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Biomedical subjects

B Thompson

Publications and source records attributed to B Thompson.

252 records · Page 14Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Maximizing worksite survey response rates through community organization strategies and multiple contacts.

BACKGROUND: Worksites are natural settings for health promotion. In many cases, the effectiveness of such interventions is appraised by surveying employees to assess worksite-wide changes in the targeted behavior. Little attention has been paid to increasing worksite survey response rates. One way is to utilize community organization strategies, which involve enlisting the individuals within a group to work together with researchers to affect the social environment. METHODS: Community organization strategies and multiple contacts were used to obtain responses from employees in five worksites involved in a smoking cessation project. Employee Advisory Board members in each worksite reviewed, adapted, and revised the survey distribution method, the messages that accompanied the survey, and the survey content. Three major survey waves were undertaken: a worksite effort, a home mailing (in the pilot worksite only), and a telephone call to nonrespondents. RESULTS: Response rates to a worksite-wide survey in one worksite the first year and four additional worksites the next year yielded 99.3% and 98.4% response rates, respectively. In the pilot worksite, 273 employees were eligible for the survey with 366 eligible employees in the four other worksites. Chi-square or analysis of variance computations were used, as appropriate, to test for differences in characteristics of respondents in the various data collection waves. DISCUSSION: These results suggest that there may be merit in adapting such community organization intervention methods for research applications.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Accelerated solvent extraction of vitamin K1 in medical foods in conjunction with matrix solid-phase dispersion.

An extraction technique is described for vitamin K1 in medical foods, using accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) in conjunction with matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD). The medical food sample is treated as it would be with MSPD extraction, followed by ASE for a hands-free automated extraction. The vitamin K1 in the ASE extract is then quantitated by reversed-phase liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. The chromatography specifications are identical to those in previous work that used MSPD only, with a limit of detection of 6.6 pg and a limit of quantitation of 22 pg on column. Recoveries, which were determined for an analyte-fortified zero control reference material for medical foods, averaged 97.6% (n = 25) for vitamin K1. The method provides a rapid, automatic, specific, and easily controlled assay for vitamin K1 in fortified medical foods with minimal solvent usage.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid↗
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Lymphatic filariasis.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Africa South of the Sahara↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Reducing the risk of cancer through worksite intervention.

This chapter examines existing activities reported in the literature in the areas of smoking, nutrition, and screening; explores the prominent theories of behavior change that have guided some of these activities; and presents a model for worksite cancer prevention programs that is currently being tested in a large trial. A major theme of this chapter is the need for simultaneous changes in individual behaviors and the worksite environment. For each factor (smoking, nutrition, and screening) the discussion is divided into interventions for individuals and those for the environment or organization.

Health Promotion↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: integrating care for patients and their families.

In order to provide continuity of care from diagnosis to death, those who provide health care to ALS patients and families need to creatively combine their resources. Such collaboration immeasurably enhances the quality of this care and can help sustain the care-giving abilities of those involved in this challenging work.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Community organization to enhance the delivery of preventive health services.

Preventive health services are most effective when provided to large groups, but health care professionals often are limited to provision to individuals or small groups. As recent studies show, the effects of preventive services can be enhanced through the use of community organization, which mobilizes a community's energies and resources to define and address a problem in a way that promotes local ownership and generates increasing effects over time. We pragmatically adapt community organization for health care practitioners. There are three guiding principles: (1) the community of interest must be clearly defined; (2) existing community structures should be used to reach and stimulate community members; and (3) the organizer's role is temporary. We discuss four tactics of community organization: (1) use of community analysis to understand the community; (2) stimulation of community activity; (3) provision of concrete assistance to accomplish community change; and (4) reinforcement of structures that will remain to carry on the programs. Use of these community organization tactics will allow delivery of preventive health services in a way that promotes widespread and lasting effects.

Community Health Services↗
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Psychosocial predictors of outcome in a worksite smoking cessation program.

We examined the relationship of smoking history, motivation, social support, and stress to initial cessation and long-term abstinence in a sample of 402 smokers who participated in a worksite smoking cessation program. Compared to nonquitters, smokers who initially stopped smoking expected less difficulty quitting, had previously abstained for longer periods, and had a higher desire to quit. Long-term abstainers were lighter smokers and had more social support and less stress than relapsers. The differences in the predictors of initial cessation and long-term abstinence support the concept of a staged cessation process. The results suggest that intraindividual factors are particularly important early in the process, whereas environmental factors are more important during the later, maintenance stage. These findings are consistent with a biopsychosocial model of cessation and relapse and support multicomponent interventions.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Trauma to the corpus callosum: MR features.

The frequency, distribution, and appearance of corpus callosum injuries were evaluated with MR and CT in a prospective study of 78 patients with acute (n = 63) and chronic (n = 15) head injuries. Traumatic lesions of the corpus callosum were detected in 47% of patients. MR was significantly (p less than .001) more sensitive than CT in the detection of callosal injuries. MR and CT visualized 100% and 27%, respectively, of the traumatic callosal lesions that were detected in the study population. The majority of lesions were located in the splenium but a few were also found in the body and genu. Patients with callosal injuries had a significantly higher incidence of primary brainstem injury (p less than .02) as well as a greater number of subcortical gray-matter (p less than .05) and diffuse axonal "shear" (p less than .001) lesions. In addition, patients with callosal injuries had a significantly higher incidence of traumatic lesions of the septum pellucidum (p less than .007) and fornix (p less than .001). Intraventricular hemorrhage occurred significantly more often (p less than .002) in patients with callosal injuries, especially if traumatic lesions of the fornix or septum pellucidum were also present. Patients with callosal injuries had significantly lower initial Glasgow Coma Scale scores (mean, 6.6) than those without injuries (mean, 10.7) (p less than .001). Injury to the corpus callosum occurs much more often with nonfatal head injuries than had been believed previously.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A randomized comparison of Worksite-sponsored smoking cessation programs.

This worksite study assesses the relative effectiveness of three smoking cessation programs. Computerized medical files indicated that 29% of 13,171 employees were current smokers. Of smokers responding to a worksite-wide survey, 79% indicated interest in a smoking cessation program; 402 smokers agreed to participate and were randomly allocated, within their preference for a group or self-help approach, to the three different programs. Overall, 11% of smokers participated, an excellent rate for a large worksite. Participants were followed for 12 months (91% follow-up). Smokers in the group preference had better short-term results than did those following the self-help approach. The Multiple Component Program had 61% who quit, the Relapse Prevention Program had 37%, and the American Cancer Society Quitter's Guide had 12%. Long-term quit rates ranged from 16% to 26%; all groups exceeded the usual spontaneous quit rate of 5%.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Evaluation of assessment methods of cardiac arrest simulations.

Evaluation of advanced cardiac life support performance requires a consistent assessment process. This study compares a new objective method of evaluation to the currently used method to determine if this objective method improves evaluator concordance on critical errors and whether or not this method is reasonable when compared to the current evaluation method. The design compared two experienced evaluator groups consisting of two evaluators in each group, with one group utilizing written guidelines and the other without these guidelines. Each evaluator independently reviewed student performances on 36 videotaped simulations. Results indicate that evaluators with the written guidelines identified critical errors more often than evaluators without these guidelines (30 versus 20 of 36 cases). When the critical errors observed by the no guideline evaluators were compared to the written guidelines, the critical errors were consistent with the written guidelines in 32 of 36 cases. These results suggest that written guidelines improve evaluator identification of critical errors observed and are reasonable when compared to two experienced evaluators without these guidelines.

Educational Measurement↗