HIV-negative children’s experiences and opinions towards parental HIV disclosure: a qualitative study in China

In HIV/AIDS research, few studies to date have evaluated ways to improve parental HIV disclosure practices using feedback from HIV-negative children who have recently experienced this event. We conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with 20 children (aged 6–15) who were partially to fully aware of their parents’ HIV status in rural Guangxi, China. Of the 20 children, eight children who were of older age (11.38 years in average) endorsed parental HIV disclosure, five discouraged it and seven expressed uncertainty. Children’s different experiences and attitudes towards disclosure were seen to be associated with their family dynamics (especially the parent–child relationship), social support and care, experiences of stigma and discrimination, psychosocial suffering, comprehension of the disease and the children’s age. Our study contributes to building a child-centered comprehensive understanding for Chinese parental HIV disclosure. It is imperative that counselors and community advocates assess and help parents achieve optimal readiness preceding disclosure of their illness to their HIV-negative children.     

Patient-proxy response comparability on measures of patient health and functional status

The present study evaluates the response comparability between 361 elderly hip fracture patients admitted from the community to seven Baltimore area hospitals between 1984 and 1986 and interviewer selected proxies on items pertaining to patients' pre-fracture health and functional status. Agreement across items ranges from very poor to good and varies with respect to the health or functional area assessed. Proxies tend to overestimate patient disability relative to the patients themselves, especially with regard to capacity to perform instrumental activities of daily living. Although proxies who report the greatest contact with patients respond most comparably to the patients, when they do disagree, proxies with the greatest patient contact tend to overestimate patient disability. The authors suggest that attention to item construction and phrasing may improve response comparability.     

Applying item response theory to enhance health outcomes assessment

Background Health-related quality of life (HRQL) is an accepted outcome measure in patients with mood and anxiety disorders. Yet, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the determinants. In this paper we test the hypothesis that it is associated with personality traits while controlling for mental disorders. Methods A large sample of outpatients (n=640) with mood and anxiety disorders was studied. The empirically supported five factor model of normal personality traits was assessed using the NEO-FFI and includes: neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Mental disorders were assessed with the CIDI, and HRQL with the SF-36. Results Regression analyses revealed that the NEO-FFI scores, with the exception of conscientiousness, were significantly associated with SF-36 subscales and summary scores, independently from the mental disorders. The percentage of explained variance due to the personality traits was highest for the subscales Vitality (10.0%), Mental Health (13.3%) and the Mental Health Summary Score (9.5%). Furthermore, specific personality traits were related to specific SF-36 subscales. Conclusions A low HRQL of patients with mood or anxiety disorders is not only determined by the disease or the current health but is also shaped by personality traits that are relatively stable throughout an individual's life time.     

Insults to the body civil: Mistreatment of elderly in two Plains Indian tribes

The mistreatment of elderly is subject to various social constructions. On two geographically distinct Plains Indian Reservations which we call Lone Mountain and Abundant Lands, the abuse or neglect of elderly is construed as a health problem which is a dysfunction of the community as a whole. Both physical abuse and neglect are more common on the Lone Mountain Reservation, occurring in association with other indicators of community disorganization such as unemployment and substance abuse. On the Abundant Lands Reservation physical abuse was categorically denied and what neglect existed appeared to be a function of role strain, geographic dispersal, climate and terrain. We attribute differences in the prevalence of mistreatment of elders to variations in economic opportunities for younger residents. Examining the historical and present contexts of intergenerational relationships on the reservations, we discuss the implications of this study for social exchange theory and policy applications.This research was supported by the Gerontological Society of America AppliedThis research was supported by the Gerontological Society of America AppliedThis research was supported by the Gerontological Society of America AppliedThis research was supported by the Gerontological Society of America AppliedThis research was supported by the Gerontological Society of America AppliedThis research was supported by the Gerontological Society of America Applied     

A model for sustainable short-term international medical trips.

The health status of many people in developing countries is often dismal compared with the norms in industrialized countries. Increasingly, medical practitioners in the United States and other industrialized countries have become interested in global health issues, an interest that often takes the form of short-term international medical trips. We discuss several ethical issues associated with participation in such trips and use our experiences in developing the Children's Health International Medical Project of Seattle (CHIMPS) to outline and illustrate a set of 7 guiding principles for making these trips. CHIMPS is a resident-run, faculty-supported international medical program founded in 2002 by pediatric residents at the University of Washington in Seattle. Members of CHIMPS work with a rural community in El Salvador to support ongoing public health interventions there and provide sustainable medical care in collaboration with the community and a local nongovernmental organization. The 7 principles developed as a result of this work-mission, collaboration, education, service, teamwork, sustainability, and evaluation-can be used as a model for health practitioners as they develop or select international medical trips. The importance of partnering with the community and working within the existing medical and public health infrastructure is emphasized. Many of the challenges of doing international medical work can be overcome when efforts are guided by a few specific principles, such as those we have outlined.     

Prospective study of bacterial and viral contamination of exercise equipment.

OBJECTIVE: Transmission of bacterial and viral pathogens is known to occur by hand contact with fomites. Exercise equipment in public facilities may serve as such fomites. It is not known whether equipment disinfection might reduce microorganism colonization. We performed studies to address these issues. DESIGN: Observational study of bacterial and viral culture results from hand-contact surfaces of exercise equipment, pre-exercise and postexercise; prospective study of viral culture results before and after intervention with disinfection solution. SETTING: Two fitness centers in a military community. INTERVENTION: One week trial of twice-a-day equipment disinfection. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Type and number of bacteria and type of viruses present on equipment before and after exercise; prevalence of viral culture positivity on equipment before and after intervention. RESULTS: Bacterial cultures of body contact surfaces on equipment revealed benign bacterial species (coagulase-negative staphylococci, diphtheroids, and so forth) but no pathogenic bacteria whether obtained pre-exercise or postexercise, or whether from aerobic versus weight training equipment. Viral cultures revealed the presence of viruses (generally rhinoviruses) on 63 of 100 (63%) hand-contact surfaces of equipment. Weight equipment was significantly more often contaminated than aerobic equipment (73% vs. 51%; P = 0.026). Disinfection of equipment did not lower the prevalence of virus isolation (48% positive before cleaning; 86% positive after cleaning). CONCLUSIONS: There is little risk of exposure to pathogenic bacteria on exercise equipment. Such equipment may commonly serve as fomites for the transmission of viruses. These data do not suggest that disinfection of exercise equipment will offer significant protective effects against virus exposure.