Biomedical subjects

N Owen

Publications and source records attributed to N Owen.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

PubMed1992

Self-help smoking cessation materials.

Smoking-cessation campaigns and services use printed self-help materials as a major medium for assisting smokers to quit. Such materials are associated with abstinence rates of up to 20% at 12-month follow-ups. Adherence to the specific content of self-instructional programs can be poor, but higher levels of reported adherence may be associated with a greater likelihood of cessation. Personalized cessation materials do not enhance cessation rates, but social support and minimal levels of personal contact do. Research is needed to identify which specific components of these programs are effective, how adherence may be promoted and how materials may be used in conjunction with other interventions--particularly cost-effective forms of counselling and social support.

Humans↗

PubMed1992

Lifestyle change and cardiovascular disease. Principles and practice.

Changes in patients' lifestyles can be approached in a practical fashion by working through the relevant 'stages of change'. Helping patients to change their lifestyles does not have to be a very time-consuming process for the clinician, but it does require planning, and attention to those factors that are important at each stage of the process. Although this paper has a focus on lifestyle change for the reduction of CVD risk factors, the same principles can apply to lifestyle change and disease prevention for other disorders.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗

PubMed1992

General pharmacology of pergolide in animals. 2nd communication: gastrointestinal, renal and miscellaneous studies.

Pergolide mesylate ((8 beta)-8-[(methylthio)methyl]-6-propylergoline monomethanesulfonate, LY 127809, CAS 66104-23-2) is a novel and potent dopamine agonist marketed for treating the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. The potential secondary pharmacological effects of this agent on the gastrointestinal and renal systems, as well as effects on local anesthesia, hemolysis, platelet aggregation, circulating blood glucose, primary antibody production, and the acute inflammatory response were examined. Pergolide exhibited significant pharmacological effects in gastrointestinal, renal and anti-inflammatory tests at high oral doses. Pergolide was essentially inactive in blood hemolysis, platelet aggregation, primary antibody production and local anesthesia testing. In summary, these studies confirm the pharmacological selectivity of pergolide, and indicate a low potential for secondary pharmacological side effects upon the functions tested at clinically relevant doses.

Anesthetics, Local↗

PubMed1992

Workplace smoking restrictions, occupational status, and reduced cigarette consumption.

Reductions in workday cigarette consumption among indoor workers subject to different levels of smoking restriction were examined using representative population data for both blue-collar and white-collar workers. Regardless of whether workplace smoking bans were total or applied only to the usual work station, reported workday cigarette consumption was reduced by approximately five cigarettes per day compared with leisure-day consumption. This was in contrast to there being no difference between workday and leisure-day consumption among those who had no ban on smoking at their usual work station. This pattern of findings applied to all occupational-status groups, after controlling for sex and number of cigarettes smoked on a leisure day. These results are discussed with reference to potential public-health benefits and to implications for reduced retail sales of cigarettes.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Lifestyle change and cardiovascular disease. Evidence and issues.

Lifestyle change is an area in which the medical practitioner has a great deal to offer: to high-risk patients and to individuals generally. The evidence supporting the cardiovascular health benefits of lifestyle change comes from a variety of scientific sources. While the recent large-scale intervention studies have not always had unequivocal outcomes, on balance, the epidemiological evidence points to the central importance of lifestyle change in reducing CVD risk. Recently the United States Preventive Services Task Force22 has published guidelines on lifestyle change and other interventions for CVD risk and for a range of other preventable health problems. The United States Task Force's recommendations have been favourably reviewed by the National Health and Medical Research Council in Australia, and are considered to be relevant to medical practice in this country.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗

PubMed1992

General pharmacology of pergolide in animals. 1st communication: cardiovascular, respiratory and autonomic nervous system studies.

Pergolide mesylate ((8 beta)-8-[(methylthio)methyl]-6-propylergoline monomethanesulfonate, LY 127,809, CAS 66104-23-2) is a novel and potent dopamine agonist marketed for treating the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. The potential secondary pharmacological effects of this agent on the cardiovascular, respiratory, and the autonomic nervous systems were examined. Pergolide exhibited significant pharmacological effects in cardiovascular and autonomic tests at high oral or intravenous doses. The reference dopamine agonist, bromocriptine, exhibited effects qualitatively similar to, but at doses generally higher than, pergolide, in parallel with its lower therapeutic potency relative to pergolide. In summary, these studies confirm the pharmacological selectivity of pergolide at low doses, and indicate the potential for secondary pharmacological side effects upon cardiovascular function at significant multiples of the clinical dose.

Acetylcholine↗

PubMed1991

Habitual physical activity and cardiovascular risk factors.

