Hearing aid use and adherence: A systematic review of the literature concerning the socioeconomic and psychological influences on hearing aid use and barriers to use

The current hearing health situation in the United States does not provide adequate support to individuals with hearing loss. More research is needed to give more support to these individuals. By conducting a systematic review of relevant literature from 1990 to present, I identified many factors that influence an individual's use of hearing aids. There are two research questions in this study: 1. Does the provision of screening and access to hearing aids decrease the negative effects of hearing loss? 2. Why is it difficult for people with hearing loss to adapt to and use hearing aids? The population of interest was adults (>18 years old) with hearing loss. Factors that influenced use of hearing aids for this population included age, gender, socioeconomic status, education, perceived severity of hearing loss, cost of hearing aids, screening, perceived benefit, stigmatization, perceived control, cognitive capability, personality, and social support. Research suggests that more efficient screening of at-risk individuals and the provision of better access to these individuals would prevent many of the negative effects of hearing loss.^

Manifestation of depression symptoms among Mexican American adolescents

Background. Previous findings reported more depression among Mexican American adolescents than among adolescents from other groups. There has been minimal research published on distribution of depression symptoms among Mexican American adolescents and practically no data has been published from community samples. ^ Objective. To examine the phenomenology of DSM-IV major depression symptoms across groups defined by ethnic status, by gender and language use focusing on the Mexican American group. ^ Methods. Secondary data from 2624 adolescents (ages 10-17) among three ethnic subgroups, Mexican (26.7%), African (45%) and Anglo Americans (28.3%), was analyzed. Data come from the Teen Life Changes (TLC) Survey conducted in 1994 by Roberts et al. (1997). A self-report questionnaire, which includes the DSD scale to measure depression, was used. ^ Results. Analysis of data showed significant differences among youth in the phenomenology of depression symptoms by ethnicity, by gender and by language use at home. ^ Conclusion. This study adds knowledge to the psychopathology and mental health literature from the identification of depression symptoms profile as well as permits the design of more appropriate policy for prevention and intervention programs among culturally diverse youth. ^

Occupational respiratory disease in the services industry

Objective. To describe the spectrum and occurrence of occupational exposures of relevance to the respiratory system and their subsequent adverse effects within the service industries and occupations, as outlined by the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2007. ^ Design. Systematic review of the literature from an Ovid search including years 1950 to 2008. Initially, occupational respiratory disease categories were searched, and then combined with each of the different occupations for a comprehensive review of the literature. ^ Results. Ten groups within the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2007 were identified as having exposures leading to occupational respiratory disease. These include janitors/cleaners, dental personnel, cosmetology professionals, traffic police, veterinary personnel, firefighters, healthcare workers, bakers, and bar/restaurant workers. The most common respiratory disorder affecting this population was occupational asthma caused by many different exposures in each occupation. The biggest limitation was the absence of a uniform reporting method for occupational respiratory diseases. ^ Conclusion. There is evidence that there are risks for occupational respiratory disease in the services industry. ^ Key Words: occupational and respiratory disease and service industries ^

Foodborne illness, food inspection policy and restaurants in the U.S.

Objectives. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a literature review of research relating to foodborne illness, food inspection policy, and restaurants in the United States. Aim 1: To convey the public health importance of studying restaurant food inspection policies and suggest that more research is needed in this field, Aim 2: To conduct a systematic literature review of recent literature pertaining to this subject such that future researchers can understand the: (1) Public perception and expectations of restaurant food inspection policies; (2) Arguments in favor of a grade card policy; and, conversely; (3) Reasons why inspection policies may not work. ^ Data/methods. This paper utilizes a systematic review format to review articles relating to food inspections and restaurants in the U.S. Eight articles were reviewed. ^ Results. The resulting data from the literature provides no conclusive answer as to how, when, and in what method inspection policies should be carried out. The authors do, however, put forward varying solutions as to how to fix the problem of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurants. These solutions include the implementation of grade cards in restaurants and, conversely, a complete overhaul of the inspection policy system.^ Discussion. The literature on foodborne disease, food inspection policy, and restaurants in the U.S. is limited and varied. But, from the research that is available, we can see that two schools of thought exist. The first of these calls for the implementation of a grade card system, while the second proposes a reassessment and possible overhaul of the food inspection policy system. It is still unclear which of these methods would best slow the increase in foodborne disease transmission in the U.S.^ Conclusion. In order to arrive at solutions to the problem of foodborne disease transmission as it relates to restaurants in this country, we may need to look at literature from other countries and, subsequently, begin incremental changes in the way inspection policies are developed and enforced.^

