WorldWideScience

Sample records for telephones

  1. Telephone Exchange Maintenance

    CERN Multimedia

    2005-01-01

    Urgent maintenance work on CERN telephone exchanges will be performed on 24 March from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. Telephone services may be disrupted or even interrupted during this time. For more details, please contact us by email at Standard.Telephone@cern.ch.

  2. Total Telephone Tips.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corder, Lloyd E.; And Others

    This manual of telephone behavior tips for business and sales professionals offers ways to handle the disgruntled caller and makes suggestions on topics relevant to the telephone. The manual is divided into the following sections and subsections: (1) Common Courtesy (staff tips, answering the telephone, screening calls, transferring calls, taking…

  3. Telephone Service

    CERN Multimedia

    2005-01-01

    As part of the upgrade of telephone services, the CERN exchange switches will be updated on Thursday 2 June between 7.00 p.m. and midnight. Telephone services may be affected and possibly even disrupted during this operation. 

  4. Telephoning in English

    CERN Document Server

    Naterop, B Jean

    1994-01-01

    Many people have to use English on the telephone in the course of their work, either at the level of taking a simple message or involving more complex tasks such as requesting information. Telephoning in English provides an up-to-date and relevant context in which students from lower-intermediate level upwards can develop practical telephone skills. The course principally develops spoken interactive skills, but also includes reading material on telephone systems and techniques. As the material is not restricted to particular job functions, it is suitable for students in a wide range of business and administration fields.

  5. Role of telephone triage in obstetrics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manning, Nirvana Afsordeh; Magann, Everett F; Rhoads, Sarah J; Ivey, Tesa L; Williams, Donna J

    2012-12-01

    The telephone has become an indispensable method of communication in the practice of obstetrics. The telephone is one of the primary methods by which the patient makes her appointments and contacts her health care provider for advice, reassurance, and referrals. Current methods of telephone triage include personal at the physicians' office, telephone answering services, labor and delivery nurses, and a dedicated telephone triage system using algorithms. Limitations of telephone triage include the inability of the provider to see the patient and receive visual clues from the interaction and the challenges of obtaining a complete history over the telephone. In addition, there are potential safety and legal issues with telephone triage. To date, there is insufficient evidence to either validate or refute the use of a dedicated telephone triage system compared with a traditional system using an answering service or nurses on labor and delivery. Obstetricians and gynecologists, family physicians. After completing this CME activity, physicians should be better able to analyze the scope of variation in telephone triage across health care providers and categorize the components that go into a successful triage system, assess the current scope of research in telephone triage in obstetrics, evaluate potential safety and legal issues with telephone triage in obstetrics, and identify issues that should be addressed in any institution that is using or implementing a system of telephone triage in obstetrics.

  6. Psychotherapeutic intervention by telephone

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erika Mozer

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available Erika Mozer1,2, Bethany Franklin1,3, Jon Rose11Department of Veterans Affairs, Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA, USA; 2PGSP Stanford PsyD Consortium Palo Alto, CA, USA; 3Pacific Graduate School of Psychology Palo Alto, California, USAAbstract: Psychotherapy conducted over the telephone has received increasing amounts of empirical attention given practical advantages that side-step treatment barriers encountered in traditional office-based care. The utility and efficacy of telephone therapy appears generalizable across diverse clinical populations seeking care in community-based hospital settings. Treatment barriers common to older adults suggest that telephone therapy may be an efficient and effective mental health resource for this population. This paper describes empirical studies of telehealth interventions and case examples with psychotherapy conducted via telephone on the Spinal Cord Injury Unit of the Palo Alto Veterans’ Administration. Telephone therapy as appears to be a viable intervention with the aging population.Keywords: telehealth, rural mental health, psychotherapy, healthcare delivery, telecare

  7. Telephone calls by individuals with cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flannery, Marie; McAndrews, Leanne; Stein, Karen F

    2013-09-01

    To describe symptom type and reporting patterns found in spontaneously initiated telephone calls placed to an ambulatory cancer center practice. Retrospective, descriptive. Adult hematology oncology cancer center. 563 individuals with a wide range of oncology diagnoses who initiated 1,229 telephone calls to report symptoms. Raw data were extracted from telephone forms using a data collection sheet with 23 variables obtained for each phone call, using pre-established coding criteria. A literature-based, investigator-developed instrument was used for the coding criteria and selection of which variables to extract. Symptom reporting, telephone calls, pain, and symptoms. A total of 2,378 symptoms were reported by telephone during the four months. At least 10% of the sample reported pain (38%), fatigue (16%), nausea (16%), swelling (12%), diarrhea (12%), dyspnea (10%), and anorexia (10%). The modal response was to call only one time and to report only one symptom (55%). Pain emerged as the symptom that most often prompted an individual to pick up the telephone and call. Although variation was seen in symptom reporting, an interesting pattern emerged with an individual reporting on a solitary symptom in a single telephone call. The emergence of pain as the primary symptom reported by telephone prompted educational efforts for both in-person clinic visit management of pain and prioritizing nursing education and protocol management of pain reported by telephone. Report of symptoms by telephone can provide nurses unique insight into patient-centered needs. Although pain has been an important focus of education and research for decades, it remains a priority for individuals with cancer. A wide range in symptom reporting by telephone was evident.

  8. Update of telephone exchange

    CERN Multimedia

    2006-01-01

    As part of the upgrade of telephone services, the CERN switching centre will be updated on Wednesday 14 June between 8.00 p.m. and midnight. Telephone services may be disrupted and possibly even interrupted during this operation. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause. CERN TELECOM Service

  9. Update of telephone exchange

    CERN Multimedia

    2006-01-01

    As part of the upgrade of telephone services, the CERN switching centre will be updated on Monday 3 July between 8.00 p.m. and 3.00 a.m. Telephone services may be disrupted and possibly even interrupted during this operation.We apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause. CERN TELECOM Service

  10. Update of telephone exchange

    CERN Multimedia

    2006-01-01

    As part of the upgrade of telephone services, the CERN switching centre will be updated on Monday 3 July between 8.00 p.m. and 3.00 a.m. Telephone services may be disrupted and possibly even interrupted during this operation. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause. CERN TELECOM Service

  11. Maintenance of the CERN telephone exchanges

    CERN Multimedia

    2007-01-01

    Maintenance work will be carried out on the CERN telephone exchanges between 8 p.m. and midnight on 20 November. Fixed-line telephone and audioconference services may be disrupted while the work is being carried out. However, the CCC and the fire brigade will be contactable at any time. Mobile telephony services (GSM) will not be affected by the maintenance work. For further details about the maintenance work, please contact the telephone switchboard on 76111 or by email to standard.telephone@cern.ch. Telecom Section IT/CS

  12. Update of telephone exchange

    CERN Multimedia

    2006-01-01

    As part of the upgrade of telephone services, the CERN switching centre will be updated on between Monday 23 October 8.00 p.m. and Tuesday 24 October 2.00 a.m. Telephone services may be disrupted and possibly even interrupted during this operation. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause. CERN TELECOM Service

  13. Upgrade of telephone exchange

    CERN Multimedia

    2006-01-01

    As part of the upgrade of telephone services, work will be carried out on the CERN switching centre between Monday 23 October 8.00 p.m. and Tuesday 24 October 2.00 a.m. Telephone services may be disrupted and possibly even interrupted during this operation. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause. CERN TELECOM Service

  14. Systems configured to distribute a telephone call, communication systems, communication methods and methods of routing a telephone call to a service representative

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, Scott H.; Johnson, Joel A.; Neiswanger, Jeffery R.; Twitchell, Kevin E.

    2004-03-09

    The present invention includes systems configured to distribute a telephone call, communication systems, communication methods and methods of routing a telephone call to a customer service representative. In one embodiment of the invention, a system configured to distribute a telephone call within a network includes a distributor adapted to connect with a telephone system, the distributor being configured to connect a telephone call using the telephone system and output the telephone call and associated data of the telephone call; and a plurality of customer service representative terminals connected with the distributor and a selected customer service representative terminal being configured to receive the telephone call and the associated data, the distributor and the selected customer service representative terminal being configured to synchronize, application of the telephone call and associated data from the distributor to the selected customer service representative terminal.

  15. Maintenance of the CERN telephone exchanges

    CERN Multimedia

    TS Department

    2008-01-01

    Maintenance work will be carried out on the CERN telephone exchanges between 8 p.m. and midnight on 3 December. During this time, the fixed-line telephone and audio-conference services may be disrupted. However, the CCC and the Fire Brigade will be reachable at all times. Mobile telephone services (GSM) will not be affected by this work. For further details please contact mailto:Netops@cern.ch.

  16. Maintenance of the CERN telephone exchanges

    CERN Multimedia

    TS Department

    2008-01-01

    Maintenance work will be carried out on the CERN telephone exchanges between 8 p.m. and midnight on 3 December. During this time, the fixed-line telephone and audio-conference services may be disrupted. However, the CCC and the Fire Brigade will be reachable at all times. Mobile telephone services (GSM) will not be affected by this work. For further details please contact Netops@cern.ch.

  17. Maintenance of the CERN telephone exchanges

    CERN Multimedia

    2007-01-01

    Maintenance work on the CERN telephone exchanges will be performed on 10 July from 8 p.m. to midnight. During this intervention, the fixed telephone services, audioconference services and GSM calls made via the 333 prefix may be disrupted. However, the CCC and the fire brigade will be reachable at all times. For more details about this maintenance work, please call the telephone switchboard on 76111 or send an e-mail. Telecom SectionIT/CS

  18. Maintenance of the CERN telephone exchanges

    CERN Multimedia

    2007-01-01

    A maintenance of the CERN telephone exchanges will be performed on the 10th of July from 8 p.m. to midnight. During this intervention, the fixed telephone services, audioconference services, and GSM calls made via the 333 prefix may be disrupted. However, the CCC and the fire brigade will be reachable at any time. For more details about this maintenance, please contact the telephone switchboard at 76111 or by email. Telecom Section IT/CS

  19. Maintenance of the telephone exchange in building 40

    CERN Multimedia

    2006-01-01

    In order to secure the power supply of the telephone exchange in Building 40, maintenance work will be done on 18th December from 7.30 am to 8 am. During this intervention, the fixed telephone services in Building 39 and 40 will be interrupted. The fixed telephone services in other CERN buildings will not be affected by this maintenance. The mobile telephone services (GSM) will not be affected. For more details, please send your questions to Standard.Telephone@cern.ch Telecom Services IT/CS

  20. Doctor-patient communication on the telephone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curtis, P; Evens, S

    1989-01-01

    Since its invention, the telephone has been an important tool in medical practice, particularly for primary care physicians. Approximately half the calls made to a physician's office during regular consulting hours are for clinical problems and most are handled effectively over the phone without an immediate office visit. Telephone encounters are generally very brief, and managing such calls requires a pragmatic approach that is often quite different from the approach taken in the office visit. The telephone encounter should be recognized and recorded as a specific medical interaction in the medical chart for both clinical and legal reasons. Effective telephone encounters depend on good communication skills; decision making regarding disposition is a major goal. The physician's perception of a medical problem may be different from the patient's; patients are frequently seeking advice and reassurance rather than diagnosis and treatment, and may call because of anxiety and psychological stress. For physicians and their families who are not prepared for after-hours telephone encounters, calls that interrupt more "legitimate" activities may result in anger or frustration for the physician and dissatisfaction for the patient.

  1. 7 CFR 1737.60 - Telephone loan budget.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 11 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Telephone loan budget. 1737.60 Section 1737.60... Cost Estimation Procedures § 1737.60 Telephone loan budget. (a) RUS shall prepare a “Telephone Loan Budget” (RUS Form 493) showing all costs for the proposed project and the amount of loan and nonloan...

  2. Maintenance of the CERN telephone exchanges

    CERN Multimedia

    2007-01-01

    Maintenance work will be carried out on the CERN telephone exchanges between 8 p.m. and midnight on 20 November. Fixed-line telephone and audioconference services may be disrupted while the work is being carried out. However, the CCC and the fire brigade will be reachable at any time. Mobile telephony services (GSM) will not be affected by the maintenance work. For further details about the maintenance work, please contact the telephone switchboard on 76111 or by email. Telecom Section - IT/CS

  3. 24 CFR 3285.704 - Telephone and cable TV.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Telephone and cable TV. 3285.704....704 Telephone and cable TV. Refer to § 3285.906 for considerations pertinent to installation of telephone and cable TV. ...

  4. Identifying the core competencies of mental health telephone triage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sands, Natisha; Elsom, Stephen; Gerdtz, Marie; Henderson, Kathryn; Keppich-Arnold, Sandra; Droste, Nicolas; Prematunga, Roshani K; Wereta, Zewdu W

    2013-11-01

    The primary aim of this study was to identify the core competencies of mental health telephone triage, including key role tasks, skills, knowledge and responsibilities, in which clinicians are required to be competent to perform safe and effective triage. Recent global trends indicate an increased reliance on telephone-based health services to facilitate access to health care across large populations. The trend towards telephone-based health services has also extended to mental health settings, evidenced by the growing number of mental health telephone triage services providing 24-hour access to specialist mental health assessment and treatment. Mental health telephone triage services are critical to the early identification of mental health problems and the provision of timely, appropriate interventions. In spite of the rapid growth in mental health telephone triage and the important role these services play in the assessment and management of mental illness and related risks, there has been very little research investigating this area of practice. An observational design was employed to address the research aims. Structured observations (using dual wireless headphones) were undertaken on 197 occasions of mental health telephone triage over a three-month period from January to March 2011. The research identified seven core areas of mental health telephone triage practice in which clinicians are required to be competent in to perform effective mental health telephone triage, including opening the call; performing mental status examination; risk assessment; planning and action; termination of call; referral and reporting; and documentation. The findings of this research contribute to the evidence base for mental health telephone triage by articulating the core competencies for practice. The mental health telephone triage competencies identified in this research may be used to define an evidence-based framework for mental health telephone triage practice that aims to

  5. Cellular telephone use and cancer risk

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schüz, Joachim; Jacobsen, Rune; Olsen, Jørgen H.

    2006-01-01

    BACKGROUND: The widespread use of cellular telephones has heightened concerns about possible adverse health effects. The objective of this study was to investigate cancer risk among Danish cellular telephone users who were followed for up to 21 years. METHODS: This study is an extended follow......-up of a large nationwide cohort of 420,095 persons whose first cellular telephone subscription was between 1982 and 1995 and who were followed through 2002 for cancer incidence. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated by dividing the number of observed cancer cases in the cohort by the number...... expected in the Danish population. RESULTS: A total of 14,249 cancers were observed (SIR = 0.95; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.93 to 0.97) for men and women combined. Cellular telephone use was not associated with increased risk for brain tumors (SIR = 0.97), acoustic neuromas (SIR = 0.73), salivary...

  6. Network of mobile telephone communication: necessarily of 3. Millennium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dejana, V.; Dragan, M.; Nebojsa, V.; Simo, S.

    2002-01-01

    Mobile telephones have transformed the telecommunications industry. These devices can be used to make telephone calls from almost anywhere. There are two types, one has the antenna mounted on the handset and the other has the antenna mounted on a separate transmitter or, if the telephone is installed in a vehicle, mounted on the roof or rear window. Communication between a mobile telephone and the nearest base station is achieved by the microwave emissions from the antenna. Concerns have been raised about the type of mobile telephone that has the antenna in the handset. In this case, the antenna is very close to the user's head during normal use of the telephone and there is concern about the level of microwave emissions to which the brain is being exposed. Those telephones that have the antenna mounted elsewhere are of no concern, since exposure levels decrease rapidly with increasing distance from the antenna. Cordless telephones, which need to be operated within about 20 metres of a base unit that is connected directly to the telephone system, do not have any health concerns associated with their use because exposure levels are very low

  7. Impact of the telephone assistive device (TAD) on stuttering severity while speaking on the telephone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chambers, Nola

    2009-01-01

    There is extensive experimental evidence that altered auditory feedback (AAF) can have a clinically significant effect on the severity of speech symptoms in people who stutter. However, there is less evidence regarding whether these experimental effects can be observed in naturalistic everyday settings particularly when using the telephone. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the Telephone Assistive Device (TAD), which is designed to provide AAF on the telephone to people who stutter, on reducing stuttering severity. Nine adults participated in a quasi-experimental study. Stuttering severity was measured first without and then with the device in participants' naturalistic settings while making and receiving telephone calls (immediate benefit). Participants were then allowed a week of repeated use of the device following which all measurements were repeated (delayed benefit). Overall, results revealed significant immediate benefits from the TAD in all call conditions. Delayed benefits in received and total calls were also significant. There was substantial individual variability in response to the TAD but none of the demographic or speech-related factors measured in the study were found to significantly impact the benefit (immediate or delayed) derived from the TAD. Results have implications for clinical decision making for adults who stutter.

  8. 7 CFR 1744.63 - The telephone loan budget.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 11 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false The telephone loan budget. 1744.63 Section 1744.63... Disbursement of Funds § 1744.63 The telephone loan budget. When the loan is made, RUS provides the borrower a Telephone Loan Budget, RUS Form 493. This budget divides the loan into budget accounts such as “Engineering...

  9. Upgrade of the CERN telephone exchange

    CERN Multimedia

    2006-01-01

    As part of the upgrade of telephone services, maintenance work will be carried out on the CERN switching centre between 8.00 p.m. and 10.00 p.m. on Monday 9 October. Telephone services may be disrupted and possibly even interrupted during this time. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause. CERN TELECOM Service

  10. Evaluating the privacy properties of telephone metadata

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayer, Jonathan; Mutchler, Patrick; Mitchell, John C.

    2016-01-01

    Since 2013, a stream of disclosures has prompted reconsideration of surveillance law and policy. One of the most controversial principles, both in the United States and abroad, is that communications metadata receives substantially less protection than communications content. Several nations currently collect telephone metadata in bulk, including on their own citizens. In this paper, we attempt to shed light on the privacy properties of telephone metadata. Using a crowdsourcing methodology, we demonstrate that telephone metadata is densely interconnected, can trivially be reidentified, and can be used to draw sensitive inferences. PMID:27185922

  11. Maintenance of the CERN telephone exchanges

    CERN Multimedia

    IT/CS

    2014-01-01

    Maintenance work will be carried out on the CERN telephone exchanges between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. on 26 August.   Fixed-line telephone and audio-conference services may be disrupted during this intervention. Nevertheless, the CCC and the Fire Brigade will be reachable at any time. Mobile telephony services (GSM) will not be affected by the maintenance work.

  12. Maintenance of the CERN telephone exchanges

    CERN Multimedia

    IT Department

    2011-01-01

    Maintenance work will be carried out on the CERN telephone exchanges between 20h00 and 2h00 on the 16 November. Fixed-line telephone and audio-conference services may be disrupted during this intervention. Nevertheless, the CCC and the fire brigade will be reachable at any time. Mobile telephony services (GSM) will not be affected by the maintenance work. IT/CS

  13. Telephone-Based Coaching.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boccio, Mindy; Sanna, Rashel S; Adams, Sara R; Goler, Nancy C; Brown, Susan D; Neugebauer, Romain S; Ferrara, Assiamira; Wiley, Deanne M; Bellamy, David J; Schmittdiel, Julie A

    2017-03-01

    Many Americans continue to smoke, increasing their risk of disease and premature death. Both telephone-based counseling and in-person tobacco cessation classes may improve access for smokers seeking convenient support to quit. Little research has assessed whether such programs are effective in real-world clinical populations. Retrospective cohort study comparing wellness coaching participants with two groups of controls. Kaiser Permanente Northern California, a large integrated health care delivery system. Two hundred forty-one patients who participated in telephonic tobacco cessation coaching from January 1, 2011, to March 31, 2012, and two control groups: propensity-score-matched controls, and controls who participated in a tobacco cessation class during the same period. Wellness coaching participants received an average of two motivational interviewing-based coaching sessions that engaged the patient, evoked their reason to consider quitting, and helped them establish a quit plan. Self-reported quitting of tobacco and fills of tobacco cessation medications within 12 months of follow-up. Logistic regressions adjusting for age, gender, race/ethnicity, and primary language. After adjusting for confounders, tobacco quit rates were higher among coaching participants vs. matched controls (31% vs. 23%, p Coaching participants and class attendees filled tobacco-cessation prescriptions at a higher rate (47% for both) than matched controls (6%, p coaching was as effective as in-person classes and was associated with higher rates of quitting compared to no treatment. The telephonic modality may increase convenience and scalability for health care systems looking to reduce tobacco use and improve health.

  14. Participants' views of telephone interviews within a grounded theory study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ward, Kim; Gott, Merryn; Hoare, Karen

    2015-12-01

    To offer a unique contribution to the evolving debate around the use of the telephone during semistructured interview by drawing on interviewees' reflections on telephone interview during a grounded theory study. The accepted norm for qualitative interviews is to conduct them face-to-face. It is typical to consider collecting qualitative data via telephone only when face-to-face interview is not possible. During a grounded theory study, exploring users' experiences with overnight mask ventilation for sleep apnoea, the authors selected the telephone to conduct interviews. This article reports participants' views on semistructured interview by telephone. An inductive thematic analysis was conducted on data pertaining to the use of the telephone interview in a grounded theory study. The data were collected during 4 months of 2011 and 6 months in 2014. The article presents an inductive thematic analysis of sixteen participants' opinions about telephone interviewing and discusses these in relation to existing literature reporting the use of telephone interviews in grounded theory studies. Overall, participants reported a positive experience of telephone interviewing. From each participants reports we identified four themes from the data: being 'phone savvy; concentrating on voice instead of your face; easy rapport; and not being judged or feeling inhibited. By drawing on these data, we argue that the telephone as a data collection tool in grounded theory research and other qualitative methodologies need not be relegated to second best status. Rather, researchers can consider telephone interview a valuable first choice option. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. Telephone: The Old Technology that is Never Old

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olubunmi Philip Aborisade

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Telephone technology is a technology that stands the test of time. Since it was invented in 1876 by Alexander Graham Belle, it remains the technology of all time. This article reports the major finding of a recent research, how technology transforms citizen journalism business in Nigeria. According to the research, Telephone technology has over the years emerged the major tool with which ordinary citizens in Nigeria without journalism and media background or affiliation participate in the process of news gathering, reporting and distribution. Guided by the recent use of telephone around the world by ordinary citizens to report themselves during protests through different social media outlets-Facebook, Tweeter, Youtube, the article illuminates the evergreen nature of the telephone. The article therefore concluded that the telephone technology invented in 1876 has survived the test of time. Instead of being obsolete, it blends with emerging communications technology to improve on its performance.

  16. [Potential selection bias in telephone surveys: landline and mobile phones].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia-Continente, Xavier; Pérez-Giménez, Anna; López, María José; Nebot, Manel

    2014-01-01

    The increasing use of mobile phones in the last decade has decreased landline telephone coverage in Spanish households. This study aimed to analyze sociodemographic characteristics and health indicators by type of telephone service (mobile phone vs. landline or landline and mobile phone). Two telephone surveys were conducted in Spanish samples (February 2010 and February 2011). Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to analyze differences in the main sociodemographic characteristics and health indicators according to the type of telephone service available in Spanish households. We obtained 2027 valid responses (1627 landline telephones and 400 mobile phones). Persons contacted through a mobile phone were more likely to be a foreigner, to belong to the manual social class, to have a lower educational level, and to be a smoker than those contacted through a landline telephone. The profile of the population that has only a mobile phone differs from that with a landline telephone. Therefore, telephone surveys that exclude mobile phones could show a selection bias. Copyright © 2013 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  17. Maintenance of the CERN telephone exchanges

    CERN Multimedia

    IT Department

    2009-01-01

    Maintenance work will be carried out on the CERN telephone exchanges between 8h30 and 17h30 on Saturday 9 May. Fixed-line telephone and audio-conference services may be disrupted during this intervention. Nevertheless, the CCC and the fire brigade will be reachable at any time. Mobile telephony services (GSM) will not be affected by the maintenance work. IT/CS/CS

  18. Improvement of Metroliner Telephone Channel Capacity and Modeling of Telephone Channel Demands

    Science.gov (United States)

    1972-03-01

    The channel capacity of the present Metroliner telephone system is analyzed and methods are proposed to increase that capacity without increasing the overall bandwidth. To determine the number of channels required, calculations have been carried out ...

  19. Large Pelagics Telephone Survey

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Large Pelagics Telephone Survey (LPTS) collects fishing effort information directly from captains holding Highly Migratory Species (HMS) permits (required by...

  20. Maintenance of the CERN telephone exchanges

    CERN Multimedia

    IT Department

    2011-01-01

    Maintenance work will be carried out on the CERN telephone exchanges between 20h00 and midnight on the 21st of February in order to apply the latest software patches. Fixed-line telephone and audio-conference services may be disrupted during this intervention. Nevertheless, the CCC and the fire brigade will be reachable at any time. Mobile telephony services (GSM) will not be affected by the maintenance work. CS Group

  1. ENERGY STAR Certified Telephones

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Certified models meet all ENERGY STAR requirements as listed in the Version 3.0 ENERGY STAR Program Requirements for Telephony (cordless telephones and VoIP...

  2. Maintenance of the CERN telephone exchanges

    CERN Multimedia

    IT Department

    2009-01-01

    Maintenance work will be carried out on the CERN telephone exchanges between 20h00 and midnight on the 29th of July in order to apply the latest software patches. Fixed-line telephone and audio-conference services may be disrupted during this intervention. Nevertheless, the CCC and the fire brigade will be reachable at any time. Mobile telephony services (GSM) will not be affected by the maintenance work. IT/CS/CS

  3. The telephone in family practice | Furman | South African Medical ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    In a time-and-motion study in family practice it was found that 35,8% of all patient contact was per telephone. The study further revealed that 12,3% of total practice time was spent on the telephone, stressing its importance as a useful tool. in family practice. The study supports others which suggest that 'telephone medicine' ...

  4. A Sandia telephone database system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nelson, S.D.; Tolendino, L.F.

    1991-08-01

    Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, may soon have more responsibility for the operation of its own telephone system. The processes that constitute providing telephone service can all be improved through the use of a central data information system. We studied these processes, determined the requirements for a database system, then designed the first stages of a system that meets our needs for work order handling, trouble reporting, and ISDN hardware assignments. The design was based on an extensive set of applications that have been used for five years to manage the Sandia secure data network. The system utilizes an Ingres database management system and is programmed using the Application-By-Forms tools.

  5. Telephone versus face-to-face interviewing for household drug use surveys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aquilino, W S

    1992-01-01

    This research investigated the use of telephone versus face-to-face interviewing to gather data on the use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs. Telephone and personal drug use surveys of the 18-34 year-old household population were conducted in the state of New Jersey in 1986-1987. Survey modes were compared in terms of unit and item nonresponse rates, sample coverage, and levels of self-reported drug use. Results showed that the telephone survey achieved response rates lower than the personal survey, but comparable to telephone surveys of less threatening topics. Item nonresponse to sensitive drug questions was lower by phone than with the self-administered answer sheets in the personal mode. The exclusion of households without telephones in the telephone survey is a potential source of bias, and may lead to underestimation of alcohol and drug use for minority populations. After controlling for telephone status, the telephone survey furnished significantly lower drug use estimates on several indicators than the personal survey, with the largest mode differences found for Blacks.

  6. Telecommunications Policy Research Conference. Subsidies in Telephone Pricing Section. Papers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Telecommunications Policy Research Conference, Inc., Washington, DC.

    Three papers consider the provision of telephone service to rural and/or low income customers. The first paper, "An Analysis of Telephone Penetration" (Alexander Belinfante), analyzes the relationship between telephone penetration (the proportion of households with phone service) and prices, household income, and other factors. This…

  7. Choosing a New Telephone System for Your Medical Practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metherell, Brian

    2016-01-01

    E-mail may rule the world in other types of businesses, but for medical practices, the telephone remains the primary mode of communication with patients, specialists, and pharmacies. From making appointments to calling in prescriptions, telephones are essential to patient care. With technology changing very quickly and new capabilities coming into the medical practice, such as telemedicine and Skype, you need to know your options when choosing a new telephone system. The possibilities include on-site, cloud, and hybrid networked solutions. A wide variety of features and capabilities are available, from dozens of vendors. Of course, no matter what telephone solution you choose, you must meet regulatory compliance, particularly HIPAA, and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard if you take credit cards. And it has to be affordable, reliable, and long lasting. This article explores what medical practices need to know when choosing a new business telephone system in order to find the right solutions for their businesses.

  8. Cellular telephone use among primary school children in Germany

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boehler, Eva; Schuez, Joachim

    2004-01-01

    Background: There is some concern about potential health risks of cellular telephone use to children. We assessed data on how many children own a cellular telephone and on how often they use it in a population-based sample. Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study among children in their fourth elementary school year, with a median-age of 10 years. The study was carried out in Mainz (Germany), a city with about 200,000 inhabitants. The study base comprised all 37 primary schools in Mainz and near surroundings. Altogether, 1933 children from 34 primary schools took part in the survey (participation rate of 87.8%). Results: Roughly a third of all children (n = 671, 34.7%) reported to own a cellular telephone. Overall, 119 (6.2%) children used a cellular telephone for making calls at least once a day, 123 (6.4%) used it several times a week and 876 (45.3%) children used it only once in a while. The remaining 805 (41.6%) children had never used a cellular telephone. The probability of owning a cellular telephone among children was associated with older age, being male, having no siblings, giving full particulars to height and weight, more time spent watching TV and playing computer games, being picked up by their parents from school by car (instead of walking or cycling) and going to bed late. The proportion of cellular telephone owners was somewhat higher in classes with more children from socially disadvantaged families. Conclusions: Our study shows that both ownership of a cellular telephone as well as the regular use of it are already quite frequent among children in the fourth grade of primary school. With regard to potential long-term effects, we recommend follow-up studies with children

  9. Intervention among Suicidal Men: Future Directions for Telephone Crisis Support Research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunt, Tara; Wilson, Coralie J; Woodward, Alan; Caputi, Peter; Wilson, Ian

    2018-01-01

    Telephone crisis support is a confidential, accessible, and immediate service that is uniquely set up to reduce male suicide deaths through crisis intervention. However, research focusing on telephone crisis support with suicidal men is currently limited. To highlight the need to address service delivery for men experiencing suicidal crisis, this perspective article identifies key challenges facing current telephone crisis support research and proposes that understanding of the role of telephone crisis helplines in supporting suicidal men may be strengthened by careful examination of the context of telephone crisis support, together with the impact this has on help-provision for male suicidal callers. In particular, the impact of the time- and information-poor context of telephone crisis support on crisis-line staff's identification of, and response to, male callers with thoughts of suicide is examined. Future directions for research in the provision of telephone crisis support for suicidal men are discussed.

  10. 24 CFR 3285.906 - Telephone and cable TV.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... URBAN DEVELOPMENT MODEL MANUFACTURED HOME INSTALLATION STANDARDS Optional Information for Manufacturer's Installation Instructions § 3285.906 Telephone and cable TV. It is recommended that the installation instructions explain that telephone and cable TV wiring should be installed in accordance with requirements of...

  11. The telephone effect: Overcoming initiation deficits in two settings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vickers, Kayci L; Keesler, Michael E; Williams, Kelli S; Charles, Jeremy Y; Hamilton, Roy H

    2018-04-19

    Disorders of motivation substantially impair an individual's ability to communicate with their families, therapists, and doctors. One method of overcoming initiation deficits is by utilizing the telephone effect, which is the ability for individuals with severe motivation deficits to communicate more readily when speaking on a telephone. However, little is available in the extant literature on how this effect works or how best to integrate this into patient care. This article aims to provide the first report of a proposed mechanism underlying the telephone effect and the first published procedures for eliciting this effect. This is largely a review article that also contains descriptions of clinical procedures for eliciting the telephone effect with 2 patient populations: acute inpatients following brain injury and dementia residents. A case vignette is also provided. We propose that the telephone effect is the result of an interaction between the patient and environment, and occurs because of Gibson's (1979) law of affordances. The use of this theory provides an explanation of the behaviors often observed when attempting to elicit this effect (i.e., disruption of the effect when using a cellular phone). Moreover, we argue that this can, and does, apply to social interactions as well. The telephone effect is an understudied phenomenon that provides a means of improving care for individuals with disorders of motivation. Future directions include systematic research into the telephone effect and further investigation of the mechanism underlying this effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  12. AIDS and condoms in Brasilia: a telephone survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chequer, P; VanOss Marín, B; Paiva, L; Hudes, E S; Piazza, T; Rodrigues, L; Hearst, N

    1997-10-01

    A telephone survey was conducted to measure AIDS knowledge, media usage and condom attitudes and behaviors among 500 adults aged 18 to 49 in Brasilia, as well as to evaluate the feasibility of the telephone survey method in a developing country. The response rate was 91.6%. Respondents had good knowledge about correct modes of HIV transmission and prevention but also believed HIV was transmitted through blood donation, public toilets, swimming pools, and mosquito bites. TV and newspapers were the most important sources of information on health matters and AIDS, though health workers were considered the most credible sources of such information. Only 19% of sexual encounters in the 4 weeks prior to the survey included condoms. Single and younger respondents and those with more positive attitudes used condoms more frequently. More work is needed to identify appropriate messages to motivate people to use condoms. Telephone surveys regarding AIDS and sexual attitudes and behaviors are feasible in Brasilia, a planned community with universal telephone coverage.

  13. THE EFFECTS OF MOBILE TELEPHONING ON DRIVING PERFORMANCE

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    BROOKHUIS, KA; DEVRIES, G; DEWAARD, D

    The effects of telephoning while driving were studied in three different traffic conditions, i.e. in light traffic on a quiet motorway, in heavy traffic on a four-lane ring-road, and in city traffic. Twelve subjects, unfamiliar with mobile telephones, drove an instrumented vehicle for one hour each

  14. Can smartphones enhance telephone-based cognitive assessment (TBCA)?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwan, Rick Yiu-Cho; Lai, Claudia Kam-Yuk

    2013-12-12

    TBCA has emerged to solve the limitations of administering cognitive assessments face-to-face. The recent development of telephones and knowledge advances in the area of cognitive impairment may affect the development of TBCA. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how smartphones can be used to enhance the applicability of TBCA, which has previously been administered by conventional telephone. This paper will first review, describe and critique the existing TBCA instruments. It will then discuss the recent developments in tele-technology, the popularity of tele-technology among the elderly, potential benefits and challenges in using smartphones for cognitive assessment, and possible future developments in this technology. In the systematic review, eighteen TBCA instruments were identified. They were found to be valid in differentiating between people with and without dementia. TBCA was previously found to be launched on a conventional telephone platform. The advances in understanding of cognitive impairment may demand that telephones be equipped with more advanced features. Recently, the development and penetration of smartphones among the elderly has been rapid. This may allow the smartphone to enhance its TBCA applicability by overcoming the limitations of the conventional telephone, rendering the TBCA more efficient in addressing the increasing demand and complexity of cognitive assessments in the future. However, more research and technology developments are needed before smartphones can become a valid platform for TBCA.

  15. Can Smartphones Enhance Telephone-Based Cognitive Assessment (TBCA?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rick Yiu-Cho Kwan

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available TBCA has emerged to solve the limitations of administering cognitive assessments face-to-face. The recent development of telephones and knowledge advances in the area of cognitive impairment may affect the development of TBCA. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how smartphones can be used to enhance the applicability of TBCA, which has previously been administered by conventional telephone. This paper will first review, describe and critique the existing TBCA instruments. It will then discuss the recent developments in tele-technology, the popularity of tele-technology among the elderly, potential benefits and challenges in using smartphones for cognitive assessment, and possible future developments in this technology. In the systematic review, eighteen TBCA instruments were identified. They were found to be valid in differentiating between people with and without dementia. TBCA was previously found to be launched on a conventional telephone platform. The advances in understanding of cognitive impairment may demand that telephones be equipped with more advanced features. Recently, the development and penetration of smartphones among the elderly has been rapid. This may allow the smartphone to enhance its TBCA applicability by overcoming the limitations of the conventional telephone, rendering the TBCA more efficient in addressing the increasing demand and complexity of cognitive assessments in the future. However, more research and technology developments are needed before smartphones can become a valid platform for TBCA.

  16. Telephone Crisis Support Workers' Psychological Distress and Impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitchingman, Taneile A; Wilson, Coralie J; Caputi, Peter; Wilson, Ian; Woodward, Alan

    2018-01-01

    In order to respond to crises with appropriate intervention, crisis workers are required to manage their own needs as well as the needs of those they respond to. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to examine whether telephone crisis support workers experience elevated symptoms of psychological distress and are impaired by elevated symptoms. Studies were identified in April 2015 by searching three databases, conducting a gray literature search, and forward and backward citation chaining. Of 113 identified studies, seven were included in the review. Results suggest that that telephone crisis support workers experience symptoms of vicarious traumatization, stress, burnout, and psychiatric disorders, and that they may not respond optimally to callers when experiencing elevated symptoms of distress. However, definitive conclusions cannot be drawn due to the paucity and methodological limitations of available data. While the most comprehensive search strategy possible was adopted, resource constraints meant that conference abstracts were not searched and authors were not contacted for additional unpublished information. There is an urgent need to identify the impact of telephone crisis support workers' role on their well-being, the determinants of worker well-being in the telephone crisis support context, and the extent to which well-being impacts their performance and caller outcomes. This will help inform strategies to optimize telephone crisis support workers' well-being and their delivery of support to callers.

  17. 26 CFR 49.4251-4 - Prepaid telephone cards.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ...; adding value. (i) After using the card described in Example 2, P arranges with A by telephone to have 30... EXCISE TAXES FACILITIES AND SERVICES EXCISE TAXES Communications § 49.4251-4 Prepaid telephone cards. (a... section provides rules for the application of the section 4251 tax to PTCs. (b) Definitions. The following...

  18. Nurse-led telephone follow-up after total knee arthroplasty

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Szöts, Kirsten; Konradsen, Hanne; Solgaard, Søren

    2015-01-01

    AIM AND OBJECTIVES: To generate information on how telephone follow-up consultations, structured by nursing status according to the VIPS-model, functioned after total knee arthroplasty. The objectives were to unfold the content of the telephone follow-ups according to the structure for nursing...... status and to explore the patients' views of the telephone follow-ups. BACKGROUND: The length of stay in hospital following total knee arthroplasty has fallen markedly, and patients now have to be responsible for their recovery from a very early stage. After discharge, patients may experience a variety...... Telephone follow-up was valued by total knee arthroplasties patients as representing a holistic approach and providing adequate information, counselling and support after discharge to home. Three categories were identified with regard to the patients' views: 'A means for reflection and provision of adequate...

  19. [Psychometric validation of the telephone memory test].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ortiz, T; Fernández, A; Martínez-Castillo, E; Maestú, F; Martínez-Arias, R; López-Ibor, J J

    1999-01-01

    Several pathologies (i.e. Alzheimer's disease) that courses with memory alterations, appears in a context of impaired cognitive status and mobility. In recent years, several investigations were carried out in order to design short batteries that detect those subjects under risk of dementia. Some of this batteries were also design to be administrated over the telephone, trying to overcome the accessibility limitations of this patients. In this paper we present a battery (called Autotest de Memoria) essentially composed by episodic and semantic memory tests, administered both over the telephone and face to face. This battery was employed in the cognitive assessment of healthy controls and subjects diagnosed as probable Alzheimer's disease patients. Results show the capability of this battery in order to discriminate patients and healthy controls, a great sensibility and specificity, and a nearly absolute parallelism of telephone and face to face administrations. These data led us to claim the usefulness and practicality of our so called Memoria>.

  20. 47 CFR 42.6 - Retention of telephone toll records.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... whether it is billing its own toll service customers for toll calls or billing customers for another... Section 42.6 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES... telephone toll records. Each carrier that offers or bills toll telephone service shall retain for a period...

  1. Brain tumour risk in relation to mobile telephone use

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Johansen, Christoffer

    2010-01-01

    The rapid increase in mobile telephone use has generated concern about possible health risks related to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from this technology.......The rapid increase in mobile telephone use has generated concern about possible health risks related to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from this technology....

  2. Interactive water monitoring system accessible by cordless telephone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Volpicelli, Richard; Andeweg, Pierre; Hagar, William G.

    1985-12-01

    A battery-operated, microcomputer-controlled monitoring device linked with a cordless telephone has been developed for remote measurements. This environmental sensor is self-contained and collects and processes data according to the information sent to its on-board computer system. An RCA model 1805 microprocessor forms the basic controller with a program encoded in memory for data acquisition and analysis. Signals from analog sensing devices used to monitor the environment are converted into digital signals and stored in random access memory of the microcomputer. This remote sensing system is linked to the laboratory by means of a cordless telephone whose base unit is connected to regular telephone lines. This offshore sensing system is simply accessed by a phone call originating from a computer terminal in the laboratory. Data acquisition is initiated upon request: Information continues to be processed and stored until the computer is reprogrammed by another phone call request. Information obtained may be recalled by a phone call after the desired environmental measurements are finished or while they are in progress. Data sampling parameters may be reset at any time, including in the middle of a measurement cycle. The range of the system is limited only by existing telephone grid systems and by the transmission characteristics of the cordless phone used as a communications link. This use of a cordless telephone, coupled with the on-board computer system, may be applied to other field studies requiring data transfer between an on-site analytical system and the laboratory.

  3. A Telephone Communication Skills Exercise for Veterinary Students: Experiences, Challenges, and Opportunities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grevemeyer, Bernard; Betance, Larry; Artemiou, Elpida

    2016-01-01

    Evidence from human medicine shows a rise in telephone communication in support of after-hours services and in providing medical advice, follow-up information, etc. While specific training programs are continuously being developed for human medical education, limited publications are available on training veterinary students in telephone communication. Presented is our method of introducing a telephone communication skills exercise to third-year veterinary students. The exercise progressed over three phases and currently follows the principles of the Calgary-Cambridge Guide. Challenges and improvements on implementing a telephone communication exercise are discussed. Within veterinary communication curricula, attention should be given to the specific communication skills required for successful telephone consultations. In the absence of visual nonverbal cues and prompts during a telephone interaction, communication skills must be applied with greater intent and attention to achieve an effective consultation outcome.

  4. One-Year Weight Loss with a Telephone-Based Lifestyle Program

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christina Holzapfel

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Telephone-based weight loss programs are offered as an alternative to face-to-face obesity treatments, but data on the effectiveness regarding weight loss are limited. Therefore, we evaluated a telephone-based lifestyle program in a real-world setting. Methods: The telephone-based intervention consists of regular phone calls providing individualized lifestyle recommendations, and delivery of printed materials. Anthropometric and metabolic data are collected by general practitioners or are self-reported. Results: Baseline data were available from 398 participants (61% men; weight 103.12 ± 14.21 kg; BMI 33.38 ± 2.83 kg/m2 and 1-year data from 258 (65% participants. In the completers, mean weight change was -4.25 ± 5.18 kg (p Conclusions: The telephone-based lifestyle program results in a moderate weight loss after 12 months, which may be comparable to face-to-face interventions. Telephone-based weight loss support is independent of time and location and represents a tool which is also accepted by men.

  5. 49 CFR 195.52 - Telephonic notice of certain accidents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Telephonic notice of certain accidents. 195.52... TRANSPORTATION OF HAZARDOUS LIQUIDS BY PIPELINE Annual, Accident, and Safety-Related Condition Reporting § 195.52 Telephonic notice of certain accidents. (a) At the earliest practicable moment following discovery of a...

  6. Maintaining clinical governance when giving telephone advice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alazawi, William; Agarwal, Kosh; Suddle, Abid; Aluvihare, Varuna; Heneghan, Michael A

    2013-10-01

    Delivering excellent healthcare depends on accurate communication between professionals who may be in different locations. Frequently, the first point of contact with the liver unit at King's College Hospital (KCH) is through a telephone call to a specialist registrar or liver fellow, for whom no case notes are available in which to record information. The aim of this study was to improve the clinical governance of telephone referrals and to generate contemporaneous records that could be easily retrieved and audited. An electronic database for telephone referrals and advice was designed and made securely available to registrars in our unit. Service development in a tertiary liver centre that receives referrals from across the UK and Europe. Demographic and clinical data were recorded prospectively and analysed retrospectively. Data from 350 calls were entered during 5 months. The information included the nature and origin of the call (200 from 75 different institutions), disease burden and severity of disease among the patients discussed with KCH, and outcome of the call. The majority of cases were discussed with consultants or arrangements were made for formal review at KCH. A telephone referrals and advice database provides clinical governance, serves as a quality indicator and forms a contemporaneous record at the referral centre. Activity data and knowledge of disease burden help to tailor services to the needs of referrers and commissioners. We recommend implementation of similar models in other centres that give extramural verbal advice.

  7. Automatic Smoker Detection from Telephone Speech Signals

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Poorjam, Amir Hossein; Hesaraki, Soheila; Safavi, Saeid

    2017-01-01

    This paper proposes an automatic smoking habit detection from spontaneous telephone speech signals. In this method, each utterance is modeled using i-vector and non-negative factor analysis (NFA) frameworks, which yield low-dimensional representation of utterances by applying factor analysis...... method is evaluated on telephone speech signals of speakers whose smoking habits are known drawn from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 2008 and 2010 Speaker Recognition Evaluation databases. Experimental results over 1194 utterances show the effectiveness of the proposed approach...... for the automatic smoking habit detection task....

  8. 20 CFR 638.516 - Laundry, mail, and telephone service.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Laundry, mail, and telephone service. 638.516... PROGRAM UNDER TITLE IV-B OF THE JOB TRAINING PARTNERSHIP ACT Center Operations § 638.516 Laundry, mail, and telephone service. (a) The center operator shall provide adequate laundry services and supplies at...

  9. Is there a bias against telephone interviews in qualitative research?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Novick, Gina

    2008-08-01

    Telephone interviews are largely neglected in the qualitative research literature and, when discussed, they are often depicted as a less attractive alternative to face-to-face interviewing. The absence of visual cues via telephone is thought to result in loss of contextual and nonverbal data and to compromise rapport, probing, and interpretation of responses. Yet, telephones may allow respondents to feel relaxed and able to disclose sensitive information, and evidence is lacking that they produce lower quality data. This apparent bias against telephone interviews contrasts with a growing interest in electronic qualitative interviews. Research is needed comparing these modalities, and examining their impact on data quality and their use for studying varying topics and populations. Such studies could contribute evidence-based guidelines for optimizing interview data. 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

  10. Bandwidth Extension of Telephone Speech Aided by Data Embedding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sagi Ariel

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available A system for bandwidth extension of telephone speech, aided by data embedding, is presented. The proposed system uses the transmitted analog narrowband speech signal as a carrier of the side information needed to carry out the bandwidth extension. The upper band of the wideband speech is reconstructed at the receiving end from two components: a synthetic wideband excitation signal, generated from the narrowband telephone speech and a wideband spectral envelope, parametrically represented and transmitted as embedded data in the telephone speech. We propose a novel data embedding scheme, in which the scalar Costa scheme is combined with an auditory masking model allowing high rate transparent embedding, while maintaining a low bit error rate. The signal is transformed to the frequency domain via the discrete Hartley transform (DHT and is partitioned into subbands. Data is embedded in an adaptively chosen subset of subbands by modifying the DHT coefficients. In our simulations, high quality wideband speech was obtained from speech transmitted over a telephone line (characterized by spectral magnitude distortion, dispersion, and noise, in which side information data is transparently embedded at the rate of 600 information bits/second and with a bit error rate of approximately . In a listening test, the reconstructed wideband speech was preferred (at different degrees over conventional telephone speech in of the test utterances.

  11. Bandwidth Extension of Telephone Speech Aided by Data Embedding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Malah

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available A system for bandwidth extension of telephone speech, aided by data embedding, is presented. The proposed system uses the transmitted analog narrowband speech signal as a carrier of the side information needed to carry out the bandwidth extension. The upper band of the wideband speech is reconstructed at the receiving end from two components: a synthetic wideband excitation signal, generated from the narrowband telephone speech and a wideband spectral envelope, parametrically represented and transmitted as embedded data in the telephone speech. We propose a novel data embedding scheme, in which the scalar Costa scheme is combined with an auditory masking model allowing high rate transparent embedding, while maintaining a low bit error rate. The signal is transformed to the frequency domain via the discrete Hartley transform (DHT and is partitioned into subbands. Data is embedded in an adaptively chosen subset of subbands by modifying the DHT coefficients. In our simulations, high quality wideband speech was obtained from speech transmitted over a telephone line (characterized by spectral magnitude distortion, dispersion, and noise, in which side information data is transparently embedded at the rate of 600 information bits/second and with a bit error rate of approximately 3⋅10−4. In a listening test, the reconstructed wideband speech was preferred (at different degrees over conventional telephone speech in 92.5% of the test utterances.

  12. 39 CFR 6.4 - Attendance by conference telephone call.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 39 Postal Service 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Attendance by conference telephone call. 6.4 Section 6.4 Postal Service UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE MEETINGS (ARTICLE VI) § 6.4 Attendance by conference telephone call. For regularly scheduled meetings of...

  13. Evaluating telephone follow-up of a mail survey of community pharmacies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Westrick, Salisa C; Mount, Jeanine K

    2007-06-01

    Mail and telephone are commonly used modes of survey with pharmacists. Research conducted using general population surveys consistently describes mail surveys as being less expensive but yielding lower response rates than telephone surveys. However, findings obtained from the general population may not be generalizable to pharmacist surveys. This study evaluates the effectiveness of telephone follow-up of mail survey nonrespondents by comparing the 2 survey modes on response rates, cooperation rates, cost per sample unit, and cost per usable response and evaluating potential nonresponse bias in the context of immunization activities. A census mail survey of 1,143 Washington State community pharmacies and a follow-up telephone survey of 262 randomly selected mail survey nonrespondents were compared. Both surveys included the same 15 yes/no-type questions to ask respondents about their pharmacy's involvement in immunization activities. The mail survey yielded a response rate 1 of 26.7% and a cooperation rate 1 of 26.7%, compared with 83.6% and 87.8%, respectively, for the follow-up telephone survey. With respect to cost per sample unit, the mail survey was the least expensive option ($1.20). However, when comparing cost per usable response, the mail survey was the most expensive ($4.37), and the follow-up telephone survey without an advance notification was the least expensive ($1.99). Furthermore, results suggest the presence of nonresponse bias: compared with pharmacies participating in the follow-up telephone survey, pharmacies participating in the mail survey were more likely to be involved in in-house immunization services but less likely to be involved in outsourced services. The telephone survey achieved higher outcome rates with reduced cost per usable response. A telephone survey is a viable mode that holds promise in pharmacy practice research. Maximizing response rates and assessing potential nonresponse bias should be a standard practice among pharmacy

  14. Willingness to pay for rural telephone services: Implications for rural ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    WTP) for rural telephone services and the implications on poverty reduction in Southeast Nigeria. The key research problem was the inability of the telephone providers or regulatory agencies to estimate the amount the people were willing to pay ...

  15. Call Us: Development of a Library Telephone Enquiry Service

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burke, Liz; Beranek, Lea

    2006-01-01

    The authors detail the trial and piloting of a telephone enquiry service (TES) at the Bundoora Campus Library at La Trobe University in order to attempt to resolve the balance between telephone and face-to-face enquiries at the library service desk. They investigated various options throughout 2001 and 2002 and settled on a centralised service…

  16. 75 FR 21979 - NRC Region II Address and Main Telephone Number Changes

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-27

    ... Region II Address and Main Telephone Number Changes AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Final... address for its Region II office and to update the main telephone number. The Region II office move and... update the NRC Region II office street address and office main telephone number. The physical location of...

  17. Can Smartphones Enhance Telephone-Based Cognitive Assessment (TBCA)?

    OpenAIRE

    Rick Yiu-Cho Kwan; Claudia Kam-Yuk Lai

    2013-01-01

    TBCA has emerged to solve the limitations of administering cognitive assessments face-to-face. The recent development of telephones and knowledge advances in the area of cognitive impairment may affect the development of TBCA. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how smartphones can be used to enhance the applicability of TBCA, which has previously been administered by conventional telephone. This paper will first review, describe and critique the existing TBCA instruments. It will then di...

  18. Cordless telephone use: implications for mobile phone research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Redmayne, Mary; Inyang, Imo; Dimitriadis, Christina; Benke, Geza; Abramson, Michael J

    2010-04-01

    Cordless and mobile (cellular) telephone use has increased substantially in recent years causing concerns about possible health effects. This has led to much epidemiological research, but the usual focus is on mobile telephone radiofrequency (RF) exposure only despite cordless RF being very similar. Access to and use of cordless phones were included in the Mobile Radiofrequency Phone Exposed Users Study (MoRPhEUS) of 317 Year 7 students recruited from Melbourne, Australia. Participants completed an exposure questionnaire-87% had a cordless phone at home and 77% owned a mobile phone. There was a statistically significant positive relationship (r = 0.38, p < 0.01) between cordless and mobile phone use. Taken together, this increases total RF exposure and its ratio in high-to-low mobile users. Therefore, the design and analysis of future epidemiological telecommunication studies need to assess cordless phone exposure to accurately evaluate total RF telephone exposure effects.

  19. Telephone-Directory Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vlahos, William

    2005-01-01

    eDirectory is a computer program that makes it possible to view entries in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) telephone directory by use of PalmPilot(TradeMark) (or equivalent) personal digital assistants. When one uses eDirectory, a single click causes the downloading of a current copy of the directory (which is updated nightly) from a server. The downloaded directory data can be sorted and searched. The program can append a "JPL" category and save directory information in a file that can be imported into the Palm Desktop(TradeMark) software.

  20. [Screening for dementia using telephone interviews. An evaluation and reliability study of the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) in its modified German version].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matrisch, M; Trampisch, U; Klaassen-Mielke, R; Pientka, L; Trampisch, H J; Thiem, U

    2012-04-01

    To assess cognitive impairment or dementia in epidemiologic studies using telephone interviews for data acquisition, valid, reliable and short instruments suitable for telephone administration are required. For the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) in its modified German version, the only instrument used in Germany so far, more data on reliability and practicability are needed. Participants were recruited in the offices of nine primary care physicians. Data from 197 participants (115 females, mean age 78.5±4.1 years) who were tested by telephone and in the office by means of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) were used for the evaluation. For assessing reliability, a group of 91 participants (55 females, mean age 78.1±4.1 years) was contacted twice during 30 days to be tested during a telephone interview by means of the TICS in its modified German version. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), a measure of reliability, was 0.67 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.53; 0.77]. The Bland-Altman plot did not reveal any relationship between the variability of the difference between repeated measures and the total amount of the measure. For the overall TICS score, no differences were found between repeated measurements. However, the tasks recall of the word list and counting backwards showed some improvement in the repeated tests. TICS and MMSE showed only moderate correlation, with a correlation coefficient of 0.48 (95% CI: 0.36; 0.58). TICS values were dependent on age and educational level of the person tested. The TICS in its modified German version appears to be of acceptable reliability for the assessment of cognitive impairment during a telephone interview. TICS values depend on age and educational level of the person tested. TICS and MMSE correlate only moderately.

  1. Openings and Closings in Telephone Conversations between Native Spanish Speakers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coronel-Molina, Serafin M.

    1998-01-01

    A study analyzed the opening and closing sequences of 11 dyads of native Spanish-speakers in natural telephone conversations conducted in Spanish. The objective was to determine how closely Hispanic cultural patterns of conduct for telephone conversations follow the sequences outlined in previous research. It is concluded that Spanish…

  2. Maintenance of the telephone exchange in building 40

    CERN Multimedia

    2006-01-01

    In order to secure the power supply of the telephone exchange in building 40, a maintenance will be done on the 18th of December from 7.30 am to 8 am. During this intervention, the fixed telephony services in building 39 and 40 will be interrupted. The fixed telephony services in other CERN buildings won't be affected by this maintenance. The mobile telephony services (GSM) won't be affected. For more details, please send your questions to Standard.Telephone@cern.ch Telecom Services IT/CS

  3. Maintenance of CERN telephone exchanges

    CERN Multimedia

    2005-01-01

    A maintenance of CERN telephone exchanges will be performed on 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th of September from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Disturbances or even interruptions of telephony services may occur during this lapse of time. We apology in advance for any inconveniences that this may cause.

  4. Telephone based weight loss intervention: Relevance for developing countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ayisi Addo, Sandra; Steiner-Asiedu, Matilda

    2018-02-08

    Obesity is a major public health challenge not only for developed but developing countries as well. The World Health Organization recommends the immediate use of effective, efficient and widely accessible weight loss interventions. Telephone based weight loss intervention could provide a cheaper and wider reach of obese participants. Previous systematic reviews on telephone based weight loss interventions either excluded studies that had obese participants with co-morbidities or were silent on their inclusion. Obese/overweight individuals with co-morbidities constitute an important population in any weight loss intervention study due to the strong association of obesity with major chronic health conditions. This paper, reviews the efficacy of telephone based weight loss intervention solely in overweight/obese individuals with obesity related diseases and discusses its relevance for developing countries.

  5. Tumour risk associated with use of cellular telephones or cordless desktop telephones

    OpenAIRE

    Hardell, Lennart; Mild, Kjell Hansson; Carlberg, Michael; Söderqvist, Fredrik

    2006-01-01

    Abstract Background The use of cellular and cordless telephones has increased dramatically during the last decade. There is concern of health problems such as malignant diseases due to microwave exposure during the use of these devices. The brain is the main target organ. Methods Since the second part of the 1990's we have performed six case-control studies on this topic encompassing use of both cellular and cordless phones as well as other exposures. Three of the studies concerned brain tumo...

  6. Testing a Model of Functional Impairment in Telephone Crisis Support Workers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitchingman, Taneile A; Wilson, Coralie J; Caputi, Peter; Wilson, Ian; Woodward, Alan

    2017-11-01

    It is well known that helping professionals experience functional impairment related to elevated symptoms of psychological distress as a result of frequent empathic engagement with distressed others. Whether telephone crisis support workers are impacted in a similar way is not currently reported in the literature. The purpose of this study was to test a hypothesized model of factors contributing to functional impairment in telephone crisis support workers. A national sample of 210 telephone crisis support workers completed an online survey including measures of emotion regulation, symptoms of general psychological distress and suicidal ideation, intentions to seek help for symptoms, and functional impairment. Structural equation modeling was used to test the fit of the data to the hypothesized model. Goodness-of-fit indices were adequate and supported the interactive effects of emotion regulation, general psychological distress, suicidal ideation, and intentions to seek help for ideation on functional impairment. These results warrant the deliberate management of telephone crisis support workers' impairment through service selection, training, supervision, and professional development strategies. Future research replicating and extending this model will further inform the modification and/or development of strategies to optimize telephone crisis support workers' well-being and delivery of support to callers.

  7. Emergency telephone consultations: a new course for medical students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaufelberger, Mireille; Harris, Michael; Frey, Peter

    2012-12-01

    Using the telephone for consultations is now common practice. Although there is a clear need for specific training for telephone consultations, it is uncommon for it to be taught in medical school. A practical course on emergency telephone consultations (ECTs) was designed for the medical degree course at the University of Bern Medical School. During the module, each of the volunteer fifth-year medical students had to perform two simulated telephone consultations. Medical students in their first year of medical school acted as simulated patients (SPs), and they gave immediate feedback to the participants. Nineteen per cent of fifth-year students voluntarily undertook the ETC course. The course was rated 'very informative' by 68 per cent of the participants, and 'informative' by 32 per cent. Ninety-four per cent of the attendees recorded a personal learning gain, and 68 per cent suggested that the course should be obligatory. All the participants thought that the SPs played their roles realistically. In their rating of the ETC, the fifth-year students gave it a mean mark of 5.5 (out of a maximum of 6), suggesting that they thought it had been very successful. Students became aware of their need for ETC training through the course itself, and they recommended that it should be obligatory. The ETC pilot received a highly positive response from lead clinicians who anticipated a rising number of telephone consultations, and who have to deal with trainees who have not been taught about how to deal with ETCs. As a result, the Faculty of Medicine decided to make the course obligatory. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012.

