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Biomedical subjects

A Meadow

Publications and source records attributed to A Meadow.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Randomized comparative trial of nicotine polacrilex, a transdermal patch, nasal spray, and an inhaler.

BACKGROUND: There are several nicotine replacement products on the market, and physicians are likely to be asked with increasing frequency about which of these products their patients should use. OBJECTIVE: To provide a basis for rational advice by comparing nicotine polacrilex (gum), a transdermal patch, nasal spray, and an inhaler. DESIGN: Randomized trial with assessments at the quit date and 1, 4, and 12 weeks later. SETTING: Hospital smokers' clinic. PATIENTS: Male and female community volunteers (N = 504) smoking 10 or more cigarettes per day and seeking help to stop smoking. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were given brief advice, and purchased their nicotine replacement treatment at approximately half the regular retail price. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Nicotine replacement treatment use, ratings of withdrawal symptoms, ratings of product characteristics and helpfulness, and biochemically validated continuous lapse-free abstinence. RESULTS: The products did not differ in their effects on withdrawal discomfort, urges to smoke, or rates of abstinence. The continuous validated 12-week abstinence rates were 20%, 21%, 24%, and 24% in the gum, patch, spray, and inhaler groups, respectively. Compliance with recommended nicotine replacement treatment use was high for the patch, low for gum, and very low for the spray and the inhaler. The spray was underused because of adverse effects more often than the other products. In the subjects using the spray, the level of use among abstainers at week 1 predicted outcome at week 12. The inhaler was rated as more embarrassing to use than the other products, but provided at least as much nicotine as the gum. CONCLUSION: When asked about nicotine replacement treatment products available, physicians should note that, despite low compliance with the recommended dose of the spray and inhaler and differences in product ratings, overall, there are no notable differences between the products in their effects on withdrawal discomfort, perceived helpfulness, or general efficacy.

Administration, Cutaneous↗
PubMed1997

Developing Medicare competitive bidding: a study of clinical laboratories.

Competitive bidding to derive Medicare fees promises several advantages over administered fee systems. The authors show how incentives for cost savings, quality, and access can be incorporated into bidding schemes, and they report on a study of the clinical laboratory industry conducted in preparation for a bidding demonstration. The laboratory industry is marked by variable concentration across geographic markets and, among firms themselves, by social and economic heterogeneity. The authors conclude that these conditions can be accommodated by available bidding design options and by careful selection of bidding markets.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

Access to care under physician payment reform: a physician-based analysis.

This article reports physician-based measures of access to care during the 3 years surrounding the 1989 physician payment reforms. Analysis was facilitated by a new system of physician identifiers in Medicare claims. Access measures include caseload per physician and related measures of the demographic composition of physicians' clientele, the proportion of physicians performing surgical and other procedures, and the assignment rate. The caseload and assignment measures were stable or improving over time, suggesting that reforms did not harm access. Procedure performance rates tended to decline between 1992 and 1993, but reductions were inversely related to the estimated fee changes, and several may be explainable by other factors.

Black or African American↗
PubMed1981

Cognitive changes in acute schizophrenia with brief neuroleptic treatment.

The authors studied 44 acutely decompensated, hospitalized schizophrenic patients who were placed on a double-blind basis for 10 days in three treatment groups: patients given high, moderate, and standard doses of haloperidol. To assess changes in the patients' concentration, abstract thinking, and ability to respond appropriately they administered two clinical rating scales and three psychological tests. Patients in all three treatment groups showed similar and significant improvements according to both clinical and psychological ratings after haloperidol administration. Normal control subjects showed no change in psychological test scores over time. The authors conclude that brief treatment with neuroleptics produces measurable improvement in schizophrenic thinking.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Haloperidol for acute schizophrenic patients. An evaluation of three oral regimens.

The relative efficacy of three oral regimens of haloperidol was compared in a ten-day, double-blind study of 63 acutely ill schizophrenic patients newly admitted to the hospital. One group of patients received 20 mg of haloperidol on day 1, then increasing increments of 20 mg a day, reaching a maximum dosage of 100 mg daily on day 5. Another group received 10 mg of haloperidol on day 1, then increasing increments of 10 mg daily, reaching 100 mg daily on day 10. A third group of patients received a fixed dosage of 10 mg daily for ten days. Haloperidol was well tolerated by the patients; there were no serious adverse reactions. The data indicated that the regimens had similar therapeutic efficacy, suggesting that acutely ill schizophrenic patients respond to a wide range of doses of haloperidol but that onset of response and efficacy are not increased in most patients by providing a high initial loading dosage. Adequate, safe dosage must be determined in each case.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1978

High vs standard dosage fluphenazine HCL in acute schizophrenia.

This rater blind project compared the efficacy and safety of using an oral rapid or neuroleptization method (maximum 80 mg./day) versus fixed standard dosage (20 mg./day) fluphenazine, a commonly used neuroleptic. There were 32 hospitalized, acutely decompensated schizophrenic patients in the experiment; the study period for each patient was a maximum of 7 days. The data were collected using the Benjamin Proverb Test and rating scales for psychopathology and adverse effects. Data analysis by means of the analysis of covariance demonstrated few significant differences between the 2 treatment methods: both methods produced a similar reduction in psychopathological symptoms and incidence of adverse effects. The authors conclude that the rapid neuroleptization method is not superior to the fixed standard dosage method in treating acute schizophrenia.

Acute Disease↗