Development of a water-related disaster decision model for nurses in Thailand.

Background: Disasters, be they natural or manmade, are catastrophic events that confront nursing managers with the challenge of acting to reduce the impact of such events upon society as a whole.

Objective: Provide nursing management personnel with a guide organized in such a fashion as to facilitate the decision making process in water related disasters. To develop a model to guide the decision-making process regarding water-related disaster management.

The effects on population health status of using dedicated property taxes to fund local public health agencies.

Background: In the United States, a dedicated property tax describes the legal authority given to a local jurisdiction to levy and collect a tax for a specific purpose. We investigated for an association of locally dedicated property taxes to fund local public health agencies and improved health status in the eight states designated as the Mississippi Delta Region.

Methods: We analyzed the difference in health outcomes of counties with and without a dedicated public health tax after adjusting for a set of control variables using regression models for county level data from 720 counties of the Mississippi Delta Region.

Decision science: a scientific approach to enhance public health budgeting.

The allocation of resources for public health programming is a complicated and daunting responsibility. Financial decision-making processes within public health agencies are especially difficult when not supported with techniques for prioritizing and ranking alternatives. This article presents a case study of a decision analysis software model that was applied to the process of identifying funding priorities for public health services in the Spokane Regional Health District.

Multi-criteria assessment of county public health capability disparities.

Objective: This paper proposes an analytical approach to the assessment of geographic population health disparities that are measured as the consolidation of public health related indicators into geographic-specific scores, and are representative of the level of public health capability within counties in the state of Mississippi.

Study Design: A multi-criteria decision model was employed to develop an additive scoring system that assigns a numerical score of public health capability disparities for a geographical area (county).

Methods: Routinely collected indicators were used to measure each county's current public health related concerns.

Body mass index and health related quality of life in elementary school children: a pilot study.

Background: We investigated the relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) indicated by baseline health status in elementary school children.

Methods: Data were obtained via parents whose children enrolled in an elementary school, kindergarten to fourth grade, in southern Mississippi in spring 2004. Parents completed the SF-10 for Children, a brief 10-item questionnaire designed to measure children's HRQOL on a voluntary basis.

Utilization of the emergency room: impact of geographic distance.

The aim of this study was to estimate the distance Mississippi patients must travel to access hospital-based emergency rooms (ERs) and to determine whether an association exists between geographic distance and ER utilization. To that end, great circle distances between Census Block Group Centroid Points and 89 hospitals with emergency departments were calculated for the State of Mississippi. Data on the socio-demographic characteristics of each block group came from the 2000 US Census data.

Health status, physical disability, and obesity among adult Mississippians with chronic joint symptoms or doctor-diagnosed arthritis: findings from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2003.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to analyze 2003 Mississippi Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data to describe the health of Mississippians with arthritis or chronic joint pain. For this study, we made statistical estimates of the extent of arthritis burden among the respondents and delineated measurable differences in sociodemographic factors, health status, and the prevalence of associated risk factors. Our findings compare health-related quality of life, physical activity, and key demographic characteristics and obesity rates, controlling for differences among the subgroups by age, sex, educational attainment, income, and race/ethnicity.

Relationship of cataract symptoms of preoperative patients and vision-related quality of life.

Background: This study was conducted in an attempt to describe the status of cataract symptoms of preoperative cataract patients, as well as to determine the relationship between cataract symptom and vision-related quality of life measures.

Research Design: A cross-sectional study design was used. Study subjects were selected using non-probabilistic methods.

The role of quality improvement in disease management: a statewide tuberculosis control success story.

This study describes Mississippi's statewide latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) control management efforts to improve treatment outcomes using scientific quality improvement tools. LTBI medication completion rates were observed by month and by nine administrative health districts for a 12-month period. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to see if there was any significant change between preintervention and postintervention in medication completion rates.

Combining the benefits of decision science and financial analysis in public health management: a county-specific budgeting and planning model.

State public health agencies are charged with providing and overseeing the management of basic public health services on a population-wide basis. These activities have a re-emphasized focus as a result of the events of September 11, 2001, the subsequent anthrax events, and the continuing importance placed on bioterrorism preparedness, West Nile virus, and emerging infectious diseases (eg, monkeypox, SARS). This has added to the tension that exists in budgeting and planning, given the diverse constituencies that are served in each state.

Combining the performance strengths of the logistic regression and neural network models: a medical outcomes approach.

The assessment of medical outcomes is important in the effort to contain costs, streamline patient management, and codify medical practices. As such, it is necessary to develop predictive models that will make accurate predictions of these outcomes. The neural network methodology has often been shown to perform as well, if not better, than the logistic regression methodology in terms of sample predictive performance.

Health-related quality of life of cataract patients: cross-cultural comparisons of utility and psychometric measures.

Background: This study was conducted to assess the presence and/or absence of cross-cultural differences or similarities between Korean and United States cataract patients. A systematic assessment was performed using utility and psychometric measures in the study population.

