Construction of a questionnaire measuring outpatients' opinion of quality of hospital consultation departments

BACKGROUND: Few questionnaires on outpatients' satisfaction with hospital exist. All have been constructed without giving enough room for the patient's point of view in the validation procedure. The main objective was to develop, according to psychometric standards, a self-administered generic outpatient questionnaire exploring opinion on quality of hospital care. METHOD: First, a qualitative phase was conducted to generate items and identify domains using critical analysis incident technique and literature review. A list of easily comprehensible non-redundant items was defined using Delphi technique and a pilot study on outpatients. This phase involved outpatients, patient association representatives and experts. The second step was a quantitative validation phase comprised a multicenter study in 3 hospitals, 10 departments and 1007 outpatients. It was designed to select items, identify dimensions, measure reliability, internal and concurrent validity. Patients were randomized according to the place of questionnaire completion (hospital v. home) (participation rate = 65%). Third, a mail-back study on 2 departments and 248 outpatients was conducted to replicate the validation (participation rate = 57%). RESULTS: A 27-item questionnaire comprising 4 subscales (appointment making, reception facilities, waiting time and consultation with the doctor). The factorial structure was satisfactory (loading >0.50 on each subscale for all items, except one item). Interscale correlations ranged from 0.42 to 0.59, Cronbach α coefficients ranged from 0.79 to 0.94. All Item-scale correlations were higher than 0.40. Test-retest intraclass coefficients ranged from 0.69 to 0.85. A unidimensional 9-item version was produced by selection of one third of the items within each subscale with the strongest loading on the principal component and the best item-scale correlation corrected for overlap. Factors related to satisfaction level independent from departments were age, previous consultations in the department and satisfaction with life. Completion at hospital immediately after consultation led to an overestimation of satisfaction. No satisfaction score differences existed between spontaneous respondents and patients responding after reminder(s). CONCLUSION: Good estimation of patient opinion on hospital consultation performance was obtained with these questionnaires. When comparing performances between departments or the same department over time scores need to be adjusted on 3 variables that influence satisfaction independently from department. Completion of the questionnaire at home is preferable to completion in the consultation facility and reminders are not necessary to produce non-biased data

Fruit and vegetables on prescription: A brief intervention in primary care

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Fruit and vegetables on prescription: A brief intervention in primary care, Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 2014, 27 (supplement 2), pp. 186-193 which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jhn.12109. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.Background Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption is a goal for the UK. Therefore, the effectiveness of a fruit and vegetable voucher scheme coupled with key ‘5-a-day’ consumption messages as a brief intervention in primary care consultations was assessed in this study. Methods 1188 vouchers as a prescription for fruits and vegetables were routinely distributed to patients attending a primary health care centre in a deprived area, and 124 volunteer patients routinely attending the centre were included. Telephone based questionnaires were used to examine changes in consumption in the short and medium term. Other key aspects assessed in the evaluation related to fruit and vegetable purchasing behaviour, knowledge relating to what constitutes a portion size, the relationship between food and health, and barriers to consumption. Results Although 76.2% of participants used the prescription vouchers when purchasing fruits and vegetables, a significant change in the consumption or purchasing behaviour was not observed (p0.05). Participants’ level of knowledge relating to number of portions recommended and the portion size of different fruits and vegetables showed moderate increase from baseline to short term and to medium term. The primary barriers to fruit and vegetable consumption were reported as ‘the quality of fresh fruits and vegetables’ and ‘the money available to spend on food’. Conclusion The use of “the fruit and vegetable on prescription” scheme was an effective method of engaging participants in improving awareness of key diet related health messages. However, further intervention is required to produce a significant impact on the actual behaviour change. Keywords fruit and vegetable prescription, mainstreaming prevention, health settingsThe study was funded by Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and the Big Lottery Fund.This book chapter was submitted to the RAE2014 for the University of Chester - Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy

Trends in International Cancer Research Investment 2006-2018.

The International Cancer Research Partnership (ICRP) is an active network of cancer research funding organizations, sharing information about funded research projects in a common database. Data are publicly available to enable the cancer research community to find potential collaborators and avoid duplication. This study presents an aggregated analysis of projects funded by 120 partner organizations and institutes in 2006-2018, to highlight trends in cancer research funding. Overall, the partners' funding for cancer research increased from $5.562 billion (bn) US dollars (USD) in 2006 to$8.511bn USD in 2018, an above-inflation increase in funding. Analysis by the main research focus of projects using Common Scientific Outline categories showed that Treatment was the largest investment category in 2018, followed by Early Detection, Diagnosis, and Prognosis; Cancer Biology; Etiology; Control, Survivorship, and Outcomes; and Prevention. Over the 13 years covered by this analysis, research funding into Treatment and Early Detection, Diagnosis, and Prognosis had increased in terms of absolute investment and as a proportion of the portfolio. Research funding in Cancer Biology and Etiology declined as a percentage of the portfolio, and funding for Prevention and Control, Survivorship and Outcomes remained static. In terms of cancer site-specific research, funding for breast cancer and colorectal cancer had increased in absolute terms but declined as a percentage of the portfolio. By contrast, investment for brain cancer, lung cancer, leukemia, melanoma, and pancreatic cancer increased both in absolute terms and as a percentage of the portfolio

