摘要:

SummaryThis paper reports a study of the pattern of utilization of private psychiatric services by health insured persons who are members of a single large fund. The data show an increase in the average number of services per person consulting a psychiatrist with little change in the number of persons. There is a strong relation between private psychiatric contact rates and the socio‐economic index of the LGA of patient residence. Contributor units containing a medical practitioner are examined as an example of the utilization pattern of a socially elite group. The financial and administrative significance of the findings is discussed.Very little information is available in Australia concerning the relationship between the demand for health services and the socioeconomic characteristics of the clients or potential clients of the health services. Since Australian governments have shown a substantial reliance on voluntary health insurance as a mechanism for financing health care, this lack of information is surprising. Studies in the United States of America and England suggest that the upper socio‐economic classes receive more medical services than the lower, although these conclusions are not clear cut. It becomes a useful apriorihypothesis that a relationship between socio‐economic status and the demand for medical services exists in Australia, even within a health insured population.In this paper we examine the utilization of private psychiatric services by persons who were members of a single large health insurance fund in New South Wales. Claim history and membership demographic data were obtained from the health fund computer record system for the years 1977, 1978 and the period January to June, 1979. Since this fund covers about onethird of all persons with private health insurance in that state, we believe that the study may rellect the relationships for health insured populations in Australia generally. Private psychiatric services have been examined, not only because the itemization of psychiatric services is simple and data analysis is easy, but also because there is ample anecdotal evidence that the demand for psychiatric services is determined partly by client status and education. This should help establish the existence or otherwise of some socioeconomic gradient with respect to the demand for ser

ISSN:0314-9021    

DOI:10.1111/j.1753-6405.1982.tb00357.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1982

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0314-9021    

DOI:10.1111/j.1753-6405.1982.tb00358.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1982

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractA number of companies have introduced systems of automated medical surveillance in the past few years. The computer blocks of information which they store can be used to carry out prospective concurrent epidemiological monitoring or to perform case control studies where a hazard is suspected. This paper reviews the various systems in operation, distils from them the principles of a sound system and discusses recent developments in Australia.

ISSN:0314-9021    

DOI:10.1111/j.1753-6405.1982.tb00359.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1982

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractSwedish studies have indicated that persons exposed to chlorophenols and phenoxyherbicide sprays, including 2,4,5‐T, may be at increased risk of developing soft tissue sarcoma (STS). In addition, several cases of STS have been reported among industrial workers manufacturing 2,4,5‐T and related compounds. This paper reports initial findings from a case‐control study of 102 male STS patients appearing on the New Zealand Cancer Registry between 1976 and 1980, with 306 controls chosen from patients with other forms of cancer and matched by age and year of registration. Occupation as reported at the time of cancer registration was compared between the two groups. No excess appeared for the occupational group involving agriculture and forestry in spite of the fact that phenoxyherbicides have been used extensively for many years in New Zealand in agriculture and forestry. While a more definitive conclusion concerning the relationship between chemical exposures and STS must await analysis of patient interviews, the findings so far suggest that even if phenoxyherbicides and chlorophenols cause STS, only a small proportion of cases could be attributed to such chemicals in New Ze

ISSN:0314-9021    

DOI:10.1111/j.1753-6405.1982.tb00360.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1982

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractQueensland mortality shows a seasonal, age‐dependent variation in cardio‐vascular and respiratory diseases, although not in malignant neoplasms. The hypotheses previously put forward to explain the winter increases in respiratory disease and cardiovascular disease are discussed and a new hypothesis is considered, that the winter rise in cardiovascular disease is due to decreased exposure to ultraviolet radiation. It is concluded that the relative importance of the factors which may be causing the seasonal variations in disease, will have to be determined by analytical studies of individu

ISSN:0314-9021    

DOI:10.1111/j.1753-6405.1982.tb00361.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1982

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

SummaryA cross‐sectional survey of female office workers in South Australia was initiated to compare the general health experiences of visual display unit (VDU) operators with those of other keyboard workers. Additionally, a matched casecontrol study, generated from the cross‐sectional survey, examined claims of a relationship between VDU exposure and spontaneous abortions.Although poor sleep and nervousness appeared to be significantly associated with the use of VDUs there appeared to be no relationship with nervousness after controlling for other measured risk factors such as age and employer. VDU use was the only statistically significant predictor variable for dizziness and poor sleep, although the statistical significance was marginal. Results of the case‐control analysis, provided little evidence that the operation of VDUs during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of spontaneous abo

ISSN:0314-9021    

DOI:10.1111/j.1753-6405.1982.tb00362.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1982

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0314-9021    

DOI:10.1111/j.1753-6405.1982.tb00363.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1982

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThe bulk of work in medical sociology … has focused a microscope onto the trivia of medical life and has tried to convince itself that what it finds there is something important. But such work has made little attempt to relate its findings to the rest of the sociological enterprise. In a word it has beenmedicocentric gainingits philosophies and values and sometimes even its method from the system it purports to stud

ISSN:0314-9021    

DOI:10.1111/j.1753-6405.1982.tb00364.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1982

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0314-9021    

DOI:10.1111/j.1753-6405.1982.tb00365.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1982

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0314-9021    

DOI:10.1111/j.1753-6405.1982.tb00366.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1982

数据来源: WILEY