SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Mail Distribution”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 271 records · Page 15Linked to original sources

PubMed1998

The revised Piper Fatigue Scale: psychometric evaluation in women with breast cancer.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To confirm the multidimensionality of the Piper Fatigue Scale (PFS) and to reduce the total number of PFS items without compromising reliability and validity estimates. DESIGN: Methodologic, part of a larger, cross-sectional, mailed survey design study. SETTING: Urban and suburban area in the northeast United States. SAMPLE: As part of the larger study, 2,250 surveys were distributed to women survivors of breast cancer who were on a mailing list for the educational organization Living Beyond Breast Cancer, 715 surveys (32%) were returned. Of these, 382 women met this methodologic study's criteria for having completed each of the 40 items on the PFS. The average respondent was 50 years old, postmenopausal, and treated with combination cancer therapy. METHODS: Principal axes factor analysis with oblique rotation. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES: Fatigue factors/subscales. FINDINGS: Five factors/subscales were identified initially. Because the fifth factor contained only two items (ability to bathe/wash and ability to dress), these items and the associated factor/subscale were dropped from the final solution. An additional nine items, not loading on any factor (> 0.40), also were dropped. The remaining items and factors/subscales were reviewed to ensure that the criteria were met: a pattern of inter-item correlations between 0.30-0.70; a minimum number of five or more items/subscale; standardized alpha for the subscales and total scale of at least 0.89; and absence of gender-specific items. CONCLUSIONS: The revised version of the PFS consists of 22 items and four subscales: behavioral/severity (6 items), affective meaning (5 items), sensory (5 items) and cognitive/mood (6 items). Standardized alpha for the entire scale (n = 22 items) is 0.97, indicating that some redundancy still may exist among the items. Additional revisions await further testing. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: As fatigue is acknowledged to be the most frequent symptom experienced by patients with cancer, accurate measurement and assessment is essential to advance not only the science of fatigue but, most importantly, to evaluate the efficacy of intervention strategies on patient and family outcomes.

Breast Neoplasms↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Factors influencing the effectiveness of mailed health surveys.

The authors investigated sources of bias in health surveys by examining responses to their 1989 questionnaire mailed to 1,255 Massachusetts men who were eligible for dental care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. After a maximum of three mailings and one telephone call to nonrespondents, a total of 1,049 veterans had responded out of 1,228 finally determined to be eligible, a response rate of 85 percent. The investigators found that small differences in univariate estimates would have occurred had the field phase been terminated after the first mailing, which had a response rate of 61 percent. To evaluate multivariate distributions, they duplicated their previously published logistic regression model for sources of dental care, using only those who responded to the first and second mailings. Although model fits would have been substantively the same had the field phase been terminated after the first or the second mailings, analysis of parameter estimates and their statistical significances suggested bias that would have led to different substantive conclusions, in some instances. Another potential source of bias in surveys was found to be item omission. Fifty-eight percent of respondents answered all 46 survey questions, and 90 percent answered at least 91 percent of the questions. Fewer questions were answered by those whose responses were received last, but trends regarding missing data by age or education were not statistically significant. Although the survey using this methodology met all objectives, subject nonresponses, the ineligibility of potential respondents, item nonresponses, and skewed distributions of outcome variables combined to reduce the statistical power to detect differences among groups or to alter the analysis of the differences. These factors need to be planned for by investigators undertaking similar surveys.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed1995

Recall, retention, utilisation and acceptability of written health education materials.

The effects of two distribution strategies on the recall of receipt, retention, utilisation and perceived acceptability of written health education materials were investigated in two semirural communities. We randomly selected 512 people, 212 from general practitioners' surgeries, who received the materials from their general practitioners at the end of a routine consultation, and 300 from the electoral register, who received it through the mail in a personally addressed envelope. Of all those who received the materials, 55 (10.7 per cent) were not contactable and 386 (84.5 per cent) of those contacted consented to the survey. Structured interviews were conducted with consenting individuals two weeks after distribution to assess recall of receipt, retention, utilisation and perceived acceptability. Of those receiving the material by mail, 77.4 per cent recalled receiving it, 75.4 per cent reported keeping the booklet and 66.7 per cent reported reading it. Of those receiving it from a general practitioner, 90.9 per cent recalled receiving it, 93.3 per cent reported keeping the booklet and 56 per cent reported reading it. Perceived acceptability of the material was high, with over 80 per cent of respondents finding it very or fairly eye-catching, believable, interesting and easy to read. Although general practitioner distribution led to higher rates of receipt and retention, mail-out distribution led to higher utilisation rates and allowed access to a larger proportion of the population, resulting in more people being exposed to the education message.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

Pain in children and adolescents: a common experience.

