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Biomedical subjects

K Soeken

Publications and source records attributed to K Soeken.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Communicating probability in clinical reports: nurses' numerical associations to verbal expressions.

Verbal estimates of probability (such as likely or certain) commonly used in laboratory, radiological, and clinical reports may be a barrier to effective communication between health care professionals. In this study the investigators sought to determine whether a consensus of numerical meaning existed in a sample of nurses for each of 30 widely used verbal expressions of probability. Seventy female nurses enrolled in a graduate course were surveyed by means of a test-retest procedure using a questionnaire designed to elicit assignments of numerical probability (0% to 100%). The results showed wide inconsistency both between subjects and within subjects.

Communication↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Severity of abuse before and during pregnancy for African American, Hispanic, and Anglo women.

OBJECTIVE: To describe timing and severity of abuse before and during pregnancy for African American, Hispanic, and white Anglo American women. FINDINGS: Among 199 abused women, 18.1% of the women were abused during pregnancy but not the year before, 30.2% were abused the year before but not during pregnancy, and 51.8% were abused both the year before and during pregnancy. The timing of abuse did not vary by ethnicity. The three (ethnicity) by three (timing) factorial analysis of variance showed severity of abuse to vary by timing of abuse. Women reporting abuse both before and during pregnancy reported greater severity of abuse on each of the five measures than did women abused only before pregnancy or only during pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: Over half (51.8%) of the women reported abuse before and during pregnancy with these women reporting greater severity of abuse on all five severity scores. Timing and severity of abuse did not vary by ethnic group. The majority of women abused during pregnancy were also abused prior to pregnancy, indicating the need for universal screening of all women during each health encounter.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

An evaluation of interventions to decrease intimate partner violence to pregnant women.

Prevention of abuse to women is a national priority; however, research has focused on identification of abuse rather than evaluating interventions. To evaluate the differential effectiveness of three levels of intervention, Brief, Counseling, and Outreach, a longitudinal study with repeated evaluation interviews at 2-, 6-, 12-, and 18-months postdelivery was completed at two urban public health prenatal clinics. The participants were 329 pregnant, physically abused Hispanic women. Both physical abuse and women's use of community resources were measured. Repeated measures ANOVA showed that severity of abuse decreased significantly (p < 0.001) across time for all intervention groups. Violence scores at 2-months postdelivery were significantly lower for the Outreach group (p < 0.05) compared to the Counseling only group, but not significantly lower than the Brief intervention group. At 6-, 12-, and 18-month follow-up there were no statistically significant differences among the intervention groups. The use of lay outreach for abused pregnant women merits further research. Abuse screening by itself, however, may be the most effective intervention to prevent abuse to pregnant women.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Abuse during pregnancy: associations with maternal health and infant birth weight.

A stratified, prospective cohort analysis was completed on 1,203 African American, Hispanic, and white women. All women were assessed for abuse at the first prenatal visit and twice more during pregnancy. They were also assessed for risk factors of low birth weight using Institute of Medicine correlates. Prevalence of physical or sexual abuse during pregnancy was 16% (1 of 6). Abused women were twice as likely to begin prenatal care during the third trimester, with abuse preceding late entry. Abuse was recurrent, with 60% of the women reporting repeated episodes. More severe abuse was significantly correlated with lower infant birth weights for all three ethnic groups. Abuse during pregnancy was a significant risk for low birth weight as well as maternal low weight gain, infections, anemia, smoking, and use of alcohol and drugs. When compared to women who were not abused, women abused during pregnancy delivered infants averaging 133 g less. Abused white women delivered infants with the greatest reduction in birth weight.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Rhodes Index of Nausea and Vomiting--Form 2 in pregnant women. A confirmatory factor analysis.

