Does Screening or Providing Information on Resources for Intimate Partner Violence Increase Women's Knowledge? Findings from a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Screening for IPV in health care settings might increase women's knowledge or awareness around its frequency and its impact on health. When IPV is disclosed, assuring women it is not their fault should improve their knowledge that IPV is the perpetrator's responsibility. Providing information about IPV resources may also increase women's knowledge about the availability of solutions.

Advocacy interventions to reduce or eliminate violence and promote the physical and psychosocial well-being of women who experience intimate partner abuse.

Background: Intimate partner abuse is common worldwide, damaging the short- and long-term physical, mental, and emotional health of survivors and children. Advocacy may contribute to reducing abuse, empowering women to improve their situation by providing informal counselling and support for safety planning and increasing access to different services. Advocacy may be a stand-alone service, accepting referrals from healthcare providers, or part of a multi-component (and possibly multi-agency) intervention provided by service staff or others.

Effect of screening for partner violence on women's quality of life: a randomized controlled trial.

Context: Although partner violence screening has been endorsed by many health organizations, there is insufficient evidence that it has beneficial health outcomes.

Objective: To determine the effect of computerized screening for partner violence plus provision of a partner violence resource list vs provision of a partner violence list only on women's health in primary care settings, compared with a control group.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A 3-group blinded randomized controlled trial at 10 primary health care centers in Cook County, Illinois.

Comparative cost analysis of housing and case management program for chronically ill homeless adults compared to usual care.

Objective: To assess the costs of a housing and case management program in a novel sample-homeless adults with chronic medical illnesses.

Data Source: The study used data from multiple sources: (1) electronic medical records for hospital, emergency room, and ambulatory medical and mental health visits; (2) institutional and regional databases for days in respite centers, jails, or prisons; and (3) interviews for days in nursing homes, shelters, substance abuse treatment centers, and case manager visits. Total costs were estimated using unit costs for each service.

Comparison of screening and referral strategies for exposure to partner violence.

Background: Although under debate, routine screening for intimate partner violence (IPV) is recommended in health care settings. This study explored the utility of different screening and referral strategies for women exposed to IPV in primary health care.

Methods: Using a randomized controlled trial design we compared two screening strategies (health care providers [HCP] versus audio computer-assisted self-interviews [A-CASI]) and three referral strategies (HCP alone, A-CASI referral with HCP endorsement, and A-CASI alone).

Evaluation of an asthma medication training program for immigrant Mexican community health workers.

Background: Community health workers (CHWs) are frontline public health workers who connect immigrant communities with health care services. Although CHW asthma interventions have been shown to improve some outcomes, their ability to change medication adherence remains unclear.

Objective: Our goal was to determine if intensive asthma medication training resulted in objective improvements in asthma medication instruction abilities for immigrant Mexican CHWs.

Concordance in the measurement of quality of life and health indicators between two methods of computer-assisted interviews: self-administered and by telephone.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to establish the concordance for quality of life (QOL), disability, and use of health service indicators between two modes of computer-assisted interviews: audio-computer-assisted self-interview (A-CASI) and computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI). High concordance between these modes of data collection would allow comparisons and interchangeable use in cross-sectional or longitudinal assessments.

Methods: Adult English-speaking women (n = 126) were enrolled from women's health clinics at a public hospital.

Obesity and asthma morbidity in a community-based adult cohort in a large urban area: the Chicago Initiative to Raise Asthma Health Equity (CHIRAH).

Background: Urban minority populations experience increased rates of obesity and increased asthma prevalence and severity. Objective. The authors sought to determine whether obesity, as measured by body mass index (BMI), was associated with asthma quality of life or asthma-related emergency department (ED)/urgent care utilization in an urban, community-based sample of adults.

Intimate partner violence towards women.

Introduction: Between 10% and 70% of women may have been physically or sexually assaulted by a partner at some stage, with assault rates against men reported at about one quarter of the rate against women. In at least half of people studied, the problem lasts for 5 years or more. Women reporting intimate partner violence (IPV) are more likely than other women to complain of poor physical or mental health, and of disability.

The influence of caregiver's psychosocial status on childhood asthma and obesity.

Background: The prevalence of childhood asthma and childhood overweight has increased in the last 2 decades, disproportionately burdening ethnic minority children and those living in poverty with no clear understanding of underlying mechanisms.

Objective: To explore the influence of demographic variables, childhood obesity (adjusted body mass index > or = 95th percentile), caregivers' smoking status, and caregiver psychosocial status on asthma severity and asthma control in an urban sample of children with persistent asthma.