Little is known about the epidemiology of pain in children. We studied the prevalence of pain in Dutch children aged from 0 to 18 years in the open population, and the relationship with age, gender and pain parameters. A random sample of 1300 children aged 0-3 years was taken from the register of population in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. In the Rotterdam area, 27 primary schools and 14 secondary schools were selected to obtain a representative sample of 5336 children aged 4-18 years. Depending on the age of the child, a questionnaire was either mailed to the parents (0-3 years) or distributed at school (4-18 years). Of 6636 children surveyed, 5424 (82%) responded; response rates ranged from 64 to 92%, depending on the subject age and who completed the questionnaire. Of the respondents, 54% had experienced pain within the previous 3 months. Overall, a quarter of the respondents reported chronic pain (recurrent or continuous pain for more than 3 months). The prevalence of chronic pain increased with age, and was significantly higher for girls (P<0.001). In girls, a marked increase occurred in reporting chronic pain between 12 and 14 years of age. The most common types of pain in children were limb pain, headache and abdominal pain. Half of the respondents who had experienced pain reported to have multiple pain, and one-third of the chronic pain sufferers experienced frequent and intense pain. These multiple pains and severe pains were more often reported by girls (P<0.001). The intensity of pain was higher in the case of chronic pain (P<0. 001) and multiple pains (P<0.001), and for chronic pain the intensity was higher for girls (P<0.001). These findings indicate that chronic pain is a common complaint in childhood and adolescence. In particular, the high prevalence of severe chronic pain and multiple pain in girls aged 12 years and over calls for follow-up investigations documenting the various bio-psycho-social factors related to this pain.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Pharmacists' knowledge of and attitudes toward opioid pain medications in relation to federal and state policies.

OBJECTIVE: To assess Wisconsin pharmacists' knowledge of and attitudes toward the use of opioid analgesics in the management of chronic cancer and noncancer pain, and to explore the potential for these beliefs to interfere with pharmacist dispensing, the last link of the distribution chain of controlled substances to patients. DESIGN: Mail survey. SETTING: Urban and rural pharmacies, long-term care facilities, hospitals, and outpatient clinics in Wisconsin in 1998. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Representative sample of Wisconsin pharmacists. INTERVENTIONS: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Responses to self-administered questionnaires. RESULTS: Although most respondents were knowledgeable about the issues addressed in this study, there were important exceptions. Not all pharmacists knew what constitutes legitimate dispensing practices for controlled substances under federal or state policy in emergencies or for patients with terminal illnesses, and many were unaware of the important distinctions among addiction, physical dependence, and tolerance. Many respondents did not view the chronic prescribing/dispensing of opioids for more than several months to patients with chronic pain of malignant or nonmalignant origin as a lawful and acceptable medical practice; this was especially true when the patient had a history of opioid abuse. CONCLUSION: Pharmacists play a pivotal role in ensuring patient access to medications. Viewed in the context of federal and state controlled substances policies, our findings suggest that the incorrect knowledge and inappropriate attitudes of some pharmacists could contribute to a failure to dispense valid prescriptions for opioid analgesics to patients in pain.

Adult↗

PubMed1982

The validity of a telephone-administered 24-hour dietary recall methodology.

This study assesses the operational feasibility and validity of a unique telephone-administered 24-h dietary recall methodology. Dietary interviews were conducted by telephone with 204 low-income elderly subjects. Food portion size estimation was done using a two-dimensional food portion visual aid the that was mailed to respondents' homes. The mean intakes and distributions of nine nutrients among males and females in the research sample were compared with those reported in the 1971 to 1974 Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. After correcting for time trends in nutrient intake, the mean intake values found in the survey were very similar to those reported by the Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. In testing the frequency distributions of intakes, only two nutrients for women and one for men had statistically significant differences. The telephone-administered dietary methodology thus produced acceptable estimates of the means and distributions of nutrient intakes among groups of individuals and has the potential of markedly reducing the cost, time, logistical, and personnel constraints associated with nutrition surveys.

