The influence of patient's consciousness regarding high blood pressure and patient's attitude in face of disease controlling medicine intake

OBJECTIVE: To assess the relation between blood pressure control and the following: the Morisky-Green test, the patient's consciousness regarding high blood pressure, the patient's attitude in face of medicine intake, the patient's attendance at medical consultations, and the subjective physician's judgment. METHODS: We studied 130 hypertensive patients with the following characteristics: 73% females, 60±11 years, 58% married, 70% white, 45% retired, 45% with incomplete elementary schooling, 64% had a familial income of 1 to 3 minimum wages, body mass index of 30±7 kg/m², consciousness regarding the disease for a mean period of 11±9.5 years, and mean treatment duration of 8 ±7 years. RESULTS: Only 35% of the hypertensive individuals had blood pressure under control and a longer duration of treatment (10±7 vs 7±6.5 years; P<0.05). The retiree predominated. The result of the Morisky-Green test did not relate to blood pressure control. In evaluating the attitude in face of medicine intake, the controlled patients achieved significantly higher scores than did the noncontrolled patients (8±1.9 vs 7 ±2, P<0.05). The hypertensive patients had higher levels of consciousness regarding their disease and its treatment, and most (70%) patients attended 3 or 4 medical consultations, which did not influence blood pressure control. The physicians attributed significantly higher scores regarding adherence to treatment to controlled patients (6±0.8 vs 5±1.2; P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Consciousness regarding the disease, the Morisky-Green test, and attendance to medical consultations did not influence blood pressure control.

The fisheries and fishery industries of the United States. Prepared through the co-operation of the commissioner of fisheries and the superintendent of the tenth census by George Brown Goode ... and a staff of associates ...

2, sect. 5

The fisheries and fishery industries of the United States. Prepared through the co-operation of the commissioner of fisheries and the superintendent of the tenth census by George Brown Goode ... and a staff of associates ...

Sect. 1, Text

The fisheries and fishery industries of the United States. Prepared through the co-operation of the commissioner of fisheries and the superintendent of the tenth census by George Brown Goode ... and a staff of associates ...

Sect. 2

The fisheries and fishery industries of the United States. Prepared through the co-operation of the commissioner of fisheries and the superintendent of the tenth census by George Brown Goode ... and a staff of associates ...

1, sect. 5

Una Aproximació a la construcció significativa del coneixement matemàtic a l'ESO

This study displays and analyzes the contents of the Mathematics subject in ESO’s second cycle from a constructivist perspective. This analysis has been carried out by contrasting two groups of participants (control group and experimental group). These groups were formed by a sample of 240 students between the ages of 14 and 16 from four different educational centres of the Osona area. Research – Action methodology has been employed, combining quantitative techniques (statistical study with the SPSS package) with qualitative analysis (transcriptions of interviews and discussion group). This study has been carried out after years of classroom observation, reflection and action. The theoretical framework employed is a cognitive one, based on Ausubel’s Significative Learning Theory. Quantitative analysis shows how the researcher’s design improves, on the one hand, the students’ academic motivation and, on the other hand, their comprehensive memory, enabling them to achieve a more significant learning of the subjects’ contents. Furthermore, our analysis shows that the proposed method is more comprehensive than those employed by teachers collaborating with control groups. The main aim of the qualitative analysis is that of identifying the elements which configure the programme and contribute to an improvement of the aspects mentioned above. The key elements here are: co-operation as the basis of group dynamics; the employment, in some cases, of easily handled materials; the type of interaction between teacher and students, where, through open discussion, students are lead by teaching staff towards the course objectives; induction, that is, deducing formulae by initially using examples which are close to the students’ knowledge and experience or taken from everyday life (what we could call “down-top” mathematics). We should add here that the qualitative analysis does not only corroborate the results obtained by quantitative techniques, but also displays an increase of motivation in teaching staff. Teachers did show a positive attitude and welcomed the use and development of these materials in the next academic year. Finally, we discuss possible directions for further research.

