Influence of neurologic manifestations of primary human immunodeficiency virus infection on disease progression. SEROCO Study Group.

To determine the influence of neurologic manifestations of primary human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection on disease progression, 277 nonhemophiliac adults enrolled < 1 year after HIV infection were studied. Patients with neurologic manifestations during symptomatic primary HIV infection (PSI) (group N+; n = 23), with nonneurologic manifestations (group N-; n = 112) during PSI, and without any clinical manifestation during primary infection (group NPI; n = 142) were compared for disease progression. Age at infection, sex, mode of infection and CD4+ cell count at first visit did not differ between groups.

[Multicenter French cohort of adults with HIV infection. Description and course after 4 years of follow-up. SEROCO].

Objectives: A prospective multicentric epidemiological study (SEROCO) of subjects with a diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection was started on January 1, 1988 in order to better understand the natural history of HIV infection and factors related to outcome. Observations after 4 years of follow-up are reported here.

Methods: After authorization by the French national ethics committee and the national commission for personal freedom, 18 French centres included non-haemophiliac volunteers who were asymptomatic, had had non anti-HIV treatment and whose HIV positivity had been known less than 1 year at inclusion.

Effect of age and exposure group on the onset of AIDS in heterosexual and homosexual HIV-infected patients. SEROCO Study Group.

Objective: To analyse the influence of age at seroconversion and sexual exposure group on the progression of HIV disease.

Design: This multicentre prospective cohort study involved 443 subjects whose date of HIV infection was known to within +/- 1 year. Individuals whose sexual behaviour was exclusively heterosexual after HIV infection constituted the heterosexual group (n = 131).

International Quality of Life Assessment (IQOLA) Project.

The International Quality of Life Assessment (IQOLA) Project is a 4-year project to translate and adapt the widely used MOS SF-36 Health Survey Questionnaire in up to 15 countries and validate, norm, and document the new translations as required for their use in international studies of health outcomes. In addition to the eight-scale SF-36 health profile, the project will also validate psychometrically based physical and mental health summary scores, as well as health utility indexes incorporating SF-36 scales for use in cost-utility studies.

Cross-cultural adaptation of health measures. European Group for Health Management and Quality of Life Assessment.

There is increasing interest throughout Europe in measuring health needs in the general population and in the 'quality of life' of patients. This has led to a demand for questionnaires capable of measuring health status in a reliable and valid manner. Most existing measures have, however, been standardised only in the U.

[Development of a conversion table of dependence of the aged on home aide needs].

Planning home help for geographical areas requires information on disabilities and required needs. This paper proposes a methodology to estimate the amount of help required. The analysis is based on survey data from three French regions: Ile-de-France, Languedoc-Roussillon and Basse-Normandie and from a team of experts.

The French version of the Nottingham Health Profile. A comparison of items weights with those of the source version.

The efficient and reliable assessment of general community health requires the development of comprehensive and parsimonious measures of proven validity. The Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) has been demonstrated to be a reliable indicator of common expressions of discomfort and stress in the general population. The present paper describes its linguistic adaptation into French, the derivation of item weights by Thurstone's method of paired comparisons and the comparison of item weights across various sociodemographic groups.

[The decision to hospitalize. Apropos of a survey of 539 hospitalizations requested by general practitioners].

Reasons for hospitalization. A study about 539 hospitalizations decided by general practitioners. In this paper hospitalization is studied from the point of view of the general practitioner (GP) who is the most frequent supplier of in-patients.

[Descriptive and prognostic value of health status perception by a group of patients with chronic respiratory insufficiency using respirators].

Using a self questionnaire we have done a domiciliary study of the perception of health and respiratory function in a population of 537 patients suffering from chronic respiratory disease. We arranged elsewhere the objective biological data of the severity of the disease represented in the computerised dossier on each patient and were able to compare this objective data to the subjective data gathered by the questionnaire. The objective data, in particular the blood gas analysis, appeared to be very weakly linked to the perception that the subjects had of their health and of their physical mobility.

[Study of the factors associated with the inability to perform household tasks among aged persons on the Ile-de-France. Application to the sub-regional planning of home-help services].

The aim of this paper is to present the preliminary results of a planning project in the area of health and social services for the elderly, which makes it possible to estimate the number of persons likely to seek help from such services at the administrative area levels with decisional powers. This involves identifying predictors of disability from raw data routinely available in the census and at various administrative area levels, the municipality being the preferred level. From the epidemiological data collected at the regional level, an indicator of disability has been constructed.

Characteristics of elderly people receiving home-help in three regions of France.

This study examined the allocation of home-help to the elderly using survey data collected on 3153 elderly respondents living at home in Haute-Normandie, Lille, and Ile-de-France. The samples of respondents were stratified by age, sex and area of residence, and were randomly selected from the electoral registers. The analysis identified 399 elderly people "in need": of home-help - living alone with disability.

Socio-demographic variation in perceived illness and the use of primary care: the value of community survey data for primary care service planning.

This paper addresses the question of the prevalence of self reported morbidity in the community and reports on results obtained using the Nottingham Health Profile in a population survey of morbidity. The variation between demographic and social groups and the relationship with GP are considered. The results show that certain aspects of morbidity vary according to social group more markedly than other aspects, and that some dimensions of self reported morbidity are predictive of recent consultation reported by the respondents.

Factors associated with home visiting in an inner London general practice.

We decided to examine the services provided by doctors in an inner London practice for domiciliary care. It was expected that the study would highlight the most relevant questions and variables related to access and uptake of this service; it would thus contribute to the design of an accurate procedure for auditing the pattern of delivery of home care to be conducted in the practice in the future. During the study period, 1976-81, there were 90 500 doctor-patient contacts.

[Sciatica and other low-back disorders in private practice: extent of the problem and therapeutic approaches].

Using data collected by INSERM in a 1975 survey among French general practitioners and specialists in private practice, the reporting of sciatica and low back pain (LBP) was studied, as well as doctors' diagnoses and therapeutic approaches. Only 0.7% of patients were reported as having sciatica, while 2.