How to identify and recruit nurses to a survey 14 and 24 years after graduation in a context of scarce data: lessons learnt from the 2012 nurses at work pilot study on nurses' career paths.

Background: Nursing workforce data are scarce in Switzerland, with no active national registry of nurses. The worldwide nursing shortage is also affecting Switzerland, so that evidence-based results of the nurses at work project on career paths and retention are needed as part of the health care system stewardship; nurses at work is a retrospective cohort study of nurses who graduated in Swiss nursing schools in the last 30 years. Results of the pilot study are presented here (process and feasibility).

Men having sex with men serosorting with casual partners: who, how much, and what risk factors in Switzerland, 2007-2009.

Background: Serosorting is practiced by men who have sex with men (MSM) to reduce human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission. This study evaluates the prevalence of serosorting with casual partners, and analyses the characteristics and estimated numbers of serosorters in Switzerland 2007-2009.

Methods: Data were extracted from cross-sectional surveys conducted in 2007 and 2009 among self-selected MSM recruited online, through gay newspapers, and through gay organizations.

Resurgence of HIV infection among men who have sex with men in Switzerland: mathematical modelling study.

Background: New HIV infections in men who have sex with men (MSM) have increased in Switzerland since 2000 despite combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). The objectives of this mathematical modelling study were: to describe the dynamics of the HIV epidemic in MSM in Switzerland using national data; to explore the effects of hypothetical prevention scenarios; and to conduct a multivariate sensitivity analysis.

Methodology/principal Findings: The model describes HIV transmission, progression and the effects of cART using differential equations.

Five-year monitoring of a gay-friendly voluntary counselling and testing facility in Switzerland: who got tested and why?

Background: An increase in new HIV cases among men who have sex with men (MSM) has been reported in Switzerland since 2001. A rapid result HIV testing for MSM through voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) facility ("Checkpoint") was opened in Geneva in 2005. This gay-friendly facility, the first to open in Switzerland, provides testing for sexually transmitted infections (STI) and rapid result HIV testing and counselling.

Subjective pubertal timing and health-compromising behaviours among Swiss adolescent girls reporting an on-time objective pubertal timing.

Aim: The aim of this research is to assess the associations between subjective pubertal timing (SPT) and onset of health-compromising behaviours among girls reporting an on-time objective pubertal timing (OPT).

Methods: Data were drawn from the Swiss SMASH 2002 survey, a self-administered questionnaire study conducted among a nationally representative sample of 7548 adolescents aged 16-20 years. From the 3658 girls in the initial sample, we selected only those (n = 1003) who provided information about SPT and who reported the average age at menarche, namely 13, considering this as an on-time OPT.

A high proportion of users of low-threshold facilities with needle exchange programmes in Switzerland are currently on methadone treatment: implications for new approaches in harm reduction and care.

Background: Increasingly, patients receiving methadone treatment are found in low threshold facilities (LTF), which provide needle exchange programmes in Switzerland. This paper identifies the characteristics of LTF attendees receiving methadone treatment (MT) compared with other LTF attendees (non-MT).

Methods: A national cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2006 over five consecutive days in all LTF (n=25).

Estimating national-level syringe availability to injecting drug users and injection coverage: Switzerland, 1996-2006.

Background: Measuring syringe availability and coverage is essential in the assessment of HIV/AIDS risk reduction policies. Estimates of syringe availability and coverage were produced for the years 1996 and 2006, based on all relevant available national-level aggregated data from published sources.

Methods: We defined availability as the total monthly number of syringes provided by harm reduction system divided by the estimated number of injecting drug users (IDU), and defined coverage as the proportion of injections performed with a new syringe, at national level (total supply over total demand).

Talking about sexuality with the physician: are patients receiving what they wish?

Questions Under Study/principles: Little is known concerning patients' expectations regarding sexual history taking by doctors: to ascertain expectations and actual experience of talking about sexuality among male patients attending outpatient clinics, and their sexual behaviour.

Methods: Patients consecutively recruited from two outpatient clinics in Lausanne, Switzerland were provided with an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. Survey topics were: patients' expectations concerning sexual history taking, patients' lifetime experience of sexual history taking, and patients' sexual behaviour.

Frequency and determinants of unprotected sex among HIV-infected persons: the Swiss HIV cohort study.

Background: Access to antiretroviral therapy may have changed condom use behavior. In January 2008, recommendations on condom use for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive persons were published in Switzerland, which allowed for unprotected sex under well-defined circumstances ("Swiss statement"). We studied the frequency, changes over time, and determinants of unprotected sex among HIV-positive persons.

Mapping HIV/STI behavioural surveillance in Europe.

Background: Used in conjunction with biological surveillance, behavioural surveillance provides data allowing for a more precise definition of HIV/STI prevention strategies. In 2008, mapping of behavioural surveillance in EU/EFTA countries was performed on behalf of the European Centre for Disease prevention and Control.

