BACKGROUND We aimed to classify the difficulties students had passing their clinical attachments, and explore factors which might predict these problems. METHODS We analysed data from regular student progress meetings 2008-2012. Problem categories were: medical knowledge, professional behaviour and clinical skills. For each category we then undertook a predictive risk analysis. RESULTS Out ...

The value of contact tracing in South Glamorgan for the period May 1987 to December 1989 was assessed. Tuberculosis was diagnosed in six (3.5%) of 170 close contacts. All were young and were detected in the initial screening. Tuberculosis was not found among 441 casual contacts. The value of follow up of contacts after the initial screening and of screening casual contacts in districts with a l...

BACKGROUND The prevalence and morbidity of asthma vary greatly among different ethnic communities and geographical locations, but the roles of environmental and genetic factors are not fully understood. The differences in prevalence of adult asthma among Chinese, Malay, and Indian ethnic groups in Singapore were examined, and the extent to which these could be explained by personal and environm...

The authors examined the role of fantasy as an internal drive mechanism for repetitive acts of sexual violence. A sample of 25 serial sexual murderers with three or more known victims each was compared with a sample of 17 single sexual murderers, with only one known victim each. The drive mechanism was hypothesized to be an intrusive fantasy life manifested in higher prevalences of paraphilias,...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the prevalence of beryllium sensitization among former and current Department of Defense workers from a conventional munitions facility. METHODS Participants were screened by using Beryllium Lymphocyte Proliferation Test. Those sensitized were offered clinical evaluation for chronic beryllium disease. RESULTS Eight (1.5%) of 524 screened workers were found sensitized t...

A dynamic model of Schistosoma japonicum transmission is presented that incorporates effects of infection intensity, age, and sex. We use four infection intensity classes to investigate the impact of ecologic changes and public health interventions on the burden of infection within communities. Age- and sex-specific infection data from three disease-endemic villages in the Philippines are used ...

INTRODUCTION Since peaking in the early 1990s in South Africa, tobacco use has declined significantly. The reduction has been attributed to the government's comprehensive tobacco control policies that were introduced at the time. OBJECTIVE To assess the pattern of tobacco use in the South African Demographic and Health Surveys of 1998 and 2003. METHODS Multi-stage sampling was used to selec...

We estimated the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the Islamic Republic of Iran by systematic review of all available studies in the country between 1996 and 2004 and aggregation of the data using meta-analysis and meta-regression methods. In those > 40 years the prevalence was 24% and it increased by 0.4% with each year after 20 years of age. The risk of type 2 diabetes was 1.7% greater in wome...

OBJECTIVES To establish the prevalence of back pain in German elite athletes; examine the influence of age, sex, sports discipline and training volume; and compare elite athletes with a physically active control group. METHODS A standardized and validated online back pain questionnaire was sent by the German Olympic Sports Confederation to approximately 4,000 German national and international...

We describe the distribution of tuberculosis-like lesions (TBL) in wild boar (Sus scrofa) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) in Spain. Animals with TBL were confirmed in 84.21% of mixed populations (n=57) of red deer and wild boar and in 75% of populations of wild boar alone (n=8) in central and southern Spain (core area). The prevalence of TBL declined towards the periphery of this region. In the c...