Biomedical subjects

Ahmad Al-Windi

Publications and source records attributed to Ahmad Al-Windi.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

The relations between symptoms, somatic and psychiatric conditions, life satisfaction and perceived health. A primary care based study.

BACKGROUND: In spite of the fact that self-rated health is such an important factor, little is known about the aetiological background to poor perceived health and also less is known about the impact of life satisfaction on health in a primary care practice population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, symptoms, somatic and psychiatric conditions as well as health status measures and life satisfaction on perceived health in a multi-ethnic Swedish health practice population. METHODS: Four-hundred and seventy adult patients, who visited the Jordbro Health Care Centre District (JHC), Haninge Municipality, participated in this study. A general questionnaire with questions about socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle, health status and chronic disease were used. In addition to that, the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD) was used. Furthermore, physical examinations were conducted. Unconditional logistic regression in successive models was used, adjusted for socio-demographic variables and other confounders. RESULTS: Life satisfaction is the strongest predictor of poor perceived health in addition to country of birth, number of symptoms and depression. Being born in Sweden or other Nordic countries were related to lower OR as compared to those born outside Europe. The OR for non-depressed vs. depressed was 0.29 (0.17-0.48) and for non-symptomatic vs. symptomatic (1-3 symptoms) 0.25 (0.46-0.48). The OR and 95% CI for low satisfaction with life was 15.40 (5.28-44.97) in comparison to those who are satisfied with life. CONCLUSION: Country of birth, depression, number of symptoms and life satisfaction are factors related significantly and independently to perceived health. Life satisfaction is the strongest predictor of perceived poor health.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Determinants of medicine use in a Swedish primary health care practice population.

BACKGROUND: Pharmaceuticals represent an increasing share of private and public health care expenditures. The aim of this study was to characterise users and to determine the pattern of uses of prescribed medicines and to identify determinants of medicine use in a multi-ethnic Swedish general practice population. METHODS: The study was performed in 1055 of 1442 consecutive adult patients visiting the Jordbro Health Centre (JHC) in Stockholm, Sweden. RESULTS: In a regression analysis adjusted for the influence of confounders, subjects reporting 10-30 complaint symptoms, subjects with chronic disease and subjects that had a cost limitation card all reported a higher number of used medicines than subjects with a few (0-10) symptoms and those without chronic disease and a cost limitation card. In a Poisson's regression analysis, high age, female gender, not working, more than 10 symptoms, chronic disease and having a cost limitation card were related to use of prescribed medicines. All included variables predicted 19% of the explanation. Marital status, multi-symptomatology, chronic disease and having a cost limitation card were related to polypharmacy in a logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSION: A high number of complaint symptoms, chronic disease and having a cost limitation card were all significantly and independently related to use of medicines and polypharmacy.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

The influence of complaint symptoms on health care utilisation, medicine use, and sickness absence. A comparison between retrospective and prospective utilisation.

OBJECTIVE: The main aim was to examine the impact of reported individual symptoms on health care utilisation (HCU) in a primary health care practice population and to evaluate the impact of these symptoms on utilisation over time. METHOD: The study was performed in 1055 out of 1442 consecutive adult patients visiting a Swedish health care centre. Logistic regression analyses were applied to assess the relationships between symptoms and HCU outcomes. RESULTS: Each of the 30 symptoms was related to consultations with GPs and a provider of alternative medicine, use of medications and herbals, and sickness absence. Depression and tension groups were the strongest predictors of utilisation. Multisymptomatics had higher OR for most of the outcome variables than those with no symptoms. CONCLUSION: The results of this study show a linear correlation between the numbers of symptoms and increasing GP consultations, medicine use and sickness absences days, and this persisted during the years 2001 and 2002.

Drug Utilization↗

PubMed2005

Depression in general practice.

