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Biomedical subjects

J LeSage

Publications and source records attributed to J LeSage.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Polypharmacy in geriatric patients.

Although research-based information concerning geriatric polypharmacy is lacking, available data suggest possible causes, health risks, and areas for intervention. Nursing home residents are more likely to be recipients of unnecessary and excessive drugs than community-dwelling elderly. Polypharmacy can lead to increased adverse drug reactions, drug interactions, and medication errors. In the future, there will be single drug therapy for conditions now requiring multiple drugs, but improved diagnosis of disease could lead to persons receiving additional, appropriate drugs for these health problems. Informed patients collaborating with knowledgeable prescribers and those dispensing and administering their medications may be able to reduce the number of drugs they are taking. More research is needed to identify methods that promote safe self-medication behavior and better drug use in nursing homes. Health risks associated with polypharmacy and the escalating costs of medications require that nurse participation in ensuring that the elderly receive only necessary and effective drug treatment.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Learned helplessness.

1. Nurses described learned helplessness solely in terms of residents not performing the daily activities they were capable of. 2. The relatively strong correlation between the learned helplessness subscale of the MDI and the Beck Depression Inventory suggests that learned helplessness can be maladaptive and dysfunctional. 3. Analysis of attributional style found that personal, stable, and global attributions for negative events were closely associated with LH scores and self-reported depressive symptomatology in this sample. 4. Residents, except in the areas of meals and privacy, generally reported satisfaction with the amount of control they had in their treatment setting.

Aged↗
PubMed1985

Color vision deficiencies in two cases of digoxin toxicity.

Color vision deficiencies are a common sign of digoxin intoxication and color vision testing can be used to diagnose digoxin toxicity. We tested two patients, a 79-year-old man and a 61-year-old man, with digoxin toxicity by means of the Farnsworth-Munsell 100-hue test, AOH-R-R plates, and Ishihara plates. Initial testing disclosed both red-green and blue-yellow color vision deficiencies. These improved when digoxin levels diminished. The deficiencies were superimposed on preexisting acquired and congenital deficits. As serum digoxin levels decreased, the color vision deficiencies lessened on all three tests. The Farnsworth-Munsell 100-hue test gave the best quantifiable measure of color vision deficiencies, but proved difficult to use for routine bedside testing.

Aged↗
PubMed1985

Process auditing in long term care facilities.

The ECC tool development and audit experiences indicated that there is promise in developing a process audit tool to monitor quality of care in nursing homes; moreover, the tool selected required only one hour per resident. Focusing on the care process and resident needs provided useful information for care providers at the unit level as well as for administrative personnel. Besides incorporating a more interdisciplinary focus, the revised tool needs to define support services most appropriate for nursing homes, includes items related to discharge planning and increases measurement of significant others' involvement in the care process. Future emphasis at the ECC will focus on developing intervention plans to maintain strengths and correct deficiencies identified in the audits. Various strategies to bring about desired changes in the quality of care will be evaluated through regular, periodic monitoring. Having a valid and reliable measure of quality of care as a tool will be an important step forward for LTC facilities.

Chicago↗