reporting Archives - World Asthma Foundation

Risk of suicide for individuals reporting asthma and atopy in young adulthood: Findings from the Glasgow Alumni study.

Psychiatry Res. 2014 Dec 19;

Authors: Crawford AA, Galobardes B, Jeffreys M, Davey Smith G, Gunnell D

Abstract
There is emerging evidence that asthma and atopy may be associated with a higher risk of suicide. We investigated the association of asthma and atopy with mortality from suicide (n=32) in the Glasgow Alumni cohort, adjusting for the key confounders of socioeconomic position and smoking. We found no evidence of an association in our a priori atopy phenotypes with suicide, and there were insufficient suicides in the asthma phenotypes to draw any conclusions. In additional analyses, individuals reporting both eczema-urticaria and hay fever and those with family history of atopy were at higher risk of suicide. As these were secondary analyses and based on small numbers of events we cannot rule out chance findings. The lack of evidence in our main hypothesis may be due to the small number of suicides or reported associations between asthma and atopy may be confounded.

PMID: 25596956 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]

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Identifying barriers to chronic disease reporting in Chicago Public Schools: a mixed-methods approach.

BMC Public Health. 2014 Dec 6;14(1):1250

Authors: Rivkina V, Tapke DE, Cardenas LD, Harvey-Gintoft B, Whyte SA, Gupta RS

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Chronic disease among school-aged children is a public health concern, particularly for asthma and food allergy. In Chicago Public Schools (CPS), rates of asthma and food allergy among students are underreported. The aim of this study was to determine the barriers to chronic disease reporting as experienced by CPS parents and school nurses.
METHODS: A mixed-methods approach included focus groups and key informant interviews with parents and school nurses, and a cross-sectional survey was completed by parents. Qualitative data analysis was performed and survey data were analyzed to determine the significant demographic and knowledge variables associated with successfully completing the reporting process.
RESULTS: The three main barriers identified were 1) a lack of parental process knowledge; 2) limited communication from schools; and 3) insufficient availability of school nurses. Parents were significantly more likely to successfully complete the reporting process if they knew about special accommodations for chronic diseases, understood the need for physician verification, and/or knew the school nurse.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that increasing parental knowledge of the reporting process will allow schools to better identify and manage their students’ chronic conditions. A parent-focused intervention informed by these results has been completed.

PMID: 25481628 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]

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