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Biomedical subjects

N C Stott

Publications and source records attributed to N C Stott.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Development of a measure of potential health behaviour: a salience of lifestyle index.

The development of a salience of lifestyle index to measure potential health behaviour is described with its validation, including the relationship between the new index and various measures of preventive health behaviour. The complex cascade of antecedents which contribute to a decision to make or not make a specific lifestyle choice is summarised to clarify the contribution of the salience of lifestyle index to pure research and evaluative studies.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Health promotion and the human response to loss: clinical implications of a decade of primary health care research.

Ten years ago an academic group was established in Cardiff to determine why the public make life-style choices which are known to have an adverse impact on health and also to develop methods of measurement which describe trends in positive health motivation (salience) in the community. Three stages of this research are described in this paper and the results reveal a complex and fascinating set of human beliefs, attitudes and behaviours. Concern for health was not a consistent human characteristic and there was little evidence for the existence of a general preventive orientation in the cohorts studied. Discrepancies between expressed health beliefs/attitudes and behaviours are more explicable when the reality of ambiguity and paradox is recognized in human responses. Human responses to loss (grief) may have similarities to the respondents' experiences when facing a possible change of life-style for health reasons. The practical implications for primary care professionals are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

The role of health promotion in primary health care.

A major transformation has been occurring in primary health care during the past 20 years. The changes are reviewed briefly for the benefit of those who do not work in the front-line of care and for those who have not had the opportunity to experience the changes. Two major components of the transformation are stressed: (i) the shift towards person (patient) centred methods; (ii) a broad framework of reference which encourages horizontal integration of skills in the nonspecialized way. The opportunities for health promotion in primary health care are legion and evidence from worldwide experimental sources is reviewed to show how different levels of achievement can be demonstrated and monitored. Responsibility, empowerment and participation were firmly declared principles in the WHO Alma Ata Declaration on primary health care. The practical realisation of such principles in the field is occurring at an increasing rate, but their continuation will depend on the further growth and development of appropriate community-centred skills and practices. Evidence for the power of a "social sieve" to moderate professional or official health recommendations is also discussed in the light of current research. If recent research data is upheld, the relationship between primary health care personnel and the social network around them is likely to be shown to make a critical difference to health outcomes.

Health Promotion↗
PubMed1985

Choice or chance: further evidence on ideas of illness and responsibility for health.

A study of 204 Welsh mothers using well validated research methods has demonstrated that better understanding of the antecedents to health behaviours contributes to a reorientation of stereotyped ideas about working class health beliefs and behaviour. Fatalism and an orientation to life-style choices for health are not necessarily contradictory concepts and this has important implications for those who are involved in education for health. The development of a Salience of Lifestyle Index (SLI) is described and studied in relation to concepts of blame for illness, education, house tenure, religious commitment, employment, health behaviours and social background.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Preventive procedures and practices among working class women: new data and fresh insights.

Using a sample of lower working class mothers from South Wales, U.K. data is presented on the extent to which procedures, (behaviours which involve health professionals and services) and practices (behaviours which involve the individuals in day to day lifestyle choices) are interrelated and likely to be practised by the same people. The socio-demographic variables associated with each category separately and with the whole range of preventive behaviour are also described. The British data is considered in the light of current research on preventive health behaviour (PHB) which has relied heavily for both empirical data and theoretical insight on studies conducted in U.S.A. No evidence is found to support the proposition that PHB is undimensional nor on the other hand is there convincing support for the existence of hypothesized independent dimensions. It is argued that the failure of present theory to predict more than a comparatively small part of the variance in PHB has positive implications for researchers and health educators alike.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Food-allergic asthma in general practice.

A survey was undertaken to assess the importance of food allergy in asthma. Seventy-two asthmatics aged 15-60 years were identified in a general practice and compared with 72 controls matched for age and sex. A diagnostic procedure involving dietary elimination and challenge was carried out on those who thought food exacerbated their symptoms, together with those with concurrent eczema, positive skin tests to food or positive food IgE-RAST. The asthmatics more frequently had positive skin tests of IgE-RAST to food than the controls, but these tests proved to be rather non-specific in identifying provoking foods. One patient was found to be allergic to wheat and his clinical condition improved when wheat was removed from his diet. Two patients seemed to respond to other foodstuffs, but the effects were small, the foods (honey and peppermint) unimportant, and the patients' symptoms appeared to be largely due to other factors. Most cases of alleged food-induced asthma could not be confirmed by challenge testing. This survey suggests that some degree of provocation by food (excluding drink) affects at least 4 per cent of adult asthmatics, although in some of these patients it plays an unimportant part in the disease.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Research in general practice. Sources of advice.

