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Biomedical subjects

C D Jenkins

Publications and source records attributed to C D Jenkins.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Endocrine activity in air traffic controllers at work. II. Biological, psychological and work correlates.

This is the second in a series of three papers describing cortisol and growth hormone secretion in air traffic controllers at work. Comparing controllers' average hormone levels across a large number of biological, psychological and occupational characteristics yielded few replicable differences. Comparing men with themselves across three repeated endocrine studies showed a consistent but modest relationship between increases in workload and increases in cortisol. For a subgroup of men classified as 'responders', who had significant increases in cortisol parallel with workload, significantly higher scores were found for peer ratings of their work competency, self-reported job satisfaction and their perception of freedom at work provided them by their supervisors. The modest relationships between workload and endocrine secretion were interpreted as evidence for adaptation by the controllers to their working environment. Cortisol responsiveness to large increases in workload was interpreted as reflecting high levels of job investment.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Endocrine activity in air traffic controllers at work. III. Relationship to physical and psychiatric morbidity.

This final report in the series of three examines the relationships between physical health change, psychopathology and work responsiveness to cortisol and growth hormone secretion in air traffic controllers. In contrast to expectations, those who had the lowest rates of mild to moderate physical health change showed a modest tendency to have higher average cortisol. Those men who experienced more psychiatric symptomatology in terms of impulse control problems, alcohol abuse and subjective distress had slightly higher average cortisol values at work. Those men who responded to increased workload with increases in cortisol, possibly reflecting increased job involvement, also had higher average cortisol. Physical health change, levels of psychopathology and cortisol responses to increased workload were statistically independent predictors of average cortisol levels.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Psychosocial risk factors for coronary heart disease.

Four clusters of psychosocial risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) are reviewed. Socio-economic disadvantage acts through a number of influences to increase CHD risk. In advanced industrialized nations those in the lower social strata now have much higher CHD risk than persons in middle and upper social classes. Sustained disturbing emotions represent a second cluster. Anxiety, depression and other indices of neuroticism have frequently been found in association with angina pectoris and cardiac death, though not with myocardial infarction (MI). However, sleep disturbances are associated with angina, cardiac death and MI. The Type A behaviour pattern results from an interaction between a self-activating individual and an environment which rewards hurried and competitive activity. Despite a small number of negative findings, the Type A pattern has been shown in cross-sectional, retrospective and prospective studies by many research teams to be associated with a variety of manifestations of CHD. A fourth, and more recently recognized cluster of psychosocial risk factors, may be grouped together under the general heading of "overload". Many investigations have now shown, for example, that excessive workload is a powerful predictor of CHD risk. It is suggested that all four clusters share the common property of exposing the individual, either chronically, or in frequently recurring episodes, to excessive psychological demands. They appear to exert their pathogenic influence through long-term mechanisms such as atherosclerosis or plaque formation, rather than by precipitating sudden coronary events.

Aggression↗
PubMed1982

Neuropsychological dysfunction following elective cardiac operation. I. Early assessment.

Two neuropsychological tests were administered to 227 men and women, ages 25 to 69 years, before and after coronary bypass and cardiac valve operations to provide current information regarding the incidence of postoperative decrements in neuropsychological dysfunction and the factors associated with them. Biographical, psychological, and medical-surgical data were studied together with changes in scores on the Trail Making Tests and the Visual Reproduction (VR) Test of the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS). Postoperative decrements greater than one standard deviation were observed in each of the four scores derived from these testings for 11% to 17% of the patients. Yet 70% of all patients remained within one standard deviation of original performance on all four scores. Among the preoperative correlates of significantly reduced test performance were age greater than 60 years, end-diastolic pressure greater than 30 mm Hg, moderate to severely enlarged heart size on preoperative x-ray film, and use of propranolol or chlordiazepoxide hydrochloride. Significant perioperative correlates included measure of duration of operation (such as total time of operation greater than 7 hours, time on the pump greater than 2 hours, and aortic cross-clamp time greater than 2 hours), total estimate of blood loss greater than 2,000 ml, hypotension, difficult intubation, and insertion of an intra-aortic balloon. Postoperative factors significantly associated with declines in test scores included electrolyte (Na+, K+, Cl-) abnormalities, longer stay in the intensive care unit, bizarre behavior or disorientation, and depression score. These findings suggest that those patients with more precarious heart function, a more protracted operation, and/or increased metabolic disturbances are especially prone to neuropsychological dysfunction following cardiac operations.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Neuropsychological dysfunction following elective cardiac operation. II. A six-month reassessment.

