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This article examines the efficacy of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health's ability to identify risk factors for elder abuse. An analysis of health status, social relations, and mental health is presented.

Guidelines for helping breast cancer patients prepare for treatment were jointly developed by doctors, nurses, nurse oncologists, and patients. Patients and nurses agreed more often about the criteria for guidelines than patients and doctors, which suggests physicians need to improve their ability to give patients information and develop strong interpersonal skills., Guidelines for preparing cancer patients for threatening medical procedures were developed and refined and their perceived relevance and importance rated by three concerned groups--84 breast cancer patients, 64 doctors, and [...]

Basic Life Support (BLS) is a life-saving and fundamental skill in resuscitation. However, studies have reported limitations in BLS training outcomes for both health professional and lay populations, and noted the resource and time-intensive nature of traditional training approaches.

Objective:Does the provision of a nurse‐based intervention lead to smoking cessation in hospital patients?

Objective: To examine associations between cigarette smoking and menstrual symptoms and miscarriage among young women. Method: The study sample consists of 14,779 women aged 18–23 years who participated in the mailed baseline survey for the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, conducted in 1996. The main outcome measures are self reported menstrual symptoms and miscarriages. Results: Current smokers and ex–smokers had an increased risk of menstrual symptoms and miscarriages compared with women who had never smoked, with the highest risk occurring in heavy smokers (adjusted odds ratios for those smoking >20 cigarettes per day: premenstrual tension 1.5 (95% confidence interval 1.3 to 1.7), irregular periods 1.5 (1.3 to 1.8), heavy periods 1.6 (1.4 to 1.9), severe period pain 1.5 (1.4 to 1.7), one or more miscarriages 2.0 (1.5 to 2.8). The odds ratios generally increased with numbers of cigarettes smoked and a younger age of starting to smoke. Conclusion: This study suggests that young women who smoke are at higher risk of a range of menstrual problems and miscarriage than those who have never smoked. The immediacy of this risk (in contrast to the longer term risks of chronic disease) can be used to improve the relevance of anti–smoking campaigns targeted to young women.

Background — Debate exists about the definition of what constitutes an adequate Pap smear and about the recommended rescreening interval for Pap smears lacking an endocervical component. This study aimed at determining whether women are currently informed about the endocervical status of their Pap smears and what rescreening recommendations are made to women whose smears lack endocervical cells.Method — Consecutive Pap smears lacking an endocervical component were identified from pathology records. After obtaining consent from the referring doctor, 165 women were interviewed by telephone.Results — Only 110 (67%) of 165 women received active notification of their Pap test result and only six (4%) were aware that their smear lacked endocervical cells. Thirteen (8%) had been advised to have a repeat smear within three months. Nearly half the women reported that they would like more information about their result.Conclusions — It seems that current Pap smear notification patterns for women in New South Wales could be improved. One third are not actively informed at all about their results, and few are given detailed information about their Pap test results. Methods of enhancing the level of information women are given about their medical and screening tests need to be improved.

Legislation banning the sale of cigarettes to minors is potentially a cost‐effective means of reducing smoking rates among adolescents. Such legislation has been in existence in Australia for over 80 years. Two studies examined the retail industry's adherence to the sales ban in two regions of New South Wales in 1990. The first study was a survey of 1 849 12‐ to 15‐year‐old adolescents from 12 high schools in New South Wales, providing data on self‐reported purchasing of cigarettes from retail outlets by minors. In all, 38 per cent reported having purchased cigarettes illegally. A second study was undertaken to determine the proportion of retail shops which sell cigarettes to apparently underage youth. Two 16‐year‐olds who looked young for their age attempted to purchase cigarettes from 101 different retail outlets in one region of New South Wales. No challenge about age was made for 70 per cent of purchases, and proof of age was requested on only 15 per cent of occasions. The results suggest that legislation banning sales of cigarettes to minors requires strong enforcement procedures to be effective.

Information about public attitudes to the restriction of smoking in licensed premises could provide an impetus for a campaign to address the failure of the industry to improve the health of its employees and the public. A probability sample of 816 people was surveyed to determine community attitudes to the introduction of bans on smoking in licensed premises. A total ban on smoking was supported by 20 per cent and provision of special smoking areas by 65 per cent, and 15 per cent wanted no bans. More‐educated people, white‐collar workers, nonsmokers and those who went to licensed premises less than weekly were more likely to support bans than were the less educated, blue‐collar workers, smokers, and those who went to licensed premises at least weekly. The less educated, smokers and those who went to licensed premises at least weekly were most likely to perceive that the introduction of smoking bans would reduce their patronage of licensed premises. Nonsmokers and those with more than 12 years of education were more likely to report that their patronage would increase if bans were introduced than were smokers and the less educated. The introduction of bans on smoking in licensed premises would result in only a small loss of patronage after accounting for potential increases from supporters of bans. The effect of the bans is likely to be felt most strongly among the less educated, smokers and regular patrons.

