Biomedical subjects

C B Kerr

Publications and source records attributed to C B Kerr.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1998

Jobless. Unemployment and young people's health.

Morrell, Taylor and Kerr, from the University of Sydney's Department of Public Health, review the evidence of an association between unemployment and psychological and physical ill-health in young people aged 15-24 years. Aggregate data show youth unemployment and youth suicide to be strongly associated. Youth unemployment is also associated with psychological symptoms, such as depression and loss of confidence. Effects on physical health have been less extensively studies; however, there is some evidence for an association with raised blood pressure. Finally, the prevalence of lifestyle risk factors (cannabis use and, less consistently, tobacco and alcohol consumption) is higher in unemployed compared with employed young people.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1995

Classification trees for decision making in long-term care.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the study was to develop a classification tool predicting a requirement for nursing home care in a population of nursing home applicants. In long-term care services, the objectives of classification mechanisms will include the prevention of inappropriate nursing home admission. METHOD: We studied 295 nursing home applicants residing in the Lower North Shore Area of Sydney, a high socioeconomic status area of Sydney, Australia. The predictor variables examined included: demographic data, social work assessment data, the presence of dementia and incontinence, the Barthel Index of Activities of Daily Living, and the Mini-Mental State Examination. RESULTS: Classification analysis using the C4.5 Program resulted in several classification trees for a decision for nursing home care with sensitivities greater than 70%. The best classification tree was one which combined the scores of the Barthel Index and the Mini-Mental State Examination. CONCLUSION: Classification trees in their simplicity of design and application have advantages over other analytical methods of classification. Classification analysis and the trees examined in this study may have future useful application in decision making for long-term care.

Classification↗

PubMed1991

Setting priorities for diverse equipment acquisition and program proposals with automated multiattributed utility functions.

This article reports on a computer-based multiattributed utility function methodology applied in one region of the VA to rationally assign priorities to new proposals for expanding health services. Based on assessing their costs, quality, and benefits, the methodology demonstrated validity across diverse proposals.

Equipment and Supplies, Hospital↗

PubMed1990

Sociodemographic and health factors in the well-being of homeless men in Sydney, Australia.

Throughout the world, homelessness is generally increasing. This paper examines some of the historical precedents and, in an Australian sample, some of the factors leading to ill-health in this group. All studies have shown the ill-effects on health of being homeless and in this group drinking alcohol and length of time on skidrow appear to be the major factors. It is also suggested that the homeless are generally from comparatively disadvantaged backgrounds before becoming homeless, and more likely to be migrants. They were also less likely to have ever married and more likely to have been in jail or psychiatric institutions.

Alcoholism↗

PubMed1985