Reasons for using workplace wellness services:Cross-sectional study among 6000 employees

AIMS: While workplace wellness services are proactively established to improve well-being and reduce sickness absence, knowledge of reasons for using these services remains sparse. This study investigates which factors determine use of an in-house wellness service at a large organization (the Danish Police) with several departments in different geographical locations.METHODS: All potential users of the Wellness service ( n = 15,284) were invited to respond to a cross-sectional questionnaire. Of 6060 eligible respondents, 58% had used the service at least once (any use) and 17% had used the service at least three times (frequent users). Two items assessed the frequency of statements of justifications for using or not using the Wellness service. Associations between 32 demographic and psychosocial variables and use of the Wellness service were evaluated with unadjusted bivariate logistic regression analyses.RESULTS: The two primary justifications for using the Wellness service were: to get a blood pressure assessment (37%) and to rehabilitate injury (26%). The two most common justifications for not using the Wellness service were: no perceived need (44%) and already physically active (34%). Of the 32 demographical and psychosocial variables included, 28 were associated with any use and 24 with frequent use.CONCLUSIONS: Use of the Wellness service appears to be driven by a complex configuration of factors that resist easy translation into practical advice. Non-participation was accounted for in terms of both positive and negative barriers. Use of the service for purposes of primary prevention and health promotion was, relatively speaking, lagging behind

What\u27s in a Name? Factors Associated with Documentation and Evaluation of Incidental Pulmonary Nodules.

RATIONALE: Radiologist reports of pulmonary nodules discovered incidentally on computed tomographic (CT) images of the chest may influence subsequent evaluation and management. OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine the impact of the terminology used by radiologists to report incidental pulmonary nodules on subsequent documentation and evaluation of the nodules by the ordering or primary care provider. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with incidentally discovered pulmonary nodules detected on CT chest examinations performed during 2010 in a large urban safety net medical system located in northeastern Ohio. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Twelve different terms were used to describe 344 incidental pulmonary nodules. Most nodules (181 [53%]) were documented in a subsequent progress note by the provider, and 140 (41%) triggered subsequent clinical activity. In a multivariable analysis, incidental pulmonary nodules described in radiology reports using the terms density (odds ratio [OR], 0.06; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.01-0.47), granuloma (OR, 0.07; 95% CI, 0.01-0.65), or opacity (OR, 0.09; 95% CI, 0.01-0.68) were less likely to be documented by the provider than those that used the term mass. Patients with nodules described in radiology reports using the term nodule (OR, 0.15; 95% CI, 0.02-0.99), nodular density (OR, 0.09; 95% CI, 0.01-0.63), granuloma (OR, 0.06; 95% CI, 0.01-0.69), or opacity (OR, 0.05; 95% CI, 0.01-0.43) were less likely to receive follow-up than were patients with nodules described using the term mass. The factor most strongly associated with follow-up of pulmonary nodules was documentation by the provider (OR, 5.85; 95% CI, 2.93-11.7). CONCLUSIONS: Within one multifacility urban health system in the United States, the terms used by radiologists to describe incidental pulmonary nodules were associated with documentation of the nodule by the ordering physician and subsequent follow-up. Standard terminology should be used to describe pulmonary nodules to improve patient outcomes

Kristallnacht in Context: Jewish War Veterans in America And Britain and the Crisis of German Jewry

Based on work conducted by scholars as part of a Summer Research Workshop organized bythe Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies/United States Holocaust ..

Using Intermicrophone Correlation to Detect Speech in Spatially Separated Noise

This paper describes a system for determining intervals of "high" and "low" signal-to-noise ratios when the desired signal and interfering noise arise from distinct spatial regions. The correlation coefficient between two microphone signals serves as the decision variable in a hypothesis test. The system has three parameters: center frequency and bandwidth of the bandpass filter that prefilters the microphone signals, and threshold for the decision variable. Conditional probability density functions of the intermicrophone correlation coefficient are derived for a simple signal scenario. This theoretical analysis provides insight into optimal selection of system parameters. Results of simulations using white Gaussian noise sources are in close agreement with the theoretical results. Results of more realistic simulations using speech sources follow the same general trends and illustrate the performance achievable in practical situations. The system is suitable for use with two microphones in mild-to-moderate reverberation as a component of noise-reduction algorithms that require detecting intervals when a desired signal is weak or absent.National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (U.S.)National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (U.S.) (Grant 1-R01-DC00117