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Biomedical subjects

D Raphael

Publications and source records attributed to D Raphael.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Making the links between community structure and individual well-being: community quality of life in Riverdale, Toronto, Canada.

An inquiry into community quality of life was carried out within a framework that recognizes the complex relationship between community structures and individual well-being. Through use of focus groups and key informant interviews, community members, service providers, and elected representatives in a Toronto community considered aspects of their community that affected quality of life. Community members identified strengths of access to amenities, caring and concerned people, community agencies, low-cost housing, and public transportation. Service providers and elected representatives recognized diversity, community agencies and resources, and presence of culturally relevant food stores and services as strengths. At one level, findings were consistent with emerging concepts of social capital. At another level, threats to the community were considered in relation to the hypothesized role neo-liberalism plays in weakening the welfare state.

Community Networks↗
PubMed2001

Echocardiographic detection and long-term outcome of coronary artery-left ventricle fistula after septal myectomy in hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy.

We describe a 51-year-old woman with an acquired coronary fistula to the left ventricle. Reports in the literature about acquired coronary fistulas to the left ventricle are scarce. In this patient, the fistula developed after septal myectomy for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. Transesophageal echo-cardiography may be the preferred method to diagnose and evaluate these fistulas. Moreover, in contrast to fistulas to the right ventricle, conservative management carried a good prognosis in this patient.

Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic↗
PubMed2001

Factor analytic properties of the Quality of Life Profile: examination of the nine subdomain Quality of Life Model.

The Quality of Life Profile is a 54-item multidimensional measure of quality of life. The measure is based upon a theoretical approach that considers quality of life to include satisfaction with nine subdomains of functioning. To date, the factor structure of this 54-item collection has not been examined. To do so, an examination was made of the factor structure that emerged from an administration to 219 gay men, half of whom were HIV+. Analysis indicated that seven subdomains were clearly represented in seven of the 11 factors that emerged. One subdomain was fractured into two factors and one subdomain did not appear in the factor structure. Two minor factors appeared to represent issues that may be especially important to gay men living in the HIV era. The study provides insights into the structure of quality of life among gay men living in Ontario.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Sex bodies and synaptonemal complexes of Balb/C mice: antioxidant intervention of oxyradical insult.

Spermatogenesis is inhibited in Balb/C mice as a result of oxyradical insult. However, mammalian spermatocytes and synaptonemal complexes retain their structure and function after oxyradical insult due to protection afforded by the antioxidant vitamin E. Control groups were compared with experimental groups which were fed various vitamin E-deficient diets and subjected to varying times in an humidified 100% oxygen (hyperoxia) chamber. Measurements were made of sex body volume (SBV), nuclear envelope aberrations (NEA), and synaptonemal complex structure in spermatocytes during pachytene of meiosis prophase I. Changes in the volume of the sex body were positively correlated with increased oxyradical insult. The structure of the synaptonemal complex was not altered in any of the experimental groups which is a significant observation. It is suggested that vitamin E affords antioxidant protection and inhibits the alteration of membranes and sex chromosomes in mice during meiosis.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Heterogeneity among smokers and non-smokers in attitudes and behaviour regarding smoking and smoking restrictions.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if smokers and non-smokers cluster into meaningful, discrete subgroups with distinguishable attitudes and behaviours regarding smoking and smoking restrictions. DESIGN: Qualitative research with 45 smokers guided development of questionnaire items applied in a population based telephone survey of 432 current smokers and 1332 non-smokers in Ontario, Canada. METHODS: Cluster analysis of questionnaire items used to categorise adult smokers and non-smokers; comparison of clusters on sociodemographic characteristics and composite knowledge and attitude scores. RESULTS: Smokers clustered in three groups. "Reluctant" smokers (16%) show more concern about other people discovering that they smoke, but parallel "easygoing" smokers (42%) in supporting restrictions on smoking and not smoking around others. "Adamant" smokers (42%) feel restrictions have gone too far, and are less likely to accommodate non-smokers. Significant gradients across categories in the expected direction were observed with respect to smoking status, stage of change, knowledge, and attitude scores, and predicted compliance with restrictions, validating the proposed typology. Non-smokers also clustered into three groups, of which the "adamant" non-smokers (45%) are the least favourably disposed to smoking. "Unempowered" non-smokers (34%) also oppose smoking, but tend not to act on it. "Laissez-faire" non-smokers (21%) are less opposed to smoking in both attitude and behaviour. A significant gradient across categories in the expected direction was observed with respect to composite scores regarding knowledge of the health effects of active and passive smoking and a composite score on support for restrictions on smoking in public places. CONCLUSION: Recognition and consideration of the types of smokers and non-smokers in the population and their distinguishing characteristics could inform the development of tobacco control policies and programmes and suggest strategies to assist implementation.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Health inequities in the United States: prospects and solutions.

