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Biomedical subjects

L Evans

Publications and source records attributed to L Evans.

209 records · Page 12Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Intimacy patterns and relationship satisfaction of women with eating problems and the mediating effects of depression, trait anxiety and social anxiety.

The association between eating problems; and intimacy and relationship styles was examined. Young adult females (n = 360) completed the Adult Attachment Style (AAS), questionnaire; questions on satisfaction with intimacy; the Sexual Attitude Scale; items on sexual avoidance; a set of six descriptions for mother, friend, and partner; and measures of depression, general anxiety, social anxiety, and eating problems. Women with greater eating problems described more difficulties in intimate relationships including less satisfaction with closeness, more discomfort in close intimate relationships, and less positive descriptions of friend and mother. When depression, general anxiety, and social anxiety were entered first in a regression, intimacy measures no longer added unique variance. However, public self-consciousness predicted over and above general affect and social anxiety measures. Results were consistent with a mediator model in which intimacy difficulties for women with eating problems are explained by depression, trait anxiety, and public self-consciousness.

Adult↗
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Individualized assessment and intervention in bilateral siderail use.

The use of bilateral siderails, similar to physical restraints, can be safely reduced by a comprehensive assessment process. This article presents an individualized assessment for evaluating siderail use to guide nurses in managing resident characteristics for falling out of bed and intervening for high-risk residents. The individualized assessment is consistent with federal resident assessment instrument requirements and includes risk factors specific to falls from bed.

Accidental Falls↗
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Assessing pain in people with profound learning disabilities.

People with profound learning and multiple disabilities are at risk of pain because they experience complex and severe health conditions and frequently undergo surgical procedures that cause pain. Pain assessment in this client group requires a skilled approach, although there is little evidence available to guide nursing practice. In the absence of pain assessment measures specifically designed for use with people with profound learning disabilities, the nurse will need to rely on careful observation and interpretation of the client's communicative behaviour, clinical judgement and knowledge of the person during assessment. Intuition is also an important attribute and can be a valuable source of knowledge when assessing clients who are unable to verbalize their experience of pain. These issues, along with implications for nursing practice, are explored.

Communication↗
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Decreased levels of interleukin-12 are not correlated with leukocyte concentration and superoxide dismutase activity in semen of infertile men.

The interleukin (IL)-12 levels and the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were determined in the seminal plasma of fertile and infertile men with or without leukocytospermia by ELISA. The IL-12 levels differed significantly among the fertile and infertile groups, with the infertile groups showing lower levels that were not modulated by leukocytospermia. The SOD activity did not differ significantly among the fertile and infertile groups and was not correlated with the IL-12 levels. The positive correlation with sperm concentration suggests that IL-12 may have a direct or indirect role in male fertility/infertility and that its levels are not modulated by the presence of leukocytes in the semen.

Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Computer generated discharge summaries and their use as a case mix sensitive audit engine. A tale of two cities.

BACKGROUND: An 'audit engine' allows critical appraisal of clinical practice without necessitating cumbersome data input, editing or analysis. This is achieved by capturing data from an otherwise necessary task, in this case writing discharge summaries, and using standardised analyses to illustrate the effects of operational changes. DESIGN AND SETTING: Retrospective analysis of clinical outcome of 1,829 sequential discharges from one consultant's team in two geriatric medicine departments. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Mortality, discharge destination and functional performance. RESULTS: Median length of stay in the two departments differed significantly (8 vs 13 days; p < 0.0001), but patients in the latter department were more disabled, with almost twice as many needing domiciliary services after discharge and suffering impaired mobility or incontinence. Despite this disparity, a similar proportion of survivors was placed in institutional care (31/300 (10%) vs 94/1,100 (8%); NS). CONCLUSIONS: This audit engine demonstrated that apparently worse performance indicators were explained by adverse case mix in one department, and the similar institutionalisation rates suggest superior care there.

Aged↗
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Quantifying patient engagement with nurses: validation of a scale with AIDS patients.

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a measure of patient engagement with nurses, which is a quantifiable outcome of nurse-patient encounters. This measure, based on verbatim patient statements, was tested with a multi-site sample of 162 hospitalized patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Although developed and tested with acutely ill AIDS patients, the scales are not AIDS specific and hold promise as a general measure of the outcomes of nurse-patient encounters in other acute and chronic illnesses.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Quest. Testing skills.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Education, Nursing↗
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Contextual factors associated with disturbing behaviors in institutionalized elders.

Data from a longitudinal clinical trial funded by the National Institute of Aging, testing the effects of staff education and consultation on restraint reduction in nursing homes, were used to examine disturbing behaviors in institutionalized elders and to identify related environmental and personal characteristics. Subjects were 586 residents from three well-matched nursing homes. Kayser-Jone's (1989) model on environment and quality of life in long-term care institutions served as the organizing framework. Data on disturbing behaviors from the Psychogeriatric Dependency Rating Scale were factor analyzed. Three factors, Agitated Psychomotor Behaviors, Aggressive Interpersonal Communication, and Expressive Difficulty, emerged from the principal factor analysis and accounted for 35% of the variance. The Kayser-Jones model partially explained Agitated Psychomotor Behavior (R2 = .22). A model comparison approach indicated that the addition of an organizational variable, staff mix, significantly increased the amount of variance explained over and above that contributed by the personal variables.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Movement through change.

Constipation is often overlooked when it comes to assessing clients' needs. This paper, by a team caring for a group of clients with severe learning disabilities, looks at how constipation can be managed and calls for changes to be made in the care of patients experiencing this difficulty.

Constipation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Presence and modulation of interleukin-12 in seminal plasma of fertile and infertile men.

Interleukin-12 (IL-12) is a unique cytokine that recently has drawn considerable attention because of its immunomodulatory properties and its possible involvement in several normal physiological and pathophysiological processes. In the present study, concentrations of IL-12 were determined, in the seminal plasma of fertile (n = 33), male-factor-infertile (n = 27), and immunoinfertile (n = 14) men, to investigate its role, if any, in male infertility. Levels of IL-12 were expressed both as picograms per milliliter and as picograms per milligram protein. IL-12 was detected in seminal plasma of fertile men as well as in that of infertile men. The levels of IL-12 in seminal plasma of both male-factor and immunoinfertile men were significantly (P < 0.05) different from those of fertile men, when levels were expressed as picograms per milligram protein. When expressed as picograms per milliliter, the levels of IL-12 differed significantly between the immunoinfertile group and the fertile/male-factor-infertile group. There was significant correlation between the IL-12 levels and the total sperm count and percentage of morphologically normal sperm in the semen, whether groups were analyzed together or individually by condition. These findings suggest that IL-12 may have a role in fertility and that its derangement may be involved in male infertility.

Adult↗