Methods: Child (with asthma)-caregiver dyads were recruited from public and archdiocese schools in Chicago, Illinois, as part of the Chicago Initiative to Raise Asthma Health Equity.

Ethnic disparities in asthma morbidity in Chicago.

Rationale: The role of ethnicity and socioeconomic status in explaining variations in asthma morbidity is unclear.

Objectives: To describe the magnitude of ethnic disparities in asthma morbidity in Chicago and to determine whether differences in socioeconomic status explain these disparities.

Methods: We conducted a survey of 561 school-age children and 353 young adults with asthma and measured their self-reported ethnicity, socioeconomic status (using 11 variables), and asthma morbidity (symptom frequency, asthma-specific quality of life, and frequency of severe asthma exacerbations).

Intimate partner violence towards women.

Introduction: Between 10-69% of women may have been physically or sexually assaulted by a partner at some stage, with assault rates against men reported at about a quarter of the rate against women. In at least half of people studied, the problem lasts for 5 years or more. Women reporting intimate partner violence (IPV) are more likely than other women to complain of poor physical or mental health, and of disability.

Effect of a housing and case management program on emergency department visits and hospitalizations among chronically ill homeless adults: a randomized trial.

Context: Homeless adults, especially those with chronic medical illnesses, are frequent users of costly medical services, especially emergency department and hospital services.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of a case management and housing program in reducing use of urgent medical services among homeless adults with chronic medical illnesses.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Randomized controlled trial conducted at a public teaching hospital and a private, nonprofit hospital in Chicago, Illinois.

The health impact of supportive housing for HIV-positive homeless patients: a randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: We assessed the health impact of a housing and case management program, the Chicago Housing for Health Partnership, for homeless people with HIV.

Methods: HIV-positive homeless inpatients at a public hospital (n = 105) were randomized to usual care or permanent housing with intensive case management. The primary outcome was survival with intact immunity, defined as CD4 count > or = 200 and viral load < 100,000.

The impact of an enhanced interpreter service intervention on hospital costs and patient satisfaction.

Background: Many health care providers do not provide adequate language access services for their patients who are limited English-speaking because they view the costs of these services as prohibitive. However, little is known about the costs they might bear because of unaddressed language barriers or the costs of providing language access services.

Objective: To investigate how language barriers and the provision of enhanced interpreter services impact the costs of a hospital stay.

Parental language and asthma among urban Hispanic children.

Background: Many Hispanics in the United States have limited English proficiency and prefer communicating in Spanish. Language barriers are known to adversely affect health care quality and outcomes.

Objective: We explored the relationship between parent language preference in a Hispanic population and the likelihood that a child with symptoms receives a diagnosis of asthma.

Asthma burden in a citywide, diverse sample of elementary schoolchildren in Chicago.

Objective: The purposes of this study are to describe and develop preliminary models of the burden of diagnosed asthma and symptoms of possible undiagnosed asthma in a large, citywide, ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of Chicago elementary schoolchildren. We hypothesized that considering possible asthma would give a more complete picture of race/ethnic disparities in pediatric asthma.

Methods: We studied 35,583 students aged 6 to 12 years attending Chicago Public and Archdiocese elementary schools for the Chicago Initiative to Raise Asthma Health Equity (CHIRAH) study.

Coping with asthma in immigrant Hispanic families: a focus group study.

Background: Little is known about how childhood asthma affects immigrant Hispanic families in the United States. Qualitative research is effective for understanding the social, cultural, functional, and structural aspects of asthma in the family context. Furthermore, such knowledge is necessary to develop culturally appropriate interventions for these families.

International Clinical Epidemiology Network: an opportunity for SGIM international cooperation.

The Canadian/American regional group of the International Clinical Epidemiology Network (INCLEN) invites SGIM members to join in an international network dedicated to improving health in low and middle-income countries and reducing health disparities in North America-not only because many goals and activities of the 2 organizations are compatible such as evidence-based medicine, mentoring, and training; but because collaboration between SGIM and INCLEN could strengthen both groups. With increasing brain drain from the developing world to the North, there is an ever-increasing need for academic contributions from the North to swing the balance toward brain gain for the South. SGIM members have the academic expertise to make an important contribution to global health.

Teaching cardiac examination skills. A controlled trial of two methods.

Objective: To determine if structured teaching of bedside cardiac examination skills improves medical residents' examination technique and their identification of key clinical findings.

Design: Firm-based single-blinded controlled trial.

Setting: Inpatient service at a university-affiliated public teaching hospital.