Highlights of this issue
Do doctors assess for lifestyle health risks?
Study suggests they do, but not enough
See also:
- Evidence: Do physicians assess lifestyle health risks during general medical examinations? A survey of general practitioners and obstetriciangynecologists in Quebec
- Editorial: Should physicians assess lifestyle risk factors routinely?
In their survey of 805 general practitioners and 158 obstetrician-gynecologists in Quebec in 1995, Brigitte Maheux and colleagues found that 82.2% of the GPs routinely assess tobacco use, 67.2% alcohol consumption, 34.2% illicit drug use and 3.2% family violence during general medical examinations of adult patients. Comparatively fewer Ob-Gyns reported routinely assessing these issues, but more Ob-Gyns than GPs (47.0% v. 28.2%) reported routinely assessing condom use. The proportion of Ob-Gyns and GPs was equally low (about 25%) for assessing number of partners, sexual orientation and STD risk. Only 12.7% to 31.6% of the physicians surveyed felt that they had had adequate or excellent training in screening for illicit drug use, family violence and sexual abuse. In an accompanying editorial Carol Herbert discusses barriers to successful intervention aimed at lifestyle health risks.
Kosovar refugees in Canada
Refugees arriving in survival mode
See also:
Between May 4 and 23 about 250 ethnic-Albanian refugees were arriving in Canada daily. Half were greeted by volunteer physicians and nurses in Trenton, Ont. Barbara Sibbald describes the overwhelming scene at Trenton's "medical mall," where the goal has been to screen for infectious diseases and other medical conditions and to keep families together. Although most of the passengers of Flight 7 from Macedonia were in relatively good physical health, many — adults and children alike — showed signs of emotional trauma.
Asthma and allergies
Prevalence among children in 2 Canadian cities
See also:
The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) has provided a standardized questionnaire for determining the prevalence of asthma and allergies. In the 2 Canadian cities participating in the study Brian Habbick and colleagues found that, among 6- and 7-year-old children, the lifetime prevalence of asthma was higher in Hamilton than in Saskatoon (17.2% v. 11.2%); the same was true for the rates among 13- and 14-year-old children (19.2% v. 12.2%). In both age groups the rates of wheezing and of rhinitis in the 12 months before the survey were also higher in Hamilton than in Saskatoon; the prevalence of eczema was slightly higher in Saskatoon. The reasons for the high prevalence rates and the regional differences warrant further study.
Death on the farm
Agriculture: a dangerous industry
See also:
Using data from the newly established Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance Program, William Pickett and colleagues found that 503 people had died from work-related farm injuries between 1991 and 1995. Death rates were highest in Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces and among men and elderly people. Farm owner-operators accounted for 60.2% of the people killed. The leading mechanisms of fatal injury included entanglements in machinery, tractor rollovers, runovers in which the person was not visible by the driver and extra-rider runovers. The authors provide practical recommendations for prevention.
Tuberculosis and AIDS
Risk factors for coinfection
See also:
Paul Brassard and Robert Remis studied the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) among the 4684 people aged 15 years and over in Quebec with AIDS diagnosed between Jan. 1, 1979, and Dec. 31, 1996. Of these, 242 (5.2%) had active TB at some time during their illness. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that AIDS patients born in HIV-endemic countries in the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa or other developing regions were 21.8 times, 17.9 times and 4.9 times more likely to have TB than those born in Canada. It also showed that people who acquired HIV infection through heterosexual contact were 2.1 times (95% confidence interval 1.63.1) more likely to have TB than men who acquired it through sexual contact with other men.
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© 1999 Canadian Medical Association