The relationships between different levels of participation in physical activity and biological indices of cardiovascular risk were examined in a sample of 6814 male and female adults who took part in a national risk factor prevalence survey. Participation in physical activity was classified as "aerobic" (14.6% of total), "moderate" (53.6%) or "inactive" (31.8%). Bivariate analyses found significant associations between level of exercise participation and diastolic blood pressures in men, but not in women; significant associations were found between reported physical activity and systolic blood pressure, total serum cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, HDL/total cholesterol ratio and triglycerides for both men and women. Further analyses were controlled for age, education, and the survey site, which were potential confounders of the association between physical activity and other coronary heart disease risk factors. After adjustment, significant associations remained between levels of exercise participation and HDL cholesterol level, HDL/total cholesterol ratio and serum triglyceride levels for both sexes. In women, there was also a significant relationship between activity level and body mass index. In addition, for men only, there was a significant inverse relationship between physical activity and total cholesterol, and, for older men, between physical activity and systolic blood pressure. It is well recognised that physical activity has an independent effect on reducing the risk of coronary heart disease. The results of this study suggest that there may be small supplementary effects mediated through the relationship between exercise and other biological cardiovascular risk factors.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Smokers unlikely to quit.

Data from a population survey were used to examine the relationships of the number and the duration of previous smoking cessation attempts with current confidence and perceived difficulty of quitting, beliefs about reasons for current smoking and for previous relapses, and preferences for different forms of assistance with cessation. There were significant positive relationships between the duration of previous cessation attempts and perceived difficulty and between the number of previous cessation attempts and confidence. Those who had made more cessation attempts and who had been able to abstain for less than a week were more likely to attribute both relapse and current smoking to uncontrollable factors such as addiction. There were no relationships between cessation attempts and preferences expressed for personalized, or any other, forms of assistance with cessation. These results support the proposition that multiple and short-duration smoking-cessation attempts are related to reduced optimism regarding future cessation.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Adolescents' smoking behavior and risk perceptions.

Risk-perception theory, derived largely from studies of technological risk assessment by Slovic and associates (Slovic, 1987; Slovic, Fischhoff, & Lichtenstein, 1986), may assist in understanding the risks seen to be associated with health-related behaviors. Risk perceptions, and their relationship to different stages of the acquisition of smoking behavior, were examined in a sample of 205 Australian high school students who were in Grades 10 and 11, and had an average age of 15 years. Current smokers differed from experimenters, ex-smokers, and never smokers on a number of factors that are argued to underlie perceptions of risk: They perceived less personal risk, less severe health consequences, greater benefits relative to risks, found it more difficult to picture harmful consequences to themselves, and perceived smoking to be less avoidable. Implications for understanding and for dealing with the initiation and maintenance of smoking behavior in adolescence are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Predicting attempts and sustained cessation of smoking after the introduction of workplace smoking bans.

Examined predictors of smoking cessation attempts and predictors of the outcome of those attempts after the introduction of a workplace smoking ban. Smokers were surveyed in the month before the ban came into force, and variables collected at that time were used to predict outcomes 6 months later. Data from 491 respondents who were smokers at the time of the initial survey were used, and a set of potential predictor variables was chosen on both theoretical and empirical grounds. Making a cessation attempt was predicted by the strength of desire to quit and, to less extent, by not having been subject to extensive restrictions on smoking before the mandated ban, having tried to quit before, perceiving oneself high in ability to quit, and being worried about smoke at work. For the outcome of cessation attempts among those who tried, success was best predicted by low levels of a composite habit strength variable and, to less extent, by desire to quit, no previous attempts to quit, the existence of social supports for quitting, and educational status. Although cognitive variables were important in predicting attempts, they played only a minor role in predicting maintenance. Behavioral and environmental variables contributed slightly to prediction of attempts and strongly to prediction of maintenance.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Changes in smoking behaviour after a total workplace smoking ban.

This paper reports data on changes in smoking behaviour after the introduction of a total workplace smoking ban in Telecom Australia. A sample of 1089 Telecom staff were surveyed in the months before the introduction of the ban and 620 were resurveyed six months after the ban had been implemented. A further sample of 1424 was drawn from the same parts of the organisation 18 months after implementation. Among the smokers in these samples, the bans produced a reduction in workday cigarette consumption of between three and four cigarettes a day and this reduction was maintained at 18 months. Over the two-year period from six months before the ban to 18 months after it, smoking prevalence dropped about 5 per cent, which we estimate is about twice the decline found in the general community. Workplace smoking bans can produce public health and can assist individual smokers to regulate their habit.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

The research and development agenda for cancer prevention and education in Australia.

In Australia the most important preventable causes of cancer, in order of importance, are tobacco smoking, diet, obesity, sunlight exposure, alcohol consumption and occupational exposure to carcinogens. We review and discuss these causes and their potential preventability and discuss three broad strategies in cancer prevention: public health policy and legislation, screening, and education and behavior change. In each of these broad areas, current research evidence and relevant approaches to research and development are considered. Six areas of research and development priority for cancer prevention and education are suggested: cigarette smoking (particularly among children and adolescents); protection of the skin from exposure to strong sunlight; screening; dietary choices; occupational exposures; and the social and environmental context of cancer prevention. All of these strategies and concerns will not apply to every country in the Asia-Pacific region but may be useful as guidelines and as a stimulus for determining particular local priorities.

Australia↗

PubMed1991

A total ban on workplace smoking is acceptable and effective.