  8. Telephone Care Management of Fall Risk:: A Feasibility Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phelan, Elizabeth A; Pence, Maureen; Williams, Barbara; MacCornack, Frederick A

    2017-03-01

    Care management has been found to be more effective than usual care for some chronic conditions, but few studies have tested care management for prevention of elder falls. This study aimed to assess the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of telephone care management of older adults presenting for medical attention due to a fall. The setting was an independent practice association in western Washington serving 1,300 Medicare Advantage-insured patients. Patients aged ≥65 years treated for a fall in an emergency department or their primary care provider's office were contacted via telephone by a care manager within 48 hours of their fall-related visit and invited to participate in a telephone-administered interview to identify modifiable fall risk factors and receive recommendations and follow-up to address identified risk factors. Data from care manager records, patient medical records, and healthcare claims for the first 6 months (November 2009-April 2010) of program implementation were analyzed in 2011. The feasibility of screening and management of fall risk factors over the telephone and the effect on medically attended falls were assessed. Twenty-two patients eligible for fall care management were reached and administered the protocol. Administration took 15-20 minutes and integrated easily with the care manager's other responsibilities. Follow-through on recommendations varied, from 45% for those for whom exercise participation was recommended to 100% for other recommendations. No medically attended falls occurred over 6 months of follow-up. Telephone care management of fall risk appears feasible and may reduce falls requiring medical attention. Copyright © 2016 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. GYNOTEL: telephone advice to gynaecological surgical patients after discharge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caljouw, Monique A A; Hogendorf-Burgers, Marja E H J

    2010-12-01

    To investigate in surgical gynaecological patients the types of health problems arising or persisting up to six weeks after discharge and the effectiveness of telephone advice. The decreasing length of hospital stay has increased the need for specific instructions about the postdischarge period. Telephone advice could be a valuable tool to address this problem. To our knowledge, postdischarge health problems and the value of telephone advice have not been investigated among gynaecological patients. Randomised controlled trial. Gynaecological patients expected to stay in the ward longer than 24 hour were invited to participate. A pilot study showed that wound healing, pain, mobility, urination, defecation and vaginal bleeding were the most common health problems postdischarge. Based on that information, guidelines were formulated that were used by trained nurses to give telephone advice to the intervention group (n=235), in addition to the usual care. The control group of gynaecological patients (n=233) received usual care only. Of all 468 participants, about 50% were operated for general gynaecology. At discharge, wound pain (56%), mobility problems (54%) and constipation (27%) were the most frequently mentioned problems in both groups. Participants who completely followed the advice with regard to wound healing (p=0.02), pain (p=0.01), vaginal bleeding (p=0.03) and mobility (p=0.04) experienced greater improvement than participants who did not follow, or only partly followed, the advice. The telephone advice appears to make a significant contribution to help gynaecological surgical patients to solve or reduce their postdischarge health problems. The positive effect of such advice can be interpreted as an improvement in the quality of life of the postoperative gynaecological patient. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  10. Low-Income Demand for Local Telephone Service: Effects of Lifeline and Linkup

    OpenAIRE

    Daniel Ackerberg; Michael Riordan; Gregory Rosston; Bradley Wimmer

    2008-01-01

    A comprehensive data set on local telephone service prices is used to evaluate the effect of Lifeline and Linkup programs on the telephone penetration rates of low-income households in the United States. Lifeline and Linkup programs respectively subsidize the monthly subscription and initial installation charges of eligible low-income households. Telephone penetration rates are explained by an estimated nonlinear function of local service characteristics (including subsidized prices) and the ...

  11. Strategies for Suicide Intervention by Telephone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinson, Jennifer

    1982-01-01

    Describes techniques helpful for telephone counselors dealing with suicide intervention, including reinstating control, reducing anxiety through problem clarification, and providing hope by active listening and tolerance of dispositions. The use of time-outs and detective work is also discussed. (JAC)

  12. Survey on the Use of Mobile Telephone for Micro and Small ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Survey on the Use of Mobile Telephone for Micro and Small Business ... In Ghana, as in other developing countries, mobile telephones are pervasive, and used ... to announce that the first call for applications for the new Early Career Women.

  13. Gesturing on the Telephone: Independent Effects of Dialogue and Visibility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bavelas, Janet; Gerwing, Jennifer; Sutton, Chantelle; Prevost, Danielle

    2008-01-01

    Speakers often gesture in telephone conversations, even though they are not visible to their addressees. To test whether this effect is due to being in a dialogue, we separated visibility and dialogue with three conditions: face-to-face dialogue (10 dyads), telephone dialogue (10 dyads), and monologue to a tape recorder (10 individuals). For the…

  14. Telephone switchboard closure | 19 December

    CERN Multimedia

    2014-01-01

    Exceptionally, the telephone switchboard will close at 4 p.m. on Friday, 19 December, instead of the usual time of 6 p.m., to allow time for closing all systems properly before the annual closure. Therefore, switchboard operator assistance to transfer calls from/to external lines will stop. All other phone services will run as usual.

  15. Speech perception and communication ability over the telephone by Mandarin-speaking children with cochlear implants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Che-Ming; Liu, Tien-Chen; Wang, Nan-Mai; Chao, Wei-Chieh

    2013-08-01

    (1) To understand speech perception and communication ability through real telephone calls by Mandarin-speaking children with cochlear implants and compare them to live-voice perception, (2) to report the general condition of telephone use of this population, and (3) to investigate the factors that correlate with telephone speech perception performance. Fifty-six children with over 4 years of implant use (aged 6.8-13.6 years, mean duration 8.0 years) took three speech perception tests administered using telephone and live voice to examine sentence, monosyllabic-word and Mandarin tone perception. The children also filled out a questionnaire survey investigating everyday telephone use. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the scores between live-voice and telephone tests, and Pearson's test to examine the correlation between them. The mean scores were 86.4%, 69.8% and 70.5% respectively for sentence, word and tone recognition over the telephone. The corresponding live-voice mean scores were 94.3%, 84.0% and 70.8%. Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed the sentence and word scores were significantly different between telephone and live voice test, while the tone recognition scores were not, indicating tone perception was less worsened by telephone transmission than words and sentences. Spearman's test showed that chronological age and duration of implant use were weakly correlated with the perception test scores. The questionnaire survey showed 78% of the children could initiate phone calls and 59% could use the telephone 2 years after implantation. Implanted children are potentially capable of using the telephone 2 years after implantation, and communication ability over the telephone becomes satisfactory 4 years after implantation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Effects of Using Licensed Practical Nurses to Assist with Telephone Consultation Management

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Wiley, Jennifer L

    2006-01-01

    .... The study compared means of pre- and post-implementation provider overall job satisfaction, provider satisfaction with the telephone consult process, average daily hours providers spent on telephone...

  17. 75 FR 13471 - Telephone Consumer Protection

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-22

    ... Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) that would harmonize those rules with the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC's... Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) that would harmonize those rules with the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC's...] Telephone Consumer Protection AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission. ACTION: Proposed rule. SUMMARY: In...

  18. Epidemiological Safety Surveillance of Cellular Telephones in the US (invited paper)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dreyer, N.A.; Loughlin, J.E.; Rothman, K.J.

    1999-01-01

    In 1994 a surveillance programme was initiated to monitor the effects of exposure to the human head from radiofrequency waves, such as those emitted from handheld cellular telephones. Cellular carriers contributed information about 1.5 million telephone account holders, their phones and two months of data on minutes used and number of calls. Cellular telephone manufacturers provided data that allowed classification of phones as analogue or digital and a handheld or mobile (car or bag) for 67% of the phones. Thus far 1,021,767 individuals have been identified who had at least one active cellular telephone account in 1994 and/or 1995 and who used either a handheld (41%) or a mobile (59%) phone during the study period, but not both. Seventy-four per cent of the cohort had used their cellular phone for ≥2 years, and 30% for ≥3 years. (author)

  19. 47 CFR 22.925 - Prohibition on airborne operation of cellular telephones.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Prohibition on airborne operation of cellular... CARRIER SERVICES PUBLIC MOBILE SERVICES Cellular Radiotelephone Service § 22.925 Prohibition on airborne operation of cellular telephones. Cellular telephones installed in or carried aboard airplanes, balloons or...

  20. Recruiting to Clinical Trials on the Telephone - a randomized controlled trial

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Foss, Kim Thestrup; Kjærgaard, Jesper; Stensballe, Lone Graff

    2016-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Informed consent is an essential element of clinical research. Obtaining consent, however, may be challenging. The use of the telephone for giving information and obtaining consent may be practical but little formal research has been done. METHODS: We examined the use of the telephone...

  1. Evaluation of a wireless audio streaming accessory to improve mobile telephone performance of cochlear implant users.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolfe, Jace; Morais Duke, Mila; Schafer, Erin; Cire, George; Menapace, Christine; O'Neill, Lori

    2016-01-01

    The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential improvement in word recognition in quiet and in noise obtained with use of a Bluetooth-compatible wireless hearing assistance technology (HAT) relative to the acoustic mobile telephone condition (e.g. the mobile telephone receiver held to the microphone of the sound processor). A two-way repeated measures design was used to evaluate differences in telephone word recognition obtained in quiet and in competing noise in the acoustic mobile telephone condition compared to performance obtained with use of the CI sound processor and a telephone HAT. Sixteen adult users of Nucleus cochlear implants and the Nucleus 6 sound processor were included in this study. Word recognition over the mobile telephone in quiet and in noise was significantly better with use of the wireless HAT compared to performance in the acoustic mobile telephone condition. Word recognition over the mobile telephone was better in quiet when compared to performance in noise. The results of this study indicate that use of a wireless HAT improves word recognition over the mobile telephone in quiet and in noise relative to performance in the acoustic mobile telephone condition for a group of adult cochlear implant recipients.

  2. 75 FR 78269 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Telephone...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-12-15

    ... for OMB Review; Comment Request; Telephone Point of Purchase Survey ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The... information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Telephone Point of Purchase Survey,'' to the Office [email protected] . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of the Telephone Point of Purchase Survey is to...

  3. CONFUSION WITH TELEPHONE NUMBERS

    CERN Multimedia

    Telecom Service

    2002-01-01

    he area code is now required for all telephone calls within Switzerland. Unfortunately this is causing some confusion. CERN has received complaints that incoming calls intended for CERN mobile phones are being directed to private subscribers. This is caused by mistakenly dialing the WRONG code (e.g. 022) in front of the mobile number. In order to avoid these problems, please inform your correspondents that the correct numbers are: 079 201 XXXX from Switzerland; 0041 79 201 XXXX from other countries. Telecom Service

  4. Assessment of real exposure to GSM mobile telephones using the SYRPOM

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Picard, D.; Fouquet, L.; Chauvin, S.

    2013-01-01

    A mobile telephone user's exposure to the radio-frequency electromagnetic field depends heavily on the power their telephone radiates, which can vary widely according to requests from the base station. This study presents the design and development of a system called System for Radiated Power Measurement (SYRPOM), which measures the power radiated by a mobile telephone. This study also describes the tests carried out on the system itself and gives the results of two measuring campaigns it has been possible to perform in this way. The first such campaign consisted of assessing the mean power received by a typical mobile telephone user carrying out various activities. The second campaign was aimed at (1) comparing the mean radiated power when stationary and when moving and (2) assessing and contrasting different models of handsets in terms of the mean radiated power. The SYRPOM has proved to be a flexible, easy-to-use high-performance and innovative tool for carrying out this kind of studies. (authors)

  5. 78 FR 78389 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Telephone...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-12-26

    ... for OMB Review; Comment Request; Telephone Point of Purchase Survey ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The... request (ICR) revision titled, ``Telephone Point of Purchase Survey,'' to the Office of Management and... seeks to make minor modifications to the Telephone Point of Purchase Survey (TPOPS) and extend its PRA...

  6. Validation of a telephone screening test for Alzheimer's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Camozzato, Ana Luiza; Kochhann, Renata; Godinho, Claudia; Costa, Amanda; Chaves, Marcia L

    2011-03-01

    Financial constraints, mobility issues, medical conditions, crime in local areas can make cognitive assessment difficult for elders and telephone interviews can be a good alternative. This study was carried out to evaluate the reliability, validity and clinical utility of a Brazilian telephone version of the Mini Mental State Examination (Braztel-MMSE) in a community sample of healthy elderly participants and AD patients. The MMSE and the Braztel-MMSE were applied to 66 AD patients and 67 healthy elderly participants. The test-retest reliability was strong and significant (r = .92, p = .01), and the correlation between the Braztel-MMSE and the MMSE were significant (p = .01) and strong (r = .92). The general screening ability of the Braztel-MMSE was high (AUC = 0.982; CI95% = 0.964-1.001). This telephone version can therefore be used as a screening measure for dementia in older adults that need neuropsychological screening and cannot present for an evaluation.

  7. Post-operative telephone review is cost-effective and acceptable to patients.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Gray, R T

    2012-02-01

    INTRODUCTION: Patients undergoing selective minor emergency and elective procedures are followed up by a nurse-led structured telephone review six weeks post-operatively in our hospital. Our study objectives were to review patients\\' satisfaction, assess cost-effectiveness and compare our practice with other surgical units in Northern Ireland (NI). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Completed telephone follow-up forms were reviewed retrospectively for a three-year period and cost savings calculated. Fifty patients were contacted prospectively by telephone using a questionnaire to assess satisfaction of this follow-up. A postal questionnaire was sent to 68 general and vascular surgeons in NI, assessing individual preferences for patient follow-up. RESULTS: A total of 1378 patients received a telephone review from September 2005 to September 2008. One thousand one hundred and seventy-seven (85.4%) were successfully contacted, while 201 (14.6%) did not respond despite multiple attempts. One hundred and forty-seven respondents (10.7%) required further outpatient follow-up, thereby saving 1231 outpatient reviews, equivalent to pound41,509 per annum. Thirty-nine (78%) patients expected post-operative follow-up, with 29 (58%) expecting this in the outpatient department. However, all patients were satisfied with the nurse-led telephone review. Fifty-three (78%) consultants responded. Those who always, or occasionally, review patients post-operatively varies according to the operation performed, ranging from 2.2% appendicectomy patients to 40.0% for varicose vein surgery. CONCLUSION: Current practice in NI varies, but a significant proportion of patients are not routinely reviewed. This study confirmed that patients expect post-operative follow-up. A nurse-led telephone review service is acceptable to patients, cost-effective and reduces the number of unnecessary outpatient reviews.

  8. CONFUSION WITH TELEPHONE NUMBERS

    CERN Multimedia

    Telecom Service

    2002-01-01

    The area code is now required for all telephone calls within Switzerland. Unfortunately this is causing some confusion. CERN has received complaints that incoming calls intended for CERN mobile phones are being directed to private subscribers. This is caused by mistakenly dialing the WRONG code (e.g. 022) in front of the mobile number. In order to avoid these problems, please inform your correspondents that the correct numbers are: 079 201 XXXX from Switzerland; 0041 79 201 XXXX from other countries. Telecom Service  

  9. Effects of a Mail and Telephone Intervention on Breast Health Behaviors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowen, Deborah J.; Powers, Diane

    2010-01-01

    This study evaluated a mail and telephone intervention to improve breast health behaviors while maintaining quality of life. Women recruited from the general public were randomized to a stepped-intensity intervention consisting of mailings, telephone calls, and counseling (if requested or appropriate given a woman's genetic risk for breast cancer)…

  10. Bundling the value of discharge telephone calls and leader rounding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Setia, Nina; Meade, Christine

    2009-03-01

    Discharge telephone calls made by hospital staff provide invaluable opportunities to prevent adverse events, improve quality of care, and increase patient satisfaction. Similarly, the effect of rounding on patients can improve clinical quality and improve both patient and staff satisfaction. The author discusses how the combination of implementing both nurse leader rounding and discharge telephone calls simultaneously produced powerful positive outcomes in satisfaction and patient quality of care.

  11. Weighting Strategies for Combining Data from Dual-Frame Telephone Surveys: Emerging Evidence from Australia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Baffour Bernard

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Until quite recently, telephone surveys have typically relied on landline telephone numbers. However, with the increasing popularity and affordability of mobile phones, there has been a surge in households that do not have landline connections. Additionally, there has been a decline in the response rates and population coverage of landline telephone surveys, creating a challenge to collecting representative social data. Dual-frame telephone surveys that use both landline and mobile phone sampling frames can overcome the incompleteness of landline-only telephone sampling. However, surveying mobile phone users introduces new complexities in sampling, nonresponse measurement and statistical weighting. This article examines these issues and illustrates the consequences of failing to include mobile-phone-only users in telephone surveys using data from Australia. Results show that there are significant differences in estimates of populations’ characteristics when using information solely from the landline or mobile telephone sample. These biases in the population estimates are significantly reduced when data from the mobile and landline samples are combined and appropriate dual-frame survey estimators are used. The optimal choice of a dual-frame estimation strategy depends on the availability of good-quality information that can account for the differential patterns of nonresponse by frame.

  12. Improving Posthospital Discharge Telephone Reach Rates Through Prehospital Discharge Face-to-Face Meetings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vergara, Franz H; Sheridan, Daniel J; Sullivan, Nancy J; Budhathoki, Chakra

    The purpose of this study was to determine whether a face-to-face meeting with patients by a telephonic case manager prehospital discharge would result in increased telephone follow-up (TFU) reach rates posthospital discharge. Acute care adult medicine inpatient units. A quasiexperimental design was utilized. Two adult inpatient medicine units were selected as the intervention and comparison groups. The framework of the study is the transitions theory. A convenience sampling technique was used, whereby 88 eligible patients on the intervention unit received face-to-face meetings prehospital discharge whereas 123 patients on the comparison unit received standard care (no face-to-face meetings). Cross-tabulation and chi-square tests were employed to examine the association of face-to-face meeting intervention and TFU reach rates. Implementing brief (face-to-face meetings by a telephonic case manager prehospital discharge resulted in a TFU reach rate of 87% on the intervention unit, whereas the comparison unit only had a 58% TFU reach rate (p communication with more patients posthospital discharge. A brief prehospital discharge face-to-face meeting with patients assisted them to understand the reasons for a posthospital discharge telephone call, identified the best times to call using accurate telephone numbers, and taught patients how best to prepare for the call. In addition, by meeting patients face-to-face, the telephonic case manager was no longer an unknown person on the telephone asking them questions about their medical condition. These factors combined may have significantly helped to increase TFU reach rates.

  13. Efficacy and experiences of telephone counselling for informal carers of people with dementia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lins, Sabine; Hayder-Beichel, Daniela; Rücker, Gerta; Motschall, Edith; Antes, Gerd; Meyer, Gabriele; Langer, Gero

    2014-09-01

    Informal carers of people with dementia can suffer from depressive symptoms, emotional distress and other physiological, social and financial consequences. This review focuses on three main objectives:To:1) produce a quantitative review of the efficacy of telephone counselling for informal carers of people with dementia;2) synthesize qualitative studies to explore carers' experiences of receiving telephone counselling and counsellors' experiences of conducting telephone counselling; and3) integrate 1) and 2) to identify aspects of the intervention that are valued and work well, and those interventional components that should be improved or redesigned. The Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group's Specialized Register, The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, MEDLINE in Process, EMBASE, CINAHL, PSYNDEX, PsycINFO, Web of Science, DIMDI databases, Springer database, Science direct and trial registers were searched on 3 May 2011 and updated on 25 February 2013. A Forward Citation search was conducted for included studies in Web of Science and Google Scholar. We used the Related Articles service of PubMed for included studies, contacted experts and hand-searched abstracts of five congresses. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) or cross-over trials that compared telephone counselling for informal carers of people with dementia against no treatment, usual care or friendly calls for chatting were included evaluation of efficacy. Qualitative studies with qualitative methods of data collection and analysis were also included to address experiences with telephone counselling. Two authors independently screened articles for inclusion criteria, extracted data and assessed the quantitative trials with the Cochrane 'Risk of bias' tool and the qualitative studies with the Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) tool. The authors conducted meta-analyses, but reported some results in narrative form due to clinical heterogeneity. The authors synthesised the qualitative data and

  14. Mapping crime scenes and cellular telephone usage

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Schmitz, Peter MU

    2000-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes a method that uses a desktop geographical information system (GIS) to plot cellular telephone conversations made when crimes are committed, such as hijackings, hostage taking, kidnapping, rape and murder. The maps produced...

  15. Work on the CERN telephone exchanges

    CERN Multimedia

    2006-01-01

    Corrective maintenance work on the CERN telephone exchanges will be carried out on 13th March 2006, resulting in service interruptions across the west area of the Meyrin site between 9.00 p.m. and 11.00 p.m. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. CERN TELECOM Service Tel.: 76111 GSM: 160101

  16. Maintenance of CERN telephone exchanges - erratum

    CERN Document Server

    2005-01-01

    The next maintenance of CERN telephone exchanges will be performed on 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd of September from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Disturbances or even interruptions of telephony services may occur during this lapse of time. We apology in advance for any inconveniences that this may cause.

  17. 47 CFR 36.331 - Information origination/termination expenses-Account 6310 (Class B telephone companies); Accounts...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... telephone companies). (a) The expenses in this account are classified as follows: (1) Other Information... 47 Telecommunication 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Information origination/termination expenses-Account 6310 (Class B telephone companies); Accounts 6311, 6341, 6351, and 6362 (Class A telephone...

  18. Telephone Crisis Support Workers' Intentions to Use Recommended Skills While Experiencing Functional Impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitchingman, Taneile A; Wilson, Coralie J; Woodward, Alan; Caputi, Peter; Wilson, Ian

    2018-05-01

    Empathic engagement with distressed others can lead to elevated symptoms of psychological distress and functional impairment, which preclude helping professionals' delivery of optimal patient care. Whether telephone crisis support workers are impacted in a similar way is not currently reported in the literature. This study examined the relationship between functional impairment and intentions to use recommended support skills in a representative national sample of 210 telephone crisis support workers. Participants completed an online survey including measures of functional impairment and intentions to use recommended telephone crisis support skills with callers reporting suicidal ideation, symptoms of depression, and anxiety. As a group, participants who experienced greater functional impairment during the past month reported significantly lower intentions to use recommended support skills with callers than those who reported lower functional impairment. Future research is needed to clarify the extent to which results generalize to telephone crisis support workers from other organizations. Results warrant further research to (a) identify determinants of telephone crisis support workers' functional impairment, and (b) for the deliberate management of telephone crisis support workers' functional impairment through developing and/or modifying existing service strategies to optimize workers' psychological well-being and delivery of support to callers.

  19. Mobile and cordless telephones, serum transthyretin and the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier: a cross-sectional study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlberg Michael

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Whether low-intensity radiofrequency radiation damages the blood-brain barrier has long been debated, but little or no consideration has been given to the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier. In this cross-sectional study we tested whether long-term and/or short-term use of wireless telephones was associated with changes in the serum transthyretin level, indicating altered transthyretin concentration in the cerebrospinal fluid, possibly reflecting an effect of radiation. Methods One thousand subjects, 500 of each sex aged 18–65 years, were randomly recruited using the population registry. Data on wireless telephone use were assessed by a postal questionnaire and blood samples were analyzed for serum transthyretin concentrations determined by standard immunonephelometric techniques on a BN Prospec® instrument. Results The response rate was 31.4%. Logistic regression of dichotomized TTR serum levels with a cut-point of 0.31 g/l on wireless telephone use yielded increased odds ratios that were statistically not significant. Linear regression of time since first use overall and on the day that blood was withdrawn gave different results for males and females: for men significantly higher serum concentrations of TTR were seen the longer an analogue telephone or a mobile and cordless desktop telephone combined had been used, and in contrast, significantly lower serum levels were seen the longer an UMTS telephone had been used. Adjustment for fractions of use of the different telephone types did not modify the effect for cumulative use or years since first use for mobile telephone and DECT, combined. For women, linear regression gave a significant association for short-term use of mobile and cordless telephones combined, indicating that the sooner blood was withdrawn after the most recent telephone call, the higher the expected transthyretin concentration. Conclusion In this hypothesis-generating descriptive study time since first

  20. 30 CFR 56.12069 - Lightning protection for telephone wires and ungrounded conductors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Lightning protection for telephone wires and... NONMETAL MINES Electricity § 56.12069 Lightning protection for telephone wires and ungrounded conductors... lightning shall be equipped with suitable lightning arrestors of approved type within 100 feet of the point...

  1. 30 CFR 57.12069 - Lightning protection for telephone wires and ungrounded conductors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Lightning protection for telephone wires and... AND NONMETAL MINES Electricity Surface Only § 57.12069 Lightning protection for telephone wires and... exposed to lightning shall be equipped with suitable lightning arrestors of approved type within 100 feet...

  2. Telephone reminders reduced the non-attendance rate in a gastroenterology outpatient clinic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeppesen, Maja Haunstrup; Ainsworth, Mark Andrew

    2015-06-01

    Non-attendance is a global health-care problem. The aim of the present study was 1) to investigate if a telephone reminder could reduce the non-attendance rate, 2) to study reasons for non-attendance and 3) to evaluate if a permanent implementation would be economically advantageous in a gastroenterology outpatient clinic like ours. This was a comparative intervention study with a historical control group in a gastroenterology outpatient clinic. The study lasted six months. Patients with a scheduled appointment in the first three-month period received no reminder (control group, n = 2,705). Patients in the following three-month period were reminded by telephone one weekday in advance of their appointment, when possible (intervention group, n = 2,479). Non-attending patients in the intervention group received a questionnaire. Based on the results, a financial cost-benefit analysis was made. In the intervention group, 1,577 (64%) patients answered the reminder telephone call. The non-attendance rate was significantly lower in the intervention group (6.1%) than in the control group (10.5%) (p < 0.00001). Only 1.3% of the patients who answered the reminder turned out to be non-attendees. The most common explanation for non-attendance in the intervention group was forgetfulness (39%). The reminder telephone call was cost-effective. In this outpatient clinic, telephone reminders were cost-effective and significantly reduced the non-attendance rate by 43%.

  3. Modeling Auditory-Haptic Interface Cues from an Analog Multi-line Telephone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Begault, Durand R.; Anderson, Mark R.; Bittner, Rachael M.

    2012-01-01

    The Western Electric Company produced a multi-line telephone during the 1940s-1970s using a six-button interface design that provided robust tactile, haptic and auditory cues regarding the "state" of the communication system. This multi-line telephone was used as a model for a trade study comparison of two interfaces: a touchscreen interface (iPad)) versus a pressure-sensitive strain gauge button interface (Phidget USB interface controllers). The experiment and its results are detailed in the authors' AES 133rd convention paper " Multimodal Information Management: Evaluation of Auditory and Haptic Cues for NextGen Communication Dispays". This Engineering Brief describes how the interface logic, visual indications, and auditory cues of the original telephone were synthesized using MAX/MSP, including the logic for line selection, line hold, and priority line activation.

  4. 75 FR 8112 - In the Matter of Certain Mobile Telephones and Wireless Communication Devices Featuring Digital...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-02-23

    ... importation of certain mobile telephones and wireless communication devices featuring digital cameras, and... importation of certain mobile telephones or wireless communication devices featuring digital cameras, or... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [Inv. No. 337-TA-703] In the Matter of Certain Mobile Telephones...

  5. Emotion Analysis of Telephone Complaints from Customer Based on Affective Computing

    OpenAIRE

    Gong, Shuangping; Dai, Yonghui; Ji, Jun; Wang, Jinzhao; Sun, Hai

    2015-01-01

    Customer complaint has been the important feedback for modern enterprises to improve their product and service quality as well as the customer's loyalty. As one of the commonly used manners in customer complaint, telephone communication carries rich emotional information of speeches, which provides valuable resources for perceiving the customer's satisfaction and studying the complaint handling skills. This paper studies the characteristics of telephone complaint speeches and proposes an anal...

  6. Structured telephone support or non-invasive telemonitoring for patients with heart failure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inglis, Sally C; Clark, Robyn A; Dierckx, Riet; Prieto-Merino, David; Cleland, John G F

    2015-10-31

    Specialised disease management programmes for heart failure aim to improve care, clinical outcomes and/or reduce healthcare utilisation. Since the last version of this review in 2010, several new trials of structured telephone support and non-invasive home telemonitoring have been published which have raised questions about their effectiveness. To review randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of structured telephone support or non-invasive home telemonitoring compared to standard practice for people with heart failure, in order to quantify the effects of these interventions over and above usual care. We updated the searches of the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE), Health Technology AsseFssment Database (HTA) on the Cochrane Library; MEDLINE (OVID), EMBASE (OVID), CINAHL (EBSCO), Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Conference Proceedings Citation Index- Science (CPCI-S) on Web of Science (Thomson Reuters), AMED, Proquest Theses and Dissertations, IEEE Xplore and TROVE in January 2015. We handsearched bibliographies of relevant studies and systematic reviews and abstract conference proceedings. We applied no language limits. We included only peer-reviewed, published RCTs comparing structured telephone support or non-invasive home telemonitoring to usual care of people with chronic heart failure. The intervention or usual care could not include protocol-driven home visits or more intensive than usual (typically four to six weeks) clinic follow-up. We present data as risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Primary outcomes included all-cause mortality, all-cause and heart failure-related hospitalisations, which we analysed using a fixed-effect model. Other outcomes included length of stay, health-related quality of life, heart failure knowledge and self care, acceptability and cost; we described and tabulated these. We performed meta-regression to assess homogeneity (the

  7. Internet-based CBT for depression with and without telephone tracking in a national helpline: randomised controlled trial.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Louise Farrer

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Telephone helplines are frequently and repeatedly used by individuals with chronic mental health problems and web interventions may be an effective tool for reducing depression in this population. AIM: To evaluate the effectiveness of a 6 week, web-based cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT intervention with and without proactive weekly telephone tracking in the reduction of depression in callers to a helpline service. METHOD: 155 callers to a national helpline service with moderate to high psychological distress were recruited and randomised to receive either Internet CBT plus weekly telephone follow-up; Internet CBT only; weekly telephone follow-up only; or treatment as usual. RESULTS: Depression was lower in participants in the web intervention conditions both with and without telephone tracking compared to the treatment as usual condition both at post intervention and at 6 month follow-up. Telephone tracking provided by a lay telephone counsellor did not confer any additional advantage in terms of symptom reduction or adherence. CONCLUSIONS: A web-based CBT program is effective both with and without telephone tracking for reducing depression in callers to a national helpline. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Controlled-Trials.comISRCTN93903959.

  8. Telephone delivered interventions for reducing morbidity and mortality in people with HIV infection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gentry, Sarah; van-Velthoven, Michelle H M M T; Tudor Car, Lorainne; Car, Josip

    2013-05-31

    This is one of three Cochrane reviews examining the role of the telephone in HIV/AIDS services. Telephone interventions, delivered either by landline or mobile phone, may be useful in the management of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in many situations. Telephone delivered interventions have the potential to reduce costs, save time and facilitate more support for PLHIV. To assess the effectiveness of voice landline and mobile telephone delivered interventions for reducing morbidity and mortality in people with HIV infection. We searched The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, PubMed Central, EMBASE, PsycINFO, ISI Web of Science, Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health, World Health Organisation's The Global Health Library and Current Controlled Trials from 1980 to June 2011. We searched the following grey literature sources: Dissertation Abstracts International, Centre for Agriculture Bioscience International Direct Global Health database, The System for Information on Grey Literature Europe, The Healthcare Management Information Consortium database, Google Scholar, Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, International AIDS Society, AIDS Educational Global Information System and reference lists of articles. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs), quasi-randomised controlled trials, controlled before and after studies, and interrupted time series studies comparing the effectiveness of telephone delivered interventions for reducing morbidity and mortality in persons with HIV infection versus in-person interventions or usual care, regardless of demographic characteristics and in all settings. Both mobile and landline telephone interventions were included, but mobile phone messaging interventions were excluded. Two reviewers independently searched, screened, assessed study quality and extracted data. Primary outcomes were change in behaviour, healthcare uptake or clinical outcomes. Secondary outcomes were appropriateness of the

  9. An assessesment of telephone assistance systems for caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garzón-Maldonado, F J; Gutiérrez-Bedmar, M; Serrano-Castro, V; Requena-Toro, M V; Padilla-Romero, L; García-Casares, N

    Telephone assistance is a common practice in neurology, although there are only a few studies about this type of healthcare. We have evaluated a Telephone Assistance System (TAS) for caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) from 2 points of view: financially and according to the level of satisfaction of the caregiver. 97 patients with a diagnosis of AD according to NINCDS-ADRDA criteria and their 97 informal caregivers were selected. We studied cost differences between on-site assistance and telephone assistance (TAS) for 12 months. We used a self-administered questionnaire to assess the level of satisfaction of caregivers at the end of the study period. TAS savings amounted to 80.05 ± 27.07 euros per user. 73.6% of the caregivers consider TAS a better or much better system than on-site assistance, while only 2.6% of the caregivers considered TAS a worse or much worse system than on-site assistance. Telephone assistance systems are an efficient healthcare resource for monitoring patients with AD in neurology departments. Furthermore, the level of user satisfaction was high. We therefore consider that telephone assistance service should be offered by healthcare services. Copyright © 2016 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  10. Telephone Encounters Predict Future High Financial Expenditures in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients: A 3-Year Prospective Observational Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Click, Benjamin; Anderson, Alyce M; Ramos Rivers, Claudia; Koutroubakis, Ioannis E; Hashash, Jana G; Dunn, Michael A; Schwartz, Marc; Swoger, Jason; Barrie, Arthur; Szigethy, Eva; Regueiro, Miguel; Schoen, Robert E; Binion, David G

    2018-04-01

    Telephone activity is essential in management of complex chronic diseases including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Telephone encounters logged in the electronic medical record have recently been proposed as a surrogate marker of disease activity and impending health care utilization; however, the association between telephone calls and financial expenditures has not been evaluated. We performed a 3-year prospective observational study of telephone encounters logged at a tertiary referral IBD center. We analyzed patient demographics, disease characteristics, comorbidities, clinical activity, and health care financial charges by telephone encounter frequency. Eight hundred one patients met inclusion criteria (52.3% female; mean age, 44.1 y), accounted for 12,669 telephone encounters, and accrued $70,513,449 in charges over 3 years. High telephone encounter frequency was associated with female gender (P=0.003), anxiety/depression (Pfinancial charges the following year after controlling for demographic, utilization, and medication covariates. Increased telephone encounters are associated with significantly higher health care utilization and financial expenditures. Increased call frequency is predictive of future health care spending. Telephone encounters are a useful tool to identify patients at risk of clinical deterioration and large financial expense.

  11. Effects of enterostomal nurse telephone follow-up on postoperative adjustment of discharged colostomy patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jun-e; Wong, Frances Kam Yuet; You, Li-ming; Zheng, Mei-chun; Li, Qiong; Zhang, Bing-yan; Huang, Man-rong; Ye, Xin-Mei; Liang, Ming-juan; Liu, Jin-ling

    2013-01-01

    People with a new colostomy encounter many difficulties as they struggle to adjust to their ostomies. Nurse telephone follow-up is a convenient way to ensure continuity of care. There is a paucity of studies testing if nurse telephone follow-up can enhance adjustment of postdischarged colostomy patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of enterostomal nurse telephone follow-up on the adjustment levels of discharged colostomy patients. This was a randomized controlled trial. Participants (n = 103) who had undergone colostomy operations in China were recruited and randomly assigned to the study or control group. Both the study and control groups received routine discharge care, whereas the study group received 2-3 nurse telephone calls in the follow-up period. The outcome measures included Ostomy Adjustment Scale, Stoma Self-efficacy Scale, satisfaction with care, and stoma complications. Results of this study indicated that participants in the study group had significantly better ostomy adjustment, higher stoma self-efficacy, higher satisfaction with care, and less stoma complications compared with those in the control group. This study provided evidence to support that enterostomal nurse telephone follow-up can improve patient ostomy adjustment level and other related outcomes. Nurse telephone follow-up is an effective intervention to support the adjustment of stoma patients after hospital discharge.

  12. When may doctors give nurses telephonic treatment instructions?

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    When is it legal for doctors to give nurses telephonic treatment instructions? ... telemedicine? Telemedicine is defined as 'the practice of medicine, from a distance, ... [6] Therefore, if in such circumstances the doctors cannot reach the patients in ...

  13. Telephone information-memory-concentration test used in evaluating cognitive function of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma after radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qin Ling; Yang Xiaoye; Li Ling; Deng Zhuoxia

    2009-01-01

    Objective: To investigate the telephone information-memory-concentration test (TIMCT) in evaluating the cognitive function of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) after radiotherapy. Methods: The cognitive function were evaluated by TIMCT and mini mental state examination (MMSE) in 2 weeks for 30 normal persons and 90 NPC patients. And the 90 NPC patients were divided into the 3 months, 2 years and 5 years after radiotherapy groups. All patients were carried out firstly face to face interview and telephone interview 1 time after 2 weeks. Results: The correlation coefficient of all groups between TIMCT(telephone) and TIMCT (face to face) were bigger (R=0.850) when MMSE wasn't control variable. And the correlation coefficients between TIMCT (telephone) and TIMCT (face to face) were lower (R=0.366) when MMSE was control variable. As for examining time was classification factor, TIMCT (telephone) and TIMCT (face to face) were analyzed by partial correlation analysis. Only normal group was correlated with group of 3 months after radiotherapy and group of 2 years after radiotherapy wasn't correlated with group of 5 years after radiotherapy (R=0.447,0.970,0.200 and 0.062). In addition, the difference plot of TIMCT(telephone) and TIMCT (face to face) indicated that telephone was consistent with face to face interview (MMSE≥28). Both telephone and face to face interview reflected the cognitive function downtrend of research objects. Conclusions: TIMCT (telephone), TIMCT(face to face) and MMSE (face to face) can reflect cognitive function downterend of patients with NPC after radiotherapy. But TIMCT(telephone) used in clinical screening cognitive function impairment of patients with NPC after radiotherapy should be improved further. (authors)

  14. Work on the CERN telephone exchanges

    CERN Multimedia

    2004-01-01

    Corrective maintenance work on the CERN telephone exchanges will be carried out on 23 September 2004, resulting in interruptions of service across the whole CERN site between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. and from 7:00 p.m. onwards. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. CERN TELECOM Service Tel.: 76111 GSM: 160026- 163610 Calls between GSM mobile phones will not be affected.

  15. Patient-Provider Communication: Does Electronic Messaging Reduce Incoming Telephone Calls?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dexter, Eve N; Fields, Scott; Rdesinski, Rebecca E; Sachdeva, Bhavaya; Yamashita, Daisuke; Marino, Miguel

    2016-01-01

    Internet-based patient portals are increasingly being implemented throughout health care organizations to enhance health and optimize communication between patients and health professionals. The decision to adopt a patient portal requires careful examination of the advantages and disadvantages of implementation. This study aims to investigate 1 proposed advantage of implementation: alleviating some of the clinical workload faced by employees. A retrospective time-series analysis of the correlation between the rate of electronic patient-to-provider messages-a common attribute of Internet-based patient portals-and incoming telephone calls. The rate of electronic messages and incoming telephone calls were monitored from February 2009 to June 2014 at 4 economically diverse clinics (a federally qualified health center, a rural health clinic, a community-based clinic, and a university-based clinic) related to 1 university hospital. All 4 clinics showed an increase in the rate of portal use as measured by electronic patient-to-provider messaging during the study period. Electronic patient-to-provider messaging was significantly positively correlated with incoming telephone calls at 2 of the clinics (r = 0.546, P electronic patient-to-provider messaging was associated with increased use of telephone calls in 2 of the study clinics. While practices are increasingly making the decision of whether to implement a patient portal as part of their system of care, it is important that the motivation behind such a change not be based on the idea that it will alleviate clinical workload. © Copyright 2016 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

  16. Towards effective telephone-based delivery of government services

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Barnard, E

    2003-09-01

    Full Text Available Government regulations have combined with a tremendous growth in prepaid cellular telephony to bring telephone connectivity to an unprecedented number of South African citizens – thus creating an ideal platform for delivering services to a wide...

  17. The effectiveness of telephone counselling and internet- and text-message-based support for smoking cessation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skov-Ettrup, Lise S; Dalum, Peter; Bech, Mickael

    2016-01-01

    counselling group compared with the booklet group (7.3% vs. 3.6%, OR=2.2 (95% CI 1.2-4.0)), There was no clear evidence of a difference in prolonged abstinence between the reactive telephone counselling group or the internet-based smoking cessation program and the booklet group: 1.8% vs. 3.6%, OR=0.8 (95% CI...... 0.6-1.2) and 5.3% vs. 3.6%, OR=1.6 (95% CI 0.8-3.0) respectively. In the proactive telephone counselling group, the cost per additional 12-month quitter compared with the booklet group was £644. CONCLUSIONS: Proactive telephone counselling was more effective than a self-help booklet in achieving......AIM: To compare the effectiveness of proactive telephone counselling, reactive telephone counselling and an internet- and text messages-based intervention with a self-help booklet for smoking cessation. DESIGN: A randomised controlled trial with equal allocation to four conditions: 1) Proactive...

  18. Supporting Family Carers Through Telephone-Mediated Group Programs: Opportunities For Gerontological Social Workers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shanley, Chris

    2008-01-01

    Telephone-mediated group programs are an important but under-utilized medium for reaching frail or disabled older persons' family carers who are in need of support. The primary purpose and style of group programs can range across a broad spectrum–encompassing educational, supportive and therapeutic types. Gerontological social workers are the members of the multidisciplinary care team whose training, experience and supervision makes them most suitable for facilitating this broad range of group types. Drawing on the experience of training a number of group facilitators, this article provides suggestions for social workers contemplating the use of telephone-mediated groups and highlights groupwork skills peculiar to conducting group programs via the telephone.

  19. Emotional first aid for a suicide crisis: comparison between Telephonic hotline and internet.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilat, Itzhak; Shahar, Golan

    2007-01-01

    The telephone and the internet have become popular sources of psychological help in various types of distress, including a suicide crisis. To gain more insight into the unique features of these media, we compared characteristics of calls to three technologically mediated sources of help that are part of the volunteer-based Israeli Association for Emotional First Aid (ERAN): Telephonic hotline (n = 4426), personal chat (n = 373) and an asynchronous online support group (n = 954). Threats of suicide were much more frequent among participants in the asynchronous support group than the telephone and personal chat. These findings encourage further research into suicide-related interpersonal exchanges in asynchronous online support groups.

  20. Telephone reminders reduced the non-attendance rate in a gastroenterology outpatient clinic

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jeppesen, Maja Haunstrup; Ainsworth, Mark Andrew

    2015-01-01

    in a gastroenterology outpatient clinic like ours. METHODS: This was a comparative intervention study with a historical control group in a gastroenterology outpatient clinic. The study lasted six months. Patients with a scheduled appointment in the first three-month period received no reminder (control group, n = 2......,705). Patients in the following three-month period were reminded by telephone one weekday in advance of their appointment, when possible (intervention group, n = 2,479). Non-attending patients in the intervention group received a questionnaire. Based on the results, a financial cost-benefit analysis was made......-attendees. The most common explanation for non-attendance in the intervention group was forgetfulness (39%). The reminder telephone call was cost-effective. CONCLUSION: In this outpatient clinic, telephone reminders were cost-effective and significantly reduced the non-attendance rate by 43%....

  1. Exploring Culture from a Distance: The Utility of Telephone Interviews in Qualitative Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lechuga, Vicente M.

    2012-01-01

    Qualitative studies that utilize telephone interviews, as a primary data collection mode, often are not discussed in the qualitative research literature. Data excerpts from a study that sought to understand the culture of for-profit universities are used to illustrate the types of data that can be garnered through telephone interviews. In…

  2. Gender and the Telephone: Voice and Emotions Shaping and Gendering Space

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mona Livholts

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available In the field of communication studies, the topic of telephony and the gendering of space via voice and emotions has received limited attention. The focus of this article is how telephone conversations are mediated by voice and emotions, which in turn shape and gender social space. The methodology is a collaborative autoethnographic design based on diary notes and memory work. Two central themes emerge from the findings that explain how space becomes gendered when using the telephone: (a the voice and relations of power, and (b the interstices between work, caring, and the telephone. Our findings reveal the central role of work and caring and how these spaces constantly are being traversed and transformed as the mobile phone becomes an important appendage for sensory perceptions of hearing/listening/voice. We argue that these themes point toward the crucial impact of emotions in the construction of multiple and gendered spatialities of telephony.

  3. 77 FR 43858 - Certain Mobile Telephones and Wireless Communication Devices Featuring Digital Cameras, and...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-07-26

    ... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [Investigation No. 337-TA-703] Certain Mobile Telephones and Wireless Communication Devices Featuring Digital Cameras, and Components Thereof; Determination To Review... importation, and the sale within the United States after importation of certain mobile telephones and wireless...

  4. Learning how to learn using simulation: Unpacking disguised feedback using a qualitative analysis of doctors' telephone talk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eppich, Walter J; Rethans, Jan-Joost; Dornan, Timothy; Teunissen, Pim W

    2018-05-04

    Telephone talk between clinicians represents a substantial workplace activity in postgraduate clinical education, yet junior doctors receive little training in goal-directed, professional telephone communication. To assess educational needs for telephone talk and develop a simulation-based educational intervention. Thematic analysis of 17 semi-structured interviews with doctors-in-training from various training levels and specialties. We identified essential elements to incorporate into simulation-based telephone talk, including common challenging situations for junior doctors as well as explicit and informal aspects that promote learning. These elements have implications for both junior doctors and clinical supervisors, including: (a) explicit teaching and feedback practices and (b) informal conversational interruptions and questions. The latter serve as "disguised" feedback, which aligns with recent conceptualizations of feedback as "performance relevant information". In addition to preparing clinical supervisors to support learning through telephone talk, we propose several potential educational strategies: (a) embedding telephone communication skills throughout simulation activities and (b) developing stand-alone curricular elements to sensitize junior doctors to "disguised" feedback during telephone talk as a mechanism to augment future workplace learning, i.e. 'learning how to learn' through simulation.

  5. 'Putting Life in Years' (PLINY) telephone friendship groups research study: pilot randomised controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mountain, Gail A; Hind, Daniel; Gossage-Worrall, Rebecca; Walters, Stephen J; Duncan, Rosie; Newbould, Louise; Rex, Saleema; Jones, Carys; Bowling, Ann; Cattan, Mima; Cairns, Angela; Cooper, Cindy; Edwards, Rhiannon Tudor; Goyder, Elizabeth C

    2014-04-24

    Loneliness in older people is associated with poor health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We undertook a parallel-group randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of telephone befriending for the maintenance of HRQoL in older people. An internal pilot tested the feasibility of the trial and intervention. Participants aged >74 years, with good cognitive function, living independently in one UK city were recruited through general practices and other sources, then randomised to: (1) 6 weeks of short one-to-one telephone calls, followed by 12 weeks of group telephone calls with up to six participants, led by a trained volunteer facilitator; or (2) a control group. The main trial required the recruitment of 248 participants in a 1-year accrual window, of whom 124 were to receive telephone befriending. The pilot specified three success criteria which had to be met in order to progress the main trial to completion: recruitment of 68 participants in 95 days; retention of 80% participants at 6 months; successful delivery of telephone befriending by local franchise of national charity. The primary clinical outcome was the Short Form (36) Health Instrument (SF-36) Mental Health (MH) dimension score collected by telephone 6 months following randomisation. We informed 9,579 older people about the study. Seventy consenting participants were randomised to the pilot in 95 days, with 56 (80%) providing valid primary outcome data (26 intervention, 30 control). Twenty-four participants randomly allocated to the research arm actually received telephone befriending due to poor recruitment and retention of volunteer facilitators. The trial was closed early as a result. The mean 6-month SF-36 MH scores were 78 (SD 18) and 71 (SD 21) for the intervention and control groups, respectively (mean difference, 7; 95% CI, -3 to 16). Recruitment and retention of participants to a definitive trial with a recruitment window of 1 year is feasible. For

  6. Using Your VOICE(S: Adding Telephonic Communication to Pharmacy Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lorin B Grieve

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Pharmacists utilize a myriad of communication methods to deliver patient care. One of the most prevalent communication methods is the telephone. The University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy created a novel instructional and assessment technique to enhance student pharmacist training experiences in telephonic communication within the PharmD curriculum. Conflict of Interest We declare no conflicts of interest or financial interests that the authors or members of their immediate families have in any product or service discussed in the manuscript, including grants (pending or received, employment, gifts, stock holdings or options, honoraria, consultancies, expert testimony, patents and royalties   Type: Note

  7. Telephone based cognitive-behavioral screening for frontotemporal changes in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christodoulou, Georgia; Gennings, Chris; Hupf, Jonathan; Factor-Litvak, Pam; Murphy, Jennifer; Goetz, Raymond R; Mitsumoto, Hiroshi

    Our objective was to establish a valid and reliable battery of measures to evaluate frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in patients with ALS over the telephone. Thirty-one subjects were administered either in-person or by telephone-based screening followed by the opposite mode of testing two weeks later, using a modified version of the UCSF Cognitive Screening Battery. Equivalence testing was performed for in-person and telephone based tests. The standard ALS Cognitive Behavioral Screen (ALS-CBS) showed statistical equivalence at the 5% significance level compared to a revised phone version of the ALS-CBS. In addition, the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT) and Center for Neurologic Study-Lability Scale (CNS-LS) were also found to be equivalent at the 5% and 10% significance level, respectively. Similarly, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the well-established Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) were also statistically equivalent. Equivalence could not be claimed for the ALS-Frontal Behavioral Inventory (ALS-FBI) caregiver interview and the Written Verbal Fluency Index (WVFI). In conclusion, our study suggests that telephone-based versions of the ALS-CBS, COWAT, and CNS-LS may offer clinicians valid tools to detect frontotemporal changes in the ALS population. Development of telephone based cognitive testing for ALS could become an integral resource for population based research in the future.

  8. [COOP/WONCA: Reliability and validity of the test administered by telephone].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pedrero-Pérez, Eduardo J; Díaz-Olalla, José Manuel

    2016-01-01

    The COOP/WONCA test was initially proposed as a self-report in which the answers were supported by drawings illustrating the state investigated. Subsequent studies have confirmed its usefulness as a mere verbal self-report face-to-face administered. No data have been found about its useful when administered by telephone interview. The aim of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of the COOP / WONCA test to measure Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) administered by telephone and compare them with those obtained in other forms of prior administration. Cross-sectional study on a random. City of Madrid. Random sample of 802 adult subjects, representative of the adult population in Madrid, obtained by stratification from the population census. Questionnaire COOP/WONCA with 9 ítems included in a broader battery, administered by telephone interview. The unrestricted factor analysis points to the unifactoriality of the scale, which measures a single latent construct (HRQOL), showing high internal consistency, not significantly different from those found by face-to-face administration, ruling out the existence of biases in the phone modality. The COOP/WONCA test appears as a reliable and valid measure of HRQOL and telephonic administration allows to assume no changes in the results, which can reduce costs in population studies, increasing efficiency without loss of quality in the information collected. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  9. Call Centre- Computer Telephone Integration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dražen Kovačević

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Call centre largely came into being as a result of consumerneeds converging with enabling technology- and by the companiesrecognising the revenue opportunities generated by meetingthose needs thereby increasing customer satisfaction. Regardlessof the specific application or activity of a Call centre, customersatisfaction with the interaction is critical to the revenuegenerated or protected by the Call centre. Physical(v, Call centreset up is a place that includes computer, telephone and supervisorstation. Call centre can be available 24 hours a day - whenthe customer wants to make a purchase, needs information, orsimply wishes to register a complaint.

  10. Telephone counselling by nurses in Norwegian primary care out-of-hours services: a cross-sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Midtbø, Vivian; Raknes, Guttorm; Hunskaar, Steinar

    2017-09-06

    The primary care out-of-hours (OOH) services in Norway are characterized by high contact rates by telephone. The telephone contacts are handled by local emergency medical communication centres (LEMCs), mainly staffed by registered nurses. When assessment by a medical doctor is not required, the nurse often handles the contact solely by nurse telephone counselling. Little is known about this group of contacts. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate characteristics of encounters with the OOH services that are handled solely by nurse telephone counselling. Nurses recorded ICPC-2 reason for encounter (RFE) codes and patient characteristics of all patients who contacted six primary care OOH services in Norway during 2014. Descriptive statistics and frequency analyses were applied. Of all telephone contacts (n = 61,441), 23% were handled solely by nurse counselling. Fever was the RFE most frequently handled (7.3% of all nurse advice), followed by abdominal pain, cough, ear pain and general symptoms. Among the youngest patients, 32% of the total telephone contacts were resolved by nurse advice compared with 17% in the oldest age group. At night, 31% of the total telephone contacts were resolved solely by nurse advice compared with 21% during the day shift and 23% in the evening. The share of nurse advice was higher on weekdays compared to weekends (mean share 25% versus 20% respectively). This study shows that nurses make a significant contribution to patient management in the Norwegian OOH services. The findings indicate which conditions nurses should be able to handle by telephone, which has implications for training and routines in the LEMCs. There is the potential for more nurse involvement in several of the RFEs with a currently low share of nurse counselling.

  11. 78 FR 53684 - Misuse of Internet Protocol (IP) Captioned Telephone Service; Telecommunications Relay Services...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-08-30

    ..., and during regular business hours at the FCC Reference Information Center, Portals II, 445 12th Street... and persons using end user telephone equipment, such as a standard phone, smartphone, or computer. 2... displayed on a captioned telephone device, a computer, or a smartphone. The service also provides captions...

  12. Telephone screening for mild cognitive impairment in hispanics using the Alzheimer's questionnaire.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salazar, Ricardo; Velez, Carlos E; Royall, Donald R

    2014-01-01

    BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: There is a need for a simple and reliable screening test to detect individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The authors analyzed the relationship between performance of the Alzheimer's Questionnaire (AQ), an informant-rated measure of dementia-related behaviors, relative to the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status-modified (TICS-m), Memory Impairment Scale-telephone version (MIS-t), and the Telephone Executive Assessment (TEXAS) as predictors of MCI. Comparative cross-sectional design, with data collected from participants in the Texas Alzheimer's Research and Care Consortium's (TARCC) San Antonio site. One-hundred percent of our sample was Hispanic. The San Antonio subset of TARCC sample is highly enriched with Mexican Americans (MAs). Fifty-five percent of the interviews were conducted in Spanish. Of the 184 persons enrolled, 124 were normal controls (NCs), and 60 participants had MCI. MCI status and Clinical Dementia Rating Scale Sum of Boxes (CDR-SOB) were determined through clinical consensus and performed blind to telephone assessments. Controlling for age, gender, education, and language of interview, the association between telephone measures and CDR-SOB was evaluated by multivariate regression. AQ scores were not affected by education, gender, and language of interview, but subject's age did show a positive correlation with informant AQ ratings. The AQ predicted CDR-SOB independently of the cognitive measures, adding variance above and beyond demographics. The TICS-m and the TEXAS appear to have additive value in improving the detection of cognitively impaired patients. The MIS-t failed to contribute significantly to CDR-SOB, independent of the other measures. The AQ may have utility as a culture-fair telephone screening for MCI. The AQ was able to modestly distinguish MCI from NCs. The TEXAS adds variance to a model of dementia severity independent of the AQ, suggesting that the latter may weakly assess that

  13. Validation of a brief telephone battery for neurocognitive assessment of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Palevsky Harold I

    2005-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The effects of pulmonary arterial hypertension on brain function are not understood, despite patients' frequent complaints of cognitive difficulties. Using clinical instruments normally administered during standard in-person assessment of neurocognitive function in adults, we assembled a battery of tests designed for administration over the telephone. The purpose was to improve patient participation, facilitate repeated test administration, and reduce the cost of research on the neuropsychological consequences of acute and chronic cardiorespiratory diseases. We undertook this study to validate telephone administration of the tests. Methods 23 adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension underwent neurocognitive assessment using both standard in-person and telephone test administration, and the results of the two methods compared using interclass correlations. Results For most of the tests in the battery, scores from the telephone assessment correlated strongly with those obtained by in-person administration of the same tests. Interclass correlations between 0.5 and 0.8 were observed for tests that assessed attention, memory, concentration/working memory, reasoning, and language/crystallized intelligence (p ≤ 0.05 for each. Interclass correlations for the Hayling Sentence Completion test of executive function approached significance (p = 0.09. All telephone tests were completed within one hour. Conclusion Administration of this neurocognitive test battery by telephone should facilitate assessment of neuropsychological deficits among patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension living across broad geographical areas, and may be useful for monitoring changes in neurocognitive function in response to PAH-specific therapy or disease progression.

  14. The effect of telephone-based cognitive-behavioural therapy on parenting stress: A randomised controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ngai, Fei Wan; Wong, Paul Wai-Ching; Chung, Ka Fai; Leung, Kwok Yin

    2016-07-01

    Objective Stress related to parenting has detrimental effects on the well-being of children, parents and the family system as a whole. There are limited studies about the efficacy of cognitive-behavioural therapy delivered by telephone in reducing parenting stress. The present study investigates the effect of telephone-based cognitive-behavioural therapy on parenting stress at six weeks and six months postpartum. This is a multi-site randomised controlled trial. A total of 397 Chinese mothers at risk of postnatal depression were randomly assigned to receive either telephone-based cognitive-behavioural therapy or routine postpartum care. Parental stress was assessed by the Parenting Stress Index Short Form at six weeks and six months postpartum. The findings revealed that mothers who had received telephone-based cognitive-behavioural therapy showed significantly lower levels of parenting stress than women only receiving routine postpartum care at six weeks (mean difference=9.42, 95% confidence interval 5.85-12.99, pparenting and reducing stress during the transition period. Integration of telephone-based cognitive-behavioural therapy into routine postpartum care might facilitate positive adaptation in particular for mothers at risk of postnatal depression. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  15. Disclosure of Sexual Intercourse by Teenagers: Agreement Between Telephone Survey Responses and Annual Visit Disclosures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexander, Stewart C.; Fortenberry, J. Dennis; Pollak, Kathryn I.; Østbye, Truls; Bravender, Terrill; Tulsky, James A.; Dolor, Rowena; Shields, Cleveland G.

    2015-01-01

    Background Physicians can help guide teenagers in their emerging sexuality; however, teens rarely inform physicians about their sexual activity. Methods We audio-recorded annual visits between 365 teenagers and 49 physicians. sexual intercourse. Recordings were coded for teenage disclosures about previous sexual intercourse. We measured agreement between telephone survey responses and annual visit disclosures, and examined factors associated with agreement between the two. Results Fifty-six teenagers (15%) reported previous sexual intercourse in either the telephone survey or to their physician. Among those who reported sexual intercourse, 57% shared this information to both the telephone survey and their physician (κ = .72, confidence interval = 0.63–0.82). Conclusions Although a slight majority of teenagers disclosed their sexual activity to both the telephone survey and their doctor, a significant number disclosed to just one source. PMID:25857726

  16. Assisting the visually impaired to deal with telephone interview jobs using information and commutation technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeh, Fung-Huei; Yang, Chung-Chieh

    2014-12-01

    This study proposed a new information and commutation technology assisted blind telephone interview (ICT-ABTI) system to help visually impaired people to do telephone interview jobs as normal sighted people and create more diverse employment opportunities for them. The study also used an ABAB design to assess the system with seven visually impaired people. As the results, they can accomplish 3070 effective telephone interviews per month independently. The results also show that working performance of the visually impaired can be improved effectively with appropriate design of operation working flow and accessible software. The visually impaired become productive, lucrative, and self-sufficient by using ICT-ABTI system to do telephone interview jobs. The results were also shared through the APEC Digital Opportunity Center platform to help visually impaired in Philippines, Malaysia and China. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Gas data transmission system by satellite telephone; Systeme de transmission de donnees sur le gaz utilisant le telephone par satellite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ogasawara, S.; Tanji, A. [Dengineer Co., Ltd (Japan); Akiyama, S. [Buyo Gas Company (Japan)

    2000-07-01

    Dengineer Co., Ltd. and Buyo Gas Co., Ltd. had been developing and using the data and alarm transmission system by public telephone since 1984, that was first practical use in Japan. It is very important for business management that adjusts the production value of gas by measuring gas pressures in each governor. Also, it is indispensable to know the accident of gas leakage or abnormal gas pressure quickly. But this convenient system is not spread yet in Japanese market cause of the following reasons. - Take time and cost for installation of terminal station. - Terminal station is apt to damage by thunder. - Big disaster must stop working this system. In order to solve those problems, we have developed and tested the system organized of the satellite telephone system and solar cells for power. This system will be very useful for wide place, not only Japanese market but also the area, which has no electricity and phone. Also, it will be convenient for international rescue as is able to access it from the foreign countries. (authors)

  18. Patterns of Signs That Telephone Crisis Support Workers Associate with Suicide Risk in Telephone Crisis Line Callers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunt, Tara; Wilson, Coralie; Caputi, Peter; Wilson, Ian; Woodward, Alan

    2018-01-30

    Signs of suicide are commonly used in suicide intervention training to assist the identification of those at imminent risk for suicide. Signs of suicide may be particularly important to telephone crisis-line workers (TCWs), who have little background information to identify the presence of suicidality if the caller is unable or unwilling to express suicidal intent. Although signs of suicide are argued to be only meaningful as a pattern, there is a paucity of research that has examined whether TCWs use patterns of signs to decide whether a caller might be suicidal, and whether these are influenced by caller characteristics such as gender. The current study explored both possibilities. Data were collected using an online self-report survey in a Australian sample of 137 TCWs. Exploratory factor analysis uncovered three patterns of suicide signs that TCWs may use to identify if a caller might be at risk for suicide (mood, hopelessness, and anger), which were qualitatively different for male and female callers. These findings suggest that TCWs may recognise specific patterns of signs to identify suicide risk, which appear to be influenced to some extent by the callers' inferred gender. Implications for the training of telephone crisis workers and others including mental-health and medical professionals, as well as and future research in suicide prevention are discussed.

