How effects on health equity are assessed in systematic reviews of interventions.

Background: Enhancing health equity is endorsed in the Sustainable Development Goals. The failure of systematic reviews to consider potential differences in effects across equity factors is cited by decision-makers as a limitation to their ability to inform policy and program decisions.  OBJECTIVES: To explore what methods systematic reviewers use to consider health equity in systematic reviews of effectiveness.

Using a single-item rating scale as a psychiatric behavioral management triage tool in the emergency department.

Introduction: Proper monitoring of patients' behavior is essential for effective treatment and efficient disposition of psychiatric cases in the adult emergency department. The goal of the current study was to examine an attempt to implement the Behavioral Activity Rating Scale, an existing single-item measure of behavioral activity, as part of a behavioral management triage strategy for psychiatric patients in an emergency department.

Methods: For the period beginning approximately 2 months after use of the behavioral activity measure was initiated in the emergency department, charts from 284 consecutive patients who presented to the department with a chief complaint that was psychiatric in nature were reviewed.

Osteoporosis health beliefs among younger and older men and women.

The purpose of this study was to compare osteoporosis health beliefs among different age and gender groups. This study used a cross-sectional design, involved 300 participants that represent both genders and three age groups (18 to 25, 30 to 50, and 50-plus), and assessed osteoporosis health beliefs using the Osteoporosis Health Belief Scale (OHBS). Factor analysis revealed three subscales of OHBS: perceived susceptibility, seriousness of the condition, and health motivation to take preventative actions with acceptable levels of reliability.