Ann Acad Med Singap
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Ann Acad Med Singap · Mar 2007
Violence-related behaviours among Malaysian adolescents: a cross sectional survey among secondary school students in Negeri Sembilan.
The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of violence-related behaviours among adolescents and the factors associated with it. ⋯ Violence-related behaviours among adolescents, especially involvement in physical fights, are common and are positively associated with certain factors such as smoking, taking drugs, playing truant, feeling sad or hopeless. Interventions designed at targeting adolescent violence should also address these factors and target the high-risk groups. There may be a need to identify and provide services for adolescents who exhibit these factors.
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Ann Acad Med Singap · Feb 2007
Patient satisfaction with rheumatology practitioner clinics: can we achieve concordance by meeting patients' information needs and encouraging participatory decision making?
The objective of this study was to determine if patient information needs are being met and the level of patient satisfaction with rheumatology practitioners in participatory decision-making and thereby indirectly explore whether concordance was achieved. ⋯ The majority of patients were satisfied that their information needs were met and with the care provided in the practitioner clinic. Participatory decision-making was sub-optimal despite patient satisfaction with the amount of time allocated to meeting their information needs. We found that patients exercise autonomy in managing their arthritis by regulating their medications through an active decision-making process, which is informed by their previous experience of medication, and how well controlled they felt their arthritis was. Research into this decision-making process may hold the key to achieving concordance.
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Ann Acad Med Singap · Jan 2007
Results from a prospective acute inpatient rehabilitation database: clinical characteristics and functional outcomes using the Functional Independence Measure.
Rehabilitation improves functional outcomes, but there is little data on the profiles and outcomes of patients undergoing inpatient rehabilitation in Singapore. The aims of this paper were to document the clinical characteristics and functional outcomes, using the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), of all patients admitted to an inpatient rehabilitation unit in a tertiary teaching hospital, and to identify and analyse factors significantly associated with better discharge functional scores and higher functional gains. ⋯ The FIM is an easy-to-use, standardised and robust general measure of functional disability. Multiple demographic, clinical and socio-cultural variables are associated with the primary functional outcomes and should be taken into account in rehabilitation and discharge planning. Nevertheless, rehabilitation improves functional outcomes across a wide range of diagnoses. Further research should be aimed at evaluating long-term disability postdischarge from inpatient rehabilitation and translating these findings into improving rehabilitation and healthcare resource utilisation.
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Ann Acad Med Singap · Jan 2007
Employment status six months after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation for a mild-to-moderate physical disability.
Physical disability presents unique challenges to the individual, family and community. One of these challenges is returning the individual to work. The current study looks at individuals with a mild-to-moderate physical disability 6 months post-discharge from inpatient rehabilitation and their employment status and perceived barriers to returning to work. ⋯ In this small prospective study, males were more likely not to return to work than females. Those of slightly younger age with more advanced education were more likely to return to work and fear of worsening of physical disability was the most common reason cited for not returning to work after a mild-to-moderate physical disability.