Incidence of neonatal herpes simplex virus infections in a managed-care population.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of possible neonatal herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections, HSV infection status of women with infected infants, and use of measures to reduce risk of HSV transmission to the neonate in a large US managed-care population. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of administrative claims from the Integrated Health Care Information Services National Managed Care Benchmark database. RESULTS: Of 233,487 infants born to 252,474 mothers from January 1997 to June 2002, the numbers assigned an ICD-9 code reflecting possible neonatal HSV infection

Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL)--college version: validation and application in a Greek sample.

OBJECTIVES: a) To validate the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL)--college version in a Greek population sample and b) To test the hypothesis that students scoring high on the ISEL present stronger resistance to stressful experiences and fewer psychological or physical problems. DESIGN: Rating scale assessment and analytical cross-sectional study. METHOD: The ISEL was translated into Greek and then back-translated into English. A random sample of 145 students of the Faculty of Medicine completed: a) the translated version of the ISEL, b) the Symptom Check List 90-R (SCL-90-R), c) the Scale of Stressful Life Events (SSLE) and d) a questionnaire about physical health problems. Comparisons were conducted between the scores on the ISEL and the scores on the other measures. Correlations were also calculated between the scores on the Global Severity Index (GSI) of the SCL-90-R and SSLE, separately for students with high, fair and low social support, in order to assess the protective role of social support. The test-retest reliability and the internal consistency of the ISEL were also investigated. RESULTS: The students with a lower score in social support reported more psychological and somatic symptoms. The students with a higher score in social support were protected against the harmful effect of stressful events. The ISEL presents good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha: 0.452-0.752) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC): 0.631-0.847). CONCLUSIONS: The ISEL is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring social support among Greek students. A higher score on the ISEL is correlated with a significant stress-buffering effect.