Three neuropsychological tests were administered to 245 men and women, ages 25 to 69 years, before and 6 months after coronary bypass and cardiac valve operations to provide current information regarding the incidence of long-term postoperative decrements in neuropsychological function and the factors associated with them. Biographical, psychological and medical-surgical data were studied together with changes on the Trail Making Test from the Halstead-Reitan Battery, and Visual Reproduction (VR) and Logical Memory tests, both from the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS). Although 28% of this group showed a deterioration in one or more test scores at a 9 day postoperative examination as compared to their preoperative scores, over 80% of these patients had returned to normal range by 6 months. Similarly, the majority of the 19% of patients showing a significant decrease in one or more of four scores at 6 months had incurred their performance decrements subsequent to the 9 day examination. Hence it seems inappropriate to attribute these latter dysfunctions to the surgical epidose per se, as others have reported. Only 5% of patients showed consistent postoperative test score deterioration both at 9 days and 6 months. Decrements of function at 6 months appear to be associated with total estimated blood loss greater than 3,000 ml and administration of propranolol during the operation plus several postoperative factors including higher levels of fatigue, depression, and worries related to the operation and the recovery process. These findings underscore the need for clinicians and investigators studying neuropsychological dysfunction following cardiac operations to take concurrent emotional and physical states into account, and to make repeated measures well separated in time, before interpreting the presence or absence of residual neuropsychological problems.

Coronary Artery Bypass↗
PubMed1980

Behavioral risk factors and coronary heart disease.

After a historical review, three clusters of social psychological variables are discussed: (1) socioeconomic factors and social disorganization; (2) sustained, intensely disturbing emotions, and (3) behavioral risk factors characterized by the hard-driving, type A coronary-prone behavior pattern. Empirical evidence from the bulk of research on various aspects of these risk factors suggests that the three clusters have a significant bearing on the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease. Reduction of behavioral risk factors should concentrate on three interventions: (1) reducing the type A pattern; (2) treating emotional drain and exhaustion, and (3) treating sustained episodes of interpersonal conflict.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Use of a monthly health review to ascertain illness and injuries.

A Monthly Health Review was developed to monitor symptoms, illnesses and injuries among Air Traffic Controllers. Return rate of the mailed check-list exceeded 90 per cent. Diagnoses were generated from symptom clusters by computer algorithms. Telephone interview by physicians, laboratory analyses for serum pepsinogen I, and analyses of relations between symptom clusters and degree of disability all served to support the validity of the methodology. Such a system can provide inexpensive surveillance of morbidity in suitable populations.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Life changes. Do people really remember?

The question, "How well do people remember life changes?" was approached in a longitudinal study of nearly 400 healthy men in a responsible profession. Three scales for assessing life changes were administered by questionnaire at two examinations nine months apart. The subjects were asked to report life change events occurring during a specific six-month period--that which immediately preceded the first examination. For all three life change scales there was substantial forgetting over the interval between reports, with a second report yielding total scores 34% to 46% less than those from the first report for the same period. The amount of change over time varied greatly across persons. These findings raise serious questions about the validity of retrospective studies of life change and illness when the period being reported is greater than six months in the past. They do not, however, jeopardize the potential of the method for prospective studies.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Cultural context of type A behavior and risk for CHD: a study of Japanese American males.

A total of 2437 Japanese American men living in Hawaii were given the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS) and classified as either type A or type B. Only 18% of the sample scored in the type A direction, a much lower percentage than usually found among white American males. There was a slightly higher prevalence of CHD among type A Japanese Americans than among their type B counterparts (5.7% vs. 3.6%, respectively). A factor analysis of JAS data produced three new factors for this population: HS (hard-driving and impatient), JH (ability to function successfully in job setting), and HW (hard-working). Those men who were more Westernized had a higher prevalence of CHD, expecially if they were also type A, in terms of both geographical mobility and intergenerational change. The results are discussed in light of the dual role of sociocultural influences and behavioral characteristics (type A/B) which predispose an individual to CHD.

Aged↗
PubMed1979

Psychosocial modifiers of response to stress.

The impact of stress upon an organism is far more complex than the simple design of most stress research implies. We offer an expanded model for studying the relation of stressors to pathological outcomes, which takes into account both the adaptive capacity of the organism before the stressor occurs and the defenses marshalled in response to the stressor. The model also distinguishes among the initial responses of alarm, sustained defensive behaviors, and the relatively irreversible endstates which remain after resistance has ended. Realizing that only a multidiscomplinary approach can begin to capture the wholeness of human experience, this research paradigm anticipates that stressors, adaptive capacities, defenses, alarm reactions, and pathologial end-states will take place at the biological, psychological, interpersonal and sociocultural levels simultaneously and successively. Data on life change stress and psychological health outcomes gathered as part of the Air Traffic Controller Health Change Study are analyzed to illustrate the use of the model in identifying psychosocial and biological modifiers of response to stress.

Adaptation, Psychological↗