  19. Gender portrayals in telephone books for gay community versus Pacific-Bell Yellow Pages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waugh, I M; Rienzi, B M

    1998-12-01

    Photographic images (N = 2,700) from three 1997 Pacific-Bell Yellow Pages (n = 1,976) and from three 1996-97 gay, lesbian, and bisexual community telephone books (n = 724) were classified into three groups by visible features (definite male, definite female, and gender nonspecific). The latter were excluded. The proportion of male photographic images was larger in gay community books than in Pacific-Bell telephone books.

  20. Persons with Alzheimer's Disease Make Phone Calls Independently Using a Computer-Aided Telephone System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perilli, Viviana; Lancioni, Giulio E.; Singh, Nirbhay N.; O'Reilly, Mark F.; Sigafoos, Jeff; Cassano, Germana; Cordiano, Noemi; Pinto, Katia; Minervini, Mauro G.; Oliva, Doretta

    2012-01-01

    This study assessed whether four patients with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease could make independent phone calls via a computer-aided telephone system. The study was carried out according to a non-concurrent multiple baseline design across participants. All participants started with baseline during which the telephone system was not available,…

  1. ‘Putting Life in Years’ (PLINY) telephone friendship groups research study: pilot randomised controlled trial

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    Background Loneliness in older people is associated with poor health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We undertook a parallel-group randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of telephone befriending for the maintenance of HRQoL in older people. An internal pilot tested the feasibility of the trial and intervention. Methods Participants aged >74 years, with good cognitive function, living independently in one UK city were recruited through general practices and other sources, then randomised to: (1) 6 weeks of short one-to-one telephone calls, followed by 12 weeks of group telephone calls with up to six participants, led by a trained volunteer facilitator; or (2) a control group. The main trial required the recruitment of 248 participants in a 1-year accrual window, of whom 124 were to receive telephone befriending. The pilot specified three success criteria which had to be met in order to progress the main trial to completion: recruitment of 68 participants in 95 days; retention of 80% participants at 6 months; successful delivery of telephone befriending by local franchise of national charity. The primary clinical outcome was the Short Form (36) Health Instrument (SF-36) Mental Health (MH) dimension score collected by telephone 6 months following randomisation. Results We informed 9,579 older people about the study. Seventy consenting participants were randomised to the pilot in 95 days, with 56 (80%) providing valid primary outcome data (26 intervention, 30 control). Twenty-four participants randomly allocated to the research arm actually received telephone befriending due to poor recruitment and retention of volunteer facilitators. The trial was closed early as a result. The mean 6-month SF-36 MH scores were 78 (SD 18) and 71 (SD 21) for the intervention and control groups, respectively (mean difference, 7; 95% CI, -3 to 16). Conclusions Recruitment and retention of participants to a definitive trial with a

  2. Implementing telephone triage in general practice: a process evaluation of a cluster randomised controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murdoch, Jamie; Varley, Anna; Fletcher, Emily; Britten, Nicky; Price, Linnie; Calitri, Raff; Green, Colin; Lattimer, Valerie; Richards, Suzanne H; Richards, David A; Salisbury, Chris; Taylor, Rod S; Campbell, John L

    2015-04-10

    Telephone triage represents one strategy to manage demand for face-to-face GP appointments in primary care. However, limited evidence exists of the challenges GP practices face in implementing telephone triage. We conducted a qualitative process evaluation alongside a UK-based cluster randomised trial (ESTEEM) which compared the impact of GP-led and nurse-led telephone triage with usual care on primary care workload, cost, patient experience, and safety for patients requesting a same-day GP consultation. The aim of the process study was to provide insights into the observed effects of the ESTEEM trial from the perspectives of staff and patients, and to specify the circumstances under which triage is likely to be successfully implemented. Here we report perspectives of staff. The intervention comprised implementation of either GP-led or nurse-led telephone triage for a period of 2-3 months. A qualitative evaluation was conducted using staff interviews recruited from eight general practices (4 GP triage, 4 Nurse triage) in the UK, implementing triage as part of the ESTEEM trial. Qualitative interviews were undertaken with 44 staff members in GP triage and nurse triage practices (16 GPs, 8 nurses, 7 practice managers, 13 administrative staff). Staff reported diverse experiences and perceptions regarding the implementation of telephone triage, its effects on workload, and on the benefits of triage. Such diversity were explained by the different ways triage was organised, the staffing models used to support triage, how the introduction of triage was communicated across practice staff, and by how staff roles were reconfigured as a result of implementing triage. The findings from the process evaluation offer insight into the range of ways GP practices participating in ESTEEM implemented telephone triage, and the circumstances under which telephone triage can be successfully implemented beyond the context of a clinical trial. Staff experiences and perceptions of telephone

  3. A profile of communication in primary care physician telephone consultations: application of the Roter Interaction Analysis System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Innes, Michael; Skelton, John; Greenfield, Sheila

    2006-05-01

    Telephone consultations are a part of everyday practice, there is surprisingly little research on the subject. To describe the variation of consulting skills within a body of telephone consultations in primary care, highlighting the performance of one method of assessing the process of the consultation-- the Roter Interaction Analysis System-- with telephone consultations. Cross sectional study of 43 recordings of telephone consultations with GPs. One rural county in the Midlands. Recordings were made of 8 GPs, purposively selected for maximum variance in one region of the UK. Forty-three consultations were coded using the Roter Interaction Analysis System. From the descriptive categories, six composite categories were compiled reflecting a number of domains of interaction in a consultation: rapport, data gathering, patient education and counselling, partnership building, doctor dominance and patient-centredness. Analysis of variance was undertaken to explain variations between consultations for the different domains. Comparison was made to findings from similar work for face-to-face consultations. These telephone consultations feature more biomedical information exchange than psychosocial or affective communication. Length of interaction accounts for much of the variation seen between consultations in the domains of rapport, data gathering, patient education and counselling and partnership. Male doctors are more patient centred in this study. There is the suggestion of more doctor dominance and a less patient-centred approach when comparisons are made with previous work on face-to-face consultations. Although the telephone is increasingly being used to provide care, this study highlights the fact that telephone consultations cannot be taken as equivalent to those conducted face to face. More work needs to be done to delineate the features of telephone consultations.

  4. Disparities in the Use of Internet and Telephone Medication Refills among Linguistically Diverse Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreno, Gerardo; Lin, Elizabeth H; Chang, Eva; Johnson, Ron L; Berthoud, Heidi; Solomon, Cam C; Morales, Leo S

    2016-03-01

    Health systems are increasingly implementing remote telephone and Internet refill systems to enhance patient access to medication refills. Remote refill systems may provide an effective approach for improving medication non-adherence, but more research is needed among patients with limited English proficiency with poor access to remote refill systems. To compare the use of remote medication refill systems among limited-English-proficiency (LEP) and English-proficient (EP) patients with chronic conditions. Cross-sectional survey in six languages/dialects (English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, Vietnamese, and Spanish) of 509 adults with diabetes, hypertension, or hyperlipidemia. Primary study outcomes were self-reported use of 1) Internet refills, 2) telephone refills, and 3) any remote refill system. LEP was measured by patient self-identification of a primary language other than English and a claims record of use of an interpreter. Other measures were age, gender, education, years in the U.S., insurance, health status, chronic conditions, and number of prescribed medications. Analyses included multivariable logistic regression weighted for survey non-response. Overall, 33.1 % of patients refilled their medications by telephone and 31.6 % by Internet. Among LEP patients (n = 328), 31.5 % refilled by telephone and 21.2 % by Internet, compared with 36.7 % by telephone and 52.7 % by Internet among EP patients (n = 181). Internet refill by language groups were as follows: English (52.7 %), Cantonese (34.9 %), Mandarin (17.4 %), Korean (16.7 %), Vietnamese (24.4 %), and Spanish (12.6 %). Compared to EP patients, LEP patients had lower use of any remote refill system (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.18; p use any remote medication refill system. Increased reliance on current systems for remote medication refills may increase disparities in health outcomes affecting LEP patients with poor access to telephone and Internet medication refills.

  5. Comparing online and telephone survey results in the context of a skin cancer prevention campaign evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hollier, L P; Pettigrew, S; Slevin, T; Strickland, M; Minto, C

    2017-03-01

    A large proportion of health promotion campaign evaluation research has historically been conducted via telephone surveys. However, there are concerns about the continued viability of this form of surveying in providing relevant and representative data. Online surveys are an increasingly popular alternative, and as such there is a need to assess the comparability between data collected using the two different methods to determine the implications for longitudinal comparisons. The present study compared these survey modes in the context of health promotion evaluation research. Data were collected via computer-assisted telephone interviewing and an online panel. In total, 688 and 606 respondents aged between 14 and 45 years completed the online and telephone surveys, respectively. Online respondents demonstrated higher awareness of the advertisement, rated the advertisement as more personally relevant and had better behavioural outcomes compared with the telephone respondents. The results indicate significant differences between the telephone and online surveys on most measures used to assess the effectiveness of a health promotion advertising campaign. Health promotion practitioners could consider the combination of both methods to overcome the deterioration in telephone survey response rates and the likely differences in respondent outcomes. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  6. Employees' views on home-based, after-hours telephone triage by Dutch GP cooperatives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Backhaus, Ramona; van Exel, Job; de Bont, Antoinette

    2013-11-04

    Dutch out-of-hours (OOH) centers find it difficult to attract sufficient triage staff. They regard home-based triage as an option that might attract employees. Specially trained nurses are supposed to conduct triage by telephone from home for after-hours medical care. The central aim of this research is to investigate the views of employees of OOH centers in The Netherlands on home-based telephone triage in after-hours care. The study is a Q methodology study. Triage nurses, general practitioners (GPs) and managers of OOH centers ranked 36 opinion statements on home-based triage. We interviewed 10 participants to help develop and validate the statements for the Q sort, and 77 participants did the Q sort. We identified four views on home-based telephone triage. Two generally favor home-based triage, one highlights some concerns and conditions, and one opposes it out of concern for quality. The four views perceive different sources of credibility for nurse triagists working from home. Home-based telephone triage is a controversial issue among triage nurses, GPs and managers of OOH centers. By identifying consensus and dissension among GPs, triagists, managers and regulators, this study generates four perspectives on home-based triage. In addition, it reveals the conditions considered important for home-based triage.

  7. Short assessment of the Big Five: robust across survey methods except telephone interviewing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lang, Frieder R; John, Dennis; Lüdtke, Oliver; Schupp, Jürgen; Wagner, Gert G

    2011-06-01

    We examined measurement invariance and age-related robustness of a short 15-item Big Five Inventory (BFI-S) of personality dimensions, which is well suited for applications in large-scale multidisciplinary surveys. The BFI-S was assessed in three different interviewing conditions: computer-assisted or paper-assisted face-to-face interviewing, computer-assisted telephone interviewing, and a self-administered questionnaire. Randomized probability samples from a large-scale German panel survey and a related probability telephone study were used in order to test method effects on self-report measures of personality characteristics across early, middle, and late adulthood. Exploratory structural equation modeling was used in order to test for measurement invariance of the five-factor model of personality trait domains across different assessment methods. For the short inventory, findings suggest strong robustness of self-report measures of personality dimensions among young and middle-aged adults. In old age, telephone interviewing was associated with greater distortions in reliable personality assessment. It is concluded that the greater mental workload of telephone interviewing limits the reliability of self-report personality assessment. Face-to-face surveys and self-administrated questionnaire completion are clearly better suited than phone surveys when personality traits in age-heterogeneous samples are assessed.

  8. 28 CFR 540.103 - Inmate telephone calls to attorneys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... attorneys when the inmate demonstrates that communication with attorneys by correspondence, visiting, or... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Inmate telephone calls to attorneys. 540.103 Section 540.103 Judicial Administration BUREAU OF PRISONS, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE INSTITUTIONAL...

  9. [Adaptation and convergent validity of a telephone-based Mini-Mental State Examination].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garre-Olmo, Josep; Lax-Pericall, Carme; Turro-Garriga, Oriol; Soler-Cors, Olga; Monserrat-Vila, Sílvia; Vilalta-Franch, Joan; Taylor, Joy L; López-Pousa, Secundino

    2008-06-21

    To adapt to Spanish and to determine the convergent validity of a Telephone Mini-Mental State Examination (t-MMSE) in order to assess the cognitive functions in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Prospective and observational study of a clinical sample consisting of patients with dementia from a memory clinic. Consecutive sampling of participants was used and convergent validity of the t-MMSE and MMSE scores was determined using several statistics measures. Patients were randomly assigned depending on the administration of the in-person/telephone test (MMSE and t-MMSE) or telephone/in-person (t-MMSE and MMSE) test within a 1- to 7-day interval. The effect of the confusion variables (age, gender, years of education, dementia severity, presence or absence of hearing impairment and administration order) on the concordance between the in-person and telephone MMSE versions was analysed. After translating and retranslating the t-MMSE, of 141 participants, 77.47% subjects completed the protocol of the study. For the total score, the statistics for the convergent validity suggested a high consistency, independently of the order of test administration (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.87, Spearman's rho = 0.77); for the all subscores, it suggested moderate and good correlations. The difference between subscores did not range more than 1 point in any case. Confusion variables did not affect the variability of the performance scores between t-MMSE and MMSE. The t-MMSE can be used as a good tool to estimate the MMSE score of patients with dementia.

  10. Randomized Controlled Trial of Telephone-Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Insomnia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnedt, J. Todd; Cuddihy, Leisha; Swanson, Leslie M.; Pickett, Scott; Aikens, James; Chervin, Ronald D.

    2013-01-01

    Study Objectives: To compare the efficacy of telephone-delivered cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia to an information pamphlet control on sleep and daytime functioning at pretreatment, posttreatment, and 12-wk follow-up. Design: Randomized controlled parallel trial. Setting: N/A. Participants: Thirty individuals with chronic insomnia (27 women, age 39.1 ± 14.4 years, insomnia duration 8.7 ± 10.7 years). Interventions: Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTI) delivered in up to eight weekly telephone sessions (CBTI-Phone, n = 15) versus an information pamphlet control (IPC, n = 15). Measurements and Results: Sleep/wake diary, sleep-related questionnaires (Insomnia Severity Index, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, 16-item Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep), and daytime symptom assessments (fatigue, depression, anxiety, and quality of life) were completed at pretreatment, posttreatment, and 12-wk follow-up. Linear mixed models indicated that sleep/wake diary sleep efficiency and total sleep time improved significantly at posttreatment in both groups and remained stable at 12-wk follow-up. More CBTI-Phone than IPC patients showed posttreatment improvements in unhelpful sleep-related cognitions (P insomnia at follow-up (P insomnia. Future larger-scale studies with more diverse samples are warranted. Some individuals with insomnia may also benefit from pamphlet-delivered CBTI with brief telephone support. Citation: Arnedt JT; Cuddihy L; Swanson LM; Pickett S; Aikens J; Chervin RD. Randomized controlled trial of telephone-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic insomnia. SLEEP 2013;36(3):353-362. PMID:23450712

  11. Telephone interventions for adherence to colpocytological examination

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thais Marques Lima

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective: to test the effects of behavioral and educational intervention by telephone on adherence of women with inappropriate periodicity to colpocytological examination. Method: quasi-experimental study with a sample of 524 women, selected with the following inclusion criteria: be aged between 25 and 64 years, have initiated sexual activity, have inappropriate periodicity of examination and have mobile or landline phone. The women were divided into two groups for application of behavioral and educational intervention by telephone. It was used an intervention script according to the principles of Motivational Interviewing. Results: on comparing the results before and after the behavioral and educational interventions, it was found that there was a statistically significant change (p = 0.0283 with increase of knowledge of women who participated in the educational intervention. There was no change in the attitude of women of any of the groups and there was an increase of adherence to colpocytological examination in both groups (p < 0.0001, with greater adherence of women participating in the behavioral group (66.8%. Conclusion: the behavioral and educational interventions by phone were effective in the adherence of women to colpocytological examination, representing important strategies for permanent health education and promotion of care for the prevention of cervical cancer.

  12. Telephone reminders reduced the non-attendance rate in a gastroenterology outpatient clinic

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jeppesen, Maja Haunstrup; Ainsworth, Mark Andrew

    2015-01-01

    INTRODUCTION: Non-attendance is a global health-care problem. The aim of the present study was 1) to investigate if a telephone reminder could reduce the non-attendance rate, 2) to study reasons for non-attendance and 3) to evaluate if a permanent implementation would be economically advantageous......,705). Patients in the following three-month period were reminded by telephone one weekday in advance of their appointment, when possible (intervention group, n = 2,479). Non-attending patients in the intervention group received a questionnaire. Based on the results, a financial cost-benefit analysis was made...

  13. 77 FR 66935 - Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-11-08

    ... FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 47 CFR Part 64 [CG Docket No. 02-278; FCC 12-21] Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission. ACTION: Final rule; correction...: Karen Johnson, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Consumer Policy Division, at (202) 418- 7706 or...

  14. Willingness to Pay for Rural Telephone Services: Implications for ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Global Approaches to Extension Practice: A Journal of Agricultural Extension ... This study assessed Willingness to Pay (WTP) for rural telephone services and the implications for agricultural technology transfer in Southeast Nigeria. ... The sample was made up of 240 agro-based entrepreneurs and 60 extension staff.

  15. Applicability of structured telephone monitoring to follow up heart ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Pilly Chillo

    Keywords: heart failure, structured telephone, home monitoring, Tanzania ... in a parallel increase in HF admissions and a major impact on health care systems. ... was entered in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 software for analysis. ..... Failure (DIAL): study design and preliminary observations.

  16. Diffusion and Advertising: The German Telephone Campaign

    OpenAIRE

    Hermann Simon; Karl-Heinz Sebastian

    1987-01-01

    The goal of the present paper is to investigate the influence of advertising on the diffusion of new telephones in West Germany. Several alternative ways of integrating advertising into the well-known Bass-diffusion-model are suggested and empirically tested. The econometric investigation yields results which are consistent with the behavioral assumption. A model which assumes that advertising mainly influenced the demand of imitators is accepted as the most valid representation of reality. T...

  17. Fuel cells for telephone networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wells, J.D.; Scott, D.S.

    1993-01-01

    Critical telephone network systems are currently protected from electric utility power failures by a backup system consisting of lead-acid batteries and an engine-alternator. It is considered here an alternate power system where less expensive off-peak commercial electricity electrolyses water, while fuel cells draw continuously on the stored gas products to provide direct current for the protected equipment. The lead acid batteries are eliminated. The benefits and costs of the existing and alternate systems in scenarios with various system efficiencies, capital costs, and electric utility rates and incentives, are compared. In today's conditions, the alternate system is not economical; however, cost and performance feasibility domains are identified. 2 figs., 4 tabs., 12 refs

  18. 75 FR 6704 - In the Matter of Certain Mobile Telephones and Wireless Communication Devices Featuring Digital...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-02-10

    ... States after importation of certain mobile telephones and wireless communication devices featuring... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [Investigation No. 337-TA-663] In the Matter of Certain Mobile Telephones and Wireless Communication Devices Featuring Digital Cameras, and Components Thereof; Notice of...

  19. 75 FR 65654 - In the Matter of: Certain Mobile Telephones and Wireless Communication Devices Featuring Digital...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-26

    ... States after importation of certain mobile telephones and wireless communication devices featuring... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [Investigation No. 337-TA-703] In the Matter of: Certain Mobile Telephones and Wireless Communication Devices Featuring Digital Cameras, and Components Thereof;Notice of...

  20. Teaching adolescents with severe disabilities to use the public telephone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Test, D W; Spooner, F; Keul, P K; Grossi, T

    1990-04-01

    Two adolescents with severe disabilities served as participants in a study conducted to train in the use of the public telephone to call home. Participants were trained to complete a 17-step task analysis using a training package which consisted of total task presentation in conjunction with a four-level prompting procedure (i.e., independent, verbal, verbal + gesture, verbal + guidance). All instruction took place in a public setting (e.g., a shopping mall) with generalization probes taken in two alternative settings (e.g., a movie theater and a convenience store). A multiple probe across individuals design demonstrated the training package was successful in teaching participants to use the telephone to call home. In addition, newly acquired skills generalized to the two untrained settings. Implications for community-based training are discussed.

  1. An inquiry into chiropractors' intention to treat adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: a telephone survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feise, R J

    2001-01-01

    The primary aim of this study was to (1) determine the clinical management approach of practicing chiropractors with regard to patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and (2) measure the response rate of a telephone survey. A survey instrument was developed and pretested, and a case-specific clinical vignette was generated for a hypothetical typical 12-year-old girl with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. The instrument addressed 3 domains: the specific management of idiopathic scoliosis, elements guiding the general selection of treatment recommendations, and demographics of respondents. The sample frame consisted of 62,000 US chiropractors, of whom 165 were randomly selected for the survey sample. Interviews were conducted by telephone through use of the tested survey instrument. The response rate was 69% (114/165). Of the 51 nonrespondents, 15 did not have a listed business telephone number and 24 were not in active practice. The response rate of those who met the inclusion criteria (practicing chiropractor with a listed telephone number) was 90% (114/126). The gender, chiropractic college, and years in practice of respondents in this survey were similar to those of respondents in 3 other national surveys. In general, the respondents would provide 6 months of "intensive" chiropractic therapy, then follow the patient for 4 years (near skeletal maturity). Eighty-two percent of respondents named diversified technique as their primary adjustive treatment, 87% would use exercise, and 30% would use electric muscle stimulation as an adjunct to manual therapy. Most surveyed chiropractors would use similar methods (frequency and length of treatment, manipulation technique, and exercise) in the treatment of patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. A high response rate to a national survey can be achieved through use of telephone contact.

  2. Telephone-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Screening for Frontotemporal Changes in Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christodoulou, Georgia; Gennings, Chris; Hupf, Jonathan; Factor-Litvak, Pam; Murphy, Jennifer; Goetz, Raymond R.; Mitsumoto, Hiroshi

    2017-01-01

    Objective To establish a valid and reliable battery of measures to evaluate frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in patients with ALS over the phone. Methods Thirty-one subjects were administered either in-person or telephone-based screening followed by the opposite mode of testing two weeks later, using a modified version of the UCSF Cognitive Screening Battery. Results Equivalence testing was performed for in-person and telephone-based tests. The standard ALS Cognitive Behavioral Screen (ALS-CBS) showed statistical equivalence at the 5% significance level when compared to a revised phone-version of the ALS-CBS. In addition, the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT) and Center for Neurologic Study-Lability Scale (CNS-LS) were also found to be equivalent at the 5% and 10% significance level respectively. Similarly, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the well-established Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) were also statistically equivalent. Equivalence could not be claimed for the ALS-Frontal Behavioral Inventory (ALS-FBI) caregiver interview and the Written Verbal Fluency Index (WVFI). Conclusions Our study suggests that telephone-based versions of the ALS-CBS, COWAT, and CNS-LS may offer clinicians valid tools to detect frontotemporal changes in the ALS population. Development of telephone-based cognitive testing for ALS could become an integral resource for population-based research in the future. PMID:27121545

  3. 47 CFR 64.1505 - Restrictions on collect telephone calls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... SERVICES (CONTINUED) MISCELLANEOUS RULES RELATING TO COMMON CARRIERS Interstate Pay-Per-Call and Other Information Services § 64.1505 Restrictions on collect telephone calls. (a) No common carrier shall provide interstate transmission or billing and collection services to an entity offering any service within the scope...

  4. Applicability of structured telephone monitoring to follow up heart ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Over 90% of the contacted patients gave valuable information regarding their clinical status. Conclusion: Majority of HF patients can be contacted and provide valuable clinical information through mobile phones within a month post discharge from the national hospital in Tanzania. Structured telephone monitoring could be ...

  5. Cellular telephones measure activity and lifespace in community-dwelling adults: proof of principle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schenk, Ana Katrin; Witbrodt, Bradley C; Hoarty, Carrie A; Carlson, Richard H; Goulding, Evan H; Potter, Jane F; Bonasera, Stephen J

    2011-02-01

    To describe a system that uses off-the-shelf sensor and telecommunication technologies to continuously measure individual lifespace and activity levels in a novel way. Proof of concept involving three field trials of 30, 30, and 21 days. Omaha, Nebraska, metropolitan and surrounding rural region. Three participants (48-year-old man, 33-year-old woman, and 27-year-old male), none with any functional limitations. Cellular telephones were used to detect in-home position and in-community location and to measure physical activity. Within the home, cellular telephones and Bluetooth transmitters (beacons) were used to locate participants at room-level resolution. Outside the home, the same cellular telephones and global positioning system (GPS) technology were used to locate participants at a community-level resolution. Physical activity was simultaneously measured using the cellular telephone accelerometer. This approach had face validity to measure activity and lifespace. More importantly, this system could measure the spatial and temporal organization of these metrics. For example, an individual's lifespace was automatically calculated across multiple time intervals. Behavioral time budgets showing how people allocate time to specific regions within the home were also automatically generated. Mobile monitoring shows much promise as an easily deployed system to quantify activity and lifespace, important indicators of function, in community-dwelling adults. © 2011, Copyright the Authors. Journal compilation © 2011, The American Geriatrics Society.

  6. Pitfalls when implementing nurse-led annual telephone calls to replace outpatient visits for Inflammatory Bowel Disease patients

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jakobsen, Dorrit; Bager, Palle; Hentze, Runa

    Background: In Denmark, patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and disease in remission are mainly seen on a regularly basis in outpatient clinics, by gastroenterologists. Replacing the regular visits with annual telephone calls performed by IBD nurses seems beneficial, both for the patie......Background: In Denmark, patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and disease in remission are mainly seen on a regularly basis in outpatient clinics, by gastroenterologists. Replacing the regular visits with annual telephone calls performed by IBD nurses seems beneficial, both...... for the patients and for the outpatient clinic. The purpose of this study was to identify potential barriers and pitfalls in the planning and implementation phase of a nurse-led telephone service. Methods: Preparations prior to introducing the annual telephone calls were done in 2010. From January 2011 all...... eligible IBD patients were shifted from regularly visits to annual telephone calls performed by an IBD nurse. As the intervention contained of several sub-elements and the elements were subject to adjustment during implementation, the intervention was regarded as a Complex Intervention. All the elements...

  7. Health aspects of cellular mobile telephones

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garn, H.

    1996-01-01

    Cellular mobile telephones are one of the main topics among health aspects of electromagnetic fields. In many countries, the number of people opposing communication towers is on the rise. Lawsuits against telecommunication and power line companies have been filed. All this makes people doubt the safety of electromagnetic fields. With respect to cellular phones, there are two scenarios: * Exposure of the operators of hand-held terminals (HHT). * Exposure of the general public from base stations (BS). In the first case, the transmit antenna of the HHT is very close to the human body. For normal operation, the distance will roughly be 2 - 3 cm. The transmitter power of the HHT is comparatively low, but there is a considerable fraction of the radiated electromagnetic energy penetrating the tissue. Considering the second case, BS transmitter powers are by a factor of 100-1000 higher, but the distance between antenna and the human body is by a factor of 1000-100,000 greater, as far as areas of unrestricted public access are concerned. As the power density of an electromagnetic wave decreases inversely proportional to the square of the distance, exposure of the public is always significantly (by many orders of magnitude) lower than exposure of operators of HHTs. Some well-known interaction mechanisms of microwave radiation with the human body have been very well-established today. In some other areas, there is still a need for further research. This paper summarizes present knowledge on human safety with mobile telephone systems. (author)

  8. 76 FR 17965 - In the Matter of Certain Mobile Telephones and Wireless Communication Devices Featuring Digital...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-03-31

    ... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [Investigation No. 337-TA-703] In the Matter of Certain Mobile Telephones and Wireless Communication Devices Featuring Digital Cameras, and Components Thereof Notice of... for importation, and the sale within the United States after importation of certain mobile telephones...

  9. 75 FR 44282 - In the Matter of Certain Mobile Telephones and Wireless Communication Devices Featuring Digital...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-28

    ... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [Investigation No. 337-TA-703] In the Matter of Certain Mobile Telephones and Wireless Communication Devices Featuring Digital Cameras, and Components Thereof; Notice of... for importation, and the sale within the United States after importation of certain mobile telephones...

  10. Telephone versus usual care in management of acute whiplash ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Whiplash associated disorder (WAD) is a common and costly condition, and recommended management includes advice to “act as usual” and exercise. Providing this treatment through a telephonic intervention may help to improve access to care, and reduce costs. This pilot study assessed: (1) the effectiveness of a ...

  11. Telephone-administered psychotherapy in combination with antidepressant medication for the acute treatment of major depressive disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corruble, Emmanuelle; Swartz, Holly A; Bottai, Thierry; Vaiva, Guillaume; Bayle, Frank; Llorca, Pierre-Michel; Courtet, Philippe; Frank, Ellen; Gorwood, Philip

    2016-01-15

    Telephone-administered psychotherapies (T-P) provided as an adjunct to antidepressant medication may improve response rates in major depressive disorder (MDD). The goal of this study was to compare telephone-administered social rhythm therapy (T-SRT) and telephone-administered intensive clinical management (T-ICM) as adjuncts to antidepressant medication for MDD. A secondary goal was to compare T-P with Treatment as Usual (TAU) as adjunctive treatment to medication for MDD. 221 adult out-patients with MDD, currently depressed, were randomly assigned to 8 sessions of weekly T-SRT (n=110) or T-ICM (n=111), administered as an adjunct to agomelatine. Both psychotherapies were administered entirely by telephone, by trained psychologists who were blind to other aspects of treatment. The 221 patients were a posteriori matched with 221 depressed outpatients receiving TAU (controls). The primary outcome measure was the percentage of responders at 8 weeks post-treatment. No significant differences were found between T-SRT and T-ICM. But T-P was associated with higher response rates (65.4% vs 54.8%, p=0.02) and a trend toward higher remission rates (33.2% vs 25.1%; p=0.06) compared to TAU. Short term study. This study is the first assessing the short-term effects of an add-on, brief, telephone-administered psychotherapy in depressed patients treated with antidepressant medication. Eight sessions of weekly telephone-delivered psychotherapy as an adjunct to antidepressant medication resulted in improved response rates relative to medication alone. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Telephone consultation for improving health of people living with or at risk of HIV: a systematic review.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michelle H M M T van Velthoven

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Low cost, effective interventions are needed to deal with the major global burden of HIV/AIDS. Telephone consultation offers the potential to improve health of people living with HIV/AIDS cost-effectively and to reduce the burden on affected people and health systems. The aim of this systematic review was to assess the effectiveness of telephone consultation for HIV/AIDS care. METHODS: We undertook a comprehensive search of peer-reviewed and grey literature. Two authors independently screened citations, extracted data and assessed the quality of randomized controlled trials which compared telephone interventions with control groups for HIV/AIDS care. Telephone interventions were voice calls with landlines or mobile phones. We present a narrative overview of the results as the obtained trials were highly heterogeneous in design and therefore the data could not be pooled for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The search yielded 3321 citations. Of these, nine studies involving 1162 participants met the inclusion criteria. The telephone was used for giving HIV test results (one trial and for delivering behavioural interventions aimed at improving mental health (four trials, reducing sexual transmission risk (one trial, improving medication adherence (two trials and smoking cessation (one trial. Limited effectiveness of the intervention was found in the trial giving HIV test results, in one trial supporting medication adherence and in one trial for smoking cessation by telephone. CONCLUSIONS: We found some evidence of the benefits of interventions delivered by telephone for the health of people living with HIV or at risk of HIV. However, only limited conclusions can be drawn as we only found nine studies for five different interventions and they mainly took place in the United States. Nevertheless, given the high penetration of low-cost mobile phones in countries with high HIV endemicity, more evidence is needed on how telephone consultation

  13. The Role of the Team in Managing Telephone Consultation in Dialectical Behavior Therapy: Three Case Examples

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koons, Cedar R.

    2011-01-01

    Standard, outpatient Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) includes the provision of intersession telephone contact between the therapist and the client to reduce suicidal crisis behaviors, enhance skills generalization, and reduce alienation and conflict in the therapeutic relationship. Therapists providing telephone consultation need the help of…

  14. 77 FR 34233 - Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-06-11

    ... initiator of the message, to be a nuisance and an invasion of privacy; and (3) individuals' privacy rights... are made by the consumer's loan servicer, because the primary motivation of the calling party is to... challenged as TCPA violations because the primary motivation appears to be sending a telephone solicitation...

  15. Computer tablet or telephone? A randomised controlled trial exploring two methods of collecting data from drug and alcohol outpatients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hobden, Breanne; Bryant, Jamie; Carey, Mariko; Sanson-Fisher, Rob; Oldmeadow, Christopher

    2017-08-01

    Both computerised and telephone surveys have potential advantages for research data collection. The current study aimed to determine the: (i) feasibility, (ii) acceptability, and (iii) cost per completed survey of computer tablet versus telephone data collection for clients attending an outpatient drug and alcohol treatment clinic. Two-arm randomised controlled trial. Clients attending a drug and alcohol outpatient clinic in New South Wales, Australia, were randomised to complete a baseline survey via computer tablet in the clinic or via telephone interview within two weeks of their appointment. All participants completed a three-month follow-up survey via telephone. Consent and completion rates for the baseline survey were significantly higher in the computer tablet condition. The time taken to complete the computer tablet survey was lower (11min) than the telephone condition (17min). There were no differences in the proportion of consenters or completed follow-up surveys between the two conditions at the 3-month follow-up. Acceptability was high across both modes of data collection. The cost of the computer tablet condition was $67.52 greater per completed survey than the telephone condition. There is a trade-off between computer tablet and telephone data collection. While both data collection methods were acceptable to participants, the computer tablet condition resulted in higher consent and completion rates at baseline, therefore yielding greater external validity, and was quicker for participants to complete. Telephone data collection was however, more cost-effective. Researchers should carefully consider the mode of data collection that suits individual study needs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Voice-band Modem: A Device to Transmit Data over Telephone ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    over Telephone Networks. 2. Advanced Ideas ... transmitted signal power and No is the noise power spec- ... power distribution over all frequencies, and the samples of noise .... Figure 3, dmin=2fl, and average signal energy, assum- ing that ...

  17. An enquiry into the prospects of mobile telephone for agricultural ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    LPhidza

    KEYWORDS: Mobile phones, agricultural information, global system for mobile ... rural services (i.e. agricultural extension) more efficient and cost-effective. 2. ... adoption of mobile telephones, evaluation research has however .... Distribution of respondents by religion. Religion. Frequencies Percentages. Christian. Islam.

  18. Telephone counseling for the public after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Horiguchi, T.; Kojima, K.; Itoh, T.

    2011-01-01

    After the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, Kinki University Atomic Energy Research Institute provided telephone counseling services in order to respond the public's growing concerns about radiation and nuclear energy. Three telephone lines were newly installed for the counseling and the number of consultation marked 705 between March 24 and April 2. In this report, by summarizing the contents of the counseling, we will show what the public concerned about shortly after the accident and report how we responded to the concerns. (author)

  19. Pre-surgery evaluations by telephone decrease travel and cost for families of children with cerebral palsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, John D; Prochaska, John D; Yngve, David A

    2017-01-01

    Children with cerebral palsy need highly specialized care. This can be very burdensome for families, particularly in large rural states, due to the need for long-distance travel to appointments. In this study, children undergoing the selective percutaneous myofascial lengthening surgery utilized a telephone-based telemedicine evaluation to assess for surgical eligibility. The goal was to avoid a separate preoperative clinic visit weeks before the surgery. If possible, eligibility was determined by telephone, and then, the patient could be scheduled for a clinic visit and possible surgery the next day, saving the family a trip. The purposes of the study were to calculate estimated reductions in miles traveled, in travel expenses, and in carbon emissions and to determine whether the telephone assessment was accurate and effective in determining eligibility for surgery. From 2010 to 2012, 279 patients were retrospectively reviewed, and of those, 161 mailed four-page questionnaire and anteroposterior pelvis X-ray followed by a telephone conference. Geographic information system methods were used to geocode patients by location. Savings in mileage and travel costs were calculated. From 2014 to 2015, 195 patients were additionally studied to determine accuracy and effectiveness. The telephone prescreening method saved 106,070 miles in transportation over 3 years, a 38% reduction with US$55,326 in savings. Each family saved an average of 658 (standard deviation = 340) miles of travel and US$343.64 (standard deviation = US$178) in travel expenses. For each increase of 10 miles in distance from the health center, the odds of a patient utilizing telephone screening increased by 10% (odds ratio: 1.101, 95% confidence interval: 1.073-1.129, p < 0.001). After the telephone prescreening, 86% were determined to be likely candidates for the procedure. For 14%, a clinic visit only was scheduled, and they were not scheduled for surgery. Families seeking specialized

  20. Comparing a telephone- and a group-delivered diabetes prevention program

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    S, Lim; Dunbar, James; Versace, Vin

    2017-01-01

    Aims To explore the acceptability of a telephone- or a group-delivered diabetes prevention program for women with previous gestational diabetes and to compare the characteristics associated with program engagement. Methods Postpartum women participated in a lifestyle modification program delivere...

  1. A telephone questionnaire in order to assess functional outcome after post-traumatic limb salvage surgery: Development and preliminary validation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wulterkens, Leonie; Aurégan, Jean-Charles; Letellier, Thomas; Mebtouche, Nasser; Levante, Stéphane; Cottin, Philippe; Bégué, Thierry

    2015-12-01

    Post-traumatic limb salvage surgery is challenging and evaluation of the results remains arduous. No questionnaire specifically assessing functional outcome after post-traumatic limb salvage surgery of the lower extremity exists. Due to regionalization of specialized care, the patients' travel time to the hospital increases. To overcome a higher patients' travel burden, patients' follow up by telephone is an option. We aimed to develop a telephone questionnaire in order to assess functional outcome after post-traumatic limb salvage surgery of the lower extremity. From a review of scores of functional assessment of the lower limb surgery, we have developed a telephone questionnaire. A prospective study was performed to validate this telephone questionnaire. Twenty patients were included. The participants were called to complete the telephone questionnaire twice with an interval of a week. The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) was completed during the second telephone call. The internal consistency was analyzed by the Cronbach's alpha (α). With the outcome scores of both completions, the test-retest reliability was analyzed by the interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) 2,k with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI). The outcome scores of the second telephone questionnaire and the WOMAC questionnaire were used for the construct validity analysis by the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (r(s)) with a 95% CI. The internal consistency analysis revealed a α=0.62 which improved to α=0.92 after removing one question from the telephone questionnaire. The final version of the telephone questionnaire comprises 32 questions, divided in 3 subscales: function, daily life and psychology. The total score varies between 0 and 86 points. The test-retest reliability was ICC 2,k=0.93 (95% CI: 0.82-0.97) and the construct validity was r(s)=0.92 (95% CI: 0.81-0.97). We present a specific telephone questionnaire in order to assess functional

  2. For whom bell toils: medical imaging by telephone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuhfeld, A W

    1991-01-01

    The use of the induction balance, which was invented by Alexander Graham Bell to cancel out line interference on his telephone, to determine the location of bullets inside the human body is discussed. Experiments conducted to locate a bullet in the body of US President Garfield, who had been shot by an assassin in 1881, are described. The trials on Garfield were unsuccessful, but the approach was later perfected by Bell.

  3. Applying technology to the treatment of cannabis use disorder: comparing telephone versus Internet delivery using data from two completed trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rooke, Sally E; Gates, Peter J; Norberg, Melissa M; Copeland, Jan

    2014-01-01

    Technology-based interventions such as those delivered by telephone or online may assist in removing significant barriers to treatment seeking for cannabis use disorder. Little research, however, has addressed differing technology-based treatments regarding their comparative effectiveness, and how user profiles may affect compliance and treatment satisfaction. This study addressed this issue by examining these factors in online (N=225) versus telephone (N=160) delivered interventions for cannabis use, using data obtained from two previously published randomized controlled trials conducted by the current authors. Several differences emerged including stronger treatment effects (medium to large effect sizes in the telephone study versus small effect sizes in the Web study) and lower dropout in the telephone intervention (38% vs. 46%). Additionally, around half of the telephone study participants sought concurrent treatment, compared with 2% of participants in the Web study. Demographics and predictors of treatment engagement, retention and satisfaction also varied between the studies. Findings indicate that both telephone and Web-based treatments can be effective in assisting cannabis users to quit or reduce their use; however, participant characteristics may have important implications for treatment preference and outcome, with those who elect telephone-based treatment experiencing stronger outcomes. Thus, participant preference may shape study populations, adherence, and outcome. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. After Mobile Phones Surpassing Telephones%当手机蹿至老大时

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    马斌; 张英

    2004-01-01

    According to the statistic of MII, the number of phone user in the whole country of China has reached 0.512 billion in 2003, with 91.85 million new users added between January and October. The newly-added users include 40.917 million telephone users and 50.933 million mobile phone users. And the total number of telephone users has reached 0.2551 billion, mobile phone users 0.2569 billion. Up to now the number of mobile phone users has surpassed that of telephone users. The surpassing is a new landmark in the development of China telecom industry. At the same time the surpassing is not just a common event, but it will bring great influence to the development pattern of our telecom industry, regulation of government in the future, mobile communications and fixed network carriers. And so in this issue "New Telecom Salon" focuses on what the surpassing will bring to telecom industry in all aspects. The specialists in the industry are invited to discuss all related things about this subject.

  5. Physical Therapists, Telephone Coaches, and Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis: Qualitative Study About Working Together to Promote Exercise Adherence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinman, Rana S; Delany, Clare M; Campbell, Penelope K; Gale, Janette; Bennell, Kim L

    2016-04-01

    Integrated models of care are recommended for people with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Exercise is integral to management, yet exercise adherence is problematic. Telephone-based health coaching is an attractive adjunct to physical therapist-prescribed exercise that may improve adherence. Little is known about the perceptions and interpretations of physical therapists, telephone coaches, and patients engaged in this model of care. The purpose of this study was to explore how stakeholders (physical therapists, telephone coaches, and patients) experienced, and made sense of, being involved in an integrated program of physical therapist-supervised exercise and telephone coaching for people with knee OA. A cross-sectional qualitative design drawing from symbolic interactionism was used. Semistructured interviews with 10 physical therapists, 4 telephone coaches, and 6 patients with painful knee OA. Interviews were audiorecorded, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic analysis informed by grounded theory. Four themes emerged: (1) genuine interest and collaboration, (2) information and accountability, (3) program structure, and (4) roles and communication in teamwork. Patients reported they appreciated personalized, genuine interest from therapists and coaches and were aware of their complementary roles. A collaborative approach, with defined roles and communication strategies, was identified as important for effectiveness. All participants highlighted the importance of sharing information, monitoring, and being accountable to others. Coaches found the lack of face-to-face contact with patients hampered relationship building. Therapists and coaches referred to the importance of teamwork in delivering the intervention. The small number of physical therapists and telephone coaches who delivered the intervention may have been biased toward favorable experiences with the intervention and may not be representative of their respective professions. Integrated physical therapy and

  6. Under-triage in telephone consultation is related to non-normative symptom description and interpersonal communication

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gamst-Jensen, Hejdi; Lippert, Freddy K; Egerod, Ingrid

    2017-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Telephone consultation and triage are used to limit the workload on emergency departments. Lack of visual cues and clinical tests put telephone consultations to a disadvantage compared to face-to-face consultations increasing the risk of under-triage. Under-triage occurs in telephone...... triage; however why under-triage happens is not explored yet. The aim of the study was to describe situations of under-triage in context, to assess the quality of under-triaged calls, and to identify communication patterns contributing to under-triage in a regional OOH service in the capital region...... (19%), respiratory (15%) and all others (42%). Thematic analysis of the voice logs suggested that inadequate communication and non-normative symptom description contributed to under-triage. DISCUSSION: The incidence of potentially under-triage is low (0.04%). However, the over...

  7. Assessment of mental health and illness by telephone survey: experience with an Alberta mental health survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patten, Scott B; Adair, Carol E; Williams, Jeanne Va; Brant, Rollin; Wang, Jian Li; Casebeer, Ann; Beauséjour, Pierre

    2006-01-01

    Mental health is an emerging priority for health surveillance. It has not been determined that the existing data sources can adequately meet surveillance needs. The objective of this project was to explore the use of telephone surveys as a means of collecting supplementary surveillance information. A computer-assisted telephone interview was administered to 5,400 subjects in Alberta. The interview included a set of brief, validated measures for evaluating mental disorder prevalence and related variables. The individual subject response rate was 78 percent, but a substantial number of refusals occurred at the initial household contact. The age and sex distribution of the study sample differed from that of the provincial population prior to weighting. Prevalence proportions did not vary substantially across administrative health regions. There is a potential role for telephone data collection in mental health surveillance, but these results highlight some associated methodological challenges. They also draw into question the importance of regional variation in mental disorder prevalence--which might otherwise have been a key advantage of telephone survey methodologies.

  8. A middle class image of society: a study of undercoverage and nonresponse bias in a telephone survey

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Goor, van H.; Rispens, S.

    2004-01-01

    We studied undercoverage and nonresponse in a telephone survey among the population of the City ofGroningen, the Netherlands. The original sample, drawn from the municipal population register,contained 7000 individuals. For 37 percent of them, the telephone company was unable to produce a

  9. A middle class image of society : A study of undercoverage and nonresponse bias in a telephone survey

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Goor, Henk; Rispens, S

    We studied undercoverage and nonresponse in a telephone survey among the population of the City of Groningen, the Netherlands. The original sample, drawn from the municipal population register, contained 7000 individuals. For 37 percent of them, the telephone company was unable to produce a valid

  10. Lunar phases and crisis center telephone calls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, J E; Tobacyk, J J

    1990-02-01

    The lunar hypothesis, that is, the notion that lunar phases can directly affect human behavior, was tested by time-series analysis of 4,575 crisis center telephone calls (all calls recorded for a 6-month interval). As expected, the lunar hypothesis was not supported. The 28-day lunar cycle accounted for less than 1% of the variance of the frequency of crisis center calls. Also, as hypothesized from an attribution theory framework, crisis center workers reported significantly greater belief in lunar effects than a non-crisis-center-worker comparison group.

  11. Voice-band Modems: A Device to Transmit Data Over Telephone ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Voice-band Modems: A Device to Transmit Data. Over Telephone Networks. 1. Basic Principles of Data Trans.mission v U Reddy is with the. Electrical Communica- tion Engineering. Department, Indian. Institute of Science. His research areas are adaptive signal process- ing, multirate filtering and wavelets, and multi-.

  12. Short Term Group Counseling of Visually Impaired People by Telephone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaureguy, Beth M.; Evans, Ron L.

    1983-01-01

    Short term group counseling via the telephone resulted in marked increases in activities of daily living among 12 legally blind veterans. Many subjects' personal coping goals were met as well, and social involvement also increased. No significant changes in levels of depression or agitation were noted. (CL)

  13. Telephone Coaching in Dialectical Behavior Therapy: A Decision-Tree Model for Managing Inter-Session Contact with Clients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ben-Porath, Denise D.; Koons, Cedar R.

    2005-01-01

    Several studies have indicated that telephone coaching can play an important role in psychological intervention (Beebe, 2001; Burgess & Chalder, 2001; Meyersberg, 1985). Less well understood, however, is the role of telephone coaching with severe, complex, multiproblem clients, such as those diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.…

  14. A Telephone-based Physiotherapy Intervention for Patients with Osteoarthritis of the Knee

    Science.gov (United States)

    Odole, Adesola C.; Ojo, Oluwatobi D.

    2013-01-01

    This study assessed the effects of a 6-week telephone based intervention on the pain intensity and physical function of patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA), and compared the results to physiotherapy conducted in the clinic. Fifty randomly selected patients with knee OA were assigned to one of two treatment groups: a clinic group (CG) and a tele-physiotherapy group (TG). The CG received thrice-weekly physiotherapist administered osteoarthritis-specific exercises in the clinic for six weeks. The TG received structured telephone calls thrice-weekly at home, to monitor self-administered osteoarthritis-specific exercises. Participants’ pain intensity and physical function were assessed at baseline, two, four, and six weeks, in the clinic environment. Within group comparison showed significant improvements across baseline, and at weeks two, four, and six for both TG and CG’s pain intensity and physical function. Between-group comparison of CG and TG’s pain intensity and physical function at baseline and weeks two, four, and six showed no significant differences. This study demonstrated that a six-week course of structured telephone calls thrice-weekly to patients at their home, to monitor self-administered osteoarthritis-specific exercises for patients with knee OA (i.e., tele-physiotherapy) achieved comparable results to physiotherapy conducted in the clinic. PMID:25945214

  15. Cost effectiveness of a telephone intervention to promote dilated fundus examination in adults with diabetes mellitus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clyde B Schechter

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available Clyde B Schechter1, Charles E Basch2, Arlene Caban3, Elizabeth A Walker41Departments of Family and Social Medicine and Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA; 2Department of Health Behavior Studies, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; 3Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA; 4Departments of Medicine and Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USAAbstract: In a clinical trial, we have previously shown that a telephone intervention can significantly increase participation in dilated fundus examination (DFE screening among low-income adults with diabetes. Here the costs and cost-effectiveness ratio of this intervention are calculated. Intervention effectiveness was estimated as the difference in DFE utilization between the telephone intervention and print groups from the clinical trial multiplied by the size of the telephone intervention group. A micro-costing approach was used. Personnel time was aggregated from logs kept during the clinical trial of the intervention. Wage rates were taken from a commercial compensation database. Telephone charges were estimated based on prevailing fees. The cost-effectiveness ratio was calculated as the ratio of total costs of the intervention to the number of DFEs gained by the intervention. A sensitivity analysis estimated the cost-effectiveness of a more limited telephone intervention. A probabilistic sensitivity analysis using bootstrap samples from the clinical trial results quantified the uncertainties in resource utilization and intervention effectiveness. Net intervention costs were US$18,676.06, with an associated gain of 43.7 DFEs and 16.4 new diagnoses of diabetic retinopathy. The cost-effectiveness ratio is US$427.37 per DFE gained. A restricted intervention limiting the number of calls to 5, as opposed to 7, would achieve the same results

  16. An Intervention to Improve the Comfort And Satisfaction of Nurses in the Telephone Triage of Child Maltreatment Calls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunter, Julie

    2015-01-01

    Nurses are mandated reporters of actual or suspected child maltreatment or the threat thereof. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to determine the knowledge and comfort of nurses in telephone triage in pediatric clinics when dealing with suspected or actual child abuse calls. Nurses (N = 17) from three pediatric primary care clinics and one specialty care orthopedic clinic were surveyed. Based on results of the survey showing a lack of knowledge and adequate referral resources perceived by the nursing staff, resources and staff education were developed, along with a script for guiding maltreatment calls toward standardization of care. Following the intervention, nurses reported an increased comfort level when doing telephone triage for child maltreatment calls, an increase in knowledge of risk factors for county resources. Further, they reported a substantial shift in opinion about the need for a standardized script when responding to child maltreatment telephone calls. Nurses undertaking telephone triage of high-risk child maltreatment calls can improve their comfort and knowledge through a survey of their needs and directed education and resource development for the management of child maltreatment telephone triage.

  17. DBT Telephone Skills Coaching with Eating Disordered Clients: Who Calls, for What Reasons, and for How Long?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Limbrunner, Heidi M.; Ben-Porath, Denise D.; Wisniewski, Lucene

    2011-01-01

    The goal of this paper is to report on the typology, frequency, and duration of intersession calls placed by outpatient eating disorder clients to their therapists. Participants were 17 women, offered DBT after-hours telephone coaching adapted for individuals with eating disorders. Results indicated that clients used telephone coaching primarily…

  18. Validation of a telephone screening tool for spasmodic dysphonia and vocal fold tremor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, David M; Hapner, Edie R; Klein, Adam M; Pethan, Madeleine; Johns, Michael M

    2014-11-01

    The objective of this study was to ascertain whether clinicians can reliably distinguish between spasmodic dysphonia (SD)/vocal tremor and other voice disorders by telephone, despite this modality's limited frequency response. Randomized, single-blinded, and prospective study. Voice-disordered patients with (n = 22) and without (n = 17) SD and/or vocal tremor recorded standardized utterances via landline telephone. A laryngologist and two speech-language pathologists blinded to the diagnoses rated each recording as "yes" or "no" to "SD or tremor present?," and if "yes" categorized into adductor, abductor, tremor only, or adductor with tremor subtypes. Twenty-one recordings were presented twice at random so intrarater reliability could be assessed. All ratings were compared with gold standard diagnosis by a second laryngologist who performed a full examination, including videostroboscopy, on each patient. For the comparison "SD or tremor" yes versus no, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value are 90%, 95%, 96%, and 89%, respectively. Interrater reliability (Cohen kappa) compared with the gold standard ranged from 0.70 to 0.93 (substantial to almost perfect agreement). Cronbach alpha among three raters was 0.90 for this comparison. Intrarater reliability (number matched/number inspected) was very high, ranging from 0.97 to 1.0. Comparing gold standard and telephone rating of SD/tremor subtypes, kappa ranged from 0.48 to 0.60 (moderate agreement). Cronbach alpha among three raters was 0.88 for this comparison. Intrarater reliability ranged from 0.84 to 0.97. SD and tremor can be reliably distinguished from other voice disorders over the telephone. Copyright © 2014 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. PhysioDirect: Supporting physiotherapists to deliver telephone assessment and advice services within the context of a randomised trial

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bishop, Annette; Gamlin, Jill; Hall, Jeanette; Hopper, Cherida; Foster, Nadine E.

    2013-01-01

    Physiotherapy-led telephone assessment and advice services for patients with musculoskeletal problems have been developed in many services in the UK, but high quality trial data on clinical and cost effectiveness has been lacking. In order to address this ‘The PhysioDirect trial’ (ISRCTN55666618), was a pragmatic randomised trial of a PhysioDirect telephone assessment and advice service. This paper describes the PhysioDirect system used in the trial and how physiotherapists were trained and supported to use the system and deliver the PhysioDirect service. The PhysioDirect system used in the trial was developed in Huntingdon and now serves a population of 350,000 people. When initiating or providing physiotherapy-led telephone assessment and advice services training and support for physiotherapists delivering care in this way is essential. An enhanced skill set is required for telephone assessment and advice particularly in listening and communication skills. In addition to an initial training programme, even experienced physiotherapists benefit from a period of skill consolidation to become proficient and confident in assessing patients and delivering care using the telephone. A computer-based system assists the delivery of a physiotherapy-led musculoskeletal assessment and advice service. Clinical Trials Registration Number (ISRCTN55666618). PMID:23219629

  20. Reliability and validity of using telephone calls for post-discharge surveillance of surgical site infection following caesarean section at a tertiary hospital in Tanzania

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boniface Nguhuni

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Surgical site infection (SSI is a common post-operative complication causing significant morbidity and mortality. Many SSI occur after discharge from hospital. Post-discharge SSI surveillance in low and middle income countries needs to be improved. Methodology We conducted an observational cohort study in Dodoma, Tanzania to examine the sensitivity and specificity of telephone calls to detect SSI after discharge from hospital in comparison to a gold standard of clinician review. Women undergoing caesarean section were enrolled and followed up for 30 days. Women providing a telephone number were interviewed using a structured questionnaire at approximately days 5, 12 and 28 post-surgery. Women were then invited for out-patient review by a clinician blinded to the findings of telephone interview. Results A total of 374 women were enrolled and an overall SSI rate of 12% (n = 45 was observed. Three hundred and sixteen (84% women provided a telephone number, of which 202 had at least one telephone interview followed by a clinical review within 48 h, generating a total of 484 paired observations. From the clinical reviews, 25 SSI were diagnosed, of which telephone interview had correctly identified 18 infections; telephone calls did not incorrectly identify SSI in any patients. The overall sensitivity and specificity of telephone interviews as compared to clinician evaluation was 72 and 100%, respectively. Conclusion The use of telephone interview as a diagnostic tool for post-discharge surveillance of SSI had moderate sensitivity and high specificity in Tanzania. Telephone-based detection may be a useful method for SSI surveillance in low-income settings with high penetration of mobile telephones.

  1. A Telephone-based Physiotherapy Intervention for Patients with Osteoarthritis of the Knee

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adesola C Odole

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available This study assessed the effects of a 6-week telephone based intervention on the pain intensity and physical function of patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA, and compared the results to physiotherapy conducted in the clinic. Fifty randomly selected patients with knee OA were assigned to one of two treatment groups: a clinic group (CG and a tele-physiotherapy group (TG. The CG received thrice-weekly physiotherapist administered osteoarthritis-specific exercises in the clinic for six weeks. The TG received structured telephone calls thrice-weekly at home, to monitor self-administered osteoarthritis-specific exercises. Participants’ pain intensity and physical function were assessed at baseline, two, four, and six weeks, in the clinic environment. Within group comparison showed significant improvements across baseline, and at weeks two, four, and six for both TG and CG’s pain intensity and physical function. Between-group comparison of CG and TG’s pain intensity and physical function at baseline and weeks two, four, and six showed no significant differences. This study demonstrated that a six-week course of structured telephone calls thrice-weekly to patients at their home, to monitor self-administered osteoarthritis-specific exercises for patients with knee OA (i.e., tele-physiotherapy achieved comparable results to physiotherapy conducted in the clinic.   12.00 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE

  2. Emotion Analysis of Telephone Complaints from Customer Based on Affective Computing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, Shuangping; Dai, Yonghui; Ji, Jun; Wang, Jinzhao; Sun, Hai

    2015-01-01

    Customer complaint has been the important feedback for modern enterprises to improve their product and service quality as well as the customer's loyalty. As one of the commonly used manners in customer complaint, telephone communication carries rich emotional information of speeches, which provides valuable resources for perceiving the customer's satisfaction and studying the complaint handling skills. This paper studies the characteristics of telephone complaint speeches and proposes an analysis method based on affective computing technology, which can recognize the dynamic changes of customer emotions from the conversations between the service staff and the customer. The recognition process includes speaker recognition, emotional feature parameter extraction, and dynamic emotion recognition. Experimental results show that this method is effective and can reach high recognition rates of happy and angry states. It has been successfully applied to the operation quality and service administration in telecom and Internet service company.

  3. Emotion Analysis of Telephone Complaints from Customer Based on Affective Computing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shuangping Gong

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Customer complaint has been the important feedback for modern enterprises to improve their product and service quality as well as the customer’s loyalty. As one of the commonly used manners in customer complaint, telephone communication carries rich emotional information of speeches, which provides valuable resources for perceiving the customer’s satisfaction and studying the complaint handling skills. This paper studies the characteristics of telephone complaint speeches and proposes an analysis method based on affective computing technology, which can recognize the dynamic changes of customer emotions from the conversations between the service staff and the customer. The recognition process includes speaker recognition, emotional feature parameter extraction, and dynamic emotion recognition. Experimental results show that this method is effective and can reach high recognition rates of happy and angry states. It has been successfully applied to the operation quality and service administration in telecom and Internet service company.

  4. Validation of a structured interview for telephone assessment of the modified Rankin Scale in Brazilian stroke patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baggio, Jussara A O; Santos-Pontelli, Taiza E G; Cougo-Pinto, Pedro T; Camilo, Millene; Silva, Nathalia F; Antunes, Paula; Machado, Laura; Leite, João P; Pontes-Neto, Octavio M

    2014-01-01

    The modified Rankin Scale (mRS) is a commonly used scale to assess the functional outcome after stroke. Several studies on mRS showed good reliability, feasibility, and interrater agreement of this scale using a face-to-face assessment. However, telephone assessment is a more time-efficient way to obtain an mRS grade than a face-to-face interview. The aim of this study was to validate the telephone assessment of mRS among the Portuguese using a structured interview in a sample of Brazilian stroke patients. We evaluated 50 stroke outpatients twice. The first interview was face-to-face and the second was made by telephone and the time between the two assessments ranged between 7 and 14 days. Four certified raters evaluated the patients using a structured interview based on a questionnaire previously published in the literature. Raters were blinded for the Rankin score given by the other rater. For both assessments, the rater could also interview a caregiver if necessary. The patients' mean age was 62.8 ± 14.7, mean number of years of study 5.2 ± 3.4, 52% were males, 55.2% of patients needed a caregiver's help to answer the questions. The majority of caregivers were female (85%), mean age 49.1 ± 15, and mean number of years of study 8.3 ± 3.4. Perfect agreement between the telephone and face-to-face assessments was obtained for 27 (54%) patients, corresponding to an unweighted Kappa of 0.44 (95% CI 0.27-0.61) and a weighted Kappa of 0.89. The median of telephone assessment mRS was 3.5 (interquartile range = 2-4) and of face-to-face assessment was 4 (interquartile range = 2-5). There was no difference between the two assessments (Wilcoxon test, p = 0.35). Despite the low education level of our sample, the telephone assessment of functional impairment of stroke patients using a translated and culturally adapted Brazilian Portuguese version of the mRS showed good validity and reliability. Therefore, the telephone assessment of mRS can be used in clinical practice and

  5. [Telephone support for breastfeeding by primary care: a randomised multicentre trial].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balaguer Martínez, Josep Vicent; Valcarce Pérez, Inmaculada; Esquivel Ojeda, Jessica Noelia; Hernández Gil, Alicia; Martín Jiménez, María Del Pilar; Bernad Albareda, Mercè

    2018-03-22

    To evaluate a telephone support programme for mothers who breastfeed for the first 6 months. A randomised unmasked clinical trial was conducted in 5 urban Primary Care centres that included mothers with healthy newborns who were breastfeeding exclusively (EBF) or partially (PBF). The control group received the usual care. The intervention group also received telephone support for breastfeeding on a weekly basis for the first 2months and then every 2weeks until the sixth month. The type of breastfeeding was recorded in the usual check-up visit (1, 2, 4 and 6 months). The study included 193 patients in the intervention group, and 187 in a control group. The greatest increase in the percentage of EBF was observed at 6 months: 21.4% in the control group compared to 30.1% in the intervention group. However, in the adjusted odds ratios analysis, confidence intervals did not show statistical significance. The odds ratio at 1 month, 2 months, 4 months, and 6 months for EBF were 1.45 (0.91-2.31), 1.35 (0.87-2.08), 1.21 (0.80-1.81), and 1.58 (0.99-2.53), respectively. The odds ratio in the same age groups for any type of breastfeeding (EBF + PBF) were 1.65 (0.39-7.00), 2.08 (0.94-4.61), 1.37 (0.79-2.38), and 1.60 (0.98-2.61), respectively. Telephone intervention was not effective enough to generalise it. Copyright © 2018. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U.

