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Biomedical subjects

C Eales

Publications and source records attributed to C Eales.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Profiling the membership of self-help groups for aphasic people.

We surveyed the membership of aphasia self-help groups in England. We wanted to know what kinds of people become members and the factors associated with taking an active role. So we aimed to describe the membership in terms of age, aphasia severity, physical state, socio-economic status and group roles. We collected data on 135 members and found them relatively less severe but mainly chronically aphasic, living in their own homes and close to the group meeting place, using their own or public transport, with little community or state aid. While hemiplegia was common, few were wheelchair bound. Those taking active roles were younger and less severely aphasic and from more professional and managerial socio-economic groups.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Penetrating stab wounds of the chest--when should chest physiotherapy commence? A comparative study.

In an effort to optimise the physiotherapy management of patients with penetrating stab wounds to the chest, 26 male patients, aged between 18 and 30 years, were randomised to one of two groups on admission to Hillbrow Hospital. The patients in group I received chest physiotherapy immediately after insertion of the intercostal drain, while patients in group II received chest physiotherapy 9-12 hours after insertion of the drain as is currently the normal hospital procedure. Mean duration of intercostal drainage in group I was 40 hours and that in group II 65.92 hours. Patients in group I had significantly shorter intercostal drainage times than patients in group II (P = 0.0001). Patients in group I had a mean hospital stay of 43.96 hours while patients in group II had a mean hospital stay of 77.53 hours (P = 0.0001). There was a significant difference in the duration of hospitalisation between the two groups, this being shorter in group I than in group II. The prevalence of spiking temperatures was also significantly lower in group I than in group II, since only 2 patients in group I but 8 patients in group II developed a spiking temperature (P = 0.0207). This study suggests that an aggressive approach of immediate chest physiotherapy in these patients has definite beneficial results.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Adherence to cardiovascular risk factor modification in patients with hypertension.

AIM: The effectiveness of the support of a healthcare practitioner and a family member in producing changes in cardiovascular risk factor modification was tested in a randomised, controlled trial in patients with hypertension. METHODS: The primary outcome measured after the 24-week intervention was blood pressure change. Secondary outcomes included patients' adherence to the programme, their knowledge about hypertension, exercise capacity, body weight, self-reported ability to control stress, adherence to medication and salt restriction, as well as symptoms. RESULTS: There were no marked improvements in blood pressure regulation in either group. The differences between the experimental and control groups were 3 mmHg (CI -6.18-12.18) for systolic blood pressure and 4 mmHg (CI -1.48-9.48) for diastolic blood pressure. The estimated blood pressure effects were small increases in both diastolic and systolic blood pressure, due to larger changes in the control group. These small changes were of no clinical significance. This intervention was not successful in reducing blood pressure of hypertensive patients who participated in a lifestyle programme. Secondary outcomes did show positive changes as a result of the given intervention. The absolute difference in improvement between the two groups was significantly greater for the experimental group than for the control group for the following variables: 24% better adherence to the programme (p = 0.007); 10% higher mean percentage score of hypertension knowledge and its management (p = 0.04); 20% more patients could control their stress levels (p = 0.05); 26% more patients could control their salt ingestion (p = 0.02); and 20% had better adherence to their given medication regimen (p = 0.05). The experimental group had a statistically significant weight reduction of 1 (+/- 4) kg relative to the control group (p = 0.03). Both groups increased their exercise capacity during the trial (p = 0.03). On the completion of the intervention, significantly fewer patients in the experimental group than in the control complained of tiredness (p = 0.05). Patients who had a 75% adherence or more to the programme were found to have maintained their knowledge and their exercise capacity, but not their weight loss after a maintenance phase of 12 weeks, during which time there was no intervention. CONCLUSION: Patients in a supported environment such as the one in this study were able to modify their cardiovascular risk factors, even though there were non-significant changes in blood pressure reported in this study.

Antihypertensive Agents↗