If we want more evidence-based practice, we need more practice-based evidence.*
|
If we want more evidence-based practice, we need more practice-based evidence.* |
|
|
If we want more evidence-based practice, we need more practice-based evidence.* |
CHAPTER 3:
EPIDEMIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT- Archived Headlines
HEADLINES
U.S. White House seeks more AIDS funding. WASHINGTON (AP, July 19, 1999) – U.S. Vice President Al Gore outlined a $100 million initiative Monday to fight AIDS, particularly in Africa, where a new study shows the virus has spread into one of the largest health crises in history. Together with AIDS activists and South African Nobelist Desmond Tutu, Gore announced that the Clinton administration seeks its largest-ever budget increase in the global battle against the AIDS virus. "AIDS in Africa is the worst infectious disease catastrophe in the history of modern medicine…We hope this initiative will…provide much-needed relief [and] inspire decisive action by other countries and institutions," Gore said. Cholera outbreaks in African countries. United Nations Reports, June 1999:Census Bureau says median age is 35. WASHINGTON (AP, June 15, 1999) – The median age of Americans in 1998 reached a record high of 35.2 years, according to population estimates released Monday by the US Census Bureau. For the Census Bureau report, go to: http://www.census.gov.
Deaths: 1997 - Statistics Canada. The life expectancy
of both men and women reached record highs in 1997 as a result of declines in mortality
rates for most of the leading causes of death. While women born in 1997 could still expect
to live longer than men, the gap between the two is closing. In 1997, life expectancy at
birth, a key indicator of a population's health status, reached 75.8 years for men and
81.4 years for women, a gain of 0.3 and 0.1 years respectively over 1996. The gap in life
expectancy at birth between the sexes has been narrowing in the last two decades, from a
peak of 7.5 years in 1978 to 5.6 years in 1997....
The majority of deaths in 1997 were due to some form of cancer or heart
disease, each of which accounted for about 27% of the total. Cancer killed 58,703 people
in 1997, and heart diseases 57,417. An additional 16% of deaths were attributed to
cerebrovascular diseases (mainly stroke), chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases
(including emphysema, chronic bronchitis and asthma) and unintentional injuries combined.
Lung, colorectal, breast and prostate malignancies accounted for 51% of all cancer deaths,
and acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) represented 38% of mortality due to heart
diseases... http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/990513/d990513a.htm
Arthritis a risk for exercisers. WASHINGTON (AP, March 29, 1999) - High-impact aerobics is out for Lori O'Koon. She suspects that was probably what got her into trouble in the first place. O'Koon damaged cartilage in an ankle, and believes she is on the road to osteoarthritis. "When you damage the cartilage that protects the bone, that's when the process begins," said O'Koon, a 34-year-old surgical equipment saleswoman in Phoenix. Surgery to clean out the joint helped but hasn't cured the problem, she said. O'Koon is part of a growing group whose good deed, working out, has not gone unpunished. The results were joint injuries - mostly in the knee or hip -especially ones that needed surgical repair. See article by David Felson et al. in American Journal of Medicine, Feb. 1999.
Study on child abuse and neglect issues first newsletter
(17 December 1998) The Canadian Incidence Study on Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS),
a joint project involving Health Canada, provincial child welfare authorities and
university-based researchers, is designed to provide reliable estimates
of the scope and characteristics of reported child abuse and neglect across Canada. In its
initial newsletter, CIS reports that the study "has progressed well beyond
expectations". For more information, visit http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpb/lcdc/brch/maltreat/cisnews/1098_e.html
Asthma rates in school children high (10 December 1998) One in eight
school-age children suffers from asthma, according to results of a survey of nine health
units districts released today by Health Canada's Laboratory Centre for Disease Control
and Sentinel Health Units. Surprisingly, many students and parents reported that they had
not taken the usually recommended preventive actions such as removing wall-to-wall
carpeting and pets, and reducing the amount of exposure to tobacco smoke. The
results of the study provide a wealth of information on the various aspects of asthma that
will be useful for the planning, implementation and evaluation of effective asthma control
programs. For more information, visit http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/archives/releases/98_100e.htm
Chlamydia Is Number One STD Fox News Online (12/09/98) According to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Chlamydia is the most common sexually
transmitted disease in the United States. As many as three-fourths of infected
people may be asymptomatic for the disease, which can cause pelvic inflammatory infection
and infertility if untreated. However, CDC official Dr. Judith Wasserheit noted that
"there has been a rapid, reproducible decline in incidence" in areas that have
prevention efforts. She said that widespread screening for Chlamydia is central to
controlling the disease because so many infected people do not present symptoms. Lack of
education may be partly responsible for the spread of chlamydia and other STDs; one CDC
study found that among 500 teens attending health clinics in the southeastern part of the
country, 57 percent believed that birth control pills protect against STDs, 67 percent
believed that douching has a protective effect, and 84 percent felt that
having only one partner would protect against STDs. Over one-third of the girls in
the study had been infected with Chlamydia, and half had been infected with at least one
STD.
CDC ISSUES NATIONAL REPORT CARD ON STDS (Dec. 8, 1998). According to new data released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at the 1998 National STD Prevention Conference, syphilis and gonorrhea have reached all-time lows in the U.S. overall, but a number of cities in the South and Northeast continue to battle high rates of both diseases. In 1997, the cities with the highest rates of syphilis and gonorrhea are (in alphabetical order) Atlanta, Baltimore, Birmingham, Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, Milwaukee, Nashville, Newark, New Orleans, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Richmond, St. Louis, and Washington, DC. Although syphilis and gonorrhea are now primarily isolated geographically, other diseases such as Chlamydia, herpes, and human papillomauvirus (HPV) remain extremely widespread, according to Helene Gayle, MD, MPH, Director of CDC's National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention. CDC Director Jeffrey Koplan, MD, MPH, will be announcing that a key priority of his agency will be to improve national STD prevention and treatment efforts overall and, specifically, to eliminate syphilis in the U.S.