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Biomedical subjects

F J Kviz

Publications and source records attributed to F J Kviz.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Rural attitudes toward and knowledge of mental illness and treatment resources.

The stigma associated with mental illness is purported to be a major factor in the resistance of rural residents to mental health services. Through mail questionnaires and personal interviews, the authors gathered data from 3,057 rural residents in six Midwestern states on their attitudes toward and knowledge of mental illness and mental health services. They also examined the relationships between the demographic characteristics of the respondents and their knowledge and attitudes. In contrast to the findings of several other studies, the rural respondents in this study reported positive attitudes about treatment of mental illness. They expressed a high level of awareness of a variety of mental health services and appeared satisfied with those services. The authors discuss possible reasons for the discrepancies between the findings of this study and the studies reporting negative attitudes.

Attitude↗

Resources rural consumers indicate they would use for mental health problems.

This study identified the health resources that rural consumers in DHHS Region V indicated they would use for mental health problems. Data were collected by survey research methods from a probability sample of 3057 rural residents. The study found that rural residents prefer to use primary care givers for mental health problems except in the case of serious mental illness.

Community Mental Health Services↗

A strategy for surveying nursing practice in institutional settings.

Two major obstacles encountered when surveying nursing practice in institutional settings are obtaining a representative sample and collecting an adequate number of observations at a reasonable cost. Past efforts to deal with these problems are reviewed briefly, and results are reported from a two-stage mail survey of a national sample of critical-care nurses. The first stage involved attempts to procure a list of staff nurses from head nurses of critical-care units at 240 randomly selected institutions. An 86% response rate was obtained. The second stage involved mailing questionnaires to a random sample of 600 critical-care nurses listed. Completed, mailed questionnaires were obtained from 87%. Little evidence of bias due to administrative selection and/or volunteerism was found in the lists of staff nurses. An analysis of membership in professional nursing organizations indicates that more than one half of the nurses who responded to this survey would not have been included had the sample been selected from organizational membership lists.

Data Collection↗

Nonmetropolitan consumers attitudes toward physician advertising.

The debate over whether physicians should be allowed to advertise their services has not yet included a consideration of consumer attitudes based upon empirical data. The results of a telephone survey of residents of a nonmetropolitan area reveal that the respondents are almost evenly divided between opposition to and support of physician advertising. Most respondents do not specify a reason for their position. Attitudes do not differ when several background variables, including residence, age, education, sex, usual source of care, and preferred source of care, are controlled. However, a significant negative association is observed between attitude toward physician advertising and length of residence. This finding suggests that if physician advertising is permitted it may have its greatest impact in areas with high rates of residential turnover.

Adolescent↗

Patients' perceptions of their physician's role in smoking cessation by age and readiness to stop smoking.

BACKGROUND: Patients' perceptions of their physician's role in smoking cessation, using the 4As protocol (asking, advising, assisting, and arranging), were assessed with a focus on associations with age (18-29, 30-49, and > or = 50) and stage of readiness to stop smoking (precontemplation, contemplation, and preparation). METHODS: Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 524 smokers presenting for regularly scheduled appointments at six clinics of an HMO in the Chicago metropolitan area. RESULTS: Almost all patients said their physician should ask about their smoking status and advise them to quit. About half said their physician should assist them with quitting, and about two-thirds said their physician should follow up (arrange) on their smoking behavior. Bivariate associations were found for endorsement of the 4As with both age and stage. Multiple logistic regressions found age was the most consistent and strongest correlate of 4As endorsement, with younger smokers more likely than those age 50 or older to endorse the 4As protocol. CONCLUSIONS: A proactive health promotion orientation should be encouraged among physicians. Patients should be screened for stage of readiness to stop smoking so that health-care providers can emphasize aspects of the 4As protocol that are most appropriate for each patient. Age-tailored smoking cessation strategies should be employed within stages of readiness to stop smoking.

Adult↗

Factors associated with nonparticipation among registrants for a self-help, community-based smoking cessation intervention.