Abstract: With rising rates of skin cancer in Australia, there is a need to examine strategies to reduce sun exposure among children. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of a multifaceted dissemination strategy compared with a simple mail–out strategy in promoting the adoption of comprehensive SunSmart skin protection policies and practices in primary and secondary schools in New South Wales. It also aimed to examine characteristics of the primary and secondary schools that adopted a comprehensive SunSmart policy before and after the intervention. Four hundred randomly selected primary schools and all 381 high schools in New South Wales were randomised to one of two intervention groups. Pretest and post–test surveys of principals were undertaken in 1991 and 1992. Intervention 1 was a simple mail–out of a sample sun–protection policy kit. Intervention 2 comprised the mail–out of the policy kit and a follow–up mail–out of a staff development module. There was a strong intervention effect on adoption of a comprehensive sun–protection policy in primary schools (21 per cent for the ‘mail’ group compared with 44 per cent for ‘mail and staff support’ group) but not in high schools (6 per cent and 11 per cent). There was little relationship between adoption of a comprehensive sun–protection policy and sun–protection practices in primary or secondary schools. Further research is needed to determine the most effective ways of ensuring that adoption of a comprehensive sun–protection policy results in effective implementation of sun–protection practices in schools.

Abstract: We aimed to determine the relative effectiveness of an education intervention and a threat–of–enforcement intervention in reducing sales of cigarettes to under–age youth by randomly allocating 300 retailers in a nonmetropolitan region of New South Wales to: a control group with no intervention; a minimal–intervention group, which received an educational letter; and a maximal–intervention group, which received a threat of enforcement followed by a visit from a public health officer. Retailers were checked for compliance at pretest and post–test, six months apart, by twelve 18–yearolds who were judged by independent raters to look younger. The retailers were surveyed by telephone at both times for knowledge, attitudes and self–reported sales practices. Neither intervention achieved significant improvements for the two key behavioural outcomes: requiring proof of age and display of a warning sign. Neither was there an intervention effect on knowledge about the law. The greatest improvement in the proportion of retailers who believed that the legal age should be 18 or over was in the minimal–intervention group, and both intervention groups were less likely than the control group at post–test to think that it was acceptable to sell to a person who was nearly 18. There was poor overall compliance with the revised legislation at pre–test. The finding of a pretest–to–post–test improvement but no differential intervention effect highlights the methodological difficulties of such research. The interventions may, however, have been pardy successful in modifying the attitudes of retailers. (Aust N Z J Public Health 1997; 21: 590–6)

This study investigated the characteristics and validity of the SF-36 (Australian version) health profile and summary scores for recently discharged hospital patients and compared this with US and Australian community samples with minor and serious medical conditions. Adult medical, surgical, obstetric and gynaecological patients from a large teaching hospital in NSW, Australia, completed a postal survey 1 week after discharge. The SF- 36 discriminated well among patient groups and performed well on most validity tests. Scale and summary scores varied by age, gender, seriousness of condition on admission, prior health status and hospital group. The findings highlight the potential of the SF-36 in monitoring the health status of Australian hospital patients and assessing the health-related support needed on discharge.

This study assessed the relative validity of the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form General Health Survey (SF-36 and SF-12) for Australian women and compared norms for the independently administered and embedded SF- 12. Two samples of women in New South Wales were randomly selected from the Medicare database (N= 3600). The sample was stratified into young (18 to 22 years), middle-aged (45 to 49 years) and older (70 to 74 years) women, and into women living in urban (40 percent), rural (30 percent) and remote (30 percent) areas. In study 3500 households were selected by random digit dial. The method was a mailout survey. SF-36 scale scores were similar to US norms. For the older group, health profiles of the independent and embedded SF- 12 differed. For the SF-36 and independently administered SF- 12, means differed in all three age groups. The SF-12 physical health scores discriminated between women with poor versus good physical health, and mental health scores discriminated between groups who were or were not psychologically distressed on GHQ-12. The SF- 36, relative to the SF-12, appears to be a more reliable measure for examining changes in health status over time and between groups.

This study presents findings on solar protection policies and practices in primary and secondary schools in New South Wales, Australia. The findings suggest that policies have been more fully articulated in primary schools than in secondary schools and that there is wide scope for further public health initiatives to protect children from the risk of skin cancer. Little attention has been given to the potential benefits of timetable changes and provision of shade in school environments, although school principals considered the latter would be a successful means of increasing protection. The level of solar education provided in the schools surveyed in our study was minimal, suggesting that urgent attention should be given to incorporating these issues in the school curriculum. Observations of school children's solar protection behaviours suggest that the majority of children used some form of protection in the middle of the day, but the form of protection changed with age. Consideration of more structural and environmental changes is needed to maximise the opportunities for solar protection in schools.