Risk Attitude And Wage Growth: Replication And Reconstruction

We replicate Shaw (1996) who found that individual wage growth is higher for individuals with greater preference for risk taking. Expanding her dataset with more American observations and data for Germany, Spain and Italy, we find mixed support for the earlier results. We present and estimate a new model and find that in particular the wage level is sensitive to attitudes towards risk taking. Comments given at the Labour Economics Conference in honour of Niels Westergaard (Nyborg, August 2008) and EALE 2008 (Amsterdam) and at seminars in Maastricht,Reus and Essen (RWI) are gratefully acknowledged. The authors also acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (grant number SEJ2007-66318) and from the Barcelona Economics Program of CREA. JEL code: J24; J30. Key words: wage growth, risk, post-school investment.

Post operative epidural haematomas following spinal surgery : P58

Introduction: Compressive epidural haematomas occurring following spine surgery are very rare but can potentially lead to irreversible damage. The evacuation of the haematoma as an emergency procedure remains the only effective treatment providing though alerting signs are detected on time. Few studies exist on this subject probably due to its rarity. The etiological factors as well as the place of imaging studies prior to urgent haematoma evacuation remain controversial. Two cases of delayed post-operative compressive epidural haematomas following lumbar-spine surgery were detected in our unit between April 2003 and January 2009. In both cases new onset of pain, aggravation of existing neurological deficit or development of new deficit along with worsening of pre-existing walking difficulties were noted. Emergency computer tomography (CT) could not exclude compression in both cases due to important artefacts. Emergency surgery was performed confirming the presence of haematoma in both cases and leading to a complete neurological recovery following its evacuation. As only risk factors common to both cases we identified drain removal and resuming of thromboprophylaxis. Conclusion: Obstacles in early detection of post-operative compressive epidural haematomas occurring following spine surgery are patients presenting with multiple complaints as well as shift work pattern of staff who might not always be trained in detecting early changes in neurological status. We therefore established a checklist for post-operative neurological observations to be carried out on spine surgery patients during the postoperative period. We describe our adopted attitude considering the etiological factors observed in our unit. Further studies including in a multi centre setting would be necessary in order to ascertain our observations.

Blastocystis hominis: occurrence in children and staff members of municipal day-care centers from Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil

To study the frequency of Blastocystis hominis among healthy individuals, feces were collected from 153 children and 20 staff members of some municipal day-care centers. Three separate stool specimens of each individual were processed by Lutz and Faust methods. From 173 studied individuals, 60 (34.7%) showed B. hominis, frequently in association with other intestinal parasites and/or commensals. B. hominis was found mainly in adults and children between 36 and 72 months old. All positive cases were detected only by Lutz method and the use of three stool specimens increased the positivity of the parasitological diagnostic.

Second-hand tobacco smoke in prison: tackling a public health matter through research.

OBJECTIVES: This action-research study conducted in a Swiss male post-trial detention centre (120 detainees and 120 staff) explored the attitudes of detainees and staff towards tobacco smoking. Tackling public health matters through research involving stakeholders in prisons implies benefits and risks that need exploration. STUDY DESIGN: The observational study involved multiple strands (quantitative and qualitative components, and air quality measurements). This article presents qualitative data on participants' attitudes and expectations about research in a prison setting. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were used to explore the attitudes of detainees and staff towards smoking before and after a smoke-free regulation change in the prison in 2009. Specific coding and thematic content analysis for research were performed with the support of ATLAS.ti. RESULTS: In total, 77 interviews were conducted (38 before the regulation change and 39 after the regulation change) with 31 detainees (mean age 35 years, range 22-60 years) and 27 prison staff (mean age 46 years, range 29-65 years). Both detainees and staff expressed satisfaction regarding their involvement in the study, and wished to be informed about the results. They expected concrete changes in smoke-free regulation, and that the research would help to find ways to motivate detainees to quit smoking. CONCLUSION: Active involvement of stakeholders promotes public health. Interviewing detainees and prison staff as part of an action-research study aimed at tackling a public health matter is a way of raising awareness and facilitating change in prisons. Research needs to be conducted independently from the prison administrators in order to increase trust and to avoid misunderstandings.