Exploratory survey study of long-term users of nicotine replacement therapy in Danish consumers

BACKGROUND: Long-term use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) has been approved in several countries for smokers who are unable or unwilling to quit smoking. However, information on basic characteristics, degree of nicotine dependence, health status and contentment with long-term use of NRT is scarce. The aim of this study was to collect information on the characteristics of long-term NRT users, having used NRT for at least 12 months, reasons for, and contentment with, their continued use of NRT including reasons for wishing to quit or sustain use and an estimation of their degree of nicotine dependence. METHOD: Through advertisements in three national Danish newspapers, long-term NRT users were recruited to answer a short questionnaire about basic characteristics, health status and satisfaction with using NRT. A modified version of the Heaviness of Smoking Index (HSI) questionnaire was applied to estimate nicotine dependence. Linear regression was used to test association between time to first NRT and daily dosage of NRT. RESULTS: A total of 92 respondents were included in the data analysis. A majority of 88% wished to quit NRT for the following reasons: costs of NRT, being tired of feeling addicted and fear of adverse health effects. Scoring on the modified HSI scale was 22.0% low, 68.0% moderate and 9.3% high dependent. Of the respondents, 67.0% used NRT within the first 30 min after waking. A validation check found a significant linear association between the two items in the modified HSI. CONCLUSION: A significant majority of users wished to quit NRT because of the cost of products, being tired of feeling addicted and fear of adverse health consequences. The majority of these users were moderate to high nicotine dependent. The strong association found between time to first NRT and NRT dosages used per day gives reason to believe the validity of the modified HSI. Further studies are required for confirmation. Better counselling of long-term users on the benefits of using NRT compared to smoking should be provided, for those who are chronically dependent, as well as support to stop long-term use of NRT if wanted

Women of Jordan -A Minor Field Study about women in a developing country

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how young women in urban and rural areas of Jordan, a developing country, think about their role in the family, education and work. We also want to see which strategies they use to navigate in the family as a social system in a changing context. The study is based on 12 interviews with Jordanian women where six live in urban and six live in rural areas. The perspective of structural functionalism is used to investigate women’s role in a system. In order to gain more focus on the gender role of the woman a gender perspective is used as a complement. The conclusion of this study is that the interviewed women want to study, work, and get married. All interviewees point out the importance of having an equal balance between education, work, family life and marriage. The difficulty is to find a good balance without neglecting any area. In order to do this, the women want their husbands to take a bigger part in the responsibilities of the family and household. What holds the women back from trying to achieve this is their view on gender. Partly they do not trust men to be able to take care of the family and partly they think that women are more suitable to handle the family and household. Today women use other strategies to manage to achieve their goals. Some divide their adult life into two parts where the first part focuses on education and making a career and the other on family. Many women also choose jobs that are flexible and can be adapted to their family life

Didaktisk analyse af Rudolf Steiner skolers læringspraksis i 9. til 12. klasse

Denne rapport sammenfatter hen ved 2 års intensiv beskæftigelse med didaktikken ved Steiner‐skolerne i Danmark. Rapporten har som mål så nøgternt som muligt at beskrive, analysere og fortolke, hvad forskerne har bidt mærke i.Den kvantitative del af undersøgelsen har især fokuseret på at undersøge elevers og læreres syn på undervisning og læring set med hvert deres perspektiv. De kvantitative undersøgelser (online spørgeskemaer) har bidraget til at etablere et retvisende billede i bredden af, hvordan lærere og elever oplever skolehverdagen på seks Steiner‐skoler. Deroverfor har de kvalitative undersøgelser (interviews og observationer) haft til formål at gå i dybden. Det har bl.a. betydet, at der er erhvervet indsigt i, hvordan lærerne søger at omsætte underliggende værdier og holdninger til pædagogisk og undervisningsmæssig praksis, mens elevernes beretninger har dannet grundlag for en vurdering af skolernes pædagogiske og didaktiske tilgang

Non-work-related services at the workplace : an exploratory study

In an era of diminishing public funds, the profession of social work is looking more and more toward the private sector as an arena for social work practice. Social work has had a long-standing interest in the impact of work and the workplace on the individual. This study was developed in response to the lack of documentation of non-work-related services in Oregon\u27s businesses and industries. The research team set out to discover what non-work-related services are available to employees at or through the workplace in the TriCounty area (Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington Counties) of Oregon. This study was exploratory, similar to one done by Hans Spiegel and colleagues in 1974, through Hunter College in New York City

The Learning Crisis: Three Years After COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread disruptions to education, with school closures affecting over one billion children. These closures, aimed at reducing virus transmission, resulted in significant learning losses, particularly in mathematics and science. Using data from TIMSS 2023, which assesses fourth and eighth-grade achievements across 71 education systems, this study analyzes the impact of school closure duration on learning outcomes. Mixed-effect models estimate deviations from pre-pandemic trends, adjusting for demographic factors. Results show a global average decline of 0.11 standard deviations (SD) in student achievement, with longer closures linked to more severe losses. The effects on low performers, girls, and linguistic minorities show effect sizes up to 0.22 SD. These findings highlight the lasting impact of school closures and emphasize the need for targeted recovery strategies and international cooperation to promote equitable educational outcomes post-pandemic