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Biomedical subjects

L Sweeney

Publications and source records attributed to L Sweeney.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

Replacing personally-identifying information in medical records, the Scrub system.

We define a new approach to locating and replacing personally-identifying information in medical records that extends beyond straight search-and-replace procedures, and we provide techniques for minimizing risk to patient confidentiality. The straightforward approach of global search and replace properly located no more than 30-60% of all personally-identifying information that appeared explicitly in our sample database. On the other hand, our Scrub system found 99-100% of these references. Scrub uses detection algorithms that employ templates and specialized knowledge of what constitutes a name, address, phone number and so forth.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1993

Control-related beliefs and self-reported depressive symptoms in late childhood.

Research thus far links depressive symptoms in children to one type of control-related belief: low levels of perceived personal competence. However, child research, unlike adult research, has not supported a linkage between depressive symptoms and another theoretically important control-related belief: perceived noncontingency of outcomes. Here we reexamined the issue, adjusting for limitations in previous methodology by using (a) psychometrically stronger measures of control beliefs, and (b) a general population sample rather than children being treated in mental health clinics. In contrast to previous results, we found that both perceived incompetence and perceived noncontingency were strongly related to children's depression, together accounting for 40% of the variance in Child Depression Inventory scores. We also found, as in previous research, that depressive symptoms were correlated with uncertainty as to the causes of outcomes, especially successes. The findings suggest that children may be susceptible to both "personal helplessness" and "universal helplessness" forms of depression.

Child↗
PubMed1989

Minitek urea disk test, a sensitive and cost-effective method to screen for Campylobacter pylori in gastric biopsies.

One hundred fifty-five biopsy specimens from the gastric mucosa of 81 patients undergoing routine endoscopy procedures were tested for the presence of Campylobacter pylori by three methods: Gram stain, culture, and modified Minitek, a rapid urea disk test (BBL Microbiology Systems, Cockeysville, Md.). Twenty-nine patients were infected with C. pylori. Sensitivities and specificities of detection were 100 and 94% with the Minitek test and 93 and 100% with Gram stain, respectively. Rapid testing by the urea disk is a simple, cost-effective, and accurate method for detecting the presence of C. pylori in gastric biopsy specimens.

Bacteriological Techniques↗
PubMed1987

99mTc DTPA scanning with diuretic washout. Is it useful in the investigation of obstruction in the presence of gross renal tract dilatation?

Diuretic-enhanced 99mTc DTPA renal scanning aims to determine whether or not a kidney is obstructed. In the presence of gross renal tract dilatation the validity of this technique is questioned. Twenty-eight patients (51 kidneys) with the prune belly syndrome, characterised by gross dilatation and tortuosity of the ureters, were studied. These patients underwent diuretic 99mTc DTPA scanning at the time of diagnosis and at yearly intervals thereafter. Long-term clinical follow-up (3 years) with serial serum creatinine was available in all children. In all cases renal function remained stable and on this basis urinary tract obstruction was excluded. Analysis of the first 99mTc DTPA scan included differential function, whole kidney mean transit time (WKMTT) and the time taken for tracer activity to fall to 75% of peak activity after diuretic stimulus (T75). Using the 99mTc DTPA scan, obstruction can be excluded if the WKMTT is less than 5 min or, in the presence of a prolonged WKMTT, if the diuretic stimulus results in a T75 of less than 5 min. A T75 of between 5 and 10 min is considered equivocal and a T75 exceeding 10 min means that obstruction cannot be excluded. 99mTc DTPA scanning, using these criteria for diagnosis, provided false positive information in 22 kidneys (43%). There were no false negatives. 99mTc DTPA scanning with diuretic washout, using WKMTT and T75 criteria, is not appropriate for the detection of renal tract obstruction in the presence of marked upper renal tract dilatation, since the false positive rate of 43% is unacceptably high.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Social cognitive determinants of drinking in young adults: beyond the alcohol expectancies paradigm.

In prior investigations of the psychology of drinking behavior, drinkers' positive expectancies regarding the effects of alcohol have been studied extensively. From a social cognitive point of view, however, several additional psychological factors also deserve attention, namely negative expectancies, social influence, and self-efficacy expectations. In a representative sample of 161 university students, this study examined to what extent inclusion of these additional social cognitive factors enhanced the predictive power of the predominant alcohol-expectancies model of drinking behavior, and to what extent all four social cognitive factors were related to the uptake and cessation of drinking behavior. The three additional social cognitive factors contributed 17% to the explained variance in drinking behavior, in addition to the 18% accounted for by positive expectancies. The constructs with the greatest predictive strength all pertained to the social effects and social context of drinking. The most important predictors of drinking behavior were found to differ for male versus female students, and for students living with their parents versus those living on their own. The data on drinking acquisition and cessation suggest that in this sample little change in drinking behavior could be expected. The social cognitive factors were strongly related to acquisition stages but only weakly to cessation stages. Recommendations for interventions aimed at lowering alcohol intake are given.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Weaving technology and policy together to maintain confidentiality.

Author demonstrates that removing all explicit identifiers from medical data does not guarantee medical record confidentiality. She examines three new software systems that do help maintain anonymity, but warns that systems' limitations demand complementary policies.

Computer Security↗