Olga Anikeeva

Requiring influenza vaccination for health care workers.

Annual influenza vaccination for health care workers has the potential to benefit health care professionals, their patients, and their families by reducing the transmission of influenza in the health care setting. Furthermore, staff vaccination programs are cost-effective for health care institutions because of reduced staff illness and absenteeism. Despite international recommendations and strong ethical arguments for annual influenza immunization for health care professionals, staff utilization of vaccination remains low. We have analyzed the ethical implications of a variety of efforts to increase vaccination rates, including mandatory influenza vaccination. A program of incentives and sanctions may increase health care worker compliance with fewer ethical impediments than mandatory vaccination.

Review Paper: The Health Status of Migrants in Australia: A Review:

This review summarizes the findings of studies conducted in Australia between 1980 and 2008 that focused on the health status of migrants in one or more of Australia’s National Health Priority Areas (NHPAs), identifies gaps in knowledge, and suggests further research directions. Systematic literature searches were performed on CINAHL, MediText, PsycINFO, and MEDLINE. It was found that the majority of migrants enjoy better health than the Australian-born population in the conditions that are part of the NHPAs, with the exception of diabetes. Mediterranean migrants have particularly favorable health outcomes. The migrant health advantage appears to deteriorate with increasing duration of residence. Many of the analyzed studies were conducted more than 10 years ago or had a narrow focus. Little is known about the health status of migrants with respect to a number of NHPAs, including musculoskeletal conditions and asthma.The health status of recently arrived migrant groups from the Middle East and Africa has not been explored in detail.

Trends in cancer mortality rates among migrants in Australia: 1981–2007

BACKGROUND Previous studies have shown that migrants have lower cancer mortality rates compared to the Australian-born population, particularly for colorectal and breast cancers, which are associated with an affluent lifestyle. This study seeks to update knowledge in this field by examining mortality from colorectal, stomach, lung, melanoma, breast and bladder cancers, as well as all cancers combined between 1981 and 2007. METHODS Data were obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Average annual age and sex-standardised mortality rates were calculated for each region of birth, period of death registration and cancer site. RESULTS Generally, mortality rates declined over the study period for most conditions for the majority of migrant groups. Notable exceptions included migrants from South Eastern Europe and Eastern Europe who experienced a significant increase in mortality due to all cancers combined and Australian-born individuals who recorded a significant increase in mortality due to melanoma of the skin. Migrants generally had more favourable cancer mortality outcomes, particularly for colorectal cancer and melanoma. Migrants from Southern Europe, South Eastern Europe, Chinese Asia and Southern Asia had the greatest advantage. However, migrants displayed higher rates of stomach, lung and bladder cancers than the Australian-born population. CONCLUSION The migrant advantage can in part be explained by the protective effects of diet, lifestyle and reproductive behaviours. Possible explanations for why some migrants display greater mortality from stomach and bladder cancer include the consumption of abrasive, salted and preserved foods and higher rates of smoking. Greater emphasis should be placed on targeting at-risk migrant groups through screening and education programs at migrant resource centres and community groups. The study calls for further research to explain the observed trends, which has the potential to uncover important risk and protective factors.

Dental visiting by insurance and oral health impact

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to explore whether oral health has an influence on the association between dental insurance and dental visiting. METHODS A random sample of adults aged 30-61 years living in Australia was drawn from the Australian Electoral Roll. Data were collected by mailed survey in 2009-2010, including age, gender, household income, dental insurance status, dental visiting and oral health impact. RESULTS Responses were collected from n = 1096 persons (response rate = 39.1%). Dental insurance was positively associated with visiting a dentist in the last 12 months (prevalence ratio (PR) = 1.48; 95% CI: 1.31-1.67), while oral health impact was not associated with recent visiting PR = 1.01; 95% CI: 0.89-1.14). Visiting for the purpose of pain relief was less prevalent among insured participants (PR = 0.60; 95% CI: 0.44-0.81), but more prevalent among those with poor oral health (PR = 2.85; 95% CI: 2.15-3.76). It was found that oral health impact did not alter the relationship between dental insurance and visiting. CONCLUSIONS Oral health impacts were not associated with recent dental visits, but were associated with visits for pain relief. Dental insurance was associated with a greater likelihood of recent visits and lower levels of relief of pain visits.

Trends in migrant mortality rates in Australia 1981–2007: a focus on the National Health Priority Areas other than cancer

Introduction. Migrants generally have more favourable mortality outcomes than the Australian-born population. The aim of this study is to update knowledge and inform future research in this field by examining mortality from musculoskeletal conditions, asthma, cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, injuries and mental conditions between 1981 and 2007 among migrants in Australia. Methods. Average annual sex- and age-standardised mortality rates were calculated for each migrant group, period of death registration and cause of death. Results and Conclusions. Mortality rates decreased among most groups for asthma, cardiovascular disease and motor vehicle accidents, with rates diverging in the later time periods. The reverse was true for mental disorders, where Australian-born individuals experienced the greatest increase in mortality. Migrants generally displayed more favourable mortality outcomes than their Australian-born counterparts. Migrants from Southern Europe appeared to have the greatest advantage. However, some migrants appeared to be over-represented in the areas of diabetes, suicide and mental health.

Self-rated dental health and dental insurance: modification by household income.

BackgroundPrevious studies have reported that socioeconomically disadvantaged Australians have poorer self-rated dental health (SRDH), are less likely to be insured for dental services and are less likely to have regular dental visits than their more advantaged counterparts. However, less is known about the associations between dental insurance and SRDH. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between SRDH and dental insurance status and to test if the relationship was modified by household income.MethodsA random sample of 3,000 adults aged 30–61 years was drawn from the Australian Electoral Roll and mailed a self-complete questionnaire. Analysis included dentate participants. Bivariate associations were assessed between SRDH and insurance stratified by household income group. A multiple variable model adjusting for covariates estimated prevalence ratios (PR) of having good to excellent SRDH and included an interaction term for insurance and household income group.ResultsThe response rate was 39.1% (n = 1,093). More than half (53.9%) of the participants were insured and 72.5% had good to excellent SRDH. SRDH was associated with age group, brushing frequency, insurance status and income group. Amongst participants in the

Emergency nurses’ knowledge and experience with the triage process in Hunan Province, China

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Social media in primary health care: Opportunities to enhance education, communication and collaboration among professionals in rural and remote locations: Did you know? Practical practice pointers

80,000 income group, the insured had a higher proportion reporting good to excellent SRDH (80.8%) than the uninsured (66.5%); however, there was little difference in SRDH by insurance status for those in the

Potentially avoidable hospitalisations in Australia: causes for hospitalisations and primary health care interventions

120,000+ income group. After adjusting for covariates, there was a significant interaction (p < 0.05) between having insurance and income; there was an association between insurance and SRDH for adults in the

How will Australian general practitioners respond to an influenza pandemic? A qualitative study of ethical values.

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