Thesis (M.Sc.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2004. / Restricted until October 2005. Bibliography: leaves 76-78.

Zimbabwean men at risk of developing prostate cancer (PC) are diagnosed late or not at all. A cross sectional, quantitative study was done in Zimbabwe to establish physicians' attitudes and beliefs towards PC screening and diagnosis. Descriptive statistics were obtained to determine physicians' beliefs and attitudes using the Physician Attitudes and Beliefs Questionnaire Survey. The instrument incorporated validated instruments, the Burns' Cancer Belief Scale and Physician Survey on Prostate Cancer Screening, and demographic questions to measure specific independent variables, potentially influencing attitudes and beliefs. Means and standard deviations were conducted for continuous variables for beliefs and attitudes, and frequencies and percentages for categorical variables were calculated. Data from 206 respondents were analyzed utilizing multiple regression and MANOVA analysis to determine significance. The average Belief score was 3.96 (SD = 1.04), which reflected an overall belief score falling in the neutral range of response options. Linear regression results were significant, F(19, 178) = 2.09, p = 0.007, R2 = 0.18, suggesting that screening, stage of cancer, gender, training location, culture, total years in practice, and specialty accounted for 18% of the variance in Belief score. Attitude score predicted by screening (p = .000), stage of cancer (p = .005), race (p = .000), and culture (p = .020), was also significant. Screening and training location were significant predictors. Results will benefit physicians improve their attitudes using suggested continued education, resulting in improved screening practices and PC diagnosis. The public health system will potentially see PC death rates decline over time increasing life expectancy.

Newborn hearing screening in the Czech Republic Abstract The aim of this diploma thesis is to summarize the important and actual information about a newborn hearing screening and its related topics. The theoretical part of this thesis contains the contemporary knowledge of the issue, the definition of terms for a comprehensive setting of issue in the context, illustrates the current state of knowledge of the issue in the Czech Republic in the comparison to some European and world countries and reveals some more directly and inextricably related topics. The practical part is based on the knowledge of the theoretical part. The practical part focuses on identification of the level of awareness of newborn hearing screening among pregnant women, which was investigated by a questionnaire. This part also analyzes, evaluates and discusses the results and suggestions for practice. The task of the practical part was not only to identify the research data, but also to provide information to expectant mothers about the possibilities and significance of the newborn hearing screening by appropriate form, as this topic is very current for the general public. Key words: early care early diagnosis hearing impairment newborn hearing screening otoacoustic emissions rehabilitation of hearing impairment

Evaluer le vécu des examens complémentaires en terme d'utilité est pertinent car cela permet de prendre en compte cette donnée dans l'évaluation médico-économique des examens. Le Standard gamble n'a jamais été utilisé pour mesurer l'utilité des examens ; son application dans ce cas pose des problèmes méthodologiques liés à la nature temporaire de l'état évalué. Nous proposons une adaptation du Standard gamble chaîné (SGc) pour mesurer l'utilité des examens. Nous avons mené une étude transversale pour évaluer le vécu des examens du dépistage et du diagnostic initial du cancer du sein en pratique clinique courante. Le vécu a été mesuré en terme (1) d'utilité avec le SGc et une méthode dérivée du Time trade-off, le Wait trade-off (WTO) et (2) de qualité de vie avec un questionnaire standardisé (index TMI). Dans 5 services de radiologie de Montpellier et sa région, 185 patientes ayant eu une mammographie +/- échographie mammaire (68), une IRM mammaire (60) ou une biopsie du sein (57) avec un résultat négatif ont été interrogées après l'annonce du résultat. Les scénarios du SGc ont été bien compris par les patientes (temps d'entretien : 20-30 minutes). Dans les repères (e0, e1) et (décès, e1), 61.0% et 84.0% des patientes avaient une utilité égale à 1. L'utilité du SGc dans le repère (e0, e1) variait avec le type d'examen (p=0.12) et était associé à certaines variables de la qualité de vie (p=0.11 et p=0.036). La mesure n'était pas corrélée avec le WTO. Dans le repère (décès, pleine santé), la désutilité moyenne de l'examen obtenue par le SGc et par le WTO était : 0.0004 (et=0.0015) et 0.0010 (et=0.0031) pour la mammographie, 0.0004 (et=0.0027) et 0.0011 (et=0.0027) pour l'IRM mammaire et 0.0014 (et=0.0073) et 0.0036 (et=0.0083) pour la biopsie du sein. En conclusion, le SGc était compréhensible par les patients mais montrait un effet plafond important quand la mesure était rapportée dans le repère (décès, e1) ; cet effet devra être pris en compte dans les utilisations ultérieures de la mesure. / To evaluate the health impact of diagnostic testing in terms of utility is relevant because introducing this data in the economic evaluation of tests. The Standard gamble has never been used to measure the utility of diagnostic tests; there is methodological problems related to the temporary nature of the condition evaluated. We propose an adaptation of the chained Standard gamble (SGc) to measure the utility of diagnostic tests. A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the health impact of the screening and diagnostic tests of breast cancer in clinical practice. The health impact was measured in terms of (1) utility with the SGc and an adapted version of the Time trade-off, the Wait trade-off (WTO) and (2) quality of life with a standardized questionnaire (index TMI). In 5 departments of radiology in Montpellier area, 185 patients who had a mammography +/- breast echography (68) or a breast MRI (60) or a breast biopsy (57) with a negative result were interviewed after the announcement of the results. The patients understood well the SGc scenarios (interview time : 20-30 minutes). In (e0, e1) and (death, e1), 61.0% and 84.0% of patients had utility equal to 1. The utility of the SGc in (e0, e1) varied with the type of test (P=0.12) and was associated with some variables of quality of life (P=0.11 and P=0.036). The measure was not correlated with the WTO. In (death, perfect health), the average disutility of the test measured by the SGc and the WTO was: 0.0004 (SD=0.0015) and 0.0010 (SD=0.0031) for the mammography, 0.0004 (SD=0.0027) and 0.0011 (SD=0.0027) for the breast MRI and 0.0014 (SD=0.0073) and 0.0036 (SD=0.0083) for the breast biopsy. In conclusion, the SGc was understandable by patients but showed a significant ceiling effect in (death, e1); this effect should be taken into account in subsequent uses of the measure.