Factors that influence spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reactions: a model centralized in the medical professional.

Rationale, Aims And Objectives: The spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) through the yellow card and made concrete by the knowledge and attitudes of doctors, has been rousing a great deal of bibliographical interest in recent years. However, there does not seem to be any actual revision in the theme on which the theoretical models that explain the process of decision in reporting are proposed. In this work an explanatory model of the factors that condition reporting is proposed and a revision of the literature on the subject has also been carried out.

Influence of physicians' attitudes on under-notifying infectious diseases: a longitudinal study.

Objectives: To identify practitioners' demographic and professional characteristics associated with reporting of mandatory-reporting diseases (MRDs), and to identify attitudes associated with MRD reporting.

Design: Longitudinal study.

Setting: Regional Health Service of Galicia (North-western Spain).

Factors related with prescription requirement to dispense in Spain.

Purpose: To identify factors associated with prescription requirement to dispense.

Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study on a sample of 166 pharmacists in North-West Spain. The following independent variables were collected through a personal interview: pharmacist's education and speciality, characteristics of the pharmacy, and its socio-economic environment.

[Environmental influences on child mental health].

Objective: To present an up-to-date review about environmental influences on child mental health, describing major risk factors and discussing recommendations for intervention by pediatricians.

Sources Of Data: MEDLINE, PsycLIT and Lilacs, technical books and publications about child development and child and adolescent mental health problems and health promotion.

Summary Of The Findings: Children are exposed to multiple risk factors, among them high prevalence of disease, premature birth, being born from a problematic pregnancy, and living in poverty.

[Evaluation of practices and knowledge among primary health care professionals in relation to child development surveillance].

In the present study, the practices and knowledge of 40 physicians and 40 nurses from municipal health care units (UMS) and 40 physicians and 40 nurses from the Family Health Program (FHP) in Belém, Pará State, Brazil, all of whom working in primary health care, were evaluated in relation to child development surveillance. Measures of knowledge of child development showed an average of 63.7% correct answers for UMS physicians, 57.

GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms, tobacco and risk of lung cancer: a case-control study from Galicia, Spain.

Background: Only 15% of heavy smokers go on to develop lung cancer, indicating the existence of individual predisposition.

Patients And Methods: Using a case-control study, we ascertained whether there were differences between cases and controls in the frequency of GSTM1 and GSTT1 gene polymorphisms, and whether their effect might be linked to smoking habit.

Results: While a risk of lung cancer of 1.

Dose-response relationship between tobacco and lung cancer: new findings.

The purpose of this work is to model the relationship between smoking-related variables and the risk of lung cancer by using parametric and non-parametric models. A hospital-based case-control study was conducted to ascertain the influence of smoking on risk of lung cancer. We used parametric logistic regression with a series of categorized independent variables and non-parametric logistic regression models.

Lung cancer and related risk factors: an update of the literature.

At the present time, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in males. Diagnostic difficulty makes detection complicated and this, in conjunction with the low survival rate, renders the disease a serious health problem. In-depth knowledge of associated risk factors is therefore called for, in order to prevent or at least reduce the appearance of lung cancer and to open new avenues of research.

Np.OR: an S-Plus function for pointwise nonparametric estimation of odds-ratios of continuous predictors.

Calculating odds ratios (OR) and corresponding confidence intervals (CI) for exposures that have been measured using a continuous scale, presents important limitations in the traditional practice of epidemiology. Our objective is to describe an S-Plus function, that we called np.OR, that allows the computation of the pointwise estimates of the ORs as well as their corresponding CIs of continuous predictors introduced nonlinearly in a generalised model.

Is the Mnr locus of Triticeae species the same as the Ndh and Dia loci?

The menadione reductase (MNR), the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase (NDH) and diaphorase (DIA) isozymes were studied in the allohexaploid Triticum aestivum cv "Chinese Spring" and in five diploid Triticeae species. The Mnr1, Ndh3and Dia1 loci were located on the chromosome arms 3AL, 3BL and 3DL of T. aestivum, respectively.

