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One purpose of this study was to describe sense of humour and communication strategies in a general population of adults who needed hearing aid (HA) fitting or refitting. Another purpose was to explore the correlation between characteristics of hearing impairment (HI), sense of humour, and other participant characteristics and the communication strategies as outcome. Consecutive patients ('n'=343) at the Department of Audiology during 1 year completed the Sense of Humour Questionnaire-6 (SHQ-6) and the Communication Strategies Scale (CSS with maladaptive behaviour, verbal and non-verbal strategies). It was found that a high sense of humour was related to female gender and younger age. In multiple regression analyses, use of non-verbal communication strategies was more prevalent among females and increased with younger age, longer duration of HI, and previous HA experience. Use of verbal communication strategies and maladaptive communication behaviour increased with increasing HI. Use of verbal strategies was further associated with younger age and previous HA experience. Frequent use of maladaptive behaviour was related to younger age, longer duration of HI and less sense of humour. Maladaptive behaviour, alternatively expressed as negative reactions to stressful events in communication, was negatively associated with sense of humour. This study may indicate a role for sense of humour in prevention of maladaptive behaviour. It may also improve our understanding of what factors influence the use of communication strategies.

SummaryBackground: The aim was to explore the prevalence of visitors to CAM practitioners in a total population with reference to sex, self-rated health status and socio-demographic characteristics. Methods: The paper reports findings from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT 2), a total population-based health survey of 42,277 respondents conducted in central Norway who answered questions on visits to a CAM practitioner. Variables included were age, marital status, education, receiving social welfare benefits, lifestyle (daily smoker), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-T), self-rated health status, and having a limiting chronic complaint. Results: Some 12.8 (95 CI 12.5–13.1) of the population had visited a CAM practitioner in the last 12 months, with females visiting almost twice as often as males. Multivariate analysis showed that consulting a CAM practitioner was significantly associated in both sexes with being middle-aged (male age 40–49 OR 1.6 (1.2–2.0), female age 30–39 OR 1.4 (1.1–1.6)); poor self-rated health status (male OR 5.1 (3.1–8.5), female 3.9 (2.2–6.8 )); and reporting a chronic complaint (male OR 1.5 (1.3–1.8), female OR 1.4 (1.2–1.6)). Daily smoking of cigarettes was associated with a decreased likelihood for visiting a CAM practitioner (male OR 0.7 (0.6–0.9), female OR 0.8 (0.7–0.9)). In females, both a higher total HADS-T score (score >20 OR 1.5 (1.2–2.0)) and middle-level education (OR 1.2 (1.1–1.4)) were associated with visiting a CAM practitioner. Conclusions: Visitors to CAM practitioners had lower self-reported health than non-users, but socio-demographic variables did not discriminate between users and non-users.Copyright © 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a method of assisted reproductive technology that involves the selection of a single sperm cell and the manual injection of this cell into the egg. The lack of relevant experimental studies, the nature of the technology involving non-natural selection of the fertilizing sperm, and possible damage to the egg have caused concern that ICSI could increase the risk of birth defects. Data from available cohort studies comparing ICSI with standard in vitro fertilization (IVF) should be combined to evaluate the risks involved with ICSI.Methods We reviewed more than 2500 titles and abstracts containing keywords related to ICSI and identified 22 scientific articles with data on birth defects among ICSI-births. A total of four peer-reviewed, non-overlapping prospective cohort studies provided reliable and comparable data on birth defects both for children conceived by ICSI and children conceived by standard IVF. These studies included a total of 5395 children born after ICSI.Results The pooled estimate of the risk of a major birth defect was a 1.12-fold increase after ICSI when compared with standard IVF (risk ratio = 1.12, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.97–1.28, P = 0.12). There was no marked heterogeneity of risk ratios between these studies (P = 0.10). We found no significantly increased risks after ICSI for any of the categories cardiovascular defects, musculoskeletal defects, hypospadias, neural tube defects, or oral clefts.Conclusions Our analysis does not indicate that the ICSI-procedure represents significant additional risks of major birth defects in addition to the risk involved in standard IVF. The data was limited, particularly on risks of specific categories of defects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]