Objective To study predictors of symptom relief six months after septoplasty using data from the Swedish National Septoplasty Register. Participants This is a retrospective register study of adult patients undergoing septoplasty in Sweden in 2003-2012. Outcome Relief of nasal symptoms was analysed in relation to age, gender, size of hospital performing the surgery, addition of turbinoplasty...

Methods In this study 25 celiac patients with a mean age of 30.8 ± 13.6 years in Ilam province western Iran were recruited. Approximately 6 ml blood sample was taken from each participant. Food allergy was assessed by EUROIMMUN kit and analyzed by EURO line Scan software (Es). According to Es, patients are categorized into 5 categories including 0 (no specific antibody), 1 (very weak antibodies...

Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) are a technology for supporting teachers. They are intelligent software programs equipped with subject knowledge, a student model, and teaching ability. This paper reports on the outcome of PhD research aimed at making ITSs more robust and effective, by applying normative theories such as Bayesian probability theory and decision theory, to the design and impl...

OBJECTIVES Chinese county hospitals have been excessively enlarging their scale during the healthcare reform since 2009. The purpose of this paper is to examine the technical efficiency and productivity of county hospitals during the reform process, and to determine whether, and how, efficiency is affected by various factors. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS 114 sample county hospitals were selected ...

BACKGROUND In China, public hospital reform has been underway for almost 5 years, and 311 pilot county hospitals are the current focus. This study aimed to assess the job satisfaction and active participation of medical staff in the reform. A total of 2268 medical staff members in pilot and non-pilot county hospitals in Hubei, China, were surveyed. METHODS Questionnaires were used to collect ...

BACKGROUND China has since the beginning of this millennium engaged in substantial Universal Health Coverage (UHC) reforms. This paper adds evidence on how equity in level of health service utilization changed after UHC reforms. METHODS Our study was based on household survey data from 30 counties in Sichuan province in 2004 and 2011. We introduce an unusual outcome variable, namely level of ...