SETTING: In the Cape Town suburbs of Ravensmead and Uitsig, tuberculosis has reached epidemic levels, with notifications of 1340/100 000 in 1996. These suburbs are characterised by overcrowding, high unemployment and poverty. It is traditionally believed that tuberculosis transmission takes...

Background: Cost-effectiveness acceptability curves (CEACs) describe the probability that a new treatment or intervention is cost-effective. The net benefit regression framework (NBRF) allows cost-effectiveness analysis to be done in a simple regression framework. The objective of the paper is...

OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine whether lesbians have higher rates of overweight and obesity than women of other sexual orientations.METHODS: We compared population estimates of overweight and obesity across sexual orientation groups, using data from the 2002 National Survey of Family...

Background: An important issue in prediction modeling of multivariate data is the measure of dependence structure. The use of Pearson's correlation as a dependence measure has several pitfalls and hence application of regression prediction models based on this correlation may not be an...

Background: In this paper we propose the use of the within-subject coefficient of variation as an index of a measurement's reliability. For continuous variables and based on its maximum likelihood estimation we derive a variance-stabilizing transformation and discuss confidence interval...

OBJECTIVE: To examine trends in socio-economic differentials in all-cause mortality in Sydney over a 25-year period (1970-94). METHODS: Five measures of single indicators (two for occupation, two for education and one for income) and a composite measure of socio-economic disadvantage based on...

Workforce planning methodologies for the allied health professions are acknowledged as rudimentary despite the increasing importance of these professions to health care across the spectrum of health services settings. The objectives of this study were to (i) identify workload capacity measures...

Proportional hazards analyses assume that the magnitude of mortality risk for a predictor variable remains proportional over time. In a time-dependent model, the explanatory variable violates this assumption, and repeat observations are required to accommodate the change in risk that occurs over...

This article highlights issues and presents strategies for conducting intervention research in highly unstable environments such as schools, critical care units, and long-term care facilities. The authors draw on their own experiences to discuss the challenges that may be encountered in highly...

This article highlights issues and presents strategies for conducting intervention research in highly unstable environments such as schools, critical care units, and long-term care facilities. The authors draw on their own experiences to discuss the challenges that may be encountered in highly...