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Engaging in competitive sports as a youth can have many health benefits, but recent studies also report a high risk for injury. The long-term purpose of this Swedish research program is to develop a framework for safe track and field training for young athletes (aged 12-15years). The aim of this study was to establish what is perceived to contribute and cause injuries in youth track and field by compiling the best available experiential knowledge about the underlying factors and use this knowledge to identify appropriate areas to handle these in practical ways. Nine focus group interviews with in total 74 participants and confirming interviews with five individuals were performed in seven Swedish regions. Qualitative research methods were used for data analysis. Injuries in youth athletes were not considered to be strictly the result of individual factors but rather the result of the interactions between factors at different levels. Three major factors emerged as follows: Insufficient knowledge for athletic development in daily practice; shortsighted communities of practice and sports policies not adjusted to youth; and societal health behaviors. The experiential knowledge in the national sporting community suggests that if effective and sustainable injury prevention processes are to be implemented for youth track and field, an ecological (holistic-developmental) approach to injury prevention is needed. Such an approach allows a longitudinal development-focused strategy for prevention that spans an athletes entire career., Funding Agencies|Swedish Athletics Association; Folksam Insurance Company

Syndromic data sources have been sought to improve the timely detection of increased influenza transmission. This study set out to examine the prospective performance of telenursing chief complaints in predicting influenza activity. Data from two influenza seasons (2007/08 and 2008/09) were collected in a Swedish county (population 427,000) to retrospectively determine which grouping of telenursing chief complaints had the largest correlation with influenza case rates. This grouping was prospectively evaluated in the three subsequent seasons. The best performing telenursing complaint grouping in the retrospective algorithm calibration was fever (child, adult) and syncope (r=0.66; p<0.001). In the prospective evaluation, the performance of 14-day predictions was acceptable for the part of the evaluation period including the 2009 influenza pandemic (area under the curve (AUC)=0.84; positive predictive value (PPV)=0.58), while it was strong (AUC=0.89; PPV=0.93) for the remaining evaluation period including only influenza winter seasons. We recommend the use of telenursing complaints for predicting winter influenza seasons. The method requires adjustments when used during pandemics.

QC 20111216

Aims: The aim of this study was to describe women's perceptions of what can be done to avoid long-term sickness absence. Methods: Interviews were conducted with 82 women who had been on sickness absence ( 60 days or more) or had disability pensions. Results: For these women, to be able to get back to work was found to be equivalent to breaking away from the prospect of isolation and loneliness. Five actors were identified along with suggestions for their actions: the woman who is on sick leave herself, the employer, the healthcare provider, the social insurance official, and the shop-steward. Conclusions: It is important to take oneself seriously and also to be taken seriously by others. Thus, it is important to not wait too long to take action which concerns both the individual herself and all those who get involved in her case at work, at hospital or at the social insurance office. Practical advice to reach recovery and avoid sickness absence is presented.