From: Fortuine, Robert et al. 1993. The Health of the Inuit of North America: A Bibliography from the Earliest Times through 1990. University of Alaska Anchorage. Citation number 1455.
An analysis of the data from the 1981 census of Canada is presented concerning the aboriginal population aged 15 to 24, defined as including the Inuit, status Indian, non-status Indian, and Metis populations. Comparisons are made with the non-aboriginal population. Factors considered include geographic location, migration, family status, dependent children, educational status, labor force participation, unemployment, income, and industry.
The present study, which is part of a multipurpose study on alcohol use among women, focuses on the association between education, occupation, family structure and development of alcohol dependence or abuse in women. A total of 316 women were selected by stratified random sampling from all women in a defined part of Gothenburg, Sweden. In a face to face interview, questions were asked about occupation, education, family structure and other variables reflecting socioeconomic conditions and relations within the family. As outcome measures we used alcohol dependence and abuse (ADA), diagnosed in a clinical interview according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition-Revised (DSM-III-R). We found that never having been married, or having poor communication with the spouse, as well as having no children at home to take care of, were strongly associated with ADA in women. The role of social class depended on whether education or occupation was used as a measure. Our findings are compatible with the hypothesis that development of alcohol-related problems among women to a large extent is influenced by matters that relate to home and private life.
Attitudes concerning the acceptability of suicide have been emphasized as being important for understanding why levels of suicide mortality vary in different societies across the world. While Russian suicide mortality levels are among the highest in the world, not much is known about attitudes to suicide in Russia. This study aims to obtain a greater understanding about the levels and correlates of suicide acceptance in Russia.
Data from a survey of 1,190 Muscovites were analysed using logistic regression techniques. Suicide acceptance was examined among respondents in relation to social, economic and demographic factors as well as in relation to attitudes towards other moral questions.
The majority of interviewees (80%) expressed condemnatory attitudes towards suicide, although men were slightly less condemning. The young, the higher educated, and the non-religious were more accepting of suicide (OR > 2). However, the two first-mentioned effects disappeared when controlling for tolerance, while a positive effect of lower education on suicide acceptance appeared. When controlling for other independent variables, no significant effects were found on suicide attitudes by gender, one's current family situation, or by health-related or economic problems.
The most important determinants of the respondents' attitudes towards suicide were their tolerance regarding other moral questions and their religiosity. More tolerant views, in general, also seemed to explain the more accepting views towards suicide among the young and the higher educated. Differences in suicide attitudes between the sexes seemed to be dependent on differences in other factors rather than on gender per se. Suicide attitudes also seemed to be more affected by one's earlier experiences in terms of upbringing and socialization than by events and processes later in life.
Centre for Research on Drugs and Health Behaviour (CRDHB), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Department of Public Health and Policy, London, UK.
OBJECTIVE: To estimate access, activity and coverage of needle and syringe programmes (NSP) in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. METHODS: Two data sets ('regional' and 'high-coverage sites') were used to estimate NSP provision (availability/number of sites), NSP utilization (syringes distributed/year), needle and syringe distribution (needles/syringes distributed/IDU/year), IDU reached (number/percentage of IDU contacted/year), regular reach (five or more contacts/month) and syringe coverage (percentage of injections/IDU/year administrable with new injecting equipment). RESULTS: Regional data set: results from 213 sites in 25 countries suggested that Czech Republic, Poland, Russia and Ukraine had > 10 NSP during 2001/2. Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine had >or= 10,000 IDU in contact with NSP. Ten countries reached >or= 10% of the estimated IDU population. The 25 countries distributed approximately 17 million syringes/needles. Eight countries distributed > 0.5 million syringes/year. Syringe coverage (assuming 400 injections/IDU/year) was 15% in Macedonia. Overall syringe coverage was 1.2% and when assuming 700 injections/IDU/year it decreased to 0.7%. Syringe coverage for the IDU population in contact with NSP was 60% in Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova and Tajikistan. Overall syringe coverage for the population in contact with NSP was 9.8%. High-coverage data set: Soligorsk, Pskov and Sumy's NSP reached 92.3%, 92.2% and 73.3% of their estimated IDU population, respectively (regular reach: 0.2%, 1.8% and 22.7%). The distribution levels were 47.2, 51.7 and 94.2 syringes/IDU/year, respectively. CONCLUSION: The evidence suggests suboptimal levels of NSP implementation, programme activity and coverage. This paper provides a baseline for development of indicators that could be used to monitor NSP. Strategies to increase coverage that may go beyond NSP are urgently required, as is research into understanding how NSP can contribute to better syringe coverage among IDU.
[Achievement of goal resting heart rate in patients with stable angina and hypertension at the background of therapy with -adrenoblockers in real clinical practice].
