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J Kidd

Publications and source records attributed to J Kidd.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

The psychological effects of false-positive results in prenatal screening for fetal abnormality: a prospective study.

The purpose of the study was to describe the impact of false-positive results from initial maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MS-AFP) screening. The analyses compared two groups of women, those receiving a negative result (n = 346) and those receiving an initial positive result (n = 26), over four time points--prior to testing, immediately after testing, later in pregnancy, and in the post-partum period. Receiving an abnormal result was associated with high levels of anxiety which were reflected in increased worry about the baby's health and a more negative attitude towards the pregnancy and the baby. Women who had an initial abnormal result were offered a variety of further tests. Those women who went on to have amniocentesis were less worried about their baby's health in the third trimester and also less anxious post-partum than those who did not have amniocentesis. In view of the increasing number of screening tests available, it is necessary to establish whether and how these levels of distress can best be reduced.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Psychological effects of having amniocentesis: are these due to the procedure, the risk or the behaviour?

The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of amniocentesis on women at risk for having a baby with Down's syndrome because of raised maternal age. Fifty-four of the study participants had amniocentesis and nine did not. At the time of the procedure, those having amniocentesis were significantly more anxious, less certain about the baby's health, and held more negative attitudes towards the baby than women who did not undergo amniocentesis. For women undergoing amniocentesis there was a positive association between perceived risk of having an abnormal baby and anxiety. After the baby's birth, women who had undergone amniocentesis held less positive attitudes to the baby and were significantly more worried about the baby's health. These results suggest that the anxiety surrounding amniocentesis is related both to the procedure and to the perceived likelihood of an abnormal result. The differences between the groups after the birth seem more likely to reflect pre-existing attitudinal differences between the two groups, than the effects of amniocentesis.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1992

Presenting a routine screening test in antenatal care: practice observed.

People's knowledge of screening tests for which they are eligible and which they may have undergone is frequently low. The aim of the current study is to determine the extent to which this is due to how a test is offered and explained. Routine consultations (n = 102) between midwives, obstetricians and pregnant women were tape-recorded to determine how a routine screening test for fetal abnormalities (maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein) is presented. The test was presented in the vast majority of consultations. Overall, little information was provided about the test, the conditions screened for, and the meaning of either a positive or a negative result. Screening was presented in such a way as to encourage women to undergo the test. The way in which routine prenatal screening is presented is unlikely to maximise informed decisions about whether to participate in this screening programme. Factors likely to be influencing test presentation include knowledge, attitudes and skills of staff, as well as the attitudes of pregnant women. The results of this study highlight a need to train the heath professionals implementing screening programmes in how to inform people fully about low probability but serious events without alarming them unduly, or reassuring them falsely.

Down Syndrome↗
PubMed1992

Human population genetic studies using hypervariable loci. I. Analysis of Assamese, Australian, Cambodian, Caucasian, Chinese and Melanesian populations.

Population genetic studies, in Australian, Assamese, Cambodian, Chinese, Caucasian and Melanesian populations, were performed with several highly polymorphic DNA loci. Results showed that the Caucasian and Chinese had the highest level of heterozygosity. The size range of the majority of the polymorphic DNA fragments of a locus was the same in the different populations. The distinguishing feature of each ethnic group was the relative frequency of a particular set or group of alleles. For example, alleles greater than 9.0 kb in size, in D14S13, or from 4.5 to 4.7 kb, in D18S27, were less than half as frequent in Caucasians than in the other populations. Overall, there were groups of alleles, at one or more loci, whose frequencies were different among some of the ethnic groups and therefore could be used to differentiate one group from the other.

Alleles↗
PubMed1991

Factors influencing the communication skills of first-year clinical medical students.

The aim of this study was to examine the factors influencing medical students' communication skills. The sample comprised all first-year clinical students. Thirty-two received teaching in communication skills during the year; the remaining 56 did not. Students' career preferences, attitudes towards communication skills and confidence in their ability to communicate with patients were assessed by questionnaire at the beginning and end of the year. At the end of the year each student was videotaped interviewing a simulated patient. Students' communication skills were assessed on the basis of this interview by raters using a standardized rating scale, and by patient questionnaires. While there was some evidence that brief communication skills training improved skills, sex of student was a more significant predictor of level of skill. Students who perceived communication skills as less relevant to medicine and those who were more confident about their own communication skills were more likely to prefer a career in hospital medicine. Students' judgements of their ability to communicate effectively were poor. In the main there was no relationship between confidence and level of skill: where they were related, the association was negative. The benefits from communication skills training might be enhanced by involving hospital doctors in the teaching, and providing students with detailed video feedback on their skills at the outset.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1991

Perceived risk not actual risk predicts uptake of amniocentesis.

