Monitoring intercensal migration in the United Kingdom.

"This author demonstrates the utility of the National Health Service Central Register of patient reregistrations for providing continuous information for monitoring changes over time in migration behaviour within the United Kingdom. An information system has been constructed that contains annual time-series data with which to illustrate trends in the volume, composition, and geographical distribution of migration during the 1980s. Issues of data reliability and system expansion are amongst those discussed."

Comparison between saliva stimulants and a saliva substitute in patients with xerostomia and hyposalivation.

The purpose of this study was to assess patient preference and product efficacy of three non-prescription products for the symptomatic relief of xerostomia. The study group consisted of 80 individuals with a complaint of chronic (> six months) xerostomia and an unstimulated salivary flow rate of < 0.1 mL/min. The three products--a sorbitol/xylitol-sweetened chewing gum, a sorbitol-sweetened sour lemon lozenge, and a sorbitol/xylitol-sweetened artificial saliva substitute spray--were assigned in a permuted block randomization scheme. Each product was used for two weeks with an interval of one week between trials. The study did not identify any product to be statistically significant in terms of patient preference. Kruskal-Wallis testing revealed no statistical significance (P > 0.589) among the products. No product demonstrated marked efficacy in stimulating salivary output. ANOVA analysis followed by Tukey HSD testing revealed no significant difference between the baseline paraffin-stimulated mean flow rate and the gum- and lozenge-stimulated flow rates.

Vascularised bone grafting in the management of scaphoid non-union - a review of 34 cases.

We reviewed the outcomes of 34 patients who had undergone vascularised bone grafting for a chronic scaphoid non-union. Mean age was 27 years (range 16-46 years). The dominant hand was involved in 17 cases. Eleven patients were smokers. In 18 cases the fracture involved the proximal and in 16 cases the middle third of the scaphoid. In 26 patients the proximal scaphoid fragment was deemed avascular. Sixteen patients had previously undergone scaphoid fixation and non-vascularised bone grafting. At a follow-up of 1 to 3 years (mean 1.6 years), 15 of the 34 scaphoid non-unions had united. Injury to the dominant hand and duration of the non-union significantly increased the risk of failure. Persistent non-union was more common in proximal third fractures and in the presence of an avascular proximal pole but these findings did not reach statistical significance.

Inter-provincial migration in Spain: temporal trends and age-specific patterns.

"This paper provides interpretation of the changing patterns of internal migration in Spain at the inter-provincial scale, and new analysis of age-specific migration during the 1980s using a 10% sample of anonymised records from the 1991 census. Schedules of age-specific gross migration rates are constructed and classified according to their shape and level relative to the national schedule, and the relationships between in-migration and out-migration rates are examined for four selected age groups to demonstrate how aggregate patterns of inter-provincial migration conceal a wide diversity of age specific experience."

Time series migration in Britain: the context for 1991 census analysis.

"An administrative register, the National Health Service Central Register (NHSCR), is used by the Census Office (OPCS) to produce counts of NHS patients re-registering in different Family Health Service Authorities (FHSAs) in England and Wales. These movement data can be used to establish how unique or typical the migration occurring in the year prior to the Census was in relation to that for the whole decade. This paper examines national, regional and local examples of the information that can be extracted from a database system called TIMMIG that provides access to an NHSCR migration time series and a parallel series of mid-year population estimates. In advance of the publication of Special Migration Statistics, a preliminary comparison is made between the levels of in-migration to FHSA areas recorded in the NHSCR and in the 1991 Census."