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Biomedical subjects

C B IJsselmuiden

Publications and source records attributed to C B IJsselmuiden.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

The pharmacy screening project--an evaluation of pharmacy-based screening programmes.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to establish the proportion of pharmacies providing screening tests in the areas of Pretoria, Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp, the types of tests used and their cost to patients, the criteria employed to select high-prevalence groups, the attitudes of pharmacists towards screening, and their knowledge of test characteristics. SETTING: In Pretoria, 155 pharmacies were randomly selected and all 43 pharmacies in Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp were included. METHODS: The pharmacies included in the study sample were first contacted by telephone to identify those providing screening tests. Pharmacies that provided screening tests and agreed to participate in this study were then visited and a questionnaire was administered. RESULTS: 57% of the pharmacies provided at least one type of screening test. Blood pressure measurement, serum cholesterol, capillary glucose and pregnancy testing were the most common screening tests available. With the exception of blood pressure measurement, the screening tests were conducted less than 5 times per week. All respondents referred clients with abnormal results to general practitioners but only 35% of pharmacies kept records of the patients tested and the test results. The knowledge of pharmacists concerning the important features of screening tests, such as false-positive and false-negative rates, was poor. No quality control procedures for the screening tests were employed. CONCLUSIONS: Providing pharmacists with specific training in the application and interpretation of screening procedures, and implementing quality control measures will reduce the number of false referrals or non-referrals, and will improve the quality of the service. If pharmacies are to play a meaningful role in screening for disease, coverage of the population will need to be increased substantially.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Desegregating health statistics and health research in South Africa.

OBJECTIVE: This article aims: (i) to re-examine the use and usefulness of categorisation based on 'race', ethnicity and 'population group' membership in public health research; and (ii) to assess the consequences of using these categories for describing, analysing and redressing disparities in health within South Africa. The utility of categorisation based on 'race', ethnicity and 'population group'. Categorising populations and comparing patterns of disease between different groups of people can be a useful technique for identifying potential causes of disease. In this context, ethnicity is a valid social concept that could be used to investigate the consequences of self-ascribed identity on health. Likewise, 'population group', as defined during apartheid in South Africa, represents a valid political concept that could be used for assessing the impact of social discrimination on health. However, both these concepts are often seen, and used, as euphemisms for 'race', even though there are no genetically distinct human subspecies that can be identified and categorised as discrete 'races'. Indeed, 'race' as a biological concept has no validity in human biology. Nevertheless, categories based on 'race', ethnicity and 'population group; continue to be used in health research, and reinforce the perception that differences in disease between different 'racial', ethnic and 'population' groups are the result of heritable biological characteristics. In so doing, they undermine support for health interventions that would otherwise address the social and political origins of 'racial' and ethnic disparities in health. The utility of 'population group' for redressing the consequences of apartheid. Despite these problems, 'population group' classification provides important information for assessing the impact of apartheid on disparities in health within South Africa. Yet, the abolition of apartheid legislation is likely to result in extensive socio-economic and geographical migration that will weaken the sensitivity and specificity of 'population group' as an indicator for identifying inequalities in health. For this reason, targeting corrective action at specific population groups in order to tackle disparities in health, runs the risk of ignoring alternative social causes of inequalities in health, and ignoring disadvantaged individuals from elsewhere in the population. The continued use of 'population group' classification might also perpetuate the root cause of disparities in health, by maintaining the process used to formalise discrimination. CONCLUSION: If the purpose of health research is to monitor inequalities in health and to help target resources aimed at reducing these inequalities, then it should seek, in its language, concepts and methods to undermine the root cause of disadvantage. Health research aimed at monitoring and redressing the consequences of social disadvantage on health should therefore focus on non-biological determinants of social disparities in health. As a general rule, health researchers should avoid using categories based on 'race', ethnicity and 'population group' when collecting and analysing health data; journal editors should not accept articles that use these categories without justification; and health authorities should not collect data routinely segregated by 'race', ethnicity or 'population group'.

Bias↗
PubMed1995

An assessment of the statistical procedures used in original papers published in the SAMJ during 1992.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the statistical procedures used in original papers published in the SAMJ. DESIGN: Descriptive study based on a random sample of 100 papers from the 153 papers with methodological content that were published in the SAMJ during 1992. RESULTS: This review showed that 34% (95% CI (25%; 43%)) of papers used no statistical procedure at all or used simple descriptive statistics only. In sampling methods, there was a predominance of the use of the period sampling method as opposed to probability sampling methods. Inappropriate statistical methods were used in 15% (6%; 24%) of papers, while in 16% (9%; 23%) statistical procedures and in 13% (6%; 20%) the sampling methods used could not be identified. Inaccurate graphical methods were used in 17% (6%; 28%) of papers. Confidence intervals and power calculations are used far too infrequently, in 33% (19%; 47%) and 11% (3%; 19%) of appropriate papers respectively. If the Journal's readers are at least familiar with simple descriptive statistics, contingency table analysis, simple epidemiological statistics, t-test procedure and confidence interval calculation and interpretation, they will have a complete understanding of the statistical content of 60% of original articles published in the Journal. CONCLUSION: Guidelines for the statistical treatment of reported data and the statistical review of articles before publication will assist substantially in improving the quality of statistical analysis. More intensive use of available biostatistical and epidemiological expertise at the study design and analysis stages is needed to shift the emphasis from descriptive research to analytical investigation.

Evaluation Studies as Topic↗
PubMed1992

Cancer of the pancreas and drinking water: a population-based case-control study in Washington County, Maryland.

A case-control study was done to assess a potential association between drinking water and pancreatic cancer in Washington County, Maryland. Cases of pancreatic cancer occurring from 1975 through 1989 were identified from the cancer registry. Controls were selected from the private 1975 census of Washington County. There were 101 cases and 206 controls. Chlorinated municipal water was used as a source of drinking water by 79% of cases and 63% of controls, yielding a significant odds ratio of 2.2. Adjustment for age and smoking had almost no effect on the risk, although both age and smoking were independently associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer. Although these findings must be interpreted with caution because of limitations in exposure assessment, these results have implications for the prevention of pancreatic cancer because chlorination of water is so widely practiced.

Adult↗