Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S E Collins

Publications and source records attributed to S E Collins.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Differential utility of three indexes of risky drinking for predicting alcohol problems in college students.

This study evaluated the relationship between alcohol-related problems and 3 indexes of risky drinking in college student drinkers: number of drinks consumed per week, frequency of binge drinking, and estimated blood alcohol levels (BALs). Use of 2 independent samples (N1 = 204, N2 = 181) allowed a cross-validation of obtained associations. Results indicated that neither binge drinking frequency nor BAL were more highly related to alcohol-related problems than was weekly drinking. Furthermore, BAL did not provide unique explanatory power in accounting for alcohol-related problems; mixed results were obtained regarding the relationship of binge drinking estimates with problems.

Adolescent↗

Errors in postcode to enumeration district mapping and their effect on small area analyses of health data.

BACKGROUND: Health research often seeks to associate individuals to their socio-economic circumstances by linking an individual's postcode to their Census enumeration district (ED). As part of a study into health visitor resource allocation the objective here is to quantify the errors that arise in attaching ED level deprivation scores to records and counts of records by ED when records are matched to EDs via their postcodes rather than their exact address. METHODS: The result of routine matching of postcodes to EDs was compared with the more accurate method of matching addresses to EDs. Townsend scores were then attributed to records according to the two different methods and the results compared. A sample of 4013 births registered in Sheffield in 1996 was used. RESULTS: The comparative work showed that the mismatching of individual addresses arising from matching postcodes to EDs was 16.4 per cent. (The 95 per cent confidence interval is 15.1-17.7 per cent.) Over one-third of mismatched records (about 6 per cent of the total records) were found to have Townsend scores greater than +/- 2 compared with the score obtained through the more accurate process of address matching. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence of the study is that it is important to recognize there are errors inherent in matching individual addresses to EDs via the address postcode. For problems involving resource allocation and for research into relationships between health outcomes or service uptake and deprivation it may be necessary to seek to quantify the level of error introduced through using postcode to ED matching.

Bias↗

The simultaneous separation and quantitation of human milk lipids.

A protocol using a dry column method was modified for the extraction of total lipids and the simultaneous separation and quantitation of neutral and polar lipids in human milk. The triacylglycerol, cholesterol, phospholipid and vitamin E contents of the lipid extracts were determined and compared with lipids extracted using a modified Folch procedure. Good precision for the extraction of neutral, polar and total lipids, as well as the different lipid classes, was demonstrated. No significant differences were found between the two methods with respect to the amount of cholesterol, phospholipid, total lipid or vitamin E extracted, thus validating the method as an extraction technique. We discuss the relationship between vitamin E and the three major milk lipids as an indicator of the vitamin's place of origin in the mammary gland. Our findings do not support the idea that vitamin E in mature milk has its original location in the apical membrane.

Cholesterol↗

Litigation risks for infusion specialists. Understanding the issues.

The legal aspects of caring for patients and the fear of disciplinary actions or malpractice suits understandably are matters of great concern for infusion specialists. This article is intended to be a broad overview of some of the legal causes of action that may arise through the rendering of professional nursing care, as well as an introduction to patients' rights to self-determination, informed consent, and informed refusal as a special area of litigation risk for the infusion specialist.

Extravasation of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Materi↗