OBJECTIVE Very little is known about predictors of response rates to long-term follow-up mail-out surveys, including whether the timing of an incentive affects response rates. We aimed to determine whether the timing of the incentive affects response rates and what baseline demographic and psychological factors predict response rates to a 12 year follow-up survey. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING Par...

A prospective study assessed the outcome in a sample of 122 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition alcohol-dependent patients in primary care. Standardized questionnaires collected clinical, social, and management data during 875 visits over an 18-month follow-up. A time-event analysis identified outcome predictors. Forty-three percent of patients attempted at lea...

Introduction: Investigators believe that anatomical abnormalities in the sinonasal region can be the cause of some chronic and refractory headaches that may respond well to surgical intervention. This study presents the prevalence of headache in patients with nasal septal deviation and their response to surgical treatment over a 2-year follow-up period. Materials and Methods: This descriptiv...

OBJECTIVE To describe newborn length of stay, postdischarge follow-up, and health care utilization in the context of Minnesota's early discharge legislation. DESIGN AND SETTING Retrospective study using claims data from a large managed care organization. PARTICIPANTS Term newborns born from January 1995 through February 1999 (N = 22 944). OUTCOME MEASURES Newborn length of stay, home or c...

BACKGROUND Maintaining independence in older people or restoring and encouraging self-management in those with chronic conditions are ways of increasing health-related quality of life and at the same time may achieve cost savings. Nurses often carry out these types of interventions in follow-up home visits. AIMS To describe nursing interventions during home visits and their effects on people ...

OBJECTIVE To validate a clinical database for nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) with the aim of monitoring and predicting the prognosis of NMSC treated by dermatologists in clinics in the central and north Denmark regions. METHODS We assessed the completeness of registration of patients and follow-up visits, and positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), sensitivity, and s...

BACKGROUND Post-treatment follow-up visits for gynecological cancer survivors should provide opportunities for management of adverse physical/psychological effects of therapy and early recurrence detection. However, the adequacy of such visits in Japan is poorly documented. We qualitatively explored care-seeking experiences of Japanese gynecological cancer survivors and deduced factors influenc...