Thus, aspects of the built environment may differentially influence the bodyweight status of children depending upon sex.

BackgroundThe prevalence and impact of antimicrobial “allergy” labels and Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) on antibiotic usage and antimicrobial stewardship initiatives is ill defined. We sought to examine the rate of antimicrobial “allergy labels” at our tertiary referral centre and impacts on antimicrobial usage and appropriateness.MethodsTwo inpatient antimicrobial prevalence surveys were conducted over a 1-week period in November 2013 and 2014 as part of the prospective National Antimicrobial Prescribing Survey (NAPS). Post survey, patients recorded in the NAPS database were assigned to two groups based upon recorded antimicrobial “allergy label” and ADR: (i) Antimicrobial Allergy/ADR (AA) or (ii) No Antimicrobial Allergy/ADR (NAA). Antimicrobial usage and antimicrobial appropriateness were compared between AA and NAA groups.ResultsFrom 509 identified patients the prevalence of an antimicrobial allergy or ADR was 25 %. The prevalence of “allergy labels”/ADR was 10 % (51/509) for penicillin V/G, 5 % (24/509) cephalosporins, 4 % (22/509) trimethroprim-sulfamethoxazole and 3 % (17/509) aminopenicillins. One thousand and seventy antimicrobials were prescribed during the study periods, the median antimicrobial duration was longer in the AA versus NAA group (6 days vs. 4 days; p = 0.018), and proportion of inappropriate antimicrobial prescribing higher in the AA group compared with NAA (29 %; 35/120 vs. 23 %; 86/367, p = 0.22). Oral antimicrobial administration was higher in the NAA than AA group (60 %; 177/297 vs. 46 %; 356/793, p = 0.0001). The proportion of patients that received a β-lactam was lower in the AA versus NAA group (60 % vs. 79 %, p = 0.0001).ConclusionsIn an Australian tertiary referral centre an antimicrobial “allergy” or ADR label was found to significantly impacted on rate of oral antimicrobial administration, beta-lactam usage, antimicrobial duration and antimicrobial appropriateness.

A meta-analysis was conducted on 67 studies of the impact of career education on academic achievement. It offered evidence of a small positive effect. Across the 67 studies analyzed, the average experimental effect size was .16. Career education interventions improved student academic achievement levels an average of .16 standard deviations over alternative or control conditions. Results support the value of career education as a contributor to academic achievement. Elementary students of average ability seem to profit the most in their academic achievement. This was particularly true if (a) they were randomly assigned to groups, (b) the career education intervention was coupled with math and language arts subject matter, (c) the intervention averaged 151 to 200 hours per 9-month school year, and (d) the program was concluding its second year with the same students.

No abstract

SummaryObjectives. To assess compliance with the protocol for the management of women with Chlamydia trachomatis diagnosed in community family planning (FP)