The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of depression and to investigate factors related to depression in a multi-ethnic healthcare practice population. The Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD) was used to assess mental disorders in Jordbro Health District, Haninge municipality (JHC), Sweden; 470 adult patients were consecutively examined. A two-stage-screening questionnaire was applied to identify patients reporting five or more of the nine criteria for major depression listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV). This procedure was combined with a patient questionnaire (PQ) dealing with questions on socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle, health status and medicine use. Major depression is common and in this population 18.1% met the criteria for major depression. Also, minor depression was common, with 12.1% of subjects falling into this category. Only 21.2% of the patients with major depression were being treated with anti-depressant medication. Co-morbidity was more common among depressed than among non-depressed patients. Depression seems to be under-recognized in primary care practice. The recognition and treatment of depressive disorders could be improved by using DSM-IV criteria to detect depressive disorders in daily clinical practice in primary care.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Determinants of drug utilisation in a Swedish municipality.

BACKGROUND: The cost for pharmaceuticals is rapidly increasing in most countries. Identification of the characteristics of the population that determine drug utilisation appears essential for the appropriate allocation of resources to caregivers. The primary aim of this study was to identify sociodemographic factors and measures of well-being and disease that were independently related to the use of drugs, including herbal, and self-care products in Håbo, a Swedish primary health care district. Another aim was to evaluate combinations of such factors that may improve the prediction of drug utilisation. METHODS: A postal questionnaire was sent to a representative age-stratified population sample from Håbo. Out of 1312 subjects in the population sample, 827 (63%) answered the questionnaire. The questionnaire contained questions on sociodemographic variables, well-being and symptoms and use of drugs, herbal and self-care products. RESULTS: Chronic disease was the most important of several factors that identified users of drugs. Other important factors were female sex, poor perceived health, sick-leave or disability pension and a high number of symptoms (complaint score). When combined, these variables could explain 18% of the use of prescribed pharmaceuticals using the logistic regression model. CONCLUSION: Several sociodemographic characteristics as well as perceived health, complaint score and chronic disease were independently related to the use of drugs and self-care products. The likelihood of using prescribed drugs was very high in subjects with a certain profile. Eighteen per cent of the use could be attributed to this profile.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Predictors of herbal medicine use in a Swedish health practice.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to characterise users of herbal medicines and assess the effect of socio-demographic characteristics, perceived health and chronic disease on the use of herbal medicine in a multi-ethnic Swedish health practice population. METHODS: A questionnaire was completed by 1433 (out of a total of 1776) patients aged 16 years and above who visited the Jordbro Health Centre (JHC) in Stockholm, Sweden, between 14 January and 30 June 2002. The results were linked to computerised medical records. RESULTS: Altogether 320 (22.3%) of this patient population used some form of herbal medicine. The bivariate analysis showed that the use of herbal medicine were more common among patients aged 45-64 years, females, high educated, patients born in Nordic countries or Europe compared to other age groups, males, low educated, patients born outside Europe and without chronic disease. In the logistic regression analysis when the effects of confounders were taken into account, females, high educated patients and patients with chronic disease had higher odds for use of herbal medicine than males, low educated and patients without chronic disease. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were 1.95 (1.40-2.76) for female as compared with male patients; 2.10 (1.49-2.97) for subjects with a high level of education compared with subjects with a low educational level and 1.62 (1.15-2.29) for subjects with chronic disease compared with subjects without chronic disease. The common diagnoses were musculo-skeletal, respiratory and circulatory disorders, signs and symptoms and external causes according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD10). There were no significant differences between users and non-users of herbal medicine regarding the number of consultations with any physician or the general practitioner (GP), contacts with the health care centre, use of prescribed medicines or number of days of sick leave during the past year. CONCLUSION: Females, well-educated patients and patients with chronic disease had higher odds for use of herbal medicine than others irrespective of other socio-demographic characteristics, and herbal medicine was seen to be used independently of conventional medicine.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Determinants of complaint symptoms in a Swedish health care practice--results of a questionnaire survey.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify predictors of complaint symptoms in an adult general practice population. METHOD: The study was performed in 1055 out of 1442 consecutive adult patients visiting a Swedish health care centre. The relationship between complaint symptoms and sociodemographic characteristics, perceived health, and chronic disease was assessed using multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: Gender and perceived health were related to all symptom categories independently of each other, and when the effects of various symptom categories were taken into account in the regression analysis, the depression and tension symptom categories could predict about 50% of the explanation. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that psychiatric symptoms, particularly depression and tension symptoms, interact and have an impact on somatic symptom reporting in addition to sociodemographic characteristics, perceived health, and chronic disease, which have impact on only some symptom categories.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

The validity of a questionnaire on medicines used in health care practice: comparison of a questionnaire and computerized medical record survey.

