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R Moodie

Publications and source records attributed to R Moodie.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

Emotions at work.

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Australia↗

An actual use comparison of condoms meeting Australian and Swiss standards: results of a double-blind crossover trial.

The performance of condoms in actual use has been poorly researched in the past, especially in comparing condoms that met different quality control standards as indicated by laboratory testing. The present study used a double-blind crossover design to compare the performance of 2 types of condoms in actual use; one that met the Australian and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards for condom quality and one that met the more stringent Swiss Quality Seal requirements. Ninety-two men recruited from Metropolitan Melbourne completed a self-report diary sheet after each condom was used which assessed the performance of the condom and the conditions under which it was used. From a total of 1917 condom uses, there was an overall breakage risk of 2.7%. The breakage risk ratio (Australian/ISO:Swiss) for all types of use was 1.16 (95% confidence interval 0.68-1.99). When subanalyses by method of entry were performed, the condoms meeting the Swiss standard appeared to fare better than the Australian/ ISO standards for anal sex (RR = 4.84, 95% CI 1.07-21.8, P = 0.022), while the opposite was the case for vaginal sex (RR = 0.74, 95% CI 0.35-1.53, P = 0.41). The result for anal use was statistically significant at the 5% level, despite being based on fewer condom trials than that for vaginal use, but this result needs to be replicated. Although the participants appeared representative of the general male population in Melbourne in the age bracket 18-46 years, there was a significant history of condom usage reported. This may have influenced the risk of breakage.

Adult↗

Government responses to HIV/AIDS in Africa: what have we learnt?

While we should not lose sight of the development of vaccines and cures, more immediate priorities include the implementation of effective STD control. The syndromic management approach developed in Zimbabwe to overcome laboratory constraints is a cost-effective way of managing STD. Of urgency is the integration of STD services into primary health-care services, appropriate training of staff, adequate provision and control over drugs and condoms, and incorporation of traditional healers and community-based education on STD. A second area of priority is the strengthening of the interaction between prevention, care and support activities, which act in synergy. Effective prevention and care require easy access to testing facilities with pre- and post-test counselling, appropriate structures and services to provide affordable and sustained care and support to those found to be infected with HIV, provision of drugs for the treatment of opportunistic infections, and the creation of a social environment and a legislation which protect against any form of discrimination the rights of people living with HIV, their sexual partners and their families.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

An endemic strain of Staphylococcus haemolyticus colonizing and causing bacteremia in neonatal intensive care unit patients.

Coagulase-negative staphylococci are now the major cause of bacteremia in neonatal intensive care units. To date, coagulase-negative staphylococci causing neonatal infections have been found to be distinct when typed by standard techniques. To determine whether or not an endemic strain could be identified using more discriminatory techniques, we characterized coagulase-negative staphylococci isolates obtained from a prospective study of coagulase-negative staphylococci bacteremia in a neonatal intensive care unit during 1984 through 1985, by standard techniques supplemented with DNA-DNA hybridization and restriction endonuclease analysis. We typed 58 strains that were isolated from 52 episodes of bacteremia in 38 neonates. There were 46 isolates of Staphylococcus epidermidis. Three pairs of strains were identical, and each strain was from a different patient. There were 12 isolates of Staphylococcus haemolyticus. Ten were identical, referred to as strain TOR-35, and had been isolated from eight different infants. Characterization of strains obtained in 1986 from a prospective study of coagulase-negative staphylococci-colonizing neonates admitted to the same neonatal intensive care unit found the TOR-35 strain had colonized 6 of 17 neonates by day seven. A point prevalence survey of all neonates in the same neonatal intensive care unit in 1990 found 5 of 30 neonates to be colonized with the TOR-35 strain. Therefore, we were able to identify an endemic strain of S haemolyticus that caused multiple episodes of bacteremia during a 6-month period and remained present in the same environment for a 5-year period.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Cervical cytology in central Australian Aboriginal women.

Cervical smears were taken from 113 Aboriginal women who attended an Aboriginal community controlled health service in Alice Springs for gynaecological, obstetric or other unrelated conditions over a 6 month period. Nine women (8%) had cervical atypia and two (1.8%) had cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. These rates are similar to those observed among other population groups in larger Australian and overseas studies, as was the high prevalence of abnormal smears in women under 25 years of age (11% of this age group). Urban dwellers had a higher prevalence of abnormal smears (15%) compared with town camp and rural women (2%). This pilot study emphasises the importance of routine screening for central Australian Aboriginal women and identifies possible risk groups for further research.

Adolescent↗

The politics of evaluating Aboriginal Health Services.

Evaluation of Aboriginal Health Services (AHSs) has become a topic of importance to service providers and governments in recent years. This paper examines some of the difficulties AHSs have in conducting evaluation and presents an example of an inappropriate evaluation methodology as proposed by the Commonwealth Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA) in 1986. The paper examines the contradictory nature of the DAA proposal and the mistrust it has engendered in many AHSs. It then highlights some of the political difficulties in developing meaningful national and community health objectives as a basis for sound evaluation of health services. The paper concludes by identifying some of the processes whereby more appropriate evaluation methodologies might be developed and suggests that negotiation and consultation with the Aboriginal communities and their health services are imperative to successful evaluation.

Australia↗