Current practices and perceived implementation barriers for working with alcohol prevention in occupational health services: the WIRUS OHS study.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol is associated with detrimental health and work performance outcomes, and one to three out of ten employees may benefit from interventions. The role of occupational health services (OHS) in alcohol prevention has received little attention in research. The primary aims of this study were to explore current practices of alcohol prevention targeting employees in occupational health settings, and examine whether and which perceived implementation barriers were associated with alcohol prevention activity. The secondary aim was to explore whether barriers were differentially associated with primary, secondary and tertiary prevention activities. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, survey data were collected from 295 OHS professionals in Norway in 2018. Data were analysed by means of descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance, paired samples t-tests, and multivariate linear regression analyses. RESULTS: Overall, seven out of ten OHS professionals worked with alcohol-related cases less than monthly, while only one out of ten did so on a weekly basis. Their activities were more focused on tertiary prevention than on primary and secondary prevention. Physicians, psychologists and nurses reported to handle alcohol-related issues more often than occupational therapists and physical therapists. Higher levels of implementation barriers internal to the OHS' organisation (competence, time and resources) were associated with lower alcohol prevention activity. Barriers external to the OHS' organisation (barriers concerning employers and employees) were not. This pattern was evident for primary, secondary and tertiary prevention activities. A majority of OHS professionals agreed that employees' alcohol consumption constitute a public health challenge, and that OHS' should focus more on alcohol prevention targeting employees. CONCLUSIONS: Occupational health settings at workplaces may be particularly serviceable for alcohol prevention programmes since the majority of the population is employed and the majority of employees consume alcohol. An increase in overall prevention activity, and a shift from mainly focusing on tertiary prevention to an increased emphasis on primary and secondary prevention, may both hinge on increased training of OHS professionals, emphasising knowledge on the importance of working with alcohol prevention, and training in administering alcohol prevention programmes. Making alcohol prevention a priority may also require increased allocation of time and resources.

[Accessibility and quality of rehabilitative services among migrants in Germany]. / Erreichbarkeit und Ergebnisqualität rehabilitativer Versorgung bei Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund.

BACKGROUND: Migrants comprise a large proportion of the population in Germany. As compared to non-migrants they are at a higher risk with respect tor occupational accidents, occupational diseases and early retirement due to disability. Tertiary preventive services such as rehabilitation, consequently, are of high relevance for this population group. OBJECTIVES: We provide an overview of the accessibility and quality of preventive services among migrants residing in Germany using medical rehabilitation (tertiary prevention) as an example. We also present strategies which aim to improve health care for this population group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Summary of quantitative routine data analyses and of qualitative interviews with patients and health care professionals in rehabilitative care. RESULTS: Migrants utilize rehabilitative health care services less often than non-migrants. Those who undergo medical rehabilitation report a lower satisfaction with health care and show less favorable health outcomes than non-migrants. This, for instance, becomes evident in the occupational performance and subjective treatment outcome after rehabilitation. Socioeconomic, sociodemographic and health factors only partially explain these associations. In addition, there is evidence that migrants face various barriers which affect the accessibility and quality of health care services. CONCLUSIONS: Health care institutions have to provide services which are more sensitive to the heterogeneity of the population in order to reduce barriers in health care. Diversity management can contribute to this goal.

Diabetes diagnosis and exercise initiation among older Americans.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether exercise participation increased following a new diagnosis of diabetes using a sample of U.S. individuals aged 50 and over who did not report exercise prior to diagnosis. METHODS: We used data from the 2004-2010 Health and Retirement Study in a pre-post study design. Individuals newly-diagnosed with diabetes (N=635) were propensity score matched to a comparison group with no diabetes. RESULTS: In the year following a reported diagnosis, 35.7% (95% confidence interval 32.0 to 39.5) of those newly diagnosed with diabetes initiated exercise as compared with 31.4% (95% confidence interval 27.9 to 35.1) for the matched cohort with no diabetes, with a between-group difference of 4.3 percentage points (95% confidence interval -0.9 to 9.4). Among individuals with fewer health risk factors at baseline, the between-group difference was 15.6 percentage points (95% confidence interval 1.58 to 29.5). CONCLUSION: Over 35% of persons with a new diagnosis of diabetes initiated moderate or vigorous exercise in the year following their diagnosis. Among individuals with fewer health risk factors at baseline, those newly-diagnosed with diabetes were more likely to begin exercise than those without diabetes.

A prospective study of endoscopist-blinded colonoscopy withdrawal times and polyp detection rates in a tertiary hospital.

