Life Sciences Commons^™

Sugar: Is There A Need For A Dietary Guideline?, P. G. Williams

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

There have been dietary guidelines in Australia since 1979 and all editions have included recommendations about sugar. This paper reviews changing recommendations in Australia, current levels of conumption, recent studies on the potential effects of nutrient dilution and dental caries, and discusses potential risks associated with a dietary guideline.

Believability Of Anti-Drug Advertising As A Function Of Marijuana Usage Experience, Sandra C. Jones, John R. Rossiter

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Marijuana use is on the increase in Australia, particularly among teenagers. Information dissemination is likely to become the main vehicle for minimizing the harms associated with marijuana use, so there is a clear need to develop informative and convincing communication strategies to target young (potential and incipient) marijuana users. However, the Federal Government’s “zero tolerance” approach to drug use is accompanied by anti-drug messages that may lack credibility with young people who already use, or have used, marijuana. Cognitive dissonance theory, as well as research with warning labels on other products such as cigarettes, suggests that young people who currently …

Regulation Of Alcohol Advertising In Australia: Case Study Of A Failure, Sandra C. Jones, R. J. Donovan

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The aim of this paper is to further the bridging of marketing theory and practice by disseminating to marketing practitioners the results of a recent study conducted for a public health audience. This paper has direct implications for the practice of ethical marketing and advertising of alcohol beverages in Australia. The study was designed to assess young people’s perceived messages in three ads for a vodka-based pre-mixed alcohol beverage, and to assess the extent to which the ads appeared to be consistent with the industry’s voluntary code. Two convenience samples of young people, one aged 15-16 years and another aged …

A Review Of The Consistency Of Pamphlets Promoting Mammographic Screening In Australia, Sandra C. Jones

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women in Australia and the most common cause of cancer death in Australian women. Early detection of breast cancers with mammography has the potential to dramatically reduce mortality rates. Thus, there is an obvious need for clear, accurate information about breast cancer screening to be disseminated to Australian women. A 1997 review of breast cancer screening pamphlets in Australia noted some inconsistencies in the nature and content of the information provided, and recommended that these be addressed. The current study, conducted in January 2001, examined whether consistency has improved since the …

Dealing With Diversity: Incorporating Cultural Sensitivity Into Professional Midwifery Practice, Moira Williamson, Lindsey Harrison

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In the Australian College of Midwives, Code of Ethics, Section 11. Practice of Midwifery, the following is stated "A. Midwives provide care for women and childbearing families with respect for cultural diversity while also working to eliminate harmful practices within those same cultures." However, it is difficult to know what is meant by "respect for cultural diversity". This paper presents the results of a critical review of the health literature. There is surprisingly little consensus about the meaning of terms such as cultural sensitivity and cultural appropriate care. Nor are there reflections on incorporating these concepts into practice. It could …

Physician Communication Skills: Results Of A Survey Of General/Family Practitioners In Newfoundland, F D. Ashbury, Donald C. Iverson, Boris Kralj

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Purpose: To describe the attitudes related to communication skills, confidence in using commnication skills, and use of communication skills during the physician-patient encounter among a population-based sample of family physicians. Procedures: A mailed survey, distributed to all family physicians and general practitioners currently practicing in Newfoundland. The questionnaire was designed to collect data in five general areas participant demographics, physician confidence in using specific communication strategies, perceived adequacy of time spent by physicians with their patients, physician use of specific communication strategies with the adult patients they saw in the prior week, and physician use of specific communication strategies during …

Effects Of Horizontal And Vertical Additive Disparity Noise On Stereoscopic Corrugation Detection, Stephen A. Palmisano, Robert S Allison, Ian Howard

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Stereoscopic corrugation detection in the presence of horizontal- and vertical- additive disparity noise was examined using a signal detection paradigm. Random-dot stereograms either represented a 3-D square-wave surface with various amounts of Gaussian-distributed additive disparity noise or had the same disparity values randomly redistributed. Stereoscopic detection of 2 arcmin peak amplitude corrugations was found to tolerate significantly greater amplitudes of vertical-disparity noise than horizontal-disparity noiseirrespective of whether the corrugations were horizontally or vertically oriented. However, this directional difference in tolerance to disparity noise was found to reverse when the corrugation and noise amplitudes were increased (so as to produce equivalent …

