On the Integration of Science and Practice in College Health

Abstract

College health professionals want to assure the unique healthcare and health education needs of college students will continue to be met under national and state healthcare reform. This may be an “all or nothing” proposition. Either colleges and universities will have exclusive control of healthcare delivery for the college student population or else college health will not be a major force in healthcare reform. If college health is to play a meaningful role in future government-controlled health insurance programs, it must first demonstrate that current health services and insurance financing programs meet minimum quality standards. This proposal calls for expanding existing federal laws to create qualified student health plans and integrating the college health model into a reform package based on employer-sponsored health insurance. The concept of qualified student health plans allows for a high degree of flexibility that can be integrated into the majority of state and federal healthcare reform proposals, including the plan proposed by President Clinton, that are not based on a single-payer system. Ultimately, the authors suggest, their proposed plan would eliminate the current situation, in which large numbers of college students are uninsured or underinsured.     

The Development and Implementation of a Nursing Clinic on a College Campus

Abstract

“Usefulness of Screening Chest Roentgenograms in Preoperative Patients,” Lloyd Rucker, Elizabeth B. Frye, Myrlene A. Staten. We proposed that clinical criteria could define a group of patients very unlikely to have abnormal preoperative chest roentgenograms. Nine hundred five surgical admissions were screened for the presence of clinical factors we thought would make those patients more likely to have abnormal preoperative chest roentgenograms. Of these, 368 had no risk factors. One patient (0.3%) of the 368 had an abnormal x-ray film, which did not affect the surgery. No material abnormalities were found in the remainder of the group without risk factors. Five hundred four patients had identifiable risk factors. Of these, 114 (22%) were found to have serious abnormalities on preoperative chest roentgenograms. (Journal of the American Medical Association 1983;250:3209–3211)

“Effect of Treatment Regimens for Neisseria Gonorrhoeae on Simultaneous Infection With Chlamydia Trachomatis,” Walter E. Stamm, et al. We evaluated the effect of treatment for gonorrhea on simultaneous Chlamydia trachomatis infection by randomly assigning 293 heterosexual men and 246 heterosexual women with gonorrhea to receive one of the following treatment regimens: (1) 4.8 million units of aqueous procaine penicillin plus 1 g of probenecid, (2) nine tablets of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole daily for three days, or (3) 500 mg of tetracycline four times a day for five days. Among the men, gonococcal infection was cured in 99 per cent given penicillin plus probenecid, 96 per cent given trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and 98 per cent given tetracycline. Among the women, only 90 per cent given tetracycline were cured, in contrast to 97 per cent given penicillin plus probenecid and 99 per cent given trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.     

Sexual Concerns and Counseling Needs of Normal Men Attending a University Student Health Service

Abstract

The responses of 582 male university students attending the UCLA Student Health Service for medical evaluation are presented. Of these students, 37% (215) were freshmen and varsity athletes having pretraining physicals, and 63% (367) were students being evaluated in the SHS primary care clinics. A self-report questionnaire examined the frequency of sexual problems experienced by the respondents and their partners. The most common concerns expressed about themselves were orgasmic difficulties, feeling too interested in sex, and trouble getting and keeping erections. Forty-one percent of the SHS group and 33% of the athletes group had sexual concerns, and, of these, 55% and 40% respectively wanted help with their problems. Specific counseling needs of students were also evaluated.     

Duration of Marriage,Fertility and Women's Employment Opportunities in England and Wales in 1911

Data from the 1911 Census of England and Wales are examined for evidence of family limitation early in marriage. It is shown that a substantial number of couples used birth control for ‘spacing’ as well as for ‘stopping’ fertility. Moreover ‘spacing’ of births appears to have been more widespread in districts in which women's employment opportunities were relatively good. In general, the results obtained do not fit with the Princeton view of the European fertility transition with its stress on parity-specific family limitation spreading in response to improvements in contraceptive information and technology.     

A note on abridged life tables for Ceylon, 1900–1947

Life Tables have been calculated by Kuczynski's method for males and females in Ceylon for 1910–12, 1920–2 and 1945–7. The method is described, and the main results are presented.     

Changes in mortality and life expectancy: Some methodological issues

Measuring and explaining the effects of mortality changes on life expectancy has been discussed for the past three decades. Different approaches have been proposed using discrete or continuous methods. Two basic ideas underlie these approaches. The first compares two different mortality schedules and quantifies the contribution of each age group to the increase in life expectancy. The second analyzes how the progress in the mortality schedule translates into progress in life expectancy. This paper discusses and compares the approaches proposed by the United Nations (1982), Arriaga (1984), Pollard (1982, 1988), and Vaupel (1986), identifying their problems, advantages, and the types of situations where each one can best be applied.     

Computer tools for statistical quality control

Since the 1920' sanduntil recently, numerical computation has beena limiting factor in the application of statistical methods to the improvement of product quality. This restriction is be in geliminated by the in troduction of computer tools for statistical quality control.

Both novice and expertusers of statistical methods can ben-efitsubstantially from the availability o intergrated soft ware for computing, graphics, and data management. Theuse of such soft ware in SQC training program senables the student to focus on the under standing of statistical techniques, rather than the irmechanicaldetails. In productionen vironments, properly designedinterfaces facilitated at aent ryand access to statistical soft ware by plant personnel, with out requiring know ledge of a computer language. The sesame tool scan be used by management to retrieve in for mationandob tain summaries and display sofcriti-caldata gatheredover different period softime. Finally, computer tool sprovide the applied statistician with agreater range of advanced methods, includinganalytical and graphical extensions of the traditional She whart control chart.