BACKGROUND: Studies have suggested that a colonoscopy withdrawal time of at least 6 minutes is associated with an increased adenoma detection rate in patients undergoing colorectal cancer screening. AIMS: We aimed to determine colonoscopy withdrawal time and rate of polyp detection in a blinded study--conducted at Christchurch Hospital (Christchurch, New Zealand)--to determine if there was a relationship. METHODS: All 16 consultant endoscopists performing colonoscopy in a tertiary hospital had their withdrawal time from the caecum prospectively timed over 208 consecutive procedures between 11 April 2007 and 19 May 2007. The following data was collected: indication for procedure, final diagnosis, polypectomy rate, procedures performed and withdrawal time were recorded. Histology results were reviewed for all patients. RESULTS: 111 (53%) of colonoscopies were performed for symptom assessment and 97 (47%) for surveillance. There was significant heterogeneity between colonoscopists' withdrawal times (p<0.001). Polyps were diagnosed in 65 of all colonoscopies (31.3%). Of the screening colonoscopies polyps were found in 38 (39.1%) of which 14 were adenomas (adenoma detection rate of 14%). The median colonoscopy withdrawal time was 3 minutes 16 seconds when no polyps were found (range 5 seconds to 11 minutes 50 seconds). The median colonoscopy time when polyps were found was 8 minutes 31 seconds which included time taken for procedures (range 2 minutes 7 seconds to 35 minutes 40 seconds), p<0.001. COCNLUSIONS: This study confirms that more adenomas were found by those endoscopists who had slower withdrawal times. Also colonoscopy withdrawal times are inherently much faster than recommended and highlights the importance of regular adenoma detection rate and withdrawal time auditing.

Cost effectiveness of secondary vs tertiary prevention for post-menopausal osteoporosis.

BACKGROUND: The aging of the population is likely to increase the number of osteoporosis-related fractures, such as hip fractures, and hence the economic burden for society. Therefore, strategies to identify women at increased risk are of major interest. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the cost effectiveness of preventive services for osteoporosis, comparing secondary plus tertiary prevention (SP/TP) versus tertiary prevention (TP) alone in post-menopausal women in Germany. METHODS: A cost-utility analysis and a budget-impact analysis were performed from the perspective of the German statutory health insurance (SHI). A Markov model simulated costs and benefits discounted at 3% over a lifetime horizon. RESULTS: Cost effectiveness of TP compared with no screening was 669 Euros, 477 Euros and 385 Euros per QALY for women aged 60, 70 and 80 years, respectively (year 2010 values). In women aged 50 years, TP dominated no prevention. Cost effectiveness of SP/TP compared with TP was 4543 Euros, 19791 Euros, 8670 Euros and 3368 Euros for women aged 50, 60, 70 and 80 years, respectively. SP/TP resulted in additional costs of 109 million Euros or 0.10% of the SHI's annual budget (TP alone = 8 million Euros). CONCLUSION: Compared with TP, a strategy based on SP/TP appears to be more expensive but more effective in each age group. Given that cost effectiveness seems acceptable, allocation of resources to SP/TP to decrease post-menopausal osteoporotic fracture risk may be justified.

Determinants of asthma control in tertiary level in Turkey: a cross-sectional multicenter survey.

OBJECTIVE: Recent data demonstrate that control of asthma is far from optimal worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of asthma control in tertiary health services by the use of Asthma Control Test (ACT) and to assess the factors which might influence the control of the disease. METHODS: A total of 2336 patients with asthma were recruited from 28 tertiary hospitals in the study. Asthma severity was classified by the frequency of asthma symptoms, pulmonary function tests, and medication requirements according to asthma guidelines. The level of asthma control was assessed by the Turkish version of ACT and determinants of asthma control were evaluated with medical history, physical examination, patients' and disease characteristics. RESULTS: Due to missing data, 1188 subjects' records were evaluated. Nearly half of the patients (51.5%) were found to be "controlled" (ACT > or =20) and 48.5% was defined as "uncontrolled" (ACT < 20). The ratio of uncontrolled asthmatic patients was significantly higher in severe asthmatics than in mild and moderate asthmatics (p < .01). Female sex, education below secondary level, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV(1)) value <80%, peak expiratory flow (PEF) value <80%, hospitalization/emergency department visits in the last year, and systemic steroid use were found to be significantly associated with inadequate control (p < .01). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that asthma control was still inadequate in the tertiary level although overall control was better than previous reports in Turkey. Patients with severe asthma were more likely to have uncontrolled disease; worse asthma control was also associated with increased hospitalizations and emergency care admissions.

