I n t e r v e n t i o n Patients were allocated to bed rest (n = 84), physiotherapy (n = 83), or continuation of ADLs (n = 83). Bed rest could be done at home or in the hospital and lasted 7 days. Physiotherapy sessions were scheduled twice weekly for 4 to 8 weeks and involved segmental mobilization, disc unloading and loading exercises, and hydrotherapy. Patients in the continuation-of-ADLs gr...

For many years, average bed occupancy level has been the primary measure that has guided hospital bed capacity decisions at both policy and managerial levels. Even now, the common wisdom that there is an excess of beds nationally has been based on a federal target of 85% occupancy that was developed about 25 years ago. This paper examines data from New York state and uses queueing analysis to e...

BACKGROUND Insecticide treated nets (ITNs) have been identified as a key strategy in addressing malaria problem among young children and pregnant women. Their utilisation among under fives, however, have been found to be low in some areas. OBJECTIVE To identify factors affecting net utilisation (sleeping under insecticide treated net) among caregivers of under fives in Makueni District in Ken...

Bed bug (Cimex lectularius L.) infestations are currently controlled by a variety of non-chemical and chemical methods. There have been few studies on the comparative effectiveness of these control techniques. We evaluated three bed bug management strategies in an apartment building: (1) non-chemical methods only (n = 9); (2) insecticides only (n = 6); and (3) integrated pest management includi...

OBJECTIVES Over the last 10 years, appropriate workforce utilisation has been an important discussion among healthcare practitioners and policy-makers. The role of healthcare aides (HCAs) has also expanded to improve their utilisation. This evolving role of HCAs in Canada has prompted calls for standardised training, education and scope of practice for HCAs. The purpose of this research was to ...

OBJECTIVE To assess associations between secure patient-clinician email use and clinical services utilisation over time. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study between July 2010 and December 2013. Controlling for a utilisation surge around first secure email use, we analysed difference of differences between propensity score-matched groups of secure patient-clinician email users and non-users for ...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study is to describe the magnitude of educational inequalities in utilisation of general practitioner (GP) and specialist services in 9 European countries. In addition to West European countries, we have included 3 Eastern European countries: Hungary, Estonia and Latvia. To cover the gap in knowledge we pay a special attention to the magnitude of inequalities among pa...

BACKGROUND Primary healthcare is established to ensure that people have access to health services through facilities located in their community. However, utilisation of health facilities in Nigeria remains low in many communities. AIM To assess the utilisation of community-based health facility (CBHF) amongst adults in Ibadan, Nigeria. SETTINGS A low-income community in Ibadan North West Lo...

BACKGROUND In urban Australia, patients with serious and continuing illnesses make frequent use of hospital emergency department (ED) services. However, the risk factors for hospital utilisation among the broad population of people with chronic illness are not well known. The aim of this study was to assess the predictors of hospital utilisation (either inpatient admissions or ED visits) in a c...