Sharps injury and body fluid exposure among health care workers in an Australian tertiary hospital.

To examine sharps injury and body fluid exposure among health care workers, a descriptive epidemiological study was conducted in a 1000-bed tertiary hospital between 2000 and 2003 using surveillance data of all reported sharps injuries and body fluid exposures. A total of 640 sharps injuries and body fluid exposures were reported from hospital and nonhospital staff, although no seroconversions to HIV, hepatitis B virus, or hepatitis C virus were observed during the study period. Nurses reported 47% of sharps injuries and 68% of body fluid exposures, medical staff reported 38% and 16%, and other nonmedical staff notified 5% and 4%, respectively, while nonhospital staff reported the rest.

Climate change and the transmission of vector-borne diseases: a review.

This article reviews studies examining the relationship between climate variability and the transmission of vector- and rodent-borne diseases, including malaria, dengue fever, Ross River virus infection, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. The review has evaluated their study designs, statistical analysis methods, usage of meteorological variables, and results of those studies. The authors found that the limitations of analytical methods exist in most of the articles.

Successful three-way kidney paired donation with cross-country live donor allograft transport.

Providing transplantation opportunities for patients with incompatible live donors through kidney paired donation (KPD) is seen as one of the important strategies for easing the crisis in organ availability. It has been estimated that an additional 1000-2000 transplants per year could be accomplished if a national KPD program were implemented in the United States. While most of these transplants could be arranged within the participants' local or regional area, patients with hard-to-match blood types or broad HLA sensitization would benefit from matching across larger geographic areas.

Differences between Internet and community samples of MSM: implications for behavioral surveillance among MSM in China.

This study compared the difference between two samples of men who have sex with men (MSM) in Harbin, China, using cross-sectional data that were collected via the Internet and through conventional venue-based outreach. All participants in both samples lived in or nearby Harbin in northeast China. Results showed that the Internet sample was significantly younger, more educated and more likely to be students and to self-identify as homosexual than the community sample.

Mortality and cancer incidence of Australian participants in the British nuclear tests in Australia.

Objectives: To investigate the mortality and cancer incidence of Australian nuclear test participants, and to identify any association with exposure to ionising radiation.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was carried out in which the mortality and cancer incidence rates of participants (n = 10,983) were compared with rates in the general male Australian population. Dose reconstructions were carried out by a panel of health physicists.

Missing data on retrospective recall of early-life socio-economic position in surveillance systems: an additional disadvantage?

Objectives: Inclusion of information on early-life socio-economic position (SEP) in population chronic disease and risk factor surveillance systems enables better monitoring of effects of policies and interventions on health inequities and intergenerational disadvantage. Examining data quality, in terms of item non-response, informs choices about which indicators of early-life SEP to include in surveillance questionnaires. This study examined differences in recall of indicators of early-life SEP between different socio-economic groups.

Non-response to a life course socioeconomic position indicator in surveillance: comparison of telephone and face-to-face modes.

Background: Measurement of socioeconomic position (SEP) over the life course in population health surveillance systems is important for examining differences in health and illness between different population groups and for monitoring the impact of policies and interventions aimed at reducing health inequities and intergenerational disadvantage over time. While face-to-face surveys are considered the gold standard of interviewing techniques, computer-assisted telephone interviewing is often preferred for cost and convenience. This study compared recall of parents' highest level of education in telephone and face-to-face surveys.

The Vascular Access Questionnaire: assessing patient-reported views of vascular access.

Background: The use of central venous catheters for vascular access in hemodialysis (HD) patients is associated with an increased risk of complications compared to arteriovenous fistulas (AVF). Despite this, catheter use remains high and patient satisfaction may be an important driver of catheter use.

Methods: We developed the Vascular Access Questionnaire (VAQ) to measure patient-reported views of their vascular access.

Virtual community consultation? Using the literature and weblogs to link community perspectives and health technology assessment.

Background: Community views, expressed in social impact assessments and collected through community consultation, should play an important role in health technology assessment (HTA). Yet HTA methodologists have been slow to include outcomes of these forms of inquiry in analyses, in part because collecting community views is time-consuming and resource intensive.

Objective: To explore how community views sourced from published studies, grey literature and informal internet web pages can inform HTA.

Weather and the transmission of bacillary dysentery in Jinan, northern China: a time-series analysis.

Objectives: This article aims to quantify the relationship between weather variations and bacillary dysentery in Jinan, a city in northern China with a temperate climate, to reach a better understanding of the effect of weather variations on enteric infections.

Methods: The weather variables and number of cases of bacillary dysentery during the period 1987-2000 has been studied on a monthly basis. The Spearman correlation between each weather variable and dysentery cases was conducted.

Exploring the characteristics of the research workforce in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.

Objective: This study was conducted to better understand the characteristics of current and past researchers in Indigenous health in Australia and the factors that may influence decisions about working in this field.

Methods: A self-administered survey by e-mail or post to all individuals listed as an author on a published paper or who completed a PhD or masters research degree in the field of Indigenous health between 1995 and 2004.

Results: We identified 472 papers and 151 theses; from these, 1,067 authors were identified.

Exploring policy-makers' perspectives on disinvestment from ineffective healthcare practices.

Objectives: Many existing healthcare interventions diffused before modern evidence-based standards of clinical- and cost-effectiveness. Disinvestment from ineffective or inappropriately applied practices is growing as a priority for international health policy, both for improved quality of care and sustainability of resource allocation. Australian policy stakeholders were canvassed to assess their perspectives on the challenges and the nature of disinvestment.

