Fitting a linear model to survey data when the long-term average daily intake of a dietary component is an explanatory variable
Titelübersetzung:Verbesserung eines linearen Modells von Längsschnittdaten zur Nahrungsmittelaufnahme von diätetischen Komponenten als erklärende Variable von Gesundheit
Autor/in:
Kott, Phillip S.; Guenther, Patricia M.; Wagstaff, David A.; Juan, WenYen; Kranz, Sibylle
Quelle: Survey Research Methods, 3 (2009) 3, S 157-165
Inhalt: "The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) collects information on both dietary intake and health conditions from a complex sample of individuals in the US. Instrumental-variable regression can be used to model an individual's health-related attribute as a linear function of explanatory variables including the average daily intake of dietary components. This overcomes the apparent limitation of the NHANES collecting dietary intake data on only two days per sampled individual because the averages of two days per individual exhibit considerable intra-individual variability. Readily available software routines can perform survey-sensitive instrumental-variable regression with data like that collected by the NHANES, but the relevant quantitative literature is not clear about what parameters these routines are actually estimating. The authors fit the long-term (usual) serum beta-carotene level of a population of women aged 20-64 to a linear function of each woman's long-term average (usual) daily beta-carotene intake from food and other explanatory variables using survey-sensitive instrumental regression and provide two interpretations of the results." (author's abstract)
Schlagwörter:nutrition; Gesundheit; North America; regression analysis; Nahrungsmittel; ernährungsbedingte Krankheit; health consequences; nutrition-related illness; Nordamerika; remuneration for members of parliament; Lebensalter; United States of America; Verhalten; food; Lebenserwartung; behavior; Regressionsanalyse; life expectancy; Lebensmittel; Mittelwert; USA; woman; Ernährung; gesundheitliche Folgen; mean; Diäten; age; health
SSOAR Kategorie:Forschungsarten der Sozialforschung, Erhebungstechniken und Analysetechniken der Sozialwissenschaften, Gesundheitspolitik
Involvement of first-time mothers with different levels of education in the decision-making for their delivery by a planned Caesarean section: women's satisfaction with information given by gynaecologists and midwives
Autor/in:
Kolip, Petra; Büchter, Roland
Quelle: Journal of Public Health, 17 (2009) 4, S 273-280
Inhalt: Aims: We investigated the involvement of first-time mothers, who had a planned Caesarean section, in the decision to have a Caesarean section, taking into account their different educational levels. Subjects and methods: A self-assessment questionnaire was sent in July 2005 to women who had undergone a Caesarean section in 2004. Participants were 2,685 members of a statutory health insurance fund who had given birth by Caesarean section (response rate: 48.0%). Included were primiparae with planned Caesarean section (n = 352). Results: The women in this cross-sectional study felt well informed about the procedure of a section but not its consequences. They used several sources of information and were most satisfied with the information provided by doctors and midwives. Of the women in this study 20% did not have a midwife. No major differences were observed between different educational levels. Conclusion: Although most women were satisfied with their decision, they felt that they did not receive enough information about the consequences of a Caesarean section. This information need could be met by a further involvement of midwives in maternity care.
Schlagwörter:Caesarean section; Shared decision-making; Information needs; Birth
Community stroke knowledge: a new information strategy using a joint project of the public health service and the hairdressers' guild of the Wesel district
Quelle: Journal of Public Health, 17 (2009) 6, S 371-376
Inhalt: Objectives: The public health programme “Healthy Lower Rhine…against Stroke” is aimed at improving the population’s knowledge about stroke and thus at reducing the prehospital phase in patients with suspected stroke. First evaluation results indicate that apart from providing information through the mass media, there is an urgent need to further develop the face-to-face communication approach. This has to be achieved by efficient but also effective means, given that financial and personnel resources are scarce. Study design: In cooperation with lögd Bielefeld, the Lower Health Authority of the Wesel District (health department) developed a postcard-sized quiz card containing exclusively correct answers on the issue of stroke, risk factors as well as symptom and action knowledge. For face-to-face communication, the hairdressers could be convinced to be included in the project. The hairdressers posed the corresponding questions and marked those answers of the clients that were identical with the quiz card answers with a cross. Answers not given by the clients were read out loud to them by the hairdressers, who were thus “styling up” the knowledge of their clients. To increase participation in the project, prizes were offered for the hairdressers with the most filled-in quiz cards as well as for three of the participating clients (drawing of prizes 1–3). More than 380 hairdressers in the Wesel district were sent a letter inviting them to participate as facilitators in this project, which is probably the first of its kind worldwide. Methods: The machine-readable quiz cards were collected and statistically evaluated including data regarding age and gender of the participants. Results were to be presented in the form of a descriptive statistic. Results: Thirty-three hairdressers from 12 cities and municipalities of the Wesel district participated in this joint action of the Wesel district Department of Health and the Wesel hairdressers’ guild, dealing with the monitoring and imparting of basic knowledge on the issue of stroke. Almost 2,000 clients were interviewed by the participating hairdressers, and knowledge gaps were closed by information read out to them. Discussion: This innovative approach of imparting knowledge can be regarded as the model of an effective and economical way of communicating health information to the broader public.