Aged↗

PubMed2003

A survey of health promotion at international schools.

This study investigated health promotion efforts at international schools serving the education needs of expatriate communities abroad. Factors supporting the implementation of whole-school approaches to health promotion also were examined. Self-completed questionnaires were distributed by a combination of electronic and conventional mail. International school staff in 93 countries (n = 205) completed an adapted version of an instrument used for evaluating the Western Australian School Health Project (WASHP). This survey demonstrated usefulness of the WASHP instrument cross-culturally in a variety of school settings. The level of whole-school approaches to health promotion in the participating international schools varied but tended to be low. Demographic characteristics of schools were not associated with differences in the level of health promotion, with the exception school size. School organizational factors support implementation of health promotion programs.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1985

Practice styles in periodontics. II.

In 1980 the American Academy of Periodontology published the results of its first major survey of practice characteristics in the Journal of Periodontology. That first study arose from membership concerns about the lack of knowledge about career patterns of periodontists and, more specifically, about employment opportunities for graduating periodontists. Three years later, the Committee on Practice Styles and Opportunities in Periodontics was appointed to replicate the earlier study in order to provide information on recent changes in the practice of periodontics. This decision is commendable since few dental specialty organizations collect data from their membership which can be systematically compared to data from an earlier study. The Academy's Committee contacted David O. Born, PhD, a dental manpower specialist at the University of Minnesota and a technical advisor on the earlier study, for assistance in conducting a replication in 1984. Based on feedback on the first survey and on comments and suggestions from committee members, a revised questionnaire was developed. This questionnaire was, for the most part, a replication of the earlier survey instrument, although several problematic items were deleted or modified and new items, reflecting more recent concerns, were added. The revised questionnaire was distributed in the Spring of 1984 through two mailings to 2937 Active members and 798 Affiliate members. After unusable and undeliverable questionnaires were deleted from the returns, an effective response rate of 55% (N = 2082) was obtained. This report is based on the information supplied by those 2082 members. In the tables and text which follow, the figures reported at the national level refer to "Private practice" periodontists responding to the survey; Academy members who are a part of the Federal services (e.g., Military, Veterans' Administration, Indian Health Service, etc.) are tabulated separately as "District 8" data. While several members from foreign countries responded to the survey, their data have not been included since the information was too dispersed to permit conclusions to be drawn.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Surveillance for pneumonic plague in the United States during an international emergency: a model for control of imported emerging diseases.

In September 1994, in response to a reported epidemic of plague in India, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) enhanced surveillance in the United States for imported pneumonic plague. Plague information materials were rapidly developed and distributed to U.S. public health officials by electronic mail, facsimile, and expedited publication. Information was also provided to medical practitioners and the public by recorded telephone messages and facsimile transmission. Existing quarantine protocols were modified to effect active surveillance for imported plague cases at U.S. airports. Private physicians and state and local health departments were relied on in a passive surveillance system to identify travelers with suspected plague not detected at airports. From September 27 to October 27, the surveillance system identified 13 persons with suspected plague; no case was confirmed. This coordinated response to an international health emergency may serve as a model for detecting other emerging diseases and preventing their importation.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.↗

PubMed1982

Pharmacists' perceptions of their patient counseling activities.

The counseling of patients regarding their drug therapy has been advocated as an important part of pharmacy practice. Both the need and potential for this counseling have been demonstrated. Yet, studies generally have been critical to the extent and quality of the counseling provided. This report describes counseling as it is perceived by community pharmacists who perform this activity. A mail survey, developed from interviews with pharmacists, was distributed to a random sample of Ohio community pharmacists. A net response of 76.8 percent (506 usable questionnaires) was achieved. Respondents have strong positive beliefs about counseling. When the service is provided by pharmacists, counseling sessions are usually brief, pharmacist-initiated, and one-way conversations to the patient. Although there is considerable variation as to the classes of drugs for which counseling is provided and the types of people who receive it, the components of counseling appear to be constant. Attempts to change or expand counseling activities may be compromised unless there is a common understanding among all parties involved of what counseling is. This report is one step toward achieving that understanding. It may be used by community pharmacists to measure and compare their counseling behaviors and beliefs with those of their peers and as a means of identifying possible areas for change in their own practices.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed1975

The recognition and classification of immunodeficiency diseases with bacteriophage phiChi 174.

