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Biomedical subjects

R A Windsor

Publications and source records attributed to R A Windsor.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Employee self-help smoking cessation programs: a review of the literature.

The purpose of this article is to present a review of the literature on employee self-help smoking cessation programs. Included in this discussion are: (1) a rationale for self-help smoking cessation interventions; (2) a synopsis of their applicability to occupational settings; (3) a rational and description of the self-help smoking cessation interventions selected for a large group of employees; and (4) several methodological issues faced in conducting evaluations of smoking cessation programs.

Bibliotherapy↗
PubMed1983

An assessment of the Environmental Protection Agency's asbestos hazard evaluation algorithm.

We performed an exploratory evaluation of the Environmental Protection Agency's algorithm for assessment of risk of exposure to asbestos in buildings. Observers scored five sites using the algorithm. One group (N = 23) conducted their assessments relying only on written instructions, while another (N = 20) was trained in the use of the algorithm. Five professional industrial hygienists, experienced in risk assessment, also used the algorithm on the same sites. A wide range of highly variable results, for both untrained and trained observers coupled with poor comparability with expert's scores raise concern as to the reliability of this assessment tool. The development of a valid and reliable "lay" index of risk is still needed.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

A continuing medical education program in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases: design and outcome.

A continuing medical education course was developed to improve the care of patients with chronic bronchitis and emphysema (COPD); 44 primary care physicians completed the course. The physicians were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups, with 3 of the 4 experimental groups assisting in the selection of topics for the programs and/or receiving feedback on tests given during the course. The course's impact was assessed using written tests to measure knowledge and simulated patient visits to observe physician performance. Experimental groups retained significantly greater amounts of information 9 months after completing the program and used more program material during patient visits than did the control group (p < 0.05). The test scores and patient visits of the 3 experimental groups involved in determining the audiovisual topics and/or receiving feedback were not significantly different from one another nor from the fourth experimental group.

Audiovisual Aids↗
PubMed1981

Increasing utilization of a rural cervical cancer detection program.

The Alabama Department of Public Health established, in 1973, a Cancer Screening Program (CSP). Although 66,000 women have been screened, many rural females had never used the program. After a community health organization education effort was introduced into a target rural county, an examination of CSP new user data for two intervention quarters revealed 345 and 150 per cent increases, respectively, in the pattern of use.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1980

Method and design issues in evaluation of community health education programs: a case study in breast and cervical cancer.

Systemic evaluation efforts are often neglected in community health education programs due to lack of financial or technical resources. The utility of including program evaluation at an early state in program development and implementation is demonstrated in this case study of a community-wide breast and cervical cancer education program. A number of methodological issues that the health education practitioner should consider in evaluations of community health programs are identified and discussed including: 1) selection of design; 2) establishing controls; 3) determination of sample size; 4) standardization of instruments; 5) selection bias; and 6) participant attrition. Implications for program development are examined.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Improving patient-education assessment skills of hospital staff: a case study in diabetes.

While the importance of collecting patient education data of high quality is well established, few studies have examined the quality of patient educational assessment procedures. Utilizing a standardized instrument and assessment protocol, an observational trial of nine insulin-controlled adult diabetics was conducted using pairs of trained patient assessors. Although the overall mean percent agreement for the first trial was very good (90%), lack of agreement was noted for several important subcategories. A training program was conducted to improve accuracy, addressing the assessment problems found in the first trial. A second rater trial found an overall level of rater agreement of 99%. This study confirmed that routine assessment of patients should be periodically monitored using the quality control methods described to ensure program data of high quality.

Alabama↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Subjective symptomatology of asthma in an outpatient population.

Characteristics of subjective symptomatology of asthma were examined within a group of 132 adult asthma patients receiving medical care in a university-based, ambulatory clinic setting. Patients responded to 36 symptom descriptions or adjectives associated with asthma which were included in a modified version of the Asthma Symptoms Checklist (ASC). A principal components exploratory factor analysis was conducted and five factors were identified. The five factors measured 1) panic-fear, 2) airways obstruction, 3) hyperventilation, 4) fatigue, and 5) irritability. Psychometric properties of the factor scores were satisfactory. The reliabilities were high, standard deviations were large, and differences in factor mean scores conformed to clinical experience. Correlational analyses support the construct validity of the ASC, especially the panic-fear factor. An important outcome of this study was to verify the ASC factor structure in an outpatient setting. The ASC was confirmed as a valuable instrument for use in self-management programs for adults with asthma. The five ASC factors represent highly stable components of subjective symptomatology of asthma among diverse adult patient populations and geographical settings.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Qualitative issues in developing educational diagnostic instruments and assessment procedures for diabetic patients.

With one exception, psychometric analyses of the quality of instrumentation and educational assessment procedures for diabetic patients have not been reported in the literature. Following an extensive internal review process, a pilot test of 56 diabetic patients found that the newly developed instrument had a high degree of internal consistency for the major indexes, 0.89 and 0.85, respectively. An item analysis found individual questions to be of an acceptable quality. An analysis of interrater reliability of patient assessment procedures produced an r = 0.93. Some support for content and concurrent validity was noted. Using an external review by an expert panel, a revised instrument and protocol was used to conduct a formal field test of 100 diabetic patients. Levels of internal consistency similar to the pilot, 0.87 adn 0.86, were found. An item analysis produced similar positive results. While some support for concurrent validity of the data was found, little support for discriminant validity was evident. The instrument and assessment procedures need to undergo more extensive and rigorous examination of its psychometric characteristics, particularly stability and predictive validity.

Diabetes Mellitus↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Quality assurance methods for managing employee health-promotion programs: a case study in smoking cessation.

Many worksite health-promotion projects only evaluate a program by documenting employee program utilization or by determining what behaviors have or have not been changed. The failure of a program may be due to its implementation rather than to the science of the intervention. Often, program implementation problems are overlooked. Many managers do not set up an implementation monitoring program to assess problems prior to breakdowns. This article describes how to monitor program implementation through the establishment of a Quality Assurance System in a worksite health-promotion program. A case study approach for a quit-smoking program administered to a large corporation will be used to demonstrate this method.

Evaluation Studies as Topic↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Evaluation of the impact of dissemination of smoking cessation methods on the low birthweight rate and on health care costs: achieving year 2000 objectives for the nation.

Nationwide dissemination of efficacious and cost-effective smoking cessation methods during the 1990s represents an important part of the solution to reducing the low birthweight (LBW) rate and associated health care costs. A minimum of 250,000 LBW births must be prevented during the 1990s to achieve the year 2000 LBW rate objective of 5% of total births. Annually 1,500 to 6,000 LBW births might be prevented between 1991 and 2000, and cumulatively 29,000 to 44,000, by dissemination of tested smoking cessation methods. Twelve to eighteen percent of the objective might be accomplished by dissemination. LBW births attributable to smoking might be reduced from the current 20% to 26% rate to a rate of 9% to 12% if the overall maternal smoking prevalence rate is reduced to 10% as projected in the Year 2000 Objectives. Smoking-attributable health care cost savings from dissemination would range from $22 million to $59 million.

Birth Rate↗