Behavioral risks and pregnancy outcome: attitudes and practices of OB/GYNs.
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Alcohol Drinking↗
Biomedical subjects
J Sobal
Publications and source records attributed to J Sobal.
Nutritional supplement utilization in an urban family practice center.
A survey of 128 patients in an urban family health center examined their use of nutritional supplements and found that 31 percent currently used supplements, primarily multivitamins and other vitamins. The patients' desire to increase their energy and to ensure good nutrition were the major reasons for their taking supplements, along with prevention of illness, desire for strength, and dealing with stress. Patients reported that they were influenced by their physicians' advice and were willing to change their supplement use upon physician recommendation. The resident physicians who cared for these patients were also surveyed, and they estimated that an average of 23 percent of their patients used nutritional supplements. Residents did not consider discussion of nutritional supplements to be of high priority, nor did they usually discuss them with their patients. Discussion about the use of nutritional supplements can contribute to the role family physicians play in nutrition education.
Adult↗
Dietary management and weight reduction in hypertension control.
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Body Weight↗
Frequency of visitation in nursing homes: patterns of contact across the boundaries of total institutions.
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Family↗
Sample extensiveness in qualitative nutrition education research.
OBJECTIVE: Extensiveness represents the amount of information gathered in qualitative research. This study examined sample extensiveness in qualitative nutrition education research. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis was performed on articles published in the Journal of Nutrition Education (JNE) from 1969 to 1999 (Volumes 1 to 31). SUBJECTS: Content analysis was used to code articles and the studies they reported as units of analysis. OUTCOME MEASURES: Articles were coded to determine whether they included one or more studies using qualitative research and, if so, the types of qualitative studies performed, the sample extensiveness of each study, and mention of sample extensiveness limitations in the article. STATISTICAL ANALYSES: The statistics used were univariate (counts, percentages, means, medians, modes, ranges) and bivariate (chi-square, correlations). RESULTS: Of the published JNE articles, 71 (8%) used qualitative methods, and most (85%) qualitative articles were published in the 1990s. Some (19%) of these articles reported using multiple qualitative methods. The 30 studies using individual interviews interviewed an average of 45 people (range 15-155). The 38 studies using group interviews averaged 15 groups (range 1-180) and 141 people (range 9-900). Ten studies used observation/fieldwork, and eight used other types of qualitative research, with mixed [corrected] patterns of sample extensiveness in those studies. Few articles made specific statements about limitations based on sample extensiveness. IMPLICATIONS: Sample extensiveness in qualitative research in JNE varied considerably. Future qualitative research would benefit from more explicit attention to sample extensiveness.
Adult↗
Patterns of interrelations among health-promotion behaviors.
We examined the interrelationships among 36 health behaviors for men and 38 for women in a telephone survey of a national sample of 3,025 adults. Wide variations existed in the frequency of respondents engaging in healthy practices, ranging from 9% to 96%. Men practiced an average of 17, and women 19, healthy behaviors. Correlations between health behaviors were weak, with an absolute value averaging r = .07, ranging from r = .00 to r = .71. Factor analysis revealed 10 underlying dimensions among the behaviors, which we interpreted for men as: (1) health care use, (2) exercise and recreation activity, (3) alcohol use, (4) smoking, (5) physical activity, (6) dental care, (7) nutrition, (8) sleep, (9) beverage use, and (10) breakfast. Women had the same 10 factors as men, except for a women's health screening factor instead of a beverage use factor. These findings suggest that engaging in one health behavior is not necessarily associated with practicing others, and that public health and individual counseling efforts to encourage healthy behaviors should be multifaceted and behavior-specific.
Data Collection↗
Advance directives among patients in a house call program.