  6. The emergency telephone conversation in the context of the older person in suicidal crisis: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deuter, Kate; Procter, Nicholas; Rogers, John

    2013-01-01

    Suicide in older people is a significant public health issue with a predicted future increase. Contemporary research directs considerable attention toward physical, mental, and social risk factors that contribute to suicidality in older people; still, little is understood about the fundamental meanings that older people in suicidal crisis attribute to these factors. The aim of this qualitative study was to describe, analyze, and compare counselors' and older peoples' perceptions of the suicidal crisis during an emergency telephone conversation. Data collection consisted of individual interviews with telephone counselors (N = 7) working within an emergency mental health triage service, and listening to telephone calls (N = 14) received by the service responding to people aged 65 years and over in suicidal crisis. Triangulation of the two data sets resulted in the emergence of three key themes. We found (1) congruence in the way risk factors were perceived by counselors and communicated during telephone conversations, (2) dissension between counselors' perceptions of end-of-life issues and older people's feelings of ambivalence about wanting to die and not knowing what to do and (3) the need for working side-by-side with the older person, exploring acute changes and immediate capacity for change. An explicit focus on risk factors alone may preclude counselors from gaining a deeper understanding of suicidal crisis in an older person's life. This research has begun to capture and illuminate how telephone counselors can deliver effective crisis intervention as older people struggle and make meaning through their suffering.

  7. Organizational Contexts and Texts: The Redesign of the Midwest Bell Telephone Bill.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller-Cohen, Deborah

    1987-01-01

    Offers a retrospective view of organizational factors affecting the redesign of the Midwest Bell Telephone Bill. Shows how financial considerations, organizational time frame, and employee training and experience influenced the bill's development process. (MM)

  8. Results from the Dutch speech-in-noise screening test by telephone

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Smits, C.H.M.; Houtgast, T.

    2005-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to implement a previously developed automatic speech-in-noise screening test by telephone (Smits, Kapteyn, & Houtgast, 2004), introduce it nationwide as a self-test, and analyze the results. DESIGN: The test was implemented on an interactive voice response

  9. Using History to Teach Invention and Design: The Case of the Telephone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gorman, Michael E.; Robinson, J. Kirby

    This paper shows how a historical case, the invention of the telephone, can be used to teach invention and design in a way that combines engineering, social sciences, and humanities. The historical problem of transmitting speech was turned into an active learning module, in which students sought to improve patents obtained by early telephone inventors like Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray, using equipment similar to what was available at the time. The result was a collaborative learning environment in which students from a wide range of majors worked in teams, eventually producing a patent application. As part of the project, they were allowed to search historical materials like the Bell notebooks, which were made available on line. This experience gave them a better understanding of the invention and design process.

  10. Telephone consultations on exposure to nuclear disaster radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yashima, Sachiko; Chida, Koichi

    2014-01-01

    The Fukushima nuclear disaster occurred on March 11, 2011. For about six weeks, I worked as a counselor for phone consultations regarding radiation risk. I analyzed the number of consultations, consultations by telephone, and their changing patterns with elapse of time, to assist with consultations about risk in the future. There were a large number of questions regarding the effects of radiation, particularly with regard to children. We believe that counseling and risk communication are the key to effectively informing the public about radiation risks. (author)

  11. Traffic Tech : National Telephone Survey on Distracted Driving Attitudes and Behaviors - 2015

    Science.gov (United States)

    2018-03-01

    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducted its third national telephone survey of distracted driving to monitor the public's attitudes, knowledge, and self-reported behavior about cell phone use and texting while driving, an...

  12. The effect of telephone support on depressive symptoms among HIV-infected pregnant women in Thailand: an embedded mixed methods study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ross, Ratchneewan; Sawatphanit, Wilaiphan; Suwansujarid, Tatirat; Stidham, Andrea W; Drew, Barbara L; Creswell, John W

    2013-01-01

    Depressive symptoms negatively impact the lives of HIV-infected individuals and are correlated with faster progression to AIDS. Our embedded mixed methods study examined and described the effects of telephone support on depressive symptoms in a sample of HIV-infected pregnant Thai women. HIV-infected pregnant Thai women (n = 40) were randomly assigned to either the control or the intervention group. A registered nurse provided telephone support to the intervention group. Depressive symptoms were measured at three points in both groups. In-depth interviews were conducted at Time 2 and Time 3. Results show that depressive symptoms in the intervention group decreased over time. Qualitative results describe how telephone support can work, but also reveal that telephone support did not work for everyone. We recommend that a larger mixed methods study be conducted to examine the effects of telephone support on depressive symptoms among HIV-infected women, including the costs and benefits of such support. Copyright © 2013 Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Sleep information by Telephone: Callers Indicate Positive Effects on Sleep Problems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verbeek, I.; Declerck, G.; Knuistingh Neven, A.; Coenen, A.M.L.

    2002-01-01

    There is a need to develop effective interventions for insomnia that are readily accessible and not too expensive. For the reason that earlier studies have already shown that direct contact with a sleep therapist is not always needed, telephone service may be useful to give insomnia patients

  14. Pricing of miniature vehicles made from telephone card waste

    Science.gov (United States)

    Puspitasari, N. B.; Pujotomo, D.; Muhardiansyah, H.

    2017-12-01

    The number of electronic devices in Indonesia in the last 10 years has been increasing quite drastically which contributes to more electronic waste. E-waste or electronic waste have different characteristics from other kinds of waste. Components of electronic waste often poisonous, consisting dangerous chemicals. The telephone card wasted is also an electronic waste. One alternative to handle and manage telephone card waste is to recycle it into collectible miniature vehicles. But the price of these miniatures is quite high, causing low interest in buying them. A research on the price of miniature vehicles in relation to consumers’ Ability to Pay (ATP) and Willingness to Pay (WTP) needs to be done. Segmentation analysis data, target, product positioning and product marketing mix are needed before commencing the research. Data collection is done through a survey by spreading questionnaire to 100 miniature vehicle collectors in Semarang, questioning their ability and willingness to pay recycled miniature vehicles. Calculations showed average ATP of Rp.112.520, 24 and average WTP of Rp.76.870. The last result showed the estimate pricing according to ATP and WTP which is Rp.66.000 with 58% of the respondents claiming to be willing and able to pay that price.

  15. Supplemental Analysis Survey of C&P Telephone Inside Wiring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1986-10-01

    telephone company facilities in 1984. In 1985, among other actions favorable to deregulation and detariffing of inside wiring, the FCC proposed to detariff ...installation of inside wiring, detariff the maintenance of all inside wiring, treat all inside wiring as customer premise equipment and pass ownership...85-148, 50 Fed. let. 13991 (April 9, 1985), pToposing to detariff the installation of simple inside wiring and also to detariff the maintenance of all

  16. Attacks on public telephone networks: technologies and challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kosloff, T.; Moore, Tyler; Keller, J.; Manes, Gavin W.; Shenoi, Sujeet

    2003-09-01

    Signaling System 7 (SS7) is vital to signaling and control in America's public telephone networks. This paper describes a class of attacks on SS7 networks involving the insertion of malicious signaling messages via compromised SS7 network components. Three attacks are discussed in detail: IAM flood attacks, redirection attacks and point code spoofing attacks. Depending on their scale of execution, these attacks can produce effects ranging from network congestion to service disruption. Methods for detecting these denial-of-service attacks and mitigating their effects are also presented.

  17. Telephone referral education, and evidence of retention and transfer after six-months

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marshall Stuart D

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Effective communication between clinicians is essential for safe, efficient healthcare. We undertook a study to determine the longer-term effectiveness of an education session employing a structured method to teach referral-making skills to medical students. Methods All final year medical students received a forty-five minute education intervention consisting: discussion of effective telephone referrals; video viewing and critique; explanation, demonstration and practice using ISBAR; provision of a memory aid for use in their clinical work. Audio recordings were taken during a subsequent standardised simulation scenario and blindly assessed using a validated scoring system. Recordings were taken immediately before (control, several hours after (intervention, and at approximately six months after the education. Retention of the acronym and self-reports of transfer to the clinical environment were measured with a questionnaire at eight months. Results Referral clarity at six months was significantly improved from pre-intervention, and referral content showed a trend towards improvement. Both measures were lower than the immediate post-education test. The ISBAR acronym was remembered by 59.4% (n = 95/160 and used by the vast majority of the respondents who had made a clinical telephone referral (n = 135/143; 94.4%. Conclusions A brief education session improved telephone communication in a simulated environment above baseline for over six months, achieved functional retention of the acronym over a seven to eight month period and resulted in self reports of transfer of the learning into practice.

  18. Validation of the Telephone Interview of Cognitive Status and Telephone Montreal Cognitive Assessment Against Detailed Cognitive Testing and Clinical Diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment After Stroke.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zietemann, Vera; Kopczak, Anna; Müller, Claudia; Wollenweber, Frank Arne; Dichgans, Martin

    2017-11-01

    Assessment of cognitive status poststroke is recommended by guidelines but follow-up can often not be done in person. The Telephone Interview of Cognitive Status (TICS) and the Telephone Montreal Cognitive Assessment (T-MoCA) are considered useful screening instruments. Yet, evidence to define optimal cut-offs for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) after stroke is limited. We studied 105 patients enrolled in the prospective DEDEMAS study (Determinants of Dementia After Stroke; NCT01334749). Follow-up visits at 6, 12, 36, and 60 months included comprehensive neuropsychological testing and the Clinical Dementia Rating scale, both of which served as reference standards. The original TICS and T-MoCA were obtained in 2 separate telephone interviews each separated from the personal visits by 1 week (1 before and 1 after the visit) with the order of interviews (TICS versus T-MoCA) alternating between subjects. Area under the receiver-operating characteristic curves was determined. Ninety-six patients completed both the face-to-face visits and the 2 interviews. Area under the receiver-operating characteristic curves ranged between 0.76 and 0.83 for TICS and between 0.73 and 0.94 for T-MoCA depending on MCI definition. For multidomain MCI defined by multiple-tests definition derived from comprehensive neuropsychological testing optimal sensitivities and specificities were achieved at cut-offs <36 (TICS) and <18 (T-MoCA). Validity was lower using single-test definition, and cut-offs were higher compared with multiple-test definitions. Using Clinical Dementia Rating as the reference, optimal cut-offs for MCI were <36 (TICS) and approximately 19 (T-MoCA). Both the TICS and T-MoCA are valid screening tools poststroke, particularly for multidomain MCI using multiple-test definition. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

  19. Respondent Cooperation in Telephone Surveys: The Effects of Using Volunteer Interviewers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Braverman, Marc T.

    1988-01-01

    The effects of using volunteer interviewers on respondent cooperation in telephone surveys were studied, using data on 241 interviews, 99 refusals, and 251 non-contacts. A random, national survey on public knowledge of and attitudes toward a county 4-H youth services program indicated respondent cooperation for professional program staff and…

  20. Co-Constructing Family Identities through Young Children's Telephone-Mediated Narrative Exchanges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cameron, Catherine Ann; Gillen, Julia

    2013-01-01

    This article explores telephone interactions between young children and adult family members as contributing insights to the co-construction of identities within both the nuclear and the extended family. The authors deploy methods of linguistic ethnography to enrich the scope of interpreting the data beyond textual analysis. The study's premise…

  1. Rheumatology telephone advice line - experience of a Portuguese department.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferreira, R; Marques, A; Mendes, A; da Silva, J A

    2015-01-01

    Telephone helplines for patients are tool for information and advice. They can contribute to patient's satisfaction with care and to the effectiveness and safety of treatments. In order to achieve this, they need to be adequately adapted to the target populations, as to incorporate their abilities and expectations. a) Evaluate the adherence of patients to a telephone helpline managed by nurses in a Portuguese Rheumatology Department, b) Analyse the profile of users and their major needs, c) Analyse the management of calls by the nurses. The target population of this phone service are the patients treated at Day Care Hospital and Early Arthritis Clinic of our department. Nurses answered phone calls immediately between 8am and 4pm of working days. In the remaining hours messages were recorded on voice mail and answered as soon as possible. Details of the calls were registered in a dedicated sheet and patients were requested permission to use data to improve the service, with respect for their rights of confidentiality, anonymity and freedom of decision. In 18 months 173 calls were made by 79 patients, with a mean age of 47.9 years (sd=9.13). Considering the proportions of men and women in the target population, it was found that men called more frequently (M= 32.7% vs F= 20.4%, p=.016). The reasons for these calls can be divided into three categories: instrumental help, such as the request for results of complementary tests or rescheduling appointments (43.9% of calls); counselling on side effects or worsening of the disease/pain (31.2 %); counselling on therapy management (24.9%). Neither sex nor patient age were significantly related to these reasons for calling. Nurses resolved autonomously half (50.3%) of the calls and in 79.8% of the cases there was no need for patient referral to other health services. About a quarter of patients adhered to the telephone helpline.. Patients called to obtain support in the management of disease and therapy or to report side

  2. Environmental reduction of mobile telephone base station produced radiation exposures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vermiglio, G.; Tripepi, M.G.; Testagrossa, B.; Sansotta, C.

    2006-01-01

    In this work the authors discuss about their own proposal about a model to modify how the Wireless Telephone Base Stations (W.T.B.S.) works. The proposal, which was made having in mind the GSM technology, can be applied to all other kind of similar technologies and was pointed out as a different way of working of the W.T.B.S. without any modifications on their distribution over the territory. After a short review of the state of the art about the technology and the basis of wireless telephone base stations, the baselines and the principles of the proposed model are discussed, facing out the most significant parameters obtained from the way W.T.B.S. are working at present towards the proposed one. Then the authors illustrate the possible advantages o f the proposed model in terms of environmental, socials and energy savings aspects. It is the authors opinion that such model can be a simple and no -cost solution to apply to the existing infrastructures; more over it can be of interest either for mobile phone companies or for environmental and/or customers associations. (authors)

  3. Influence of digital and analogue cellular telephones on implanted pacemakers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Altamura, G; Toscano, S; Gentilucci, G; Ammirati, F; Castro, A; Pandozi, C; Santini, M

    1997-10-01

    The aim of this study was to find out whether digital and analogue cellular 'phones affect patients with pacemakers. The study comprised continuous ECG monitoring of 200 pacemaker patients. During the monitoring certain conditions caused by interference created by the telephone were looked for: temporary or prolonged pacemaker inhibition; a shift to asynchronous mode caused by electromagnetic interference; an increase in ventricular pacing in dual chamber pacemakers, up to the programmed upper rate. The Global System for Mobile Communications system interfered with pacing 97 times in 43 patients (21.5%). During tests on Total Access of Communication System telephones, there were 60 cases of pacing interference in 35 patients (17.5%). There were 131 interference episodes during ringing vs 26 during the on/off phase; (P 4 s) was seen at the pacemaker 'base' sensing value in six patients using the Global system but in only one patient using Total Access. Cellular 'phones may be dangerous for pacemaker patients. However, they can be used safely if patients do not carry the 'phone close to the pacemaker, which is the only place where high risk interference has been observed.

  4. Effects of telephone follow-up on blood glucose levels and postpartum screening in mothers with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khorshidi Roozbahani, Rezvan; Geranmayeh, Mehrnaz; Hantoushzadeh, Sedigheh; Mehran, Abbas

    2015-01-01

    Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a form of diabetes that occurs in pregnancy. GDM, defined as glucose intolerance, first diagnosed or initiated during pregnancy affects 1-14% of pregnancies based on various studies. Screening and early diagnosis and appropriate glycemic control can improve prenatal outcomes. Telephone follow-up seems to be a reasonable way for pregnant women follow-up. The present study evaluated the effects of telephone follow-up on blood glucose level during pregnancy and postpartum screening. Eighty mothers with GDM were enrolled in this clinical trial and randomly divided into intervention and control groups. All mothers were asked to check their blood sugar levels fivetimes daily. In intervention group, telephone intervention was performed for 10 weeks. In each follow-up, individuals were followed for insulin injections, diet, clinical tests and reminding the next visit. In control group, three times of telephone call was established to record blood sugar levels. Another telephone call was established at 6 weeks of postpartum in both study groups to evaluate the performance of the screening test for blood sugar. The mean age of mothers was 30.9±5 years in the control and 30.7±5.1 years in the intervention groups In intervention group, mean level of blood glucose, 2 hours after lunch at 28 weeks of pregnancy was significantly lower than the control group (Pmothers with gestational diabetes and also increased the rate of postpartum screening test.

  5. Is Telephone Review Feasible and Potentially Effective in Low Vision Services?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parkes, Claire; Lennon, Julie; Harper, Robert

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: Demographic transformations within the UK population combine to contribute to a substantial increase in demand for low vision (LV) services, creating a pressing need to reconsider the appropriate methods for service provision. In this study, we evaluate the feasibility of using telephone triage to assess the need for, and timing of, LV…

  6. Implementing a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) system to increase colorectal cancer screening: a process evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, Mary Jo; Stark, Jennifer R; Luckmann, Roger; Rosal, Milagros C; Clemow, Lynn; Costanza, Mary E

    2006-06-01

    Computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) systems used by telephone counselors (TCs) may be efficient mechanisms to counsel patients on cancer and recommended preventive screening tests in order to extend a primary care provider's reach to his/her patients. The implementation process of such a system for promoting colorectal (CRC) cancer screening using a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) system is reported in this paper. The process evaluation assessed three components of the intervention: message production, program implementation and audience reception. Of 1181 potentially eligible patients, 1025 (87%) patients were reached by the TCs and 725 of those patients (71%) were eligible to receive counseling. Five hundred eighty-two (80%) patients agreed to counseling. It is feasible to design and use CATI systems for prevention counseling of patients in primary care practices. CATI systems have the potential of being used as a referral service by primary care providers and health care organizations for patient education.

  7. Impact of telephone nursing education program for equity in healthcare.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Höglund, Anna T; Carlsson, Marianne; Holmström, Inger K; Kaminsky, Elenor

    2016-09-21

    The Swedish Healthcare Act prescribes that healthcare should be provided according to needs and with respect for each person's human dignity. The goal is equity in health for the whole population. In spite of this, studies have revealed that Swedish healthcare is not always provided equally. This has also been observed in telephone nursing. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate if and how an educational intervention can improve awareness of equity in healthcare among telephone nurses. The study had a quasi-experimental design, with one intervention group and one control group. A base-line measurement was performed before an educational intervention and a follow-up measurement was made afterwards in both groups, using a study specific questionnaire in which fictive persons of different age, gender and ethnicity were assessed concerning, e.g., power over one's own life, quality of life and experience of discrimination. The educational intervention consisted of a web-based lecture, literature and a seminar, covering aspects of inequality in healthcare related to gender, age and ethnicity, and gender and intersectionality theories as explaining models for these conditions. The results showed few significant differences before and after the intervention in the intervention group. Also in the control group few significant differences were found in the second measurement, although no intervention was performed in that group. The reason might be that the instrument used was not sensitive enough to pick up an expected raised awareness of equity in healthcare, or that solely the act of filling out the questionnaire can create a sort of intervention effect. Fictive persons born in Sweden and of young age were assessed to have a higher Good life-index than the fictive persons born outside Europe and of higher age in all assessments. The results are an imperative that equity in healthcare still needs to be educated and discussed in different healthcare

  8. Brief telephone interventions for problem gambling: a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abbott, Max; Hodgins, David C; Bellringer, Maria; Vandal, Alain C; Palmer Du Preez, Katie; Landon, Jason; Sullivan, Sean; Rodda, Simone; Feigin, Valery

    2018-05-01

    Problem gambling is a significant public health issue world-wide. There is substantial investment in publicly funded intervention services, but limited evaluation of effectiveness. This study investigated three brief telephone interventions to determine whether they were more effective than standard helpline treatment in helping people to reduce gambling. Randomized clinical trial. National gambling helpline in New Zealand. A total of 462 adults with problem gambling. INTERVENTIONS AND COMPARATOR: (1) Single motivational interview (MI), (2) single motivational interview plus cognitive-behavioural self-help workbook (MI + W) and (3) single motivational interview plus workbook plus four booster follow-up telephone interviews (MI + W + B). Comparator was helpline standard care [treatment as usual (TAU)]. Blinded follow-up was at 3, 6 and 12 months. Primary outcomes were days gambled, dollars lost per day and treatment goal success. There were no differences across treatment arms, although participants showed large reductions in gambling during the 12-month follow-up period [mean reduction of 5.5 days, confidence interval (CI) = 4.8, 6.2; NZ$38 lost ($32, $44; 80.6%), improved (77.2%, 84.0%)]. Subgroup analysis revealed improved days gambled and dollars lost for MI + W + B over MI or MI + W for a goal of reduction of gambling (versus quitting) and improvement in dollars lost by ethnicity, gambling severity and psychological distress (all P gambling severity than TAU or MI at 12 months and also better for those with higher psychological distress and lower self-efficacy to MI (all P gambling in New Zealand, brief telephone interventions are associated with changes in days gambling and dollars lost similar to more intensive interventions, suggesting that more treatment is not necessarily better than less. Some client subgroups, in particular those with greater problem severity and greater distress, achieve better outcomes when they receive more

  9. Microwave radiation safety assessment around mobile telephone base station (MTBS) in Peninsular Malaysia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohd Yusof Mohd Ali; Rozaimah Abd Rahim; Roha Tukimin; Mohd Anuar Abd Majid; Mohamad Amirul Nizam Mohamad Thari; Ahmad Fazli Ahmad Sanusi; Roslan Md Dan; Sahirudden Mohd Nor

    2006-01-01

    Mobile telephone is one of the fastest popular consumer product introduced in the market. Since more people are using mobile telephone, the number of mobile telephone base station (MTBS) in Malaysia had also increased in order to provide a better coverage services to consumer. The antennas that are required for the mobile (or cellular) telephone network are located at MTBS. This antenna emits radio frequency (RF) and microwave (MW) radiation. Due to the concerns that has been raised by the people that are living or working nearby to MTBS about the possibility of adverse health effects that might occur due to the exposure of this radiation, a project of microwave radiation safety assessment around MTBS by MINT was carried out (September 2003 - January 2006). It was involved with 128 MTBS from three biggest service providers in Malaysia. This assessment is required to establish a baseline data in term of pattern and trend of the radiation emission from the facilities as well as to develop a public confident. In this paper, it will describe the fact that radiation is critical to the MTBS system and without the radiation, the MTBS system is functionless. It will also highlight the result of the assessment's work that has been carried out by MINT around MTBS mounted on the rooftops and towers. The average reading varies between the detection limit of the instrument 2 ( 2 (7.204 V/m). The highest average reading corresponds to about 2.0% of the Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia (MCMC) exposure limit for public. The finding of this measurement confirms that the presence of RF and MW radiation in public accessible area around the base station was very low and comparable to the radiation levels in other places away from MTBS. There is also no evidence, from any laboratory or epidemiology studies that the exposure to RF energy levels recommended limits has any health significance for humans. (Author)

  10. Feasibility of using cellular telephone data to determine the truckshed of intermodal facilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-01

    In order to determine the feasibility of using cellular telephone location data in deriving the geographic extent : (truckshed) from intermodal facilities, this study was conducted to determine the feasibility analysis in three aspects: : technology,...

  11. Alternative Measured-Service Rate Structures for Local Telephone Service,

    Science.gov (United States)

    1980-06-01

    contracts or grants . Views expressed in a Papet are the author’s own, and are not necessarily shared by Rand or its research sponsors. The Rand Corporation...by National Science Foundation, grant DAR 77-16286 to The Rand Corporation. Measuring costs depend strongly on the technology of the telephone network...a Budget Constraint. The Case of the Two-Part Tariff," Review of Economic Studies, July 1974, Vol. 41, pp. 337-345. -28- Oi, W. Y., "A Disneyland

  12. A comparison of nonresponse in mail, telephone, and face-to-face surveys

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hox, J.J.; Leeuw, E.D. de

    1994-01-01

    This article reports a meta-analysis of 45 studies that explicitly compare the response obtained using a mail, telephone or face-to-face survey. The data analysis uses a generalized hierarchical linear model. Sampling procedure (e.g., local convenience sample, random general sample), saliency of

  13. Telephone-administered cognitive-behavioral therapy for clients with depressive symptoms in an employee assistance program: a pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lam, Raymond W; Lutz, Kevin; Preece, Melady; Cayley, Paula M; Bowen Walker, Anne

    2011-02-01

    To assess the clinical and work productivity effects of a brief intervention using telephone-administered cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for clients with depressive symptoms attending an employee assistance program (EAP). Self-referred clients attending the PPC Canada EAP with clinically relevant depressive symptoms at initial assessment were offered an 8-session telephone-administered CBT program. Outcomes before and after intervention were assessed with the 9-item Personal Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), and clinician ratings of work absence and performance impairment. Fifty clients were referred to the pilot program; 39 participated and 31 completed the telephone CBT program. Among program participants, there was significant improvement in PHQ-9 and GAF scores. There was also a significant reduction in performance impairment but not work absence. Anecdotal reports indicated high satisfaction ratings among participants. The results of this pilot study, although limited by the absence of a comparison or control group, suggest that a brief telephone-administered CBT program can improve depressive symptomatology, work productivity, and general function in depressed clients attending an EAP. Further controlled studies are needed to confirm these preliminary findings.

  14. The use of the Modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-M) in the detection of amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, Sarah E; Marsiske, Michael; McCoy, Karin J M

    2009-06-01

    Many screening tools for detecting cognitive decline require in-person assessment, which is often not cost-effective or feasible for those with physical limitations. The Modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status has been used for screening dementia, but little is known about its usefulness in detecting amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Community-dwelling participants (mean age=74.9, mean education = 16.1 years) were administered the Modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status during initial screening and subsequently given a multidomain neuropsychological battery. Participants were classified by consensus panel as cognitively normal older adult (noMCI, N=54) or amnestic mild cognitive impairment (N=17) based on neuropsychological performance and Clinical Dementia Rating Scale interview, but independent of Modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status score. There was a significant difference between groups in Modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status score (t=8.04, PTICS-M alone correctly classified 85.9% of participants into their respective diagnostic classification (sensitivity=82.4%, specificity=87.0%). Receiver operating characteristics analysis resulted in cutoff score of 34 that optimized sensitivity and specificity of amnestic mild cognitive impairment classification. The Modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status is a brief, cost-effective screening measure for identifying those with and without amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

  15. Is Telephone Screening Feasible? Accuracy and Cost-Effectiveness of Identifying People Medically Eligible for Home- And Community-Based Services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fries, Brant E.; James, Mary; Hammer, Susan S.; Shugarman, Lisa R.; Morris, John N.

    2004-01-01

    Purpose: To determine the accuracy of a telephone-screening system to identify persons eligible for home- and community-based long-term care. Design and Methods: Data from Michigan telephone screens were compared to data from in-person assessments using the Minimum Data Set for Home Care (MDS-HC). Weighted kappa statistics measured the level of…

  16. Demographic corrections for the modified Telephone Screening for Cognitive Status

    OpenAIRE

    Dennett, Kathryn; Tometich, Danielle; Duff, Kevin

    2013-01-01

    Despite the growing use of the modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (mTICS) as a cognitive screening instrument, it does not yet have demographic corrections. Demographic data, mTICS, and a neuropsychological battery were collected from 274 community dwelling older adults with intact cognition or mild cognitive impairments. Age, education, premorbid intellect, and depression were correlated with mTICS scores. Using regression equations, age and education significantly predicted m...

  17. Effectiveness of proactive telephone counselling for smoking cessation in parents: Study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bricker Jonathan B

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Smoking is the world's fourth most common risk factor for disease, the leading preventable cause of death, and it is associated with tremendous social costs. In the Netherlands, the smoking prevalence rate is high. A total of 27.7% of the population over age 15 years smokes. In addition to the direct advantages of smoking cessation for the smoker, parents who quit smoking may also decrease their children's risk of smoking initiation. Methods/Design A randomized controlled trial will be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of proactive telephone counselling to increase smoking cessation rates among smoking parents. A total of 512 smoking parents will be proactively recruited through their children's primary schools and randomly assigned to either proactive telephone counselling or a control condition. Proactive telephone counselling will consist of up to seven counsellor-initiated telephone calls (based on cognitive-behavioural skill building and Motivational Interviewing, distributed over a period of three months. Three supplementary brochures will also be provided. In the control condition, parents will receive a standard brochure to aid smoking cessation. Assessments will take place at baseline, three months after start of the intervention (post-measurement, and twelve months after start of the intervention (follow-up measurement. Primary outcome measures will include sustained abstinence between post-measurement and follow-up measurement and 7-day point prevalence abstinence and 24-hours point prevalence abstinence at both post- and follow-up measurement. Several secondary outcome measures will also be included (e.g., smoking intensity, smoking policies at home. In addition, we will evaluate smoking-related cognitions (e.g., attitudes towards smoking, social norms, self-efficacy, intention to smoke in 9-12 year old children of smoking parents. Discussion This study protocol describes the design of a randomized

  18. Is the Short Version of the Big Five Inventory (BFI-S Applicable for Use in Telephone Surveys?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brust Oliver A.

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The inclusion of psychological indicators in survey research has become more common because they offer the possibility of explaining much of the variance in sociological variables. The Big Five personality dimensions in particular are often used to explain opinions, attitudes, and behavior. However, the short versions of the Big Five Inventory (BFI-S were developed for face-to-face surveys. Studies have shown distortions in the identification of the Big Five factor structure in subsamples of older respondents in landline telephone surveys. We applied the same BFI-S but with a shorter rating scale in a telephone survey with two subsamples (landline and mobile phone. Using exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM, we identified the Big Five structure in the subsamples and the age groups. This finding leads us to conclude that the BFI-S is a powerful means of including personality characteristics in telephone surveys.

  19. Feasibility of Ecological Momentary Assessment Using Cellular Telephones in Methamphetamine Dependent Subjects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Mendelson

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Predictors of relapse to methamphetamine use are poorly understood. State variables may play an important role in relapse, but they have been difficult to measure at frequent intervals in outpatients.Methods: We conducted a feasibility study of the use of cellular telephones to collect state variable data from outpatients. Six subjects in treatment for methamphetamine dependence were called three times per weekday for approximately seven weeks. Seven questionnaires were administered that assessed craving, stress, affect and current type of location and social environment.Results: 395/606 (65% of calls attempted were completed. The mean time to complete each call was 4.9 (s.d. 1.8 minutes and the mean time to complete each item was 8.4 (s.d. 4.8 seconds. Subjects rated the acceptability of the procedures as good. All six cellular phones and battery chargers were returned undamaged.Conclusion: Cellular telephones are a feasible method for collecting state data from methamphetamine dependent outpatients.

  20. Can You Hear Me Now? Assessing Students’ Classroom Communication Preferences via a Telephone Conference Activity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sharon G. Heilmann

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Telephone conference presentation delivery was compared to face-to-face classroom delivery in an undergraduate business course setting to assess whether concern over presenting in front of the class and/or gender impacted presentation mode preference. After completing a classroom exercise, students (n=102 were surveyed and asked to compare delivery methods from two courses, one requiring a telephone conference and the other requiring a face-to-face classroom presentation, in terms of perceived effectiveness, feedback, teamwork, instructor cues, preparation time, and overall comfort. Independent sample t-test results indicated respondents who worried about presenting in front of the class believed the telephone conference format required more attention to verbal presentation quality, and they also worried more about presenting in the telephone conference format than respondents who did not worry about presenting in front of the class. In terms of gender, female respondents indicated more attention to visual aid was required during the teleconference format, believed the teleconference presentation format allowed for the same opportunity for feedback from the instructor as the formal presentation, were more likely to indicate they were concerned about speaking in front of the classroom during formal presentations, and were also more concerned about speaking during the teleconference than male respondents. Overall, results indicated the teleconference activity was perceived to be a practical alternative to the traditional face-to-face delivery method; however, females’ perceptions of discomfort across both delivery formats warrant further study. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force, Department of Defense, or the United States Government.

  1. Hybrid disassembly system for cellular telephone end-of-life treatment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kniebel, M.; Basdere, B.; Seliger, G. [Technical Univ. Berlin, Inst. for Machine Tools and Factory Management, Dept. of Assembly Technology and Factory Management, Berlin (Germany)

    2004-07-01

    Concern over the negative environmental impacts associated with the production, use, and end-of-life (EOL) of cellular telephones is particularly high due to large production volumes and characteristically short time scales of technological and stylistic obsolescence. Landfilled or incinerated cellular telephones create the potential for release of toxic substances. The European legislation has passed the directive on Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) to regulate their collection and appropriate end-of-life treatment. Manufacturers must conduct material recycling or remanufacturing processes to recover resources. While recovery rates can hardly be met economically by material recycling, remanufacturing and reusing cellular phones is developing into a reasonable alternative. Both end-of-life options require disassembly processes for WEEE compliant treatment. Due to the high number of different cell phone variants and their typical design that fits components into tight enclosing spaces, cellular phone disassembly becomes a challenging task. These challenges and the expected high numbers of phones to be returned in the course of the WEEE urges for automated disassembly. A hybrid disassembly system has been developed to ensure the mass-treatment of obsolete cellular phones. It has been integrated into a prototypical remanufacturing factory for cellular phones that has been planned based on market data. (orig.)

  2. Telephone triage by GPs in out-of-hours primary care in Denmark: a prospective observational study of efficiency and relevance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Huibers, L.; Moth, G.; Carlsen, A.H.; Christensen, M.B.; Vedsted, P.

    2016-01-01

    BACKGROUND: In the UK, telephone triage in out-of-hours primary care is mostly managed by nurses, whereas GPs perform triage in Denmark. AIM: To describe telephone contacts triaged to face-to-face contacts, GP-assessed relevance, and factors associated with triage to face-to-face contact. DESIGN AND

  3. Demographics and Professional Practices of School Psychologists: A Comparison of NASP Members and Non-NASP School Psychologists by Telephone Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Michael F.; Truscott, Stephen D.; Volker, Martin A.

    2008-01-01

    A national telephone survey was conducted to examine potential differences between National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) members and non-NASP member school psychologists. Identified schools were contacted by telephone and the researchers asked to speak with the school psychologist. A sample of 124 practicing school psychologists was…

  4. Mobile phone text messaging and Telephone follow-up in type 2 diabetic patients for 3 months: a comparative study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zolfaghari Mirta

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background To investigate and to compare the effectiveness of a nurse short message service (SMS by cellular phone and telephone follow-up by nurse on Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Methods Semi experimental study consisted of 77 patients with type 2 diabetes that randomly assigned to two groups: telephone follow-up (n = 39 and short message service (n = 38. Telephone interventions were applied by researcher for 3 months. SMS group that received message daily for 12 weeks. Data gathering instrument include data sheet to record HbA1c and questionnaire that consisted of demographic characteristics. Data gathering was performed at two points: initial the study and after 12 weeks. Data analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics methods with SPSS version 11.5. Results Demographic variables were compared and all of them were homogenous. Results of this study showed that both interventions had significant mean changes in HbA1c; for the telephone group (p = 0.001, with a mean change of −0.93% and for the SMS group (p = 0.001, with a mean change of −1.01%. Conclusion Finding of this research showed that intervention using SMS via cellular phone and nurse-led-telephone follow up improved HbA1c for three months in type 2 diabetic patients and it can consider as alternative methods for diabetes control.

  5. Evaluation of Noise in Hearing Instruments Caused by GSM and DECT Mobile Telephones

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Mie Østergaard; Poulsen, Torben

    1996-01-01

    The annoyance of noise in hearing instruments caused by electromagnetic interference from Global systems for Mobile Communication (GSM) and Digital European Cordless Telecommunication (DECT) mobile telephones has been subjectively evaluated by test subjects. The influence on speech recognition from...... the GSM and the DECT noises was also determined. The measurements involved seventeen hearing-imparied subjects. The annoyance was tested with GSM and DECT noise, each one mixed with continuous speech, a mall environment noise, or an office environment noise. Speech recognition was tested with the DANTALE...... word material mixed with GSM and DECT noise. The listening tests showed that if the noise level is acceptable so also is speech recognition. The results agree well with an investigation carried out on normal-hearing subjects. If a hearing instrument user is able to use a telephone without annoyance...

  6. Radiation safety assessment of mobile telephone base stations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohd Yusof Mohd Ali; Mohd Anuar Majid; Mohd Amirul Nizam

    2002-01-01

    Mobile telephone is fast getting popular among users and in fact it has become one of the fastest selling electronic products in the world. More base stations are expected to be built to meet such high demands and this has caused great concerned among members of the public, especially those living close to the stations, about the potential harmful health effects of radiofrequency (RF) radiation produced by such facilities. A project was initiated by MINT in early 2000 with aims to assess the radiation levels present in the areas around the base stations and to establish baseline data on the pattern and trend of the radiation emission from each different set up of the facilities. This paper highlights some basics facts about mobile telephones and preliminary findings of the project. The assessment has been carried out at 16 base station sites and the results indicate that the radiation levels present around these sites are very low. Their broadband readings vary between below the detection limit of 0.3μWatts/cm 2 to 11 μWatts/cm 2 and they are comparable to normal background radiation present in places away from any base stations. The highest level observed was 1.5% of the exposure limit recommended for members of the public. However, locations at close distance in front of the the antenna can be very serious in term of radiation exposure since the radiation level here can easily exceed the permissible exposure limit for public. Safety precaution needs to be taken when entering these areas and they should be out of bound for members of the public. (Author)

  7. Virtual Acoustic Displays for Teleconferencing: Intelligibility Advantage for "Telephone Grade" Audio

    Science.gov (United States)

    Begault, Durand R.; Null, Cynthia H. (Technical Monitor)

    1994-01-01

    Speech intelligibility was evaluated using a virtual acoustic ("3-D audio") display using the method specified by ANSI. Ten subjects were evaluated with stimuli either unfiltered or low-pass filtered at 4 kHz. Results show virtual acoustic techniques are advantageous for both full-bandwidth (44.1 kHz srate) and low (8 kHz srate) bandwidth "telephone-grade" teleconferencing systems.

  8. Counselor competence for telephone Motivation Interviewing addressing lifestyle change among Dutch older adults

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mesters, I.; Keulen, H.M. van; Vries, H. de; Brug, J.

    2017-01-01

    Counselor competence in telephone Motivation Interviewing (MI) to change lifestyle behaviors in a primary care population was assessed using the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity (MITI) rating system. Counselor behavior was evaluated by trained raters. Twenty minutes of a random sample

  9. Investigating the validity and usability of an interactive computer programme for assessing competence in telephone-based mental health triage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sands, Natisha; Elsom, Stephen; Keppich-Arnold, Sandra; Henderson, Kathryn; King, Peter; Bourke-Finn, Karen; Brunning, Debra

    2016-02-01

    Telephone-based mental health triage services are frontline health-care providers that operate 24/7 to facilitate access to psychiatric assessment and intervention for people requiring assistance with a mental health problem. The mental health triage clinical role is complex, and the populations triage serves are typically high risk; yet to date, no evidence-based methods have been available to assess clinician competence to practice telephone-based mental health triage. The present study reports the findings of a study that investigated the validity and usability of the Mental Health Triage Competency Assessment Tool, an evidence-based, interactive computer programme designed to assist clinicians in developing and assessing competence to practice telephone-based mental health triage. © 2015 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

  10. Development and interrater reliability testing of a telephone interview training programme for Australian nurse interviewers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahern, Tracey; Gardner, Anne; Gardner, Glenn; Middleton, Sandy; Della, Phillip

    2013-05-01

    The final phase of a three phase study analysing the implementation and impact of the nurse practitioner role in Australia (the Australian Nurse Practitioner Project or AUSPRAC) was undertaken in 2009, requiring nurse telephone interviewers to gather information about health outcomes directly from patients and their treating nurse practitioners. A team of several registered nurses was recruited and trained as telephone interviewers. The aim of this paper is to report on development and evaluation of the training process for telephone interviewers. The training process involved planning the content and methods to be used in the training session; delivering the session; testing skills and understanding of interviewers post-training; collecting and analysing data to determine the degree to which the training process was successful in meeting objectives and post-training follow-up. All aspects of the training process were informed by established educational principles. Interrater reliability between interviewers was high for well-validated sections of the survey instrument resulting in 100% agreement between interviewers. Other sections with unvalidated questions showed lower agreement (between 75% and 90%). Overall the agreement between interviewers was 92%. Each interviewer was also measured against a specifically developed master script or gold standard and for this each interviewer achieved a percentage of correct answers of 94.7% or better. This equated to a Kappa value of 0.92 or better. The telephone interviewer training process was very effective and achieved high interrater reliability. We argue that the high reliability was due to the use of well validated instruments and the carefully planned programme based on established educational principles. There is limited published literature on how to successfully operationalise educational principles and tailor them for specific research studies; this report addresses this knowledge gap. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier

  11. Telephone screening tests for functionally impaired hearing: current use in seven countries and development of a US version.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watson, Charles S; Kidd, Gary R; Miller, James D; Smits, Cas; Humes, Larry E

    2012-01-01

    An estimated 36 million US citizens have impaired hearing, but nearly half of them have never had a hearing test. As noted by a recent National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIH/NIDCD) Working Group, "In the United States (in contrast to many other nations) there are no readily accessible low cost hearing screening programs…" (Donahue et al, 2010, p. 2). Since 2004, telephone administered screening tests utilizing three-digit sequences presented in noise have been developed, validated, and implemented in seven countries. Each of these tests has been based on a test protocol conceived by Smits and colleagues in The Netherlands. Investigators from Communication Disorders Technology, Inc., Indiana University, and VU University Medical Center of Amsterdam agreed to collaborate in the development and validation of a screening test for hearing impairment suitable for delivery over the telephone, for use in the United States. This test, utilizing spoken three-digit sequences (triplets), was to be based on the design of Smits and his colleagues. A version of the digits-in-noise test was developed utilizing digit triplets spoken in Middle American dialect. The stimuli were individually adjusted to speech-to-noise ratio (SNR) values yielding 50% correct identification, on the basis of data collected from a group of 10 young adult listeners with normal hearing. A final set of 64 homogeneous stimuli were selected from an original 160 recorded triplets. Each test consisted of a series of 40 triplets drawn at random, presented in a noise background. The SNR threshold for 50% correct identification of the triplets was determined by a one-down, one-up adaptive procedure. The test was implemented by telephone, and administered to listeners with varying levels of hearing impairment. The listeners were then evaluated with pure-tone tests and other audiometric measures as clinically appropriate. Ninety participants included 72

  12. Telephone operator change: your questions answered

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN Bulletin

    2015-01-01

    CERN will be changing mobile telephone operators on 24 June. As the community prepares for the summer switchover, everyone has questions. What brought on the change? Why are we losing our old phone numbers? What kind of improvements will we see? "Just as with every contract at CERN, we issue calls for tenders every few years to ensure we are still receiving the best possible service," explains Tony Cass, from the Communication Systems group within the IT department. "As we came to the end of our contract with Sunrise, we put out a call for tenders, which was won by Swisscom. Not only is their pricing more competitive, they will also be providing better service conditions." The scope of these new service conditions is multifaceted: there will be improvements to the redundancy and reliability of the network as well as modern 4G network coverage in the LHC tunnel. "People will also see their mobile phone bills decrease," says Tony. "This will esp...

  13. Remote Capture of Human Voice Acoustical Data by Telephone: A Methods Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cannizzaro, Michael S.; Reilly, Nicole; Mundt, James C.; Snyder, Peter J.

    2005-01-01

    In this pilot study we sought to determine the reliability and validity of collecting speech and voice acoustical data via telephone transmission for possible future use in large clinical trials. Simultaneous recordings of each participant's speech and voice were made at the point of participation, the local recording (LR), and over a telephone…

  14. Rehabilitation after THR: Telephone interview and individual support versus visits in outpatient clinic

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hørdam, Britta

    2011-01-01

    . Participating patients were allocated to a control group or an intervention group after discharge. The intervention group had telephone-interviews and individual counseling 2 and 8 months after THR, and the control group had conventional visit in outpatient clinic 3 months after THR. Outcome: Patients......Results from a RCT carried out from 2006 to 2007 including 180 patients aged 65 years and over based on patients´ self-rated health and by using telephone interviews and individual counseling as intervention 2 and 10 weeks after discharge had a significant improvement in patients´ self-rated health...... by using SF-36 scores within 3 months after surgery, whereas the control group had improvement after 9 months. Both groups had SF-36 filled out preoperatively and 3, 6 and 9 months after THR. In a new study a sub group was identified by having a reduction in general health during 12 months postoperatively...

  15. Impact of telephone nursing education program for equity in healthcare

    OpenAIRE

    H?glund, Anna T.; Carlsson, Marianne; Holmstr?m, Inger K.; Kaminsky, Elenor

    2016-01-01

    Background The Swedish Healthcare Act prescribes that healthcare should be provided according to needs and with respect for each person?s human dignity. The goal is equity in health for the whole population. In spite of this, studies have revealed that Swedish healthcare is not always provided equally. This has also been observed in telephone nursing. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate if and how an educational intervention can improve awareness of equity in healthcare...

  16. Validity of Telephone versus Face-to-Face Interviews in the Assessment of Bread Consumption Pattern

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Morteza Abdollahi

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Background and Objective: There are different methods to assess dietary intake in the community. Accurate and appropriate methods, rather than costly and time-consuming ones, are good alternatives to assess dietary intake. The aim of this study was to analyze the validity of telephone and face-to-face interviews, in determination of bread-consumption pattern. Material and Methods: A randomized and stratified multi-stage sampling method was used to select 2312 participating households within the Tehran metropolitan area. The study (research was carried out in two individual and household levels, using 24 hours recall and purchase frequency questionnaire. The same 24 hour recall and purchase frequency questionnaires were used at both individual and household level.Results: At household and individual level, the correlation coefficients between the two methods were 0.64 and 0.60, respectively (p<0.001. Mean difference of intake of bread between the methods at individual level was 16-21 g/day and at household level was 3-4 g/person/day, statistically not significant.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that a telephone survey can provide a reliable estimation of actual bread intake at both individual and household level. This method is important considering its cost and needed time.Keywords: face to face interview, telephone interview, bread consumption pattern

  17. Predicting Outcome of Face-to-Face and Telephone Counselling for Occupational Stress

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karatzias, Thanos; Chouliara, Zoe; Power, Kevin; Kilfedder, Catherine

    2011-01-01

    The aim of the present study was to investigate predictors of outcome of counselling, using mean change scores of three outcome measures, at treatment completion and at 4-months follow-up, in a randomised trial of face-to-face (n = 30) versus telephone counselling (n = 30) for occupational stress. Factors associated with treatment outcome were…

  18. Nursing intervention by telephone interviews of patients aged over 65 years after total hip replacement improves health status: a randomised clinical trial Nursing intervention by telephone interviews of patients aged over 65 years after total hip replacement improves health status: a randomised

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hørdam, Britta

    2010-01-01

    and over by using telephone support and counselling 2 and 10 weeks after surgery compared with a control group receiving conventional care and treatment. Design: A randomised clinical trial focusing on patients' health status by using short-form 36 at 4 weeks preoperatively and 3 and 9 months...... postoperatively was carried out. Sample: 180 patients aged 65 years and over were randomised 4 weeks preoperatively to either control or intervention groups. Measurements: both groups received conventional surgical treatment, but the intervention group was interviewed by telephone 2 and 10 weeks after surgery......Nursing intervention by telephone interviews of patients aged over 65 years after total hip replacement improves health status: a randomised clinical trial Objective: We hypothesised that all areas of health status after total hip replacement could be improved in patients aged over 65 years...

  19. Initial fieldwork for LWAZI: a telephone-based spoken dialog system for rural South Africa

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Gumede, T

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available government information and services. Our interviews, focus group discussions and surveys revealed that Lwazi, a telephone-based spoken dialog system, could greatly support current South African government efforts to effectively connect citizens to available...

  20. Closure of the telephone switchboard at 5 p.m. on 20 December

    CERN Multimedia

    Communications Support Section

    2013-01-01

    Exceptionally, the telephone switchboard will close at 5 p.m. on Friday 20 December, instead of 6 p.m. (usual time), to allow time for all systems to be properly closed before the annual closure.   Therefore, switchboard operator assistance to transfer calls from/to external lines will cease. All other phone services will run as usual.

  1. Towards a 21st century telephone exchange at CERN

    CERN Document Server

    AUTHOR|(SzGeCERN)745509; Hesnaux, Anthony Gerard; Sierra, Rodrigo; Chapron, Frederic; CERN. Geneva. IT Department

    2015-01-01

    The advent of mobile telephony and Voice over IP (VoIP) has significantly impacted the traditional telephone exchange industry—to such an extent that private branch exchanges are likely to disappear completely in the near future. For large organisations, such as CERN, it is important to be able to smooth this transition by implementing new multimedia platforms that can protect past investments and the flexibility needed to securely interconnect emerging VoIP solutions and forthcoming developments such as Voice over LTE (VoLTE). We present the results of ongoing studies and tests at CERN of the latest technologies in this area.

  2. Methodological developments in qualitative longitudinal research: the advantages and challenges of regular telephone contact with participants in a qualitative longitudinal interview study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carduff, Emma; Murray, Scott A; Kendall, Marilyn

    2015-04-11

    Qualitative longitudinal research is an evolving methodology, particularly within health care research. It facilitates a nuanced understanding of how phenomena change over time and is ripe for innovative approaches. However, methodological reflections which are tailored to health care research are scarce. This article provides a synthesised and practical account of the advantages and challenges of maintaining regular telephone contact between interviews with participants in a qualitative longitudinal study. Participants with metastatic colorectal cancer were interviewed at 3 time points over the course of a year. Half the group also received monthly telephone calls to explore the added value and the feasibility of capturing change as close to when it was occurring as possible. The data gathered from the telephone calls added context to the participants' overall narrative and informed subsequent interviews. The telephone calls meant we were able to capture change close to when it happened and there was a more evolved, and involved, relationship between the researcher and the participants who were called on a monthly basis. However, ethical challenges were amplified, boundaries of the participant/researcher relationship questioned, and there was the added analytical burden. The telephone calls facilitated a more nuanced understanding of the illness experience to emerge, when compared with the interview only group. The findings suggest that intensive telephone contact may be justified if retention is an issue, when the phenomena being studied is unpredictable and when participants feel disempowered or lack control. These are potential issues for research involving participants with long-term illness.

  3. Spreading the cult body on YouTube: A case study of "Telephone" derivative videos

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agnese Vellar

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available This case study of spreadability analyzes the Lady Gaga music video "Telephone," which has been appropriated and reworked by YouTube users sharing derivative works online. What properties of the music video stimulate user appropriation? What hybrid audiovisual forms are emerging from its reworking by users? In order to answer these questions, between January and August 2010, I conducted participant observation on Lady Gaga's official social network profiles and collected 70 "Telephone" derivative videos on YouTube. I identified three main categories of video creativity: (1 music (which includes covers, "me singing" videos, music mashups, and choreography; (2 parody (in which YouTube users and comedians humorously imitate Gaga, creating spoofs; and (3 fashion (in which makeup artists and amateurs appropriate the star's image to create makeup and hair tutorials. "Telephone" has become spreadable because it integrates dance music and choreography, costume changes, cinematic references, and product placements that work as textual hooks meaningful to different target markets: live music, dance, chick, and postmodern cinematic cultures. In particular, Gaga is a cult body that explicitly incorporates previous cinematic and pop music icons. Users are stimulated to reenact Gaga's cult body online. On YouTube, spreadability is thus strictly related to the appropriation of cult bodies. Fans, comedians, independent musicians, fashionistas, and pop stars construct their own cult bodies by deliberately borrowing characteristics from previous media icons and reenacting them in online videos in order to fulfill their expressive and professional needs.

  4. 78 FR 14701 - Misuse of Internet Protocol (IP) Captioned Telephone Service; Telecommunications Relay Services...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-07

    ...] Misuse of Internet Protocol (IP) Captioned Telephone Service; Telecommunications Relay Services and..., the information collection associated with the Commission's Misuse of Internet Protocol (IP) Captioned...- 2235075, or email [email protected] . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document announces that, on...

  5. The communications industry's requirements and interests. [thunderstorm and lightning data useful to telephone operating companies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wanaselja, O.

    1979-01-01

    Of interest to the communications industry are the amplitude, waveshape, duration and frequency of lightning-originated voltage surges and transients on the communications network, including the distribution system and AC power supply circuits. The cloud-to-ground lightning discharge and its characteristics are thought to be most meaningful. Of specific interest are peak current, waveshape, number of flashes, strokes per flash, and zone of influence. Accurate and meaningful lightning data at the local level (telephone district office) is necessary for a decision on the appropriate protection level. In addition to lightning, the protection engineer must consider other factors such as: AC induction, switching surges, ground potential rise, soil resistivity, bonding and grounding techniques, shielding and isolation, and exposure of the telephone loop.

  6. 76 FR 46313 - Notice of Issuance of Final Determination Concerning Iridium Satellite Telephones

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-02

    ... modulates them into radio streams that communicate with the Iridium gateway network infrastructure using a... (DSP) cores, made in China, and two radio frequency (RF) backend chips, made in Taiwan. The bill of... marking of a cellular phone. CBP found that a digital mobile telephone was substantially transformed in...

  7. Governing Practices of Cable Television and Its Relationship to the Telephone Common Carriers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, David Martin

    This dissertation examines the legislative, economic, political, and technological influences that have governed cable television (CATV) during the years of its existence. Separate chapters deal with the beginnings of CATV, the economics of CATV, the problems incurred in CATV franchising, and the relationship of CATV to the telephone common…

  8. Telephone-based physical activity counseling for major depression in people with multiple sclerosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bombardier, Charles H; Ehde, Dawn M; Gibbons, Laura E; Wadhwani, Roini; Sullivan, Mark D; Rosenberg, Dori E; Kraft, George H

    2013-02-01

    Physical activity represents a promising treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD) in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). We conducted a single-blind, two-arm randomized controlled trial comparing a 12-week physical activity counseling intervention delivered primarily by telephone (n = 44) to a wait-list control group (N = 48). Ninety-two adults with MS and MDD or dysthymia (M(age) = 48 years; 86% female, 92% White) completed an in-person baseline assessment and were randomized to wait-list control or an intervention involving motivational-interviewing-based promotion of physical activity. The treatment group received an initial in-person session; 7 telephone counseling sessions (Weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 10), and an in-person session at Week 12. The primary outcome, treatment response, was defined as those with 50% or greater reduction in the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) score. Our primary hypothesis, that the proportion of responders in the treatment group would be significantly greater than in the control group, was not confirmed. However, compared with the control group, those in the treatment group evidenced significantly lower depression severity on the HAM-D, on self-reported depression, and on a measure of potential side effects and at 12 weeks were less likely to meet the criteria for MDD as set forth in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.). Physical activity increased significantly more in the treatment condition, though it did not mediate improvement in depression severity. Telephone-based physical activity promotion represents a promising approach to treating MDD in MS. Further research is warranted on ways to bolster the impact of the intervention and on mediators of the treatment effect.

  9. The Determinants of the Global Mobile Telephone Deployment: An Empirical Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sheikh Taher ABU

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to analyze the global mobile phones by examining the instruments stimulating the diffusion pattern. A rigorous demand model is estimated using global mobile telecommu-nications panel dataset comprised with 51 countries classified in order to World Bank income categories from 1990-2007. In particular, the paper examines what factors contribute the most to the deployment of global mobile telephones. To construct an econometric model, the number of subscribers to mobile phone per 100 inhabitants is taken as dependent variable, while the following groups of variables (1 GDP per capita income and charges, (2 competition policies (3 telecom infrastructure (4 technological innovations (5 others are selected as independent variables. Estimation results report the presence of substantial disparity among groups. Additionally GDP per capita income and own-price elasticity comprised with call rate, subscription charges, are reported. The analysis of impulse responses for price, competition policies, and technological innovations such as digitalization of mobile network, mobile network coverage indicates that substantial mobile telephone growth is yet to be realized especially in developing countries. A new and important empirical finding is that there are still many opportunities available for mobile phone development in the world pro-poor nations by providing better telecom infrastructure.

  10. 78 FR 8032 - Misuse of Internet Protocol (IP) Captioned Telephone Service; Telecommunications Relay Services...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-02-05

    ... providers to ensure that equipment and software used in conjunction with their service have a default...] Misuse of Internet Protocol (IP) Captioned Telephone Service; Telecommunications Relay Services and Speech-to-Speech Services for Individuals With Hearing and Speech Disabilities AGENCY: Federal...

  11. A telephonic intervention for promoting occupational re-integration in work-disabled individuals with musculoskeletal pain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sullivan, Michael J L; Simon, Gregory

    2012-06-01

    The purpose of the present research was to examine the feasibility of a telephonic occupational rehabilitation program. A sample of 23 individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain was enrolled in the telephonic version of the Progressive Goal Attainment Program (PGAP-Tel). The PGAP-Tel is a risk-targeted intervention designed to reduce pain-related disability consequent to musculoskeletal injury. Treatment outcomes of PGAP-Tel were compared to a group of individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain, who participated in the face-to-face format of the PGAP. Results showed that PGAP-Tel was acceptable to the majority of participants (76%) to whom it was offered. There were indications that engagement and adherence issues were more problematic in PGAP-Tel than in the face-to-face intervention. Both groups showed comparable reductions in pain, depression, fear of symptom exacerbation, and self-reported disability. Participants in the face-to-face intervention showed greater reduction in catastrophic thinking than participants in PGAP-Tel. Finally, 26% of participants in PGAP-Tel had resumed some form of employment at treatment termination compared to 56% of the participants in the face-to-face intervention. Given the low cost of the PGAP-Tel intervention and the accessibility advantages of a telephonic delivery, this type of intervention might be an important resource for targeting occupational disability in rural or remote communities when face-to-face services are not available.

  12. Telephone-Based Physical Activity Counseling for Major Depression in People with Multiple Sclerosis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bombardier, Charles H.; Ehde, Dawn M.; Gibbons, Laura E.; Wadhwani, Roini; Sullivan, Mark D.; Rosenberg, Dori E.; Kraft, George H.

    2013-01-01

    Objective: Physical activity represents a promising treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD) in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). We conducted a single-blind, two-arm randomized controlled trial comparing a 12-week physical activity counseling intervention delivered primarily by telephone (n = 44) to a wait-list control group (N = 48).…

  13. Justice on the line? A comparison of telephone and face-to-face \\ud advice in social welfare legal aid

    OpenAIRE

    Burton, Marie

    2018-01-01

    This paper investigates the impact on legal advice of the major shift to telephone-only services in social welfare legal aid, which took place in April 2013. An empirical study comparing telephone and face-to-face advice reveals that face-to-face contact has considerable advantages in the advice interview. Based on interviews and observations with housing law clients, their lawyers and advisers, the findings of this qualitative study demonstrate that clients and lawyers often find it easier t...

