In artisanal small-scale gold mining, mercury is used for gold-extraction, putting miners and nearby residents at risk of chronic metallic mercury vapor intoxication (CMMVI). Burden of disease (BoD) analyses allow the estimation of the public health relevance of CMMVI, but until now there have been no specific CMMVI disability weights (DWs). The objective is to derive DWs for moderate and sever...

BACKGROUND Structured interviews and questionnaires are important tools to screen for major depressive disorder. Recent research suggests that, in addition to studying the mean level of total scores, researchers should focus on the dynamic relations among depressive symptoms as they unfold over time. Using network analysis, this paper is the first to investigate these patterns of short-term (i....

This study aimed to explore whether individual cognitions and neighbourhood social capital strengthen each other in their relation with engaging in sports at least three times per week. Cross-sectional analyses on data from the last wave of the YouRAction trial (2009-2010, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; baseline response: 98%) were conducted. In total 1129 had data on the last wave questionnaire (...

The aim of the present study was to analyze: (a) the relationship between alcohol and tobacco use and academic performance, and (b) the predictive role of psycho-educational factors and alcohol and tobacco abuse on academic performance in a sample of 352 Spanish adolescents from grades 8 to 10 of Compulsory Secondary Education. The Self-Description Questionnaire-II, the Sydney Attribution Scale...

metal forming processes, compared with machining ones, reduce production steps and increasemanufacturing speed in addition to saving raw material. in this paper, forming process of column ofa steering mechanism is investigated by finite element analyses and experimental tests; andoptimum die design parameters are found. forming process parameters including die opening angle,bearing length, clea...

AIMS To evaluate the underlying factor structure of the Chinese version of General Health Questionnaire-12 using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses in Chinese adolescents and find out which factor model proposed by previous empirical research is the best-fit model. BACKGROUND The 12-item General Health Questionnaire has been extensively used with adolescents in the West. Yet, it has...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to identify and investigate the factors derived from the rural integrated community clerkship (RICC) questionnaire that influenced the decision of medical students to pursue a 36-week rural community placement option. METHODS A total of 162 first-year (n = 92) and second-year (n = 70) medical students completed the 35-item RICC questionnaire. We used qu...

BACKGROUND Primary care physicians (PCPs) play a key role regarding vaccination in France. The aims of the present study were to define the scoring rules and to assess the measurement properties of the 'Determinants of Intentions to Vaccinate' (DIVA©) questionnaire that aims to assess PCPs' attitudes and beliefs toward vaccination. METHODS The DIVA questionnaire was derived from a literature ...

PURPOSE To develop and validate a questionnaire for the measurement of the impact of contact lenses on quality of life (QoL): The Contact Lens Impact on Quality of Life (CLIQ) Questionnaire. METHODS The questionnaire was developed and validated using conventional methods and Rasch analysis to assure content validity, repeatability, construct validity, and low respondent burden. Item identific...

OBJECTIVE To develop and validate the Adult Hypopituitarism Questionnaire (AHQ) as a disease-specific, self-administered questionnaire for evaluation of quality of life (QOL) in adult patients with hypopituitarism. METHODS We developed and validated this new questionnaire, using a standardized procedure which included item development, pilot-testing and psychometric validation. Of the patient...