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Pre-pregnancy care (PPC) reduces adverse pregnancy outcomes for women with pre-existing diabetes. Yet, despite the compelling case for PPC, participation rates remain poor. The reasons for poor participation are as yet unclear. The aim of this study was to further our understanding of the factors-associated PPC uptake, particularly attitudes and beliefs towards PPC using models of health behaviour: The Health Belief Model, Social Cognitive Theory, and Theory of Reasoned Action. Participants comprised 123 women with type 1 and 2 diabetes attending outpatient clinics for diabetes and pregnancy, who completed questionnaires. Logistic regression analysis indicated that after adjusting for socio-demographic factors, exposure to a greater number of cues was a significant predictor of PPC participation (odds ratio [OR]: 1.93; 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 1.13-3.28). Other significant predictors of PPC uptake were older age (OR: 1.13; 95% CI: 1.01-1.26) and not having children (OR: 3.93; 95% CI: 1.28-12.06). The findings from this study support initiatives to provide cues to PPC for women with diabetes to enhance PPC uptake. Further, some groups such as younger women as well as women with children may possibly be considered for the focus of more vigorous intervention efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The name that Shelley chose to give to Keats in his elegy has puzzled editors for over a century, and although a solution proposed by Earl Wasserman forty years ago has come to be accepted as definitive, certain drawbacks leave it open to question. This short paper offers a new solution to the puzzle and hence a challenge to Wasserman's influential hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

BackgroundThe ACE project involved 62 participants with a first episode of psychosis randomly assigned to either a cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) intervention known as Active Cognitive Therapy for Early Psychosis (ACE) or a control condition known as Befriending. The study hypotheses were that: (1) treating participants with ACE in the acute phase would lead to faster reductions in positive and negative symptoms and more rapid improvement in functioning than Befriending; (2) these improvements in symptoms and functioning would be sustained at a 1-year follow-up; and (3) ACE would lead to fewer hospitalizations than Befriending as assessed at the 1-year follow-up.MethodTwo therapists treated the participants across both conditions. Participants could not receive any more than 20 sessions within 14 weeks. Participants were assessed by independent raters on four primary outcome measures of symptoms and functioning: at pretreatment, the middle of treatment, the end of treatment and at 1-year follow-up. An independent pair of raters assessed treatment integrity.ResultsBoth groups improved significantly over time. ACE significantly outperformed Befriending by improving functioning at mid-treatment, but it did not improve positive or negative symptoms. Past the mid-treatment assessment, Befriending caught up with the ACE group and there were no significant differences in any outcome measure and in hospital admissions at follow-up.ConclusionsThere is some preliminary evidence that ACE promotes better early recovery in functioning and this finding needs to be replicated in other independent research centres with larger samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The first set of aims of the present study was to determine the prevalence of personality disorders (PDs) in a nation, and gender differences in the types and numbers of PDs endorsed. The second set of aims was to establish the relationship of PD to other, non-PD disorders, physical conditions, and disability.Method: Data were obtained from the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, conducted between May and August 1997. A stratified random sample of households was generated, from which all those aged 18 or over were considered potential interviewees. There were 10,641 respondents to the survey, and this represented a response rate of 78%. Each interviewee was asked 59 questions indexing specific ICD-10 PD criteria.Results: Of the total survey sample, 704 persons had at least one PD. Using weighted replicate weights, it was estimated that approximately 6.5% of the adult population of Australia have one or more PDs (lifetime prevalence). Persons with PD were more likely to be younger, male, and not married, and to have an anxiety disorder, an affective disorder, a substance use disorder, or a physical condition. They were also more likely to have greater disability than those without PD.Conclusion: The study is the first nationwide survey of mental disorders conducted within Australia. It provides an estimate of the prevalence of the various types of PD. The survey has considerable limitations, however, and these are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deals with marginalia, or the words that readers write on the edges of the pages of manuscripts or printed books. Features and examples of marginalia; Discussion of the works of marginalist Samuel Taylor Coleridge; Difference of Coleridge's marginalia from other marginalia.

Comments on the concept of immoderation in the works of author Samuel Johnson. Value of moderation in his works; Ways in which his personalities are depicted in his works; Views of author James Boswell on Johnson's work; Concept of virtue in literary works.

BackgroundIn recent years there has been increasing interest in functional recovery in the early phase of schizophrenia. Concurrently, new remission criteria have been proposed and several studies have examined their clinical relevance for prediction of functional outcome in first-episode psychosis (FEP). However, the longitudinal interrelationship between full functional recovery (FFR) and symptom remission has not yet been investigated. This study sought to: (1) examine the relationships between FFR and symptom remission in FEP over 7.5 years; (2) test two different models of the interaction between both variables.MethodAltogether, 209 FEP patients treated at a specialized early psychosis service were assessed at baseline, 8 months, 14 months and 7.5 years to determine their remission of positive and negative symptoms and functional recovery. Multivariate logistic regression and path analysis were employed to test the hypothesized relationships between symptom remission and FFR.ResultsRemission of both positive and negative symptoms at 8-month follow-up predicted functional recovery at 14-month follow-up, but had limited value for the prediction of FFR at 7.5 years. Functional recovery at 14-month follow-up significantly predicted both FFR and remission of negative symptoms at 7.5 years, irrespective of whether remission criteria were simultaneously met. The association remained significant after controlling for baseline prognostic indicators.ConclusionsThese findings provided support for the hypothesis that early functional and vocational recovery plays a pivotal role in preventing the development of chronic negative symptoms and disability. This underlines the need for interventions that specifically address early psychosocial recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]