Socioeconomic trends and developments within the U.S. healthcare system have challenged rural hospitals' ability to maintain adequate operating margins and offer needed services. However, some hospitals have fared better in this negative environment than have others. To clarify factors that distinguish the most viable rural Catholic hospitals from the least viable, our study identified a group ...

The New South Wales Department of Health (NSW Health) wishes to make appropriate use of casemix data as inputs to the determination of funding levels for small rural hospitals. However, other factors such as hospital size and degree of isolation might need to be taken into account. The study reported here involved correlation of actual expenditures with those predicted by use of a casemix model...

BACKGROUND Doctors are less likely to diagnose depression in men than in women. Little research has been conducted to explore the underlying reasons for this in rural settings, or to compare primary care doctors' and male patients' ratings of perceived depression. AIMS To identify symptomatic and socio-demographic correlates of depression in men attending a rural practice, and to compare and ...

Assessment of the nutritional status of 4054 households from rural communities in Peninsular Malaysia was undertaken from 1992 to 1995. Body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) were obtained from a self-selected sample of 1854 men and 2741 women aged >= 18 years. The BMI and WHR results are presented according to gender, age groups and type of community as defined by the main occupati...

Increased general and abdominal obesity has been independently associated with diabetes, increased risk of stroke, and coronary artery disease (CAD). It is more prevalent in developed countries and in urban areas of nonindustrialized nations than in less developed and rural areas. To evaluate the associations between general and abdominal obesity (as determined by total body fat, waist to hip r...

This study was undertaken to assess the recent data on Malaysian adult body weights and associations of ethnic differences in overweight and obesity with comorbid risk factors, and to examine measures of energy intake, energy expenditure, basal metabolic rate (BMR) and physical activity changes in urban and rural populations of normal weight. Three studies were included (1) a summary of a natio...

PURPOSE To estimate the prevalence of epilepsy in India by meta-analysis of previously published and unpublished studies and to determine patterns of epilepsy by using community-based studies. METHODS We attempted to identify as many previously published and unpublished studies as possible on the prevalence of epilepsy in India. The studies were assessed with regard to methods and definitions...

UNLABELLED Background Limited research has targeted HIV risk among heterosexual African-American men in the rural south-eastern United States. METHODS A cross-sectional survey was administered to 538 men to assess HIV knowledge, attitudes towards HIV testing and sexual risk behaviour. RESULTS Fifty-one percent reported consistent condom use in the past 3 months. Monogamous men reported more...

BACKGROUND To determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of cardiovascular diseases in a rural adult black population from Limpopo Province in South Africa. DESIGN A cross-sectional study. METHODS A sample of 1608 women and 498 men aged 30 years and above participated in the study. Sociodemographic data, anthropometric measures (body mass index, waist/hip ratio), blood pressure an...

The Internet may be important for delivering human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk reduction to men who have sex with men (MSM) in rural areas. This randomized control trial (RCT) tested the acceptability and efficacy of an Internet-delivered HIV risk-reduction intervention. Two modules include a conversation between an HIV-negative man and an HIV-positive man, with interactive graphics. Nine...