Regional advisers, faculty secretaries of the Royal College of General Practitioners, heads of academic departments of general practice and primary care, and heads of RCGP research units were invited to complete a semistructured questionnaire to determine the nature and availability of current sources of advice for general practitioners participating in research activities and the demands placed on the available sources in the United Kingdom. The principal source for research advice was university departments of general practice, yet these have insufficient resources to cope with requests and few have spare capacity to stimulate research. Regional advisers and faculty secretaries do not seem to be kindling a spirit of inquiry and they seem somewhat complacent about both the lack of requests for research advice from general practitioners and the difficulties of academic departments. Proper development of research capability in general practice and primary care is unlikely to occur without more resources to create training posts in academic departments and a greater spirit of inquiry in vocational training programmes, which should lead to both review (audit) and research.

Faculty, Medical↗
PubMed1982

Concepts of illness causation and responsibility: some preliminary data from a sample of working class mothers.

In recent years official policy in the U.K. has been marked by a shift in emphasis from curative to preventive medicine, with increasing stress being laid on the role of the individual in maintaining his/her health. However, we lack empirical data on the extent to which the concept of individual responsibility for health is accepted by various groups in our society and such data is essential before effective strategies for health education can be implemented. It is argued that readiness to accept responsibility for one's health depends partly on the views held about the aetiology of illness, and this proposition is explored using material on causation and the circumstances where blame is attributed, derived from semi-structured interviews with a sample of 41 working class mothers (Socioeconomic Group 9). Roughly half the sample held fatalistic views on the aetiology of illness and thought they were only morally accountable in very restricted circumstances. These women tended to be less well-educated than the rest of the group and they were less likely to be buying their own homes. The results are discussed in relation to current health education policies, consultation behaviours in primary medical care and consumer attitudes to the services provided by their doctors.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Acute lower respiratory tract infections in infants: the influence of central heating systems.

A cohort of 342 infants in a group practice population were studied during the first year of life to assess whether hot-air central heating was associated with more severe respiratory infections than radiator central heating.Infants born into council house families with ducted hot-air central heating were at no greater risk of contracting severe respiratory infections than those with radiator central heating. The risk of a respiratory infection was positively correlated with size of sibship and maternal smoking habits.

Heating↗
PubMed1980

Teaching with audiovisual recordings of consultations.

The experience gained from two years' teaching with audiovisual recordings of consultations of both undergraduates and postgraduates is presented. Some basic teaching rules are suggested and further applications of the technique are discussed.

Audiovisual Aids↗
PubMed1979

Management and outcome of winter upper respiratory tract infections in children aged 0-9 years.

Age-specific incidences for upper respiratory tract infections in children from a new-town population during 1975-7 were studied, and 965 consecutive upper respiratory tract infections in children aged under 10 during two winters were analysed in detail. Significantly different management plans made by seven doctors did not correlate with the clinical outcome as judged by complications, recall rates, and demand for treatment for similar episodes in the future. Two hundred and thirty-two children (24%) returned for another consultation for the same episode of upper respiratory tract infection. The main reason for these repeat consultations seemed to be that parental expectations about the natural history of the illness were not fulfilled. More realistic parental expectations might be set and safer clinical standards maintained if doctors warned parents about symptoms such as cough and occasional diarrhoea or vomiting that are commonly associated with upper respiratory tract infections in children.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1979

The exceptional potential in each primary care consultation.

A four-point framework is described which has been found to be helpful for general practitioners who try to achieve greater breadth in each consultation. The framework has also provided a useful stimulus in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, because it provides a nomenclature to identify four major components of clinical practice which are particularly relevant to primary care.

Methods↗
PubMed1976

Randomised controlled trial of antibiotics in patients with cough and purulent sputum.

Two hundred and twelve adults with cough and purulent sputum of up to one week's duration were allocated randomly to treatment with doxycycline or placebo capsules for up to 10 days. Cough, purulent sputum, feeling "off colour," and time off work lasted as long in treatment and control groups, but running nose persisted for a shorter time in the doxycycline group. The number of new episodes of lower respiratory tract infections, vaginal infections, gastrointestinal upsets, and otitis media over the next six months were the same in both groups, but fewer new upper respiratory infections were experienced by the doxycycline-treated patients. There is no consensus among doctors about using antibiotics in patients with cough and purulent sputum, and these results indicate that otherwise healthy people with these symptoms will usually get better without antibiotic treatment.

Adolescent↗