[Heart health promotion and preventive practices of Quebec nurses working in local community health centers]. / Pratiques des infirmières des Centres locaux de services communautaires du Québec de prévention et promotion en santé du coeur.

The heart health promotion and prevention practices of nurses working in front-line services in 20 Québec CLSC's are analyzed through a qualitative (n = 47 nurses) and a quantitative approach (n = 177 nurses and n = 3802 patients). The results demonstrate that although nurses state they integrate prevention and promotion in their daily practice, patients report that nurses provide few prevention recommendations. The major challenge for prevention-promotion is to strengthen secondary prevention and, especially, integrate primary prevention and promotion in nurses' daily clinical practice.

Sexual behaviour, condom use and HIV risk situations in the general population of Quebec.

We conducted 3501 telephone interviews to determine the sexual and protective behaviours of the general population in Quebec. Among the 858 respondents who had had at least one occasional partner during the last 5 years, 25.4% had had at least one occasional partner who refused to use a condom. More women had had an occasional partner who had refused than men (29.8% vs 21.1%, P<0.001) and fewer women than men succeeded in negotiating condom use, but more of these women decided not to have sexual relations. The frequency of condom use during the last sexual relation changes if the partner is a regular cohabiting partner (12.5%), a regular non-co-habiting partner (42.2%) or an occasional partner (70.8%). Our study provides important information for the development of prevention programmes for the heterosexual population and demonstrates the importance of the type of relationship maintained by the partners on the sexual behaviours.

Migration and HIV: an epidemiological study of Montrealers of Haitian origin.

We aimed to determine the prevalence of HIV infection and associated risk factors among Montrealers of Haitian origin. We carried out a voluntary, anonymous survey in 7 primary care medical clinics in Montreal among 5039 persons aged 15 to 49 years born in Haiti or with at least one parent born in Haiti. The participation rate was 94.3%. Overall, HIV prevalence was 1.3% (1.6% in men and 1.1% in women). The HIV prevalence was lower among those born in Canada or who had resided in Canada longer. The prevalence among subjects who had travelled to Haiti in the previous 5 years was 2.0%, twice the rate of those who had not. The adjusted population attributable fraction of HIV infections associated with having had unprotected sex in Haiti was 10.2%. This study identified risk factors which will help in the design of more effective prevention programmes among Montrealers of Haitian origin.

Highlights of the sexual activity of the heterosexual population in the province of Quebec.

OBJECTIVES: To describe and quantify the level of sexual activity of the heterosexually active population of Quebec. METHODS: The data analysed included 2889 heterosexually active individuals aged 15-60 (agemed = 32) from a 1996-7 survey on the sexual lifestyles of the general population of Quebec. Various probability distributions were studied to assess their capacity to describe and quantify the lifetime and yearly numbers of sexual partners of the sampled population. To estimate the annual rates of new partner acquisition, a generalised linear model was fitted to the number of lifetime sexual partners as a function of age, years of sexual activity, and sex. RESULTS: The mean and variance of the number of lifetime sexual partners for men (mean = 11, s2 = 163) is higher than for women (mean = 6, s2 = 72). The negative binomial and lognormal probability distributions give the most adequate fit to the lifetime number of partners for both agglomerated and stratified (by sex and age) data. The estimated annual rates of new partner acquisition provide two important results for prevention: (1) the first year of sexual activity represents the highest annual rate of new partner acquisition independent of age, (2) annual rates of new partner acquisitions increase through mid-life (ages 40-50) combined with a decrease in condom use. CONCLUSION: Problems caused by the use of large categories in the estimation of mean and variance cannot totally be overcome by fitting probability distributions to the empirical data despite good fits. Furthermore, we believe that adequate estimates of the annual rate of new partner acquisition should be a better measure of the risk of HIV infection than the number of partners since the first is a measure of incidence while the second is a measure of prevalence.