Schlagwörter:Stroke prevention; "Healthy Lower Rhine ... against Stroke"; Hairdressers imparting health information
Adapted Traditions: The Case of Traditional Palestinian Women Healers in Israel
Titelübersetzung:Adaptierte Tradition: Traditionelle palästinensische Heilerinnen in Israel
Autor/in:
Popper-Giveon, Ariela
Quelle: Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 10 (2009) 2, 24 S
Inhalt: Dieser Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit traditionellen palästinensischen Heilerinnen in Israel und mit den Wandlungsprozessen, denen ihre Rollen und Praktiken unterworfen sind. Verglichen werden biografische Erzählungen von Heilerinnen, die in Städten mit jüdisch-arabischer Bevölkerung in Zentral-Israel leben mit denen in Beduinen-Gemeinschaften in der Wüste Negev. Dabei wird deutlich, dass traditionelles Heilen im Zuge von Modernisierungsprozessen nicht einfach verschwunden ist, sondern spezifische Transformationen vollzogen hat. So befassen sich städtische Heilerinnen z.B. weniger mit "physischen" Problemen, für die eine "natürliche" Ursache und Behandlung angenommen wird, sondern eher mit allgemeinen Lebensproblemen bzw. mit Problemen, die als "übernatürlich" verursacht erachtet und die mit magischen und religiösen Mitteln behandelt werden. Auf diese Weise bleiben die Heilerinnen trotz erkennbarer Wandlungsprozesse Agentinnen des Bewahrens von Tradition und von Konservatismus, eine Rolle, die ihre zentrale Position in ihren Gemeinschaften fortschreibt.
Inhalt: This article examines transformations in the roles and treatment practices of traditional Palestinian women healers in Israel. Comparing narratives of women healers residing in Jewish-Arab mixed cities in central Israel with those of their counterparts in the Bedouin community of the Negev reveals that traditional healing has not disappeared as a result of modernization but rather has transformed. Urban women healers are abandoning treatment of physical problems in favor of addressing life hardships; they distance themselves from problems whose cause and treatment are considered natural and prefer those perceived as derived from supernatural causes and treated through supernatural, magical and religious means. Despite these transformations, traditional Palestinian women healers appear as agents of preservation and conservatism, a role that imbues them with a central position in their community. Hence, their place is currently secured and expected to remain so as processes of modernization and acculturation increase in intensity.
Schlagwörter:Gesundheit; female profession; modernization; role; cure; Transformation; Frauenberuf; conservatism; Heilung; Israel; Palästinenser; Konservatismus; transformation; Tradition; Israel; comparison; Palestinian; woman; sozialer Wandel; traditionelle Kultur; traditional culture; Rolle; Religion; religion; social change; tradition; health; Vergleich; Modernisierung; traditionelle Heilerinnen; Palästinenser/innen in Israel; Beduinen; Anthropoloyg, Medical Anthropology; traditional healing; women healers; social change; Palestinians in Israel; Bedouin
SSOAR Kategorie:Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung, Gesundheitspolitik
Private individual ambulatory health care providers in Madhya Pradesh province, India
Autor/in:
Costa, Ayesha; Eriksson, Bo; Diwan, Vinod K.
Quelle: Journal of Public Health, 17 (2009) 4, S 235-241
Inhalt: Background: Ambulatory health care services are a major contributor to the large and inequitable health financing burdens (largely out-of-pocket) faced by households in India. The private sector has a virtual monopoly over ambulatory curative services in rural and urban India. Despite this, there is little knowledge about who these providers are, their numbers, distribution, and activities. Aim: This study describes the numbers, gender, distribution, and characteristics of private individual ambulatory care providers in Madhya Pradesh (60.4 million people), one of India’s largest provinces. It discusses the suitability of this provider mix to deal with maternal and child health, a major health priority in the province. Method: A survey enlisting all health care providers was conducted in the 52,117 villages and 394 towns of the province. Results: There were 14,046 private qualified physicians (12.5% women), 57,684 qualified paramedics (3.4% women), and 89,090 unqualified providers (10% women) providing ambulatory services in individual setups. In addition, 55,393 traditional birth attendants provided home-based intranatal care. The macro organization of these providers in this setting is presented. Given the high levels of maternal and child mortality in the province, excessive reliance is placed on less than competent providers as these present lower access barriers. Conclusion: Given the public health priorities in this province (maternal and child health), the provider mix is not optimally suited to the populations’ needs. There is a lack of competent qualified care required to deal with the major causes of morbidity and mortality, particularly in rural areas. Access to qualified women providers is low. The lack of a cadre of qualified midwives possibly contributes to some of the high maternal mortality observed in this province.
Schlagwörter:gender; Gender; Human resources; Maldistribution; Health services India