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Biomedical subjects

J E Wells

Publications and source records attributed to J E Wells.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Christchurch Psychiatric Epidemiology Study, Part I: Methodology and lifetime prevalence for specific psychiatric disorders.

In 1986 the Christchurch Psychiatric Epidemiology Study obtained interviews with a probability sample of 1498 adults aged 18 to 64 years. The Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) was used to enable DSM-III diagnoses to be made. This paper describes the methodology of the study and reports the lifetime prevalence of specific psychiatric disorders. The highest lifetime prevalences found were for generalised anxiety (31%), alcohol abuse/dependence (19%) and major depressive episode (13%). Men had higher rates of substance abuse whereas women had higher rates of affective disorders and most anxiety disorders. Compared with results from the Epidemiologic Catchment Area Program, Puerto Rico and Edmonton, Christchurch has the highest rates for major depression and is among the highest for alcohol abuse/dependence.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Christchurch Psychiatric Epidemiology Study, Part II: Six month and other period prevalences of specific psychiatric disorders.

The Christchurch Psychiatric Epidemiology Study determined the occurrence (over 2 weeks, 1 month, 6 months, 12 months and life-time) of a number of specific DIS/DSM-III psychiatric diagnoses in the Christchurch urban area. Data were collected on 1498 randomly selected adults, aged between 18 and 64 years. The Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) was used to collect information to make a DSM-III diagnosis. The six month prevalence rates of disorder are presented and compared with available results from the NIMH Epidemiological Catchment Area Program, Puerto Rico and Edmonton. Other period prevalences for the total sample are also presented. Christchurch is shown to have higher six month prevalence rates for major depression and alcohol abuse/dependence than other sites which have utilised the DIS in community surveys.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Resistance of urinary tract isolates of Escherichia coli to cotrimoxazole, sulphonamide, trimethoprim and ampicillin: an 11-year survey.

The susceptibility of urinary tract Escherichia coli isolates to cotrimoxazole, sulphonamide, trimethoprim, and ampicillin was monitored over an 11-year period. A trend in increasing resistance to cotrimoxazole and trimethoprim was observed, but there was no comparable alteration in sulphonamide resistance. Ampicillin resistance was high at the beginning of the survey period and continued to rise.

Ampicillin Resistance↗
PubMed1987

Metabolic response to total hip arthroplasty under hypobaric subarachnoid or general anaesthesia.

Whole blood glucose concentration was estimated in 93 patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty under either subarachnoid or general anaesthesia. In 77, plasma cortisol concentration was also estimated before and after surgery. There were no preoperative differences between the two groups. Blood glucose concentration increased slightly following induction in both groups, but with spinal anaesthesia it decreased again, whereas with general anaesthesia it continued to increase (P less than 0.0001). Plasma cortisol concentration with spinal anaesthesia was 291 (SD 145) nmol litre-1 before, and 279 (253) nmol litre-1 30 min after operation. With general anaesthesia there was a three-fold increase from 301 (159) nmol litre-1 (preoperative) to 987 (474) nmol litre-1 30 min after operation (P less than 0.0001). Low spinal anaesthesia with a predominantly unilateral block appears sufficient to suppress the neuroendocrine response to hip surgery.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Institutions versus community placements: the effects of different residential environments on the behaviour of intellectually handicapped adults.

A major issue in the care of the intellectually handicapped is whether they should continue to be cared for in large institutions, or live in community homes. The community homes are presumed to provide more normal environments than institutions, and to therefore encourage residents to behave more normally than they would in institutions. This study used a measure of normalisation to compare three hospital and four community residences for the intellectually handicapped. It also measured changes in the behaviour of residents who moved from one environment to another. Results showed overlap in the level of normalisation of hospital and community units. Whether in the hospital or the community, the more normal environments had residents with higher levels of adaptive behaviour and mental functioning. The everyday behaviour of residents who moved to more normalised units generally remained unchanged but some adaptive skills and interactive behaviours declined. The existence of continued training programmes appeared more critical than the normalisation of the home in developing and maintaining residents' behaviour.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Eating and weight problems among women attending their general practitioner.

One hundred and fifty-seven women between the ages of 16 and 40, attending their general practitioners, were given a self-report questionnaire containing standard instruments measuring weight concerns and eating attitudes and behaviours. The majority (72%) of women wanted to weigh less, 46% were dissatisfied with their body shape, 48% dieted at least sometimes with 24% usually or always dieting, and 21% wanted help with their eating or weight problems. Increasing disparity between actual weight and desired weight was associated with higher scores on the eating problem scales.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Effect of enalapril on ventricular arrhythmias in congestive heart failure.

Twenty-four-hour Holter electrocardiographic recordings were used to measure the effects of a converting-enzyme inhibitor, enalapril, given for 12 weeks, on the frequency of cardiac arrhythmias in 10 patients with congestive heart failure (New York Heart Association functional class II to III) receiving maintenance therapy with digoxin and furosemide. Nine patients were given placebo, and both study groups were conducted in a double-blind, parallel manner. The placebo group had no change in the frequency of arrhythmias, whereas enalapril-treated patients showed a significant decrease in the frequency of premature ventricular complexes, ventricular couplets and ventricular tachycardia. A minor, nonsignificant reduction in atrial premature complexes was seen in patients who received enalapril. Compared with placebo patients, those who received enalapril had an increase in plasma potassium levels of 0.33 mmol/liter, a decrease in plasma digoxin, and decreases in pulmonary artery wedge, mean pulmonary artery and right atrial pressures. However, none of these indexes were correlated with the concomitant decline in cardiac arrhythmias. It is concluded that enalapril reduces the frequency of ventricular arrhythmias in congestive heart failure, although the underlying mechanisms are not known.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Readmissions for treatment for alcoholism.