BACKGROUND: Despite widespread application of Rhodes Index of Nausea and Vomiting-Form 2 (INV2) in practice and research, empirical analyses have not been consistently performed to verify the a priori factors that guided the subclass construction of the symptoms. OBJECTIVES: To examine the dimensional structure of Rhodes INV in a sample of pregnant women. METHOD: Data were collected from 152 pregnant women who were experiencing some degree of nausea and vomiting during early pregnancy and analyzed using structural equation modeling techniques. Five competing measurement structures were tested and compared. The structure (model) that provided the closest fit to the data was selected and relationships (factor loadings) between the constructs and indicators were established. RESULTS: The model fitting the data the closest was a three-factor structure measuring nausea, vomiting, and retching as three separate, but correlated dimensions. The factor loadings were high (0.73-0.96) and significant (p < .001). The model treating nausea and vomiting as a one-factor concept as well as the model including two factors named symptom occurrence and symptom distress did not fit the data. CONCLUSION: Rhodes INV2 is a valid measurement tool if subscales are formed to reflect the multidimensional structure of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Safety behaviors of abused women after an intervention during pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate an intervention protocol, administered during pregnancy, for increasing safety-seeking behaviors of abused women. DESIGN: Prospective, ethnically stratified cohort analysis. SETTING: Public prenatal clinics. PARTICIPANTS: Pregnant women reporting physical or sexual abuse in the year before or during the present pregnancy. One hundred thirty-two women met study criteria, received the intervention, and were followed for 1 year after the completion of the pregnancy. INTERVENTION: Three education, advocacy, and community referral sessions that included information on safety behaviors. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Adoption of safety behaviors by abused women. Safety behaviors were measured before the intervention, twice during pregnancy, and at 2, 6, and 12 months after completion of the pregnancy. RESULTS: Repeated measures analysis of variance showed a significant increase in adoption of each safety behavior (p < .0001), with most behaviors showing a significant increase after the first intervention session. CONCLUSIONS: Pregnant women who were abused and were offered an intervention protocol report a significant increase in safety behavior adoption during and after pregnancy. Abuse during pregnancy is common. Identification of abuse and immediate clinical intervention that includes information about safety behaviors can result in safety behavior adoption that may prevent future abuse and increase the safety and well-being of women and infants.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Weight change of infants, age birth to 12 months, born to abused women.

Abuse to pregnant women can affect maternal health and infant birthweight. To examine the rate of weight change among infants, ages birth to 12 months, born to women abused by the male intimate, an ethnically stratified cohort of 121 infants and their mothers were followed. Infants were weighed on a beam balance scale at birth, 6, and 12 months of age. At the same time, abused mothers were asked if the abuse had ended. Rate of change in infant weight was calculated for birth to 6 months and 6 months to 1 year. The rate of change in infant weight from birth to 6 months did not differ significantly based on whether or not the mother reported that the abuse had ended by 6 months or 12 months. However, the rate of change in infant weight from 6 to 12 months was significantly greater (p = .046) for those infants whose mothers reported the abuse had ended by 12 months and even greater (p = .019) if the mother reported that the abuse had ended by 6 months. When controlling for ethnicity and parity, abuse ending at 6 months was a significant (p = .029, r2 = .102) predictor of the rate of infant weight change from 6 to 12 months. To maximize infant growth and the health and wellbeing of mother and child, routine screening and intervention for abuse of women is recommended during child health visits.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Relaxation to reduce dyspnea and anxiety in COPD patients.

The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of a taped relaxation message in reducing dyspnea and anxiety in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. Twenty-six adult COPD patients with dyspnea were randomly assigned to two groups. The treatment group was taught relaxation using a prerecorded tape while the control group was instructed to sit quietly. Skin temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate were recorded for all subjects during a total of four weekly sessions. Anxiety, dyspnea, and airway obstruction were measured at the beginning and end of the study. The relaxation group achieved the preset relaxation criteria. Dyspnea, anxiety, and airway obstruction were reduced in the relaxation group while the control group remained the same or became worse.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Physical and emotional abuse in pregnancy: a comparison of adult and teenage women.

A sample of 691 African American, Hispanic, and white pregnant teenage and adult women were interviewed in the prenatal setting. On their first prenatal visit, 182 (26%) women reported physical or sexual abuse within the past year. There were significant differences between the teens and adults, with a higher percentage of teens (31.6%) reporting abuse during the prior year than adults (23.6%). The rate of abuse during pregnancy was 21.7% for teens and 15.9% for adult women. Adult women scored significantly higher than teens on two measures of mental abuse. Mental abuse was significantly correlated with physical abuse for all subjects.

Adolescent↗