  14. The Impact of Specialized Telephonic Guides on Employee Engagement in Corporate Well-Being Programs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boerger, Nicholas L; Barleen, Nathan A; Marzec, Mary L; Moloney, Daniel P; Dobro, Jeff

    2018-02-01

    Employer-sponsored well-being programs have been growing in popularity as a means to control rising health care costs and increase workplace productivity. Engagement by employees is necessary for these programs to achieve their desired effects. Extrinsic motivators in the form of incentives and surcharges are commonly introduced by employer program sponsors to promote meaningful engagement. Although these may be successful in achieving a degree of engagement, individuals benefit by being intrinsically motivated as they modify behaviors and improve short- and long-term well-being. Telephonic guides equipped with motivational interviewing and other behavioral strategies to improve engagement may bridge the gap between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. The objectives of this study are to determine characteristics associated with employee utilization of these guides when offered and to compare subsequent program engagement rates between utilizers to a propensity score matched group of employees who were not offered the service. The data were retrieved from a well-being program provider's database. The study examined 166,258 employees across 35 employers. It found utilizers were older, proportionally more female, in the manufacturing industry, incented to use the guide service, offered a larger incentive for program participation, had healthier self-reported behaviors, and had a higher perception of their employer's focus on well-being. The study found that guide utilizers were significantly more likely to engage in telephonic coaching, digital coaching, and activity tracking up to 6 months. The study's findings suggest telephonic guides using a range of behavioral techniques are an effective strategy to drive well-being program engagement.

  15. Telephone audit for monitoring stroke unit facilities: a post hoc analysis from PROSIT study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Candelise, Livia; Gattinoni, Monica; Bersano, Anna

    2015-01-01

    Although several valid approaches exist to measure the number and the quality of acute stroke units, only few studies tested their reliability. This study is aimed at establishing whether the telephone administration of the PROject of Stroke unIt ITaly (PROSIT) audit questionnaire is reliable compared with direct face-to-face interview. Forty-three medical leaders in charge of in-hospital stroke services were interviewed twice using the same PROSIT questionnaire with 2 different modalities. First, the interviewers approached the medical leaders by telephone. Thereafter, they went to the hospital site and performed a direct face-to-face interview. Six independent couples of trained researchers conducted the audit interviews. The degree of intermodality agreement was measured with kappa statistic. We found a perfect agreement for stroke units identification between the 2 different audit modalities (K = 1.00; standard error [SE], 1.525). The agreement was also very good for stroke dedicated beds (K = 1.00; SE, 1.525) and dedicated personnel (K = 1.00; SE, 1.525), which are the 2 components of stroke unit definition. The agreement was lower for declared in use process of care and availability of diagnostic investigations. The telephone audit can be used for monitoring stroke unit structures. It is more rapid, less expensive, and can repeatedly be used at appropriate intervals. However, a reliable description of the process of care and diagnostic investigations indicators should be obtained by either local site audit visit or prospective stroke register based on individual patient data. Copyright © 2015 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Risk and protection factors for chronic non communicable diseases by telephone survey--VIGITEL-2009.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iser, Betine Pinto Moehlecke; Claro, Rafael Moreira; de Moura, Erly Catarina; Malta, Deborah Carvalho; Morais Neto, Otaliba Libânio

    2011-09-01

    To describe the risk and protection factors for non communicable diseases with data from Telephone-based Surveillance of Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Diseases (VIGITEL) in 2009. The prevalence of main risk and protective factors was estimated in adults (>18 years old), by telephone surveys in a probabilistic sample of the population covered by landline telephones in Brazilian state capitals and the Federal District, stratified by gender, age and schooling. Data from 54,367 adults were collected. Smokers and former smokers represented 15.5 and 22% of Brazilian adults, respectively. Excess weight affected 46.6% of adults; 33% reported the consumption of meat with visible fat and reported 18.9% alcohol abuse. These factors were more prevalent among men and, in general, young adults and people with low schooling. The prevalence of physical activity in leisure was 18.8% (95%CI 17.4-20.1) among men and 11.3% (95%CI 10.6-12.0) among women. Physical inactivity affected 15.6% of population and increased with age. Consumption of fruits and vegetables and physical activity in leisure time were more prevalent in men and women with 12 years of schooling or more. Hypertension diagnosis was reported by 21.1% (95%CI 19.6-22.5) of men, and 27.2% (95%CI 25.8-28.5) of women. Prevalence of diabetes was 5.8%. The results point to different health behavior according to gender, age and schooling of the population and reinforce the decreasing smoking trend and increasing overweight trend in Brazil.

  17. 30 CFR 77.508 - Lightning arresters, ungrounded and exposed power conductors and telephone wires.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Lightning arresters, ungrounded and exposed... AND SURFACE WORK AREAS OF UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Electrical Equipment-General § 77.508 Lightning... conductors and telephone wires shall be equipped with suitable lightning arresters which are adequately...

  18. 78 FR 8090 - Misuse of Internet Protocol (IP) Captioned Telephone Service; Telecommunications Relay Services...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-02-05

    ... equipment and software used in conjunction with their service have captions turned off as the default... equipment and software used in conjunction with their service have a default setting of captions off, so...] Misuse of Internet Protocol (IP) Captioned Telephone Service; Telecommunications Relay Services and...

  19. Effect of Nurse-Led Telephone Follow ups (Tele-Nursing) on Depression, Anxiety and Stress in Hemodialysis Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kargar Jahromi, Marzieh; Javadpour, Shohreh; Taheri, Leila; Poorgholami, Farzad

    2015-07-26

    Depressive and anxious patients on hemodialysis have a higher risk of death and hospitalizations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of nurse-led telephone follow ups (tele-nursing) on depression, anxiety and stress in hemodialysis patients. The subjects of the study who were selected based on double blind randomized clinical trial consisted of 60 patients with advanced chronic renal disease treated with hemodialysis. The patients were placed in two groups of 30 individuals. Before the intervention, a questionnaire was completed by patients.  There was no telephone follow up in the control group and the patients received only routine care in the hospital. The participants allocated to the intervention group received telephone follow-up 30 days after dialysis shift, in addition to conventional treatment. Every session lasted 30 minutes, as possible. Then the DASS scale was filled out by the patients after completion of study by two groups. Significant differences were observed between the two groups in the posttest regarding the dimensions scores of DASS scale. The result of this trial is expected to provide new knowledge to support the effective follow-up for hemodialysis patient in order to improve their emotional and health status.

  20. Telephone Consultation as a Substitute for Routine Out-patient Face-to-face Consultation for Children With Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Randomised Controlled Trial and Economic Evaluation

    OpenAIRE

    Akobeng, Anthony K.; O'Leary, Neil; Vail, Andy; Brown, Nailah; Widiatmoko, Dono; Fagbemi, Andrew; Thomas, Adrian G.

    2015-01-01

    Background: Evidence for the use of telephone consultation in childhood inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is lacking. We aimed to assess the effectiveness and cost consequences of telephone consultation compared with the usual out-patient face-to-face consultation for young people with IBD. Methods: We conducted a randomised-controlled trial in Manchester, UK, between July 12, 2010 and June 30, 2013. Young people (aged 8–16 years) with IBD were randomized to receive telephone consultation o...

  1. Comparing a telephone- and a group-delivered diabetes prevention program: Characteristics of engaged and non-engaged postpartum mothers with a history of gestational diabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lim, Siew; Dunbar, James A; Versace, Vincent L; Janus, Edward; Wildey, Carol; Skinner, Timothy; O'Reilly, Sharleen

    2017-04-01

    To explore the acceptability of a telephone- or a group-delivered diabetes prevention program for women with previous gestational diabetes and to compare the characteristics associated with program engagement. Postpartum women participated in a lifestyle modification program delivered by telephone (n=33) or group format (n=284). Semi-structured interviews on barriers and enablers to program engagement (defined as completing≥80% sessions) were conducted before (Group) and after (Group and Telephone) interventions. The Health Action Process Approach theory was used as the framework for inquiry. Psychological measures were compared between engagement subgroups before and after group-delivered intervention. In the telephone-delivered program 82% participants met the engagement criteria compared with 38% for the group-delivered program. Engaged participants (Group) had significantly higher risk perception, outcome expectancy, and activity self-efficacy at baseline (P<0.05). There was a greater decrease in body weight (-1.45±3.9 vs -0.26±3.5, P=0.024) and waist circumference (-3.56±5.1 vs -1.24±5.3, P=0.002) for engaged vs non-engaged participants following group program completion. Telephone delivery was associated with greater engagement in postpartum women. Engagement was associated with greater reduction in weight and waist circumference. Further studies are required to confirm the effectiveness of telephone-delivered program for diabetes prevention in postpartum women. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Electromagnetic fields in the vicinity of DECT cordless telephones and mobile phones

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paweł Mamrot

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: Mobile telephones belong to the most frequently used personal devices. In their surroundings they produce the electromagnetic field (EMF, in which exposure range there are not only users but also nearby bystanders. The aim of the investigations and EMF measurements in the vicinity of phones was to identify the electric field levels with regard to various working modes. Material and methods: Twelve sets of DECT (digital enhanced cordless telecommunications cordless phones (12 base units and 15 handsets, 21 mobile telephones produced by different manufactures, and 16 smartphones in various applications, (including multimedia in the conditions of daily use in living rooms were measured. Measurements were taken using the point method in predetermined distances of 0.05–1 m from the devices without the presence of users. Results: In the vicinity of DECT cordless phone handsets, electric field strength ranged from 0.26 to 2.30 V/m in the distance of 0.05 m – 0.18–0.26 V/m (1 m. In surroundings of DECT cordless telephones base units the values of EMF were from 1.78–5.44 V/m (0.05 m to 0.19– 0.41 V/m (1 m. In the vicinity of mobile phones working in GSM mode with voice transmission, the electric field strength ranged from 2.34–9.14 V/m (0.05 m to 0.18–0.47 V/m (1 m while in the vicinity of mobile phones working in WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access mode the electric field strength ranged from 0.22–1.83 V/m (0.05 m to 0.18–0.20 V/m (1 m. Conclusions: The mean values of the electric field strength for each group of devices, mobile phones and DECT wireless phones sets do not exceed the reference value of 7 V/m, adopted as the limit for general public exposure. Med Pr 2015;66(6:803–814

  3. [Electromagnetic fields in the vicinity of DECT cordless telephones and mobile phones].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mamrot, Paweł; Mariańska, Magda; Aniołczyk, Halina; Politański, Piotr

    2015-01-01

    Mobile telephones belong to the most frequently used personal devices. In their surroundings they produce the electromagnetic field (EMF), in which exposure range there are not only users but also nearby bystanders. The aim of the investigations and EMF measurements in the vicinity of phones was to identify the electric field levels with regard to various working modes. Twelve sets of DECT (digital enhanced cordless telecommunications) cordless phones (12 base units and 15 handsets), 21 mobile telephones produced by different manufactures, and 16 smartphones in various applications, (including multimedia) in the conditions of daily use in living rooms were measured. Measurements were taken using the point method in predetermined distances of 0.05-1 m from the devices without the presence of users. In the vicinity of DECT cordless phone handsets, electric field strength ranged from 0.26 to 2.30 V/m in the distance of 0.05 m - 0.18-0.26 V/m (1 m). In surroundings of DECT cordless telephones base units the values of EMF were from 1.78-5.44 V/m (0.05 m) to 0.19- 0.41 V/m (1 m). In the vicinity of mobile phones working in GSM mode with voice transmission, the electric field strength ranged from 2.34-9.14 V/m (0.05 m) to 0.18-0.47 V/m (1 m) while in the vicinity of mobile phones working in WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) mode the electric field strength ranged from 0.22-1.83 V/m (0.05 m) to 0.18-0.20 V/m (1 m). The mean values of the electric field strength for each group of devices, mobile phones and DECT wireless phones sets do not exceed the reference value of 7 V/m, adopted as the limit for general public exposure. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

  4. Stress in telephone helpline nurses is associated with failures of concentration, attention and memory, and with more conservative referral decisions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allan, Julia L; Farquharson, Barbara; Johnston, Derek W; Jones, Martyn C; Choudhary, Carolyn J; Johnston, Marie

    2014-05-01

    Nurses working for telephone-based medical helplines must maintain attentional focus while quickly and accurately processing information given by callers to make safe and appropriate treatment decisions. In this study, both higher levels of general occupational stress and elevated stress levels on particular shifts were associated with more frequent failures of attention, memory, and concentration in telephone nurses. Exposure to a stressful shift was also associated with a measurable increase in objectively assessed information-processing errors. Nurses who experienced more frequent cognitive failures at work made more conservative decisions, tending to refer patients on to other health professionals more often than other nurses. As stress is associated with cognitive performance decrements in telephone nursing, stress-reduction interventions could improve the quality and safety of care that callers to medical helplines receive. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

  5. Massage therapy services for healthcare: a telephone focus group study of drivers for clients' continued use of services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Joanna M; Sullivan, S John; Baxter, G David

    2009-01-01

    To explore opinions of why clients use, value and continue to seek massage therapy as a healthcare option. Telephone focus group methodology was used. Current and repeat users (n = 19) of either relaxation, remedial or sports massage therapy services participated in three telephone focus groups. Audiotaped semi-structured interviews were conducted. Telephone focus group with massage clients from provincial and urban localities in New Zealand. Summary of reported themes of the massage experience and suggested drivers for return to, or continuing with massage therapy. Data were transcribed, categorised (NVivo7) and thematically analysed using the general inductive approach. Key drivers for return to, or continuing with, massage therapy were: positive outcomes, expectations of goals being met, a regular appointment and the massage therapy culture. Massage therapy is perceived and valued as a personalised, holistic and hands-on approach to health management, which focuses on enhancing relaxation in conjunction with effective touch, within a positive client-therapist relationship and a pleasant non-rushed environment. Massage therapy as a health service is result and client driven but is reinforced by the culture of the experience.

  6. Telephone-administered psychotherapy for depression in MS patients: moderating role of social support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beckner, Victoria; Howard, Isa; Vella, Lea; Mohr, David C

    2010-02-01

    Depression is common in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). While psychotherapy is an effective treatment for depression, not all individuals benefit. We examined whether baseline social support might differentially affect treatment outcome in 127 participants with MS and depression randomized to either Telephone-administered Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (T-CBT) or Telephone-administered Emotion-Focused Therapy (T-EFT). We predicted that those with low social support would improve more in T-EFT, since this approach emphasizes the therapeutic relationship, while participants with strong social networks and presumably more emotional resources might fare better in the more structured and demanding T-CBT. We found that both level of received support and satisfaction with that support at baseline did moderate treatment outcome. Individuals with high social support showed a greater reduction in depressive symptoms in the T-CBT as predicted, but participants with low social support showed a similar reduction in both treatments. This suggests that for participants with high social support, CBT may be a more beneficial treatment for depression compared with EFT.

  7. Assessing the quality of pharmacist answers to telephone drug information questions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woodward, C T; Stevenson, J G; Poremba, A

    1990-04-01

    A quality assurance (QA) program is described in which frontline pharmacists were asked test drug information questions via anonymous telephone calls. The program was instituted at a university hospital that began providing decentralized pharmaceutical services in 1985. Questions were developed on the basis of a pilot study conducted to determine the types and complexity of drug information questions received by frontline pharmacists at the hospital. Data on departmental clinical productivity were used to determine the number of questions that would be posed during each shift in the various service areas. The questions were posed during a 10-day period; the pharmacists were aware of the program, but the callers did not identify their affiliation with it. In response to 105 questions asked, 86 were judged to have been answered correctly, 13 answers were deemed incomplete, and 6 were judged incorrect. Pharmacists were more likely to respond incorrectly to complex questions and questions posed during the night shift. As a result of the audit, staff members with advanced clinical knowledge were asked to help less experienced pharmacists, the position of assistant director for drug information and staff development was created, and educational programs were instituted. The QA audit has been repeated twice. Posing test drug information questions via anonymous telephone calls is effective in assessing the quality of drug information provided by pharmacists in patient-care areas.

  8. Evaluation of a telephone advice nurse in a nursing faculty managed pediatric community clinic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beaulieu, Richard; Humphreys, Janice

    2008-01-01

    Nurse-managed health centers face increasing obstacles to financial viability. Efficient use of clinic resources and timely and appropriate patient care are necessary for sustainability. A registered nurse with adequate education and support can provide high-quality triage and advice in community-based practice sites. The purpose of this program evaluation was to examine the effect of a telephone advice nurse service on parent/caregiver satisfaction and access to care. A quasi-experimental separate pre-post sample design study investigated parent/caregiver satisfaction with a telephone advice nurse in an urban pediatric nurse-managed health center. The clinic medical information system was used to retrieve client visit data prior to the service and in the first year of the program. Statistically significant differences were found on two items from the satisfaction with the advice nurse survey: the reason for calling (P decision making (P nurse may increase both parent/caregiver and provider satisfaction and access to care.

  9. Addition of telephone coaching to a physiotherapist-delivered physical activity program in people with knee osteoarthritis: A randomised controlled trial protocol

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    Background Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common and costly chronic musculoskeletal conditions world-wide and is associated with substantial pain and disability. Many people with knee OA also experience co-morbidities that further add to the OA burden. Uptake of and adherence to physical activity recommendations is suboptimal in this patient population, leading to poorer OA outcomes and greater impact of associated co-morbidities. This pragmatic randomised controlled trial will investigate the clinical- and cost-effectiveness of adding telephone coaching to a physiotherapist-delivered physical activity intervention for people with knee OA. Methods/Design 168 people with clinically diagnosed knee OA will be recruited from the community in metropolitan and regional areas and randomly allocated to physiotherapy only, or physiotherapy plus nurse-delivered telephone coaching. Physiotherapy involves five treatment sessions over 6 months, incorporating a home exercise program of 4–6 exercises (targeting knee extensor and hip abductor strength) and advice to increase daily physical activity. Telephone coaching comprises 6–12 telephone calls over 6 months by health practitioners trained in applying the Health Change Australia (HCA) Model of Health Change to provide behaviour change support. The telephone coaching intervention aims to maximise adherence to the physiotherapy program, as well as facilitate increased levels of participation in general physical activity. The primary outcomes are pain measured by an 11-point numeric rating scale and self-reported physical function measured by the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index subscale after 6 months. Secondary outcomes include physical activity levels, quality-of-life, and potential moderators and mediators of outcomes including self-efficacy, pain coping and depression. Relative cost-effectiveness will be determined from health service usage and outcome data. Follow

  10. Addition of telephone coaching to a physiotherapist-delivered physical activity program in people with knee osteoarthritis: A randomised controlled trial protocol

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bennell Kim L

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Knee osteoarthritis (OA is one of the most common and costly chronic musculoskeletal conditions world-wide and is associated with substantial pain and disability. Many people with knee OA also experience co-morbidities that further add to the OA burden. Uptake of and adherence to physical activity recommendations is suboptimal in this patient population, leading to poorer OA outcomes and greater impact of associated co-morbidities. This pragmatic randomised controlled trial will investigate the clinical- and cost-effectiveness of adding telephone coaching to a physiotherapist-delivered physical activity intervention for people with knee OA. Methods/Design 168 people with clinically diagnosed knee OA will be recruited from the community in metropolitan and regional areas and randomly allocated to physiotherapy only, or physiotherapy plus nurse-delivered telephone coaching. Physiotherapy involves five treatment sessions over 6 months, incorporating a home exercise program of 4–6 exercises (targeting knee extensor and hip abductor strength and advice to increase daily physical activity. Telephone coaching comprises 6–12 telephone calls over 6 months by health practitioners trained in applying the Health Change Australia (HCA Model of Health Change to provide behaviour change support. The telephone coaching intervention aims to maximise adherence to the physiotherapy program, as well as facilitate increased levels of participation in general physical activity. The primary outcomes are pain measured by an 11-point numeric rating scale and self-reported physical function measured by the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index subscale after 6 months. Secondary outcomes include physical activity levels, quality-of-life, and potential moderators and mediators of outcomes including self-efficacy, pain coping and depression. Relative cost-effectiveness will be determined from health service usage and outcome

  11. The Probability of Detection in the Telephone Line of Device of the Unauthorized Removal of Information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. V. Svintsov

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available The article discusses the theory of quantitative description of the possible presence in the telephone line devices unauthorized removal of information, investigated with the help of probability theory.

  12. Tumour risk associated with use of cellular telephones or cordless desktop telephones

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Söderqvist Fredrik

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The use of cellular and cordless telephones has increased dramatically during the last decade. There is concern of health problems such as malignant diseases due to microwave exposure during the use of these devices. The brain is the main target organ. Methods Since the second part of the 1990's we have performed six case-control studies on this topic encompassing use of both cellular and cordless phones as well as other exposures. Three of the studies concerned brain tumours, one salivary gland tumours, one non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL and one testicular cancer. Exposure was assessed by self-administered questionnaires. Results Regarding acoustic neuroma analogue cellular phones yielded odds ratio (OR = 2.9, 95 % confidence interval (CI = 2.0–4.3, digital cellular phones OR = 1.5, 95 % CI = 1.1–2.1 and cordless phones OR = 1.5, 95 % CI = 1.04–2.0. The corresponding results were for astrocytoma grade III-IV OR = 1.7, 95 % CI = 1.3–2.3; OR = 1.5, 95 % CI = 1.2–1.9 and OR = 1.5, 95 % CI = 1.1–1.9, respectively. The ORs increased with latency period with highest estimates using > 10 years time period from first use of these phone types. Lower ORs were calculated for astrocytoma grade I-II. No association was found with salivary gland tumours, NHL or testicular cancer although an association with NHL of T-cell type could not be ruled out. Conclusion We found for all studied phone types an increased risk for brain tumours, mainly acoustic neuroma and malignant brain tumours. OR increased with latency period, especially for astrocytoma grade III-IV. No consistent pattern of an increased risk was found for salivary gland tumours, NHL, or testicular cancer.

  13. Comparing Costs of Telephone versus Face-to-Face Extended Care Programs for the Management of Obesity in Rural Settings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Radcliff, Tiffany A.; Bobroff, Linda B.; Lutes, Lesley D.; Durning, Patricia E.; Daniels, Michael J.; Limacher, Marian C.; Janicke, David M.; Martin, A. Daniel; Perri, Michael G.

    2012-01-01

    Background A major challenge following successful weight loss is continuing the behaviors required for long-term weight maintenance. This challenge may be exacerbated in rural areas with limited local support resources. Objective This study describes and compares program costs and cost-effectiveness for 12-month extended care lifestyle maintenance programs following an initial 6-month weight loss program. Design A 1-year prospective controlled randomized clinical trial. Participants/Setting The study included 215 female participants age 50 or older from rural areas who completed an initial 6-month lifestyle program for weight loss. The study was conducted from June 1, 2003, to May 31, 2007. Intervention The intervention was delivered through local Cooperative Extension Service offices in rural Florida. Participants were randomly-assigned to a 12-month extended care program using either individual telephone counseling (n=67), group face-to-face counseling (n=74), or a mail/control group (n=74). Main Outcome Measures Program delivery costs, weight loss, and self-reported health status were directly assessed through questionnaires and program activity logs. Costs were estimated across a range of enrollment sizes to allow inferences beyond the study sample. Statistical Analyses Performed Non-parametric and parametric tests of differences across groups for program outcomes were combined with direct program cost estimates and expected value calculations to determine which scales of operation favored alternative formats for lifestyle maintenance. Results Median weight regain during the intervention year was 1.7 kg for participants in the face-to-face format, 2.1 kg for the telephone format, and 3.1 kg for the mail/control format. For a typical group size of 13 participants, the face-to-face format had higher fixed costs, which translated into higher overall program costs ($420 per participant) when compared to individual telephone counseling ($268 per participant) and

  14. Polling on a Budget: Implementing Telephone Surveys in Introductory and Advanced American Politics Courses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williamson, Jonathan

    2011-01-01

    Research suggests that student learning is enhanced when students are engaged through active learning strategies. In studying public opinion and polling, challenges include the provision of meaningful active learning environments when resources are limited. In this article, I discuss the design and implementation of telephone surveys as a teaching…

  15. 76 FR 79607 - Local Number Portability Porting Interval and Validation Requirements; Telephone Number Portability

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-12-22

    ... customer's account; a positive indication that the new service provider has the authority from the customer... comments. Email: [email protected] , and include the following words in the body of the message, ``get form.'' A... telephone number associated with the customer's account; a positive indication that the new service provider...

  16. Stress amongst nurses working in a healthcare telephone-advice service: relationship with job satisfaction, intention to leave, sickness absence, and performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farquharson, Barbara; Allan, Julia; Johnston, Derek; Johnston, Marie; Choudhary, Carolyn; Jones, Martyn

    2012-07-01

    This paper is a report of a study, which assessed levels of stress amongst nurses working in a healthcare telephone-advice service. We explored whether stress related to performance, sickness absence, and intention to leave. Nurses report high levels of stress, as do call-centre workers. The emergence of telephone health advice services means many nurses now work in call-centres, doing work that differs markedly from traditional nursing roles. Stress associated with these roles could have implications for nurses, patients, and service provision. This paper reports cross-sectional survey results. The design of the overall study included longitudinal elements. A comprehensive study of stress was conducted amongst nurses working for a telephone-advice service in Scotland (2008-2010). All nurse-advisors were approached by letter and invited to participate. A total of 152 participants (33%) completed a questionnaire including General Health Questionnaire-12, Work Family Conflict Questionnaire, Job Satisfaction Scale and a measure of intention to leave the telephone-advice service and rated the perceived stress of 2 working shifts. Nurses' employers provided data on sickness absence and performance. Overall levels of psychological distress were similar to those found amongst Scottish women generally. In multiple regression, work-family conflict was identified as a significant predictor of job satisfaction and intention to leave, and significantly related to sickness absence. There were significant correlations between General Health Questionnaire scores and perceived stress of shifts and some performance measures. Work-family conflict is a significant predictor of job satisfaction, intention to leave, and sickness absence amongst telephone helpline nurses. Minimizing the impact of nurses' work on their home lives might reduce turnover and sickness absence. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  17. The Impact of Caller Gender on Telephone Crisis-Helpline Workers' Interpretation of Suicidality in Caller Vignettes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunt, Tara; Wilson, Coralie J; Caputi, Peter; Wilson, Ian; Woodward, Alan

    2018-04-23

    Telephone crisis-line workers (TCWs) are trained in a variety of techniques and skills to facilitate the identification of suicidal callers. One factor that may influence the implementation of these skills is gender. This study used an experimental design to explore whether helpline callers being identified as male or female is associated with TCWs’ ratings of callers’ potential for suicide risk and TCWs’ intention to use support- or intervention-oriented skills with callers. Data were collected using an online self-report survey in an Australian sample of 133 TCWs. The results suggest that under some circumstances the callers’ gender might influence TCWs’ intention to use intervention-oriented skills with the caller. Implications for the training of telephone crisis workers, and those trained in suicide prevention more broadly are discussed.

  18. Effectiveness of telephone-assisted parent-administered behavioural family intervention for preschool children with externalizing problem behaviour: a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kierfeld, Frauke; Ise, Elena; Hanisch, Charlotte; Görtz-Dorten, Anja; Döpfner, Manfred

    2013-09-01

    Externalizing problem behaviour is one of the most common childhood disorders. Parent training is an effective treatment for these children and there is growing interest in the effects of parent-administered interventions with minimal therapist contact. This randomized controlled study examined the efficacy of a telephone-assisted parent-administered behavioural intervention (bibliotherapy) in families with preschool children with externalizing problem behaviour. Families were randomly assigned to a treatment group (n = 26) and an untreated waitlist control group (n = 22). The intervention comprised the reading of an 11 chapter self-help book and 11 weekly telephone consultations. Compared to the control group, the treatment group demonstrated significant decreases in parent-reported externalizing and internalizing child problem behaviour and dysfunctional parenting practices. Moreover, treated parents reported less parenting-related strains and decreases in parental depression, anxiety, and stress. The results suggest that telephone-assisted self-administered parent training is an effective alternative to more intensive forms of behavioural family intervention for preschool children with externalizing problem behaviour.

  19. Telephone-Based Coaching: A Comparison of Tobacco Cessation Programs in an Integrated Health Care System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boccio, Mindy; Sanna, Rashel S.; Adams, Sara R.; Goler, Nancy C.; Brown, Susan D.; Neugebauer, Romain S.; Ferrara, Assiamira; Wiley, Deanne M.; Bellamy, David J.; Schmittdiel, Julie A.

    2016-01-01

    Purpose Many Americans continue to smoke, increasing their risk of disease and premature death. Both telephone-based counseling and in-person tobacco cessation classes may improve access for smokers seeking convenient support to quit. Little research has assessed whether such programs are effective in real-world clinical populations. Design Retrospective cohort study comparing wellness coaching participants with two groups of controls. Setting Kaiser Permanente, Northern California (KPNC), a large integrated health care delivery system. Subjects 241 patients who participated in telephonic tobacco cessation coaching from 1/1/2011–3/31/2012, and two control groups: propensity-score matched controls, and controls who participated in a tobacco cessation class during the same period. Wellness coaching participants received an average of two motivational interviewing based coaching sessions that engage the patient, evoke their reason to consider quitting and help them establish a quit plan. Measures Self-reported quitting of tobacco and fills of tobacco cessation medications within 12 months of follow-up. Analysis Logistic regressions adjusting for age, gender, race/ethnicity, and primary language. Results After adjusting for confounders, tobacco quit rates were higher among coaching participants vs. matched controls (31% vs. 23%, PCoaching participants and class attendees filled tobacco-cessation prescriptions at a higher rate (47% for both) than matched controls (6%, Pcoaching was as effective as in-person classes and was associated with higher rates of quitting compared to no treatment. The telephonic modality may increase convenience and scalability for health care systems looking to reduce tobacco use and improve health. PMID:26559720

  20. The MRC dyspnoea scale by telephone interview to monitor health status in elderly COPD patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paladini, Luciana; Hodder, Rick; Cecchini, Isabella; Bellia, Vincenzo; Incalzi, Raffaele Antonelli

    2010-07-01

    Dyspnoea is the most common symptom associated with poor quality of life in patients affected by Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). While COPD severity is commonly staged by lung function, the Medical Research Council (MRC) dyspnoea scale has been proposed as a more clinically meaningful method of quantifying disease severity in COPD. We wished to assess whether this scale might also be useful during telephone surveys as a simple surrogate marker of perceived health status in elderly patients with COPD. We conducted a comprehensive health status assessment by telephone survey of 200 elderly patients who had a physician diagnosis of COPD. The telephone survey contained 71 items and explored such domains as educational level, financial status, living arrangements and social contacts, co-morbid illness, and the severity and the impact of COPD on health status. Patients were categorized according to the reported MRC score: mild dyspnoea (MRC scale of 1), moderate dyspnoea (MRC scale of 2 and 3), or severe dyspnoea (MRC of 4 and 5). Deterioration in most of the recorded indicators of health status correlated with an increasingly severe MRC score. This was most evident for instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), perceived health and emotional status, pain-related limitations, limitations in social life, hospital admissions in preceding year and prevalence of most co-morbidities. The MRC dyspnoea scale is a reliable index of disease severity and health status in elderly COPD patients which should prove useful for remote monitoring of COPD and for rating health status for epidemiological purposes.

  1. Telephone Consultation as a Substitute for Routine Out-patient Face-to-face Consultation for Children With Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Randomised Controlled Trial and Economic Evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akobeng, Anthony K; O'Leary, Neil; Vail, Andy; Brown, Nailah; Widiatmoko, Dono; Fagbemi, Andrew; Thomas, Adrian G

    2015-09-01

    Evidence for the use of telephone consultation in childhood inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is lacking. We aimed to assess the effectiveness and cost consequences of telephone consultation compared with the usual out-patient face-to-face consultation for young people with IBD. We conducted a randomised-controlled trial in Manchester, UK, between July 12, 2010 and June 30, 2013. Young people (aged 8-16 years) with IBD were randomized to receive telephone consultation or face-to-face consultation for 24 months. The primary outcome measure was the paediatric IBD-specific IMPACT quality of life (QOL) score at 12 months. Secondary outcome measures included patient satisfaction with consultations, disease course, anthropometric measures, proportion of consultations attended, duration of consultations, and costs to the UK National Health Service (NHS). Analysis was by intention to treat. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02319798. Eighty six patients were randomised to receive either telephone consultation (n = 44) or face-to-face consultation (n = 42). Baseline characteristics of the two groups were well balanced. At 12 months, there was no evidence of difference in QOL scores (estimated treatment effect in favour of the telephone consultation group was 5.7 points, 95% CI - 2.9 to 14.3; p = 0.19). Mean consultation times were 9.8 min (IQR 8 to 12.3) for telephone consultation, and 14.3 min (11.6 to 17.0) for face-to-face consultation with an estimated reduction (95% CI) of 4.3 (2.8 to 5.7) min in consultation times (p consultation had a mean cost of UK£35.41 per patient consultation compared with £51.12 for face-face consultation, difference £15.71 (95% CI 11.8-19.6; P consultation compared with face-to-face consultation with regard to improvements in QOL scores, and telephone consultation reduced consultation time and NHS costs. Telephone consultation is a cost-effective alternative to face-to-face consultation for the

  2. Implementation of a national, nurse-led telephone health service in Scotland: assessing the consequences for remote and rural localities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, A; Heaney, D; Haddow, G; O'Donnell, C A

    2009-01-01

    Internationally, nurse-led models of telephone triage have become commonplace in unscheduled healthcare delivery. Various existing models have had a positive impact on the delivery of healthcare services, often reducing the demand on accident and emergency departments and staff workload 'out of hours'. Our objective was to assess whether a model of centralised nurse telephone triage (NHS 24, introduced in Scotland in 2001) was appropriate for remote and rural areas. In this qualitative study the views and perspectives of health professionals across Scotland are explored. Thirty-five participants were purposively selected for interviews during 2005. Two types of interview were conducted: detailed, semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with key stakeholders of NHS 24; and briefer telephone interviews with partners from NHS Boards across Scotland. A constant comparative approach was taken to analysis. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Scottish Multi-site Research Ethics Committee. The findings are comparable with other research studies of new service developments in remote and rural health care. The rigidity of the centralised triage model introduced, the need to understand variation of health service delivery, and the importance of utilising local professional knowledge were all key issues affecting performance. Remote and rural complexities need to be considered when designing new healthcare services. It is suggested that new health service designs are 'proofed' for remote and rural complexities. This study highlights that a centralised nurse-led telephone triage model was inappropriate for remote and rural Scotland, and may not be appropriate for all geographies and circumstances.

  3. Lwazi community communication service: Design and piloting of a telephone-based Information Service for South Africa

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Sharma, A

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available We present in this paper the design, development and pilot process of the Lwazi community communication service (LCCS), a multilingual automated telephone-based information service. The service acts as a communication and dissemination tool...

  4. Fiber to the serving area: telephone-like star architecture for CATV

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fellows, David M.

    1992-02-01

    CATV systems traditionally use a tree and branch architecture to bring up to 550 MHz of analog bandwidth to every home in a franchise area. This changed slightly with the advent of AM fiber optic equipment, as fiber optics were used in an overlay fashion to reduce coaxial amplifier cascades and improve subscriber quality and reliability. Within the last year, fiber has economically replaced coaxial trunking. The resulting fiber to the serving area architecture combines fiber and coaxial stars for a network that looks much like the carrier serving area architectures used by telephone companies.

  5. Positive resources for combating job burnout among Chinese telephone operators: Resilience and psychological empowerment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Xiaohong; Liu, Chunqin; Zou, Guiyuan; Li, Guopeng; Kong, Linghua; Li, Ping

    2015-08-30

    Job burnout is a major concern within the service industry. However, there is a lack of research exploring positive resources for combating burnout among telephone operators. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between resilience, psychological empowerment, and job burnout, and the mediating role of psychological empowerment. A cross-sectional survey of 575 telephone operators was conducted in 2 call centers in Shandong Province, China. Self-report questionnaires were used to assess job burnout symptoms, resilience, and psychological empowerment. Hierarchical linear regression was performed to analyze the degree to which resilience and psychological empowerment are associated with job burnout, and the mediating role of psychological empowerment. The results showed that resilience and psychological empowerment had significant "net effects" on job burnout, which may represent positive resources for combating job burnout. Psychological empowerment may partially mediate the relationship between resilience and job burnout. Thus, interventions focused on resilience and psychological empowerment may be useful options for managers concerned about burnout. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Implementation and evaluation of Parkinson disease management in an outpatient clinical pharmacist-run neurology telephone clinic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stefan, Teodora Cristina; Elharar, Nicole; Garcia, Guadalupe

    2018-05-01

    Parkinson disease (PD) is a progressive, debilitating neurodegenerative disease that often requires complex pharmacologic treatment regimens. Prior to this clinic, there was no involvement of a clinical pharmacy specialist (CPS) in the outpatient neurology clinic at the West Palm Beach Veterans Affairs Medical Center. This was a prospective, quality-improvement project to develop a clinical pharmacist-run neurology telephone clinic and evaluate pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions in an effort to improve the quality of care for patients with PD. Additionally, the CPS conducted medication education groups to 24 patients with PD and their caregivers, if applicable, at this medical center with the purpose of promoting patient knowledge and medication awareness. Medication management was performed via telephone rather than face to face. Only patients with a concomitant mental health diagnosis for which they were receiving at least one psychotropic medication were included for individual visits due to the established scope of practice of the CPS being limited to mental health and primary care medications. Data collection included patient and clinic demographics as well as pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions made for patients enrolled from January 6, 2017, through March 31, 2017. A total of 49 pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions were made for 10 patients. We successfully implemented and evaluated a clinical pharmacist-run neurology telephone clinic for patients with PD. Expansion of this clinic to patients with various neurological disorders may improve access to care using an innovative method of medication management expertise by a CPS.

  7. Effects of cellular telephone manipulation on driver`s performance; Jidosha untenchu no keitai denwa shiyo sosa ni kanrensuru mondai no kenkyu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tokunaga, R; Ozawa, M; Hagiwara, T [Hokkaido University, Sapporo (Japan); Takagi, H; Shimojo, A [Civil Engineering Research Institute of Hokkaido, Hokkaido (Japan)

    1997-10-01

    The present evaluates effects of cellular telephone manipulation on driver`s performance. The major independent variables were the reaction time and the mental workload. Hart et al. proposed the concept of the subjective mental workload. Experiments were conduced using a driving simulator without motion. Findings showed that the hands free system may provide less effect than the cellular telephone on the passenger seat on driver`s reaction time and mental workload. 4 refs., 2 tabs., 5 figs.

  8. Elder abuse telephone screen reliability and validity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buri, Hilary M; Daly, Jeanette M; Jogerst, Gerald J

    2009-01-01

    (a) To identify reliable and valid questions that identify elder abuse, (b) to assess the reliability and validity of extant self-reported elder abuse screens in a high-risk elderly population, and (c) to describe difficulties of completing and interpreting screens in a high-need elderly population. All elders referred to research-trained social workers in a community service agency were asked to participate. Of the 70 elders asked, 49 participated, 44 completed the first questionnaire, and 32 completed the duplicate second questionnaire. A research assistant administered the telephone questionnaires. Twenty-nine (42%) persons were judged abused, 12 (17%) had abuse reported, and 4 (6%) had abuse substantiated. The elder abuse screen instruments were not found to be predictive of assessed abuse or as predictors of reported abuse; the measures tended toward being inversely predictive. Two questions regarding harm and taking of belongings were significantly different for the assessed abused group. In this small group of high-need community-dwelling elders, the screens were not effective in discriminating between abused and nonabused groups. Better instruments are needed to assess for elder abuse.

  9. Telephonic screening and brief intervention for alcohol misuse among workers contacting the employee assistance program: A feasibility study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McPherson, Tracy L; Goplerud, Eric; Derr, Dennis; Mickenberg, Judy; Courtemanche, Sherry

    2010-11-01

    Substantial empirical support exists for alcohol screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) in medical, but not non-medical settings such as the workplace. Workplace settings remain underutilised for delivering evidenced-based health services. This research aims to translate medical research into behavioural health-care practice in a telephonic call centre acting as a point of entry into an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). The goal of the study is to examine the feasibility of implementing routine telephonic alcohol SBIRT in an EAP call centre and assess whether routine SBIRT results in increased identification of workers who misuse alcohol. The design was pretest-posttest, one-group, pre-experimental. An alcohol SBIRT program developed based on World Health Organization recommendations was implemented in one EAP call centre serving one large employer. Workers were offered screening using the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) during intake, brief counselling using motivational interviewing, referral to counselling, and follow-up. At 5 months, 93% of workers contacting the EAP completed the AUDIT-C: 40% prescreened positive and 52% went on to screen at moderate or high risk for an alcohol problem. Overall identification rate (18%) approached general US population estimates. Most agreed to follow-up and three-quarters set an appointment for face-to-face counselling. Integration of routine alcohol SBIRT into EAP practice is feasible in telephonic delivery systems and increases identification and opportunity for brief motivational counselling. When SBIRT is seamlessly integrated workers are willing to answer questions about alcohol and participate in follow-up.[McPherson TL, Goplerud E, Derr D, Mickenberg J, Courtemanche S. Telephonic screening and brief intervention for alcohol misuse among workers contacting the employee assistance program: A feasibility study. © 2010 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

  10. Self-rated worry in acute care telephone triage

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gamst-Jensen, Hejdi; Huibers, Linda; Pedersen, Kristoffer

    2018-01-01

    the caller's ability to quantify their degree of worry, the association between degree of worry and variables related to the caller, the effect of degree of worry on triage outcome, and the thematic content of the caller's worry. DESIGN AND SETTING: A mixed-methods study with simultaneous convergent design...... combining descriptive statistics and thematic analysis of 180 calls to a Danish out-of-hours service. METHOD: The following quantitative data were measured: age of caller, sex, reason for encounter, symptom duration, triage outcome, and degree of worry (rated from 1 = minimally worried to 5 = extremely...... worried). Qualitative data consisted of audio-recorded telephone calls. RESULTS: Most callers (170 out of 180) were able to scale their worry when contacting the out-of-hours service (median = 3, interquartile range = 2-4, mean = 2.76). Degree of worry was associated with female sex (odds ratio [OR] 1...

  11. Telephone helplines as a source of support for eating disorders: Service user, carer, and health professional perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prior, Amie-Louise; Woodward, Debbie; Hoefkens, Toni; Clayton, Debbie; Thirlaway, Katie; Limbert, Caroline

    2018-01-01

    Access to care for eating disorders can be problematic for numerous reasons including lack of understanding and delays with treatment referrals. Previous research has highlighted the benefits of telephone helplines as an accessible source of support for those who may not wish to access face-to-face support or to fill a gap for those waiting for treatment. This study aimed to gain an insight into the perspectives of those who may use or refer others to a telephone helpline in order to identify the requirements of such a service. Triangulation of service user, carer and health professionals' perspectives resulted in identification of themes relating to the type of support, delivery and practicalities of a helpline. The findings indicated that telephone helplines may offer numerous benefits for individuals with an eating disorder, whether accessed as a first step, alongside treatment or as an extension of this support when in recovery. Additionally helplines may provide an opportunity for carers to access information and discuss their own experiences, while supporting their loved one. Raising awareness of these services is important to encourage those affected by an eating disorder to access and make the most of this type of support. These findings offer an insight into the key requirements for new and existing service development with regard to both the type of support and the method of communication required by individuals with eating disorders.

  12. 1What do first-time mothers worry about? A study of usage patterns and content of calls made to a postpartum support telephone hotline

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naassan Georges

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Telephone hotlines designed to address common concerns in the early postpartum could be a useful resource for parents. Our aim was to test the feasibility of using a telephone as an intervention in a randomized controlled trial. We also aimed to test to use of algorithms to address parental concerns through a telephone hotline. Methods Healthy first-time mothers were recruited from postpartum wards of hospitals throughout Lebanon. Participants were given the number of a 24-hour telephone hotline that they could access for the first four months after delivery. Calls were answered by a midwife using algorithms developed by the study team whenever possible. Callers with medical complaints were referred to their physicians. Call patterns and content were recorded and analyzed. Results Eighty-four of the 353 women enrolled (24% used the hotline. Sixty percent of the women who used the service called more than once, and all callers reported they were satisfied with the service. The midwife received an average of three calls per day and most calls occurred during the first four weeks postpartum. Our algorithms were used to answer questions in 62.8% of calls and 18.6% of calls required referral to a physician. Of the questions related to mothers, 66% were about breastfeeding. Sixty percent of questions related to the infant were about routine care and 23% were about excessive crying. Conclusions Utilization of a telephone hotline service for postpartum support is highest in the first four weeks postpartum. Most questions are related to breastfeeding, routine newborn care, and management of a fussy infant. It is feasible to test a telephone hotline as an intervention in a randomized controlled trial. Algorithms can be developed to provide standardized answers to the most common questions.

  13. Short assessment of the Big Five: robust across survey methods except telephone interviewing

    OpenAIRE

    Lang, Frieder R.; John, Dennis; Lüdtke, Oliver; Schupp, Jürgen; Wagner, Gert G.

    2011-01-01

    We examined measurement invariance and age-related robustness of a short 15-item Big Five Inventory (BFI–S) of personality dimensions, which is well suited for applications in large-scale multidisciplinary surveys. The BFI–S was assessed in three different interviewing conditions: computer-assisted or paper-assisted face-to-face interviewing, computer-assisted telephone interviewing, and a self-administered questionnaire. Randomized probability samples from a large-scale German panel survey a...

  14. The effect of telephone follow-up after ambulatory surgery on pain management for children at home by parents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saeedeh Almasi

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Since time was short hospitalization after ambulatory surgery after discharge the duty of care of children at home, and parents are responsible, their familiarity with pharmacological and nonpharmacological methods of pain relief is essential. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effect of telephone follow-up after ambulatory surgery on pain management for children at home by their parents. In these clinical trial 68 children 6 to 12 years admitted for tonsillectomy operation with careful parent choice and block randomly divided into control and test. For experimental group, including training of pharmacological and nonpharmacological methods of pain relief and telephone follow-up was done in the first three days after discharge. Data were collected log home checklist was completed by parents. Data by SPSS version 16 and chi-square tests, t and analysis of variance with repeated measures were analyzed. The mean pain intensity scores, palliative effects of acetaminophen and the use of pain relief medication and non-drug control between the two groups was statistically significant difference (P <0.05. However, between the two groups was statistically significant difference was observed sedative effects. ambulatory surgery and follow-up training before the telephone after discharge would empower parents with children at home pain management.

  15. The Bandung neurosurgery patient outcomes project, Indonesia (Part II): Patient pathways and feasibility and acceptability of telephone follow-up.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sutiono, Agung Budi; Faried, Ahmad; McAllister, Susan; Ganefianty, Amelia; Sarjono, Kalih; Arifin, Muhammad Zafrullah; Derrett, Sarah

    2018-01-01

    Support of neurosurgery patients following discharge from hospital is important. Currently, little is known about patients' in low- and middle-income countries before and after their hospital treatment. This companion paper reports patients' pathways before and after hospital admission and the feasibility of following up this ill-patient population by telephone. Eligible patients were aged ≥18 years admitted to the Neurosurgery Department in Dr. Hasan Sadikin Hospital-a regional referral hospital in Bandung City, Indonesia. Clinical data were collected on admission by clinicians. In-person interviews were undertaken with a clinical research nurse 1 to 2 days pre-discharge, and telephone follow-up interviews at 1, 2, and 3 months post-discharge. Information was also collected on pathways prior to admission and following discharge. The number of contact attempts for each patient interview was documented, as was the overall acceptability of undertaking a telephone interview. Of 178 patients discharged from hospital, 12 later died. Of the remaining 166 patients, 95% were able to be followed up to 3 months. Two-thirds of patients had been referred from another hospital. Patients came from, and were discharged to, locations throughout the West Java region. At the 1-month interview, 84% participants reported that they had had a follow-up consultation with a health professional-mostly with a neurosurgeon. This study has shown that, with a neurosurgery nurse delegated to the role, it is feasible to conduct follow-up telephone interviews with patients after discharge from a neurosurgery ward and that in fact such follow-up was appreciated by patients. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  16. Design and simulation of virtual telephone keypad control based on brain computer interface (BCI with very high transfer rates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rehab B. Ashari

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Brain Computer Interface (BCI is a communication and control mechanism, which does not rely on any kind of muscular response to send a message to the external world. This technique is used to help the paralyzed people with spinal cord injury to have the ability to communicate with the external world. In this paper we emphasize to increase the BCI System bit rate for controlling a virtual telephone keypad. To achieve the proposed algorithm, a simulated virtual telephone keypad based on Steady State Visual Evoked Potential (SSVEP BCI system is developed. Dynamic programming technique with specifically modified Longest Common Subsequence (LCS algorithm is used. By comparing the paralyzed user selection with the recent, and then the rest, of the stored records in the file of the telephone, the user can save the rest of his choices for controlling the keypad and thence improving the overall performance of the BCI system. This axiomatic approach, which is used in searching the web pages for increasing the performance of the searching, is urgent to be used for the paralyzed people rather than the normal user.

  17. Time-tradeoff values and standard-gamble utilities assessed during telephone interviews versus face-to-face interviews

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Wijck, Esther; Bosch, JL; Hunink, Maria

    1998-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare time-tradeoff values and standard-gamble utilities obtained during telephone interviews with those obtained through face-to-face interviews. Sixty-five patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease completed both interviews. One week prior to the

  18. Randomized Trial Comparing Telephone Versus In-Person Weight Loss Counseling on Body Composition and Circulating Biomarkers in Women Treated for Breast Cancer: The Lifestyle, Exercise, and Nutrition (LEAN) Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harrigan, Maura; Cartmel, Brenda; Loftfield, Erikka; Sanft, Tara; Chagpar, Anees B; Zhou, Yang; Playdon, Mary; Li, Fangyong; Irwin, Melinda L

    2016-03-01

    Obesity is associated with a higher risk of breast cancer mortality. The gold standard approach to weight loss is in-person counseling, but telephone counseling may be more feasible. We examined the effect of in-person versus telephone weight loss counseling versus usual care on 6-month changes in body composition, physical activity, diet, and serum biomarkers. One hundred breast cancer survivors with a body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m(2) were randomly assigned to in-person counseling (n = 33), telephone counseling (n = 34), or usual care (UC) (n = 33). In-person and telephone counseling included 11 30-minute counseling sessions over 6 months. These focused on reducing caloric intake, increasing physical activity, and behavioral therapy. Body composition, physical activity, diet, and serum biomarkers were measured at baseline and 6 months. The mean age of participants was 59 ± 7.5 years old, with a mean BMI of 33.1 ± 6.6 kg/m(2), and the mean time from diagnosis was 2.9 ± 2.1 years. Fifty-one percent of the participants had stage I breast cancer. Average 6-month weight loss was 6.4%, 5.4%, and 2.0% for in-person, telephone, and UC groups, respectively (P = .004, P = .009, and P = .46 comparing in-person with UC, telephone with UC, and in-person with telephone, respectively). A significant 30% decrease in C-reactive protein levels was observed among women randomly assigned to the combined weight loss intervention groups compared with a 1% decrease among women randomly assigned to UC (P = .05). Both in-person and telephone counseling were effective weight loss strategies, with favorable effects on C-reactive protein levels. Our findings may help guide the incorporation of weight loss counseling into breast cancer treatment and care. © 2015 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

  19. IBD patients in remission strongly prefer annual telephone calls by IBD nurse - compared to outpatient visits

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bager, Palle; Hentze, Runa; Markussen, Toto

    Aim: To investigate the willingness among IBD patients in remission to change regularly outpatient visits to annual telephone calls by an IBD nurse. To illuminate potential barriers for introducing Self Management (SM) in the handling of IBD patients. Background: Incidence of IBD is increasing...... by a telephone call by an IBD nurse. Furthermore an extended acute access to the hospital is needed if flare occurs. Patients and Methods: 150 consecutive IBD patients attending to the outpatient clinic at Aarhus University Hospital were presented to the SM approach. On a Likert scale they were asked to what...... extend they were willing to change to SM compared to current routine appointments. Results: 87 % of the patients ‘agreed’ or ‘almost agreed’ to adopt the SM approach. Many patients comment that it was an excellent and timesaving idea. Those who had doubts were mainly older males with a long history...

  20. Comparison between data obtained through real-time data capture by SMS and a retrospective telephone interview

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Johansen, Bendt; Wedderkopp, Niels

    2010-01-01

    BACKGROUND: The aims of the current study were: a) to quantitatively compare data obtained by Short Message Service (SMS) with data from a telephone interview, b) to investigate whether the respondents had found it acceptable to answer the weekly two SMS questions, c) to explore whether....... Bland-Altman limits of agreement were calculated. The two quantitative questions were reported as percentages. Actual costs for the SMS-Track-Questionnaire (SMS-T-Q) were compared with estimated costs for paper version surveys. RESULTS: There was high agreement between telephone interview and SMS...... an additional weekly third SMS question would have been acceptable, and d) to calculate the total cost of using the SMS technology. METHODS: SMS technology was used each week for 53 weeks to monitor 260 patients with low back pain (LBP) in a clinical study. Each week, these patients were asked the same two...

  1. Assessment of communication technology and post-operative telephone surveillance during global urology mission.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rapp, David E; Colhoun, Andrew; Morin, Jacqueline; Bradford, Timothy J

    2018-02-21

    Compliance with post-operative follow-up in the context of international surgical trips is often poor. The etiology of this problem is multifactorial and includes lack of local physician involvement, transportation costs, and work responsibilities. We aimed to better understand availability of communication technologies within Belize and use this information to improve follow-up after visiting surgical trips to a public hospital in Belize City. Accordingly, a 6-item questionnaire assessing access to communication technologies was completed by all patients undergoing evaluation by a visiting surgical team in 2014. Based on this data, a pilot program for patients undergoing surgery was instituted for subsequent missions (2015-2016) that included a 6-week post-operative telephone interview with a visiting physician located in the United States. Fifty-four (n = 54) patients were assessed via survey with 89% responding that they had a mobile phone. Patients reported less access to home internet (59%), local internet (52%), and email (48%). Of 35 surgical patients undergoing surgery during 2 subsequent surgical trips, 18 (51%) were compliant with telephone interview at 6-week follow-up. Issues were identified in 3 (17%) patients that allowed for physician assistance. The cost per patient interview was $10 USD.

  2. Couples, contentious conversations, mobile telephone use and driving.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lansdown, Terry C; Stephens, Amanda N

    2013-01-01

    Studies have shown that the inappropriate use of in-vehicle technology may lead to hazardous disruption of driver performance. This paper reports an investigation into the socio-technical implications of maintaining a difficult conversation while driving. Twenty romantically involved couples participated in a driving-simulator experiment. The participants engaged in emotionally difficult conversations while one partner drove. The contentious conversation topics were identified using a revealed differences protocol, requiring partners to discuss sources of ongoing disagreement in their relationship. The conversations were conducted either using handsfree telephone or with both parties present in the simulator. Results indicate that the revealed differences tasks were subjectively viewed as emotionally more difficult than a control. Driver performance was found to be adversely effected for both longitudinal and lateral vehicle control. Performance was worst during contentious conversations with the partner present, suggesting the drivers may be better able to regulate driving task demands with the partner not in the vehicle during difficult discussions. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Easing reintegration: telephone support groups for spouses of returning Iraq and Afghanistan service members.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nichols, Linda Olivia; Martindale-Adams, Jennifer; Graney, Marshall J; Zuber, Jeffrey; Burns, Robert

    2013-01-01

    Spouses of returning Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom, OIF) and Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom, OEF) military service members report increased depression and anxiety post deployment as they work to reintegrate the family and service member. Reconnecting the family, renegotiating roles that have shifted, reestablishing communication patterns, and dealing with mental health concerns are all tasks that spouses must undertake as part of reintegration. We tested telephone support groups focusing on helping spouses with these basic reintegration tasks. Year-long telephone support groups focused on education, skills building (communication skills, problem solving training, cognitive behavioral techniques, stress management), and support. Spouse depression and anxiety were decreased and perceived social support was increased during the course of the study. In subgroup analyses, spouses with husbands whose injuries caused care difficulties had a positive response to the intervention. However, they were more likely to be depressed, be anxious, and have less social support compared to participants who had husbands who had no injury or whose injury did not cause care difficulty. Study findings suggest that this well-established, high-access intervention can help improve quality of life for military spouses who are struggling with reintegration of the service member and family.

  4. Individualized guidance and telephone monitoring in a self-supervised home-based physiotherapeutic program in Parkinson

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ihana Thaís Guerra de Oliveira Gondim

    Full Text Available Abstract Introduction: Home therapeutic exercises have been a target of interest in the treatment of the Parkinson's disease (PD. The way that the physical therapist guides and monitors these exercises can impact the success of therapy. Objective: To evaluate the effects of individualized orientation and monitoring by telephone in a self-supervised home therapeutic exercise program on signs and symptoms of PD and quality of life (QoL. Methods: Single-blind randomized clinical trials with 28 people with PD (Hoehn and Yahr 1 to 3. Patients were randomized into two groups: experimental and control. The experimental group had a meeting with individualized guidance about physiotherapy exercises present in a manual, received the manual to guide their activities at home and obtained subsequent weekly monitoring by telephone. The control group received the usual cares by the service. Both were orientated to carry out exercises three times a week during 12 weeks. Was evaluated: (1 activities of daily living (ADL and motor examination sections of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS and QoL by the Parkinson Disease Questionnaire 39 (PDQ-39. The analysis between groups was performed by the Mann-Whitney test and intragroup through the Wilcoxon (p < 0.05. Results: Significant improvement in ADL (p= 0.001 and motor examination (p= 0.0008 of the UPDRS, PDQ-39 total (p = 0.027 and dimensions mobility (p = 0.027, emotional well-being (p= 0.021 and bodily discomfort (p = 0.027 in the experimental group compared to the control group. Conclusion: The individualized guidance and weekly monitoring by telephone in a self-supervised home therapeutic exercises program promoted positive effects on ADL, motor examination and QoL of people in early stages of PD.

  5. Mobile telephones: a comparison of radiated power between 3G VoIP calls and 3G VoCS calls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jovanovic, Dragan; Bragard, Guillaume; Picard, Dominique; Chauvin, Sébastien

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to assess the mean RF power radiated by mobile telephones during voice calls in 3G VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) using an application well known to mobile Internet users, and to compare it with the mean power radiated during voice calls in 3G VoCS (Voice over Circuit Switch) on a traditional network. Knowing that the specific absorption rate (SAR) is proportional to the mean radiated power, the user's exposure could be clearly identified at the same time. Three 3G (High Speed Packet Access) smartphones from three different manufacturers, all dual-band for GSM (900 MHz, 1800 MHz) and dual-band for UMTS (900 MHz, 1950 MHz), were used between 28 July and 04 August 2011 in Paris (France) to make 220 two-minute calls on a mobile telephone network with national coverage. The places where the calls were made were selected in such a way as to describe the whole range of usage situations of the mobile telephone. The measuring equipment, called "SYRPOM", recorded the radiation power levels and the frequency bands used during the calls with a sampling rate of 20,000 per second. In the framework of this study, the mean normalised power radiated by a telephone in 3G VoIP calls was evaluated at 0.75% maximum power of the smartphone, compared with 0.22% in 3G VoCS calls. The very low average power levels associated with use of 3G devices with VoIP or VoCS support the view that RF exposure resulting from their use is far from exceeding the basic restrictions of current exposure limits in terms of SAR.

  6. Telephone word-list recall tested in the rural aging and memory study: two parallel versions for the TICS-M.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hogervorst, Eva; Bandelow, Stephan; Hart, John; Henderson, Victor W

    2004-09-01

    Parallel versions of memory tasks are useful in clinical and research settings to reduce practice effects engendered by multiple administrations. We aimed to investigate the usefulness of three parallel versions of ten-item word list recall tasks administered by telephone. A population based telephone survey of middle-aged and elderly residents of Bradley County, Arkansas was carried out as part of the Rural Aging and Memory Study (RAMS). Participants in the study were 1845 persons aged 40 to 95 years. Word lists included that used in the telephone interview of cognitive status (TICS) as a criterion standard and two newly developed lists. The mean age of participants was 61.05 (SD 12.44) years; 39.5% were over age 65. 78% of the participants had completed high school, 66% were women and 21% were African-American. There was no difference in demographic characteristics between groups receiving different word list versions, and performances on the three versions were equivalent for both immediate (mean 4.22, SD 1.53) and delayed (mean 2.35 SD 1.75) recall trials. The total memory score (immediate+delayed recall) was negatively associated with older age (beta = -0.41, 95%CI=-0.11 to -0.04), lower education (beta = 0.24, 95%CI = 0.36 to 0.51), male gender (beta = -0.18, 95%CI = -1.39 to -0.90) and African-American race (beta = -0.15, 95%CI = -1.41 to -0.82). The two RAMS word recall lists and the TICS word recall list can be used interchangeably in telephone assessment of memory of middle-aged and elderly persons. This finding is important for future studies where parallel versions of a word-list memory task are needed. (250 words).

  7. Telephone-based nursing intervention improves the effectiveness of the informed consent process in cancer clinical trials

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aaronson, N. K.; Visser-Pol, E.; Leenhouts, G. H.; Muller, M. J.; van der Schot, A. C.; van Dam, F. S.; Keus, R. B.; Koning, C. C.; ten Bokkel Huinink, W. W.; van Dongen, J. A.; Dubbelman, R.

