BACKGROUND Community concerns about a potential excess of multiple sclerosis (MS) prompted this study. OBJECTIVE To determine the period prevalence of MS in a community bordering a closed oil refinery and a control community. METHODS Cases seen by a neurologist during 1998 to 2001 were obtained from area neurologists and hospital discharge data. Population data were obtained from the year 2...

OBJECTIVES To describe utilisation of general practitioners by elderly people resident in communal establishments; to examine variations in general practitioner utilisation and estimate the likely impact of the "downsizing" of long stay provision in NHS hospitals. DESIGN Secondary analyses of the survey of disability among adults in communal establishments conducted by the Office of Populatio...

BACKGROUND We sought to evaluate and provide better itinerary-specific care to precounseled travelers and to assess diseases occurring while traveling abroad by surveying a community population. An additional quality improvement initiative was to expand our post-travel survey to be a more valuable tool in gathering high-quality quantitative data. METHODS From de-identified data collected via ...

OBJECTIVES Countries generally present their overall use of antibiotics as an indicator of antibiotic prescribing quality. Additional insight is urgently needed for targeted improvement recommendations: first, data on specific clinical indications for which antibiotics are used, and second, on distinguishing whether changes in patient consultation or changes in physician prescribing drive chang...

The data resulting from a longitudinal study of the consequences of threatened and eventual job-loss on health in industrial employees was examined in order to analyse the influence of family size. When the risk factor of age was eliminated, no difference was found in the use made of health services by married men with at least two dependent children aged under 16 years and those with no depend...

BACKGROUND Little is known about trends in the timing of first nephrology consultation and associated outcomes among older patients initiating dialysis. METHODS Data from patients aged 67 years or older who initiated dialysis in the United States between January 1, 1996, and December 31, 2006, were stratified by timing of the earliest identifiable nephrology visit. Trends of earlier nephrolog...

background: despite the positive impact of cardiac rehabilitation (cr) on quality of life and mortality, the majority of people who could benefit from this program fail to participate in it. the lack of referral from the physician is a common reason that patients give for not seeking cr. the objective of this study was to compare factors affecting cr referral by cardiologists. methods: a cross-...