To gain a deeper understanding of women's thoughts and experiences regarding informed choices during childbirth.
A qualitative approach with individual in-depth interviews was chosen for data collection. Ten women were interviewed three to four weeks after the birth of their first child. The transcribed interviews were analysed using systematic text condensation.
Two main themes emerged based on the analysis: "women's resources and coping abilities" and "women's abilities to make informed choices during birth". Women's resources and coping abilities influenced how they retrieved information and made their own choices. Their abilities to make informed choices during birth were influenced by the course of the birth process and the fact that they were patients and submitted to the hospitals' routines.
Instead of using the term "informed choice", women in this study discussed involvement, participation and being heard and seen as individuals. How receptive women are to information during birth varies, and midwives play an important role during pregnancy in informing and encouraging them. The relationship between women and midwives influences women's abilities to make informed choices during birth. Women need individual care and should be encouraged to have realistic expectations and to gain knowledge and confidence in their ability to give birth. A model of care in which women experience greater continuity will have an impact on their expectations, decision-making and experience of birth.
This retrospective study examined the interview scores, admission grades, and optometry grades of students who received one of two types of admission interviews. The INDIV-BLIND group (N = 36) represented those students who had received an individual interview (i.e., one interviewer) for which the interviewer had no access to the candidate's file. The PANEL-ACCESS group (N = 21) was made up of those students who had received a panel interview (i.e., two interviewers) for which the interviewers had access to the candidate's file. The two groups were compared using two admission grades and seven optometry grades. Both t-test and Wilcoxon Score statistical procedures were used to test the null hypothesis (H0) that there were no significant grade differences (p
Web-based surveys may have advantages related to the speed and cost of data collection as well as data quality. However, they may be biased by low and selective participation. We predicted that such biases would distort point-estimates such as average symptom level or prevalence but not patterns of associations with putative risk-factors.
A structured psychiatric interview was administered to parents in two successive surveys of child mental health. In 2003, parents were interviewed face-to-face, whereas in 2006 they completed the interview online. In both surveys, interviews were preceded by paper questionnaires covering child and family characteristics.
The rate of parents logging onto the web site was comparable to the response rate for face-to-face interviews, but the rate of full response (completing all sections of the interview) was much lower for web-based interviews. Full response was less frequent for non-traditional families, immigrant parents, and less educated parents. Participation bias affected point estimates of psychopathology but had little effect on associations with putative risk factors. The time and cost of full web-based interviews was only a quarter of that for face-to-face interviews.
Web-based surveys may be performed faster and at lower cost than more traditional approaches with personal interviews. Selective participation seems a particular threat to point estimates of psychopathology, while patterns of associations are more robust.
The aim of this study was to gain knowledge regarding how Norwegian nulliparous women experience planned home birth and why they choose this route of giving birth.
A qualitative approach was used, and the study data were derived from semi-structured individual interviews, which were analysed through systematic text condensation.
Ten Norwegian women aged nineteen to thirty-nine years were interviewed. They had each gone through with a successful planned home birth of their first child within the last two years. These women all resided in the middle, western and eastern areas of Norway. A certified midwife was present throughout the labour and birth, and no transfer to the hospital was necessary.
The following two main themes were identified: 'inner motivation' and 'giving birth in safe surroundings'. The women in this study had a strong inner faith in the normal physiological processes of labour and birth and had educated and prepared themselves carefully for their planned home birth. To be able to enter one's own inner world was considered crucial for labour, and the trusting relationship they had with their midwife made this possible.
Planned home birth may be experienced as a very positive occurrence for nulliparous women, and the care those women in this study received contained several elements that can help to promote normal labour and birth at a time in which reducing interventions in maternity care is of importance. Their positive birth experiences gave the women confidence both in their transition to motherhood as well as in other aspects of life.