    1996-01-01

    PURPOSE: Here we report the results of a randomized study undertaken to test the efficacy of a supplementary, telephone-based nursing intervention in increasing patients' awareness and understanding of the clinical trials in which they are asked to participate. METHODS: During a 12-month period, 180

  8. Telephone-based social engineering attacks: An experiment testing the success and time decay of an intervention

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bullee, Jan-Willem; Montoya, L.; Junger, Marianne; Hartel, Pieter H.; Mathur, A.; Roychoudhury, A.

    The objective of this study is to get insight into the effectiveness of an information campaign to counter a social engineering attack via the telephone. Four different offenders phoned 48 employees and made them believe that their PC was distributing spam emails. Targets were told that this

  9. [Topics on Which Relatives of Persons with Dementia Seek Counseling Over Telephone or Email: Current Results of a Nationwide Counseling Service of the German Alzheimer Society].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pendergrass, Anna; Weiß, Saskia; Gräßel, Elmar

    2018-04-19

    Since 15 years, the Alzheimer 's Telephone of the German Alzheimer Society (Deutsche Alzheimer Gesellschaft e.V.; DAlzG), a nationwide psychosocial counseling service, has been offering support for people with dementia (PwD) and their families. The aim of this study was to evaluate: a) why informal PwD caregivers seek telephone counseling, b) whether these telephone calls are one-time counseling or long-term support, and c) whether the telephone inquiries differ from the email-based inquiries with regard to the addressed issues. The data are based on the inquiries of 3,744 informal caregivers, which consulted the DAlzG in 2015. Sociodemographic data on the informal caregivers and the PwD, the characteristics of the telephone call, and the topics addressed in the email inquiries were collected. 70.3% of the callers were female. Most of them (59.9%) were the children (in-law) of and half of them (49.7%) lived with PwD. More than two-thirds of the callers (70%) were seeking help in dealing with the person with dementia (e. g. challenging behavior) and 36.5% of the relatives needed recommendations for further local help and assistance. In the third place, the calls were related to financial and legal topics (23.5%). 92.2% of the calls were one-time consultations. The addressed issues in the email inquiries did not significantly differ from the topics discussed over the telephone. On many topics there is a need for further "on site" consultation. Doctors and other health professionals should therefore be actively involved in counseling relatives of PwD. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  10. Occupational exposure to ambient electromagnetic fields of technical operational personnel working for a mobile telephone operator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chauvin, S.; Gibergues, M. L.; Wuethrich, G.; Picard, D.; Desreumaux, J. P.; Bouillet, J. C.

    2009-01-01

    In order to investigate the exposure of operational personnel to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields when working for a mobile telephone operator, exposimeters were used to make individual records on 23 Technical Operations personnel (mobile telephone maintenance staff) and also on 22 Other Workers. The exposure densities, to which each of the 45 subjects was subjected, were quantified using 229 exposure indicators. Cluster analysis techniques were applied to the data, in an attempt to show that they would re-emerge as belonging to one of the two groups, i.e. the Technical Operational Personnel group or the Other Workers group. This exploratory investigation has shown that the cluster analysis does not reveal a sufficiently reliable emergence of the two groups, even though certain exposure indicators were significantly different for the two groups. In addition, the use of a Learning Group method does not lead to the discovery of a predictive law that could identify the Technical Operational Personnel as a sub-group within the overall group. (authors)

  11. Two adults with multiple disabilities use a computer-aided telephone system to make phone calls independently.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lancioni, Giulio E; O'Reilly, Mark F; Singh, Nirbhay N; Sigafoos, Jeff; Oliva, Doretta; Alberti, Gloria; Lang, Russell

    2011-01-01

    This study extended the assessment of a newly developed computer-aided telephone system with two participants (adults) who presented with blindness or severe visual impairment and motor or motor and intellectual disabilities. For each participant, the study was carried out according to an ABAB design, in which the A represented baseline phases and the B represented intervention phases, during which the special telephone system was available. The system involved among others a net-book computer provided with specific software, a global system for mobile communication modem, and a microswitch. Both participants learned to use the system very rapidly and managed to make phone calls independently to a variety of partners such as family members, friends and staff personnel. The results were discussed in terms of the technology under investigation (its advantages, drawbacks, and need of improvement) and the social-communication impact it can make for persons with multiple disabilities. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Telephone-based screening tools for mild cognitive impairment and dementia in aging studies: a review of validated instruments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teresa Costa Castanho

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available The decline of cognitive function in old age is a great challenge for modern society. The simultaneous increase in dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases justifies a growing need for accurate and valid cognitive assessment instruments. Although in-person testing is considered the most effective and preferred administration mode of assessment, it can pose not only a research difficulty in reaching large and diverse population samples, but it may also limit the assessment and follow-up of individuals with either physical or health limitations or reduced motivation. Therefore, telephone-based cognitive screening instruments pose an alternative and attractive strategy to in-person assessments. In order to give a current view of the state of the art of telephone-based tools for cognitive assessment in aging, this review highlights some of the existing instruments with particular focus on data validation, cognitive domains assessed, administration time and instrument limitations and advantages. From the review of the literature, performed using the databases EBSCO, Science Direct and PubMed, it was possible to verify that while telephone-based tools are useful in research and clinical practice, providing a promising approach, the methodologies still need refinement in the validation steps, including comparison with either single instruments or neurocognitive test batteries, to improve specificity and sensitivity to validly detect subtle changes in cognition that may precede cognitive impairment.

  13. Improving older adults' knowledge and practice of preventive measures through a telephone health education during the SARS epidemic in Hong Kong: a pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, Sophia S C; So, Winnie K W; Wong, David C N; Lee, Angel C K; Tiwari, Agnes

    2007-09-01

    The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Hong Kong posed many challenges for health promotion activities among a group of older adults with low socio-economic status (SES). With concerns that this vulnerable group could be at higher risk of contracting the disease or spreading it to others, the implementation of health promotion activities appropriate to this group was considered to be essential during the epidemic. To assess the effectiveness of delivering a telephone health education programme dealing with anxiety levels, and knowledge and practice of measures to prevent transmission of SARS among a group of older adults with low SES. Pretest/posttest design. Subjects were recruited from registered members of a government subsidized social service center in Hong Kong and living in low-cost housing estates. The eligibility criteria were: (1) aged 55 or above; (2) able to speak Cantonese; (3) no hearing impairment, and (4) reachable by telephone. Of the 295 eligible subjects, 122 older adults completed the whole study. The interviewers approached all eligible subjects by telephone during the period of 15-25 May 2003. After obtaining the participants' verbal consent, the interviewer collected baseline data by use of a questionnaire and implemented a health education programme. A follow-up telephone call was made a week later using the same questionnaire. The level of anxiety was lowered (t=3.28, p<0.001), and knowledge regarding the transmission routes of droplets (p<0.001) and urine and feces (p<0.01) were improved after the intervention. Although statistical significant difference was found in the practice of identified preventive measures before and after intervention, influence on behavioral changes needed further exploration. The telephone health education seemed to be effective in relieving anxiety and improving knowledge of the main transmission routes of SARS in this group, but not the practice of preventing SARS. Telephone contact appears

  14. Efficacy of Telephone Information and Advice on Welfare: the Need for Realist Evaluation

    OpenAIRE

    Harding, Andrew; Parker, Jonathan; Hean, Sarah; Hemingway, Ann

    2018-01-01

    In the context of increased marketisation in welfare provision, formal information and advice (I&A) is widely assumed to enable users, as consumers, to make informed choices about services, support and care. There is emerging evidence that telephone I&A services represent important ways of providing such services. This article proposes a framework that identifies key areas of focus delineating the efficacy of I&A, which is then used in a comprehensive literature review to critique existing re...

  15. The effect of telephone-based interpersonal psychotherapy for the treatment of postpartum depression: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dennis Cindy-Lee

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Substantial data indicate potential health consequences of untreated postpartum depression (PPD on the mother, infant, and family. Studies have evaluated interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT as treatment for PPD; however, the results are questionable due to methodological limitations. A comprehensive review of maternal treatment preferences suggests that mothers favor ‘talking therapy’ as a form of PPD treatment. Unfortunately, IPT is not widely available, especially in rural and remote areas. To improve access to care, telepsychiatry has been introduced, including the provision of therapy via the telephone. Methods/Design The purpose of this randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the effect of telephone-based IPT on the treatment of PPD. Stratification is based on self-reported history of depression and province. The target sample is 240 women. Currently, women from across Canada between 2 and 24 weeks postpartum are able to either self-identify as depressed and refer themselves to the trial or they may be referred by a health professional based on a score >12 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS. Following contact by the trial coordinator, a detailed study explanation is provided. Women who fulfill the eligibility criteria (including a positive diagnostic assessment for major depression and consent to participate are randomized to either the control group (standard postpartum care or intervention group (standard postpartum care plus 12 telephone-based IPT sessions within 12 to 16 weeks, provided by trained nurses. Blinded research nurses telephone participants at 12, 24, and 36 weeks post-randomization to assess for PPD and other outcomes including depressive symptomatology, anxiety, couple adjustment, attachment, and health service utilization. Results from this ongoing trial will: (1 develop the body of knowledge concerning the effect of telephone-based IPT as a treatment option for PPD; (2 advance our

  16. The Effect of Tailored Web-Based Feedback and Optional Telephone Coaching on Health Improvements: A Randomized Intervention Among Employees in the Transport Service Industry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solenhill, Madeleine; Grotta, Alessandra; Pasquali, Elena; Bakkman, Linda; Bellocco, Rino; Trolle Lagerros, Ylva

    2016-08-11

    Lifestyle-related health problems are an important health concern in the transport service industry. Web- and telephone-based interventions could be suitable for this target group requiring tailored approaches. To evaluate the effect of tailored Web-based health feedback and optional telephone coaching to improve lifestyle factors (body mass index-BMI, dietary intake, physical activity, stress, sleep, tobacco and alcohol consumption, disease history, self-perceived health, and motivation to change health habits), in comparison to no health feedback or telephone coaching. Overall, 3,876 employees in the Swedish transport services were emailed a Web-based questionnaire. They were randomized into: control group (group A, 498 of 1238 answered, 40.23%), or intervention Web (group B, 482 of 1305 answered, 36.93%), or intervention Web + telephone (group C, 493 of 1333 answered, 36.98%). All groups received an identical questionnaire, only the interventions differed. Group B received tailored Web-based health feedback, and group C received tailored Web-based health feedback + optional telephone coaching if the participants' reported health habits did not meet the national guidelines, or if they expressed motivation to change health habits. The Web-based feedback was fully automated. Telephone coaching was performed by trained health counselors. Nine months later, all participants received a follow-up questionnaire and intervention Web + telephone. Descriptive statistics, the chi-square test, analysis of variance, and generalized estimating equation (GEE) models were used. Overall, 981 of 1473 (66.60%) employees participated at baseline (men: 66.7%, mean age: 44 years, mean BMI: 26.4 kg/m(2)) and follow-up. No significant differences were found in reported health habits between the 3 groups over time. However, significant changes were found in motivation to change. The intervention groups reported higher motivation to improve dietary habits (144 of 301 participants, 47

  17. Long-term effectiveness of telephone-based health coaching for heart failure patients: A post-only randomised controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tiede, Michel; Dwinger, Sarah; Herbarth, Lutz; Härter, Martin; Dirmaier, Jörg

    2017-09-01

    Introduction The * Equal contributors. health-status of heart failure patients can be improved to some extent by disease self-management. One method of developing such skills is telephone-based health coaching. However, the effects of telephone-based health coaching remain inconclusive. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of telephone-based health coaching for people with heart failure. Methods A total sample of 7186 patients with various chronic diseases was randomly assigned to either the coaching or the control group. Then 184 patients with heart failure were selected by International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 code for subgroup analysis. Data were collected at 24 and 48 months after the beginning of the coaching. The primary outcome was change in quality of life. Secondary outcomes were changes in depression and anxiety, health-related control beliefs, control preference, health risk behaviour and health-related behaviours. Statistical analyses included a per-protocol evaluation, employing analysis of variance and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) as well as Mann-Whitney U tests. Results Participants' average age was 73 years (standard deviation (SD) = 9) and the majority were women (52.8%). In ANCOVA analyses there were no significant differences between groups for the change in quality of life (QoL) . However, the coaching group reported a significantly higher level of physical activity ( p = 0.03), lower intake of non-prescribed drugs ( p = 0.04) and lower levels of stress ( p = 0.02) than the control group. Mann-Whitney U tests showed a different external locus of control ( p = 0.014), and higher reduction in unhealthy nutrition ( p = 0.019), physical inactivity ( p = 0.004) and stress ( p = 0.028). Discussion Our results suggest that telephone-based health coaching has no effect on QoL, anxiety and depression of heart failure patients, but helps in improving certain risk behaviours and changes the locus

  18. Online Versus Telephone Methods to Recruit and Interview Older Gay and Bisexual Men Treated for Prostate Cancer: Findings from the Restore Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosser, B R Simon; Capistrant, Benjamin

    2016-07-19

    Recently, researchers have faced the challenge of conflicting recommendations for online versus traditional methods to recruit and interview older, sexual minority men. Older populations represent the cohort least likely to be online, necessitating the use of traditional research methods, such as telephone or in-person interviews. By contrast, gay and bisexual men represent a population of early adopters of new technology, both in general and for medical research. In a study of older gay and bisexual men with prostate cancer, we asked whether respondents preferred online versus offline methods for data collection. Given the paucity of research on how to recruit older gay and bisexual men in general, and older gay and bisexual men with prostate cancer in particular, we conducted an observational study to identify participant preferences when participating in research studies. To test online versus offline recruitment demographic data collection, and interview preferences of older gay and bisexual men with prostate cancer. Email blasts were sent from a website providing support services for gay and bisexual men with prostate cancer, supplemented with an email invitation from the web-host. All invitations provided information via the study website address and a toll-free telephone number. Study tasks included respondents being screened, giving informed consent, completing a short survey collecting demographic data, and a 60-75 minute telephone or Internet chat interview. All materials stressed that enrollees could participate in each task using either online methods or by telephone, whichever they preferred. A total of 74 men were screened into the study, and 30 were interviewed. The average age of the participants was 63 years (standard deviation 6.9, range 48-75 years), with most residing in 14 American states, and one temporarily located overseas. For screening, consent, and the collection of demographic data, 97% (29/30) of the participants completed these tasks

  19. Telephone-delivered psychoeducational intervention for Hong Kong Chinese dementia caregivers: a single-blinded randomized controlled trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kwok T

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Timothy Kwok,1,2 Bel Wong,2 Isaac Ip,2 Kenny Chui,2 Daniel Young,2 Florence Ho2 1Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region; 2Jockey Club Centre for Positive Ageing, Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region Purpose: Many family caregivers of persons with dementia (PWD are unable to participate in community center-based caregiver support services because of logistical constraints. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a telephone-delivered psychoeducational intervention for family caregivers of PWD in alleviating caregiver burden and enhancing caregiving self-efficacy. Subjects and methods: In a single-blinded randomized controlled trial, 38 family caregivers of PWD were randomly allocated into an intervention group or a control group. The intervention group received psychoeducation from a registered social worker over the phone for 12 sessions. Caregivers in the control group were given a DVD containing educational information about dementia caregiving. Outcomes of the intervention were measured by the Chinese versions of the Zarit Burden Interview and the Revised Scale for Caregiving Self-efficacy. Mann–Whitney U tests were used to compare the differences between the intervention and control groups. Results: The level of burden of caregivers in the intervention group reduced significantly compared with caregivers in the control group. Caregivers in the intervention group also reported significantly more gain in self-efficacy in obtaining respite than the control group. Conclusion: A structured telephone intervention can benefit dementia caregivers in terms of self-efficacy and caregiving burden. The limitations of the research and recommendations for intervention are discussed. Keywords: telephone intervention, psychoeducation, dementia caregivers

  20. Nurse telephone triage in out-of-hours GP practice: determinants of independent advice and return consultation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Klazinga Niek S

    2006-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Nowadays, nurses play a central role in telephone triage in Dutch out-of-hours primary care. The percentage of calls that is handled through nurse telephone advice alone (NTAA appears to vary substantially between GP cooperatives. This study aims to explore which determinants are associated with NTAA and with subsequent return consultations to the GP. Methods For the ten most frequently presented problems, a two-week follow-up cohort study took place in one cooperative run by 25 GPs and 8 nurses, serving a population of 62,291 people. Random effects logistic regression analysis was used to study the determinants of NTAA and return consultation rates. The effect of NTAA on hospital referral rates was also studied as a proxy for severity of illness. Results The mean NTAA rate was 27.5% – ranging from 15.5% to 39.4% for the eight nurses. It was higher during the night (RR 1.63, CI 1.48–1.76 and lower with increasing age (RR 0.96, CI 0.93–0.99, per ten years or when the patient presented >2 problems (RR 0.65; CI 0.51–0.83. Using cough as reference category, NTAA was highest for earache (RR 1.49; CI 1.18–1.78 and lowest for chest pain (RR 0.18; CI 0.06–0.47. After correction for differences in case mix, significant variation in NTAA between nurses remained (p Conclusion Important inter-nurse variability may indicate differences in perception on tasks and/or differences in skill to handle telephone calls alone. Future research should focus more on modifiable determinants of NTAA rates.

  1. Three Mile Island telephone survey: preliminary report on procedures and findings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Flynn, C.B.

    1979-10-01

    This report describes the methodology used in, and the results of, a telephone survey conducted in the vicinity of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. The survey is part of a study of the socioeconomic impacts of nuclear power plant construction and operation at Three Mile Island, and eleven other nuclear power plant sites. The survey covers the areas of evacuation behavior, information processing, short-term accident effects, continuing effects of the accident, and respondent's evaluation of TMI and nuclear power in general. Approximately 1500 households in the vicinity of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant participated in the survey, which was conducted in July and August 1979

  2. Telephone versus internet administration of self-report measures of social anxiety, depressive symptoms, and insomnia: psychometric evaluation of a method to reduce the impact of missing data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hedman, Erik; Ljótsson, Brjánn; Blom, Kerstin; El Alaoui, Samir; Kraepelien, Martin; Rück, Christian; Andersson, Gerhard; Svanborg, Cecilia; Lindefors, Nils; Kaldo, Viktor

    2013-10-18

    Internet-administered self-report measures of social anxiety, depressive symptoms, and sleep difficulties are widely used in clinical trials and in clinical routine care, but data loss is a common problem that could render skewed estimates of symptom levels and treatment effects. One way of reducing the negative impact of missing data could be to use telephone administration of self-report measures as a means to complete the data missing from the online data collection. The aim of the study was to compare the convergence of telephone and Internet administration of self-report measures of social anxiety, depressive symptoms, and sleep difficulties. The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale-Self-Report (LSAS-SR), Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale-Self-Rated (MADRS-S), and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) were administered over the telephone and via the Internet to a clinical sample (N=82) of psychiatric patients at a clinic specializing in Internet-delivered treatment. Shortened versions of the LSAS-SR and the ISI were used when administered via telephone. As predicted, the results showed that the estimates produced by the two administration formats were highly correlated (r=.82-.91; PInternet: Cronbach alpha=.79-.93). The correlation coefficients were similar across questionnaires and the shorter versions of the questionnaires used in the telephone administration of the LSAS-SR and ISI performed in general equally well compared to when the full scale was used, as was the case with the MADRS-S. Telephone administration of self-report questionnaires is a valid method that can be used to reduce data loss in routine psychiatric practice as well as in clinical trials, thereby contributing to more accurate symptom estimates.

  3. Patients' general satisfaction with telephone counseling by pharmacists and effects on satisfaction with information and beliefs about medicines: Results from a cluster randomized trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kooy, Marcel Jan; Van Geffen, Erica C G; Heerdink, Eibert R; Van Dijk, Liset; Bouvy, Marcel L

    2015-06-01

    Assess effects of pharmacists' counseling by telephone on patients' satisfaction with counseling, satisfaction with information and beliefs about medicines for newly prescribed medicines. A cluster randomized trial in Dutch community pharmacies. Patients ≥18 years were included when starting with antidepressants, bisphosphonates, RAS-inhibitors or statins. The intervention comprised counseling by telephone to address barriers to adherent behavior. It was supported by an interview protocol. Controls received usual care. Outcomes were effects on beliefs about medication, satisfaction with information and counseling. Data was collected with a questionnaire. Responses of 211 patients in nine pharmacies were analyzed. More intervention arm patients were satisfied with counseling (adj. OR 2.2 (95% CI 1.3, 3.6)). Patients with counseling were significantly more satisfied with information on 4 items, had less concerns and less frequently had a 'skeptical' attitude towards medication (adj. OR 0.5 (0.3-0.9)). Effects on most outcomes were more pronounced in men than in women. Telephone counseling by pharmacists improved satisfaction with counseling and satisfaction with information on some items. It had a small effect on beliefs about medicines. Pharmacists can use counseling by telephone, but more research is needed to find out which patients benefit most. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Mums 4 Mums: structured telephone peer-support for women experiencing postnatal depression. Pilot and exploratory RCT of its clinical and cost effectiveness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    McKenzie-McHarg Kirstie

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Postnatal depression (PND can be experienced by 13% of women who give birth, and such women often exhibit disabling symptoms, which can have a negative effect on the mother and infant relationship, with significant consequences in terms of the child's later capacity for affect regulation. Research has shown that providing support to mothers experiencing PND can help reduce their depressive symptoms and improve their coping strategies. The Mums4Mums study aims to evaluate the impact of telephone peer-support for women experiencing PND. Methods/Design The study design adopts the MRC framework for the development and evaluation of complex interventions. Health visitors in Warwickshire and Coventry Primary Care Trusts are screening potential participants at the 8-week postnatal check using either the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS > = 10 or the three Whooley questions recommended by NICE (http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG45. The Mums4Mums telephone support intervention is being delivered by trained peer-supporters over a period of four months. The primary outcome is depressive symptomatology as measured by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Secondary outcomes include mother-child interaction, dyadic adjustment, parenting sense of competence scale, and self-efficacy. Maternal perceptions of the telephone peer-support are being assessed using semi-structured interviews following the completion of the intervention. Discussion The proposed study will develop current innovative work in peer-led support interventions and telecare by applying existing expertise to a new domain (i.e. PND, testing the feasibility of a peer-led telephone intervention for mothers living with PND, and developing the relationship between the lay and clinical communities. The intervention will potentially benefit a significant number of patients and support a future application for a larger study to undertake a full evaluation of the clinical

  5. Comparison of secure messaging application (WhatsApp) and standard telephone usage for consultations on Length of Stay in the ED. A prospective randomized controlled study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gulacti, Umut; Lok, Ugur

    2017-07-19

    Consultation, the process of an Emergency Physician seeking an opinion from other specialties, occurs frequently in the Emergency Department (ED). The aim of this study was to determine the effect of secure messaging application (WhatsApp) usage for medical consultations on Emergency Department Length of Stay (ED LOS) and consult time. We conducted a prospective, randomized controlled trial in the ED using allocation concealment over three months. Consultations requested in the ED were allocated into two groups: consultations requested via the secure messaging application and consultations requested by telephone as verbal. A total of 439 consultations requested in the ED were assessed for eligibility and 345 were included in the final analysis: 173 consultations were conducted using secure messaging application and 172 consultations were conducted using standard telephone communications. The median ED LOS was 240 minutes (IQR:230-270, 95% CI:240 to 255.2) for patients in the secure messaging application group and 277 minutes (IQR:270-287.8, 95% CI:277 to 279) for patients in the telephone group. The median total ED LOS was significantly lower among consults conducted using Secure messaging application relative to consults conducted by telephone (median dif: -30, 95%CI:-37to-25, p<0.0001). The median consult time was 158 minutes (IQR:133 to 177.25, 95% CI:150 to 169) for patients in the Secure messaging application group and 170 minutes (IQR:165 to 188.5, 95% CI:170-171) for patients in the Telephone group (median dif: -12, 95%CI:-19 to-7,p<0.0001). Consultations completed without ED arrival was 61.8% in the secure messaging group and 33.1% in the Telephone group (dif: 28.7, 95% CI:48.3 to 66, p<0.001). Use of secure messaging application for consultations in the ED reduces the total ED LOS and consultation time. Consultation with secure messaging application eliminated more than half of in-person ED consultation visits.

  6. Episodic memory impairment in Addison's disease: results from a telephonic cognitive assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henry, Michelle; Thomas, Kevin G F; Ross, Ian L

    2014-06-01

    Patients with Addison's disease frequently self-report memory and attention difficulties, even when on standard replacement therapy. However, few published studies examine, using objective measures and assessing across multiple domains, the cognitive functioning of Addison's disease patients relative to healthy controls. The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether the previously reported subjective cognitive deficits in Addison's disease are confirmed by objective measures. Conducting comprehensive neuropsychological assessments of patients with relatively rare clinical disorders, such as Addison's disease, is challenging because access to those patients is often limited, and because their medical condition might prevent extended testing sessions. Brief telephonic cognitive assessments are a useful tool in such circumstances. Hence, we administered the Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone to 27 Addison's disease patients and 27 matched healthy controls. The instrument provides objective assessment of episodic memory, working memory, executive functioning, reasoning, and speed of processing. Statistical analyses confirmed that, as expected, patients performed significantly more poorly than controls on the episodic memory subtest. There were, however, no significant between-group differences on the attention, executive functioning, reasoning, and speed of processing subtests. Furthermore, patients with a longer duration of illness performed more poorly across all domains of cognition. We conclude that, for Addison's disease patients, previously reported subjective cognitive deficits are matched by objective impairment, but only in the domain of episodic memory. Future research might investigate (a) whether these memory deficits are material-specific (i.e., whether non-verbal memory is also affected), and (b) the neurobiological mechanisms underlying these deficits.

  7. The cost-effectiveness of hospital-based telephone coaching for people with type 2 diabetes: a 10 year modelling analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varney, J E; Liew, D; Weiland, T J; Inder, W J; Jelinek, G A

    2016-09-27

    Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is a burdensome condition for individuals to live with and an increasingly costly condition for health services to treat. Cost-effective treatment strategies are required to delay the onset and slow the progression of diabetes related complications. The Diabetes Telephone Coaching Study (DTCS) demonstrated that telephone coaching is an intervention that may improve the risk factor status and diabetes management practices of people with T2DM. Measuring the cost effectiveness of this intervention is important to inform funding decisions that may facilitate the translation of this research into clinical practice. The purpose of this study is to assess the cost-effectiveness of telephone coaching, compared to usual diabetes care, in participants with poorly controlled T2DM. A cost utility analysis was undertaken using the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) Outcomes Model to extrapolate outcomes collected at 6 months in the DTCS over a 10 year time horizon. The intervention's impact on life expectancy, quality-adjusted life expectancy (QALE) and costs was estimated. Costs were reported from a health system perspective. A 5 % discount rate was applied to all future costs and effects. One-way sensitivity analyses were conducted to reflect uncertainty surrounding key input parameters. The intervention dominated the control condition in the base-case analysis, contributing to cost savings of $3327 per participant, along with non-significant improvements in QALE (0.2 QALE) and life expectancy (0.3 years). The cost of delivering the telephone coaching intervention continuously, for 10 years, was fully recovered through cost savings and a trend towards net health benefits. Findings of cost savings and net health benefits are rare and should prove attractive to decision makers who will determine whether this intervention is implemented into clinical practice. ACTRN12609000075280.

  8. Computer and telephone delivered interventions to support caregivers of people with dementia: a systematic review of research output and quality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amy Waller

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background To assess the scope, volume and quality of research on the acceptability, utilisation and effectiveness of telephone- and computer-delivered interventions for caregivers of people living with dementia. Methods Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL and Cochrane databases were searched (Jan 1990 – Dec 2016. Eligible papers were classified as data-based descriptive, measurement or intervention studies. Intervention studies were first categorised according to mode of delivery (e.g. telephone, computer; then assessed against the Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC methodological criteria for research design. Impact on health-related outcomes; and the acceptability, feasibility and utilisation of interventions were also assessed. Results The number of publications increased by 13% each year (p < 0.001. Half were descriptive studies (n = 92, 50% describing caregiver views on acceptability, access or utilization of technology. The remainder (n = 89, 48% reported on interventions designed to improve caregiver outcomes. Only 34 met EPOC design criteria. Interventions were delivered via computer (n = 10, multiple modalities (n = 9 or telephone (n = 15. Interventions that incorporated various elements of psycho-education, peer support, skills training and health assessments led to improvements in caregiver wellbeing. While largely acceptable, utilisation of computer-based interventions was variable, with use often decreasing over time. Conclusion Interventions delivered via telephone and computer have the potential to augment existing dementia care. High-quality trials are required to make clear recommendations about the types of interventions that are most effective. Those that provide caregivers with: access to practical strategies to manage care of the person with dementia and their own wellbeing, advice and support from peers and/or clinicians; and that target the dyad should be explored.

  9. A method for assessing fidelity of delivery of telephone behavioral support for smoking cessation

    OpenAIRE

    Lorencatto, F.; West, R.; Bruguera, C.; Michie, S.

    2014-01-01

    Objectives: Behavioral support for smoking cessation is delivered through different modalities, often guided by treatment manuals. Recently developed methods for assessing fidelity of delivery have shown that face-to-face behavioral support is often not delivered as specified in the service treatment manual. This study aimed to extend this method to evaluate fidelity of telephone-delivered behavioral support. \\ud \\ud Method: A treatment manual and transcripts of 75 audio-recorded behavioral s...

  10. The relative efficacy of telephone and email reminders to elicit blood donation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Germain, M; Godin, G

    2016-04-01

    The aim of the study was to test the relative efficacy of telephone and email reminders to trigger blood donation. A sample of 3454 donors was randomized to one of three conditions: phone only (n = 1176), email only (n = 1091) and phone + email (n = 1187). There was a higher proportion of donors who registered to give blood in the phone + email condition (18·45%) compared to the other two conditions (phone: 15·73%, P email: 13·20%; P email conditions did not differ significantly (P = 0·16), suggesting equivalent efficacy. © 2015 International Society of Blood Transfusion.

  11. The acceptability to patients of PhysioDirect telephone assessment and advice services; a qualitative interview study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pearson, Jennifer; Richardson, Jane; Calnan, Michael; Salisbury, Chris; Foster, Nadine E

    2016-03-28

    In response to long waiting lists and problems with access to primary care physiotherapy, several Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) (now Clinical Commissioning Groups CCGs) developed physiotherapy-led telephone assessment and treatment services. The Medical Research Council (MRC) funded PhysioDirect trial was a randomised control trial (RCT) in four PCTs, with a total of 2252 patients that compared this approach with usual physiotherapy care. This nested qualitative study aimed to explore the acceptability of the PhysioDirect telephone assessment and advice service to patients with musculoskeletal conditions. We conducted 57 semi-structured interviews with adults from 4 PCTs who were referred from general practice to physiotherapy with musculoskeletal conditions and were participating in the PhysioDirect trial. The Framework method was used to analyse the qualitative data. The PhysioDirect service was largely viewed as acceptable although some saw it as a first step to subsequent face-to-face physiotherapy. Most participants found accessing the PhysioDirect service straightforward and smooth, and they valued the faster access to physiotherapy advice offered by the telephone service. Participants generally viewed both the PhysioDirect service and the physiotherapists providing the service as helpful. Participants' preferences and priorities for treatment defined the acceptable features of PhysioDirect but the acceptable features were traded off against less acceptable features. Some participants felt that the PhysioDirect service was impersonal and impaired the development of a good relationship with their physiotherapist, which made the service feel remote and less valuable. The PhysioDirect service was broadly acceptable to participants since it provided faster access to physiotherapy advice for their musculoskeletal conditions. Participants felt that it is best placed as one method of accessing physiotherapy services, in addition to, rather than as a replacement for

  12. Personal health monitoring - exploiting the power of the personal telephone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hannan, Amir

    2015-11-01

    Many health issues that we currently face are related to our lifestyle choices. Educating patients can help them to make better informed health decisions. The internet and smartphones, mobile telephones that perform many of the functions of a computer, are becoming more accessible to the majority of the population. Applications on smartphones and professional health websites can signpost patients to trusted information and allow them to co-produce records. Empowering patients, staff and organizations through enabling access to records and understanding, building a partnership trust and the use of social media can enable people to do more and hopefully improve outcomes. In this article, I describe the steps we have taken to facilitate such interactions within our own primary care practice and the response of patients to these initiatives. © The Author(s) 2015.

  13. Preliminary evaluation of a telephone-based smoking cessation intervention in the lung cancer screening setting: A randomized clinical trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Kathryn L; Hagerman, Charlotte J; Luta, George; Bellini, Paula G; Stanton, Cassandra; Abrams, David B; Kramer, Jenna A; Anderson, Eric; Regis, Shawn; McKee, Andrea; McKee, Brady; Niaura, Ray; Harper, Harry; Ramsaier, Michael

    2017-06-01

    Incorporating effective smoking cessation interventions into lung cancer screening (LCS) programs will be essential to realizing the full benefit of screening. We conducted a pilot randomized trial to determine the feasibility and efficacy of a telephone-counseling (TC) smoking cessation intervention vs. usual care (UC) in the LCS setting. In collaboration with 3 geographically diverse LCS programs, we enrolled current smokers (61.5% participation rate) who were: registered to undergo LCS, 50-77 years old, and had a 20+ pack-year smoking history. Eligibility was not based on readiness to quit. Participants completed pre-LCS (T0) and post-LCS (T1) telephone assessments, were randomized to TC (N=46) vs. UC (N=46), and completed a final 3-month telephone assessment (T2). Both study arms received a list of evidence-based cessation resources. TC participants also received up to 6 brief counseling calls with a trained cessation counselor. Counseling calls incorporated motivational interviewing and utilized the screening result as a motivator for quitting. The outcome was biochemically verified 7-day point prevalence cessation at 3-months post-randomization. Participants (56.5% female) were 60.2 (SD=5.4) years old and reported 47.1 (SD=22.2) pack years; 30% were ready to stop smoking in the next 30 days. TC participants completed an average of 4.4 (SD=2.3) sessions. Using intent-to-treat analyses, biochemically verified quit rates were 17.4% (TC) vs. 4.3% (UC), p<.05. This study provides preliminary evidence that telephone-based cessation counseling is feasible and efficacious in the LCS setting. As millions of current smokers are now eligible for lung cancer screening, this setting represents an important opportunity to exert a large public health impact on cessation among smokers who are at very high risk for multiple tobacco-related diseases. If this evidence-based, brief, and scalable intervention is replicated, TC could help to improve the overall cost

  14. Direct and Mediated Relationships Between Participation in a Telephonic Health Coaching Program and Health Behavior, Life Satisfaction, and Optimism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sears, Lindsay E; Coberley, Carter R; Pope, James E

    2016-07-01

    The aim of this study was to examine the direct and mediated effects of a telephonic health coaching program on changes to healthy behaviors, life satisfaction, and optimism. This longitudinal correlational study of 4881 individuals investigated simple and mediated relationships between participation in a telephonic health risk coaching program and outcomes from three annual Well-being Assessments. Program participation was directly related to improvements in healthy behaviors, life satisfaction and optimism, and indirect effects of coaching on these variables concurrently and over a one-year time lag were also supported. Given previous research that improvements to life satisfaction, optimism, and health behaviors are valuable for individuals, employers, and communities, a clearer understanding of intervention approaches that may impact these outcomes simultaneously can drive greater program effectiveness and value on investment.

  15. Nurse-initiated telephone follow-up on patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease improves patient empowerment, but cannot prevent readmissions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lavesen, Marie; Ladelund, Steen; Frederiksen, Addie J

    2016-01-01

    INTRODUCTION: Readmissions reduce quality of life and increase mortality. Furthermore, disease severity and shortened length of stay make it difficult to support disease management during admission. The aim of this study was to explore whether telephone follow-up after discharge may reduce...... readmission rates, lower mortality and improve disease management in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). METHODS: This was a randomised controlled trial (n = 224) with nurse-initiated telephone intervention after discharge. On day 30, questionnaires about health status and perceptions...... of disease management were completed. Readmission and death were recorded on days 30 and 84. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in readmission rates, but significant differences in patients' assessment of own perception of managing dyspnoea, lung symptoms, ability to react to signs of exacerbation...

  16. Nurse-initiated telephone follow-up on patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease improves patient empowerment, but cannot prevent readmissions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Karlsson, Marie Lavesen; Ladelund, Steen; Frederiksen, Addie Just

    2016-01-01

    Introduction: Readmissions reduce quality of life and increase mortality. Furthermore, disease severity and shortened length of stay make it difficult to support disease management during admission. The aim of this study was to explore whether telephone follow-up after discharge may reduce...... readmission rates, lower mortality and improve disease management in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). 
Methods: This was a randomised controlled trial (n = 224) with nurse-initiated telephone intervention after discharge. On day 30, questionnaires about health status and perceptions...... of disease management were completed. Readmission and death were recorded on days 30 and 84. Results: There was no significant difference in readmission rates, but significant differences in patients’ assessment of own perception of managing dyspnoea, lung symptoms, ability to react to signs of exacerbation...

  17. Telephone versus face-to-face administration of the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, for diagnosis of psychotic disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hajebi, Ahmad; Motevalian, Abbas; Amin-Esmaeili, Masoumeh; Hefazi, Mitra; Radgoodarzi, Reza; Rahimi-Movaghar, Afarin; Sharifi, Vandad

    2012-07-01

    The current study aims to compare telephone vs face-to-face administration of the version of Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, (SCID) for diagnosis of "any psychotic disorder" in a clinical population in Iran. The sample consisted of 72 subjects from 2 psychiatric outpatient services in Tehran, Iran. The subjects were interviewed using face-to-face SCID for the purpose of diagnosing psychotic disorders. A second independent telephone SCID was administered to the entire sample within 5 to 10 days, and the lifetime and 12-month diagnoses were compared. The positive likelihood ratio of telephone-administered SCID for diagnosis of "any lifetime psychotic disorder" was 5.1 when compared with the face-to-face SCID. The value for the primary psychotic disorders in the past 12 months was lower (2.3). The data indicate that telephone administration of the SCID is an acceptable method to differentiate between subjects with lifetime psychotic disorders and those who have had no psychotic disorders and provides a less resource-demanding alternative to face-to-face assessments. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Is age a factor in the success or failure of remote monitoring in heart failure? Telemonitoring and structured telephone support in elderly heart failure patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inglis, Sally C; Conway, Aaron; Cleland, John Gf; Clark, Robyn A

    2015-06-01

    There are few data regarding the effectiveness of remote monitoring for older people with heart failure. We conducted a post-hoc sub-analysis of a previously published large Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis of relevant randomized controlled trials to determine whether structured telephone support and telemonitoring were effective in this population. A post hoc sub-analysis of a systematic review and meta-analysis that applied the Cochrane methodology was conducted. Meta-analyses of all-cause mortality, all-cause hospitalizations and heart failure-related hospitalizations were performed for studies where the mean or median age of participants was 70 or more years. The mean or median age of participants was 70 or more years in eight of the 16 (n=2659/5613; 47%) structured telephone support studies and four of the 11 (n=894/2710; 33%) telemonitoring studies. Structured telephone support (RR 0.80; 95% CI=0.63-1.00) and telemonitoring (RR 0.56; 95% CI=0.41-0.76) interventions reduced mortality. Structured telephone support interventions reduced heart failure-related hospitalizations (RR 0.81; 95% CI=0.67-0.99). Despite a systematic bias towards recruitment of individuals younger than the epidemiological average into the randomized controlled trials, older people with heart failure did benefit from structured telephone support and telemonitoring. These post-hoc sub-analysis results were similar to overall effects observed in the main meta-analysis. While further research is required to confirm these observational findings, the evidence at hand indicates that discrimination by age alone may be not be appropriate when inviting participation in a remote monitoring service for heart failure. © The European Society of Cardiology 2014.

  19. A Trial of Telephone Support Services to Prevent Further Intimate Partner Violence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevens, Jack; Scribano, Philip V; Marshall, Jessica; Nadkarni, Radha; Hayes, John; Kelleher, Kelly J

    2015-12-01

    We conducted a randomized-controlled trial of telephone support services (TSS) versus enhanced usual care (EUC) for women who had reported intimate partner violence (IPV) within the past year during a visit to a pediatric emergency department. TSS nurse interventionists identified appropriate referrals to community programs, helped participants by problem-solving barriers to obtaining these local services, and provided social support. Three hundred women, ages 18 years and above were recruited. The TSS and EUC groups did not differ on any outcome variable, including IPV victimization, feelings of chronic vulnerability to a perpetrator, depressive symptoms, and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. © The Author(s) 2015.

  20. Brain cancer incidence trends in relation to cellular telephone use in the United States

    OpenAIRE

    Inskip, Peter D.; Hoover, Robert N.; Devesa, Susan S.

    2010-01-01

    The use of cellular telephones has grown explosively during the past two decades, and there are now more than 279 million wireless subscribers in the United States. If cellular phone use causes brain cancer, as some suggest, the potential public health implications could be considerable. One might expect the effects of such a prevalent exposure to be reflected in general population incidence rates, unless the induction period is very long or confined to very long-term users. To address this i...

  1. Understanding reasons for asthma outpatient (non)‐attendance and exploring the role of telephone and e‐consulting in facilitating access to care: exploratory qualitative study

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Baar, J D; Joosten, H; Car, J; Freeman, G K; Partridge, M R; van Weel, C; Sheikh, A

    2006-01-01

    Objective To understand factors influencing patients' decisions to attend for outpatient follow up consultations for asthma and to explore patients' attitudes to telephone and email consultations in facilitating access to asthma care. Design Exploratory qualitative study using in depth interviews. Setting Hospital outpatient clinic in West London. Participants Nineteen patients with moderate to severe asthma (12 “attenders” and 7 “non‐attenders”). Results Patients' main reasons for attending were the wish to improve control over asthma symptoms and a concern not to jeopardise the valued relationship with their doctor. Memory lapses, poor health, and disillusionment with the structure of outpatient care were important factors implicated in non‐attendance. The patients were generally sceptical about the suggestion that greater opportunity for telephone consulting might improve access to care. They expressed concerns about the difficulties in effectively communicating through non‐face to face media and were worried that clinicians would not be in a position to perform an adequate physical examination over the telephone. Email and text messaging were viewed as potentially useful for sending appointment reminders and sharing clinical information but were not considered to be acceptable alternatives to the face to face clinic encounter. Conclusions Memory lapses, impaired mobility due to poor health, and frustration with outpatient clinic organisation resulting in long waiting times and discontinuity of care are factors that deter patients from attending for hospital asthma assessments. The idea of telephone review assessments was viewed with scepticism by most study subjects. Particular attention should be given to explaining to patients the benefits of telephone consultations, and to seeking their views as to whether they would like to try them out before replacing face to face consultations with them. Email and text messaging may have a role in issuing

  2. Comparison of telephone with World Wide Web-based responses by parents and teens to a follow-up survey after injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rivara, Frederick P; Koepsell, Thomas D; Wang, Jin; Durbin, Dennis; Jaffe, Kenneth M; Vavilala, Monica; Dorsch, Andrea; Roper-Caldbeck, Maria; Houseknecht, Eileen; Temkin, Nancy

    2011-06-01

    To identify sociodemographic factors associated with completing a follow-up survey about health status on the web versus by telephone, and to examine differences in reported health-related quality of life by method of response. Survey about child health status of 896 parents of children aged 0-17 years treated in a hospital emergency department or admitted for a traumatic brain injury or arm injury, and 227 injured adolescents aged 14-17 years. The main outcomes were characteristics of those who completed a follow-up survey on the web versus by telephone and health-related quality of life by method of response. Email addresses were provided by 76.9 percent of parents and 56.5 percent of adolescents at baseline. The survey was completed on the web by 64.9 percent of parents and 40.2 percent of adolescents through email. Parents with email access who were Blacks, Hispanics, had lower incomes, and those who were not working were less likely to choose the web mode for completing the survey. Unlike adolescents, the amount of time for parents to complete the survey online was significantly shorter than completion by telephone. Differences by survey mode were small but statistically significant in some of the six functional outcome measures examined. Survey mode was associated with several sociodemographic characteristics. Sole use of web surveys could provide biased data. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

  3. Telephone Coaching to Enhance a Home-Based Physical Activity Program for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bennell, Kim L; Campbell, Penny K; Egerton, Thorlene; Metcalf, Ben; Kasza, Jessica; Forbes, Andrew; Bills, Caroline; Gale, Janette; Harris, Anthony; Kolt, Gregory S; Bunker, Stephen J; Hunter, David J; Brand, Caroline A; Hinman, Rana S

    2017-01-01

    To investigate whether simultaneous telephone coaching improves the clinical effectiveness of a physiotherapist-prescribed home-based physical activity program for knee osteoarthritis (OA). A total of 168 inactive adults ages ≥50 years with knee pain on a numeric rating scale ≥4 (NRS; range 0-10) and knee OA were recruited from the community and randomly assigned to a physiotherapy (PT) and coaching group (n = 84) or PT-only (n = 84) group. All participants received five 30-minute consultations with a physiotherapist over 6 months for education, home exercise, and physical activity advice. PT+coaching participants also received 6-12 telephone coaching sessions by clinicians trained in behavioral-change support for exercise and physical activity. Primary outcomes were pain (NRS) and physical function (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index [WOMAC; score range 0-68]) at 6 months. Secondary outcomes were these same measures at 12 and 18 months, as well as physical activity, exercise adherence, other pain and function measures, and quality of life. Analyses were intent-to-treat with multiple imputation for missing data. A total of 142 (85%), 136 (81%), and 128 (76%) participants completed 6-, 12-, and 18-month measurements, respectively. The change in NRS pain (mean difference 0.4 unit [95% confidence interval (95% CI) -0.4, 1.3]) and in WOMAC function (1.8 [95% CI -1.9, 5.5]) did not differ between groups at 6 months, with both groups showing clinically relevant improvements. Some secondary outcomes related to physical activity and exercise behavior favored PT+coaching at 6 months but generally not at 12 or 18 months. There were no between-group differences in most other outcomes. The addition of simultaneous telephone coaching did not augment the pain and function benefits of a physiotherapist-prescribed home-based physical activity program. © 2016, American College of Rheumatology.

  4. Is it too early to move to full electronic PROM data collection?: A randomized controlled trial comparing PROM's after hallux valgus captured by e-mail, traditional mail and telephone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palmen, Leonieke N; Schrier, Joost C M; Scholten, Ruben; Jansen, Justus H W; Koëter, Sander

    2016-03-01

    Patient reported outcome measures (PROM's) after hallux valgus surgery are used to rate the effectiveness as perceived by the patient. The interpretability of these PROM's is highly dependent on participation rate. Data capture method may be an important factor contributing to the response rate. We investigated the effect on response rate of traditional paper mail, telephone and e-mail PROM's after hallux valgus surgery. All consecutive patients operated between January and September 2013, were identified. Included patients were randomized by envelope in three groups: traditional pen and paper mail, e-mail and telephone. They were asked to fill in a FFI and EQ-5D. Two weeks later non-responders were sent a reminder. Of the 73 included patients, 25 were approached by mail, 24 by e-mail and 24 patients by telephone. The response rate on traditional mail was highest (88%), while response on e-mail was lowest (33%). Response rate on telephone was also high (79%). Response rate on traditional mail and telephone was significantly higher (pmail. Though electronic data collection has enormous potential, this study shows that e-mail yields unacceptable low response rates. It is too early to replace traditional pen-and-paper PROM's by electronic questionnaires. Copyright © 2015 European Foot and Ankle Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Effects of a health education and telephone counseling program on patients with a positive fecal occult blood test result for colorectal cancer screening: A randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiu, Hui-Chuan; Hung, Hsin-Yuan; Lin, Hsiu-Chen; Chen, Shu-Ching

    2017-10-01

    Our purpose was to evaluate the effects of a health education and telephone counseling program on knowledge and attitudes about colorectal cancer and screening and the psychological impact of positive screening results. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 2 groups using a pretest and posttest measures design. Patients with positive colorectal cancer screening results were selected and randomly assigned to an experimental (n = 51) or control (n = 51) group. Subjects in the experimental group received a health education and telephone counseling program, while the control group received routine care only. Patients were assessed pretest before intervention (first visit to the outpatient) and posttest at 4 weeks after intervention (4 weeks after first visit to the outpatient). Patients in the experimental group had a significantly better level of knowledge about colorectal cancer and the psychological impact of a positive screening result than did the control group. Analysis of covariance revealed that the health education and telephone counseling program had a significant main effect on colorectal cancer knowledge. A health education and telephone counseling program can improve knowledge about colorectal cancer and about the psychological impact in patients with positive colorectal cancer screening results. The health education and telephone counseling program is an easy, simple, and convenient method of improving knowledge, improving attitudes, and alleviating psychological distress in patients with positive colorectal cancer screening results, and this program can be expanded to other types of cancer screening. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  6. Video conferencing versus telephone calls for team work across hospitals: a qualitative study on simulated emergencies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hagen Oddvar

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Teamwork is important for patient care and outcome in emergencies. In rural areas, efficient communication between rural hospitals and regional trauma centers optimise decisions and treatment of trauma patients. Little is known on potentials and effects of virtual team to team cooperation between rural and regional trauma teams. Methods We adapted a video conferencing (VC system to the work process between multidisciplinary teams responsible for trauma as well as medical emergencies between one rural and one regional (university hospital. We studied how the teams cooperated during simulated critical scenarios, and compared VC with standard telephone communication. We used qualitative observations and interviews to evaluate results. Results The team members found VC to be a useful tool during emergencies and for building "virtual emergency teams" across distant hospitals. Visual communication combined with visual patient information is superior to information gained during ordinary telephone calls, but VC may also cause interruptions in the local teamwork. Conclusion VC can improve clinical cooperation and decision processes in virtual teams during critical patient care. Such team interaction requires thoughtful organisation, training, and new rules for communication.

  7. Radiations FR of telephone antennas and Public health: the state of the art

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ubeda Maeso, A.; Trillo Ruiz, M. A.

    1999-01-01

    Today, mobile telephone is envisioned as one of the most significant innovations in communication. The growing development of this system asks for increasing amounts of antennas, installed in base transceiver stations (BTS) connection mobile stations (MS, hand held phones) to each other and to the conventional telephone network. Depending on the area, antennas are generally mounted in BTS located either on the top of buildings (in urban areas) or in towers (in rural or less populated areas). In both of the cases, the visual impact of BTS is significant for people living or working close to them. This visual evidence, together with some information, usually inconsistent or incomplete, released in media other than the scientific literature, have generated increasing feelings of phobia to alleged detrimental consequences of the uncontrolled exposure to radio waves emitted by the antennas. Such feelings, identified previously in countries where mobile telephony has been used for years in a regular basis, are now significantly growing in Spain and motivate many of the questions asked to information services of public agencies and institutions. The aim of the present article is to address some of the most frequently asked questions on the topic and to review the state of the art of our knowledge on the putative effects of the exposure to the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the aerials. Also, elementary notions are provided on the functioning of mobile telephony that may help the reader to better understand some technical aspects concerning the topic. (Author) 54 refs

  8. "I didn't write the questions!" - Negotiating telephone-survey questions on birth timing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marian May

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines interviewer-respondent interaction in the collection of demographic data. Conversation analysis (CA makes transparent the interaction between an interviewer and 25 respondents on a question about pregnancy and birth timing in an Australian telephone survey, Negotiating the Life Course. The analysis focuses on the troubles that occur and the work interviewers do to fit respondents' answers to the survey researcher's categories. Interviewers are shown to act as mediators in difficult interaction, with responses often distorted by question format, the imperative of achieving an allowed response, and the need to keep the respondent in the survey.

  9. Perceptions and status of Michigan as a heritage tourism state: results of an eleven-month telephone survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gail A. Vander Stoep

    1998-01-01

    Cultural and heritage tourism have gained increasing attention as a type of tourism in recent years. Through a telephone survey of Midwest residents (six states and one Canadian province), respondents were asked about their image of Michigan as a destination for heritage and cultural tourism experiences, about their visits to museums, halls of fame, historic and other...

  10. Influenza like illness monitoring in adults of the State Capitals and Federal District in Brazil by telephone survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reis, Priscilleyne Ouverney; Iser, Betine Pinto Moehlecke; Souza, Líbia Roberta de Oliveira; Yokota, Renata Tiene de Carvalho; de Almeida, Walquiria Aparecida Ferreira; Bernal, Regina Tomie Ivata; Malta, Deborah Carvalho; de Oliveira, Wanderson Kleber; Penna, Gerson Oliveira

    2011-09-01

    In order to estimate the prevalence of influenza like illness (ILI) in adults from all state capitals and geographic regions in Brazil, a periodical monitoring of ILI cases by the national telephone survey (VIGITEL) was carried out in 2010. A cross-sectional study with 47,876 telephone interviews in the state capitals and Federal District, a probabilistic sample of adult population (>18 years-old) with landline telephone. Questions concerning the results of ILI cases and pandemic influenza (H1N1) 2009, from January 10 to November 30, were analyzed. The proportion of cases stratified by sociodemographic characteristics and Brazilian geographic region was weighted with data from the National Survey with Household Sampling (PNAD) 2008. The prevalence of ILI cases in the last 30 days before interview was 31.2% (95%CI 30.2-32.2%) for all state capitals and the Federal District. This prevalence was higher among women, young adults (18 to 29 years-old) and individuals with 9 to 11 years of schooling. According to the geographic region analysis, Northern Brazil presented the highest prevalence of ILI cases. A tendency to increase with further decrease was observed among the geographic regions, except the Northeast. Need for health care assistance was reported by 26.8% (95%CI 25.1-28.5) from ILI cases. Among ILI cases that sought health care assistance, 2.6% (95%CI 1.8-3.4) reported pandemic influenza (H1N1) 2009 medical suspicion. The results of this survey supported influenza surveillance as it provided timeliness and useful surveillance information, which were not captured by the traditional surveillance system, as the occurrence of ILI and need of health care assistance.

  11. Comparison between data obtained through real-time data capture by SMS and a retrospective telephone interview.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johansen, Bendt; Wedderkopp, Niels

    2010-05-26

    The aims of the current study were: a) to quantitatively compare data obtained by Short Message Service (SMS) with data from a telephone interview, b) to investigate whether the respondents had found it acceptable to answer the weekly two SMS questions, c) to explore whether an additional weekly third SMS question would have been acceptable, and d) to calculate the total cost of using the SMS technology. SMS technology was used each week for 53 weeks to monitor 260 patients with low back pain (LBP) in a clinical study. Each week, these patients were asked the same two questions: "How many days in the past week have you had problems due to LBP?" and "How many days in the past week have you been off work due to LBP problems?" The last 31 patients were also contacted by telephone 53 weeks after recruitment and asked to recall the number of days with LBP problems and days off work for the a) past week, b) past month, and c) past year. The two sets of answers to the same questions for these patients were compared. Patients were also asked whether a third SMS question would have been acceptable. The test-retest reliability was compared for 1-week, 1-month, and 1-year. Bland-Altman limits of agreement were calculated. The two quantitative questions were reported as percentages. Actual costs for the SMS-Track-Questionnaire (SMS-T-Q) were compared with estimated costs for paper version surveys. There was high agreement between telephone interview and SMS-T-Q responses for the 1-week and 1-month recall. In contrast, the 1-year recall showed very low agreement. A third SMS question would have been acceptable. The SMS system was considerably less costly than a paper-based survey, beyond a certain threshold number of questionnaires. SMS-T-Q appears to be a cheaper and better method to collect reliable LBP data than paper-based surveys.

  12. The effect of telehealth, telephone support or usual care on quality of life, mortality and healthcare utilization in elderly high-risk patients with multiple chronic conditions. A prospective study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valdivieso, Bernardo; García-Sempere, Anibal; Sanfélix-Gimeno, Gabriel; Faubel, Raquel; Librero, Julian; Soriano, Elisa; Peiró, Salvador

    2018-04-25

    To assess the effect of home based telehealth or structured telephone support interventions with respect to usual care on quality of life, mortality and healthcare utilization in elderly high-risk multiple chronic condition patients. 472 elderly high-risk patients with plurimorbidity in the region of Valencia (Spain) were recruited between June 2012 and May 2013, and followed for 12 months from recruitment. Patients were allocated to either: (a) a structured telephone intervention, a nurse-led case management program with telephone follow up every 15 days; (b) telehealth, which adds technology for remote self-management and the exchange of clinical data; or (c) usual care. Main outcome measures was quality of life measured by the EuroQol (EQ-5D) instrument, cognitive impairment, functional status, mortality and healthcare resource use. Inadequate randomization process led us to used propensity scores for adjusted analyses to control for imbalances between groups at baseline. EQ-5D score was significantly higher in the telehealth group compared to usual care (diff: 0.19, 0.08-0.30), but was not different to telephone support (diff: 0.04, -0.05 to 0.14). In adjusted analyses, inclusion in the telehealth group was associated with an additional 0.18 points in the EQ-5D score compared to usual care at 12 months (p<0.001), and with a gain of 0.13 points for the telephone support group (p<0.001). No differences in mortality or utilization were found, except for a borderline significant increase in General Practitioner visits. Telehealth was associated with better quality of life. Important limitations of the study and similarity of effects to telephone intervention call for careful endorsement of telemedicine. Clinicaltrials.gov (identifier: NCT02447562). Copyright © 2018 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  13. Is a nurse-led telephone intervention a viable alternative to nurse-led home care and standard care for patients receiving oral capecitabine? Results from a large prospective audit in patients with colorectal cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Craven, Olive; Hughes, Carol Anne; Burton, Amy; Saunders, Mark P; Molassiotis, Alex

    2013-05-01

    Home care nursing has been shown to be a valuable service for patients receiving oral chemotherapy; however, associated costs can be high and telephone-based services may be more cost-effective options. This prospective audit explored the usefulness of a nurse-led telephone intervention for supporting cancer patients treated with Capecitabine, comparing historical findings from a randomised trial evaluating a home-based intervention over standard care with a modified nurse-led telephone follow-up intervention. Self-reported toxicity and service use were assessed in 298 patients who received nurse-led telephone follow-up, compared with historical data from 164 patients (81 receiving standard care and 83 home care intervention). Findings suggested that nurse-led telephone follow-up can potentially lead to reduced toxicity (chest pain, vomiting, oral mucositis, nausea, insomnia) when compared with standard care, and that it has a similar impact on the management of some symptoms when compared with home care (i.e. vomiting, oral mucositis), although it was not as effective as the home care intervention for other toxicities (diarrhoea and insomnia). These encouraging findings need to be explored further using a randomised trial design before we reach any conclusions. Further research should also include a health economics study to assess the cost-effectiveness of the telephone-based services for patients receiving oral chemotherapy. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  14. Cost-effectiveness of SHINE: A Telephone Translation of the Diabetes Prevention Program

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher S. Hollenbeak

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background The Support, Health Information, Nutrition, and Exercise (SHINE trial recently showed that a telephone adaptation of the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP lifestyle intervention was effective in reducing weight among patients with metabolic syndrome. The aim of this study is to determine whether a conference call (CC adaptation was cost effective relative to an individual call (IC adaptation of the DPP lifestyle intervention in the primary care setting. Methods We performed a stochastic cost-effectiveness analysis alongside a clinical trial comparing two telephone adaptations of the DPP lifestyle intervention. The primary outcomes were incremental cost-effectiveness ratios estimated for weight loss, body mass index (BMI, waist circumference, and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs. Costs were estimated from the perspective of society and included direct medical costs, indirect costs, and intervention costs. Results After one year, participants receiving the CC intervention accumulated fewer costs ($2,831 vs. $2,933 than the IC group, lost more weight (6.2 kg vs. 5.1 kg, had greater reduction in BMI (2.1 vs. 1.9, and had greater reduction in waist circumference (6.5 cm vs. 5.9 cm. However, participants in the CC group had fewer QALYs than those in the IC group (0.635 vs. 0.646. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for CC vs. IC was $9,250/QALY, with a 48% probability of being cost-effective at a willingness-to-pay of $100,000/QALY. Conclusions CC delivery of the DPP was cost effective relative to IC delivery in the first year in terms of cost per clinical measure (weight lost, BMI, and waist circumference but not in terms of cost per QALY, most likely because of the short time horizon.

  15. Microcomputer-assisted transmission of disaster data by cellular telephone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wigder, H N; Fligner, D J; Rivers, D; Hotch, D

    1989-01-01

    Voice communication of information during disasters is often inadequate. In particular, simultaneous transmission by multiple callers on the same frequency can result in blocked transmissions and miscommunications. In contrast, nonvoice transmission of data requires less time than does voice communication of the same data, and may be more accurate. We conducted a pilot study to test the feasibility of a microcomputer assisted communication (MAC) network linking the disaster scene and the command hospital. The radio chosen to transmit data from the field disaster site to the command hospital was a cellular telephone connected to the microcomputer by modem. Typed communications between the microcomputer operators enabled dialogue between the disaster site and the hospitals. A computer program using commercially available software (Symphony by Lotus, Inc.) was written to allow for data entry, data transmission, and reports. Patient data, including age, sex, severity of injury, identification number, major injuries, and hospital destination were successfully transmitted from the disaster site command post to the command hospital. This pilot test demonstrated the potential applicability of MAC for facilitating transmission of patient data during a disaster.