Many voices: sociocultural results of the ethnocultural communities facing AIDS study in Canada

This paper presents the results of Phase 11 of the Ethnocultural Communities facing AIDS Study, the sociocultural investigation of factors contributing to risk behaviour associated wih HIV/AIDS in six ethnocultural communities in Canada in three urban sites. In Vancouver, the South Asian and Chinese communities were studied, the Horn of Africa and English-speaking Caribbean communities in Toronto and the Latin American and Arab-speaking communities in Montreal. Results demonstrated that there are common elements across these ethnocultural communities that increase the risk for HIV transmission. HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention in ethnocultural communities must address sociocultural differences, particularly sex role differences between men and women in terms of power within relationships to negotiate for safer sexual practices (AU).

Many voices--sociocultural results of the ethnocultural communities facing AIDS study in Canada.

This paper presents the results of Phase II of the Ethnocultural Communities Facing AIDS Study, the sociocultural investigation of factors contributing to risk behaviour associated with HIV/AIDS in six ethnocultural communities in Canada in three urban sites. In Vancouver, the South Asian and Chinese communities were studied, the Horn of Africa and English-speaking Caribbean communities in Toronto and the Latin American and Arabic-speaking communities in Montreal. Results demonstrated that there are common elements across these ethnocultural communities that increase the risk for HIV transmission. HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention in ethnocultural communities must address sociocultural differences, particularly sex role differences between men and women in terms of power within relationships to negotiate for safer sexual practices.

Aids-related knowledge and practices in migrant populations: the case of Montrealers of Haitian origin.

The objectives of the study were to determine knowledge levels regarding AIDS and its modes of transmission, and to describe sexual behaviour of Montrealers of Haitian origin. A serial cross-sectional study was conducted in three phases between 1987 and 1990. A questionnaire was administered in a face-to-face interview with the exception of the section concerning sexual practices which was self-administered for those respondents who were literate in French. The study was conducted among 775 men and women residing in the metropolitan Montreal region. These individuals were aged 15 to 39, were born in Haiti or had at least one parent born in Haiti. Knowledge levels were high except for misconceptions about HIV transmission through casual contact and mosquito bites. There was a significant association between high risk sexual behaviour and marital status with the odds of having had multiple partners significantly raised for previously married individuals (OR = 5.96, 95% CI = 3.09; 11.50). High risk behaviour was also associated with being under 25 years of age (OR = 2.83, 95% CI = 1.40; 5.74), knowing someone with HIV/AIDS (OR = 1.88, 95% CI = 1.05; 3.37), being male (OR = 6.81, 95% CI = 3.99; 11.60) and earlier year of interview. Montrealers of Haitian origin, with their specific AIDS-related socio-cultural characteristics, constitute a community which is intermediate between their country of origin, Haiti, and their host country, Canada.

[Utilization of qualitative and quantitative methods to study the attitudes and beliefs related to AIDS in a Montreal population of Haitian origin]. / Utilisation de méthodes qualitatives et quantitatives pour étudier les attitudes et croyances reliées au sida chez les Montréalais d'origine Haïtienne.

To determine attitudes and beliefs related to AIDS among the population of metropolitan Montreal of Haitian origin, we conducted serial cross-sectional surveys between 1987 and 1990 among a random sample of 777 men and women aged 15 to 39. Data on perceived risk of AIDS and attitudes towards HIV testing were collected in home settings using a combination of face-to-face structured interviews and a self-administered questionnaire. Multivariate analysis was conducted to determine predictors of attitudes towards people with HIV. The fear of being infected with HIV is great in this population. The social representation of illness in this community is very much influenced by religious beliefs. Scores for the five-item scale suggest only moderately favourable attitudes towards persons with HIV compared to Montrealers in general. Attitudes towards persons with AIDS were positively associated with years of schooling and a higher perceived risk of getting infected (p < or = 0.01).

[The evolution of female single parent families in various regions of Quebec, 1971-1981]. / L'evolution de la monoparentalite feminine dans differentes regions du Quebec, 1971-1981.

Developments concerning single-parent, female-headed households in Quebec are analyzed. The authors note that in contrast to past experience, "the new single parent family is in most cases the result of a voluntary disruption of the household, or of a birth outside marriage; its head is mostly--and increasingly--the mother; and it concerns an increasingly younger population, among parents as well as children." Differences among metropolitan regions are analyzed with regard to labor force participation, income, and housing conditions. (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)