A consecutive cohort of 71 women eligible for amniocentesis because they were over 38 years of age completed questionnaires during the first trimester of pregnancy. Sixty-one women underwent amniocentesis, an uptake rate of 86%. Uptake was associated with a less negative attitude towards termination of an affected baby and a higher perceived risk of the fetus being abnormal. It was not associated with actual age-related risks. There was no significant relation between actual risk and perceived risk. The results of this study suggests that it is important for doctors to understand the basis of women's decisions to have amniocentesis, and the difference between actual and perceived risk if they are to communicate effectively with women about the test and their options.

Abortion, Therapeutic↗
PubMed1990

Population structure of the human pseudoautosomal boundary.

The mammalian sex chromosomes are composed of two genetically distinct segments: the pseudoautosomal region, where recombination occurs between the X and Y chromosomes, and the sex chromosome-specific parts. Between these two segments the human sex chromosomes differ by the insertion of an Alu element on the Y chromosome. We have surveyed the sequence variation in the boundary region using the polymerase chain reaction. Fifty seven Y and sixty X chromosomes from ten different human populations were analysed. The X chromosomes were found to be polymorphic at five positions in a 300-base-pair region. By contrast, all Y chromosomes were identical except for one distal polymorphism shared with the X chromosome.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Cognitive predictors of attendance at antenatal classes.

This study investigates what factors discriminate between women attending and those not attending antenatal classes in a sample of 94 primigravidous women. The 20 per cent of the sample who did not attend were less positive about the classes, more likely to evaluate the costs of attending as outweighing the benefits and more likely to think that avoiding them may help them cope. The best predictor of antenatal class attendance was women's intention at 28 weeks of pregnancy. The inclusion of demographic and attitude variables did not improve the accuracy of prediction. The most variable predicting intention was women's 'cost/benefit' judgement.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Expression of the Na(+)-K(+)-2Cl- cotransporter in Xenopus oocytes.

The Na(+)-K(+)-2Cl- cotransporter (NKCCT) is important in mediating net salt transport in a variety of cells. As a first step in obtaining structural information on this transport system, we attempted to express it in Xenopus laevis oocytes by injection of poly(A)+ mRNA from rat kidney. Four days after injection, batches of oocytes were tested for 86Rb uptake in presence and absence of 10 microM bumetanide to distinguish that fraction of influx mediated by NKCCT. In the absence of bumetanide, the oocytes formed a bimodal distribution with respect to 86Rb uptake, with some oocytes accumulating significantly more 86Rb than others. In the presence of bumetanide, or when Na was replaced with choline, that group of oocytes taking up more 86Rb did not appear. Sham-injected oocytes did not accumulate sufficient 86Rb to be distinguishable above background. Taken together, these data suggest that some of the mRNA-injected oocytes expressed the rat renal NKCCT. Crude poly(A)+ mRNA was separated by acid-urea agarose gel electrophoresis, and fractions were injected into oocytes. One fraction corresponding to messages of approximately 7 kilobases in length induced a bumetanide-sensitive 86Rb influx resembling that seen with total mRNA. Poly(A)+ mRNA fractionated on sucrose density gradients gave similar results. It is concluded that the rat kidney NKCCT has been expressed in Xenopus oocytes from a high molecular weight fraction of poly(A)+ mRNA.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Strong linkage disequilibrium between the XY274 polymorphism and the pseudoautosomal boundary.