BACKGROUND: Advance medical directives (the living will and the durable power of attorney) provide a means for competent persons to influence treatment decisions in the event of serious illness and loss of competence. Advance directives among elderly homebound patients. METHODS: In a house call program for 120 elderly patients, a standardized telephone interview was conducted with 116 patients or their caregivers. They were asked whether they had a will, a living will, or had assigned a durable power of attorney. Those without advance directives were asked whether they knew what each directive was. Demographic and medical data were assessed by interview and chart review. RESULTS: More than 60 percent of the patients knew about the durable power of attorney, and more than one-half had assigned a durable power of attorney. About one-third knew about living wills, but only 5 percent had one. One-third of the patients had a will. CONCLUSIONS: Advance directives are important mechanisms whereby patients can extend autonomy over the circumstances of dying. Physicians and patients should consider and discuss the issues that surround treatment in the event of terminal illness or permanent unconsciousness.
Activities of Daily Living↗
NAPCRG abstracts 1977-1987: analysis of research designs and methods.
Research techniques reflect the approach of a discipline to the issues it faces. The annual North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG) meeting has been a forum for family medicine research since 1973. A cross-sectional content analysis was conducted on all 1,295 printed NAPCRG abstracts from 1977 to 1987, classifying the research design and methods. The number of abstracts per meeting increased from 58 in 1977 to 149 in 1987. The predominant research design was cross-sectional (58%), followed by prospective (15%), experimental (15%), and retrospective (3%). The major methods were surveys (34%), chart reviews (24%), or surveys combined with chart reviews (7%). One fourth of all abstracts were cross-sectional surveys. NAPCRG research designs and methods have not changed substantially during these 11 years.
Abstracting and Indexing↗
Health promotion beliefs and practices of fourth-year medical students.
Little is known about medical student beliefs about health promotion issues or about their prevention practices with patients. We administered a questionnaire about health promotion beliefs and practices to fourth-year medical students in a required course, "Preventive Medicine in Clinical Practice," at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. During a three-year period we surveyed 343 students. A majority of students believed that most of 23 health behaviors were of some importance to health promotion, and their responses were similar to those of practicing physicians in prior studies. Most students reported that they assessed preventive practices in their patients but did not feel well prepared to counsel patients about health issues. Students reported they were currently unsuccessful in modifying patient health behaviors and expressed limited optimism about future success in helping patients change health promotion behaviors with further training and support. There were no differences between students entering primary care specialties and other students. Information about medical student health promotion and disease prevention beliefs and practices can be applied in curriculum development.
Curriculum↗
Health promotion: physicians' beliefs, attitudes, and practices.
There is a paucity of research describing the health-promotion beliefs, attitudes, and practices of physicians. Self-reported data from a survey of 1,040 primary care physicians showed that a majority of physicians (97 percent) believed they should modify patients' behaviors to minimize risk factors and rated a variety of health behaviors as important in promoting health. While most physicians gathered information about risk factors and believed they were prepared to counsel patients, only a small percentage (3-18 percent) reported being very successful in helping patients achieve behavioral change. However, given appropriate support, physicians reported that they could be up to six times more successful in influencing behavioral change. This study indicated that physicians have strong beliefs and interests in health promotion, are interested in continuing education about health promotion topics, and desire a variety of new skills to help patients modify their health behaviors.
Age Factors↗
Infectious disease in a total institution: a study of the influenza epidemic of 1978 on a college campus.
The influenza epidemic of 1978 was studied on a college campus, since a college is a type of "total institution" in which work, residence, and recreation are all concentrated in one organization with clearly delineated social boundaries and a unique social structure, A survey of a sample of 418 persons (378 students, 40 faculty members) revealed that more than 48 percent of the students contracted influenza and that the intersemester vacation was a social factor that may have aided in the disease's penetration of the institution's boundaries. The vacation exposed the students to the distase, and the resumption of classes allowed influenza to spread rapidly in the student population, which was concentrated within the boundaries of the educational institution. The faculty exhibited relative immunity to the disease compared with the students, having only a 5 percent attack rate. There were no significant differences in the incidence or duration of illness among the students by sex, year in school, residence area, floor of residence, fraternity or sorority membership, or participation in fraternity or sorority recruitment activities.
Adult↗