An overview of the role that social determinants of health play in influencing health is provided. Emphasis is on the impact of economic inequality in creating health inequities among Americans. Economic inequality is seen as impacting health in three ways: increasing economic inequality weakens population health by creating poverty; weakening communal social structures that support health such as social and health services; and decreasing social cohesion and civil commitment. Documentation is provided of the growing degree of economic inequality in the USA and complicating issues of racial segregation are considered. Specific recommendations for addressing economic inequality, from USA, British, and Canadian sources, are presented. These recommendations indicate the need to move from epidemiologic research to public health action, from demonstrating the major impact of economic inequality on community health to the development and implementation of specific policies and programs to reverse the continuing increase in economic inequality.

Canada↗
PubMed1998

Age-related changes in D2 receptor binding with iodine-123-iodobenzofuran SPECT.

UNLABELLED: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of age on D2 receptor binding with 123I-iodobenzofuran (IBF) SPECT. METHODS: Subjects were 40 healthy volunteers (age 19-83 yr), including 6 who had test/retest studies. Scans were acquired with a triple-head SPECT camera 3 hr postinjection of IBF (300 MBq). Striatal regions (caudate and putamen) were defined by two different region-of-interest (ROI) sets consisting of large volumes [(CLVs), 2.2 and 6.6 m] and small volumes [(SVs), 0.6 and 1.3 ml]. D2 binding (Rv=V3/V2) was quantified using our previously proposed multilinear regression technique. Effects of age on D2 binding were evaluated by fitting linear, exponential and logarithmic models. RESULTS: The mean Rvs were 26% lower than LV for both putamen and caudate than the corresponding values from the SV due to the partial-volume effect. Although the identifiability of Rv using SV deteriorated slightly, the test/retest reproducibility of Rv measurements was equally excellent for LV and SV. The mean Rvs were 11% higher for putamen compared with those for caudate. D2 binding declined significantly with age (p < 10(-5)) for all three models. The nonlinear models were slightly superior to the linear model in describing the relationship between Rv and age. In these models, D2 binding declined with age, equally for caudate and putamen at 7%-13% per decade; the decline was progressively smaller with age. CONCLUSION: IBF SPECT permitted reliable measurements of D2 binding in the caudate or putamen separately using small ROI volumes that significantly improved the quantitation loss from the partial-volume effect. Our results agreed with previous PET and postmortem findings of D2 binding losses with age. However, these age effects may be nonlinear. Age-related changes in D2 binding must be taken into consideration in clinical IBF SPECT investigations.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Measuring the quality of life of older persons: a model with implications for community and public health nursing.

Measuring the quality of life (QOL) of older persons can assist health professionals in achieving a number of important objectives. These include assessing the effects of illness and treatment, identifying need for support services, and developing health enhancing environments. Most QOL models focus unduly on illness and disability, define QOL too narrowly, and do not consider aspects of personal control and potential opportunities for change. A new model of QOL with associated instrumentation, the Quality of Life Profile: Seniors Version (QOLPSV), is described. Administration of the QOLPSV to 205 older persons in Ontario, Canada found it to be reliable and valid. Limitations of the instrument are presented and potential uses explored.

Aged↗
PubMed1996

Determinants of health of North-American adolescents: evolving definitions, recent findings, and proposed research agenda.

The recent literature on the determinants of adolescent health is reviewed. Four definitions of adolescent health are presented: successful transition to adulthood, successful coping, lack of mortality and morbidity, and healthy behaviors and risk avoidance. The review of determinants of health is presented within a framework focused upon adolescent characteristics, aspects of adolescents' immediate environments, and adolescents' ongoing activities and aspirations. An expanded framework which considers societal and structural factors and adolescent health is considered and a proposed research agenda presented.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1996

The Quality of Life Profile--Adolescent Version: background, description, and initial validation.

PURPOSE: Emerging concepts of adolescent health were considered within a broadened quality of life perspective. Instrumentation examining quality of life-the extent to which a person enjoys the important possibilities of his/her life-in three broad domains of adolescent functioning: being, belonging, and becoming, was developed and validated. METHODS: The 54-item Quality of Life Profile: Adolescent Version (QOLPAV) asks adolescents to rate items for importance and satisfaction. The QOLPAV was administered, together with a range of other measures of adolescent functioning, to 160 Canadian adolescents. RESULTS: QOLPAV scores were reliable and correlated with measures of adolescent personality, self-reported health status, and tobacco and alcohol use. CONCLUSIONS: With further validation, the QOLPAV could be used to assess current states of coping and functioning, identify adolescents' service needs, develop health enhancing environments, and assess the effects of illness and treatments.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Aortic valve replacement with allograft/autograft: subcoronary versus intraluminal cylinder or root.

