Australasian Medical Journal
Not a member yet
1482 research outputs found
Sort by
Anxiety and Depression in Diabetics, Southern Iran
No full textAnxiety and depression are more common among diabetic patients than general population and can impact on treatment. The aim of this study is to screen a random selection of diabetic patients attending the diabetes clinic of Shahid Mohammadi hospital, Iran for anxiety and depression. 100 patients were surveyed using a valid and reliable measure for anxiety and depression. Data analyzed using SPSS 13 software. Prevalence of depression and anxiety was 50 and 67 percent respectively. Both depression and anxiety was more common among female patients, those with type 2 diabetes and those had at least one complication of diabetes. We report a very high prevalence of anxiety and depression in these patients. Routine assessment and treatment for anxiety and depression is indicated. Further research on the reason for the high incidence of depression in this patient group is warranted
A Graphic Tool for Pain Self Care
No full textBackground: Patient Information materials are used by healthcare providers and professionals to inform people about their conditions and help the patients make decisions. Methods: The aim of this project was to design a patient information leaflet to educate patients with chronic pain and low literacy skills understand their condition and make informed decisions. After a number of iterative trials an affective/effective patient information leaflet (PIL) was designed employing a visual metaphor, which was both affective and effective to encourage patients to understand and take their medication correctly. The PIL was evaluated among both healthcare professionals and patients. The healthcare professionals evaluated the clarity of information the PIL is conveying. Patients also evaluated the readability and comprehension of the information the PIL is conveying. Results: The data suggests that with the inclusion of the right visual metaphor the patients were able to identify with it and that encouraged them to read the PIL and adhere to the treatment therapy. Conclusion: Using visual metaphors to facilitate healthcare communication to low-literacy patients may aid adherence.
Thermal Therapy For Cancer
No full textHyperthermia (HT) means using controlled temperatures of 40-45°C for cancer treatment. HT is applied with different methods e.g. superficial-HT, locoregional deep-HT, interstitial-HT, intracavity-HT, and whole body-HT. HT can apply in different tumor sites such as breast cancer, melanoma, head and neck, cervix cancer, and glioblastoma. Literatures show that addition of HT to radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or both, will result better tumor response rate, local control, and survival rate; without increasing toxicity. HT can also improve palliative effects in patient. In recent years, due to substantial technical improvements made in achieving selected increase of temperatures in superficial and deep-seated tumors, thermometry, and treatment planning; HT is becoming more clinically accepted in Europe and the USA. HT, as an adjunct cancer treatment modality, is certainly a promising approach; however, it is not well known yet worldwide. Therefore, it seems there is need to know more about that. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview on the application of HT combined with conventional cancer treatment modalities, mainly radiotherapy. The article also introduces mechanism of HT, heating delivery modes, thermometry, and it summarizes results of randomized trials form Western research groups.
Comparative Healthcare: Palliative care
Get PDF The majority of Australians with life-limiting illnesses are cared for at home by their families and friends with medical support provided by their General Practitioner. A large number receive additional care from Community Nurses who are usually based in specific Palliative Care services. Several agencies provide home help, performing services such as cleaning, laundry or shopping, and these can sometimes be paid for or contributed to by the government. In Nepal well organized palliative care services are not available. Palliative care is provided by primary physicians/ surgeons indicating a shortage of specialists in the field, in addition many doctors and health services providers do not regard palliative care as a priority. In Nepal most patients live in remote rural areas of the Himalayas. In both Australia and Nepal the patient can spend the last few days at home. However the government in Australia is able to provide much more support to families in these circumstances, in Nepal families must be very much more self sufficient. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect any official policy or practice
Designers and Stroke Research
Get PDFIntroductionStroke is a major cause of prolonged impairment in industrialized countries. Although healthcare studies suggest that relying on Assistive Products (AP), instead of personal help diminishes dysfunction and promotes independence, several authors alert to the problems of discontinuance in use or abandonment of AP. MethodsA list of 42 Activities of Daily Living (ADL) was developed and applied, along with the Barthel Index, in personal interviews to 67 stroke patients so as to assess: patients’ degree of capability in performing each task; types of help used; and how these aids were being used. Methods deriving from healthcare research were deployed alongside design research methods. This combination allowed for quantitative and qualitative data analysis. ResultsData analysis shows that stroke patients do not use AP as intended in order to achieve independence, that there is a great lack of awareness about APs and that there are APs on the market that are not suited for stroke patients’ use. ConclusionOur findings are consistent with healthcare literature on frequently used AP, but they add important data on how these are being used. Furthermore, we have identified feelings shared by the majority of patients concerning ADL performance, with fear as the overriding concern
Self Reported Overall Health Status.
Get PDFBackground Data collected using the South Australian chronic disease and risk factor surveillance system were analysed in order to monitor changes in the prevalence of overall health status over time.Methods The South Australian Monitoring and Surveillance System (SAMSS) has been conducted monthly since 2002. This representative, population, chronic disease and risk factor, telephone-based surveillance system includes a single question determining the prevalence of overall health status (SF1) and a wide range of demographics, social, chronic conditions and risk factor indicators. Results Between 2006 and 2008, 83.2% of respondents reported ‘Excellent, Very Good or Good’ health and 16.8% reported ‘Fair or Poor’ health. There was a statistically significant trend in the age sex standardised prevalence of those reporting ‘Very Good’, ‘Good’ or ‘Poor’ health from 2002 to 2008. The SF1 identifies ‘Fair or Poor’ health in the case of those with chronic conditions and health risk factors, and ‘Excellent, Very Good or Good’ health in the absence of chronic conditions. A wide range of social, demographic variables, with those of a lower socio-economic status in particular, statistically significantly more likely to report a lower overall health statusConclusion The SF1 can be used to measure general health as part of telephone surveys and surveillance systems
‘Big Tobacco’ to ‘Big Booze’
Get PDFBackground:Internal tobacco industry document searches have led to the discovery of hitherto unpublished documents that provide insights into the drinks industry. The documents uncover key concerns and strategies for the drinks industry with focus on the Miller Brewing Company and the Beer Institute.Methods:The identification of the Philip Morris 1996 CEO Issues Book from the tobacco document archives led to a systematic search for alcohol-related documents. The search was conducted by entering alcohol-related terms into search fields of tobacco document archive sites available on the World Wide Web.Results:Key areas of concern for the Miller Brewing Company, the Beer Institute, and more broadly, the alcohol industry include developments of legislative and regulatory controls such as tax increases, advertising restrictions and blood alcohol content lowering and public perceptions of harms relating to drunk driving, binge drinking and underage alcohol consumption. Strategies proposed by the Miller Brewing Company and the Beer Institute to combat these concerns include ally development and maintenance and the promotion of personal responsibility.Conclusions: These once confidential internal documents provide new evidence on the drinks industry’s concerns about possible alcohol control measures and the strategies used to help overcome these concerns. The document findings justify the public health community’s cynicism about the alcohol industry while providing a new source of information to assist development in the regulation and control of the drinks industry
