| 1. |
- Borg, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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Is centre-based provision of hearing aids better than community-based provision? A cluster-randomized trial among adolescents in Bangladesh
- 2018
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Ingår i: Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1748-3107 .- 1748-3115. ; 13:6, s. 497-503
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: In response to the need for hearing aids in low-income countries, an approach to provide hearing aids through trained community workers was developed. This study compares the effectiveness of the community-based approach with that of a centre-based approach. Methods: One hundred and forty adolescents (56% girls; 12–18 years; mean: 15 years) from eleven sub-districts participated in a cluster-randomized trial comparing a community-based service (n = 75) with a centre-based service (n = 65) in Bangladesh. The International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA) was administered to the participants six weeks after fitting of a hearing aid, and its scores were analyzed by Mann–Whitney U-tests and an ordinal regression model. Results: The community-based approach performed as well as the centre-based approach on five out of seven outcome measures. The latter approach performed statistically significantly better on Residual participation restrictions (p = .007) and Impact on others (p = .012), but the effect sizes were small. Controlling for sex, age, hearing loss, place of living and proxy responses did not change the results. Conclusions: The community-based approach is a viable and effective option for hearing aid delivery in low-resourced settings. The approach needs to be adapted to particular contexts, and possible down-sides may need to be counteracted by special interventions.Implications for RehabilitationHearing aid use can contribute to improved activity, participation and quality of life among adolescents in low-income countries.Community-based approaches to delivering hearing aids can be viable and effective options to centre-based services.
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| 2. |
- Ekman, Björn, et al.
(författare)
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Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on primary care utilization : evidence from Sweden using national register data
- 2021
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Ingår i: BMC Research Notes. - : BioMed Central. - 1756-0500. ; 14:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective To analyze changes in primary care utilization as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Swedish national register data from 2019 to 2020 on utilization of services were used to compare overall utilization levels and across types of contacts and patient groups. A specific objective was to assess the extent to which remote types of patient consultations were able to compensate for any observed fall in on-site visits. Data were stratified by sex and age to investigate any demographic pattern.Results Findings show significant reductions in overall utilization of services as the pandemic occurred in the first quarter of 2020. On-site visits fell during the first wave of the pandemic and rebounded thereafter. Patients over 65 years of age appear to have reduced utilization to a larger extent compared with younger groups. Simultaneously, remote contacts increased from around 12% before the pandemic to 17% of the total number of consultations. However, the net effect of changes in service utilization suggests an overall reduction of around 12 percent in the number of primary care consultations as a result of the pandemic. No differences between men and women were observed. Further research will continue to monitor changes in primary care utilization as the pandemic continues.
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| 3. |
- Ekman, Björn, et al.
(författare)
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Utilization of digital primary care in Sweden : Descriptive analysis of claims data on demographics, socioeconomics, and diagnoses
- 2019
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Ingår i: International Journal of Medical Informatics. - : Elsevier. - 1386-5056 .- 1872-8243. ; 127, s. 134-140
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: As digital technologies for health continue to develop, the ability to provide primary care services to patients with new symptoms will grow. In Sweden, two providers of digital primary care have expanded rapidly over the past years giving rise to a heated debate with clear policy implications. The purpose of the study is to present a descriptive review of digital primary care as currently under development in Sweden.Methods: Descriptive analysis of national coverage data on the utilization of digital care by sex, age, place of residence, socioeconomic status, and most common diagnoses. The data are compared with samples of corresponding data on traditional, office-based primary care, out-of-hours care, and on non-emergency telephone consultations to obtain a comparative analysis of digital care.Results: Digital primary care in Sweden has increased rapidly over the past two years. Currently, more than 30,000 digital consultations are made per month, equivalent to around two percent of all physician-led primary care. Digital care differs in some ways to that of traditional care as users are generally younger and seek for different conditions compared with office-based primary care. Digital care is also similar to traditional care as utilization is higher in metropolitan areas compared with rural areas. Similar to general health care use, there is a negative correlation between use of digital care and socioeconomic status. User profiles by age and sex of digital care are also similar to those of out-of-hours care and non-emergency telephone medical consultations.Conclusions: By providing a detailed description of the development of digital primary care the study contributes to a growing understanding of the contributions that digital technologies can make to health care. Based on current trends digital primary care is likely to continue to increase in frequency over the coming years. As technologies develop and the public becomes more familiar to interacting with medical providers over the Internet also the scope of digital care is likely to expand. As the provision of digital primary care expands across Europe and beyond, policy makers will need to develop regulating capacities to ensure its safe, effective and equitable integration into existing health systems.
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| 4. |
- Mehra, Devika, et al.
(författare)
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Inconsistent condom use among Ugandan university students from a gender perspective: a cross-sectional study.
- 2014
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Ingår i: Global Health Action. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1654-9880 .- 1654-9716. ; 7:Apr 10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background : Feminization of the HIV/AIDS epidemic has been a prominent phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa. Inconsistent condom use among young people is one of the major risk factors in the continued propagation of the epidemic. Therefore, it is of importance to increase knowledge of gender aspects of condom use among young people. Objective : To investigate whether gender differences regarding individual and social factors determine the association between condom efficacy and inconsistent condom use with a new sex partner, among Ugandan university students. Design : In 2010, 1954 Ugandan students participated in a cross-sectional survey, conducted at Mbarara University of Science and Technology in southwestern Uganda. A self-administered questionnaire assessed socio-demographic factors, alcohol consumption, sexual behaviors (including condom use and condom efficacy), and peer norms. The data were stratified by sex and examined by multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results : A total of 1,179 (60.3%) students reported having had their sexual debut. Of these, 231 (37.4%) males and 209 (49.2%) females reported inconsistent condom use with a new sex partner. Students with low condom efficacy had a higher risk of inconsistent condom use with a new sex partner, even after adjusting for the potential confounders. A synergistic effect was observed between being a female and low condom efficacy with inconsistent condom use. Conclusion : The association between inconsistent condom use and low condom efficacy was found among both males and females, but females were found to be at a higher risk of inconsistent condom use compared to their male counterparts. Therefore, gender power relations should be addressed in policies and interventions aiming at increasing condom use among young people in sub-Saharan settings. Programs could be designed with intervention strategies that focus on interactive and participatory educational activities and youth-friendly counseling of young people, which in turn may improve their interpersonal communication and condom negotiation skills with their partners.
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