This study is grounded in a phenomenological lifeworld perspective. It aims at providing rich descriptions of lived experience of the process of losing weight after obesity surgery. Two women participated in in-depth interviews four times each during the first postoperative year. Based on the women's experiences, a meaning structure--the ambivalence of losing weight after obesity surgery--was identified across the women's processes of change. This consisted of five core themes: movement and activity--freedom but new demands and old restraints; eating habits and digestion--the complexity of change; appearance--smaller, but looser; social relations--stability and change; and being oneself--vulnerability and self-assurance. These core themes changed over time in terms of dominance. The experience of ambivalence is discussed according to a phenomenological perspective of the body as lived experience.
Notes
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Cites: Ann Intern Med. 2005 Apr 5;142(7):547-5915809466
Cites: J Health Soc Behav. 2005 Sep;46(3):244-5916259147
The aim of the study was to present and evaluate a work-task-oriented interview technique focusing on the placement of the hands relative to the body and assessing per cent time spent in five standard work postures during a working day.
The reproducibility of estimated time spent in each work posture was tested by the test-retest method in 32 subjects; 16 were interviewed by the same interviewer and 16 were interviewed by another one at the retest. The validity concerning estimated time spent in th five standard work postures was tested in relation to observations in 58 male blue-collar workers. The mean registration (assessment) time was 6 hours and 15 minutes.
No evident differences in the reproducibility depending on same or different interviewers at test and retest could be observed. The linear relationship between times estimated by the interview and by observations was high for four of the work postures: 'sitting' (r = 0.86), 'standing with hands above shoulder level' (r = 0.87), 'between shoulder and knuckle level' (r = 0.75), and 'below knuckle level' (r = 0.93). When the work posture 'standing with hands between shoulder and knuckle level' was divided into 'hands fixed' (r = 0.62) and 'hands not fixed' (r = 0.50) the correlations were weak. Current musculoskeletal complaints did not influence the accuracy of the estimations.
The present task-oriented interview technique may be the best available method to estimate these work postures in a way that requires few resources compared to observations and technical measurements.
To investigate current medical school admission processes and whether they differ from those in 1986 when they were last reviewed by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).
In spring 2008, admission deans from all MD-granting U.S. and Canadian medical schools using the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) were invited to complete an online survey that asked participants to describe their institution's admission process and to report the use and rate the importance of applicant data in making decisions at each stage.
The 120 responding admission officers reported using a variety of data to make decisions. Most indicated using interviews to assess applicants' personal characteristics. Compared with 1986, there was an increase in the emphasis placed on academic data during pre-interview screening. While GPA data were among the most important data in decision making at all stages in 1986, data use and importance varied by the stage of the process in 2008: MCAT scores and undergraduate GPAs were rated as the most important data for deciding whom to invite to submit secondary applications and interview, whereas interview recommendations and letters of recommendation were rated as the most important data in deciding whom to accept.
This study underscores the complexity of the medical school admission process and suggests increased use of a holistic approach that considers the whole applicant when making admission decisions. Findings will inform AAMC initiatives focused on transforming admission processes.
We compared the appropriateness of visits to a pediatric emergency department (ED) by provincial telephone health line-referral, by self- or parent-referral, and by physician-referral.
A cohort of patients younger than 18 years of age who presented to a pediatric ED during any of four 1-week study periods were prospectively enrolled. The cohort consisted of all patients who were referred to the ED by a provincial telephone health line or by a physician. For each patient referred by the health line, the next patient who was self- or parent-referred was also enrolled. The primary outcome was visit appropriateness, which was determined using previously published explicit criteria. Secondary outcomes included the treating physician's view of appropriateness, disposition (hospital admission or discharge), treatment, investigations and the length of stay in the ED.
Of the 578 patients who were enrolled, 129 were referred from the health line, 102 were either self- or parent-referred, and 347 were physician-referred. Groups were similar at baseline for sex, but health line-referred patients were significantly younger. Using explicitly set criteria, there was no significant difference in visit appropriateness among the health line-referrals (66%), the self- or parent-referrals (77%) and the physician-referrals (73%) (p = 0.11). However, when the examining physician determined visit appropriateness, physician-referred patients (80%) were deemed appropriate significantly more often than those referred by the health line (56%, p