Kawasaki disease and Henoch Schonlein purpura: changing trends at a tertiary care hospital in north India (1993-2008).

The objective of the study was to evaluate the epidemiologic trends (1993-2008) in Kawasaki disease (KD) and Henoch Schonlein purpura (HSP) among children as seen in a tertiary care north Indian hospital. A hospital-based retrospective chart analysis of all the patients diagnosed with KD and HSP in our pediatric rheumatology clinic from January 1993 to December 2008 was performed. The diagnosis of KD and HSP was based on the American Heart Association and American College of Rheumatology criteria respectively. The collected data were analyzed for any yearly or seasonal trends in the incidence of the two diseases. KD was diagnosed in 196 patients (135 males, 61 females, ratio 2.21:1), while HSP was diagnosed in 209 patients (155 males, 54 females, ratio 2.87:1). The median age at the time of diagnosis was 5.1 +/- 3.04 years (range 4 months-14 years) for KD and 6.9 +/- 2.98 years (range 1-17 years) for HSP. Over this 16-year period, the number of patients diagnosed with KD progressively increased from 1993 to 2008 (p < 0.001, chi-square test) with a clear majority of these (162 cases, 82.6%) being diagnosed in the last 8 years. The number of children diagnosed with HSP progressively increased from 1993 to 1997, after which it has remained relatively uniform, and only 93 cases (44.5%) were diagnosed in the last 8-year period (p > 0.05, chi-square test). However, both the diseases exhibited a comparable seasonal trend in the distribution with a noticeable peak being discernible in the months of October and November. KD has shown a rising trend over the recent years in our hospital. Since 2004; the annual number of KD cases has outnumbered the HSP cases. Seasonal predilection is noticeable for both conditions. This is the first hospital-based report on epidemiological trends of KD and HSP from a developing country.

Demographic profile and visual rehabilitation of patients with keratoconus attending contact lens clinic at a tertiary eye care centre.

OBJECTIVE: To assess demographic profile and functional outcomes of patients with keratoconus attending contact lens clinic at a tertiary eye care centre. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 77 patients (142 eyes) diagnosed with keratoconus attending contact lens clinic at Dr Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital, New Delhi, from January 2008 to December 2008 was done. Data on age, gender, slit lamp examination, keratometry, topography, visual acuity with log MAR conversion, degree of visual success, type of contact lens and fitting characteristics were obtained. RESULTS: One hundred and forty-two eyes of 77 patients were analyzed of which 49 (63%) were males and 28 (37%) were females; their median age was 24 years (15-36 years). Keratoconus reading based on keratometry was done. Twenty eyes (14.4%) were diagnosed to have mild keratoconus, 51 eyes (36.7%) had moderate, 45(32.4%) had advanced and 23 eyes (16.6%) had severe keratoconus. 113 eyes (79.5%) were visually rehabilitated with RGP lenses while 29 eyes (20.4%) fitted best with Rose-K lenses and in 1 patient (0.1%) Boston scleral lens was given in both eyes. With contact lens wear, visual acuity improved to 6/9 (0.18log MAR) or better in 91% (115 eyes) and 141 (99%) eyes improved to 6/18 (0.48log MAR) or better. CONCLUSION: We found that in India keratoconus presents at an early age as compared to the western population. Contact lenses offer a good modality to delay the requirement for penetrating keratoplasty. Newer philosophies for fitting contact lenses and newer materials can help in decreasing the contact lenses intolerance which still remains the major indication for undergoing penetrating keratoplasty.

Headache patients in the emergency department of a Greek tertiary care hospital.

The aim of this study was to record the demographic and epidemiological data on adult patients with headache who attend the emergency department (ED) and the diagnoses that made by the neurologists in the ED of a tertiary care hospital in metropolitan Thessaloniki (Greece). In an open prospective study, demographic and epidemiological data were collected on all patients who reported headache (as chief complaint or not) and presented to the ED of Papageorgiou Hospital between August 2007 and July 2008. Headache patients accounted for 1.3% of all ED patients and for 15.5% of patients primarily referred to the ED neurologist. Tension type headache was the most frequent diagnosis, followed by secondary headaches and migraine. The large number of patients without final ED diagnosis and ward admission for further evaluation sheds a light on the immense workload of Greek ED physicians. Furthermore, we found evidence for the misuse of Emergency Medical Services by chronic headache patients. These findings indicate shortcomings in the pre-hospital (primary care) management of headache patients in the Greek National Health System to an extent unreported so far.