From April 1990 to May 1994, 89 patients (median age, 42 years; range, 10 days to 66 years) underwent aortic valve or root replacement with allografts or autografts. Thirteen patients were less than 18 years old at the time of operation. Indication for aortic valve replacement was aortic stenosis (50 patients, 56%), small stenotic prosthesis (2 patients, 2%), aortic valve endocarditis (19 patients, 21%), isolated aortic regurgitation (17 patients, 19%), and type II truncus arteriosus (1 patient, 1%). The subcoronary implantation was used in 45 patients (group A), and implantation of an intraluminal cylinder (16 patients) or complete root replacement (28 patients) was performed in the remaining 44 patients (group B). The Ross procedure was performed in 22 patients. Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography was used routinely. Five patients died in the early postoperative period (6%), 2 in group A and 3 in group B. Three other patients required immediate replacement of a failing graft by a mechanical prosthesis (1 in group A and 2 in group B). There has been no late death. All survivors remained in New York Heart Association functional class I and were free of thromboembolic complications. Endocarditis occurred in 2 patients, 1 year after operation. Both were successfully treated medically. Echocardiographic studies were obtained serially in every patient. Four patients, 2 in group A and 2 in group B underwent reoperation because of mild-to-moderate aortic regurgitation (rate of reoperation, 5%). Two valves were repaired and two were replaced by an allograft.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Actuarial Analysis↗
PubMed1995

Frailty: constructing a common meaning, definition, and conceptual framework.

The term frailty has been used for many years, both in everyday and academic language. It is a term that appears, on the surface, to be simple enough in its meaning, yet it has been used in a variety of ways to describe both people and a condition that applies to people. Moreover, little conceptual thought has gone into the nature of frailty and the factors that might affect it. This paper presents a definition of frailty: frailty occurs when there is diminished ability to carry out the important practical and social activities of daily living. It also presents a conceptualization of frailty that specifies its basic components, the categories of factors that contribute to it, and its relationship to closely related concepts.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1995

Mitral valve procedures in ischemic regurgitation.

A restrictive definition of ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR) has allowed us to select a more uniform cohort of 41 patients having undergone mitral valve surgery for IMR between January 1993 and March 1995. Thirty-six patients (88%) presented with chronic and five with acute IMR. All patients had at least one significant stenosis in the circumflex area. Left ventricular ejection fraction averaged 35%. Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) revealed a > or = 3+ MR in 30 patients and an intermittent, fluctuating or grade 2+ MR in 11 (27%). Annulus dilatation was found in all cases, and it was the only mechanism in 10 (24.4%). Leaflet restrictive motion was clearly seen in 17 cases (41.5%) and leaflet prolapse in 14 (34%). In doubtful cases, an intra-operative dynamic testing using TEE, and associating a loading test and an afterload test, led to the indication of a valve procedure in 11/19 patients (58%). An average of three distal coronary anastomoses per patient were constructed. Mitral valve replacement (MVR) was unavoidable in four patients (9.8%); at least the posterior leaflet subvalvular apparatus was preserved in all. Repair of the mitral valve (Mvrep) was achieved in 37 cases (90%). Ring annuloplasty alone was performed in 27 cases (73%). In the remaining 10 cases, leaflet prolapse was corrected by various artifices such as flip-over technique, quadrangular resection, papillary muscle plication or commissuroplasty. At the 10th postoperative day, a residual MR was found in 4/34 cases (11.8%), only after isolated ring annuloplasty. The four patients who have died in the ICU after MVrep belonged to the same group of isolated ring annuloplasty; this mortality of 4/27 (14.8%) illustrates the mediocre prognosis of marked annulus dilatation and impaired LV function with restrictive leaflet motion. Overall, the hospital mortality (14.6%) more reflected the mode of presentation of the patients than the type of operative technique: when a short and definitive procedure is required by a precarious general condition, one should not hesitate to prefer a rapid MVR to a complicated repair. At 4.5 months, there was no significant improvement in LV dimensions. At six months, 80.5% of the patients survived, with 88% of them being in NYHA class I or II.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Caring for elderly parents and adult children living at home: interactions of the Sandwich Generation family.

The study presented here analyzed the patterns of demands made on 66 middle-aged women by their elderly parents and their adult children who were living at home. Factor analyses of the reports of family interactions revealed the presence of five adult children-middle-aged parents interaction factors and four elderly parents-middle-aged parents interactions. These patterns were considerably more complex than previous studies of the Sandwich Generation suggested. As expected, socioeconomic status and health of the elderly parents were related to these family interaction factors.

Adult↗