ß-Adrenoblockers improve quality of life and in a number of cases life prognosis in patients with stable angina (SA). Dose of -adrenoblockers is considered optimal if at the background of treatment resting heart rate (rHR) is persistently decreased down to 55-60 bpm. But according to data of international registries rate of achievement of target rHR (trHR) in real clinical practice does not exceed 22%. Aim of this study was to determine what portion of patients with SA and arterial hypertension (AH) achieves trHR at the background of therapy with -adrenoblockers in routine practice in this country. Twenty centers in 6 towns in Russian Federation recruited 399 patients (mean age 64+/-10 years) with class I-III angina and concomitant primary AH. These patients for at least 2 months received any -adrenoblocker and did not change its dose during 4 weeks before inclusion into the program. Portion of patients with trHR was 15.5%. There were no significant differences between average daily doses of most frequently used -adrenoblockers (metoprolol, bisoprolol, carvediolol) in groups of patients who achieved and did not achieve trHR. Quality of life of patients who achieved was comparable with that of those who did not achieve trHR. Attainment of trHR was associated with significant decrease of short acting requirement nitrates. There was a significant direct correlation between attainment of trHR and target arterial pressure.
Centre for Food-Borne, Environmental and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Public Health Agency of Canada, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada. nicholas_ogden@phac-aspc.gc.ca
Northward expansion of the tick Ixodes scapularis is driving Lyme disease (LD) emergence in Canada. Information on mechanisms involved is needed to enhance surveillance and identify where LD risk is emerging.
We used passive and active surveillance and phylogeographic analysis of Borrelia burgdorferi to investigate LD risk emergence in Quebec.
In active surveillance, we collected ticks from the environment and from captured rodents. B. burgdorferi transmission was detected by serological analysis of rodents and by polymerase chain reaction assays of ticks. Spatiotemporal trends in passive surveillance data assisted interpretation of active surveillance. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) of B. burgdorferi in ticks identified likely source locations of B. burgdorferi.
In active surveillance, we found I. scapularis at 55% of sites, and we were more likely to find them at sites with a warmer climate. B. burgdorferi was identified at 13 I. scapularis-positive sites, but infection prevalence in ticks and animal hosts was low. Low infection prevalence in ticks submitted in passive surveillance after 2004-from the tick-positive regions identified in active surveillance-coincided with an exponential increase in tick submissions during this time. MLST analysis suggested recent introduction of B. burgdorferi from the northeastern United States.
These data are consistent with I. scapularis ticks dispersed from the United States by migratory birds, founding populations where the climate is warmest, and then establishment of B. burgdorferi from the United States several years after I. scapularis have established. These observations provide vital information for public health to minimize the impact of LD in Canada.
Notes
Cites: Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1988 Jul;39(1):105-93400797
This research uses four nationally representative samples of time diary data, spanning almost 30 yr, that are fused with energy expenditure information to enumerate the median daily duration of moderate or vigorous effort activity, quantify the prevalence of Canadians age 65 yr and older who are meeting recommended daily levels of physical activity, and explore the factors affecting rates of active living. Results indicate that 41.1% of older Canadians met recommended levels of physical activity in 1992, 40.6% in 1998, 43.5% in 2005, and 39.6% in 2010. Both rates of active living and daily duration of aerobic activity exhibit significant differences among sociodemographic groups, with age, sex, activity limitation, urban-rural, and season exhibiting the most significant influences. This study illustrates the potential for time diary data to provide detailed surveillance of physical activity patterns, active aging research, and program development, as well.
Act respecting the family allowance for children, No. 147, 19 March 1986, and Act respecting children's allowances and the advance payment of children's subsidies, No. 350, 4 June 1986.
In 1986, Denmark's family allowance scheme was modified by these two Acts with effect from 1 July 1987. The regular allowance and the youth allowance were abolished by the second Act and replaced by the first Act with a single allowance "for children in the family" payable with respect to every child under the age of 18. The new allowance is payable quarterly and set at DKr 1250 per quarter. Payment of the allowance is taxable in Denmark, but no longer conditional on the child being permanently resident in Denmark. Allowances are no longer dependent on the income of parents and are adjusted by a percentage fixed by law every year, rather than by the cost of living.
Acute hospital use, nursing home placement, and mortality in a frail community-dwelling cohort managed with Primary Integrated Interdisciplinary Elder Care at Home.
Department of Family Medicine, University of British Columbia and Island Medical Program, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. trosenberg@gem-health.com
To evaluate the effect of medical Primary Integrated Interdisciplinary Elder Care at Home (PIECH) on acute hospital use and mortality in a frail elderly population.
Comparison of acute hospital care use for the year before entering the practice (pre-entry) with the most-recent 12-month period (May 1, 2010-April 30, 2011, postentry) for active and discharged patients.
Community.
All 248 frail elderly adults enrolled in the practice for at least 12 months who were living in the community and not in nursing homes in Victoria, British Columbia.
Primary geriatric care provided by a physician, nurse, and physiotherapist in participants' homes.
Acute hospital admissions, emergency department (ED) contacts that did not lead to admission, reason for leaving practice, and site of death.
There was a 39.7% (116 vs 70; P = .004) reduction in hospital admissions, 37.6% (1,700 vs 1,061; P = .04) reduction in hospital days, and 20% (120 vs 95; P = .20) reduction in ED contacts after entering the practice. Fifty participants were discharged from the practice, 64% (n = 32) of whom died, 20% (n = 10) moved, and 16% (n = 8) were admitted to nursing homes. Fifteen (46.9%) deaths occurred at home.
Primary Integrated Interdisciplinary Elder Care at Home may reduce acute hospital admissions and facilitate home deaths.
