[Effects of Parkinson's disease on quality-of-life patients' spouses: a qualitative survey]. / Impact de la maladie de Parkinson sur la qualité de vie des conjoints de patients. Une étude qualitative.

INTRODUCTION: Spouses play a major role as care givers for their partners with Parkinson's disease. This de facto part of family nursing turns out to be so demanding that they often feel isolated. While spouses may have access to financial and technical aids, but no specific psychological support is available to assist them in coping with the difficulties they have to face. Supporting and educating spouses thus appears today to be a real need. METHODS: Wishing to create an appropriate support program responding to the needs and expectancies of spouses of Parkinson's disease, we conducted a study designed to measure the effects of Parkinson's disease on spouses' quality-of-life and identify the priority needs in terms of information and support. This study included the spouses of 14 patients who participated in semi-directive individual interviews and a focus group. RESULTS: The data collected shows that spouses experience great disarray when faced with the disease. Their perception of Parkinson's disease has a strong anxiogenic effects. Caring for their spouse on a day to day basis creates a permanent atmosphere of stress with an insecure feeling generating tensions and major frustrations. Most of the spouses do not allow themselves any break and are overwhelmed with ambivalent feelings. They experience a kind of hostility towards their spouse and at the same time feel guilty for their attitude and also for their helplessness. The disease also leads to an impoverishment of the couples' social network, due to reduced autonomy and fear of other people's way of looking at them. CONCLUSION: Our study confirms the usefulness of organizing an educational support program for these spouses who often feel very lonely and helpless when confronted with their partner's disease.

Smoking behavior and opinions of French general practitioners.

This report examines smoking prevalence, sociodemographic factors, and the opinions of French general practitioners (GPs) about tobacco control policies. Data from the CFES (Comité Français d'Education pour la Santé) national survey on general practitioners included 1013 respondents. The questionnaire was administered by telephone and a response rate of 65% was attained. Instrumentation included variables related to medical practice, sociodemographic characteristics, and opinions about health behavior. Thirty-four percent of physicians were current smokers. A higher proportion of males smoked compared to women (36.1% vs. 24.9%, p < 0.01), and they consumed on average more cigarettes per day (11.2 vs. 8 cigarettes/day, p < 0.05). Slightly more than 52% of physicians regarded their role in reducing nicotine addiction to be important. Doctors who believed that the physician's role was limited were less likely to advise pregnant women to stop smoking (odds ratio = 0.39, p < 0.001), and nonsmokers were more supportive of bans on smoking in public places. Despite the high prevalence of smoking among French physicians, they can still play an important role in reducing smoking among their patients. Medical school curriculum and continuing medical education programs focusing on prevention and cessation in France should be strengthened to help reduce smoking rates among physicians and the general population.

Smoking behavior among French and American women.

BACKGROUND: This paper presents an analysis of the sociodemographic factors related to cigarette smoking prevalence and the number of cigarettes smoked daily among nationally representative samples of 18- to 64-year-old French (n = 1,956) and American (n = 20,234) women. METHODS: This analysis combines 2 separate years (1992 and 1993) of data collected by the National Health Interview Survey in the United States and the Comité Francais d'Education pour la Santé in France. Weighted data analysis of the effects of age, employment status, education, and socioprofessional status was conducted using both SPSS and the SUDAAN complex sample survey analysis program. RESULTS: The prevalence of smoking among French female smokers was significantly higher than among American women (30.8% vs 26.3%) and particularly among the younger age groups. However, the average number of cigarettes smoked per day was appreciably and significantly lower for French women (12.3) than for American women (18.2). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed statistically significant interaction terms differentiating the impact of marital status, age, and education on the smoking status of French and American women, as well as the sociodemographic determinants of the number of cigarettes smoked. Education was inversely related to smoking among American women but positively associated with the smoking behavior of French women. CONCLUSIONS: Differences in the smoking behavior of French and American women support the view that sociodemographic factors do not affect the smoking behavior of women in Western industrialized countries similarly and reinforce the importance of international public health measures targeting the increasing rate of smoking among women.

[Attitude of the French female population to cancer screening]. / Attitudes de la population féminine française face au dépistage des cancers.

UNLABELLED: Attitudes of the French female population towards screening of different types of cancer were studied by means of a telephone survey conducted among a random sample of the French population aged 18 to 75 (n = 2,099). MAIN RESULTS: Cancer remains the most highly feared disease among the population. This fear is more apparent among women than men (61.5% average or strong fear vs 52.6%). In addition, women are more frequently prone to disclosing cancer cases among relatives. Over the last three years, respectively 28.4% and 70.5% of the 1,075 women in the sample had undergone a mammography and a Pap smear. Results suggest that there is still a discrepancy between current screening practices and official recommendations for systematic screening policies in France, as well as a trend towards "overutilization" among younger women and insufficient coverage among older women. Women living in French administrative districts where systematic screening campaigns for breast cancer are in place, had a better access to mammography (40.5% vs 26.2% in the rest of the sample). Multidimensional analysis confirms that social isolation is related with a poor access to either type of screening, although systematic screening campaigns have helped to reduce socio-cultural inequities in access to mammography for the target population of women aged 50 to 69. This analysis also suggests that when an individual adopts some preventive behaviors (such as giving up smoking), it may have a reassuring effect which in turn discourages access to screening; therefore the need for a greater coherence in the various sectors of preventive action against cancer is advocated by the authors.

[French youths and their health. Opinions, attitudes and behavior]. / Les jeunes français et leur santé. Opinions, attitudes et comportements.

Traditional indicators for exploring the field of adolescent health have proven to be relatively inappropriate. The "Baromètre Santé" (health barometer) was thus designed to study youth between the ages of 18 and 24 in an original way. On one hand it permits the exploration of opinions, attitudes, and behaviour of French youth in a global manner, and on the other hand results may be compared with those of older generations. The study has revealed that French young people have a more pessimistic view of the evolution of their health status than their elders, with accidents being cited by far as the number one fear. The most important difference in perception between adults and young people is the attitudes concerning STD's and AIDS. As far as lifestyle goes, 27% of the young people interviewed admitted to having had troubles with insomnia during the three months preceding the interviews. Three fourths of the youth participating smoke or have smoked in the past, with no difference according to gender. On the other hand, those young people who indicated suffering from a depressive or nervous state were more often smokers than the others. More than one young person in five has tried some kind of drug during the past year, with hashish being by far the most common (99%). Overall the young people interviewed have a more permissive attitude toward drug use than adults studied. A direct link was observed between the consumption of alcohol, illicit drugs and tobacco. These multiple factors may indicate that France is facing a situation in which a part of its youth's behaviour can be considered disturbing.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)