Occupational respiratory disease in the services industry

Objective. To describe the spectrum and occurrence of occupational exposures of relevance to the respiratory system and their subsequent adverse effects within the service industries and occupations, as outlined by the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2007. ^ Design. Systematic review of the literature from an Ovid search including years 1950 to 2008. Initially, occupational respiratory disease categories were searched, and then combined with each of the different occupations for a comprehensive review of the literature. ^ Results. Ten groups within the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2007 were identified as having exposures leading to occupational respiratory disease. These include janitors/cleaners, dental personnel, cosmetology professionals, traffic police, veterinary personnel, firefighters, healthcare workers, bakers, and bar/restaurant workers. The most common respiratory disorder affecting this population was occupational asthma caused by many different exposures in each occupation. The biggest limitation was the absence of a uniform reporting method for occupational respiratory diseases. ^ Conclusion. There is evidence that there are risks for occupational respiratory disease in the services industry. ^ Key Words. occupational and respiratory disease and service industries ^

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ATTITUDE ASSESSMENT/ROLE PERCEPTION AND THE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF HOSPITAL DEPARTMENT MANAGERS

Much of the current healthcare financial literature addresses the concern of government officials, the public, and healthcare providers regarding the need for control of health care costs. The literature suggests that attitudes of hospital department managers toward their role in financial management affects their ability to effect favorable financial results.^ There were several objectives of the dissertation: (1) To identify whether or not there exists a relationship between the attitude/role perception of hospital managers and the financial performance of their departments. (2) To compile a descriptive survey data base of key factors identified in the financial literature from individual hospitals. (3) To compile a brief descriptive survey of hospital managers' financial management background and training (both formal and informal). (4) To conduct an attitude assessment/role perception survey regarding the importance or relevance of a suggested financial management role set (i.e., issues discussed in the current literature) as viewed by the selected hospital managers and their matched administrators. (5) To propose plausible theoretical models and statistical tests of seven proposed hypotheses.^ The statistical results of a variety of methods generally suggested, for the sample population, that the null hypothesis should not be rejected concerning the relationships between a department manager's financial attitudes and role perceptions and the resultant financial performance.^ The fact that the results of this study did not suggest that there was a significant relationship which existed between role perception and financial performance does not necessarily indicate that the theories supporting such a relationship in literature are false, not that such a relationship does not exist. Several alternative theories were postulated to explain the apparent lack of statistical relationship, and suggestions for refinement and/or improvement of further research were discussed. ^

Attitudes and other barriers to the utilization of clinical research findings by American physicians: A systematic review

Background: The Institute of Medicine estimates that only a maximum of 25% of clinical research findings are incorporated into practice by physicians. To improve clinical practice, efforts have been made to promote evidence-based medicine and the use of clinical guidelines. Despite these efforts, the gap between research and clinical practice remains wide.^ Objective: To systematically review the literature describing the factors which influence the use of clinical research recommendations by American physicians.^ Hypothesis: Barriers exist in the application of clinical research into clinical practice, and are multifactorial. The establishment of the Clinical and Translational Awards (CTSA; special federal grants awarded to selected institutions to support clinical and translational research) has reduced the effect of these barriers and improved the process of clinical research translation into practice among American physicians.^ Aims: Identify barriers and facilitators of the use of research findings in clinical practice by American physicians. Contrast studies published six years before and after the creation of the CTSA.^ Methods: The sources of data include published literature from Medline, PubMed and PsycINFO. Selected studies must be qualitative, a survey of American clinicians, based on evidence-based medicine practice, clinical guidelines or treatment pathways. Systematic reviews and reports were excluded, as well as studies with less than 100 respondents.^ Results: In total, 1036 abstracts were reviewed; 115 full text potential articles were identified and reviewed, and a total of 31 studies met all criteria for inclusion in the final review.^ Conclusions: The barriers against the application of clinical research findings, in the forms of clinical guidelines, evidence-based medicine guides and clinical pathways, can be divided broadly into physician barriers, practice/system barriers and patient barriers. Physician barriers are the most common barriers, especially the lack of familiarity with guidelines and the lack of time. Of the factors which improve the use of research based guidelines, physician factors such as younger age, lower duration of clinical practice, specialty training, and practice in large group Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) settings with fewer patients seen were the most commonly cited.^