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Biomedical subjects

M T Oberst

Publications and source records attributed to M T Oberst.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Self-care burden, stress appraisal, and mood among persons receiving radiotherapy.

This study was undertaken to describe the self-care burden (SCB) of persons receiving radiation as outpatients, to identify factors contributing to SCB, and to test a model of the effects of SCB, symptom distress, and appraisal of illness on mood. The subjects were 72 adults with cancer who had been in treatment an average of 4 weeks. Fatigue was reported to be the most distressing symptom. Among health deviation self-care tasks, coming for treatment was the most demanding, and self-treatment, such as administering medications, was the most difficult. Universal self-care activities most disrupted by treatment were social and recreational activities. Path analysis revealed that dependency was the primary predictor of health deviation SCB, while symptom distress was the best predictor of universal SCB. Universal SCB and family hardiness were the best predictors of appraisal scores. Symptom distress and somatic mood were highly correlated, suggesting collinearity between these factors. Four variables--appraisal, symptom distress, family hardiness, and health deviation SCB--explained 55% of the variance in affective mood scores. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1989

Caregiving demands and appraisal of stress among family caregivers.

Ambulatory treatment for cancer has increased patients' self-care requirements and placed demands on family members to manage the illness and treatment side effects at home. This exploratory study was undertaken to assess family caregiving demands (load) and to examine caregivers' appraisals of the illness/caregiving experience. Forty-seven persons involved in the care of patients receiving radiotherapy for cancer were observed. Appraisal of stress was measured with the Appraisal of Caregiving Scale (ACS). This newly developed measure, derived from cognitive appraisal theory, is designed to assess the intensity of four possible appraisals of caregiving: harm/loss, threat, challenge, or benign. Participants also completed the Caregiver Load Scale, a measure of the time spent in caregiving activities. Satisfactory reliabilities were obtained for both measures. Family caregivers reported spending the most time in providing transportation, giving emotional support, and in extra household tasks. They received the most assistance from family and friends, and made minimal use of professional services. Caregiver load was correlated positively with the length of time on treatment and with patient dependency. Caregivers in the poorest health, those with less education, and those of lower socioeconomic status had higher scores on the ACS appraisals of harm/loss and threat. Older caregivers had significantly higher challenge and benign appraisals. There was a strong positive correlation between caregiver load and the harm/loss and threat appraisals. Findings suggest a need for frequent reassessment of demands on family caregivers throughout the course of treatment and offer direction for future research.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Perspectives on research in patient teaching.

Selection of outcome measures needs to go beyond assessment of knowledge gains to include indicators of adherence to the self-care regimen and health outcomes. Because standard didactic approaches are relatively ineffective in fostering participation in self-care, program content should be individualized and may need considerable reinforcement. In studies of program effectiveness, both the experimental and the comparison conditions should be monitored. Although a wide variety of patient, educator, and situational characteristics may mediate program efficacy, a lack of theoretically based studies and insufficient replication precludes generalizable conclusions about these or other aspects of patient teaching.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1988

Postdischarge distress in surgically treated cancer patients and their spouses.

Temporal patterns of distress among two groups of nonterminally ill, surgically treated cancer patients (n = 40) and their spouses (n = 40) during the immediate pre- and postdischarge period were studied. Data about problems encountered and standardized measures of distress (State Anxiety Index, Brief Symptom Index, and Vulnerability Index) were obtained before hospital discharge and at 10, 30, 60, 90, and 180 days postdischarge. The intensity of distress experienced by patients and spouses was remarkably similar, although the temporal pattern of occurrence was significantly different. Prior to discharge, spouse anxiety was significantly higher than that of the patients and above the norm for hospitalized persons. Spouses were least distressed after 10 days at home, but thereafter experienced a rise in vulnerability culminating in observable clinical depression at 90 and 180 days. Peak distress for the patients occurred 10 days after discharge as a function of physical symptoms that were unexpected or more severe than anticipated. Patients with ostomies (n = 20) were slower to return to pre-illness functional levels and had somewhat more psychological distress than nonostomy patients.

Depression↗
PubMed1986

Development of a patient satisfaction scale.

Three studies to develop and test an instrument to measure hospitalized patients' satisfaction with nursing care are reported. Content validation procedures involved both clinicians and patients (N = 75). An inverse relationship of satisfaction scores to negative mood states demonstrated evidence of construct validity. Factor analytic procedures (N = 664) failed to confirm the existence of the subscales initially conceptualized for this instrument and others in common use. Three new factors were identified: dissatisfaction, interpersonal support, and good impression. The dissatisfaction subscale explained 73.6% of the variance and had a high internal consistency (alpha = .91); the reliability coefficients of the other subscales also were high (alpha = .92 and .89). Reliability coefficients for the total instrument in successive testings were .92 (N = 100) and .95 (N = 533).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Catheter management programs and postoperative urinary dysfunction.

This study was designed to compare the effectiveness of two approaches to urinary catheter management in controlling postoperative urinary dysfunction in 110 patients following abdominoperineal resection or low anterior bowel resection. Patients, stratified by sex and surgical procedure, were randomly assigned to either straight gravity drainage or a 6-day progressive catheter clamping program. The bladder training program following abdominoperineal resection reduced significantly the urinary dysfunction rate in women but not in men. Marked differences in dysfunction rates were related to type of surgery, gender, and surgeon. Etiology of postoperative voiding dysfunction in various groups is discussed.

Adult↗