A standard antigen to assess humoral responses is needed for the immunodeficiency syndromes. Bacteriophage phiChi 174 is the best available antigen. Large, standardized batches can be prepared, stored and distributed; samples for assay can be transported by mail. We have systematically studied the immune response to this antigen in over 200 persons, including 49 immunodeficiency patients. Phage provides consistent delineation of humoral responses in primary immunodeficiency diseases.

Antibodies, Viral↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Community hospital reports demonstrate positive attitudes.

First place winner in the community hospital category is Windham Community Memorial Hospital, Willimantic, Conn. Windham created an annual with a distinctive format, then expanded its use by reprinting the pages separately for strategic distribution. Second place Evangelical Community Hospital, Lewisburg, Pa., epitomizes the optimistic approach seen in most of this year's entries. This colorful report was distributed with local newspapers as well as being mailed to donors.

Annual Reports as Topic↗

PubMed1994

[Attitude to tobacco and prevalence of smokers among primary care physicians in Guipúzcoa].

OBJECTIVE: To discover the evolvement of Primary Care doctors' tobacco consumption in Guipuzcoa and their attitudes to tobacco dependency. DESIGN: A descriptive study of a crossover type. October 1992. SETTING: Primary Health care. PARTICIPANTS: 381 general physicians and paediatricians from Guipuzcoa province. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A self-filled questionnaire was distributed at Health Centres for subsequent return by mail. The reply rate was 60.89%, 42.3% were smokers; 33.6%, ex-smokers. 43% of smokers smoked in the Centre; 2% in front of patients. We found significant differences (p < 0.05) with a study carried out in 1988, where doctors who smoked were 52.4%, ex-smokers 19% and doctors who smoked in front of patients, 18.2%. 45.7% of women smoked, 39.2% of men. 78% of the doctors under study stated that they questioned patients about tobacco consumption. 95.2% did so when patients had specific pathologies. CONCLUSIONS: There has been a significant decline in tobacco smoking by doctors in Guipuzcoa. There are more women than men smokers. There is a higher proportion of ex-smokers among doctors than in the population as a whole. There has been a positive change of attitude as to smoking in front of patients. Centres should become more involved in the struggle against tobacco by offering to set up dependency counselling groups.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Service providers and users discover the Internet.

Although the Internet has evolved over more than twenty years, resources useful to health information professionals have become available on the Internet only recently. A survey conducted by the Regional Medical Libraries of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine in the fall of 1993 indicates that libraries at academic institutions are much more likely to have access to the Internet (72%) than are libraries in hospital environments (24%). Health information professionals who take on the challenge and exploit the Internet's resources find rewards for themselves and their clients. The basic electronic mail capability of the Internet allows colleagues to collaborate, communicate, and participate in daily continuing education. Internet terminal and file-transfer capabilities provide improved access to traditional resources and first-time access to new electronic resources. Through the Internet, online catalogs are available worldwide, and document delivery is faster, cheaper, and more reliable than ever before. Institutions can make organizational, full-text, online, and publication information available through Internet tools such as direct file-transfer protocol (FTP), menu-based Gopher, and hypertext-based Mosaic. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is among organizations finding new ways to provide service through the Internet. NLM now uses electronic mail to communicate with users, FTP service to distribute publications, and tools such as Gopher and Mosaic to distribute publications and graphics and connect users to online services. The Internet allows service providers and health sciences information professionals to work in a rich, new medium whose potential is just beginning to be explored. At the same time, its characteristics--including lack of formal organization, standards, quality control, and permanence--pose a challenge.

Computer Communication Networks↗

PubMed1997

Evaluation of a workshop on Public Education Messages for Reducing Health Risks from Ultraviolet Radiation.

The objective of this paper is to assess the impact of the 1994 Workshop on Public Education Messages for Reducing Health Risks from Ultraviolet Radiation (UVR). The target audience was any organization in Canada doing education on the health risks of UVR. A mailed survey with telephone follow-up was distributed to 130 addresses, including workshop participants, recipients of the workshop report and 40 local public health units. The response rate was 62%. Public health messages from the workshop served as an added impetus or helped to initiate activities around UVR in approximately 40% of organizations over the two years since the workshop. The public health messages were used directly in programming by approximately 38% of all organizations responding. However, looking at those who had previously seen the messages, 61% used them directly in programming. Forty percent of those sampled had never seen a copy of the messages. The results suggest the need for improved dissemination of consensus statements.