First admissions and readmissions for alcoholism have risen steeply in recent decades. This study looked at readmission histories for four cohorts of alcoholics first admitted to inpatient psychiatric treatment in 1967-68, 1973, 1977 or 1979. Over the twelve years the first cohort was observed, alcoholics on average spent 254 days in treatment and had 2.14 alcohol-related readmissions. However the distributions were very skewed: 50% stayed less than 92 days and 45.6% had no readmissions at all. All four cohorts yielded similar results over comparable time periods and all showed markedly skewed distributions reflecting the diversity of readmission histories among alcoholics. Policy decisions about alcoholism inpatient treatment must take account of this diversity.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1985

The factor structure of the Eating Attitudes Test with adolescent schoolgirls.

The 40-item Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-40) was administered to teenage schoolgirls. Factor analysis (N = 749) yielded a major dieting factor almost identical to that found by Garner et al. (1982) with anorexics. Although this factor clearly measures pathology in underweight girls, its interpretation is ambiguous for normal and overweight girls. Two other factors found in all analyses were food preoccupation and social pressure to eat.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Effects of enalapril on clinical status, biochemistry, exercise performance and haemodynamics in heart failure.

The effects of enalapril on clinical well-being, treadmill exercise performance, haemodynamic measurements, hormone levels, and plasma biochemistry in patients with moderate heart failure, were assessed in a 12-week placebo-controlled, double-blind study. Maintenance frusemide and digoxin treatment was continued throughout the study. Compared with placebo, enalapril treatment improved clinical status and increased exercise capacity. The most obvious haemodynamic change was a fall in pulmonary artery wedge pressure and pulmonary artery pressure. Enalapril-induced increases in left-ventricular ejection fraction and cardiac index, and falls in systemic arterial pressure, were small. Of the hormone indices measured, plasma renin activity rose 4-fold, angiotensin II and aldosterone fell slightly, and plasma catecholamines were unaltered by enalapril. Plasma potassium increased on average by 0.3 mmol/L during enalapril therapy. No adverse clinical or biochemical effects were observed. Enalapril has a sustained beneficial action in patients with moderate heart failure.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Blood-pressure response to moderate sodium restriction and to potassium supplementation in mild essential hypertension.

To determine whether moderate restriction of dietary sodium content or supplementation of potassium intake reduces blood-pressure in patients with mild essential hypertension, twelve patients were put on three different diets--a control diet (180 mmol sodium/day), a sodium restricted diet (80 mmol/day). Each diet was taken for at least 4 weeks and the sequence of the regimens was randomised. At the completion of each regimen intra-arterial pressure was recorded continuously, and vasoactive hormones were measured hourly, for 24 h, under standardised conditions, in hospital. Compared with the control diet, sodium restriction was associated with lower blood-pressure readings in seven patients, higher levels in five, and an overall reduction in mean pressures of only 4.0/3.0 mm Hg (not significant). Individual differences in blood-pressure between these two diets correlated closely with concomitant differences in plasma renin activity (r = 0.75). Potassium supplementation also resulted in variable changes in arterial pressure, and the mean difference in pressure recordings (0.1/0.8 mm Hg) was insignificant. The results show that moderate restriction of sodium intake or supplementation of dietary potassium has variable effects on arterial pressure in individuals with mild essential hypertension, and that overall the blood-pressure changes induced are very small. Responsiveness of the renin-angiotensin system may limit the fall in blood-pressure induced by sodium restriction.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

The Canterbury alcoholism screening test (CAST): a detection instrument for use with hospitalised patients.

The Canterbury alcoholism screening test (CAST) was developed from data collected on 2014 consecutive non-paediatric general hospital admissions. The CAST correctly identified 95% of patients classified by the short MAST as definitely alcoholic, and misclassified only 1.6% of controls. When administered to 165 patients from various alcoholism treatment centres, the CAST classified all patients as having alcohol problems. The screening test consists of two parts adapted from the Munich alcoholism test (MALT): a twenty-three item self-report section and a four item clinician's assessment. The CAST, which takes about four minutes to administer, has considerable potential use for the early detection of patients with current alcohol problems in an unselected hospital population.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

The relation between technical variation and the mean in the mixed lymphocyte reaction in the rat.

Technical variation is a linear function of the incremental mean in the mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) and is independent of the immune status of the responders and the gene dose of the stimulators. Logarithmic transformation of the absolute count/control mean makes technical variation independent of the mean. We recommend that this transformation be used before parametric analysis of the data.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Long term prognosis of women with breast cancer in New Zealand: study of survival to 30 years.

The long term prognosis of women with breast cancer was studied by analysing retrospectively the 30 year survival of 2019 women with histologically proved breast cancer recorded at the National Cancer Registry in New Zealand between 1950 and 1954. Excess mortality rates for successive five year survival cohorts were calculated from the survival data. From the total cohort the excess mortality rate fell rapidly during the first 10 years and then became low after 20 years. There were no significant differences in excess mortality for the age cohorts. Most of the excess mortality for 20 years was due to deaths from breast cancer. In this study the prognosis for women with breast cancer approached normal after 20 years and the improvement in prognosis resulted from decreasing death rates from breast cancer.

Adult↗