Scores nutritionnels : méthodes, aspects socio-économiques et association avec l’état nutritionnel et la morbidité dans la cohorte SU.VI.MAX

The actions implemented in the French National Program on Nutrition and Health (PNNS) raise expectations and questions in terms of efficiency. It is therefore useful to provide information about the general public adherence and demonstrate the potential for improving the health status of the population when PNNS nutritional guidelines are followed. Adherence was measured through the construction of two a priori nutritional scores based on the public health goals (FSIPO) or PNNS recommendations (PNNS-GS). A better compliance with recommendations or public health goals was associated with better nutritional status. Subjects with a high score (PNNS-GS or FSIPO) reported healthier lifestyle (tobacco, alcohol, physical activity) than those with lower scores. A 36% reduction in the risk of chronic disease (death, cancer and cardiovascular disease) was observed after eight years of follow up, among men with high FSIPO. Despite some limitations, validation of a priori nutritional scores is essential to convince both the public health authorities and the general public that the adherence to the PNNS is useful at an individual and collective level.Les actions mises en œuvre dans le cadre du Programme National Nutrition Santé (PNNS) suscitent des attentes et des interrogations en termes d’efficacité. Il est donc utile d’apporter des informations concernant l’adhésion de la population aux recommandations et sur l’effet possible de cette adhésion sur l’état de santé. L’adhésion a été mesurée grâce à la construction de deux scores construits a priori sur la base des objectifs de santé publique (FSIPO) ou repères du PNNS (PNNS-GS). Globalement, une meilleure adéquation aux 9 recommandations ou objectifs de santé publique était associée à un statut nutritionnel favorable. Les sujets présentant un score élevé (PNNS-GS ou FSIPO) déclaraient également des habitudes de vie plus saines (tabac, alcool, activité physique) que ceux ayant des scores bas. Une réduction de 36% du risque de maladies chroniques (décès, cancers et maladies cardiovasculaires) a été observée, après huit ans de suivi, chez les hommes ayant un FSIPO élevé. Malgré certaines limites, la validation de scores nutritionnels a priori s’avère indispensable pour convaincre tant les autorités de santé publique que les professionnels de santé et le grand public que tendre vers les recommandations peut être bénéfique tant au niveau individuel que collectif

Nutritional scores : methods, socioeconomic aspects and association with nutritional status and risk of major chronic diseases in the SU.VI.MAX study

Les actions mises en œuvre dans le cadre du Programme National Nutrition Santé (PNNS) suscitent des attentes et des interrogations en termes d’efficacité. Il est donc utile d’apporter des informations concernant l’adhésion de la population aux recommandations et sur l’effet possible de cette adhésion sur l’état de santé. L’adhésion a été mesurée grâce à la construction de deux scores construits a priori sur la base des objectifs de santé publique (FSIPO) ou repères du PNNS (PNNS-GS). Globalement, une meilleure adéquation aux 9 recommandations ou objectifs de santé publique était associée à un statut nutritionnel favorable. Les sujets présentant un score élevé (PNNS-GS ou FSIPO) déclaraient également des habitudes de vie plus saines (tabac, alcool, activité physique) que ceux ayant des scores bas. Une réduction de 36% du risque de maladies chroniques (décès, cancers et maladies cardiovasculaires) a été observée, après huit ans de suivi, chez les hommes ayant un FSIPO élevé. Malgré certaines limites, la validation de scores nutritionnels a priori s’avère indispensable pour convaincre tant les autorités de santé publique que les professionnels de santé et le grand public que tendre vers les recommandations peut être bénéfique tant au niveau individuel que collectif.The actions implemented in the French National Program on Nutrition and Health (PNNS) raise expectations and questions in terms of efficiency. It is therefore useful to provide information about the general public adherence and demonstrate the potential for improving the health status of the population when PNNS nutritional guidelines are followed. Adherence was measured through the construction of two a priori nutritional scores based on the public health goals (FSIPO) or PNNS recommendations (PNNS-GS). A better compliance with recommendations or public health goals was associated with better nutritional status. Subjects with a high score (PNNS-GS or FSIPO) reported healthier lifestyle (tobacco, alcohol, physical activity) than those with lower scores. A 36% reduction in the risk of chronic disease (death, cancer and cardiovascular disease) was observed after eight years of follow up, among men with high FSIPO. Despite some limitations, validation of a priori nutritional scores is essential to convince both the public health authorities and the general public that the adherence to the PNNS is useful at an individual and collective level

Estimation de l’incidence des pathologies thyroïdiennes dans la cohorte SU.VI.MAX, France, 1994-2002: Résultats préliminaires

Estaquio C, Castetbon K, Valeix P, pour le groupe d’évaluation de l’incidence des pathologies thyroïdiennes dans la cohorte SU.VI.MAXinfo:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublishe