Journal of public health medicine
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J Public Health Med · Dec 2001
Comparative StudyRetirement intentions of doctors who qualified in the United Kingdom in 1974: postal questionnaire survey.
Medical workforce planning needs to be informed by knowledge about doctors' retirement intentions. Systematic information about retirement intentions, and factors that influence them, is sparse. ⋯ The impact of early retirement on medical workforce supply may be considerable. Approaches to retirement policy need to shift away from the extremes of either full-time employment or total retirement.
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J Public Health Med · Dec 2001
A birth cohort analysis of smoking by adults in Great Britain 1974-1998.
The aim of the study was to determine for Great Britain the percentage of current smokers and ever smokers by age in successive birth cohorts and the percentage of ever smokers who continue, by analysis of data from serial cross-sectional surveys of smoking status (General Household Survey). ⋯ In all birth cohorts, male and female, after age 25 years the percentage of current smokers falls with age. In the earliest birth cohort for males (1897-1901) about 85 per cent were ever smokers (i.e. had smoked at some time). After the 1922-1926 cohort this started to fall, to reach the level of about 50 per cent in the 1962-1966 cohort. In females only 25 per cent of the earliest cohort ever smoked but this rose, reaching about 65 per cent in the 1922-1926 cohort before falling back to about 50 per cent in the 1962-1966 cohort. The age at which smokers quit appears to be falling in successive cohorts. Once they have started quitting the rate at which smokers do so is very similar in all cohorts, with about 1 per cent of ever smokers quitting each year. If these trends are continued the UK smoking prevalence targets will not be met.
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J Public Health Med · Dec 2001
Women who are recalled for further investigation for breast screening: psychological consequences 3 years after recall and factors affecting re-attendance.
In 1995-1996 a study was commenced investigating the experience of 'false-positive' women, i.e. who had undergone further investigations following routine breast screening and received a clear final result. These women were found to experience significantly greater adverse psychological consequences at 1 month, 5 months and 11 months after assessment compared with women who received a clear result after the initial basic mammogram. The present study follows up these 'false-positive' women 3 years later (at 35 months) just before being invited for their next routine breast screening. It investigates the effect of the previous experience of breast screening on adverse psychological consequences reported by false-positive women at this time, and explores factors that may be associated with the current adverse psychological consequences. Factors influencing attendance for the forthcoming appointment are reported, and the non-attendance rate is monitored. ⋯ Despite having received a final clear result during their previous routine breast screening 3 years ago, women who had undergone FNA, surgical biopsy or been placed on early recall suffered significantly greater adverse psychological consequences at 1 month before their next routine breast screening appointment than women who had received a clear result after their initial mammogram at their last routine breast screening. Having undergone further investigations did not necessarily motivate women to attend for their next routine appointment, with 15 per cent of these women not returning for routine screening 3 years on.