Implementation Of Malnutrition Screening And Assessment By Dietitians: Malnutrition Exists In Acute And Rehabilitation Settings, Eleanor Beck, Mandy Carrie, Kelly Lambert, Shellie Mason, Marianna Milosavljevic, Craig Patch

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The prevalence of malnutrition within hospital settings is a major concern to all health care workers. The recent development of a simple screening tool for use in such settings has increased the opportunity to identify at-risk patients in a reasonable time frame during their admission. This paper outlines the implementation of a routine nutrition screening and assessment, performed completely by dietitians, across both acute and rehabilitation settings. Dietitians were able to screen, on average, 72% of eligible patients, which ensured timely dietetic intervention. The routine malnutrition screening and assessment process highlighted differences (P < 0.01) in the rates of malnutrition between the acute wards (range 7 to 14%) and rehabilitation ward (49%). Significant differences between acute and rehabilitation patients were also found within the majority of individual diagnostic groups, including all surgery, fractures, cardiovascular incidents and respiratory illness (P < 0.01). The identification of rates of malnutrition between different wards, diagnoses and institutional settings provides dietetic managers with a sophisticated tool that can assist in the allocation of dietetic resources. This operational framework for routine screening of nutritionally at-risk patients in hospital, enables dietitians to develop patient outcomes and an effective nutrition care model.

Misattribution Of Sensory Input Reflected In Dysfunctional Target: Non-Target Erps In Schizophrenia, K. Brown, E. Gordon, L. Williams, H. Bahramali, A. Harris, J. Gray, C. J. Gonsalvez, R. Meares

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background. While numerous studies have found disturbances in the Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) of patients with schizophrenia linked to task relevant target stimuli (most notably a reduction in P300 amplitude), few have examined ERPs to task irrelevant non-targets. We hypothesize, from current models of dysfunction in information processing in schizophrenia, that there will be less difference between ERPs to targets and non-targets in patients with schizophrenia than in controls.

Methods. EEGs were recorded for 40 subjects with schizophrenia and 40 age and sex matched controls during an auditory oddball reaction time task. ERPs to the targets and non-targets immediately preceding the …

The Decline Of Ethics Or The Failure Of Self-Regulation? The Case Of Alcohol Advertising, Sandra C. Jones

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Restrictions on alcohol advertising have increasingly become an issue for debate around the world. Some countries rely on governmental regulation; whereas others, including Australia, utilise a system of industry selfregulation. This study calls into question the effectiveness of the alcohol beverage industry’s self-regulation of advertising. Between May 1998 and April 1999, 11 alcohol advertising complaints (relating to nine separate advertisements) were lodged with the Advertising Standards Board (ASB) by members of the general public. In the present study, five expert judges were selected to review these complaints, without knowing the ASB’s rulings, and to judge whether the advertisement(s) breached any …

Evaluation Of The Helping Hands Volunteer Program For People With Mental Illness, Judy A. Pickard, Frank P. Deane

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Volunteer programs have been used to alter attitudes, provide long-term knowledge towards mental illness and increase the quality of life of consumers receiving volunteer services. Sixteen volunteers completed an 18-hour training program and in pairs worked with 11 consumers over 4 months. Sixteen volunteers completed training measures of knowledge and attitudes scales. Pre and post program quality of life and behavioural functioning measures were taken on 5 consumers. Volunteers maintained their knowledge of mental illness over 6 months and had significant increases in their comfort in interactions with people who have mental illness. Case managers, consumers and volunteers all reported …

Global-Perspective Jitter Improves Vection In Central Vision, Stephen A. Palmisano, Barbara Gillam, Shane Blackburn

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Previous vection research has tended to minimise visual - vestibular conflict by using optic-flow patterns which simulate self-motions of constant velocity. Here, experiments are reported on the effect of adding 'global-perspective jitter' to these displays -- simulating forward motion of the observer on a platform oscillating in horizontal and/or vertical dimensions. Unlike non-jittering displays, jittering displays produced a situation of sustained visual - vestibular conflict. Contrary to the prevailing notion that visual - vestibular conflict impairs vection, jittering optic flow was found to produce shorter vection onsets and longer vection durations than non-jittering optic flow for all of jitter magnitudes …

