Antecedents and consequences of customer satisfaction with interactive voice response

The aim of this study was to empirically test a model of antecedents and consequences of customers’ satisfaction with interactive voice response (IVR). IVR is a commonplace selfservice technology, yet it has seldom been the focus of academic research. As customers’ frustration with IVR is apparent, understanding how customers evaluate IVR and their subsequent behavioural intentions is important. Findings of a study of Australian Football League members who were users of its IVR system indicated that customer satisfaction resulted when it was easy to use, offered fast service and provided customers with feelings of control. Overall satisfaction with the IVR system was related to customers’ intentions to reuse it and their trust in the AFL. Managerial implications of the findings are discussed.

Genome - wide association study identifies novel breast cancer susceptibility loci

Breast cancer exhibits familial aggregation, consistent with variation in genetic susceptibility to the disease. Known susceptibility genes account for less than 25% of the familial risk of breast cancer, and the residual genetic variance is likely to be due to variants conferring more moderate risks. To identify further susceptibility alleles, we conducted a two-stage genome-wide association study in 4,398 breast cancer cases and 4,316 controls, followed by a third stage in which 30 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were tested for confirmation in 21,860 cases and 22,578 controls from 22 studies. We used 227,876 SNPs that were estimated to correlate with 77% of known common SNPs in Europeans at r² > 0.5. SNPs in five novel independent loci exhibited strong and consistent evidence of association with breast cancer (P < 10^-7). Four of these contain plausible causative genes (FGFR2, TNRC9, MAP3K1 and LSP1). At the second stage, 1,792 SNPs were significant at the P < 0.05 level compared with an estimated 1,343 that would be expected by chance, indicating that many additional common susceptibility alleles may be identifiable by this approach.

Patient and practitioner compliance with silicone hydrogel and daily disposable lens replacement in Canada

Purpose: To assess current recommendations by optometrists for replacement frequency (RF) of silicone hydrogels (SH) and daily disposable (DD) contact lenses in Canada, determine rates of non-compliance with recommendations by both the optometrist and patient, and investigate reasons for non-compliance.

Methods: Survey packages were sent to optometrists in Canada who had agreed to participate. Patients completed survey questions regarding demographics and contact lens wearing patterns, including recommended and actual contact lens RF. Optometrists were asked to provide lens information and their recommendation for RF. Fifty-eight optometrists returned 654 surveys, of which 578 were eligible for analysis.

Results: Seventy percent of patients were female with a median age of 32 years. Lens type distribution was 18% DD, 35% two-week SH, and 47% one-month SH. Six percent were worn for extended wear. Daily wear median wearing time was 12 hours/day, a median of five days/week for DD, seven days/week for SH (two-week and one-month). Optometrists’ recommendations were non-compliant with the manufacturers’ recommended RF for 6% of DD, 35% of two week, and 2% of one-month patients. Patients were non-compliant with recommendations from both the manufacturer and optometrist for 12% of DD, 43% of two-week, and 31% of one-month lens wearers. The most common reason for non-compliance was forgetting which day to replace lenses. Fifty-six percent thought a reminder system would help with compliance. A higher proportion of compliant patients followed the RF because of confidence in their optometrist.

Conclusions: Optometrists generally recommended RFs consistent with manufacturers’ recommendations for DD and one-month SH lenses but often recommended longer intervals for two-week SH lenses. Patients were most compliant when wearing DD lenses and least compliant when wearing two-week SH lenses. Communication between the patient and optometrists concerning the risks of non-compliance, or initiating a reminder system might improve compliance.

Total and domain-specific sitting time among employees in desk-based work settings in Australia

Objective: To describe the total and domain-specific daily sitting time among a sample of Australian office-based employees. Methods: In April 2010, paper-based surveys were provided to desk-based employees (n=801) in Victoria, Australia. Total daily and domain-specific (work, leisure-time and transport-related) sitting time (minutes/day) were assessed by validated questionnaires. Differences in sitting time were examined across socio-demographic (age, sex, occupational status) and lifestyle characteristics (physical activity levels, body mass index [BMI]) using multiple linear regression analyses. Results: The median (95% confidence interval [CI]) of total daily sitting time was 540 (531-557) minutes/day. Insufficiently active adults (median=578 minutes/day, [95%CI: 564-602]), younger adults aged 18-29 years (median=561 minutes/day, [95%CI: 540-577]) reported the highest total daily sitting times. Occupational sitting time accounted for almost 60% of total daily sitting time. In multivariate analyses, total daily sitting time was negatively associated with age (unstandardised regression coefficient [B]=-1.58, p<0.001) and overall physical activity (minutes/week) (B=-0.03, p<0.001) and positively associated with BMI (B=1.53, p=0.038). Conclusions: Desk-based employees reported that more than half of their total daily sitting time was accrued in the work setting. Implications: Given the high contribution of occupational sitting to total daily sitting time among desk-based employees, interventions should focus on the work setting.