Biomedical subjects

I Savage

Publications and source records attributed to I Savage.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Prescribing analysis and cost tabulation (PACT) data: an introduction.

PACT (prescribing analysis and cost tabulation) data is a national data set which analyses prescribing data in terms of cost and number of items (volume). At an organizational level, PACT is used to monitor and control prescribing cost and to set prescribing budgets. At individual practitioner level, it is used as an educational and audit tool. The Prescription Pricing Authority (PPA) has sent general practitioners (GPs) quarterly summary reports of their own prescribing since 1988. From 2000 prescriptions written by nurse prescribers have been added to the national PACT data set, and health authorities, practices and trusts will now be analysing both nurse and GP prescribing quality. Because of differences in the way they work, nurse prescribers will not automatically receive individual reports of their own prescribing. However they should be able to access this information on request through their local health authority prescribing advisers and primary care group pharmacists. Based on GP experience, nurse prescribers should find PACT data a useful learning resource for individual and team practice development.

Community Health Nursing↗

PubMed1994

The effect of firm characteristics on truck accidents.

This paper expands an earlier analysis of the effect of firm characteristics and safety practices on truck accident rates. The sample size has been increased from 13,000 to 75,500. Negative binomial regressions are used in preference to the Poisson technique used previously. The current analysis confirms previous results, but provides important new insights into the safety implications of being a private carrier and hauling hazardous materials and the effect of having been in business for many years.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMed1993

Demographic influences on risk perceptions.

Over the past 15 years, psychologists have empirically investigated how people perceive technological, consumer, and natural hazards. The psychometric-attitudes to risk being summarized by three factors: "dread," whether the risk is known, and personal exposure to the risk. The results have been used to suggest that certain types of hazards are viewed very differently from other hazards. The purpose of this paper is somewhat different, in that it investigates whether individual demographic characteristics influence psychometric perceptions of risk. This paper makes use of a large, professionally conducted, survey of a wide cross-section of the residents of metropolitan Chicago. One thousand adults were interviewed in a random-digit dial telephone survey, producing a useable dataset of about 800. Data on the three risk factors mentioned above were obtained on 7-point scales for four common hazards: aviation accidents, fires in the home, automobile accidents, and stomach cancer. The survey also collected demographic data on respondents' age, schooling, income, sex, and race. Regressions were then conducted to relate the demographic characteristics to risk perceptions. Some strong general conclusions can be drawn. The results suggest that women, people with lower levels of schooling and income, younger people, and blacks have more dread of hazards. The exception being age-related illnesses which, not unnaturally, are feared by older people. Unlike previous literature, we cannot substantiate the argument that these groups of people are less informed about hazards and thus less accepting of them. The most likely leading explanation of the relationship between demographic factors and dread of a hazard is the perceived personal exposure to the hazard.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Accidents, Aviation↗

PubMed1992

The effectiveness of motor carrier safety audits.

In 1986 the federal government expanded its program of company inspections for enforcement of motor carrier safety regulations. We find that many parts of these inspections are unrelated to the safety performance of firms. Never the less, reinspection of firms found to be unsatisfactory in a previous inspection does appear to bring about a substantial improvement in their safety performance. However, such firms represent a small fraction of the industry, and the probability of being inspected is very low. Thus, the program does not appear to have resulted in a detectable improvement in the accident rate of the industry.

Accidents, Occupational↗

PubMed1991

The effect of airline deregulation on automobile fatalities.

This paper attempts to quantify the effects of airline deregulation in the United States on intercity automobile travel and consequently on the number of highway fatalities. A demand model is constructed for auto travel, which includes variables representing the price and availability of air service. A reduced form model of the airline market is then estimated. Finding that deregulation has decreased airfares and increased flights, it is estimated that auto travel has been reduced by 2.2% per year on average. Given assumptions on the characteristics of drivers switching modes and the types of roads they drove on, the number of automobile fatalities averted since 1978 is estimated to be in the range 200-300 per year.

Accidents, Aviation↗

PubMed1984

Beneficial effect of nadolol on anxiety-induced disturbances of performance in musicians: a comparison with diazepam and placebo.

The effects of 40 mg nadolol versus 2 mg diazepam on performance anxiety of 33 young music students were determined. The study had a double-blind, crossover design and was placebo controlled. Nadolol attenuated the rise in pulse rate caused by anxiety and improved those aspects of string playing that can be adversely affected by tremor. There was also a tendency for other functions requiring coordination and judgment to improve. No effect on anxiety was noted for nadolol or for 2 mg diazepam. Diazepam, however, did cause some minor deterioration of performance that was not related to anxiety change. These findings, taken with others, suggest that beta-adrenoceptor-blocking drugs such as nadolol have an important role in the correction of anxiety-induced disturbances of performance. Indeed, their use under such circumstances probably is preferable to that of the benzodiazepines.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