Research Design: A cross-sectional study design was used to examine the comparison of preoperative outcomes measures in cataract patients in Korea and the United States.

Data mining a diabetic data warehouse.

Diabetes is a major health problem in the United States. There is a long history of diabetic registries and databases with systematically collected patient information. We examine one such diabetic data warehouse, showing a method of applying data mining techniques, and some of the data issues, analysis problems, and results.

Gender differences in special needs populations.

The August 2000 Surgeon General's report confirmed that neglected, vulnerable populations in the United States are not adequately receiving oral health services. The silent epidemic of dental and oral diseases in population groups such as persons with MRDD and the geriatric population results in a diminished quality of life. This article presents a study and research design intended to gather data and report the results as related to the needs of a population with MRDD.

Assessing health-related quality of life in cataract patients: the relationship between utility and health-related quality of life measurement.

The relationship between health-related quality of life (HQL) measures and patient preference for their health status was studied. Study subjects consisted of 132 patients at four hospitals who were scheduled for cataract surgery. Generic and disease-specific health status measures were determined in study subjects.

Assessment of primary health care access status: an analytic technique for decision making.

Access to health care is an issue that has caught the attention of health care providers, policy formulators, and policy analysts, with particular emphasis on access to primary care, which affords all people a viable portal into the health care system. This paper proposes an analytical approach to the assessment of relative primary care access status, measured as the capability to deliver basic primary care services within specific geographic civil areas, or parishes, within the state of Louisiana. An additive multiattribute utility method is employed to develop a scoring system to rank parishes according to a primary care access, or health system capability, numerical score.

Prediction of sports-related dental traumatic injuries.

Predicting sports-related traumatic injuries is an important concern for dental health professionals. A predictive index has been developed that determines the likelihood of a sports-related traumatic dental injury in children and adolescents. This index can be used to aid in the prevention of injury by understanding who is most likely to be injured and what factors influence the chance of injury.

[Evaluation of health status using Survey SF-36: preliminary results in Mexico].

Objective: To establish a multidimensional profile of the health status in a population of southeastern Mexico and analyze the psychometric properties of a translation of the SF-36 survey authorized by the International Quality of Life Assessment Project.

Material And Methods: The SF-36 was administered to 257 volunteers of a clinic and a control group in a governmental institution. The methodology proposed by the author of the survey to build the health scales was used without modifications.

Managerial epidemiology in the health administration curriculum.

With the rapid changes in health care delivery systems an appreciation and specialized understanding of epidemiology is a necessary requirement for health care administration practitioners. Managed care compels health care managers to focus on delivering health care services to populations and not individuals. The health care administrator today must focus on population-based management, and no longer can afford to ignore epidemiologic measurements.

An analysis of program and family costs of case managed care for technology-dependent infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Caring for technology-dependent infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia requires a wide range and intense level of services. Case management programs can offer comprehensive services to patients with complex needs. The Neonatal Pulmonary Program at Tulane University Medical Center is a case management program for infants with chronic pulmonary problems.

An expert systems approach to medical school admissions.

Medical school applicants for 1994 to 1995 broke the record of 42,621 applicants set in 1974 to 1975 with a new record of 45,365 applicants. Applications for the next few years are projected to steadily increase. Currently most medical school admissions committees screen every application.

Racial variations in cesarean section rates: an analysis of Medicaid data in Louisiana.

The objective of this study was to investigate racial variation in cesarean section rates among Medicaid beneficiaries in Louisiana. Results indicate that over a three-year period, white women had higher rates than women of other races when stratified by age, locality, accompanying diagnoses, and hospital ownership. Comparing Louisiana Medicaid data with birth certificate records, rates among all births were slightly higher than Medicaid births, with the same racial trend.

Expert systems in the health administration curriculum.

With the growing use of computers and on-line hospital information systems, a need exists for health care managers trained in computing and computer applications. This article reviews the advances in health care computing and reports on the design and implementation of a new course in a specific computer application, known as expert systems, in a health administration curriculum. The specific course framework is described and several student projects are presented and discussed.

A decision support system for hospital bed assignment.

This article presents the use of a computer-based decision support system for hospital bed assignment. The specific computer application discussed involves the development of an expert system, which mimics the decision-making process typically used by experts in a field. Expert systems are useful as consultants for problems that are best approached from the perspective of an expert.

High-density lipoprotein-cholesterol: determining hygienic factors for intervention.

Current guidelines of the Adult Treatment Panel on High-Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol (HDL-C) emphasize the protective effect of HDL-C in reducing one's risk for coronary heart disease and recommend that individuals with serum HDL-C levels below 35 mg/dL utilize hygienic means to raise them. A cross-sectional study was performed to examine the relationship of the hygienic factors obesity (measured by percent body fat and body mass index), smoking, and aerobic exercise to HDL-C. The sample, consisting of 1701 male employees of a large aerospace hardware assembly plant, were evaluated by health risk appraisal and anthropometric measurement.