Video-assisted epicardial ablation and left atrial appendage exclusion for atrial fibrillation: extended follow-up.

Background: New ablation technologies have spurred development of less invasive operations for atrial fibrillation. The long-term efficacy of these procedures is unknown.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of 22 patients aged 63 +/- 9 years with symptomatic, intermittent atrial fibrillation who underwent video-assisted, thoracoscopic pulmonary vein isolation and left atrial appendage exclusion from April 2004 through July 2005.

Challenges in Australian policy processes for disinvestment from existing, ineffective health care practices.

Background: Internationally, many health care interventions were diffused prior to the standard use of assessments of safety, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. Disinvestment from ineffective or inappropriately applied practices is a growing priority for health care systems for reasons of improved quality of care and sustainability of resource allocation. In this paper we examine key challenges for disinvestment from these interventions and explore potential policy-related avenues to advance a disinvestment agenda.

Trends in cancer mortality during the 20th century in Australia.

An epidemiological study was conducted, using annual cancer mortality data over the period 1907 to 1998, to explore change in Australian cancer mortality. A 3-year moving average mortality was calculated to minimise the annual fluctuations over the study period. The results suggested that overall cancer mortality rose slightly over the past century, with a small decrease in more recent years.

Internet use and risk behaviours: an online survey of visitors to three gay websites in China.

Objectives: To describe the risk behaviours of visitors to gay websites and to explore the role of the internet in the HIV transmission among the Chinese men who have sex with men (MSM).

Methods: Between May and August 2006, visitors of three Chinese gay websites were invited to complete an online questionnaire about the use of the internet and risk sexual behaviours.

Results: The median age of the online sample was 25 years old (range 18 to 64).

Costs and consequences of treatment for mild gestational diabetes mellitus - evaluation from the ACHOIS randomised trial.

Background: Recommended best practice is that economic evaluation of health care interventions should be integral with randomised clinical trials. We performed a cost-consequence analysis of treating women with mild gestational diabetes mellitus by dietary advice, blood glucose monitoring and insulin therapy as needed compared with routine pregnancy care, using patient-level data from a multi-centre randomised clinical trial.

Methods: Women with a singleton pregnancy who had mild gestational diabetes diagnosed by an oral glucose-tolerance test between 24 and 34 weeks' gestation and their infants were included.

Catheter patency and function after catheter sheath disruption: a pilot study.

Background And Objectives: Hemodialysis catheters are frequently complicated by dysfunction from fibrin sheaths. Previous studies of sheath disruption have methodologic limitations but suggest that the patency after disruption is short.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: A randomized, controlled, pilot trial was conducted to investigate the impact of angioplasty sheath disruption on catheter patency and function.

Climate change and disability-adjusted life years.

The authors conducted a systematic review of the studies of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost because of climate change. The review considered both methodological issues and research results. It found that little is known about DALYs lost because of climate change, except for results based on limited information presented in the World Health Organization (WHO) global-burden-of-disease study in 2002.

Web-based HIV/AIDS behavioral surveillance among men who have sex with men: potential and challenges.

With more men who have sex with men (MSM) seeking sexual partners through the Internet, the Internet has been characterized as a newly emerging risk environment for HIV transmission. Meanwhile, the flourishing of gay websites provides a good opportunity for health professionals to conduct systematic HIV/AIDS behavioral surveillance among MSM. Effective methods to recruit online MSM users have been developed, and online surveys have suggested many practical advantages over surveys in the traditional gay community.

Outcomes at 2 years of age after repeat doses of antenatal corticosteroids.

Background: We previously reported the results of a randomized, controlled trial showing that repeat doses of antenatal corticosteroids reduced the risk of respiratory distress syndrome and serious neonatal morbidity. However, data have not been available regarding longer-term effects of this treatment.

Methods: Women who had received an initial course of corticosteroid treatment 7 or more days previously were randomly assigned to receive an intramuscular injection of corticosteroid (11.

Changes in HIV prevalence and sexual behavior among men who have sex with men in a northern Chinese city: 2002-2006.

Objective: To examine HIV prevalence and sexual behavior changes among MSM in Harbin.

Methods: Three community-based cross-sectional surveys among MSM were conducted based on the same protocol and methodology in 2002, 2004 and 2006 in Harbin, China. Men who were eligible were interviewed with a standard questionnaire.

Birth after caesarean study--planned vaginal birth or planned elective repeat caesarean for women at term with a single previous caesarean birth: protocol for a patient preference study and randomised trial.

Background: For women who have a caesarean section in their preceding pregnancy, two care policies for birth are considered standard: planned vaginal birth and planned elective repeat caesarean. Currently available information about the benefits and harms of both forms of care are derived from retrospective and prospective cohort studies. There have been no randomised trials, and recognising the deficiencies in the literature, there have been calls for methodologically rigorous studies to assess maternal and infant health outcomes associated with both care policies.

Climate variations and salmonellosis transmission in Adelaide, South Australia: a comparison between regression models.

This is the first study to identify appropriate regression models for the association between climate variation and salmonellosis transmission. A comparison between different regression models was conducted using surveillance data in Adelaide, South Australia. By using notified salmonellosis cases and climatic variables from the Adelaide metropolitan area over the period 1990-2003, four regression methods were examined: standard Poisson regression, autoregressive adjusted Poisson regression, multiple linear regression, and a seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model.