Use Of Self-Report To Monitor Overweight And Obesity In Populations: Some Issues For Consideration, Victoria M. Flood, Karen Webb, Ross Lazarus, Glen Pang

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: To examine the validity of self reported height and weight data reported over the telephone in the 1997 NSW Health Survey, and to determine its accuracy to monitor overweight and obesity in population surveys. Method: Self-reported and measured heights and weights were collected from 227 people living in Western Sydney, who had participated in the NSW Health Survey 1997. Results: Self-reported (SR) weights and heights led to misclassification of relative weight status. BMI, based on measured weights and heights, classified 62% of males and 47% of females as overweight or obese, compared with 39% and 32%, respectively, from self-report. …

Diet Composition And Insulin Action In Animal Models, Leonard H. Storlien, J Higgins, T C. Thomas, Marc A. Brown, Hong-Qin Wang, Xu-Feng Huang, Paul Else

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

No abstract provided.

Book Review: The Nation's Diet: The Social Science Of Food Choice, Linda C. Tapsell

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

No abstract provided.

Community Perceptions Of Reasons For Preference For Consanguineous Marriages In Pakistan, R. Hussain

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Although the recent Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) show that two-thirds of marriages in Pakistan are consanguineous, the sociocultural determinants of such marriages remain largely unexplored. This paper examines the relative importance of the three commonly perceived reasons for such marriages: religious, economic and cultural. The analysis is based on qualitative data collected in 1995 from multi-ethnic and multireligious communities in Karachi, the largest city of Pakistan. Results show that consanguineous marriages are preferred across all ethnic and religious groups to a varying degree, and that parents continue to be the prime decision-makers for marriages of both sons and …

Consanguineous Marriage And Differentials In Age At Marriage, Contraceptive Use And Fertility In Pakistan, R. Hussain, A. H. Bittles

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Fertility rates in Pakistan have remained consistently high over the past three decades. While numerous studies have examined sociodemographic determinants, the role of biological factors, and particularly consanguinity, has received little attention, even though marriage between close biological relatives continues to be the norm in Pakistan. Reproductive behaviour among women in consanguineous (first cousin) and non-consanguineous unions was compared, using data from a 1995 study of multi-ethnic communities in Karachi and the 1990–91 Pakistan Demographic & Health Survey (PDHS). The results show that, although female age at first marriage has been gradually rising in both study samples, women in consanguineous …

Stimulus Eccentricity And Spatial Frequency Interact To Determine Circular Vection, Stephen A. Palmisano, Barbara Gillam

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

While early research suggested that peripheral vision dominates the perception of selfmotion, subsequent studies found little or no effect of stimulus eccentricity. In contradiction to these broad notions of 'peripheral dominance' and 'eccentricity independence', the present experiments showed that the spatial frequency of optic flow interacts with its eccentricity to determine circular vection magnitude—central stimulation producing the most compelling vection for high-spatial-frequency stimuli and peripheral stimulation producing the most compelling vection for lower-spatial-frequency stimuli. This interaction appeared to be due, in part at least, to the effect that the higher-spatial-frequency moving pattern had on subjects' ability to organise optic flow …

Practising Nursing Therapeutically Through Acting As A Skilled Companion On The Illness Journey, Alan Pearson, Sally Borbasi, Ken Walsh

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This article explores nursing's heritage as a healing, therapeutic activity. It examines the central characteristics of nursing as skilled companionship and links them with the foundational core of nursing-a therapeutic relationship based on an understanding of the illness experience. In addition, it discusses the role of literature and performance in developing knowledge to advance nursing as a therapeutic activity.

A Study Of Headache In North American Primary Care: Report For The Ambulatory Sentinel Practice Network, L A. Becker, Donald C. Iverson, F M. Read, N Calogne, R S. Miller, W L. Freeman

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Headache is a common symptom in primary care about which surprisingly little is known. Over a 14-month period 3847 patients making 4940 consecutive visits for headache to 38 primary care practices in the USA and Canada were studied. The clinical characteristics of patients, as well as the diagnostic and therapeutic strategies employed by their doctors, were examined. Visits for headache represented 1.5% of all visits during this period. Most patients (72.0%) made only one visit, and nearly half of the headaches reported were new. Only a small number of patients (3.0%) received a computerized tomographic scan; other investigations were used …