Occupation and smoking as risk factors for lung cancer: a population-based case-control study.

Background: Lung cancer is associated with occupation, but not much is known about the influence exerted on risk by length of exposure and the joint effect of occupational exposure and tobacco on risk of lung cancer.

Methods: Through a population-based case-control study, we defined risk professions as those that have been associated previously with higher risk of lung cancer.

Results: The relative risk seems to increase linearly and significantly with the number of years spent in risk occupations, rising significantly by 28% for every 10 years in a risk profession.

Data collection methods for analyzing the quality of the dispensing in pharmacies.

Objective: To review and discuss the advantages and limitations of the different data collection methods for analyzing the dispensing quality in community pharmacies.

Methods: A bibliographic search was carried out in MEDLINE (1980-2000). Articles with Medical Subject Heading (Mesh) "pharmacies" written in English and Spanish that evaluated the quality of dispensing (structure, process or outcome) were selected.

A population-based case-control study on fruit and vegetable intake and lung cancer: a paradox effect?

A population-based case-control study was carried out in Northwest Spain to analyze the effect of fruit and vegetable intake on the appearance of lung cancer. A non-significant protective association was found for overall consumption of leafy green and other vegetables, with consumption once a day or more vs. less than once a week yielding odds ratios of 0.

Aggregation mediated by faeces and footprints in Triatoma pseudomaculata (Heteroptera: Reduviidae), a Chagas disease vector.

The behavioural response of Triatoma pseudomaculata to chemical substances present in their faeces or cuticle (footprints) was analyzed. Groups of larvae were simultaneously exposed to a clean filter paper and to another paper impregnated with a chemical stimulus in a circular arena. In these choice experiments, the insects aggregated significantly around papers impregnated with dry faeces.

Influence of commercial information on prescription quantity in primary care.

Background: In the last few years we have witnessed many publicly-financed health services reaching a crisis point. Thus, drug expenditure is nowadays one of the main concerns of health managers, and its containment one of the first goals of health authorities in western countries. The objective of this study is to identify the effect of the perceived quality stated in commercial information, its uses, and how physicians perceive the influence it has on prescription amounts.

Exposure to residential radon and lung cancer in Spain: a population-based case-control study.

Although high radon concentrations have been linked to increased risk of lung cancer by both experimental studies and investigations of underground miners, epidemiologic studies of residential radon exposure display inconsistencies. The authors therefore decided to conduct a population-based case-control study in northwest Spain to determine the risk of lung cancer associated with exposure to residential radon. The study covered a total of 163 subjects with incident lung cancer and a population sample of 241 cancer-free subjects since 1992-1994.

Aggregation behaviour and interspecific responses in Rhodnius prolixus stål.

The response to intra- and interspecific faecal assembling signals was tested in Rhodnius prolixus. Papers impregnated with excrement of R. prolixus induced the aggregation of larvae of this species, but also of those of Triatoma infestans.

Intake of wine, beer, and spirits and the risk of clinical common cold.

To examine whether intakes of wine, beer, spirits, and total alcohol are associated with the risk of common cold, in 1998-1999 the authors analyzed data from a cohort study carried out in a population of 4,272 faculty and staff of five Spanish universities. Usual alcohol intake was assessed at baseline by means of a standardized frequency questionnaire that was validated in a random sample of the population. The authors detected 1,353 cases of common cold.

A combined analysis of the short-term effects of photochemical air pollutants on mortality within the EMECAM project.

In recent years, some epidemiologic studies have attributed adverse effects of air pollutants on health not only to particles and sulfur dioxide but also to photochemical air pollutants (nitrogen dioxide and ozone). The effects are usually small, leading to some inconsistencies in the results of the studies. Furthermore, the different methodologic approaches of the studies used has made it difficult to derive generic conclusions.

[Explanatory variables of avoidable cost produced by not prescribing a cheaper equivalent drug].

Objective: To identify the explanatory variables of avoidable cost produced by not prescribing a cheaper equivalent drug.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 1,500 primary care physicians in Galicia (northwest Spain). The sample consisted of 405 primary care physicians.