Biomedical subjects

P Aiach

Publications and source records attributed to P Aiach.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1990

What cancer tells us about general practice. Birth of an hypothesis.

We are presenting in this paper a study about general practitioners' behaviours and attitudes towards the cancer patients they take care of. To begin with, the approaching methods are presented in a critical way. The choice of these methods finds an explanation in the fact that we were looking for an information as near as possible to the real physicians' behaviours and supplying, at the same time, an important material, giving us the opportunity to undertake an interpretative analysis of the different medical cases about cancer patients (64) written by some (12) of the general practitioners (31) who had been interviewed before about cancer in their medical practice. We have tried, particularly, to point out and to illustrate with some examples the specific contribution of a chosen method compared with another one; for instance, the interviews compared to the written questionnaire, and the medical cancer cases written by the physicians compared to the interviews realized with the same general practitioners. In this paper we are also trying to report the preoccupations, the difficulties and the theoretical and methodological problems which appeared during the process of this research. Concerning the findings of this study, it is possible to assert that the main hypothesis seems coherent with the collected information: it really seems that cancer, with its social image in which fear for suffering and for dying prevail, is for the general practitioner a borderline situation in which his personal psychology and his feelings seem to play a more important part than his medical knowledge.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed1990

Social inequalities in self-reported morbidity: interpretation and comparison of data from Britain and France.

This paper considers the results from national surveys of self-reported morbidity in Britain and France and discusses the implications for our understanding of social class differences in the propensity to report illness. The methods adopted in these surveys in the two countries are so different that any comparison of the results must be limited. However, evidence on the trends over time in illness reporting in both countries reinforces the impression that the survey methodology has a significant impact on the results in terms of social class inequalities. The discussion also considers some other possible explanations for apparent changes in the propensity to report illness. It is concluded that in both countries the national survey data on class differences in self-reported morbidity has limitations and might be improved in the light of developments in survey methodology and the cross-fertilisation of ideas through international comparative studies of the subject.

Cross-Cultural Comparison↗

PubMed1989

[The political economy of health policy in the socialist government: the record after five years of power in France, l981-1986].

One cannot say that health was put to the forefront of the reform projects of the left-wing parties and, in particular, of the Socialist Party before their coming to power in May 1981. One cannot say, either, that after the departure of the Socialists in April 1986, the reforms that they accomplished in this area have been considerable. However, some of them are not negligible, even if one cannot yet measure all their effects completely. The policy drive has been marked by two periods. The first was characterized by a profusion of projects and by strong political promises, i.e. from June 1981 to March 1983. It was the period when the Minister of Health was a Communist and when the Social Security administration was linked to another ministry. It was the period of reforms which were promised but not realised, e.g. those concerned with health and labour, those that touched on the issue of psychiatric hospitals. It was the period, nevertheless, when some of the reforms could have been undertaken with success: the reforms of medical education, of the establishment of the Regional Observatories of Health, of the decentralisation of some sectors of the health system, of the elimination of private sector beds in public hospitals. The second, from April 1983 to July 1985, was characterised by an attempt to modify the modality of the functions of the health system. It was during this period that the office of the Minister of Health was reduced to that of Secretary of State attached to the Minister of Social Affairs, whose main concern was with research regarding balancing budgets and who, relatively speaking, succeeded in his rigorous attempt to curb medical costs. One can point out, however, that an attempt was made to bring about 'the integrated health centre', an attempt corresponding to the wish of the militant socialists but which was to have no effect except as a symbolic gesture. But the main reform, launched by the law of 19 January, 1983, was that which was concerned with the mode of financing hospitals by replacing daily hospital fees with general financial budgets, the amounts of which were to be negotiated between the hospitals and the administrative boards. This reform would expand into broader activities, i.e. the creation of the entire organisation of hospitals to a great extent. This reform attempted to introduce the advantage of collective discussion of problems among the persons responsible, no longer nominated by the central authority but elected by their peers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Economics, Hospital↗

PubMed1985

[General practitioners and mental disorders].

This article presents the results of a mail survey about mental illness in general practice carried out in France in 1981 on a sample of 353 general practitioners. The research had two main objectives: The first was to understand the general practitioners perceptions of the manner in which they dealt with their patients suffering from psychiatric or psychologic disorders. The second was to test several hypothesis concerning the relationship between the frequency of diagnoses of mental disorders by the general practitioner and her or his links with the field of psychopathology and with the mental patients. The findings of the survey confirm the main hypothesis: the way general practitioners diagnose mental illness is significantly related to their interest in the subject of psychopathology and in their mental patients. Moreover, these results show how general practitioners claim that psychological problems are part of their field and that they do not feel at all uneasy when confronted with patients suffering from mental disorders. They frequently deal with these patients with mental disorders and believe that they are qualified to practice psychotherapy.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed1981

[Differentiation factors concerning the declaration of symptoms (author's transl)].

A survey has been carried out (in suburbs of Paris) on the cultural factors of differentiation concerning the opinions and the attitudes of people towards health and disease; it was an opportunity to ask questions about present and old symptoms felt by the person who had answered. The main points which result from a multivariate analysis, carried out in order to study the relation between the symptoms' declaration and the selected and sampling variables, are the following: --There is a privileged relation between the female sex and everything affecting diseases and health, through the trend of declaring symptoms. --Besides, the trend of declaring symptoms is generally on a par with the steady existence of psychological symptoms. --For the same number of symptoms declared, these are the youngest and the most educated and, especially, those who accept the idea that a "mental disorder" can happen to them, who declare the highest number of psychological symptoms and, therefore, less organic symptoms. Four main factors are arising: the sex, the social class which some one belongs, individual psychological factors and the personal health status. An analysis is proposed, concerning the main relations which become obvious.

Adult↗

PubMed1980

[Fear and images of illness: the opposition cancer/cardiovascular diseases (author's transl)].

A survey has been carried into cultural factors of differentiation, concerning the opinions and attitudes of people towards health and disease; it offered on opportunity to ask questions about cancer, cardiovascular diseases and the most feared conditions and symptoms. It is cancer which people are mostly afraid of with cardiovascular diseases very far behind. If we analyse the answers and the statements of people on this subject, a certain image of cancer becomes evident, which explains partly why people are so frightened and wich is evidently opposed, point by point, to the image of cardiovascular diseases. In addition, it is sex, more than educational level or age, which brings a differenciation between the answers: women seem concerned by cancer problems and men by cardiovascular diseases.

Adult↗

PubMed1979

[Morbidity, mortality and social class. Bibliographical review covering differents aspects of pathology, and discussion (author's transl)].

A bibliographical review of social differences in morbidity and mortality is presented. The data concerns France, Great Britain and U.S.A., only for recent years, and come from large surveys, health examinations, or morbidity or mortality registers. The social class variable may be the educational level, or a professional classification. Different aspects of mortality and morbidity are examined: cancer, cardio-vascular diseases, respiratory diseases, musculo-skeletal diseases, digestive diseases, obesity and diabetes, accidents, mental illnesses; acute and minor illnesses, and unusual illnesses, are no studied. For almost all the diseases in this review, the risk is greater in the lowest socioeconomic class.

Accidents↗

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