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Biomedical subjects

R Brannon

Publications and source records attributed to R Brannon.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

Linking data from national trauma and rehabilitation registries.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate te feasibility of retrospectively creating a data base useful in trauma systems evaluations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Records for 375 patients in both the Major Trauma Outcome Study and the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation were linked to create an injury-through-rehabilitation data base, including patients from four impairment groups: traumatic brain injury (TBI); spinal cord injury --paraplegic complete (SCI-PARA) and quadriplegic complete (SCI-QUAD); and hip fracture (HIP-FX). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The average ages (25.1 years SCI-QUAD, 72.6 years HIP-FX); Injury Severity Score (10.2 HIP-FX, 31.7 SCI-PARA); Revised Trauma Score (5.9 TBI, 7.8 HIP-FX); and acute care lengths of stay (13.3 days HIP-FX, 24.2 days TBI) varied substantially over the four groups. On average, patients spent from approximately 20 days (HIP-FX) to nearly 100 days (SCI-QUAD) in rehabilitation. Functional gains during rehabilitation were primarily in motor skills, but TBI patients also made substantial cognitive gains. Nearly 90% of TBI and SCI patients were discharged to their homes; the percentage of HIP-FX patients discharged to their homes, however, was lower (74%). Across all impairment groups, more patients lived with their relatives after rather than before injury. The correlation between a summary Major Trauma Outcome Study-Functional Independence Measure assessed at acute care discharge and the complete Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation-Functional Independence Measure assessed on admission to rehabilitation was significant for all study patients and for each impairment group except SCI_PARA. CONCLUSIONS: Linking records to create the study data base was arduous and could not be practically accomplished on a large scale or on a continuing basis. Because of the growing emphases on trauma system evaluations and outcomes beyond survival at acute care discharge, we recommend the routine inclusion of rehabilitation data in hospital-based trauma registries.

Activities of Daily Living

Criteria for selection of a payment method for inpatient medical rehabilitation.

This article presents the results of a 3-stage Delphi survey designed to identify the policy criteria that should govern the evaluation of alternative payment methods and guide the selection of a payment method for inpatient medical rehabilitation. The Delphi survey (n = 85) included four groups of participants: consumers (n = 8), providers (n = 35), payers (n = 15), and health services researchers (n = 27). The Delphi survey uncovered 16 evaluation criteria. Delphi participants evaluated each criterion on a 10-point scale (1 = not important; 10 = greatest importance). Respondents value maximize patient/family outcome, maximize access, and maximize efficiency as the three most important criteria. Respondents report that minimize financial risk is the least important criterion. The results from both stage 2 and stage 3 (response rate = 85%) indicate a high level of consensus across the four respondent groups.

Delphi Technique

Fluosol and oxygen breathing as an adjuvant to radiation therapy in the treatment of locally advanced non-small cell carcinoma of the lung: results of a phase I/II study.

Fluosol, a perfluorcarbon emulsion, has the ability to carry oxygen in solution. In conjunction with oxygen breathing and radiation, Fluosol has been shown in animal models to enhance local tumor control. In September 1985, a Phase I/II Study was instituted to evaluate the effect of this adjuvant therapy with radiation in non small cell carcinoma of the luing. Fifty patients were enrolled in the study which was closed for accrual in November 1987. Five patients were withdrawn prior to the institution of radiation: one patient diagnosed with bone metastasis and four patients withdrawn due to mild to moderate reactions to Fluosol. Of the 49 patients administered Fluosol, 34 mild to moderate adverse reactions were noted in 22 patients to either the test dose/infusion (16 reactions including withdrawn patients) or post infusion (18). Flushing, dyspnea and hypertension (test dose/infusion) and chills and/or fever (postinfusion) were the typical symptoms. Transient elevation of blood chemistries (SGOT, SGPT, alkaline phosphatase, BUN) were noted in some patients. Six patients had transient depression of WBC counts (toxicity scores of 1 or 2) and two patients had transient depression of platelets (toxicity score of 1). None of these altered treatment. Forty-five patients received Fluosol of which 34 completed the planned therapy. Six patients were diangosed with metastatic disease during therapy and three patients died of their disease during treatment. One patient was withdrawn due to ineligibility and one patient withdrawn due to moderate reactions to Fluosol during the 3rd and 4th infusions. The total dose of Fluosol was escalated from 42 mL/Kg to 49 mL/Kg in 5, 6, or 7 weekly infusions. Patients breathed 100% oxygen for a minimum of one-half hr prior to and during radiation treatment. Radiation therapy was administered at a daily fraction of 165 to 200 cGy per fraction to a total dose of 5940 to 6800 cGy. Seventeen of 34 patients (50%) achieved a complete response to treatment and 11 patients (32%) had a partial response. Thirteen patients remain alive (range of 12 to 20 months) including 10 of 17 complete responders, 2 of 11 partial responders, and 1 treated with chemotherapy postradiation. The median absolute survival time of the patients completing therapy was 15.5 months and the 12 and 18 month absolute survival rates were 81% and 74%, respectively. The 45 patients starting protocol therapy had a median absolute survival of 9.2 months with a 12-month and 18-month survival of 45% and 35%, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Aged

