Come from away: Best practices in mini-sabbaticals for the development of young investigators: a White Paper by the SEQUIN (mini-Sabbatical Evaluation and QUality ImprovemeNt) Group.

Mini-sabbaticals are formal short-term training and educational experiences away from an investigator's home research unit. These may include rotations with other research units and externships at government research or regulatory agencies, industry and non-profit programs, and training and/or intensive educational programs. The National Institutes of Health have been encouraging training institutions to consider offering mini-sabbaticals, but given the newness of the concept, limited data are available to guide the implementation of mini-sabbatical programs. In this paper, we review the history of sabbaticals and mini-sabbaticals, report the results of surveys we performed to ascertain the use of mini-sabbaticals at Clinical and Translational Science Award hubs, and consider best practice recommendations for institutions seeking to establish formal mini-sabbatical programs.

Mass media as a population-level intervention tool for Chlamydia trachomatis screening: report of a pilot study.

PURPOSE: To determine the feasibility and affect of mass media use in a population-level intervention for chlamydia screening promotion. METHODS: A population-level chlamydia intervention protocol was field tested. The intervention, targeting 15-25-year-old individuals, was designed to: (a) increase awareness of personal risk for chlamydial infection; (b) facilitate dissemination of chlamydia knowledge by use of a telephone hot line; and (c) promote care-seeking behavior (report for a chlamydia screening program). The intervention activities included: (a) mail outreach, (b) a television and radio campaign, (c) a prerecorded Check-It-Out chlamydia hot line, (d) a staffed chlamydia Options information line, and (e) a free confidential urine ligase chain reaction (LCR) test for chlamydia. Mass mailings were scheduled at intervals, starting two-weeks before the beginning of the television advertisement. The 30-second television advertisement was aired on local television stations 130 times in a 6-week period. The outcome measures were quantity and characteristics of incoming calls to the automated hot line and staffed chlamydia information phone line in response to the chlamydia campaign, and response to the urine screening program. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were used to evaluate the outcomes. RESULTS: The hot line was called 642 times during the monitoring period (November 1, 1999 to March 8, 2000), the majority (92%) during the 6 weeks of television advertisement, with an average of 99 calls per week, compared with an average of 9 calls per week after the commercial ended. Each bulk mailing was accompanied by a boost in the incoming hot line calls. The research staff triaged 133 calls to the "Options" phone line, 81% in the 6 weeks of the TV ad. The mean age of the 133 callers was 23.9 +/- 7.7 years (range 14-49 years). A majority called for screening information; 67% of callers were females and 84% of female callers were under age 26 years. Five percent of callers identified themselves as a parent of a teenager. The majority credited the TV ad as their source of the hot line number. Thirty-one individuals reported for a confidential chlamydia screening, 27 of 31 (87%) during the 6 weeks of TV advertising. No negative responses regarding the chlamydia campaign were encountered. CONCLUSION: This report describes strategies used to implement and measure the effectiveness of a mass media campaign and demonstrates evidence that mass media is effective in delivering STD intervention messages to young people.

Douching behavior in high-risk adolescents. What do they use, when and why do they douche?

OBJECTIVES: To describe feminine hygiene practices and douching behavior in adolescent women. DESIGN: A cross-sectional anonymous survey. SUBJECTS: Adolescents (majority rural) admitted to a correctional institution for girls. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Description of feminine hygiene practices, prevalence of vaginal douching, types of substances used, reported reasons for, and timing of douching. RESULTS: In a period of 16 weeks, 104 girls were surveyed within a week of admission. The mean age was 15.4 (SD 1.5; range 12-18) yr, and age at sexual debut 13.1 (SD 1.4) yr. Use of feminine hygiene products was reported by: 9% for feminine suppository, 33% towelettes, 40% spray, 67% feminine wash; only 18% reported no use of those feminine hygiene products listed. A history of ever having douched was reported by 79%; the mean first douching age was 14.0 (SD 1.3; range 11-16). Douching product users were significantly more likely to know someone who douches regularly (P <.0001) and have watched douche commercials (P =.0001) than those who did not douche. A majority used store-bought products, vinegar in water and scented solution being the most popular; baking soda, Betadine, Pine-sol, and Lysol were other products used. Commonly cited reasons for douching included to feel good and fresh (60%), and to rid of odor and of blood (47% each). Other reasons cited were to please partner (12%) and to avoid going to a doctor (6%). Timing of douching included: after period (69%), after sex (52%), before sex (16%), before going to a doctor (17%). Among those who douched, 51% douched once a month, and an additional 32% more often than that. CONCLUSION: This study provides troublesome findings regarding the feminine hygiene practices of mostly rural southern teenagers who have been incarcerated.