Method: Nine questionnaires were sent to all 31 member States and EEE/EFTA countries requesting data on the overall behavioural and second generation surveillance system and on surveillance in the general population, youth, men having sex with men (MSM), injecting drug users (IDU), sex workers (SW), migrants, people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), and sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinics patients.

First consumption ever of multiple substances: applying an expert-based taxonomy to a Swiss national sample of adolescents.

The use of multiple legal and illegal substances by adolescents is a growing concern in all countries, but since no consensus about a taxonomy did emerge yet, it is difficult to understand the different patterns of consumption and to implement tailored prevention and treatment programs directed towards specific subgroups of the adolescent population. Using data from a Swiss survey on adolescent health, we analyzed the age at which ten legal and illegal substances were consumed for the first time ever by applying a method combining the strength of both automatic clustering and use of substance experts. Results were then compared to 30 socio-economic factors to establish the usefulness of and to validate our taxonomy.

Sexual behaviour of men that consulted in medical outpatient clinics in Western Switzerland from 2005-2006: risk levels unknown to doctors?

Background: To determine male outpatient attenders' sexual behaviours, expectations and experience of talking about their sexuality and sexual health needs with a doctor.

Methods: A survey was conducted among all male patients aged 18-70, recruited from the two main medical outpatient clinics in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 2005-2006. The anonymous self-administered questionnaire included questions on sexual behaviour, HIV/STI information needs, expectations and experiences regarding discussion of sexual matters with a doctor.

A test of Jessor's problem behavior theory in a Eurasian and a Western European developmental context.

Purpose: The current study tested the applicability of Jessor's problem behavior theory (PBT) in national probability samples from Georgia and Switzerland. Comparisons focused on (1) the applicability of the problem behavior syndrome (PBS) in both developmental contexts, and (2) on the applicability of employing a set of theory-driven risk and protective factors in the prediction of problem behaviors.

Methods: School-based questionnaire data were collected from n = 18,239 adolescents in Georgia (n = 9499) and Switzerland (n = 8740) following the same protocol.

Opportunities for prevention in primary care in a country with universal insurance coverage.

Data from studies in the United States suggest that young people engaging in health-compromising behaviors have lower access to health care. Using data from a Swiss national survey we tested the hypothesis that in a country with universal insurance coverage, adolescents engaging in health-compromising behaviors access primary care to the same extent as those who do not engage in these behaviors.

Typology of injection profiles of clients of a supervised drug consumption facility in Geneva, Switzerland.

The use of a supervised drug consumption room (DCR) in a newly established low threshold facility in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2002 is analyzed. Two sources of routine data were used: data collected at the first visit by any new client (entry questionnaire) which included some personal details, and data collected on the substances injected at each visit to the DCR. A typology of injection profiles was constructed.

Some go without a cigarette: characteristics of cannabis users who have never smoked tobacco.

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of youth who use cannabis but have never been tobacco smokers and to assess the characteristics that differentiate them from those using both substances or neither substance.

Design: School survey.

Setting: Postmandatory schools.

Cumulative risk factors for adolescent alcohol misuse and its perceived consequences among 16 to 20 year old adolescents in Switzerland.

Aims: To assess the cumulative impact of environmental and individual factors associated with adolescent alcohol misuse and their correlation with self-reported consequences of drinking.

Method: Cross-sectional school-based survey of a nationally representative sample of 7548 post-mandatory school students and apprentices aged 16-20 years, Switzerland 2002. Alcohol misuse defined by frequency of alcohol use, episodes of drunkenness and driving while drunk.

The role of pharmacies in the care of drug users: what has changed in ten years. The case of a Swiss region.

This article assesses changes over 10 years in the role of pharmacies in the care of drug misusers--needle/syringe provision and methadone treatment supervision--in the Swiss French-speaking Canton of Vaud (636,000 inhabitants, 238 pharmacies). A review of data collected in four surveys (1991, 1994, 1996, 2003) on the provision of sterile material (and methadone treatment supervision in 2003) including all the pharmacists of the Canton of Vaud was conducted, as well as a review of data of the monitoring of needle exchange programmes introduced since 1996 in this canton, and of methadone treatment statistics. In 2003, interviews with pharmacists complemented the survey.

The Georgian adolescent health survey: methodological and strategic issues.

Objectives: To conduct a national survey on adolescent health and lifestyles in Georgia and to thus set up a database on adolescent.

Methods: A two-stage cluster sample of around 8000-10000 in-school 15-18 years adolescents are being reached through a random selection of classes in Georgia. The sample has been stratified by age, region, type of school and language.

Towards a sedentary society: trends in adolescent sport practice in Switzerland (1993-2002).

The rate of overweight and obese children and adolescents is rapidly increasing in developed countries. Although a decrease in sport practice may be one of the several factors implicated, data on recent trends are scarce. This article presents the trends in sport practice among Swiss adolescents between 1993 and 2002, comparing data from two surveys.