BACKGROUND: To assess the effect of sociodemographic characteristics, perceived health, chronic disease, and country of birth on use of medicines and the validity of a questionnaire survey on the use of medicines. METHODS: A questionnaire was handed out to all 1776 patients aged 16 years or over who had attended Jordbro Health Center, Haninge municipality, Sweden, during the preceding 6 months (response rate 81%), and the findings were linked to information obtained from the computerized prescriptions of medicines. Three measurements were used: medicine used, prescriptions, and medicines prescribed. RESULTS: The data were analyzed by logistic regression technique in univariate and multivariate forms. Of the respondents 73% reported using some type of medicine, compared to 63% who had been given a prescription by a physician in the Health Center during the past year. The number of medicines used was 3.26 vs. 4.17 prescribed, but after controlling for possible confounders the figures were 3.51 vs. 3.94. Female gender and chronic disease were related to high prevalence of drug use. Old age, female gender, sick-leave or disability pension, and chronic disease were also related to a high prevalence of prescribed medicines, while old age, sick-leave, perceived bad health, and chronic disease were related to the numerous medicines used. Old age, perceived bad health, and chronic disease were related to a large number of prescriptions, while old age and chronic disease were related to a large number of prescribed medicines. CONCLUSIONS: Differences were found between the two methods used to analyze data. The prevalence of medicines used was overestimated, but the number of medicines used was underestimated. This indicates that the prevalence rates based on analysis of the questionnaire are more reliable, while the number of used medicines should be interpreted with caution, and the effect of patient-concordance should be considered in future studies.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

The influence of perceived well-being and reported symptoms on health care utilization: a population-based study.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of reported well-being and symptoms on the utilization of health care, including alternative medicine. A random, age-stratified sample was drawn from the general population of Håbo, a municipality in mid-Sweden. Of the 1312 subjects sampled, 827 responded to a postal questionnaire, providing information on health care utilization during the previous year, on a number of well-being variables and on perceived symptoms during the past 3 months. Subjects who reported low scores for perceived health and sleep had significantly more appointments with a physician than subjects reporting high scores. These results remained when the influence of age, sex, marital status, household size, educational level, occupational status and presence of chronic disease, shown to affect health care utilization in a previous report, was taken into account. In addition, multi-symptom reporters had higher odds for appointments with physicians or providers of alternative medicine than those with few symptoms when account was taken of potential confounders. The effect of perceived health was independent of symptom reporting on health care utilization, indicating that there is probably no simple chain of causation involved. Health care consumption, especially out-patient care, appears to be linked to perceived bad health and the multi-symptom reporting, factors that together with other known predictors perhaps might be used to estimate future health care needs.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Determinants of complementary alternative medicine (CAM) use.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe the pattern of use of complementary alternative medicine (CAM) and identify the determinants of CAM use in a multi-ethnic Swedish primary health care practice population. METHODS: A questionnaire was handed out to 1433 patients aged 16 years and above who visited the Jordbro Health Centre (JHC) in Stockholm, Sweden, between 14 January and 30 June 2002. The results were linked to computerised medical records. RESULTS: Seventeen percent of respondents had consulted a CAM provider during the preceding year and many patients had consulted several types of CAM providers. The most frequently CAM used was massage, followed by acupuncture, chiropractic and naprapathy. In the logistic regression, when adjusting for the influence of possible confounders, chronic disease and physical activity were the most important predictors of consultations with CAM providers. Users of CAM had had a higher number of consultations with medical professionals than had non-users of alternative medicine. CONCLUSIONS: In our study population CAM, defined here as "manual therapy", was used in addition to traditional therapies and was related to high use of health care services. Chronic disease and physical activity were significantly and independently related to use of CAM.

Adolescent↗