An Audit of Nursing Documentation at Three Public Hospitals in Jamaica.

Purpose: Nursing documentation provides an important indicator of the quality of care provided for hospitalized patients. This study assessed the quality of nursing documentation on medical wards at three hospitals in Jamaica.

Methods: This cross-sectional study audited a multilevel stratified sample of 245 patient records from three type B hospitals.

Asthma and allergies in Jamaican children aged 2-17 years: a cross-sectional prevalence survey.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and severity of asthma and allergies as well as risk factors for asthma among Jamaican children aged 2-17 years.

Design: A cross-sectional, community-based prevalence survey using the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire. The authors selected a representative sample of 2017 children using stratified, multistage cluster sampling design using enumeration districts as primary sampling units.

The Jamaica asthma and allergies national prevalence survey: rationale and methods.

Background: Asthma is a significant public health problem in the Caribbean. Prevalence surveys using standardized measures of asthma provide valid prevalence estimates to facilitate regional and international comparisons and monitoring of trends. This paper describes methods used in the Jamaica Asthma and Allergies National Prevalence Survey, challenges associated with this survey and strategies used to overcome these challenges.

Knowledge, motivation and barriers to diabetes control in adults in Jamaica.

In this descriptive study, individual structured interviews were conducted on a random sample of 35 men and 98 women from a population (n = 510) of clinic patients. Open questions sought to determine the extent of knowledge, motivation and barriers to lifestyle changes for control of diabetes mellitus (DM) in Jamaican adults. These were coded into themes and described.

Self-care, compliance and glycaemic control in Jamaican adults with diabetes mellitus.

Appropriate self-care practices, including nutrition and medication compliance, are essential to satisfactory control of diabetes mellitus (DM). This descriptive study assesses self-care practices, and their relationships to glycaemic control in adults with DM in Jamaica. A pre-tested structured interview and anthropometric measurements were carried out on 98 women and 35 men, randomly selected from a population (n = 510) of adult clinic patients.

Antibacterial effects of Carica papaya fruit on common wound organisms.

The purpose of the study was to investigate antibacterial activity of ripe and unripe Carica papaya on selected micro-organisms. Cultures of micro-organisms were routinely maintained in nutrient agar slants at 4 degrees C. Extracts of immature, mature and ripe Carica papaya fruit were obtained by separately grinding factions of the epicarp, endocarp and seeds and filtering them through gauze.