Impact of an HMO on a university-based family practice program.

The impact over a 12-month period of a major increase in enrollment of prepaid insurance patients on the clinical, administrative, and educational activities of a university-based family practice residency program is described. Patient services increased by 40 percent, placing a heavy clinical load on faculty and third-year residents. There were significant increases in referral to psychology, psychotherapy, ophthalmology, and otolaryngology specialists. The high demand for services caused logistical difficulties for office and nursing staff. Adaptation to these changes and cost-containment efforts were hampered by institutional relationships. Strategies to manage the impact included hiring additional staff and part-time clinicians, introducing quality assurance and internal control procedures, and repeated orientation to the prepaid plan. Overall, the impact of the plan was of educational value to both residents and faculty.

Ambulatory Care Facilities

Gamma processing of Arabic bread for immune system-compromised cancer patients.

Arabic bread prepared from local Saudi flour contained a total of up to 10(4) organisms per g. Most of these were bacterial spores that survived the baking process (1.3 X 10(2) to 3.5 X 10(3] and a small number of yeasts and molds (10 to 40 cells per g). The organisms in Arabic bread appear to be harmless to healthy individuals. However, for immune system-compromised cancer patients and bone marrow transplant recipients, it is prudent to irradiate the bread to reduce microbial contamination. The decimal reduction doses (10% survival) for the most radiation-resistant organisms (spore formers) in bread were 0.11 to 0.15 Mrad. Accordingly, 0.6 Mrad was sufficient to reduce the number of spores in Arabic bread by a factor of 10,000, i.e., to less than 1/g. This treatment constitutes radiation pasteurization (radicidation), and to this extent, provides a margin of microbiological safety. Sensory evaluation by the nine-point hedonic scale showed no detectable loss of organoleptic quality of bread up to 0.6 Mrad, while irradiation to 2.5 Mrad induced unacceptable organoleptic changes.

Bread

Sebaceous neoplasms of salivary gland origin. Report of 21 cases.

Primary sebaceous tumors of salivary glands are extremely rare, although sebaceous glands are commonly present in parotid and submandibular glands. A review of the files of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology yielded 21 cases of primary salivary gland sebaceous tumors. Five were sebaceous adenomas, 9 sebaceous lymphadenomas, 5 sebaceous carcinomas and 2 sebaceous lymphadenocarcinomas. Seventeen tumors were located in the parotid gland and one each in the submandibular gland, the minor salivary glands of buccal mucosa and in ectopic salivary gland tissue in a periparotid lymph node. Thirteen tumors occurred in males and six in females. The peak incidence for all the sebaceous tumors, occurred in the sixth and seventh decades. The influence of age, sex, race, clinical symptoms, and pathology on survival is reviewed for each tumor group. Our histopathologic observations strongly suggest that sebaceous lymphadenoma and sebaceous lymphadenocarcinoma arise from sebaceous glandular rests in a lymph node in a fashion similar to that of a Warthin tumor.

Adenocarcinoma

Interpersonal touching and orality.

Sixty-five undergraduates were assigned to guide a blindfolded confederate through a floor maze. The frequency of touching the confederate's skin and the length of time required to complete the trip through the maze were recorded. Each subject was also given a self-administered Rorschach test; an independent count was made of the number of oral responses given. Orality was positively related to touching behavior (r=.39, p=.001) and with speed of guiding the confederate through the maze (r=.31, p=.01).

Female