Smokers (n = 96) who registered for but did not participate in a televised smoking cessation intervention based on the American Lung Association's self-help manual, Freedom From Smoking in 20 Days, were compared with participants (n = 1,035). Nonparticipants were more likely to be male, employed, and have a higher annual household income. At preintervention, nonparticipants expressed weaker desire to quit smoking, less confidence in their ability to quit, and less determination to quit. At post-program, 92% of nonparticipants smoked, but 93% planned to quit someday, with 82% planning to quit within the next 12 months. Additionally, nonparticipants were asked about their impressions of the manual, reasons for not reading the manual, and reasons for not watching the televised segments. Nonparticipants expressed positive initial impressions of the manual and mentioned time demands and conflicts with other commitments most often as reasons for not reading the manual and not watching the televised segments. Besides motivating smokers to try to quit, smoking cessation programs should help smokers to prepare to act. Also, nonparticipants are good candidates for recycling into subsequent programs.

Adult↗

Evaluating multiple outcomes and gender differences in alcoholism treatment.

This study followed 592 alcoholics (180 women and 412 men) after discharge from inpatient treatment. Multiple measures of treatment outcome were used to broaden our understanding of the process of recovery from alcohol abuse, and how that process differs for men and women. Patients were interviewed by telephone between 3 and 15 months after discharge to gather information about post-treatment experiences including: relationship with family, role performance, psychological impairment, and effort toward recovery. Additionally, if any alcohol use took place after treatment, information was collected about the pattern of alcohol consumption. Results indicated being married is consistently related to less drinking for men, while for women, being married contributes to relapse in the short term. The determinants of each measure of outcome were different for women and men, indicating that the process of recovery is not the same for both genders. The study confirms that drinking is related to other adverse outcomes for men, but not necessarily for women. It is evidence that women and men have different post-treatment functioning, and that different characteristics are predictive of these outcomes.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Age and the role of symptomatology in readiness to quit smoking.

To develop effective age-appropriate strategies for smoking cessation, it is important to understand factors associated with readiness to quit smoking. This article presents results from an analysis of the role of symptomatology in the decisions to quit smoking among three age groups (18-34, 35-54, and > or = 55 years) from a larger sample of smokers in a managed-care setting. Two measures of readiness to quit smoking were used: stages of change and intention to stop. Using ordinal logistic regression, we found that smokers in the middle and oldest age groups who had experienced at least three of five symptoms in the previous 2 weeks were more likely to be in higher stages of readiness. Regardless of age, smokers who attributed symptoms to smoking were more motivated to try to quit, whereas those who attributed symptoms to aging were less likely to intend to stop smoking. Findings from this study indicate a symptom-based approach to smoking cessation may be a useful strategy, especially in provider-based interventions.

Adult↗

Use and effectiveness of buddy support in a self-help smoking cessation program.

Purpose. This study assesses buddy support in a community-based, minimal-contact smoking cessation program. Design. Telephone interviews with participants (n=641, response=74%) before and after (end-of-program, n=1,023, response=83%; three months n=757, response=74%; six months, n=859, response=84%; and 12 months, n=713, response=70%) intervention provided the data to be analyzed. Setting. The Chicago metropolitan area was the setting. Subjects. Subjects were a random sample of registrants for the intervention program. Intervention. A self-help smoking cessation program was used, which included a manual and complementary televised segments. Engaging a buddy was optional. Measures. Background and psychosocial characteristics of participants, characteristics of buddies, program compliance, and smoking behavior were the measures used. Results. Almost one third (30.3%) engaged a buddy. Those most likely to engage a buddy were female (33.4%), younger than 30 (37.2%), educated beyond high school (33.4%), highly determined to quit (41.8%), and more likely to need help from others (39.8%). More than half of the buddies were from outside the participant's household (55.1%), and more than half were nonsmokers (60.9%). Having a buddy was associated positively with manual use (gamma=.38), viewing televised segments (gamma=.23), recalling manual segments (gamma=.33), and recalling televised segments (gamma=.26). Among those who read the manual least, having a buddy was associated with viewing televised segments (gamma=.26, p less than .05) and with end-of-program quitting (16.8% vs. 9.8%, p less than .05). Having a buddy also was associated with higher abstinence through 12 months (5.8% vs. 2.7%, p=.013). Among those with lower determination, the end-of-program quit rate was more than three times greater (p=.013) for those with a buddy (16.1%) than without a buddy (5.2%). Participants whose buddy was their spouse or partner were more likely to quit at end-of-program (29.1% vs. 18.4%, p=.031). Conclusions. Buddy support should be promoted as an adjunct to minimal-contact smoking cessation programs. Impact of buddy support might be improved by guiding participants in choosing a buddy.

Adult↗