Understanding Needs, Breaking Down Barriers: Examining Mental Health Challenges and Well-Being of Correctional Staff in Ontario, Canada.

Mental health challenges appear to be extremely prolific and challenging for correctional service employees, affecting persons working in community, institutional, and administrative correctional services. Focusing specifically on correctional workers employed by the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General, we shed light on their interpretations of the complexities of their occupational work and of how their work affects staff. Using a qualitative thematic approach to data analyses, we show that participants ( = 67) encounter barriers to treatment seeking, which they describe as tremendous, starting with benefits, wages, and shift work.

A Cross-Sectional Study of the Relationship between Previous Military Experience and Mental Health Disorders in Currently Serving Public Safety Personnel in Canada.

Objective: There is an increased incidence of some mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in some members of the military and in some public safety personnel (PSP) such as firefighters, police officers, paramedics, and dispatchers. Upon retirement from the armed forces, many individuals go on to second careers as PSP. Individuals with prior military experience may be at even greater risk than nonveterans for developing mental health disorders.

Bipolar disorder comorbid with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adult inpatients with acute relapse.

Objective: The aim of this prospective, observational study was to detect the rate of comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in a sample of inpatients diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and to identify differences between patients with bipolar disorder with concomitant ADHD and those without concomitant ADHD.

Method: Fifty subjects with bipolar disorder (DSM-IV-TR criteria) aged 18 to 65 years were enrolled in the study in Kingston, Ontario, from October 2008 to April 2010, following their admission to an adult inpatient psychiatric unit during an acute relapse. The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and the ADHD Rating Scale were used to screen the subjects for ADHD and bipolar disorder, while the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the Young Mania Rating Scale, and the Global Assessment of Function were used to assess clinical severity at baseline and at 8 weeks.

An observational study of associations among maternal fluids during parturition, neonatal output, and breastfed newborn weight loss.

Background: Newborn weight measurements are used as a key indicator of breastfeeding adequacy. The purpose of this study was to explore non-feeding factors that might be related to newborn weight loss. The relationship between the intravenous fluids women receive during parturition (the act of giving birth, including time in labour or prior to a caesarean section) and their newborn's weight loss during the first 72 hours postpartum was the primary interest.

Iatrogenic newborn weight loss: knowledge translation using a study protocol for your maternity setting.

Background: In our original study of newborn weight loss, we determined there were positive correlations among newborn weight loss, neonatal output, and the IV fluids mothers received before their babies' birth. Basically, an increase in maternal IV fluids is correlated to an increase in neonatal output and newborn weight loss. When assessing newborn weight change, our recommendation is to change baseline from birth weight to a weight measured at 24 hours.

Fatigue and physical activity in older adults with cancer: a systematic review of the literature.

Cancer is a disease predominantly affecting older adults. Cancer fatigue is the most common and often most distressing symptom associated with cancer and its treatment, often persisting months to years after treatment. Untreated cancer fatigue may lead to significant reductions in physical activity, physical functioning, and quality of life and may interfere with patients' adherence to cancer treatment.

Assessment of long-term physical function in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients: comparison of the Charlson Comorbidity Index and the Functional Comorbidity Index.

Objective: It is often important to adjust for the effect of comorbid diseases on patient outcomes. This study compares the association between physical function in acute respiratory distress syndrome patients with scores on two comorbidity indices, the Charlson Comorbidity Index, designed to predict mortality, and the Functional Comorbidity Index (FCI), which was designed to predict physical function.

Design: This is a prospective, longitudinal, observational study.

Incidence of influenza in Ontario following the Universal Influenza Immunization Campaign.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the incidence of influenza in Ontario, Canada has decreased following the introduction of the Universal Influenza Immunization Campaign (UIIC) in 2000. All laboratory-confirmed influenza cases in Ontario, from January 1990 to August 2005 were analyzed using multitaper time series analysis. We found that there has not been a decrease in the mean monthly influenza rate following the introduction of the UIIC (109.

The development of a comorbidity index with physical function as the outcome.

Background And Objectives: Physical function is an important measure of success of many medical and surgical interventions. Ability to adjust for comorbid disease is essential in health services research and epidemiologic studies. Current indices have primarily been developed with mortality as the outcome, and are not sensitive enough when the outcome is physical function.