Social science & medicine
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Social science & medicine · Feb 1998
Analyses of use of tranquilizers and sleeping pills across five surveys of the same population (1985-1991): the relationship with gender, age and use of other substances.
The present study used analyses of data from five surveys of the same population over a 6-year period to examine the relationship of use of tranquilizers/sleeping pills with gender, age and use of other psychoactive substances. Part of the study involved identifying methodological issues in using surveys to study tranquilizer/sleeping pill use. Across surveys and within all age groups, females were more likely to use tranquilizers and/or sleeping pills than males, with an average ratio overall of a little higher than three to two (varying across surveys from 1.4 to 2.1; mode of 1.6). ⋯ The results pertaining to concurrent use of tranquilizers/sleeping pills and alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco, however, showed some trends, but findings were not consistent across all surveys. Further analyses suggested that this lack of consistent findings might be attributable to survey design issues, in particular, the extent that the format of the survey question tended to exclude nonmedical users. The implications of these results for future research on tranquilizer/sleeping pill use are discussed.
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Social science & medicine · Feb 1998
Medical students' attitudes regarding the use of life-sustaining treatments for themselves and for elderly persons.
This study investigated students' wishes regarding the use of life-sustaining treatments (LST) in different health conditions compared with their evaluations of the wishes of elderly people, and with reports of a group of elderly people about themselves. Data were collected from two consecutive classes of first year medical students (n = 101), and a random sample of Israeli elderly aged 70+ (n = 987) who responded to fixed-choice questions regarding their will to live and wishes for three kinds of LST in a number of hypothetical illness conditions. The students were also asked to assess elderly's wishes. ⋯ Fear of dying, the students' self-esteem and religiosity were the best predictors of their evaluations of the elderly's wishes. The results indicate that both the elderly and the students have a relatively strong will to live, but this desire is dependent on quality of life. The implications of this study for medical education are discussed.
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Social science & medicine · Jan 1998
The health effects of major organisational change and job insecurity.
Since August 1988 an increasing proportion of the executive functions of government in the United Kingdom have been devolved to executive agencies. Transfer to an executive agency involves a period of uncertainty during which the options of elimination or transfer to the private sector are considered, followed by a marked change in management style and further periods of uncertainty when the agency's function is reconsidered for transfer to the private sector. This paper examines the effects of this major organisational change and consequent job insecurity on the health status of a cohort of 7419 white-collar civil servants by comparing groups either exposed to or anticipating exposure to this stressor, with controls experiencing no change. ⋯ Compared with controls, women in both exposure groups reported small increases in most self-reported morbidity measures and most clinical measurements, accompanied by slight beneficial changes in some health-related behaviours and small adverse changes in others. Significant relative increases were seen in mean number of symptoms, and ischaemia among women anticipating exposure and in body mass index among those exposed to agency status. Policy makers should be aware of the wider consequences of job insecurity when considering the efficiency of changes in employment policy.
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Social science & medicine · Dec 1997
Wishes regarding the use of life-sustaining treatments among elderly persons in Israel: an explanatory model.
This study investigates the wishes of Israeli elderly concerning the use of life-sustaining treatments (LST) at the end of life, and suggests an explanatory causal model for these wishes. The data include 1138 Israeli elderly (70+) respondents. The results indicate that most of the elderly want to prolong their life in mild health conditions, including having cancer with a relatively good prognosis, while only a small percentage want LST in severe illness. ⋯ The results of this study shed some light on the explanatory factors of wishes for LST in severe illness conditions. More research is needed in order to promote social understanding of the concerns and wishes of the most relevant parties regarding the use of LST. This is a necessary condition for the formulation of new societal guidelines for general policy and daily behavior.
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Social science & medicine · Nov 1997
Health-related behaviours and psycho-social characteristics of 18 year-old Australians.
Psychosocial variables associated with health-related behaviours for diet, physical activity, alcohol consumption and smoking were examined in 18 year-old Australian men (n = 301) and women (n = 282). These psychosocial variables included Type A behaviour and depression, perceived self-efficacy for engaging in healthy behaviours and perceived barriers to performing these behaviours. Self-efficacy for following a healthy diet and moderating alcohol intake was greater in females but males had higher self-efficacy for physical activity. ⋯ Depressive affect was significantly higher in female smokers and "unsafe" drinkers and tended to have an inverse relationship with physical activity in men and women. Depressive affect was inversely related to self-efficacy in both men and women for each of the health behaviours examined. Health promotion in young adults should therefore attempt to increase self-efficacy and address perceived barriers to change, taking into account gender-related differences in attitudes and the influence of depression and Type A characteristics on health-related behaviours.