Canada↗

PubMed2005

Factors contributing to the retention of clinical laboratory personnel.

OBJECTIVE: To identify factors contributing to retention of clinical laboratory practitioners. DESIGN: A paper survey addressing retention was distributed to a potential of 4000 clinical laboratory professionals. SETTING: The survey was distributed to subjects by their laboratory manager to be completed at the worksite or home. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: 599 usable surveys were received from non-supervisory individuals employed in clinical laboratory science (CLS) for five years or more. INTERVENTIONS: Surveys were mailed to laboratory managers in March 2003 with directions to distribute to practitioners with five or more years of work experience. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Percentages of respondents agreeing and disagreeing with Lickert-type opinion items were determined. The means, ranges, and standard deviations were calculated for the number of hours of continuing education, years of experience, percentage of time spent on tasks, and years in the current job. The means for job satisfaction were calculated and compared statistically based on respondents' job function, satisfaction with salary, job independence, sense of appreciation, and responsibility for continuing education. Open-ended responses were tabulated and categorized. RESULTS: Committed practitioners believe their work is important and find it challenging. Those who are most satisfied with their jobs believe they make a good salary (p = 0.000), have work independence (p = 0.000), and feel that their work is appreciated (p = 0.000). Job satisfaction does not differ for CLTs vs. CLSs. Salaries comparable to nurses and appreciation from physicians, nurses, and hospital administrators are cited by respondents as the most important factors to retaining laboratory staff. CONCLUSION: Committed practitioners believe that salaries comparable to nurses are needed to improve retention of staff. Respondents said that being appreciated by hospital administrators, nurses, and physicians would also contribute to improved retention.

Career Choice↗

PubMed2002

Dietetic preceptors perceive their role to include a variety of elements.

Preceptors are widely used among supervised practice programs in dietetics education. The majority of information regarding preceptors and the preceptor model has been conducted outside of dietetics and has focused on the characteristics of a preceptor or the advantages and disadvantages to the preceptorship. The literature reveals that although many definitions are used to describe the "preceptor," the role of a dietetic preceptor in supervised practice has not been distinguished. The purpose of this study was to determine role perceptions among dietetic preceptors by their indications of how they currently practice vs how they believe they should practice. Directors of dietetic internships, coordinated programs, and approved preprofessional practice programs were selected via a stratified, random sampling to distribute survey materials to 3 preceptors in their programs. The mailed survey was used to gather data detailing demographic characteristics, characteristics of current precepting practices, and beliefs regarding how precepting should be executed. Utilizing concept analysis, a typology was devised. The Preceptor Typology instrument served as the foundation from which the questionnaire was based. Program directors distributed 409 survey packets; usable data were collected from 265 preceptors (64.8%). Descriptive statistics and cross-tabulations were used to analyze data. Preceptors were confident in their understanding of the preceptor role. Data revealed that preceptors perceive their role to include a variety of tasks, which may or may not be essential to the precepting role. Preceptors also indicated that they were satisfied with their performance of what they considered to be preceptor responsibilities. More than 80% specified an "excellent" or "good" understanding of what was expected of them, although greater than 85% indicated that preceptor training materials would be beneficial. Training programs should be designed to address the unique role of the preceptor and how precepting complements the sequence of dietetics education.

Data Collection↗

PubMed1982

Controlled substances system change provides increased accountability.

The distribution and control systems for controlled substances were evaluated. A mail survey of other hospitals was conducted to obtain samples of control substance systems and the associated procedures. From these samples of existing programs and previous experiences with the current program, a system was designed to meet the needs of an 800-bed hospital with a decentralized pharmacy distribution system. The new distribution and control system completely replaced the prior system. Therefore, new forms and procedures were generated. The total system was implemented in a stepwise procedure in two-week increments over approximately 14 weeks until the entire hospital was converted. The new system has increased control as well as identified workload, inventory utilization, and problem areas.

Drug and Narcotic Control↗