The acceptability and effectiveness of a total workplace smoking ban in Telecom Australia was evaluated in a series of studies. Staff in a sample of representative areas were surveyed prior to the introduction of the bans, then 6 and 18 months afterward. By 18 months 81% of all staff, including 53% of smokers, approved of the bans. Sixty-six percent of staff reported a total ban was operative, and 31% reported a total ban except for a smoking room, leaving only 3% reporting lesser restrictions. Smokers were smoking between three and four less cigarettes per work day, and the numbers of smokers had decreased by about double the community rate. The policy had little perceived effect on productivity but resulted in some tension between staff that progressively decreased and now is limited to the few areas where there were problems with compliance. A subsample of managers and staff were interviewed and factors relevant to successful implementation of the policy were identified. These included a clear statement of policy, strong managerial support via equipping managers with leadership and negotiating skills, and the use of occupational health nurses. It is important to provide assistance to affected staff to help them adjust to the ban both before as well as in the months after implementation.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Changes in acceptance of workplace smoking bans following their implementation: a prospective study.

Recent cross-sectional and retrospective studies suggest that the attitudes of employees toward workplace smoking bans may become more positive after the bans have been introduced. Using a prospective design, we found that the attitudes of nonsmokers, ex-smokers, and smokers became more favorable over the 6 months following the introduction of smoking bans to Australian Government Offices. The magnitude of changes in approval ratings was greatest for smokers, but smokers were also more likely to disapprove of the bans before and after their introduction than were nonsmokers and ex-smokers. Among smokers, there was a strong relationship between the extent to which they saw themselves inconvenienced by the bans and the extent to which they disapproved of them. Overall, the bans were accepted and viewed in a positive light, but there was nevertheless a significant minority of smokers who remained disgruntled with them. Some ways in which the concerns of this subgroup of smokers may be addressed are considered.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Smokers' preferences for assistance with cessation.

An important issue for public health approaches to smoking control is determining smokers' preferences for the different types of services available to assist with smoking cessation. In a population survey in the state of South Australia, smokers were asked to nominate the forms of assistance that they thought would help them to stop: a stop-smoking group; a lecture; a telephone counseling service; a book, a pamphlet, or a quit kit; a television program or a video program conducted through the mail; a program through their doctor; a program through another health professional; or none of these options. Forty-six percent of current smokers stated that they were interested in none of the options. Among the preferences that were expressed for the different forms of assistance, 67% were for services from a medical practitioner or other health professional; 12.4% for a stop-smoking group; 23.1% for a book, a pamphlet, or a quit kit; and 2.9% for mail or telephone services. The strong preferences for indirect methods that an earlier study and recent commentators have identified did not emerge in this survey. Preferences for personalized, as opposed to indirect forms of assistance, were more likely to be expressed by heavy smokers, those with less confidence of success at stopping, those with greater perceived difficulty of stopping, and those who had reported shorter periods of previous abstinence from smoking.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1990

Australia: perspectives in school health.

Australia, a predominantly industrialized, urban-based nation, has health problems similar to most developed countries. The federal and state relationship in Australia perpetuates a similarity between programs and practices across the country, especially in health and education. During the past decade, several research programs related to the primary prevention of Australia's major health issues were conducted. Determinations of program success have been established from these programs and their international counterparts. Guidelines and principles are discussed in the context of two recent health initiatives and are presented as indicative of current developments in Australia. For this article, a one-in-five sample of South Australian schools was surveyed regarding the health education programs and practices. Survey results and two initiatives are presented against a background of Australian health data.

Australia↗

PubMed1990

Recent trends and socio-demographic determinants of exercise participation in Australia.

Although sentiments about the positive health benefits of regular exercise have been expressed for many centuries, it is only in the past three decades that epidemiologic evidence has provided scientific support for the health benefits of being physically active. The evidence for the protective effect of physical activity is particularly strong with reference to cardiovascular disease, with the relative risk of being "inactive" compared to 'active' estimated to typically lie between 1.5 and 2.0. Despite the popular view that exercise participation has increased in recent years, estimates of trends in physical activity in Australian (and other) populations have been difficult to interpret because of the different measurements and surveys used. We examined data from population surveys using well validated, standardised methods to assess exercise participation, through National surveys between 1984 and 1987 conducted by the Commonwealth Department of the Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories (DASETT). Over the period in which the surveys were conducted, there appears to have been a slight increase in the proportion of Australians who participated in regular physical activity. There was a significant decline in the proportion who reported being totally sedentary--from 32.9 per cent in 1984 to 25.4 per cent in 1987. The data from all of the surveys were then pooled to give an overall sample size of 17053, and socio-demographic variables were examined in relation to exercise participation. Women, older people, the less well educated, and those on lower incomes were less likely to perform regular physical activity. Inequalities in the social distribution of exercise participation parallel those found for other health risk factors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Effects of workplace smoking bans on cigarette consumption.

A sample of staff working in the Australian Public Service (n = 2113) were surveyed two to four weeks before a mandated total ban on workplace smoking was introduced, and again five to six months later. Among the 391 smokers on whom complete data were available, the workplace smoking bans were associated with reduced rates of smoking, particularly among heavier smokers where the reduction in consumption was over 25 percent.

Australia↗