  16. Survey of RF exposure levels from mobile telephone base stations in Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henderson, S I; Bangay, M J

    2006-01-01

    This paper reports the results of an exposure level survey of radiofrequency electromagnetic energy originating from mobile telephone base station antennas. Measurements of CDMA800, GSM900, GSM1800, and 3G(UMTS) signals were performed at distances ranging over 50 to 500 m from 60 base stations in five Australian cities. The exposure levels from these mobile telecommunications base stations were found to be well below the general public exposure limits of the ICNIRP guidelines and the Australian radiofrequency standard (ARPANSA RPS3). The highest recorded level from a single base station was 7.8 x 10(-3) W/m(2), which translates to 0.2% of the general public exposure limit.

  17. Reliability and Validity of the Telephone-Based eHealth Literacy Scale Among Older Adults: Cross-Sectional Survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stellefson, Michael; Paige, Samantha R; Tennant, Bethany; Alber, Julia M; Chaney, Beth H; Chaney, Don; Grossman, Suzanne

    2017-10-26

    Only a handful of studies have examined reliability and validity evidence of scores produced by the 8-item eHealth literacy Scale (eHEALS) among older adults. Older adults are generally more comfortable responding to survey items when asked by a real person rather than by completing self-administered paper-and-pencil or online questionnaires. However, no studies have explored the psychometrics of this scale when administered to older adults over the telephone. The objective of our study was to examine the reliability and internal structure of eHEALS data collected from older adults aged 50 years or older responding to items over the telephone. Respondents (N=283) completed eHEALS as part of a cross-sectional landline telephone survey. Exploratory structural equation modeling (E-SEM) analyses examined model fit of eHEALS scores with 1-, 2-, and 3-factor structures. Subsequent analyses based on the partial credit model explored the internal structure of eHEALS data. Compared with 1- and 2-factor models, the 3-factor eHEALS structure showed the best global E-SEM model fit indices (root mean square error of approximation=.07; comparative fit index=1.0; Tucker-Lewis index=1.0). Nonetheless, the 3 factors were highly correlated (r range .36 to .65). Item analyses revealed that eHEALS items 2 through 5 were overfit to a minor degree (mean square infit/outfit values information for respondents at similar points on the latent continuum. Test information curves suggested that eHEALS may capture more information about older adults at the higher end of the latent continuum (ie, those with high eHealth literacy) than at the lower end of the continuum (ie, those with low eHealth literacy). Item reliability (value=.92) and item separation (value=11.31) estimates indicated that eHEALS responses were reliable and stable. Results support administering eHEALS over the telephone when surveying older adults regarding their use of the Internet for health information. eHEALS scores best

  18. The disinfection of flexible fibre-optic nasendoscopes out-of-hours: confidential telephone survey of ENT units in England

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kanagalingam, J.; Zainal, A.; Georgalas, C.; Paun, S.; Tolley, N. S.

    2002-01-01

    We present the results of a confidential telephone survey of ENT units in England on the disinfection of flexible fibre-optic nasendoscopes out-of-hours. The on-call residents of 124 units were contacted and questioned. In 35.1 per cent of units surveyed, the on-call resident was primarily

  19. Effectiveness of Goal-Setting Telephone Follow-Up on Health Behaviors of Patients with Ischemic Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wan, Li-Hong; Zhang, Xiao-Pei; Mo, Miao-Miao; Xiong, Xiao-Ni; Ou, Cui-Ling; You, Li-Ming; Chen, Shao-Xian; Zhang, Min

    2016-09-01

    Adopting healthy behaviors is critical for secondary stroke prevention, but many patients fail to follow national guidelines regarding diet, exercise, and abstinence from risk factors. Compliance often decreases with time after hospital discharge, yet few studies have examined programs promoting long-term adherence to health behaviors. Goal setting and telephone follow-up have been proven to be effective in other areas of medicine, so this study evaluated the effectiveness of a guideline-based, goal-setting telephone follow-up program for patients with ischemic stroke. This was a multicenter, assessor-blinded, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial. Ninety-one stroke patients were randomized to either a control group or an intervention group. Intervention consisted of predischarge education and 3 goal-setting follow-up sessions conducted by phone. Data were collected at baseline and during the third and sixth months after hospital discharge. Six months after discharge, patients in the intervention group exhibited significantly higher medication adherence than patients in the control group. There were no statistically significant differences in physical activity, nutrition, low-salt diet adherence, blood pressure monitoring, smoking abstinence, unhealthy use of alcohol, and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores between the 2 groups. Goal-setting telephone follow-up intervention for ischemic stroke patients is feasible and leads to improved medication adherence. However, the lack of group differences in other health behavior subcategories and in themRS score indicates a need for more effective intervention strategies to help patients reach guideline-recommended targets. Copyright © 2016 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Parenting program versus telephone support for Mexican parents of children with acquired brain injury: A blind randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chávez, Clara; Catroppa, Cathy; Hearps, Stephen J C; Yáñez-Téllez, Guillermina; Prieto-Corona, Belén; de León, Miguel A; García, Antonio; Sandoval-Lira, Lucero; Anderson, Vicki

    2017-09-01

    Acquired brain injury (ABI) during childhood typically causes behavior problems in the child and high levels of stress in the family. The aims of this study are: (1) to investigate the effectiveness and feasibility of a parenting intervention in improving behavior and self-regulation in Mexican children with ABI compared to telephone support; (2) to investigate the effectiveness and feasibility of a parenting intervention in improving parenting skills, parent self-efficacy and decreasing parental stress in parents of children with ABI compared to telephone support. Our secondary aims are (1) to explore the impact that parent characteristics have on the intervention outcomes; (2) to investigate if changes are maintained 3 months after the intervention. The research design is a blind randomized controlled trial (RCT). Eligible participants include children with a diagnosis of ABI, between 6 and 12 years of age, and their parents. Sixty-six children and their parents will be randomly allocated to either a parenting program group or telephone support group. The parenting program involves six face-to-face weekly group sessions of 2.5 h each. Participants in the control group receive an information sheet with behavioral strategies, and six weekly phone calls, in which strategies to improve academic skills are provided. Children and their parents are evaluated by blind assessors before the intervention, immediately after the intervention and 3-months post-intervention. This study will be the first to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of a parenting program for Mexican parents of children with ABI. ACTRN12617000360314.

  1. Video clip transfer of radiological images using a mobile telephone in emergency neurosurgical consultations (3G Multi-Media Messaging Service).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waran, Vicknes; Bahuri, Nor Faizal Ahmad; Narayanan, Vairavan; Ganesan, Dharmendra; Kadir, Khairul Azmi Abdul

    2012-04-01

    The purpose of this study was to validate and assess the accuracy and usefulness of sending short video clips in 3gp file format of an entire scan series of patients, using mobile telephones running on 3G-MMS technology, to enable consultation between junior doctors in a neurosurgical unit and the consultants on-call after office hours. A total of 56 consecutive patients with acute neurosurgical problems requiring urgent after-hours consultation during a 6-month period, prospectively had their images recorded and transmitted using the above method. The response to the diagnosis and the management plan by two neurosurgeons (who were not on site) based on the images viewed on a mobile telephone were reviewed by an independent observer and scored. In addition to this, a radiologist reviewed the original images directly on the hospital's Patients Archiving and Communication System (PACS) and this was compared with the neurosurgeons' response. Both neurosurgeons involved in this study were in complete agreement with their diagnosis. The radiologist disagreed with the diagnosis in only one patient, giving a kappa coefficient of 0.88, indicating an almost perfect agreement. The use of mobile telephones to transmit MPEG video clips of radiological images is very advantageous for carrying out emergency consultations in neurosurgery. The images accurately reflect the pathology in question, thereby reducing the incidence of medical errors from incorrect diagnosis, which otherwise may just depend on a verbal description.

  2. Microwaves from GSM mobile telephones affect 53BP1 and gamma-H2AX foci in human lymphocytes from hypersensitive and healthy persons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Markovà, Eva; Hillert, Lena; Malmgren, Lars; Persson, Bertil R R; Belyaev, Igor Y

    2005-09-01

    The data on biologic effects of nonthermal microwaves (MWs) from mobile telephones are diverse, and these effects are presently ignored by safety standards of the International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). In the present study, we investigated effects of MWs of Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) at different carrier frequencies on human lymphocytes from healthy persons and from persons reporting hypersensitivity to electromagnetic fields (EMFs). We measured the changes in chromatin conformation, which are indicative of stress response and genotoxic effects, by the method of anomalous viscosity time dependence, and we analyzed tumor suppressor p53-binding protein 1 (53BP1) and phosphorylated histone H2AX (gamma-H2AX), which have been shown to colocalize in distinct foci with DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), using immunofluorescence confocal laser microscopy. We found that MWs from GSM mobile telephones affect chromatin conformation and 53BP1/gamma-H2AX foci similar to heat shock. For the first time, we report here that effects of MWs from mobile telephones on human lymphocytes are dependent on carrier frequency. On average, the same response was observed in lymphocytes from hypersensitive and healthy subjects.

  3. Usability Assessment of Text-to-Speech Synthesis for Additional Detail in an Automated Telephone Banking System

    OpenAIRE

    Morton , Hazel; Gunson , Nancie; Marshall , Diarmid; McInnes , Fergus; Ayres , Andrea; Jack , Mervyn

    2010-01-01

    Abstract This paper describes a comprehensive usability evaluation of an automated telephone banking system which employs text-to-speech (TTS) synthesis in offering additional detail on customers? account transactions. The paper describes a series of four experiments in which TTS was employed to offer an extra level of detail to recent transactions listings within an established banking service which otherwise uses recorded speech from a professional recording artist. Results from ...

  4. Collaboration between a Child Telephone Helpline and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Organisations in Senegal: Lessons Learned

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flink, Ilse Johanna Elisabeth; Mbaye, Solange Marie Odile; Diouf, Simon Richard Baye; Baumgartner, Sophie; Okur, Pinar

    2018-01-01

    This study identifies lessons learned from a collaboration between a child telephone helpline and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) organisations in Senegal established in the context of an SRHR programme for young people. We assessed how helpline operators are equipped to address sexual health and rights issues with young people,…

  5. Confidential telephone in constitutions of brazil and portugal: analysis of measure in law of treatment and jurisprudential and protection limit between poor and efficient

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diego Prezzi Santos

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available The present study aims to analyze the requirements of the wiretapping Brazil and Portugal, basing the analysis on constitutional norms and standards infra. The analysis involves the understanding of rights linked to personal intimacy and privacy and the possibility that it has investigated the target of disclosure of telephone records through telephone interception, having secured the material access to justice, and, therefore, these respected rights. Checked out the concept of access to fair legal system (material and also the formal access to make possible the understanding and presentation of the results obtained from the Brazilian courts and the Portuguese courts.

  6. The relationship between geographic remoteness and intentions to use a telephone support service among Australian men following radical prostatectomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corboy, Denise; McLaren, Suzanne; Jenkins, Megan; McDonald, John

    2014-11-01

    The objective is to investigate the influence of characteristics related to place of residence (self-reliance and stoicism) on men's intentions to use a telephone support service following radical prostatectomy. A community sample of 447 prostate cancer patients (31% response), recruited via Medicare Australia, completed a survey to assess levels of self-reliance and stoicism, and beliefs about addressing emotional distress through using telephone support services. Results indicated that the model was a partially mediated model. Geographic remoteness was directly related to intention, and indirectly related through stoicism and subjective norms. Men from rural and remote areas in Australia might face particular challenges in seeking support following treatment for prostate cancer. These challenges appear to relate to the influence of stoic attitudes and normative expectations, than to issues of access and availability. Addressing stoic attitudes in the clinical setting, through normalising emotional reactions to cancer diagnosis and treatment, and the act of help-seeking for emotional support, may be beneficial. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  7. 12 CFR 221.114 - Bank loans to purchase stock of American Telephone and Telegraph Company under Employees' Stock...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 12 Banks and Banking 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Bank loans to purchase stock of American...) Interpretations § 221.114 Bank loans to purchase stock of American Telephone and Telegraph Company under Employees' Stock Plan. (a) The Board of Governors interpreted this part in connection with proposed loans by a bank...

  8. Telephone interventions for adherence to colpocytological examination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lima, Thais Marques; Nicolau, Ana Izabel Oliveira; Carvalho, Francisco Herlânio Costa; Vasconcelos, Camila Teixeira Moreira; Aquino, Priscila de Souza; Pinheiro, Ana Karina Bezerra

    2017-02-06

    to test the effects of behavioral and educational intervention by telephone on adherence of women with inappropriate periodicity to colpocytological examination. quasi-experimental study with a sample of 524 women, selected with the following inclusion criteria: be aged between 25 and 64 years, have initiated sexual activity, have inappropriate periodicity of examination and have mobile or landline phone. The women were divided into two groups for application of behavioral and educational intervention by telephone. It was used an intervention script according to the principles of Motivational Interviewing. on comparing the results before and after the behavioral and educational interventions, it was found that there was a statistically significant change (p = 0.0283) with increase of knowledge of women who participated in the educational intervention. There was no change in the attitude of women of any of the groups and there was an increase of adherence to colpocytological examination in both groups (p grupos para aplicação da intervenção comportamental e educativa por telefone. Utilizou-se um roteiro de intervenção segundo os preceitos da Entrevista Motivacional. ao comparar antes e depois das intervenções comportamental e educativa constatou-se que houve uma mudança estatisticamente significativa (p = 0,0283) no aumento do conhecimento das mulheres que participaram da intervenção educativa; não houve mudança comprovada na atitude das mulheres de nenhum dos grupos e houve um aumento da adesão ao exame colpocitológico nos dois grupos (p grupo comportamental (66,8%). as intervenções comportamentais e educativas por telefone foram eficazes na adesão das mulheres ao exame colpocitológico, representando estratégias importantes para educação permanente em saúde, promovendo a atenção para a prevenção do câncer cérvico-uterino. comprobar los efectos de intervención comportamental y educativa por teléfono en la adhesión de las mujeres, con

  9. Report on a Program Evaluation of a Telephone Assisted Parenting Support Service for Families Living in Isolated Rural Areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cann, Warren; Rogers, Helen; Worley, Greg

    2003-01-01

    This brief report evaluates a pilot project to deliver a telephone supported, self-directed parenting program to isolated families. The aim of the project was to promote the competence and confidence of parents experiencing early difficulties. Significant improvements were noted in child behavior, parenting style, parental depression, anxiety, and…

  10. Usability Evaluation of Notebook Computers and Cellular Telephones Among Users with Visual and Upper Extremity Disabilities

    OpenAIRE

    Mooney, Aaron Michael

    2002-01-01

    Information appliances such as notebook computers and cellular telephones are becoming integral to the lives of many. These devices facilitate a variety of communication tasks, and are used for employment, education, and entertainment. Those with disabilities, however, have limited access to these devices, due in part to product designs that do not consider their special needs. A usability evaluation can help identify the needs and difficulties those with disabilities have when using a pro...

  11. Utilizing risk index for overdose or serious opioid-induced respiratory depression (RIOSORD) scores to prioritize offer of rescue naloxone in an outpatient veteran population: A telephone-based project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yates, Derek; Frey, Theresa; Montgomery, Jean Charles

    2018-03-26

    Since 2014, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been working to address the ongoing opioid epidemic through opioid-education initiatives, the development of risk calculators, and other risk stratification tools. One primary focus of VA efforts has been the distribution of rescue naloxone kits to veterans at greatest risk of opioid-related adverse events. The purpose of this project was to identify primary care veterans at highest risk for serious opioid-related adverse events using the Risk Index for Overdose and Serious Opioid-Induced Respiratory Depression (RIOSORD) and offer rescue naloxone kits by telephone-based outreach. RIOSORD is a risk-stratification tool developed and validated within the veteran population. Veterans identified at highest risk of overdose or opioid-related adverse effects were contacted by telephone or letter to offer to provide a rescue naloxone kit between November 1 st , 2016 and February 1 st , 2017. The primary outcome of the project was the percentage of patients contacted that agreed to a naloxone prescription. Secondary outcomes included comparative efficacy of phone versus letter contact and reasons for refusal of naloxone if the offer was declined. Of 41 veterans targeted by this project, most were successfully reached by telephone within three attempts (92.7%, n = 38). Approximately two-thirds of those reached by telephone agreed to a prescription for rescue naloxone (n = 26, 63.4%). The veterans that requested rescue naloxone selected the nasal formulation (n = 17) over the intramuscular auto-injector (n = 9). This project demonstrated that telephone-based outreach can be one method of distributing rescue naloxone to a high-risk patient population without requiring an in-person visit to a provider.

  12. Telephone consultations on palliative sedation therapy and euthanasia in general practice in The Netherlands in 2003 : a report from inside

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Heest, F. B.; Finlay, I. G.; Kramer, J. J. E.; Otter, R.; Meyboom-de Jong, B.

    2009-01-01

    Objective. Data from 2003 were analysed independently to reveal how often and in what way palliative sedation and euthanasia were discussed. Methods. The telephone documentation forms and corresponding evaluation forms of two GP advisors were systematically analysed for problems relating to the role

  13. 26. Effectiveness of telephone follow up in managing patients with type II diabetes mellitus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ala Taiyem

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common non-communicable diseases globally, labeled as the greatest healthcare challenge according to the World Health Organization and the International Diabetes Federation. This complex disease requires the involvement of multidisciplinary teams to reduce the risk and impact of long-term diabetes complications through intensive monitoring, education and lifestyle modifications with a great emphasis on promoting self-care. A brief and cost-effective interventions to improve diabetes self care management are needed. This study evaluated the effect of “educational” telephone intervention delivered by nurse specialist on glycemic control “Glyclated hemoglobin A1c”, and diabetes self-care management for patients with type 2 diabetes followed-up by a nurse-led cardiovascular disease management program of a tertiary hospital within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This quantitative descriptive and qauzi-experimental study was conducted over three months, included 60 adult patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes who were randomly assigned to intervention or control group. Participants within the intervention group received usual care and six educational phone calls promoting them to improve their diabetic self-care activities. Patients within the control arm continued to receive their usual care only. The telephone follow-up intervention increased frequency of exercise and foot care, improved diet and adherence to anti-diabetes medication. Modest improvement was detected on the glycemic control and home glucose monitoring. As a conclusion, the study indicated positive effect of the intervention on glycemic control and self-care management. Multi-centers and longitudinal studies with larger sample size are recommended for future studies.

  14. The impact of using computer decision-support software in primary care nurse-led telephone triage: interactional dilemmas and conversational consequences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murdoch, Jamie; Barnes, Rebecca; Pooler, Jillian; Lattimer, Valerie; Fletcher, Emily; Campbell, John L

    2015-02-01

    Telephone triage represents one strategy to manage demand for face-to-face GP appointments in primary care. Although computer decision-support software (CDSS) is increasingly used by nurses to triage patients, little is understood about how interaction is organized in this setting. Specifically any interactional dilemmas this computer-mediated setting invokes; and how these may be consequential for communication with patients. Using conversation analytic methods we undertook a multi-modal analysis of 22 audio-recorded telephone triage nurse-caller interactions from one GP practice in England, including 10 video-recordings of nurses' use of CDSS during triage. We draw on Goffman's theoretical notion of participation frameworks to make sense of these interactions, presenting 'telling cases' of interactional dilemmas nurses faced in meeting patient's needs and accurately documenting the patient's condition within the CDSS. Our findings highlight troubles in the 'interactional workability' of telephone triage exposing difficulties faced in aligning the proximal and wider distal context that structures CDSS-mediated interactions. Patients present with diverse symptoms, understanding of triage consultations, and communication skills which nurses need to negotiate turn-by-turn with CDSS requirements. Nurses therefore need to have sophisticated communication, technological and clinical skills to ensure patients' presenting problems are accurately captured within the CDSS to determine safe triage outcomes. Dilemmas around how nurses manage and record information, and the issues of professional accountability that may ensue, raise questions about the impact of CDSS and its use in supporting nurses to deliver safe and effective patient care. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. 7 CFR Exhibit J to Subpart G of... - Locations and Telephone Numbers of Federal Emergency Management Administration's Regional Offices

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 13 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true Locations and Telephone Numbers of Federal Emergency Management Administration's Regional Offices J Exhibit J to Subpart G of Part 1940 Agriculture Regulations of... REGULATIONS (CONTINUED) GENERAL Environmental Program Pt. 1940, Subpt. G, Exh. J Exhibit J to Subpart G of...

  16. Injuries caused by pets in Asian urban households: a cross-sectional telephone survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, Emily Y Y; Gao, Yang; Li, Liping; Lee, Po Yi

    2017-01-01

    Objectives Little is known about pet-related injuries in Asian populations. This study primarily aimed to investigate the incidence rate of pet-related household injuries in Hong Kong, an urban Chinese setting. Setting Cantonese-speaking non-institutionalised population of all ages in Hong Kong accessible by telephone land-line. Participants A total of 43 542 telephone numbers were dialled and 6570 residents successfully completed the interviews. Primary and secondary outcome measures Data of pet-related household injuries in the previous 12 months, pet ownership and socio-demographic characteristics were collected with a questionnaire. Direct standardisation of the incidence rates of pet-related household injuries by gender and age to the 2009 Hong Kong Population Census was estimated. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to estimate risks of socio-demographic factors and pet ownership for the injury. Results A total of 84 participants experienced pet-related household injuries in the past 12 months, with an overall person-based incidence rate of 1.28%. The majority of the victims were injured once (69.6%). Cats (51.6%) were the most common pets involved. Pet owners were at an extremely higher risk after controlling for other factors (adjusted OR: 52.0, 95% CI 22.1 to 98.7). Females, the unmarried, those with higher monthly household income and those living in lower-density housing were more likely to be injured by pets. Conclusions We project a pet-related household injury incidence rate of 1.24% in the general Hong Kong population, with 86 334 residents sustaining pet-related injuries every year. Pet ownership puts people at extremely high risk, especially the unmarried. Further studies should focus on educating pet owners to reduce pet-related injuries in urban Greater China. PMID:28110284

  17. Effects of Nurse-Led Telephone-Based Supportive Interventions for Patients With Cancer: A Meta-Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suh, Soon-Rim; Lee, Myung Kyung

    2017-07-01

    To evaluate the effects of nurse-led telephone-based supportive interventions (NTSIs) for patients with cancer.
. Electronic databases, including EMBASE®, MEDLINE, Google Scholar, 
Cochrane Library CENTRAL, ProQuest Medical Library, and CINAHL®, were searched through February 2016.
. 239 studies were identified; 16 were suitable for meta-analysis. Cochrane's risk of bias tool and the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software were used.
. The authors performed a meta-analysis of 16 trials that met eligibility criteria. Thirteen randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) and three non-RCTs examined a total of 2,912 patients with cancer. Patients who received NTSIs were compared with those who received attentional control or usual care (no intervention).
. Telephone interventions delivered by a nurse in an oncology care setting reduced cancer symptoms with a moderate effect size (ES) (-0.33) and emotional distress with a small ES (-0.12), and improved self-care with a large ES (0.64) and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) with a small ES (0.3). Subgroup analyses indicated that the significant effects of NTSIs on cancer symptoms, emotional distress, and HRQOL were larger for studies that combined an application of a theoretical framework, had a control group given usual care, and used an RTC design.
. The findings suggest that an additional tiered evaluation that has a theoretical underpinning and high-quality methodology is required to confirm the efficacy of NTSI for adoption of specific care models.

  18. A harm-reduction model of abortion counseling about misoprostol use in Peru with telephone and in-person follow-up: A cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grossman, Daniel; Baum, Sarah E; Andjelic, Denitza; Tatum, Carrie; Torres, Guadalupe; Fuentes, Liza; Friedman, Jennifer

    2018-01-01

    In Peru, abortion is legal only to preserve the life and health of the woman. A non-profit clinic system in Peru implemented a harm-reduction model for women with unwanted pregnancy that included pre-abortion care with instructions about misoprostol use and post-abortion care; they started offering telephone follow-up for clients in 2011. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the harm-reduction model, and to compare outcomes by type of follow-up obtained. Between January 2012 and March 2013, 500 adult women seeking harm-reduction services were recruited into the study. Telephone surveys were conducted approximately four weeks after their initial harm-reduction counseling session with 262 women (response rate 52%); 9 participants were excluded. The survey focused on whether women pursued an abortion, and if so, what their experience was. Demographic and clinical data were also extracted from clinic records. Eighty-six percent of participants took misoprostol; among those taking misoprostol, 89% reported a complete abortion at the time of the survey. Twenty-two percent obtained an aspiration after taking misoprostol and 8% self-reported adverse events including hemorrhage without transfusion, infection, or severe pain. Among women who took misoprostol, 46% reported receiving in-person follow-up (in some cases both telephone and in-person), 34% received telephone only, and 20% did not report receiving any form of follow-up. Those who had in-person follow-up with the counselor were most likely to report a complete abortion (<0.001). Satisfaction with both types of follow-up was very high, with 81%-89% reporting being very satisfied. Liberalization of restrictive abortion laws is associated with improvements in health outcomes, but the process of legal reform is often lengthy. In the interim, giving women information about evidence-based regimens of misoprostol, as well as offering a range of follow-up options to ensure high quality post

  19. Telephone follow-up initiated by a hospital-based health professional for postdischarge problems in patients discharged from hospital to home.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mistiaen, P.; Poot, E.

    2003-01-01

    OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of follow-up telephone calls (TFU) in the first month post discharge, initiated by hospital-based health professionals, to patients discharged from hospital to home, with regard to physical and psycho-social outcomes in the first three months post discharge. The

  20. Harnessing motivational forces in the promotion of physical activity: the Community Health Advice by Telephone (CHAT) project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, Abby C; Friedman, Robert; Marcus, Bess; Castro, Cynthia; Forsyth, LeighAnn; Napolitano, Melissa; Pinto, Bernardine

    2002-10-01

    Physical inactivity among middle- and older-aged adults is pervasive, and is linked with numerous chronic conditions that diminish health and functioning. Counselor-directed physical activity programs may enhance extrinsic motivation (reflected in social influence theories, such as self-presentation theory) and, in turn, physical activity adherence, while the counselor is in charge of program delivery. However, external influences can undermine intrinsic motivation, making it more difficult to maintain physical activity once counselor-initiated contact ends. In contrast, programs that diminish the socially evaluative and controlling aspects of the counseling interchange may promote intrinsic motivation (described in cognitive evaluation theory), and, thus, physical activity maintenance, even when counselor-initiated contact ceases. The objective of the Community Health Advice by Telephone (CHAT) project is to compare these two theories by conducting a randomized controlled trial evaluating the effects of a telephone-administered counseling program delivered by a person (social influence enhancement) or computer (cognitive evaluation enhancement) on physical activity adoption and maintenance over 18 months. Healthy, sedentary adults (n = 225) aged 55 years and older are randomized to one of these programs or to a control arm. This study will contribute to advancing motivational theory as well as provide information on the sustained effectiveness of interventions with substantial public health applicability.

  1. Post-donation telephonic interview of blood donors providing an insight into delayed adverse reactions: First attempt in India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tiwari, Aseem K; Aggarwal, Geet; Dara, Ravi C; Arora, Dinesh; Srivastava, Khushboo; Raina, Vimarsh

    2017-04-01

    Blood donor experiences both immediate adverse reactions (IAR) and delayed adverse reactions (DAR). With limited published data available on the incidence of DAR, a study was conducted to estimate incidence and profile of DAR through telephonic interview. Study was conducted over a 45-day period for consecutive volunteer whole blood donations at tertiary care hospital. Donors were divided into first-time, repeat and regular and were monitored for IAR. They were given written copy of post-donation advice. Donors were contacted telephonically three weeks post-donation and enquired about general wellbeing and specific DAR in accordance with a standard n international (International Society of Blood Transfusion) standard format. Donors participated in the study of which 1.6% donors experienced an IAR. Much larger number reported DAR (10.3% vs.1.6% pdonors (age donors (>50 years). First time (12.3%) and repeat donors (13.5%) had similar frequency of DAR but were lower among regular donors (6.7%). DARs are more common than IAR and are of different profile. Post-donation interview has provided an insight into donor experiences and can be used as a valuable tool in donor hemovigilance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Comparison between data obtained through real-time data capture by SMS and a retrospective telephone interview

    OpenAIRE

    Johansen, Bendt; Wedderkopp, Niels

    2010-01-01

    Abstract Background The aims of the current study were: a) to quantitatively compare data obtained by Short Message Service (SMS) with data from a telephone interview, b) to investigate whether the respondents had found it acceptable to answer the weekly two SMS questions, c) to explore whether an additional weekly third SMS question would have been acceptable, and d) to calculate the total cost of using the SMS technology. Methods SMS technology was used each week for 53 weeks to monitor 260...

  3. A method for assessing fidelity of delivery of telephone behavioral support for smoking cessation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorencatto, Fabiana; West, Robert; Bruguera, Carla; Michie, Susan

    2014-06-01

    Behavioral support for smoking cessation is delivered through different modalities, often guided by treatment manuals. Recently developed methods for assessing fidelity of delivery have shown that face-to-face behavioral support is often not delivered as specified in the service treatment manual. This study aimed to extend this method to evaluate fidelity of telephone-delivered behavioral support. A treatment manual and transcripts of 75 audio-recorded behavioral support sessions were obtained from the United Kingdom's national Quitline service and coded into component behavior change techniques (BCTs) using a taxonomy of 45 smoking cessation BCTs. Interrater reliability was assessed using percentage agreement. Fidelity was assessed by comparing the number of BCTs identified in the manual with those delivered in telephone sessions by 4 counselors. Fidelity was assessed according to session type, duration, counselor, and BCT. Differences between self-reported and actual BCT use were examined. Average coding reliability was high (81%). On average, 41.8% of manual-specified BCTs were delivered per session (SD = 16.2), with fidelity varying by counselor from 32% to 49%. Fidelity was highest in pre-quit sessions (46%) and for BCT "give options for additional support" (95%). Fidelity was lowest for quit-day sessions (35%) and BCT "set graded tasks" (0%). Session duration was positively correlated with fidelity (r = .585; p reliably coded in terms of BCTs. This can be used to assess fidelity to treatment manuals and to in turn identify training needs. The observed low fidelity underlines the need to establish routine procedures for monitoring delivery of behavioral support. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

  4. Impact of Monetary Incentives and Mailing Procedures: An Experiment in a Federally Sponsored Telephone Survey. Methodology Report. NCES 2006-066

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brick, J. Michael; Hagedorn, Mary Collins; Montaquila, Jill; Roth, Shelley Brock; Chapman, Christopher

    2006-01-01

    The National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES) includes a series of random digit dial (RDD) surveys developed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. It is designed to collect information on important educational issues through telephone surveys of…

  5. Analyzing online sentiment to predict telephone poll results.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fu, King-wa; Chan, Chee-hon

    2013-09-01

    The telephone survey is a common social science research method for capturing public opinion, for example, an individual's values or attitudes, or the government's approval rating. However, reducing domestic landline usage, increasing nonresponse rate, and suffering from response bias of the interviewee's self-reported data pose methodological challenges to such an approach. Because of the labor cost of administration, a phone survey is often conducted on a biweekly or monthly basis, and therefore a daily reflection of public opinion is usually not available. Recently, online sentiment analysis of user-generated content has been deployed to predict public opinion and human behavior. However, its overall effectiveness remains uncertain. This study seeks to examine the temporal association between online sentiment reflected in social media content and phone survey poll results in Hong Kong. Specifically, it aims to find the extent to which online sentiment can predict phone survey results. Using autoregressive integrated moving average time-series analysis, this study suggested that online sentiment scores can lead phone survey results by about 8-15 days, and their correlation coefficients were about 0.16. The finding is significant to the study of social media in social science research, because it supports the conclusion that daily sentiment observed in social media content can serve as a leading predictor for phone survey results, keeping as much as 2 weeks ahead of the monthly announcement of opinion polls. We also discuss the practical and theoretical implications of this study.

  6. Telephone follow-up initiated by a hospital-based health professional for postdischarge problems in patients discharged from hospital to home. (Review)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mistiaen, P.; Poot, E.

    2006-01-01

    Objectives: To determine the effects of follow-up telephone calls (TFU) in the first month post discharge, initiated by hospital-based health professionals, to patients discharged from hospital to home, with regard to physical and psycho-social outcomes in the first three months post discharge. The

  7. A randomized control trial of the effect of negotiated telephone support on glycaemic control in young people with Type 1 diabetes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Howells, L.; Wilson, A. C.; Skinner, T. C.

    2002-01-01

    Aim: To evaluate changes in self-efficacy for self-management in young people with Type 1 diabetes participating in a 'Negotiated Telephone Support' (NTS) intervention developed using the principles of problem solving and social learning theory. Methods: One-year RCT with 79 young people (male 39...

  8. Telephone Flat Geothermal Development Project Environmental Impact Statement Environmental Impact Report. Final: Comments and Responses to Comments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    None

    1999-02-01

    This document is the Comments and Responses to Comments volume of the Final Environmental Impact Statement and Environmental Impact Report prepared for the proposed Telephone Flat Geothermal Development Project (Final EIS/EIR). This volume of the Final EIS/EIR provides copies of the written comments received on the Draft EIS/EIR and the leady agency responses to those comments in conformance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

  9. Understanding barriers to medication adherence in the hypertensive population by evaluating responses to a telephone survey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nair KV

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Kavita V Nair1, Daniel A Belletti3, Joseph J Doyle3, Richard R Allen4, Robert B McQueen1, Joseph J Saseen1, Joseph Vande Griend1, Jay V Patel5, Angela McQueen2, Saira Jan21School of Pharmacy, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA; 2Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA; 3Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, East Hanover, NJ, USA, 4Peakstat Statistical Services, Evergreen, CO, USA; 5Care Management International, Marlborough, MA, USABackground: Although hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, adherence to hypertensive medications is low. Previous research identifying factors influencing adherence has focused primarily on broad, population-based approaches. Identifying specific barriers for an individual is more useful in designing meaningful targeted interventions. Using customized telephonic outreach, we examined specific patient-reported barriers influencing hypertensive patients' nonadherence to medication in order to identify targeted interventions.Methods: A telephone survey of 8692 nonadherent hypertensive patients was conducted. The patient sample comprised health plan members with at least two prescriptions for antihypertensive medications in 2008. The telephone script was based on the "target" drug associated with greatest nonadherence (medication possession ratio [MPR] <80% during the four-month period preceding the survey.Results: The response rate was 28.2% of the total sample, representing 63.8% of commercial members and 37.2% of Medicare members. Mean age was 63.4 years. Mean MPR was 61.0% for the target drug. Only 58.2% of Medicare respondents and 60.4% of commercial respondents reported "missing a dose of medication". The primary reason given was "forgetfulness" (61.8% Medicare, 60.8% commercial, followed by "being too busy" (2.7% Medicare, 18.5% commercial and "other reasons" (21.9% Medicare, 8.1% commercial including travel, hospitalization/sickness, disruption of daily events

  10. A Comparison of Telephone Genetic Counseling and In-Person Genetic Counseling from the Genetic Counselor's Perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burgess, Kelly R; Carmany, Erin P; Trepanier, Angela M

    2016-02-01

    Growing demand for and limited geographic access to genetic counseling services is increasing the need for alternative service delivery models (SDM) like telephone genetic counseling (TGC). Little research has been done on genetic counselors' perspectives of the practice of TGC. We created an anonymous online survey to assess whether telephone genetic counselors believed the tasks identified in the ABGC (American Board of Genetic Counseling) Practice Analysis were performed similarly or differently in TGC compared to in person genetic counseling (IPGC). If there were differences noted, we sought to determine the nature of the differences and if additional training might be needed to address them. Eighty eight genetic counselors with experience in TGC completed some or all of the survey. Respondents identified differences in 13 (14.8%) of the 88 tasks studied. The tasks identified as most different in TGC were: "establishing rapport through verbal and nonverbal interactions" (60.2%; 50/83 respondents identified the task as different), "recognizing factors affecting the counseling interaction" (47.8%; 32/67), "assessing client/family emotions, support, etc." (40.1%; 27/66) and "educating clients about basic genetic concepts" (35.6%; 26/73). A slight majority (53.8%; 35/65) felt additional training was needed to communicate information without visual aids and more effectively perform psychosocial assessments. In summary, although a majority of genetic counseling tasks are performed similarly between TGC and IPGC, TGC counselors recognize that specific training in the TGC model may be needed to address the key differences.

  11. Prevalence, correlates, and description of self-reported diabetes in brazilian capitals - results from a telephone survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iser, Betine Pinto Moehlecke; Malta, Deborah Carvalho; Duncan, Bruce Bartholow; de Moura, Lenildo; Vigo, Alvaro; Schmidt, Maria Inês

    2014-01-01

    The prevalence of diabetes is increasing worldwide. The objective of this study is to estimate the prevalence of self-reported diabetes in Brazilian adults and to describe its population correlates as well as the clinical characteristics of the reported cases. We analyzed basic and supplementary data of 54.144 subjects participating in VIGITEL 2011 (Surveillance System for Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Diseases), a telephone survey based on a probabilistic sample of subjects ≥ 18 years old residing in Brazilian state capitals and the Federal District. Estimates reported are weighted so as to represent the surveyed population. The prevalence of self-reported diabetes was 6.3% (95% CI 5.9-6.7), increasing markedly with age and nutritional status, and decreasing with level of education. Prevalence was higher among those self-declaring their race/color as black. Most cases (90%) reported the diagnosis being made at 35 years or older. The vast majority (99.8%) of self-reported cases informed having previously performed at least one glucose test, and 76% of those not reporting diabetes also informed having previously performed glucose testing. Most cases (92.6%) reported following some form of diabetes treatment, 79% taking medication. The estimated prevalence of known diabetes found, 6.3%, is consistent with estimates given by international summaries. The additional data collected in VIGITEL 2011 regarding previous glucose testing and current treatment support the use of telephone-based information to monitor the prevalence of known diabetes in Brazilian capitals.

  12. Pre-recorded instructional audio vs. dispatchers’ conversational assistance in telephone cardiopulmonary resuscitation: A randomized controlled simulation study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Birkun, Alexei; Glotov, Maksim; Ndjamen, Herman Franklin; Alaiye, Esther; Adeleke, Temidara; Samarin, Sergey

    2018-01-01

    BACKGROUND: To assess the effectiveness of the telephone chest-compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) guided by a pre-recorded instructional audio when compared with dispatcher-assisted resuscitation. METHODS: It was a prospective, blind, randomised controlled study involving 109 medical students without previous CPR training. In a standardized mannequin scenario, after the step of dispatcher-assisted cardiac arrest recognition, the participants performed compression-only resuscitation guided over the telephone by either: (1) the pre-recorded instructional audio (n=57); or (2) verbal dispatcher assistance (n=52). The simulation video records were reviewed to assess the CPR performance using a 13-item checklist. The interval from call reception to the first compression, total number and rate of compressions, total number and duration of pauses after the first compression were also recorded. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the recording-assisted and dispatcher-assisted groups based on the overall performance score (5.6±2.2 vs. 5.1±1.9, P>0.05) or individual criteria of the CPR performance checklist. The recording-assisted group demonstrated significantly shorter time interval from call receipt to the first compression (86.0±14.3 vs. 91.2±14.2 s, PCPR. Future studies are warranted to further assess feasibility of using instructional audio aid as a potential alternative to dispatcher assistance.

  13. Racial differences in the effect of a telephone-delivered hypertension disease management program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, George L; Oddone, Eugene Z; Olsen, Maren K; Powers, Benjamin J; Grubber, Janet M; McCant, Felicia; Bosworth, Hayden B

    2012-12-01

    African Americans are significantly more likely than whites to have uncontrolled hypertension, contributing to significant disparities in cardiovascular disease and events. The goal of this study was to examine whether there were differences in change in blood pressure (BP) for African American and non-Hispanic white patients in response to a medication management and tailored nurse-delivered telephone behavioral program. Five hundred and seventy-three patients (284 African American and 289 non-Hispanic white) primary care patients who participated in the Hypertension Intervention Nurse Telemedicine Study (HINTS) clinical trial. Study arms included: 1) nurse-administered, physician-directed medication management intervention, utilizing a validated clinical decision support system; 2) nurse-administered, behavioral management intervention; 3) combined behavioral management and medication management intervention; and 4) usual care. All interventions were activated based on poorly controlled home BP values. Post-hoc analysis of change in systolic and diastolic blood pressure. General linear models (PROC MIXED in SAS, version 9.2) were used to estimate predicted means at 6-month, 12-month, and 18-month time points, by intervention arm and race subgroups (separate models for systolic and diastolic blood pressure). Improvement in mean systolic blood pressure post-baseline was greater for African American patients in the combined intervention, compared to African American patients in usual care, at 12 months (6.6 mmHg; 95 % CI: -12.5, -0.7; p=0.03) and at 18 months (9.7 mmHg; -16.0, -3.4; p=0.003). At 18 months, mean diastolic BP was 4.8 mmHg lower (95 % CI: -8.5, -1.0; p=0.01) among African American patients in the combined intervention arm, compared to African American patients in usual care. There were no analogous differences for non-Hispanic white patients. The combination of home BP monitoring, remote medication management, and telephone tailored behavioral self

  14. Video quality of 3G videophones for telephone cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tränkler, Uwe; Hagen, Oddvar; Horsch, Alexander

    2008-01-01

    We simulated a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) scene with a manikin and used two 3G videophones on the caller's side to transmit video to a laptop PC. Five observers (two doctors with experience in emergency medicine and three paramedics) evaluated the video. They judged whether the manikin was breathing and whether they would give advice for CPR; they also graded the confidence of their decision-making. Breathing was only visible from certain orientations of the videophones, at distances below 150 cm with good illumination and a still background. Since the phones produced a degradation in colours and shadows, detection of breathing mainly depended on moving contours. Low camera positioning produced better results than having the camera high up. Darkness, shaking of the camera and a moving background made detection of breathing almost impossible. The video from the two 3G videophones that were tested was of sufficient quality for telephone CPR provided that camera orientation, distance, illumination and background were carefully chosen. Thus it seems possible to use 3G videophones for emergency calls involving CPR. However, further studies on the required video quality in different scenarios are necessary.

  15. Engineering Education Tool for Distance Telephone Traffic Learning Through Web

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leonimer Flávio de Melo

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available This work subject focuses in distance learning (DL modality by the Internet. The use of calculators and simulators software introduces a high level of interactivity in DL systems, such as Matlab software proposed by using in this work. The use of efficient mathematical packages and hypermedia technologies opens the door to a new paradigm of teaching and learning in the dawn of this new millennium. The use of hypertext, graphics, animation, audio, video, efficient calculators and simulators incorporating artificial intelligence techniques and the advance in the broadband networks will pave the way to this new horizon. The contribution of this work, besides the Matlab Web integration, is the developing of an introductory course in traffic engineering in hypertext format. Also, calculators to the most employed expressions of traffic analysis were developed to the Matlab server environment. By the use of the telephone traffic calculator, the user inputs data on his or her Internet browser and the systems returns numerical data, graphics and tables in HTML pages. The system is also very useful for Professional traffic calculations, replacing with advantages the use of the traditional methods by means of static tables and graphics in paper format.

  16. Implementing the Customer Contact Center: An Opportunity to Create a Valid Measurement System for Assessing and Improving a Library's Telephone Services

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, Sarah Anne; Cerqua, Judith

    2012-01-01

    A customer contact center offers academic libraries the ability to consistently improve their telephone, e-mail, and IM services. This paper discusses the establishment of a contact center and the benefits of implementing the contact center model at this institution. It then introduces a practical methodology for developing a valid measurement…

  17. True random number generation from mobile telephone photo based on chaotic cryptography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao Liang; Liao Xiaofeng; Xiao Di; Xiang Tao; Zhou Qing; Duan Shukai

    2009-01-01

    A cheap, convenient and universal TRNG based on mobile telephone photo for producing random bit sequence is proposed. To settle the problem of sequential pixels and comparability, three chaos-based approaches are applied to post-process the generated binary image. The random numbers produced by three users are tested using US NIST RNG statistical test software. The experimental results indicate that the Arnold cat map is the fastest way to generate a random bit sequence and can be accepted on general PC. The 'MASK' algorithm also performs well. Finally, comparing with the TRNG of Hu et al. [Hu Y, Liao X, Wong KW, Zhou Q. A true random number generator based on mouse movement and chaotic cryptography. Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 2007. doi: 10.1016/j.chaos.2007.10.022] which is presented by Hu et al., many merits of the proposed TRNG in this paper has been found.

  18. Non-response to a life course socioeconomic position indicator in surveillance: comparison of telephone and face-to-face modes

    OpenAIRE

    Chittleborough, Catherine R; Taylor, Anne W; Baum, Fran E; Hiller, Janet E

    2008-01-01

    Abstract Background Measurement of socioeconomic position (SEP) over the life course in population health surveillance systems is important for examining differences in health and illness between different population groups and for monitoring the impact of policies and interventions aimed at reducing health inequities and intergenerational disadvantage over time. While face-to-face surveys are considered the gold standard of interviewing techniques, computer-assisted telephone interviewing is...

  19. Comparative effectiveness trial of family-supported smoking cessation intervention versus standard telephone counseling for chronically ill veterans using proactive recruitment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bastian LA

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Lori A Bastian,1–3 Laura J Fish,4 Jennifer, M Gierisch,3,5 Lesley D Rohrer,3 Karen M Stechuchak,3 Steven C Grambow3,61Veterans Affairs Connecticut, West Haven, CT, USA; 2Department of Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, USA; 3Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA; 4Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, 5Department of Medicine, 6Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USAObjectives: Smoking cessation among patients with chronic medical illnesses substantially decreases morbidity and mortality. Chronically ill veteran smokers may benefit from interventions that assist them in harnessing social support from family and friends.Methods: We proactively recruited veteran smokers who had cancer, cardiovascular disease, or other chronic illnesses (diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension and randomized them to either standard telephone counseling or family-supported telephone counseling focused on increasing support for smoking cessation from family and friends. Participants each received a letter from a Veterans Affairs physician encouraging them to quit smoking, a self-help cessation kit, five telephone counseling sessions, and nicotine replacement therapy, if not contraindicated. The main outcome was 7-day point prevalent abstinence at 5 months.Results: We enrolled 471 participants with mean age of 59.2 (standard deviation [SD] = 7.9 years. 53.0% were white, 8.5% were female, and 55.4% were married/living as married. Overall, 42.9% had cardiovascular disease, 34.2% had cancer, and 22.9% had other chronic illnesses. At baseline, participants were moderately dependent on cigarettes as measured by the Heaviness of Smoking Index (mean = 2.8, SD = 1.6, expressed significant depressive symptoms as measured by the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale (54.8% > 10, and

  20. Intermittent pacemaker dysfunction caused by digital mobile telephones.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naegeli, B; Osswald, S; Deola, M; Burkart, F

    1996-05-01

    This study was designed to evaluate possible interactions between digital mobile telephones and implanted pacemakers. Electromagnetic fields may interfere with normal pacemaker function. Development of bipolar sensing leads and modern noise filtering techniques have lessened this problem. However, it remains unclear whether these features also protect from high frequency noise arising from digital cellular phones. In 39 patients with an implanted pacemaker (14 dual-chamber [DDD], 8 atrial-synchronized ventricular-inhibited [VDD(R)] and 17 ventricular-inhibited [VVI(R)] pacemakers), four mobile phones with different levels of power output (2 and 8 W) were tested in the standby, dialing and operating mode. During continuous electrocardiographic monitoring, 672 tests were performed in each mode with the phones positioned over the pulse generator, the atrial and the ventricular electrode tip. The tests were carried out at different sensitivity settings and, where possible, in the unipolar and bipolar pacing modes as well. In 7 (18%) of 39 patients, a reproducible interference was induced during 26 (3.9%) of 672 tests with the operating phones in close proximity (phone and at maximal sensitivity of the pacemakers (maximal vs. nominal sensitivity, 6% vs. 1.8% positive test results, p = 0.009). When the bipolar and unipolar pacing modes were compared in the same patients, ventricular inhibition was induced only in the unipolar mode (12.5% positive test results, p = 0.0003). Digital mobile phones in close proximity to implanted pacemakers may cause intermittent pacemaker dysfunction with inappropriate ventricular tracking and potentially dangerous pacemaker inhibition.

  1. The quality, safety and governance of telephone triage and advice services - an overview of evidence from systematic reviews.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lake, Rebecca; Georgiou, Andrew; Li, Julie; Li, Ling; Byrne, Mary; Robinson, Maureen; Westbrook, Johanna I

    2017-08-30

    Telephone triage and advice services (TTAS) are increasingly being implemented around the world. These services allow people to speak to a nurse or general practitioner over the telephone and receive assessment and healthcare advice. There is an existing body of research on the topic of TTAS, however the diffuseness of the evidence base makes it difficult to identify key lessons that are consistent across the literature. Systematic reviews represent the highest level of evidence synthesis. We aimed to undertake an overview of such reviews to determine the scope, consistency and generalisability of findings in relation to the governance, safety and quality of TTAS. We searched PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library for English language systematic reviews focused on key governance, quality and safety findings related to telephone based triage and advice services, published since 1990. The search was undertaken by three researchers who reached consensus on all included systematic reviews. An appraisal of the methodological quality of the systematic reviews was independently undertaken by two researchers using A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews. Ten systematic reviews from a potential 291 results were selected for inclusion. TTAS was examined either alone, or as part of a primary care service model or intervention designed to improve primary care. Evidence of TTAS performance was reported across nine key indicators - access, appropriateness, compliance, patient satisfaction, cost, safety, health service utilisation, physician workload and clinical outcomes. Patient satisfaction with TTAS was generally high and there is some consistency of evidence of the ability of TTAS to reduce clinical workload. Measures of the safety of TTAS tended to show that there is no major difference between TTAS and traditional care. Taken as a whole, current evidence does not provide definitive answers to questions about the quality of care

  2. A lean case study in an oncological hospital: implementation of a telephone triage system in the emergency service

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Crespo de Carvalho J

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available José Crespo de Carvalho,1 Madalena Ramos,1 Carina Paixão2 1Business School, University Institute of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal; 2Instituto Português de Oncologia, Lisbon, Portugal Abstract: Lean practices and thinking have increased substantially in the last few years. Applications of lean practices to health care are found worldwide. Despite that, new contributions are required because the application of lean thinking to hospitals has a long way to go. Lean practices and thinking do not include, in the literature or practice programs, any references to triage systems in health care units. The common triage systems require physical presence, but there are alternative methods to avoid the need to move patients: these alternative triage systems, given their characteristics, may be included in the spectrum of lean practices. Currently, patients that are already known to suffer from cancer are encouraged to go to hospital (public or private, with an oncological focus when facing side effects from chemotherapy or radiation treatments; they are then submitted to a triage system (present themselves to the hospital for examination. The authors of this paper propose the introduction of telephone or email triage for impaired patients as a valid substitute for moving them physically, thereby often avoiding several unnecessary moves. This approach has, in fact, characteristics similar to a lean practice in that it reduces costs and maintains, if done properly, the overall service offered. The proposed 'remote' triage emerged from the results of a large survey sent to patients and also as the outcome of a set of semistructured interviews conducted with hospital nurses. With the results they obtained, the authors felt comfortable proposing this approach both to public and private hospitals, because the study was conducted in the most important, largest, and best-known oncological unit in Spain. As a final result, the health care unit studied is now taking

  3. Prevalence, correlates, and description of self-reported diabetes in brazilian capitals - results from a telephone survey.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Betine Pinto Moehlecke Iser

    Full Text Available The prevalence of diabetes is increasing worldwide. The objective of this study is to estimate the prevalence of self-reported diabetes in Brazilian adults and to describe its population correlates as well as the clinical characteristics of the reported cases.We analyzed basic and supplementary data of 54.144 subjects participating in VIGITEL 2011 (Surveillance System for Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Diseases, a telephone survey based on a probabilistic sample of subjects ≥ 18 years old residing in Brazilian state capitals and the Federal District. Estimates reported are weighted so as to represent the surveyed population.The prevalence of self-reported diabetes was 6.3% (95% CI 5.9-6.7, increasing markedly with age and nutritional status, and decreasing with level of education. Prevalence was higher among those self-declaring their race/color as black. Most cases (90% reported the diagnosis being made at 35 years or older. The vast majority (99.8% of self-reported cases informed having previously performed at least one glucose test, and 76% of those not reporting diabetes also informed having previously performed glucose testing. Most cases (92.6% reported following some form of diabetes treatment, 79% taking medication.The estimated prevalence of known diabetes found, 6.3%, is consistent with estimates given by international summaries. The additional data collected in VIGITEL 2011 regarding previous glucose testing and current treatment support the use of telephone-based information to monitor the prevalence of known diabetes in Brazilian capitals.

  4. Studi Migrasi Public Switched Telephone Network (Pstn) Menuju Jaringan Telekomunikasi Berbasis Paket Next Generation Network (Ngn) Dengan Teknologi Softswitch

    OpenAIRE

    Suseno, Andrias Danang; Najib, Warsun; Samiyono, -

    2009-01-01

    Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) adalah sistem telekomunikasi berbasis circuit-switched. Pada awalnya PSTN hanya menyediakan layanan voice. PSTN sekarang telah berkembang ke arah pelayanan komunikasi data yang didorong oleh berkembangnya dunia internet dengan Internet Protokol (IP)-nya. Telah muncul teknologi Voice over IP (VoIP) yang mampu melewatkan trafik voice pada jaringan data dengan mengubah voice menjadi paket. VoIP telah mendorong trend/kecenderungan terjadinya konvergensi an...

  5. Assessment of a Standardized Pre-Operative Telephone Checklist Designed to Avoid Late Cancellation of Ambulatory Surgery: The AMBUPROG Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sonia Gaucher

    Full Text Available To assess the impact of a standardized pre-operative telephone checklist on the rate of late cancellations of ambulatory surgery (AMBUPROG trial.Multicenter, two-arm, parallel-group, open-label randomized controlled trial.11 university hospital ambulatory surgery units in Paris, France.Patients scheduled for ambulatory surgery and able to be reached by telephone.A 7-item checklist designed to prevent late cancellation, available in five languages and two versions (for children and adults, was administered between 7 and 3 days before the planned date of surgery, by an automated phone system or a research assistant. The control group received standard management alone.Rate of cancellation on the day of surgery or the day before.The study population comprised 3900 patients enrolled between November 2012 and September 2013: 1950 patients were randomized to the checklist arm and 1950 patients to the control arm. The checklist was administered to 68.8% of patients in the intervention arm, 1002 by the automated phone system and 340 by a research assistant. The rate of late cancellation did not differ significantly between the checklist and control arms (109 (5.6% vs. 113 (5.8%, adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval] = 0.91 [0.65-1.29], (p = 0.57. Checklist administration revealed that 355 patients (28.0% had not undergone tests ordered by the surgeon or anesthetist, and that 254 patients (20.0% still had questions concerning the fasting state.A standardized pre-operative telephone checklist did not avoid late cancellations of ambulatory surgery but enabled us to identify several frequent causes.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01732159.

  6. Speech watermarking: an approach for the forensic analysis of digital telephonic recordings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faundez-Zanuy, Marcos; Lucena-Molina, Jose J; Hagmüller, Martin

    2010-07-01

    In this article, the authors discuss the problem of forensic authentication of digital audio recordings. Although forensic audio has been addressed in several articles, the existing approaches are focused on analog magnetic recordings, which are less prevalent because of the large amount of digital recorders available on the market (optical, solid state, hard disks, etc.). An approach based on digital signal processing that consists of spread spectrum techniques for speech watermarking is presented. This approach presents the advantage that the authentication is based on the signal itself rather than the recording format. Thus, it is valid for usual recording devices in police-controlled telephone intercepts. In addition, our proposal allows for the introduction of relevant information such as the recording date and time and all the relevant data (this is not always possible with classical systems). Our experimental results reveal that the speech watermarking procedure does not interfere in a significant way with the posterior forensic speaker identification.

  7. Telephone follow-up to a mail survey: when to offer an interview compared to a reminder call

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ziegenfuss Jeanette Y

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Using a different mode of contact on the final follow-up to survey non-respondents is an identified strategy to increase response rates. This study was designed to determine if a reminder phone call or a phone interview as a final mode of contact to a mailed survey works better to increase response rates and which strategy is more cost effective. Methods A randomized study was embedded within a survey study of individuals treated with ulcerative colitis conducted in March 2009 in Olmsted County, Minnesota. After two mail contacts, non-respondents were randomly assigned to either a reminder telephone call or a telephone interview. Average cost per completed interview and response rates were compared between the two experimental conditions. Results The response rate in the reminder group and the interview did not differ where we considered both a completed survey and a signed form a complete (24% vs. 29%, p = 0.08. However, if such a signed form was not required, there was a substantial advantage to completing the interview over the phone (24% vs. 43%, p Conclusions The additional cost of completing an interview is worth it when an additional signed form is not required of the respondent. However, when such a signed form is required, offering an interview instead of a reminder phone call as a follow up to non-respondents does not increase response rates enough to outweigh the additional costs.

  8. Comparison of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Quality Between Standard Versus Telephone-Basic Life Support Training Program in Middle-Aged and Elderly Housewives: A Randomized Simulation Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Tae Han; Lee, Yu Jin; Lee, Eui Jung; Ro, Young Sun; Lee, KyungWon; Lee, Hyeona; Jang, Dayea Beatrice; Song, Kyoung Jun; Shin, Sang Do; Myklebust, Helge; Birkenes, Tonje Søraas

    2018-02-01

    For cardiac arrests witnessed at home, the witness is usually a middle-aged or older housewife. We compared the quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) performance of bystanders trained with the newly developed telephone-basic life support (T-BLS) program and those trained with standard BLS (S-BLS) training programs. Twenty-four middle-aged and older housewives without previous CPR education were enrolled and randomized into two groups of BLS training programs. The T-BLS training program included concepts and current instruction protocols for telephone-assisted CPR, whereas the S-BLS training program provided training for BLS. After each training course, the participants simulated CPR and were assisted by a dispatcher via telephone. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation quality was measured and recorded using a mannequin simulator. The primary outcome was total no-flow time (>1.5 seconds without chest compression) during simulation. Among 24 participants, two (8.3%) who experienced mechanical failure of simulation mannequin and one (4.2%) who violated simulation protocols were excluded at initial simulation, and two (8.3%) refused follow-up after 6 months. The median (interquartile range) total no-flow time during initial simulation was 79.6 (66.4-96.9) seconds for the T-BLS training group and 147.6 (122.5-184.0) seconds for the S-BLS training group (P trained with the T-BLS training program showed shorter no-flow time and fewer interruptions during bystander CPR simulation assisted by a dispatcher.

  9. Comparing the effects of education using telephone follow-up and smartphone-based social networking follow-up on self-management behaviors among patients with hypertension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Najafi Ghezeljeh, Tahereh; Sharifian, Sanaz; Nasr Isfahani, Mehdi; Haghani, Hamid

    2018-03-05

    Little is known about the benefits of social networks in the management of patients. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of self-management (SM) education using telephone follow-up and mobile phone-based social networking on SM behaviors among patients with hypertension. This randomized clinical trial was conducted with 100 patients. They were randomly allocated to four groups: (i) control, (ii) SM training without follow-up, (iii) telephone follow-up and (iv) smartphone-based social networking follow-up. The hypertension SM behavior questionnaire was used for data collection before and six weeks after the study. Those patients who underwent SM education training (with and without follow-up) had statistically significant differences from those in the control group in terms of SM behaviors (p social networking follow-up influenced SM behaviors among patients with hypertension.

