version. The reliability was excellent, and the internal consistency values were adequate. Our results showed significant negative correlations between the Kiddy-KINDL-R and the external anxiety measure, which was evidence of discriminant validity.ConclusionWe demonstrated that the Spanish version of the Kiddy-KINDL-R had good psychometric properties and that this questionnaire is an adequate assessment tool that could be useful in clinical practice.     

Development of a dietary screening questionnaire to predict excessive weight gain in pregnancy

Excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) is a risk factor for several adverse pregnancy outcomes, including macrosomia. Diet is one of the few modifiable risk factors identified. However, most dietary assessment methods are impractical for use in maternal care. This study evaluated whether a short dietary screening questionnaire could be used as a predictor of excessive GWG in a cohort of Icelandic women. The dietary data were collected in gestational weeks 11–14, using a 40‐item food frequency screening questionnaire. The dietary data were transformed into 13 predefined dietary risk factors for an inadequate diet. Stepwise backward elimination was used to identify a reduced set of factors that best predicted excessive GWG. This set of variables was then used to calculate a combined dietary risk score (range 0–5). Information regarding outcomes, GWG (n = 1,326) and birth weight (n = 1,651), was extracted from maternal hospital records. In total, 36% had excessive GWG (Icelandic criteria), and 5% of infants were macrosomic (≥4,500 g). A high dietary risk score (characterized by a nonvaried diet, nonadequate frequency of consumption of fruits/vegetables, dairy, and whole grain intake, and excessive intake of sugar/artificially sweetened beverages and dairy) was associated with a higher risk of excessive GWG. Women with a high (≥4) versus low (≤2) risk score had higher risk of excessive GWG (relative risk = 1.23, 95% confidence interval, CI [1.002, 1.50]) and higher odds of delivering a macrosomic offspring (odds ratio = 2.20, 95% CI [1.14, 4.25]). The results indicate that asking simple questions about women's dietary intake early in pregnancy could identify women who should be prioritized for further dietary counselling and support.     

Discriminative Aspects of SF-36 and QQL-EPM Related to Asthma Control

Aim. To study any discriminative properties of SF-36 and QQL-EPM in stable and non-controlled moderate asthmatic patients. Methods. A total of 63 asthmatic patients were assessed regarding asthma symptoms, FEV1 % predicted value, PEF, ED visits and hospitalizations, QQL-EPM and SF-36 questionnaires. Results. QQL-EPM highlighted significance in all domains to distinguish stable from non-controlled patients (p = 0.0001) while SF-36 was only significant in 3 of its 7 domains (p = 0.009). Conclusion. The study showed that the specific quality of life questionnaire for asthma (QQL-EPM) demonstrates better discriminative properties that characterize asthma control when compared with the more generic SF-36 questionnaire.     

Social Hearing Handicap Index

As a supplement to the acoustic examination at the hearing centre, a questionnaire has devised to reflect patients’ hearing handicaps in daily life. It consists of 21 questions, with which a patient's bias to answer in scored. The principles on which the test was prepared are discussed in general and can therefore be applied to other languages. 25 normally-hearing individuals were examined, together with 198 patients with all kinds of hearing disorders; a rather high correlation (90%) was found between the social hearing handicap index (SHI), and the degree of hearing handicap (SRT). It has, however, been proved that other factor, such as lip-reading capacity, influence the social handicap. The SHI, before and after audiological treatment at the hearing centre, serves as a useful standard to control the effectiveness of our measures, since they are experienced by the patient himself.     

Effects of cochlear implants: a qualitative study

Abstract

This qualitative study aimed to gain a deeper insight into the effects of cochlear implants on recipients' lives, as perceived by the recipients themselves. To obtain this insight, we used four open-ended questions. We invited 107 adult patients from two Norwegian implant centres. Of these, 74 returned completed questionnaires (69%). Recipients perceived that they had got ‘A new life’ with the implant. Contributing to this global category of effects were four other categories. These concerned subjects' interactions with the world around them, experience of themselves, ability to hear the world around them and finally certain device-related issues. Overall, psychological well-being was improved. The questionnaire described might prove a useful tool in the follow-up of patients. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluating a single dental anxiety question in Finnish adults

Objective. To evaluate the psychometric properties (criterion validity, construct validity, sensitivity, and specificity) of a single-item question screening for dental anxiety in a Finnish adult population. Material and methods. A total of 823 subjects, ranging in age from 18 to 87 years, answered a questionnaire comprising sections assessing the respondents’ demographic profile and dental attendance patterns. A single dental anxiety question and the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) were included. The final response rate was 85%. Results. Eight percent of the sample was highly dentally anxious using the MDAS cut-off point of 19 or above. Twelve percent of the respondents rated themselves as “very scared” on the single-item question. The percentage agreement between the single-item question and the MDAS was 93; the Kappa coefficient was 0.63. Specificity of the single question was 0.95 while sensitivity was 0.80 using the MDAS dichotomous classification. The single-item question related to age (p<0.001), gender (p<0.001), and dental attendance (p<0.001), as predicted. Conclusions. The single question has good validity, specificity, and sensitivity and may be used with confidence to assess dental fear in such situations as national health surveys or in routine dental practice where a multi-item dental anxiety questionnaire is not feasible.     

Transformation: are nurse leaders in critical care ready?

Aim The aim was to determine whether nursing leaders met the criteria for transformational and/or transactional leadership. Background Many changes have occurred in South Africa and are reflected in the health-care systems. As a result, it has become crucial to source leaders who are able to manage the change process effectively so as to ensure the success and survival of our health-care organizations. Methods The 45-item Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Rater) was completed by 41 respondents out of a population of 121. A proportional stratified simple random sampling technique was used to select the raters of seven leaders. Results Most nursing leaders role-modelled the culture of the organisation but did not stimulate their followers intellectually and did not demonstrate innovative motivation or individual consideration. Consequently, their followers may exhibit a lack of commitment to collective goals, with detrimental effects on the health-care organisation as a whole. Conclusions and implications for nursing managers Nursing leaders should be trained to become transformational leaders so as to encourage their followers to become innovative and motivated to render high quality nursing care.