Dying persons are encouraged to name as durable power of attorney for health care (DPAHC) someone who will thus be empowered to make end-of-life treatment decisions for them in the event that they become incapacitated. We use data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study to investigate whether and whom older adults designate as their DPAHC. DPAHC appointments are affected by recent hospitalization...

To date, the sharing behaviors associated with the homemade tobacco waterpipe used in rural areas of the Western Pacific Region have not been studied. Evidence from studies of manufactured waterpipes raises the possibility of infectious disease transmission due to waterpipe sharing. The objective of our pilot study in rural Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) was to identify and measure the ...

BACKGROUND Prevention programs often promote HIV testing as one possible strategy of combating the spread of the disease. OBJECTIVE To examine levels of HIV testing practices among a large sample of university students and the relationship among HIV testing, sociodemographic variables, and HIV-related behaviors. METHODS A total of 1252 students were surveyed between June 2001 and February 2...

BACKGROUND The chronic diseases prevalence tends to increase worldwide and the risk factors are identified and reduced. OBJECTIVE To survey the prevalence of chronic diseases risk factors among persons attending 6 administrative courses in the Army Training Command area in 2006 and compare with results of the former study. MATERIAL AND METHOD All persons attending the 6 courses were asked t...

The need to understand local HIV epidemics and linking the prevention and other interventions to evidences become very important for the success of HIV response. The objective of the study was to estimate the distribution of new HIV infections among adult population (15-49 yrs) and to identify the groups at highest risk of HIV infection in Nasarawa State Nigeria to inform HIV prevention program...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether optimism predicts lower rates of rehospitalization after coronary artery bypass graft surgery for the 6 months after surgery. METHODS A prospective, inception cohort design was used. The sample consisted of all consenting patients (N=309) from a consecutive series of patients scheduled for elective coronary artery bypass graft surgery at a large, metropolitan ho...

This study identified clinical (e.g., etiology) and demographic factors related to prosthesis use in persons with upper- and lower-limb amputation (ULA and LLA, respectively) and the effect of phantom limb pain (PLP) and residual limb pain (RLP) on prosthesis use. A total of 752 respondents with LLA and 107 respondents with ULA completed surveys. Factors related to greater use (hours per day) f...

male labor-force participation rate after age 20 reflects in part the progressive increase up to about age 35 in the proportion of married women in the female population. The rate for single women remains relatively high at all ages. The extent to which women stay in the labor market is affected also by home responsibilities. In April 1948, married women with no children under age 18 were almos...

OBJECTIVE Describe respiratory health and quality of life in persons exposed to Libby amphibole asbestos (LAA) contaminated vermiculite. DESIGN Cross-sectional descriptive. SETTING Asbestos-related disease clinic in Libby, Montana USA. PARTICIPANTS 329 individuals exposed to LAA; mostly men, married, between 50 and 69 years; two-thirds lived in the surrounding county; one-third lived else...

Medical practitioners have long recognized the critical importance of treating the consequences of physical illness as well as the illness itself. This concept did not take hold in the mental health arena until decades later, when the deinstitutionalization movement gained momentum, and increased numbers of persons with severe psychiatric disabilities changed residence from the back ward to the...