Health bulletin
-
One of the strategies identified by the NHS to achieve improvements in the health status of the Scottish population is to implement health promotion programmes through the general medical practitioner service. Grampian Local Health Council undertook a survey of Grampian residents to identify factors which might encourage greater public participation in such programmes. The results which are analysed and discussed in this paper show that factors identified by the public include: a preference for doctors to carry out health checks; the need for public education on the roles of different health professionals; the need for information on health checks and their benefits to be supplied in advance; a choice of appointment times and the offer of a follow-up appointment to discuss test results. These results are of interest to health professionals as they are likely to contribute to higher levels of patient involvement in health promotion programmes.
-
(1) To review the pattern of published world age-standardised registration rates for myeloma (ICD8 and ICD9 203) for the five Scottish regional cancer registries between 1973-77 and 1983-87. (2) To review the patterns of world age-standardised incidence and survival for myeloma in Grampian region over the time period 1960-89. ⋯ The increase in myeloma incidence may be due to a combination of improved ascertainment, especially in the elderly and a possible true increase in incidence in females, suggestive of increased exposure to an aetiological agent in the past. A formal year birth cohort analysis is required to confirm this finding. The overall prognosis for myeloma remains poor, especially for elderly patients and efforts to elucidate the aetiology must continue.