The pseudoautosomal boundary is defined by an Alu repeat element on the Y chromosome. The Alu element is found on all Y chromosomes and on no X chromosomes, establishing it as part of Y-specific sequences. Distal to the Alu element, sequences from the X and Y are strictly homologous, suggesting that the boundary is formed by an abrupt break in sequence homology. Further investigation of the function of the boundary has been undertaken by examining the population structure of an MspI restriction-site polymorphism (XY274), which is located 274 bp distal to the Alu insertion site. Southern blot and polymerase chain reaction analysis demonstrate fixation of the high allele (noncutting or AT base pair) of XY274 on the Y chromosome in most populations, while a full range of high allele frequencies is found on the X chromosomes of different populations. Two exceptions to fixation on the Y chromosome were found in African populations. The level of linkage disequilibrium suggests that the first few hundred base pairs of the pseudoautosomal region on the Y chromosome share a single common origin more recent than the origin of the species.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1989

The impact of prenatal screening and diagnostic testing upon the cognitions, emotions and behaviour of pregnant women.

The purpose of most screening and diagnostic tests is to initiate treatment when a problem is found and, otherwise, to allay anxiety. The extent to which the second of these objectives is met was studied in a prospective study of 179 pregnant women. Women who had amniocentesis to detect Down's Syndrome or were screened for a fetal neural tube defect had significantly lower anxiety levels in the third trimester of pregnancy than women who did not undergo these tests. Undergoing screening for a neural tube defect was also associated with a more positive attitude towards the pregnancy in the second trimester. These results suggest that the previously reported raised levels of anxiety in women undergoing such tests do not necessarily remain high for the duration of the pregnancy and, indeed, undergoing testing may serve to protect women against high levels of anxiety in the third trimester of pregnancy.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Patency of femorofemoral venous crossover grafts assessed by duplex scanning and phlebography.

This study was undertaken to determine the accuracy of duplex imaging of femorofemoral venous crossover grafts (Palma-Dale operation) for postthrombotic unilateral occlusion of the iliac vein. Twenty-four patients, 14 men and 10 women with a mean age of 50 years (range 24 to 72 years), were subjected to duplex imaging and phlebography a mean of 5 years after surgery. Scanning was done with patients in an erect position. A graft was reported as patient if it met the following criteria: it could be imaged in continuity, it could be compressed by the scan probe, and blood flow varied with respiration and was augmented by thigh compression on the symptomatic side. Phlebography indicated that 20 grafts were patent and 17 of these were correctly identified with duplex scanning. Three scans were false negative in obese patients in whom the graft could not be imaged. Four grafts, not imaged, were confirmed by phlebography to be occluded. Compared with phlebography, duplex scanning had a sensitivity of 85%, specificity of 100%, and overall accuracy of 88%. Duplex scanning is safe and accurate way to determine patency after femorofemoral venous bypass if the criteria for patency are fulfilled. If not, the true status of the graft must still be established by phlebography.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Allergenic properties of rat urine and pelt extracts.

We studied the relative diagnostic efficacy of skin tests and RAST assays in laboratory animal allergy in 16 rat-sensitive animal workers with the use of epithelial extract and urinary antigens from three inbred rat strains. RAST inhibition was used to evaluate possible urinary antigen-strain specificity. The urinary antigens were more reliable skin test and RAST reagents than were epithelial extracts; data from urinary antigen testing correlated better with historical data. RAST inhibition did not detect strain specificity among the urinary antigens. Antigens in rat urine appear to be of better diagnostic value than do epithelial extracts.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Once weekly pimozide versus fluphenazine decanoate as maintenance therapy in chronic schizophrenia.

In a double blind trial, 28 male chronic schizophrenic in-patients received either pimozide, given once weekly, or fluphenazine decanoate, given mostly once fortnightly. There was no difference in relapse rates over nine months. However, three-quarters of the patients on pimozide who completed the trial developed at least mild tardive dyskinesia. All patients on pimozide lost weight, the average loss being 5.4 kg (12 lbs). Plasma pimozide levels suggested satisfactory drug compliance. Plasma prolactin levels confirmed that in the pimozide group there was fluctuating dopamine receptor antagonism, while in the fluphenazine group average plasma prolactin levels throughout most of the interval between injections were at the upper limit of normal.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Tennis elbow.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Athletic Injuries↗
PubMed1978

Local anaesthetic plasma levels in children.

Blood levels of lignocaine and bupivacaine were measured in children following caudal, subcutaneous and tracheal administration. The highest peak levels were in children under 3 years following tracheal spray but all blood levels were below accepted toxic adult levels for anaesthetised patients. No toxic manifestations were seen.

Administration, Topical↗