Subject(s)
Disease Notification/legislation & jurisprudence , Mandatory Reporting , Physicians/legislation & jurisprudence , Adult , Aged , Child , Female , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Male , Middle Aged , New Jersey , Pregnancy , Time FactorsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To assess length of stay, home visits, and mothers' feelings after full implementation of a law requiring a 48-hour minimum stay for women with normal vaginal deliveries. METHODS: The New Jersey Electronic Birth Certificate System (EBC) was used to capture demographic characteristics, and length of stay (LOS), and to select a sample of women with low risk uncomplicated vaginal deliveries. A follow-up mail survey (with a nonresponder phone component) enhanced the information available on the EBC. RESULTS: The response rate for women included in the sample was 82.1% (1276/1555). The mean length of stay was 1.9 days. Sixty-two percent (787) of women thought their LOS after delivery was just right. Women who thought their stays were too short tended to be older, married, working outside the home, or have an LOS of less than 48 hours. The most common reasons for thinking the LOS was too short was a need for rest and concern about the baby. DISCUSSION: The combination of an augmented electronic birth certificate system and a follow-up survey proved to be a rapid, reliable, and inexpensive method of assessment. The mothers' desires for rest, education on the care of her newborn, and reassurance that any medical complications could be handled, are paramount concerns that need to be taken into account by payers and practitioners wanting to decrease LOS.
Subject(s)
Hospital-Patient Relations , Length of Stay/statistics & numerical data , Mothers/psychology , Patient Satisfaction/statistics & numerical data , Postnatal Care/standards , Adolescent , Adult , Birth Certificates , Electronic Data Processing , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Health Care Surveys , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Length of Stay/legislation & jurisprudence , Middle Aged , Mothers/statistics & numerical data , New Jersey , Research DesignABSTRACT
Forty million persons in the nation aged 15 to 54 years experience a mental disorder. Despite widespread prevalence, an enormous burden of disability, and the staggering cost to society, the mentally ill remain segregated from traditional medicine and largely overlooked by public health. Now is the time for change.
Subject(s)
Mental Disorders , Public Health , Costs and Cost Analysis , Humans , Mental Disorders/diagnosis , Mental Disorders/economics , United StatesSubject(s)
HIV Infections/prevention & control , Health Personnel , Occupational Diseases/prevention & control , Occupational Exposure , Practice Guidelines as Topic , Anti-HIV Agents/adverse effects , Anti-HIV Agents/therapeutic use , Chemoprevention , Drug Monitoring , Follow-Up Studies , HIV Antibodies/analysis , HIV Infections/transmission , HIV Seropositivity , Humans , Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional/prevention & control , Risk Factors , Viral Load , Zidovudine/adverse effects , Zidovudine/therapeutic useABSTRACT
The Public Health Service recently updated its recommendations for chemoprophylaxis after exposure to HIV. These recommendations correlate the use of antiretroviral agents with the risk of infection, which is determined by evaluating the exposure and the potential for transmission from the source patient.
Subject(s)
Antiviral Agents/administration & dosage , HIV Infections/drug therapy , HIV Infections/prevention & control , Health Personnel/standards , Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional/prevention & control , Occupational Exposure , Premedication , Zidovudine/administration & dosage , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. , Humans , Risk Factors , Safety , United States , WorkplaceSubject(s)
Preventive Medicine , Public Health , Humans , Preventive Medicine/education , United StatesABSTRACT
The emergence of variant strains of HIV has triggered the need for active local, national, and global surveillance. Some new strains identified in the US cannot be detected reliably with current test kits--a problem with important implications for blood safety and for diagnosis and prevention of AIDS.