  10. A 3-Arm randomised controlled trial of Communicating Healthy Beginnings Advice by Telephone (CHAT to mothers with infants to prevent childhood obesity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Ming Wen

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background With an increasing prevalence of obesity in young children globally, there is an urgent need for the development of effective early interventions. A previous Healthy Beginnings Trial using a nurse-led home visiting program has demonstrated that providing mothers with evidence-based advice can improve maternal practice regarding obesity prevention, and can reduce Body Mass Index (BMI in the first few years of life. However, the costs for scale-up of home visiting limit its population reach. This trial aims to determine the efficacy of Communicating Healthy Beginnings Advice by Telephone (CHAT to mothers with infants in improving infant feeding practices and preventing the early onset of childhood overweight and obesity. Methods/Design We propose a 3-arm randomised controlled trial (RCT with a consecutive sample of 1056 mothers with their newborn children in New South Wales (NSW Australia. Pregnant women who are between weeks 28 and 34 of their pregnancy will be invited to participate in the CHAT trial. Informed consent will be obtained, and after baseline data collection, participants will be randomly allocated to the telephone intervention, text messaging intervention, or the control group. The intervention comprises telephone consultations or text messages, together with 6 intervention packages being mailed at specific times from the third trimester of pregnancy until 12 months post birth. The main trial outcome measures include a duration of breastfeeding, b timing of introduction of solids, c nutrition behaviours, physical activity and television viewing, and d weight and BMI z-score at 12 and 24 months, e cost-effectiveness, as well as f feasibility and acceptability of the interventions. Discussion The results will ascertain whether early intervention using telephone consultation or text messaging together with staged mailed intervention resources can be feasible and effective in improving infant feeding practices

  11. Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial of telephone-delivered cognitive behavior therapy compared with befriending for treating depression and anxiety in older adults with COPD

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Doyle C

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Colleen Doyle,1 David Dunt,2 David Ames,3 Marcia Fearn,3 Emily (Chuanmei You,1 Sunil Bhar41Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; 2Centre for Health Policy, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; 3National Ageing Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; 4Department of Psychological Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, AustraliaBackground: COPD is an umbrella term to describe chronic lung diseases that cause limitations in lung airflow, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis. The prevalence of depression and anxiety in people with COPD is high, although these comorbidities are often undiagnosed, untreated, or undertreated. There is a need to identify efficacious treatments for depression and anxiety in people with COPD. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT for the treatment of anxiety and depression has a strong evidence base. There has been some success delivering this treatment over the telephone in limited studies. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of both telephone-administered CBT and befriending on outcomes for patients with diagnosed COPD who have at least mild levels of depression and/or anxiety.Methods: The protocol described in this paper is of a pragmatic randomized controlled trial comparing eight sessions of telephone CBT to an active social control, referred to as befriending. Primary outcome measures will include depression and anxiety symptoms, and secondary outcome measures will include quality of life, self-efficacy, and COPD symptom severity. Participants’ satisfaction with the intervention and therapeutic alliance will also be assessed. Measures will be taken pre- and postdelivery of the intervention and again at 8 weeks following the intervention.Conclusion: People with COPD often have limitations to their mobility because of their breathlessness. They are often already attending many medical appointments and could be reluctant to attend for

  12. Patients’ general satisfaction with telephone counseling by pharmacists and effects on satisfaction with information and beliefs about medicines: results from a cluster randomized trial.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kooy, M.J.; Geffen, E.C.G. van; Heerdink, E.R.; Dijk, L. van; Bouvy, M.L.

    2015-01-01

    Objective: Assess effects of pharmacists’ counseling by telephone on patients’ satisfaction with counseling, satisfaction with information and beliefs about medicines for newly prescribed medicines. Methods: A cluster randomized trial in Dutch community pharmacies. Patients ≥18 years were included

  13. Patients' general satisfaction with telephone counseling by pharmacists and effects on satisfaction with information and beliefs about medicines : Results from a cluster randomized trial

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kooy, Marcel Jan; Van Geffen, Erica C G; Heerdink, Eibert R.; Van Dijk, Liset; Bouvy, Marcel L.

    2015-01-01

    Assess effects of pharmacists' counseling by telephone on patients' satisfaction with counseling, satisfaction with information and beliefs about medicines for newly prescribed medicines. Methods: A cluster randomized trial in Dutch community pharmacies. Patients ≥18 years were included when

  14. Characteristics of Participants in Australia's Get Healthy Telephone-Based Lifestyle Information and Coaching Service: Reaching Disadvantaged Communities and Those Most at Need

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Hara, Blythe J.; Phongsavan, Philayrath; Venugopal, Kamalesh; Bauman, Adrian E.

    2011-01-01

    To address increasing rates of overweight and obesity, a population-based telephone intervention was introduced in New South Wales, Australia. The Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service[R] (GHS) offered participants a 6-month coaching program or detailed self-help information. Determining the population reach of GHS is of public health…

  15. Acoustic neuroma risk in relation to mobile telephone use: Results of the INTERPHONE international case-control study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Berg-Beckhoff, Gabi

    2011-01-01

    Background: The rapid increase in mobile telephone use has generated concern about possible health risks of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from these devices. Methods: A case-control study of 1105 patients with newly diagnosed acoustic neuroma (vestibular schwannoma) and 2145 controls...... was conducted in 13 countries using a common protocol. Past mobile phone use was assessed by personal interview. In the primary analysis, exposure time was censored at one year before the reference date (date of diagnosis for cases and date of diagnosis of the matched case for controls); analyses censoring...

  16. Reliability and validity of the telephone version of the Cantonese Mini-mental State Examination (T-CMMSE) when used with elderly patients with and without dementia in Hong Kong.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Shui Sang; Fong, Kenneth Nai Kuen

    2009-04-01

    The objectives of this study were to examine the reliability and validity of a 26-point telephone version of the Cantonese Mini-mental State Examination (T-CMMSE) for a sample of 65 elderly patients, comprising 31 patients without dementia and 34 patients with dementia, in an acute regional hospital in Hong Kong, and to identify an optimal cut-off score to discriminate between those patients with dementia and those without. Participants were rated by using the face-to-face Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) before inpatient discharge and the T-CMMSE after inpatient discharge, and were rated separately by two raters in two telephone follow-up sessions using the T-CMMSE. The results of the study indicated that the scale had excellent inter-and intra-rater reliabilities. There was substantial agreement between the two versions of the examination (kappa > 0.6-0.8 < or =) for orientation, registration, and recall items. An optimal cut-off score of < or = 16 was suggested for the T-CMMSE to discriminate between those with and without dementia. The T-CMMSE can be used in telephone follow-ups as an alternative to the conventional face-to-face version.

  17. Development of a Telephone Interview Version of the Chedoke-McMaster Stroke Assessment Activity Inventory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barclay, Ruth; Miller, Patricia A; Pooyania, Sepideh; Stratford, Paul

    Purpose: To develop a telephone version of the Chedoke-McMaster Stroke Assessment Activity Inventory (CMSA-AI) and estimate the test-retest reliability, interrater reliability (between participant and proxy), and construct validity of the scores for individuals with stroke. Methods: Adults with stroke and their caregivers or proxies were included. Participants were assessed with the CMSA-AI at discharge from a stroke rehabilitation unit and interviewed using the telephone version (TCMSA-AI). Two months after discharge, participants were evaluated with the CMSA-AI and interviewed over the phone using the TCMSA-AI on two occasions 2-3 days apart. Proxies were interviewed with the TCMSA-AI within another 2-3 days. Results: The mean age of the 53 participants with stroke was 62 years; 59% were male; 43% had right-side hemiparesis; 42 completed follow-up interviews; and 18 had proxies who also participated. Test-retest reliability showed an intra-class correlation coefficient of 0.98 (95% CI: 0.96, 0.99) for the total score, 0.96 (95% CI: 0.91, 0.98) for the Gross Motor Function Index, and 0.96 (95% CI: 0.91, 0.98) for the Walking Index, and an interrater reliability (between participant and proxy) of 0.75 (95% CI: 0.28, 0.90) for total score. Spearman's rho correlation between CMSA-AI and TCMSA-AI total scores was 0.62 (lower-sided 95% CI: 0.42) at discharge and 0.90 (lower-sided 95% CI: 0.82) at 2 months after discharge. Correlations between the change scores of the CMSA-AI and TCMSA-AI were 0.50 or lower. Conclusion: There is potential for remote evaluation of the functional mobility of individuals with stroke in research and clinical settings.

  18. Understanding reasons for asthma outpatient (non)-attendance and exploring the role of telephone and e-consulting in facilitating access to care: exploratory qualitative study.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Baar, J.D. van; Joosten, H.; Car, J.; Freeman, G.; Partridge, M.R.; Weel, C. van; Sheikh, A.

    2006-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To understand factors influencing patients' decisions to attend for outpatient follow up consultations for asthma and to explore patients' attitudes to telephone and email consultations in facilitating access to asthma care. DESIGN: Exploratory qualitative study using in depth interviews.

  19. The effects of a pedometer-based behavioral modification program with telephone support on physical activity and sedentary behavior in type 2 diabetes patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Greef, Karlijn P; Deforche, Benedicte I; Ruige, Johannes B; Bouckaert, Jacques J; Tudor-Locke, Catrine E; Kaufman, Jean-Marc; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse M

    2011-08-01

    Effectiveness of a behavioral modification program on physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior in diabetes patients. Ninety-two patients were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group. The 24-weeks intervention consisted of a face-to-face session, pedometer and seven telephone follow-ups. Mean selection criteria were 35-75 years; 25-35 kg/m(2); ≤ 12% HbA1c, treated for type 2 diabetes; no PA limitations. PA and sedentary behavior were measured by pedometer, accelerometer and questionnaire over the short- (24 weeks) and intermediate- (1 year) term. The intervention group increased their steps/day by 2744, their total PA by 23 min/day (pbehavior by 23 min/day (pbehavior (pbehavioral modification program with telephone support showed lasting positive effects on steps/day, PA and sedentary behavior. This study tested a convenient way to increase PA among type 2 diabetes patients. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Aligning everyday life priorities with people's self-management support networks: an exploration of the work and implementation of a needs-led telephone support system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blickem, Christian; Kennedy, Anne; Jariwala, Praksha; Morris, Rebecca; Bowen, Robert; Vassilev, Ivaylo; Brooks, Helen; Blakeman, Tom; Rogers, Anne

    2014-06-17

    Recent initiatives to target the personal, social and clinical needs of people with long-term health conditions have had limited impact within primary care. Evidence of the importance of social networks to support people with long-term conditions points to the need for self-management approaches which align personal circumstances with valued activities. The Patient-Led Assessment for Network Support (PLANS) intervention is a needs-led assessment for patients to prioritise their health and social needs and provide access to local community services and activities. Exploring the work and practices of patients and telephone workers are important for understanding and evaluating the workability and implementation of new interventions. Qualitative methods (interviews, focus group, observations) were used to explore the experience of PLANS from the perspectives of participants and the telephone support workers who delivered it (as part of an RCT) and the reasons why the intervention worked or not. Normalisation Process Theory (NPT) was used as a sensitising tool to evaluate: the relevance of PLANS to patients (coherence); the processes of engagement (cognitive participation); the work done for PLANS to happen (collective action); the perceived benefits and costs of PLANS (reflexive monitoring). 20 patients in the intervention arm of a clinical trial were interviewed and their telephone support calls were recorded and a focus group with 3 telephone support workers was conducted. Analysis of the interviews, support calls and focus group identified three themes in relation to the delivery and experience of PLANS. These are: formulation of 'health' in the context of everyday life; trajectories and tipping points: disrupting everyday routines; precarious trust in networks. The relevance of these themes are considered using NPT constructs in terms of the work that is entailed in engaging with PLANS, taking action, and who is implicated this process. PLANS gives scope to align

  1. Under-triage in telephone consultation is related to non-normative symptom description and interpersonal communication: a mixed methods study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gamst-Jensen, Hejdi; Lippert, Freddy K; Egerod, Ingrid

    2017-05-15

    Telephone consultation and triage are used to limit the workload on emergency departments. Lack of visual cues and clinical tests put telephone consultations to a disadvantage compared to face-to-face consultations increasing the risk of under-triage. Under-triage occurs in telephone triage; however why under-triage happens is not explored yet. The aim of the study was to describe situations of under-triage in context, to assess the quality of under-triaged calls, and to identify communication patterns contributing to under-triage in a regional OOH service in the capital region of Denmark. Explanatory simultaneous mixed method with thematic analysis and descriptive statistics was chosen. The study was carried out in an Out-Of-Hours service (OOH) in the Capital Region of Denmark, Copenhagen. Under-triage was defined as Potentially Under-Triaged Calls (PUTC) by specific criteria to an OOH Hotline, and identification by integration of three databases: Medical Hotline database, Emergency number database, including the Ambulance database, and electronic patient records. Distribution of PUTC were carried out using ICD-10 codes to identify diagnosis and main themes identified by qualitative analysis of audio recorded under-triaged calls. Study period was October 15 th to November 30 th 2014. Three hundred twenty seven PUTC were identified, representing 0.04% of all calls (n = 937.056) to the OOH. Distribution of PUTC according to diagnoses was: digestive (24%), circulatory (19%), respiratory (15%) and all others (42%). Thematic analysis of the voice logs suggested that inadequate communication and non-normative symptom description contributed to under-triage. The incidence of potentially under-triage is low (0.04%). However, the over-representation of digestive, circulatory, and respiratory diagnoses might suggest that under-triage is related to inadequate symptom description. We recommend that caller and call-handler collaborate systematically on problem

  2. A randomised controlled trial of an active telephone-based recruitment strategy to increase childcare-service staff attendance at a physical activity and nutrition training workshop.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoong, Sze Lin; Wolfenden, Luke; Finch, Meghan; Williams, Amanda; Dodds, Pennie; Gillham, Karen; Wyse, Rebecca

    2013-12-01

    Centre-based childcare services represent a promising setting to target the prevention of excessive weight gain in preschool-aged children. Staff training is a key component of multi-strategy interventions to improve implementation of effective physical activity and nutrition promoting practices for obesity prevention in childcare services. This randomised controlled trial aimed to examine whether an active telephone-based strategy to invite childcare-service staff to attend a training workshop was effective in increasing the proportion of services with staff attending training, compared with a passive strategy. Services were randomised to an active telephone-based or a passive-recruitment strategy. Those in the active arm received an email invitation and one to three follow-up phone calls, whereas services in the passive arm were informed of the availability of training only via newsletters. The proportion of services with staff attending the training workshop was compared between the two arms. One hundred and twenty-eight services were included in this study. A significantly larger proportion (52%) of services in the active arm compared with those in the passive-strategy arm (3.1%) attended training (d.f.=1, χ2=34.3; Pstaff attending training. Further strategies to improve staff attendance at training need to be identified and implemented. SO WHAT?: Active-recruitment strategies including follow-up telephone calls should be utilised to invite staff to participate in training, in order to maximise the use of training as an implementation strategy for obesity prevention in childcare services.

  3. Telephone and Face-to-Face Interviews with Low-Income Males with Child Care Responsibilities Support Inclusion as a Target Audience in SNAP-Ed.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krall, Jodi Stotts; Wamboldt, Patricia; Lohse, Barbara

    2015-06-01

    Federally funded nutrition programs mostly target females. Changes in family dynamics suggest low-income men have an important role in food management responsibilities. The purpose of this study was to inform nutrition education program planning to meet needs of lower-income males. Cross-sectional telephone and face-to-face interviews. Stratified random sample of men (n = 101), 18-59 years of age, with child care responsibilities, living in households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and a convenience sample of adult males (n = 25) recruited from lower income venues. (1) Scripted telephone interviews about health status, eating behaviors, eating competence, food security, technology usage and topics and strategies for nutrition education. (2) In-person cognitive interviews during review of selected online nutrition education lessons. Nutrition education topics of interest, preferred educational strategies, influences on and barriers to intake, eating competence, critiques of online program content, graphics, format. Bivariate correlations, independent t tests, one-way analysis of variance or Chi square, as appropriate. Thematic analyses of cognitive interviews. Of telephone interviewees, 92.1% prepared meals/snacks for children and 54.5% made major household food decisions. Taste was the greatest influence on food selection and the greatest barrier to eating healthful foods. Topics of highest interest were "which foods are best for kids" and "how to eat more healthy foods." Preferred nutrition education strategies included online delivery. Online lessons were highly rated. Interactive components were recognized as particularly appealing; enhanced male centricity of lessons was supported. Findings provided compelling evidence for including needs specific to low-income males when planning, designing, and funding nutrition education programs.

  4. [Validation of the telephone call as a method for measuring compliance to arterial hypertension treatment in Extremadura].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Espinosa-García, J; Cobaleda-Polo, J; González-Velasco, M; Fernández-Bergés, D

    2014-10-01

    Pharmacological non-compliance is a significant problem that can affect patient health. The main aim of this investigation is to validate the telephone call to the patient' home as a self-report method of counting the amount of tablets taken by the patient, as an alternative method to a simple tablet count in the clinic (gold standard). An observational, multicentre, prospective, and longitudinal study was conducted by 25 researchers in different health centres in Extremadura, and which included 125 consecutively enrolled patients with uncontrolled arterial hypertension, 121 ended the study. Three visits were made, including enrollment visit, follow-up visit at 4 weeks, and final visit at 8 weeks. A telephone call was made prior to the enrollment and final visit to remind the patients of the next visit, and to ask at the same time about the number of tablets remaining. A total of 121 patients completed the study. In the final visit, the phone-call method of compliance showed: 100% sensitivity, 86% specificity, 86.8% of overall accuracy, 30.4% PPV, 100% NPV, CP+ 7.13, CP- 0.0, and a kappa index of 0.415 (Pphone call, as a therapeutic compliance method, can be a good alternative due to being almost universal, easy to use, its reduced cost, and without the need of patients to go to the medical centres. Copyright © 2013 Sociedad Española de Médicos de Atención Primaria (SEMERGEN). Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

  5. The stabbing of Amelia (or how was extinguished the married women discrimination from the argentinian telephone service

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dora Barrancos

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper highlights the tracks of Amelia C. Her life story as switchboard is relevant to understand the women' s discrimination in laboral market in the early twentieth century. This article will be focused on the marital satatus as pattern of female exclusion. The strategy used by Amelia against that pattern, although individual and even desperate, detonated a series of revisions of existing legislation that were supported by different groups in society. The corpus is based on records of the telephone company in which Amelia was employed for several years and the impact of their strategies in the local press.

  6. Sexual activity, fertility and contraceptive use in middle-aged and older men: Men in Australia, Telephone Survey (MATeS).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holden, C A; McLachlan, R I; Cumming, R; Wittert, G; Handelsman, D J; de Kretser, D M; Pitts, M

    2005-12-01

    With limited information regarding fertility and sexual activity in the older population, men's behaviour, attitudes and concerns were explored in a representative population of middle-aged and older men using the Men in Australia, Telephone Survey (MATeS). A stratified random national sample of 5990 men participated in a standardized computer-assisted telephone interview. Equal numbers in the age strata 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 and >or=70 years were surveyed with findings census-standardized to the national population. Broad aspects of men's health and well-being, including reproductive health, were explored. The majority of men were sexually active in the last 12 months (age-standardized proportion, 78.3%) with approximately 37% of men aged >or=70 years still continuing sexual activity. Overall, 12.2% of men had never fathered children, of whom most (7.7%) had chosen not to have children. Questioning on failed attempts to produce a pregnancy suggested an involuntary infertility rate of 7.6%. The age-standardized vasectomy rate was 25.1%, with 5.6% of vasectomized men having no children. Although 9.2% of vasectomized men regretted sterilization, only 1.4% had undergone vasectomy reversal. Continuing sexual activity, fertility and contraception needs in middle-aged and older men suggests that education and service delivery must be more appropriately directed to an ageing population.

  7. [The impact of a verbal consent form on the participation rate in a telephone survey].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacques, Christian; Ladouceur, Robert; Fournier, Patricia-Maude; Baillargeon, Lucie

    2009-03-01

    To assess the impact of a consent form on the participation rate in a telephone survey about gambling and money. Four different consent forms were tested. The first consent form globally met the academic ethics committee requirements, while the second and third forms excluded some elements. Finally, the fourth form was similar to the introduction generally used by private survey firms. Even when the consent form required by academic ethics committees was shortened, the private firm introduction led to the best participation rate. However, participants who received the private firm introduction indicated that they wished they had been better informed before the interview started. The discussion highlights the delicate situation of academic research wishing to meet ethics requirements as well as conduct valid and representative research.

  8. The Use of the Modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-M) in the Detection of Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

    OpenAIRE

    Cook, Sarah E.; Marsiske, Michael; McCoy, Karin J. M.

    2009-01-01

    Many screening tools for detecting cognitive decline require in-person assessment, which is often not cost effective or feasible for those with physical limitations. The Modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-M) has been used for screening dementia, but little is known about its usefulness in detecting amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI). Community-dwelling participants (mean age= 74.9, mean education= 16.1 years) were administered the TICS-M during initial screening an...

  9. Telephone cognitive-behavioral therapy for adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder: a randomized controlled non-inferiority trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turner, Cynthia M; Mataix-Cols, David; Lovell, Karina; Krebs, Georgina; Lang, Katie; Byford, Sarah; Heyman, Isobel

    2014-12-01

    Many adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) do not have access to evidence-based treatment. A randomized controlled non-inferiority trial was conducted in a specialist OCD clinic to evaluate the effectiveness of telephone cognitive-behavioral therapy (TCBT) for adolescents with OCD compared to standard clinic-based, face-to-face CBT. Seventy-two adolescents, aged 11 through 18 years with primary OCD, and their parents were randomized to receive specialist TCBT or CBT. The intervention provided differed only in the method of treatment delivery. All participants received up to 14 sessions of CBT, incorporating exposure with response prevention (E/RP), provided by experienced therapists. The primary outcome measure was the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS). Blind assessor ratings were obtained at midtreatment, posttreatment, 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month follow-up. Intent-to-treat analyses indicated that TCBT was not inferior to face-to-face CBT at posttreatment, 3-month, and 6-month follow-up. At 12-month follow-up, there were no significant between-group differences on the CY-BOCS, but the confidence intervals exceeded the non-inferiority threshold. All secondary measures confirmed non-inferiority at all assessment points. Improvements made during treatment were maintained through to 12-month follow-up. Participants in each condition reported high levels of satisfaction with the intervention received. TCBT is an effective treatment and is not inferior to standard clinic-based CBT, at least in the midterm. This approach provides a means of making a specialized treatment more accessible to many adolescents with OCD. Clinical trial registration information-Evaluation of telephone-administered cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) for young people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD); http://www.controlled-trials.com; ISRCTN27070832. Crown Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Utilizing Facebook and Automated Telephone Calls to Increase Adoption of a Local Smoke Alarm Installation Program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frattaroli, Shannon; Schulman, Eric; McDonald, Eileen M; Omaki, Elise C; Shields, Wendy C; Jones, Vanya; Brewer, William

    2018-05-17

    Innovative strategies are needed to improve the prevalence of working smoke alarms in homes. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report on the effectiveness of Facebook advertising and automated telephone calls as population-level strategies to encourage an injury prevention behavior. We examine the effectiveness of Facebook advertising and automated telephone calls as strategies to enroll individuals in Baltimore City's Fire Department's free smoke alarm installation program. We directed our advertising efforts toward Facebook users eligible for the Baltimore City Fire Department's free smoke alarm installation program and all homes with a residential phone line included in Baltimore City's automated call system. The Facebook campaign targeted Baltimore City residents 18 years of age and older. In total, an estimated 300 000 Facebook users met the eligibility criteria. Facebook advertisements were delivered to users' desktop and mobile device newsfeeds. A prerecorded message was sent to all residential landlines listed in the city's automated call system. By the end of the campaign, the 3 advertisements generated 456 666 impressions reaching 130 264 Facebook users. Of the users reached, 4367 individuals (1.3%) clicked the advertisement. The automated call system included approximately 90 000 residential phone numbers. Participants attributed 25 smoke alarm installation requests to Facebook and 458 to the automated call. Facebook advertisements are a novel approach to promoting smoke alarms and appear to be effective in exposing individuals to injury prevention messages. However, converting Facebook message recipients to users of a smoke alarm installation program occurred infrequently in this study. Residents who participated in the smoke alarm installation program were more likely to cite the automated call as the impetus for their participation. Additional research is needed to understand the circumstances and strategies to effectively use the social

  11. Telephone Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Adolescents With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Non-inferiority Trial

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turner, Cynthia M.; Mataix-Cols, David; Lovell, Karina; Krebs, Georgina; Lang, Katie; Byford, Sarah; Heyman, Isobel

    2014-01-01

    Objective Many adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) do not have access to evidence-based treatment. A randomized controlled non-inferiority trial was conducted in a specialist OCD clinic to evaluate the effectiveness of telephone cognitive-behavioral therapy (TCBT) for adolescents with OCD compared to standard clinic-based, face-to-face CBT. Method Seventy-two adolescents, aged 11 through 18 years with primary OCD, and their parents were randomized to receive specialist TCBT or CBT. The intervention provided differed only in the method of treatment delivery. All participants received up to 14 sessions of CBT, incorporating exposure with response prevention (E/RP), provided by experienced therapists. The primary outcome measure was the Children’s Yale–Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS). Blind assessor ratings were obtained at midtreatment, posttreatment, 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month follow-up. Results Intent-to-treat analyses indicated that TCBT was not inferior to face-to-face CBT at posttreatment, 3-month, and 6-month follow-up. At 12-month follow-up, there were no significant between-group differences on the CY-BOCS, but the confidence intervals exceeded the non-inferiority threshold. All secondary measures confirmed non-inferiority at all assessment points. Improvements made during treatment were maintained through to 12-month follow-up. Participants in each condition reported high levels of satisfaction with the intervention received. Conclusion TCBT is an effective treatment and is not inferior to standard clinic-based CBT, at least in the midterm. This approach provides a means of making a specialized treatment more accessible to many adolescents with OCD. Clinical trial registration information–Evaluation of telephone-administered cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) for young people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD); http://www.controlled-trials.com; ISRCTN27070832. PMID:25457928

  12. Cost-effectiveness analysis of telephone-based support for the management of pressure ulcers in people with spinal cord injury in India and Bangladesh.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arora, M; Harvey, L A; Glinsky, J V; Chhabra, H S; Hossain, M S; Arumugam, N; Bedi, P K; Cameron, I D; Hayes, A J

    2017-08-15

    To determine from a societal perspective the cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of telephone-based support for management of pressure ulcers. Cost-effectiveness and cost-utility analysis of a randomised clinical trial. Tertiary centre in India and Bangladesh. An economic evaluation was conducted alongside a randomised clinical trial comparing 12 weeks of telephone-based support (intervention group) with usual care (control group). The analyses evaluated costs and health outcomes in terms of cm 2 reduction of pressure ulcers size and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained. All costs were in Indian Rupees (INR) and then converted to US dollars (USD). The mean (95% confidence interval) between-group difference for the reduction in size of pressure ulcers was 0.53 (-3.12 to 4.32) cm 2 , favouring the intervention group. The corresponding QALYs were 0.027 (0.004-0.051), favouring the intervention group. The mean total cost per participant in the intervention group was INR 43 781 (USD 2460) compared to INR 42 561 (USD 2391) for the control group. The per participant cost of delivering the intervention was INR 2110 (USD 119). The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was INR 2306 (USD 130) per additional cm 2 reduction in the size of the pressure ulcer and INR 44 915 (USD 2523) per QALY gained. In terms of QALYs, telephone-based support to help people manage pressure ulcers at home provides good value for money and has an 87% probability of being cost-effective, based on 3 times gross domestic product. Sensitivity analyses were performed using the overall cost data with and without productivity costs, and did not alter this conclusion.Spinal Cord advance online publication, 15 August 2017; doi:10.1038/sc.2017.87.

  13. Out-of-office hours nurse-driven acute telephone counselling service in a large diabetes outpatient clinic

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Due-Christensen, Mette; Kaldan, Gudrun; Almdal, Thomas P

    2015-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To map the usage of out-of-office hours acute telephone counselling (ATC) provided by diabetes specialist nurses (n=18) for diabetes patients to explore potentials for improvement. METHODS: A mixed methods study involved mapping of ATC-usage during 6 months and a retrospective audit...... attending the clinic (pcommunity (n=619) and general nurses and nursing assistants based in care homes (n=1018). The majority (75......%) of patients called less than five times. However, 8% called 16 times or more accounting for 52% of all calls. A retrospective audit identified them as physically and/or psychologically fragile patients. CONCLUSION: Hyperglycaemia was the most frequent reason for calling, and insulin dose adjustment the most...

  14. Trained student pharmacists’ telephonic collection of patient medication information: Evaluation of a structured interview tool

    Science.gov (United States)

    Margolis, Amanda R.; Martin, Beth A.; Mott, David A.

    2016-01-01

    Objective To determine the feasibility and fidelity of student pharmacists collecting patient medication list information using a structured interview tool and the accuracy of documenting the information. The medication lists were used by a community pharmacist to provide a targeted medication therapy management (MTM) intervention. Design Descriptive analysis of patient medication lists collected via telephone interviews. Participants 10 trained student pharmacists collected the medication lists. Intervention Trained student pharmacists conducted audio-recorded telephone interviews with 80 English-speaking community dwelling older adults using a structured interview tool to collect and document medication lists. Main outcome measures Feasibility was measured using the number of completed interviews, the time student pharmacists took to collect the information, and pharmacist feedback. Fidelity to the interview tool was measured by assessing student pharmacists’ adherence to asking all scripted questions and probes. Accuracy was measured by comparing the audio recorded interviews to the medication list information documented in an electronic medical record. Results On average it took student pharmacists 26.7 minutes to collect the medication lists. The community pharmacist said the medication lists were complete and that having the medication lists saved time and allowed him to focus on assessment, recommendations, and education during the targeted MTM session. Fidelity was high with an overall proportion of asked scripted probes of 83.75% (95%CI: 80.62–86.88%). Accuracy was also high for both prescription (95.1%, 95%CI: 94.3–95.8%) and non-prescription (90.5%, 95%CI: 89.4–91.4%) medications. Conclusion Trained student pharmacists were able to use an interview tool to collect and document medication lists with a high degree of fidelity and accuracy. This study suggests that student pharmacists or trained technicians may be able to collect patient medication

  15. Trained student pharmacists' telephonic collection of patient medication information: Evaluation of a structured interview tool.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Margolis, Amanda R; Martin, Beth A; Mott, David A

    2016-01-01

    To determine the feasibility and fidelity of student pharmacists collecting patient medication list information using a structured interview tool and the accuracy of documenting the information. The medication lists were used by a community pharmacist to provide a targeted medication therapy management (MTM) intervention. Descriptive analysis of patient medication lists collected with telephone interviews. Ten trained student pharmacists collected the medication lists. Trained student pharmacists conducted audio-recorded telephone interviews with 80 English-speaking, community-dwelling older adults using a structured interview tool to collect and document medication lists. Feasibility was measured using the number of completed interviews, the time student pharmacists took to collect the information, and pharmacist feedback. Fidelity to the interview tool was measured by assessing student pharmacists' adherence to asking all scripted questions and probes. Accuracy was measured by comparing the audio-recorded interviews to the medication list information documented in an electronic medical record. On average, it took student pharmacists 26.7 minutes to collect the medication lists. The community pharmacist said the medication lists were complete and that having the medication lists saved time and allowed him to focus on assessment, recommendations, and education during the targeted MTM session. Fidelity was high, with an overall proportion of asked scripted probes of 83.75% (95% confidence interval [CI], 80.62-86.88%). Accuracy was also high for both prescription (95.1%; 95% CI, 94.3-95.8%) and nonprescription (90.5%; 95% CI, 89.4-91.4%) medications. Trained student pharmacists were able to use an interview tool to collect and document medication lists with a high degree of fidelity and accuracy. This study suggests that student pharmacists or trained technicians may be able to collect patient medication lists to facilitate MTM sessions in the community pharmacy

  16. Internet delivered transdiagnostic treatment with telephone support for pain patients with emotional comorbidity: a replicated single case study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matilda Wurm

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available In pain patients, comorbid emotional problems have been linked to negative outcomes, including suboptimal treatment gains. Developing parsimonious and accessible treatment options is therefore important. The overarching aim of this study was to test an internet delivered therapist guided transdiagnostic treatment with telephone support. An adapted version of the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatments of Emotional Disorders was used as an intervention for pain patients with residual pain problems and comorbid emotional problems after having received a multimodal pain rehabilitation. The study used a replicated AB single case experimental design (N = 5; 3 females. Outcome measures were depressive and general anxiety symptoms, pain intensity, pain coping problems, and diagnostic status. Feasibility measures (completion and compliance and patient satisfaction were also assessed. Scores on Nonoverlap of All Pairs (NAP indicate a decrease of anxiety for three participants and a decrease of depression for four participants. Decreases were small and did not always reach statistical significance. Also, Tau-U scores could only confirm a reliable trend for one participant. Two out of four patients who were diagnosed with psychiatric disorders before treatment did no longer fulfill diagnostic criteria posttreatment. No improvements could be seen on pain problems. The treatment was feasible and patient satisfaction was high. Hence, while an internet delivered transdiagnostic treatment with telephone support may be a feasible and accepted secondary intervention for pain patients with comorbid emotional problems, the effects are unclear. The gap between high patient satisfaction and small changes in symptomatology should be explored further.

  17. The impact of a state-sponsored mass media campaign on use of telephone quitline and web-based cessation services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duke, Jennifer C; Mann, Nathan; Davis, Kevin C; MacMonegle, Anna; Allen, Jane; Porter, Lauren

    2014-12-24

    Most US smokers do not use evidence-based interventions as part of their quit attempts. Quitlines and Web-based treatments may contribute to reductions in population-level tobacco use if successfully promoted. Currently, few states implement sustained media campaigns to promote services and increase adult smoking cessation. This study examines the effects of Florida's tobacco cessation media campaign and a nationally funded media campaign on telephone quitline and Web-based registrations for cessation services from November 2010 through September 2013. We conducted multivariable analyses of weekly media-market-level target rating points (TRPs) and weekly registrations for cessation services through the Florida Quitline (1-877-U-CAN-NOW) or its Web-based cessation service, Web Coach (www.quitnow.net/florida). During 35 months, 141,221 tobacco users registered for cessation services through the Florida Quitline, and 53,513 registered through Web Coach. An increase in 100 weekly TRPs was associated with an increase of 7 weekly Florida Quitline registrants (β = 6.8, P Web Coach registrants (β = 1.7, P = .003) in an average media market. An increase in TRPs affected registrants from multiple demographic subgroups similarly. When state and national media campaigns aired simultaneously, approximately one-fifth of Florida's Quitline registrants came from the nationally advertised portal (1-800-QUIT-NOW). Sustained, state-sponsored media can increase the number of registrants to telephone quitlines and Web-based cessation services. Federally funded media campaigns can further increase the reach of state-sponsored cessation services.

  18. Back to the future – feasibility of recruitment and retention to patient education and telephone follow-up after hip fracture: a pilot randomized controlled trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Langford DP

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Dolores P Langford,1,2 Lena Fleig,3–5 Kristin C Brown,3,4 Nancy J Cho,1,2 Maeve Frost,1 Monique Ledoyen,1 Jayne Lehn,1 Kostas Panagiotopoulos,1,6 Nina Sharpe,1 Maureen C Ashe3,4 1Vancouver Coastal Health, 2Department of Physical Therapy, The University of British Columbia (UBC, 3Department of Family Practice, The University of British Columbia (UBC, 4Centre for Hip Health and Mobility, Vancouver, BC, Canada; 5Freie Universität Berlin, Health Psychology, Berlin, Germany; 6Department of Orthopaedics, The University of British Columbia (UBC, Vancouver, BC, Canada Objectives: Our primary aim of this pilot study was to test feasibility of the planned design, the interventions (education plus telephone coaching, and the outcome measures, and to facilitate a power calculation for a future randomized controlled trial to improve adherence to recovery goals following hip fracture.Design: This is a parallel 1:1 randomized controlled feasibility study.Setting: The study was conducted in a teaching hospital in Vancouver, BC, Canada.Participants: Participants were community-dwelling adults over 60 years of age with a recent hip fracture. They were recruited and assessed in hospital, and then randomized after hospital discharge to the intervention or control group by a web-based randomization service. Treatment allocation was concealed to the investigators, measurement team, and data entry assistants and analysts. Participants and the research physiotherapist were aware of treatment allocation.Intervention: Intervention included usual care for hip fracture plus a 1-hour in-hospital educational session using a patient-centered educational manual and four videos, and up to five postdischarge telephone calls from a physiotherapist to provide recovery coaching. The control group received usual care plus a 1-hour in-hospital educational session using the educational manual and videos.Measurement: Our primary outcome was feasibility, specifically recruitment

  19. Remote monitoring of cathodic protection rectifiers of the Bolivia-Brazil Gas Pipeline using low orbit satellite telephone; Monitoracao remota de retificadores de protecao catodica do Gasoduto Bolivia-Brasil utilizando telefone via satelite de baixa orbita

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Coelho, Jorge Fernando Pereira [TBG - Transportadora Brasileira Gasoduto Bolivia Brasil S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

    2003-07-01

    The present paper has for objective to present the information collected during definitions, development, implementation, testing and operation phases of the Pilot System for monitoring of the Cathodic Protection Rectifiers MS-10 and SP-09, installed on the Bolivia-Brazil Gas Pipeline. The adopted solution for the Pilot System includes, basically, communication through low-earth satellite telephone, inter linked to the public telephone net, acquisition and data transmission system (Remote Terminal Unit) and data reception in the Supervision and Control Room. (author)

  20. Telephone-based disease management: why it does not save money.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Motheral, Brenda R

    2011-01-01

    To understand why the current telephone-based model of disease management (DM) does not provide cost savings and how DM can be retooled based on the best available evidence to deliver better value. Literature review. The published peer-reviewed evaluations of DM and transitional care models from 1990 to 2010 were reviewed. Also examined was the cost-effectiveness literature on the treatment of chronic conditions that are commonly included in DM programs, including heart failure, diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, and asthma. First, transitional care models, which have historically been confused with commercial DM programs, can provide credible savings over a short period, rendering them low-hanging fruit for plan sponsors who desire real savings. Second, cost-effectiveness research has shown that the individual activities that constitute contemporary DM programs are not cost saving except for heart failure. Targeting of specific patients and activity combinations based on risk, actionability, treatment and program effectiveness, and costs will be necessary to deliver a cost-saving DM program, combined with an outreach model that brings vendors closer to the patient and physician. Barriers to this evidence-driven approach include resources required, marketability, and business model disruption. After a decade of market experimentation with limited success, new thinking is called for in the design of DM programs. A program design that is based on a cost-effectiveness approach, combined with greater program efficacy, will allow for the development of DM programs that are cost saving.

  1. Telephone health services in the field of rare diseases: a qualitative interview study examining the needs of patients, relatives, and health care professionals in Germany.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Babac, Ana; Frank, Martin; Pauer, Frédéric; Litzkendorf, Svenja; Rosenfeldt, Daniel; Lührs, Verena; Biehl, Lisa; Hartz, Tobias; Storf, Holger; Schauer, Franziska; Wagner, Thomas O F; Graf von der Schulenburg, J-Matthias

    2018-02-09

    Rare diseases are, by definition, very serious and chronic diseases with a high negative impact on quality of life. Approximately 350 million people worldwide live with rare diseases. The resulting high disease burden triggers health information search, but helpful, high-quality, and up-to-date information is often hard to find. Therefore, the improvement of health information provision has been integrated in many national plans for rare diseases, discussing the telephone as one access option. In this context, this study examines the need for a telephone service offering information for people affected by rare diseases, their relatives, and physicians. In total, 107 individuals participated in a qualitative interview study conducted in Germany. Sixty-eight individuals suffering from a rare disease or related to somebody with rare diseases and 39 health care professionals took part. Individual interviews were conducted using a standardized semi-structured questionnaire. Interviews were analysed using the qualitative content analysis, triangulating patients, relatives, and health care professionals. The fulfilment of qualitative data processing standards has been controlled for. Out of 68 patients and relatives and 39 physicians, 52 and 18, respectively, advocated for the establishment of a rare diseases telephone service. Interviewees expected a helpline to include expert staffing, personal contact, good availability, low technical barriers, medical and psychosocial topics of counselling, guidance in reducing information chaos, and referrals. Health care professionals highlighted the importance of medical topics of counselling-in particular, differential diagnostics-and referrals. Therefore, the need for a national rare diseases helpline was confirmed in this study. Due to limited financial resources, existing offers should be adapted in a stepwise procedure in accordance with the identified attributes.

  2. Change of mobile telephony operator and mobile telephone numbers - 24 June 2015

    CERN Multimedia

    2015-01-01

    Following a call for tenders issued in 2014, Swisscom will replace Sunrise as CERN’s mobile telephony operator from 24 June 2015. As of this date, CERN mobile telephone numbers will change from the +41 (0)76 487 xxxx format to the +41 (0)75 411 xxxx format and people with a CERN mobile telephony subscription will need to change their SIM card.   SIM card replacement New SIM cards will be available for collection between 1 June and 30 June from distribution points located around CERN. Please check the list of distribution points to find where you will need to collect your SIM card based on your department and group. After 1st July, you will be able to collect your SIM card from the Telecom lab. Please open a SNOW request via this link if: you will not be at CERN in June, you are using a SIM card in a modem or other special device for machine-to-machine communications.   New mobile phone numbers CERN mobile numbers will change from the +41 (0)76 487 xxxx format to the +41...

  3. The Effects of a Combined Task Clarification, Goal Setting, Feedback, and Performance Contingent Consequence Intervention Package on Telephone Customer Service in a Medical Clinic Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slowiak, Julie M.; Madden, Gregory J.; Mathews, Ramona

    2006-01-01

    Appointment coordinators at a mid-western medical clinic were to provide exceptional telephone customer service. This included using a standard greeting, speaking in an appropriate tone of voice during the conversation, and using a standard closing to end the call. An analysis suggested performance deficiencies resulted from weak antecedents, poor…

  4. Very brief physician advice and supplemental proactive telephone calls to promote smoking reduction and cessation in Chinese male smokers with no intention to quit: a randomized trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Lei; He, Yao; Jiang, Bin; Zhang, Di; Tian, Hui; Zuo, Fang; Lam, Tai Hing

    2017-11-01

    There is inconsistent evidence that behavioural support to promote smoking reduction is effective at increasing smoking cessation. We examined the effectiveness of brief physician advice together with four very brief telephone calls in promoting smoking cessation among Chinese men via reduction compared with equivalent advice on diet and exercise. A two-group pragmatic randomized controlled trial. Male patients attending the Endocrinology and Acupuncture out-patient clinics of a general hospital in Beijing, China. Physicians advised participants allocated to the smoking-reduction intervention (SRI, n = 181) group to reduce smoking to at least half of their current consumption within 1 month at baseline. At follow-up, a telephone counsellor repeated this advice if the participant had not reduced their cigarette consumption. Participants who had reduced consumption were encouraged to quit smoking. Physicians gave participants in the exercise and diet advice (EDA, n = 188) control group brief advice about physical activity and healthy diet at baseline, and a telephone counsellor reinforced this at each follow-up interview. Both groups had one face-to-face interview at baseline plus five telephone interviews and interventions (approximately 1 minute each) at 1 week and 1-, 3-, 6- and 12-month follow-up. The primary outcome was self-reported 6-month prolonged abstinence rate at 12-month follow-up interview. By intention-to-treat, the self-reported 6-month prolonged abstinence rate at 12-month follow-up in the SRI groups (19 quitters, 15.7%) was higher, but not significantly, than the EDA control group (10 quitters, 7.8%), and the adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) was 2.26 (0.97-5.26), P = 0.062. The self-reported 7-day point prevalence quit rate (secondary outcome) in the SRI group was significantly higher than the control group at each follow-up interview (at 12-month follow-up: 13.3 versus 6.9%, OR (95% CI) = 2.09 (1.01, 4.34), P = 0

  5. Responses to language barriers in consultations with refugees and asylum seekers: a telephone survey of Irish general practitioners.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    MacFarlane, Anne

    2008-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Refugees and asylum seekers experience language barriers in general practice. Qualitative studies have found that responses to language barriers in general practice are ad hoc with use of both professional interpreters and informal interpreters (patients\\' relatives or friends). However, the scale of the issues involved is unknown. This study quantifies the need for language assistance in general practice consultations and examines the experience of, and satisfaction with, methods of language assistance utilized. METHODS: Data were collected by telephone survey with general practitioners in a regional health authority in Ireland between July-August 2004. Each respondent was asked a series of questions about consulting with refugees and asylum seekers, the need for language assistance and the kind of language assistance used. RESULTS: There was a 70% (n = 56\\/80) response rate to the telephone survey. The majority of respondents (77%) said that they had experienced consultations with refugees and asylum seekers in which language assistance was required. Despite this, general practitioners in the majority of cases managed without an interpreter or used informal methods of interpretation. In fact, when given a choice general practitioners would more often choose informal over professional methods of interpretation despite the fact that confidentiality was a significant concern. CONCLUSION: The need for language assistance in consultations with refugees and asylum seekers in Irish general practice is high. General practitioners rely on informal responses. It is necessary to improve knowledge about the organisational contexts that shape general practitioners responses. We also recommend dialogue between general practitioners, patients and interpreters about the relative merits of informal and professional methods of interpretation so that general practitioners\\' choices are responsive to the needs of patients with limited English.

  6. Evaluation of a Telephone-Delivered, Community-Based Collaborative Care Management Program for Caregivers of Older Adults with Dementia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mavandadi, Shahrzad; Wray, Laura O; DiFilippo, Suzanne; Streim, Joel; Oslin, David

    2017-09-01

    To evaluate whether a community-based, telephone-delivered, brief patient/caregiver-centered collaborative dementia care management intervention is associated with improved caregiver and care recipient (CR) outcomes. Longitudinal program evaluation of a clinical intervention; assessments at baseline and 3- and 6-month follow-up. General community. Caregivers (N = 440) of older, community-dwelling, low-income CRs prescribed a psychotropic medication by a primary care provider who met criteria for dementia and were enrolled in the SUpporting Seniors Receiving Treatment And INtervention (SUSTAIN) program for older adults. Dementia care management versus clinical evaluation only. Perceived caregiving burden and caregiver general health (primary outcomes); CR neuropsychiatric symptoms and caregiver distress in response to CRs' challenging dementia-related behaviors (secondary outcomes). Caregivers were, on average, 64.0 (SD: 11.8) years old and 62.6% provided care for the CR for 20 or more hours per week. The majority of the sample was female (73.2%), non-Hispanic White (90.2%), and spousal caregivers (72.5%). Adjusted longitudinal models of baseline and 3- and 6-month data suggest that compared with caregivers receiving clinical evaluation only, caregivers receiving care management reported greater reductions in burden over time. Subgroup analyses also showed statistically significant reductions in caregiver-reported frequency of CR dementia-related behaviors and caregiver distress in response to those symptoms at 3-month follow-up. A community-based, telephone-delivered care management program for caregivers of individuals with dementia is associated with favorable caregiver and CR-related outcomes. Findings support replication and further research in the impact of tailored, collaborative dementia care management programs that address barriers to access and engagement. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  7. Mobile phones are a viable option for surveying young Australian women: a comparison of two telephone survey methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liu Bette

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Households with fixed-line telephones have decreased while mobile (cell phone ownership has increased. We therefore sought to examine the feasibility of recruiting young women for a national health survey through random digit dialling mobile phones. Methods Two samples of women aged 18 to 39 years were surveyed by random digit dialling fixed and mobile numbers. We compared participation rates and responses to a questionnaire between women surveyed by each contact method. Results After dialling 5,390 fixed-lines and 3,697 mobile numbers, 140 and 128 women were recruited respectively. Among women contacted and found to be eligible, participation rates were 74% for fixed-lines and 88% for mobiles. Taking into account calls to numbers where eligibility was unknown (e.g. unanswered calls the estimated response rates were 54% and 45% respectively. Of women contacted by fixed-line, 97% reported having a mobile while 61% of those contacted by mobile reported having a fixed-line at home. After adjusting for age, there were no significant differences between mobile-only and fixed-line responders with respect to education, residence, and various health behaviours; however compared to those with fixed-lines, mobile-only women were more likely to identify as Indigenous (OR 4.99, 95%CI 1.52-16.34 and less likely to live at home with their parents (OR 0.09, 95%CI 0.03-0.29. Conclusions Random digit dialling mobile phones to conduct a health survey in young Australian women is feasible, gives a comparable response rate and a more representative sample than dialling fixed-lines only. Telephone surveys of young women should include mobile dialling.

  8. A telephone survey of parental attitudes and behaviours regarding teenage drinking

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    Background Irish teenagers demonstrate high rates of drunkenness and there has been a progressive fall in age of first drinking in recent decades. International research indicates that parents exert substantial influence over their teenager's drinking. We sought to determine the attitudes and behaviours of Irish parents towards drinking by their adolescent children. Methods We conducted a telephone survey of a representative sample of of 234 parents who had a teenager aged between 13 and 17 years. Results Six per cent reported that they would be unconcerned if their son or daughter was to binge drink once per month. On the issue of introducing children to alcohol in the home, 27% viewed this as a good idea while 63% disagreed with this practice. Eleven per cent of parents reported that they had given a drink to their teenager at home. Parents who drank regularly themselves, who were from higher socio-demographic groups and who lived in the east of Ireland demonstrated more permissive attitudes to teenage drinking. Conclusions We found no evidence of widespread permissive attitudes and behaviours among Irish parents. Given that parental influences have been demonstrated to exert substantial impact on teenage drinking, it may be possible to harness the concerns of Irish parents more effectively to reverse the trends of escalating alcohol related harm in Ireland. PMID:20515492

  9. A telephone survey of parental attitudes and behaviours regarding teenage drinking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barry Joe M

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Irish teenagers demonstrate high rates of drunkenness and there has been a progressive fall in age of first drinking in recent decades. International research indicates that parents exert substantial influence over their teenager's drinking. We sought to determine the attitudes and behaviours of Irish parents towards drinking by their adolescent children. Methods We conducted a telephone survey of a representative sample of of 234 parents who had a teenager aged between 13 and 17 years. Results Six per cent reported that they would be unconcerned if their son or daughter was to binge drink once per month. On the issue of introducing children to alcohol in the home, 27% viewed this as a good idea while 63% disagreed with this practice. Eleven per cent of parents reported that they had given a drink to their teenager at home. Parents who drank regularly themselves, who were from higher socio-demographic groups and who lived in the east of Ireland demonstrated more permissive attitudes to teenage drinking. Conclusions We found no evidence of widespread permissive attitudes and behaviours among Irish parents. Given that parental influences have been demonstrated to exert substantial impact on teenage drinking, it may be possible to harness the concerns of Irish parents more effectively to reverse the trends of escalating alcohol related harm in Ireland.

  10. Quality of life of children and their caregivers during an AOM episode: development and use of a telephone questionnaire

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dubé Eve

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The negative consequences of acute otitis media (AOM on the quality of life (QOL of children and their families need to be measured to assess benefits of preventive interventions. Methods A new questionnaire was specifically designed for use in telephone surveys. A random sample of Canadian families was selected using random-digit dialling. Caregivers of children 6-59 months of age who experienced at least one AOM episode during the last 12 months were interviewed. Multidimensional severity and global QOL scores were measured both for affected children and their caregivers. Internal consistency of scores was assessed using standard tests. Results Of the 502 eligible caregivers who completed the survey, 161 (32% reported at least one AOM episode during the last 12 months and these cases were included in the analysis. Average severity was 2.6 for children and 2.4 for caregivers on a 1 to 4 scale (maximum severity. Cronbach alpha values were 0.78 and 0.81 for the severity score of children and caregivers respectively. Average QOL was 3.4 for children and 3.5 for caregivers on a 1 to 5 scale (best QOL. There was moderate to high correlation between severity and QOL scores, and between these scores and duration of AOM episodes. Conclusions The questionnaire was easy to use during telephone interviews and results suggest good reliability and validity of the different scores to measure AOM severity and QOL of children and their caregivers during an AOM episode.

  11. Effectiveness of a mood management component as an adjunct to a telephone counselling smoking cessation intervention for smokers with a past major depression: a pragmatic randomized controlled trial

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Meer, Regina M.; Willemsen, Marc C.; Smit, Filip; Cuijpers, Pim; Schippers, Gerard M.

    2010-01-01

    Aims To assess whether the addition of a mood management component to telephone counselling produces higher abstinence rates in smokers with past major depression and helps to prevent recurrence of depressive symptoms. Design Pragmatic randomized controlled trial with two conditions, with follow-up

  12. Effectiveness of a mood management component as an adjunct to a telephone counselling smoking cessation intervention for smokers with a past major depression: A pragmatic randomized controlled trial

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Meer, R.; Willemsen, M.C.; Smit, H.F.E.; Cuijpers, P.; Schippers, G.M.

    2010-01-01

    Aims To assess whether the addition of a mood management component to telephone counselling produces higher abstinence rates in smokers with past major depression and helps to prevent recurrence of depressive symptoms. Design Pragmatic randomized controlled trial with two conditions, with follow-up

  13. Quasi-experimental trial of diabetes Self-Management Automated and Real-Time Telephonic Support (SMARTSteps) in a Medicaid managed care plan: study protocol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ratanawongsa, Neda; Handley, Margaret A; Quan, Judy; Sarkar, Urmimala; Pfeifer, Kelly; Soria, Catalina; Schillinger, Dean

    2012-01-26

    Health information technology can enhance self-management and quality of life for patients with chronic disease and overcome healthcare barriers for patients with limited English proficiency. After a randomized controlled trial of a multilingual automated telephone self-management support program (ATSM) improved patient-centered dimensions of diabetes care in safety net clinics, we collaborated with a nonprofit Medicaid managed care plan to translate research into practice, offering ATSM as a covered benefit and augmenting ATSM to promote medication activation. This paper describes the protocol of the Self-Management Automated and Real-Time Telephonic Support Project (SMARTSteps). This controlled quasi-experimental trial used a wait-list variant of a stepped wedge design to enroll 362 adult health plan members with diabetes who speak English, Cantonese, or Spanish and receive care at 4 publicly-funded clinics. Through language-stratified randomization, participants were assigned to four intervention statuses: SMARTSteps-ONLY, SMARTSteps-PLUS, or wait-list for either intervention. In addition to usual primary care, intervention participants received 27 weekly calls in their preferred language with rotating queries and response-triggered education about self-care, medication adherence, safety concerns, psychological issues, and preventive services. Health coaches from the health plan called patients with out-of-range responses for collaborative goal setting and action planning. SMARTSteps-PLUS also included health coach calls to promote medication activation, adherence and intensification, if triggered by ATSM-reported non-adherence, refill non-adherence from pharmacy claims, or suboptimal cardiometabolic indicators. Wait-list patients crossed-over to SMARTSteps-ONLY or -PLUS at 6 months. For participants who agreed to structured telephone interviews at baseline and 6 months (n = 252), primary outcomes will be changes in quality of life and functional status with

  14. Gym-based exercise and home-based exercise with telephone support have similar outcomes when used as maintenance programs in adults with chronic health conditions: a randomised trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul Jansons

    2017-07-01

    Trial registration: ACTRN12610001035011. [Jansons P, Robins L, O’Brien L, Haines T (2017 Gym-based exercise and home-based exercise with telephone support have similar outcomes when used as maintenance programs in adults with chronic health conditions: a randomised trial. Journal of Physiotherapy 63: 154–160

  15. Successful removal of a telephone cable, a foreign body through the urethra into the bladder: a case report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Trehan Ravi K

    2007-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The variety of foreign bodies inserted into or externally attached to the genitourinary tract defies imagination and includes all types of objects. The frequency of such cases renders these an important addition to the diseases of the genitourinary organs. The most common motive associated with the insertion of foreign bodies into the genitourinary tract is sexual or erotic in nature. In adults this is commonly caused by the insertion of objects used for masturbation and is frequently associated with mental health disorders. We report a case of insertion of telephone cable wire into the urethra. Our case highlights the importance of good history, clinical examination, relevant radiological investigation and simple measures to solve the problem.

  16. Impact of telephone reinforcement and negotiated contracts on behavioral predictors of exercise maintenance in older adults with osteoarthritis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Desai, Pakaja M; Hughes, Susan L; Peters, Karen E; Mermelstein, Robin J

    2014-05-01

    To examine the impact of telephone reinforcement (TR) on predictors of physical activity (PA) maintenance in older adults with osteoarthritis. Mixed effects modeling was conducted of data from a randomized PA trial that used negotiated maintenance contracts, supplemented by TR, to test impact of TR on barriers, decisional balance, and stage of change at multiple points in time. Participants who were referred to a PA program and received TR improved the most in barriers and decisional balance. Participants who negotiated a tailored maintenance contract but did not receive TR improved the most in stage. TR appears to positively affect perceptions around engagement, whereas negotiation positively impacts PA behavior. Further research should examine the effectiveness of specific PA maintenance strategies.

  17. Location of gliomas in relation to mobile telephone use: a case-case and case-specular analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larjavaara, Suvi; Schüz, Joachim; Swerdlow, Anthony

    2011-01-01

    approaches: In a case-case analysis, tumor locations were compared with varying exposure levels; in a case-specular analysis, a hypothetical reference location was assigned for each glioma, and the distances from the actual and specular locations to the handset were compared. The study included 888 gliomas......The energy absorbed from the radio-frequency fields of mobile telephones depends strongly on distance from the source. The authors' objective in this study was to evaluate whether gliomas occur preferentially in the areas of the brain having the highest radio-frequency exposure. The authors used 2...... from 7 European countries (2000-2004), with tumor midpoints defined on a 3-dimensional grid based on radiologic images. The case-case analyses were carried out using unconditional logistic regression, whereas in the case-specular analysis, conditional logistic regression was used. In the case-case...

  18. Proposal for the award of an industrial support contract for operation of the CERN telephone system

    CERN Document Server

    1999-01-01

    This document concerns the award of an industrial support contract for operation of the CERN telephone system. Following a market survey carried out among 22 firms in eight Member States, a call for tenders (IT-2655/ST) was sent on 27 August 1999 to three firms and two consortia in four Member States. By the closing date, CERN had received three tenders from one firm and two consortia in three Member States. The Finance Committee is invited to agree to the negotiation of a contract with the consortium MERROW (UK) ? DCS (CH) the lowest bidder, for an initial period of three years from 1st January 2000, for a total amount not exceeding 850 000 Swiss francs, not subject to revision until 31 December 2000. The contract will include an option for two one-year extensions beyond the initial three-year period.

  19. Effects of a telephone-delivered multiple health behavior change intervention (CanChange) on health and behavioral outcomes in survivors of colorectal cancer: a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hawkes, Anna L; Chambers, Suzanne K; Pakenham, Kenneth I; Patrao, Tania A; Baade, Peter D; Lynch, Brigid M; Aitken, Joanne F; Meng, Xingqiong; Courneya, Kerry S

    2013-06-20

    Colorectal cancer survivors are at risk for poor health outcomes because of unhealthy lifestyles, but few studies have developed translatable health behavior change interventions. This study aimed to determine the effects of a telephone-delivered multiple health behavior change intervention (CanChange) on health and behavioral outcomes among colorectal cancer survivors. In this two-group randomized controlled trial, 410 colorectal cancer survivors were randomly assigned to the health coaching intervention (11 theory-based telephone-delivered health coaching sessions delivered over 6 months focusing on physical activity, weight management, dietary habits, alcohol, and smoking) or usual care. Assessment of primary (ie, physical activity [Godin Leisure Time Index], health-related quality of life [HRQoL; Short Form-36], and cancer-related fatigue [Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Fatigue Scale]) and secondary outcomes (ie, body mass index [kg/m(2)], diet and alcohol intake [Food Frequency Questionnaire], and smoking) were conducted at baseline and 6 and 12 months. At 12 months, significant intervention effects were observed for moderate physical activity (28.5 minutes; P = .003), body mass index (-0.9 kg/m(2); P = .001), energy from total fat (-7.0%; P = .006), and energy from saturated fat (-2.8%; P = .016). A significant intervention effect was reported for vegetable intake (0.4 servings per day; P = .001) at 6 months. No significant group differences were found at 6 or 12 months for HRQoL, cancer-related fatigue, fruit, fiber, or alcohol intake, or smoking. The CanChange intervention was effective for improving physical activity, dietary habits, and body mass index in colorectal cancer survivors. The intervention is translatable through existing telephone cancer support and information services in Australia and other countries.

  20. Safety assessment of RF and microwave radiation emitted by the mobile telephone base station (MTBS) in Malaysia: experience and challenge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roha Tukimin; Rozaimah Abd Rahim; Mohamad Amirul Nizam; Mohd Yusof Mohd Ali

    2007-01-01

    Non-ionising radiation (NIR) is known to be hazardous if the amount received is excessive. It is a fact that NIR, including extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields, radiofrequency (RF) and microwave radiation can be found almost everywhere generated by both natural and man-made source. This is due to increase in demand for telecommunication and wireless technology which is become very important and as part of our lives. However, the widespread of the relevant technology contributed more NIR man-made sources exposure to the human. Due to public concern their potential of causing such health hazard, members of public and companies approached and request NIR Group of Nuclear Malaysia to carry out surveys and safety assessments of radiofrequency and microwave radiation emitted by the mobile telephone base station (MTBS) erected near the residential area or installed on the rooftop of the commercial building. Objective of the survey was to assess the presence of radiofrequency and microwave radiation and to identify radiation level which may lead to significant personnel exposure. Findings of the survey was compared to the standard guidelines issued by Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and International Committee on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). This paper highlights the works that had been carried out by NIR Group of Nuclear Malaysia from 1997 to 2007. We will share the experience and challenge in carried out the NIR safety assessment at mobile telephone base station. Results of the assessment work will be used to develop non-ionising radiation database for future reference in Malaysia. (Author)