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Biomedical subjects

S F Spear

Publications and source records attributed to S F Spear.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Relapse patterns among adolescents treated for chemical dependency.

This study examined levels, timing, and patterns of posttreatment alcohol and drug use in adolescents (n = 113) during the 12 months following completion of primary treatment. Data were collected from clinical records, random urine screens, and interviews with the adolescents and their parents. In all, 61.1% relapsed to pretreatment levels of use during the 12 months after treatment, 79.6% of the males and 59.3% of the females. Of those with alcohol as the drug of dependence, 45.9% relapsed to pretreatment levels of use in 12 months. Likewise, 75.0% marijuana users, 70.6% combined alcohol and marijuana users, and 50.2% other drug users relapsed to pretreatment levels of use in the 12 months. Relapse curves are presented to demonstrate the specific timing and patterns of relapse. Implications for primary treatment and aftercare are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Changing the perception of the norm: a strategy to decrease binge drinking among college students.

A reduction in college students' binge drinking associated with an intervention to change perceptions of drinking norms is described. The 5-year study was conducted at a public residential campus of 23,000 students. A traditional intervention proved unsuccessful, but a media campaign designed to change student perceptions of the amount of binge drinking showed an 18.5% drop in the number of students who perceived binge drinking as the norm (from 69.7% to 51.2%) and a corresponding reduction in self-reported binge drinking of 8.8% (from 43.0% to 34.2%). The apparent effectiveness of this prevention effort suggested that changing college students' perceptions of drinking norms may lower the proportion of students who engage in binge drinking.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Impact of chemical dependency on family health status.

Previous discussions of the relationship between chemical dependency and family health have been based primarily on clinical observations and on the perceptions of family members rather than on research evidence. In order to systematically document the relationship, this study compared family medical insurance claims 2 years prior to and 2 years following the year in which a family member completed a chemical dependency treatment program. Results indicate a significant decrease in claims following the family member's completion of treatment, thus suggesting a relationship between the chemical dependency of one family member and the health status of other family members.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Nurses as a key PHC link in Papua New Guinea.

While many developing countries have endorsed primary health care (PHC) as a means of reaching Alma Ata's goal of health for all, effective implementation has been difficult. The major obstacle has been the historic emphasis on curative medicine in the training, licensing and job responsibilities of health care personnel and in the distribution of scarce resources. Moreover, few programmes have been geared to preparing the rural villager and the health delivery team--the two essential components of PHC--to work together to identify and solve problems. Too often health workers fear that the unrealistic expectations of community members will mean losing control of scarce resources. Clearly, central to any PHC programme is deciding where and how to begin developing the trust and interaction necessary to implement PHC beyound its curative aspects. In East New Britain, Papua New Guinea, nurses were the logical resource to reorient the rural health extension changeover to the noncurative aspects of PHC. Below, a report on this successful project.

Community Health Nursing↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Social learning variables and the risk of habitual smoking among adolescents: the Muscatine study.

During the past 10 years a good deal of effort has focused on preventing cigarette smoking among adolescents. This effort has often been made without a clear understanding of (1) which groups within the population are at highest risk, (2) which variables are associated with habitual smoking rather than experimentation, and (3) how the influence of those factors differs across levels of the variables that locate the adolescent in his or her social environment. The purpose of this research was to use a social learning model to address those three questions. The data were collected as part of the first wave of a longitudinal research project on adolescent smoking behavior. The results indicated that the ability to integrate smoking into the adolescent's lifestyle, followed by positive attitudes toward smoking and association with peers who smoked, had the greatest influence on the likelihood of habitual smoking. In addition, adolescents who were at the extreme ends of the popularity continuum or were the least integrated into the school environment were at the greatest risk for becoming habitual smokers.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Life-threatening emergencies: patterns of demand and response of a regional emergency medical services system.

This study focused on the nature and disposition of life-threatening emergencies. The data were drawn from hospital records (1,266 cases) from a 15-county area in the southeastern United States, consisting of a central metropolitan area surrounded by predominantly rural counties. The most important finding was that rural emergency departments transferred 7.4 percent of their patients. This proportion seems particularly low in light of emergency department categorizations and physician training data for the area. It may suggest underutilization of the region's resources by rural emergency care providers. Over a third of the life-threatening emergencies studied were cardiovascular, 17.9 percent medical, 13.3 percent trauma, and 9.7 percent neurological. The emergency department mortality rate for rural hospitals (11.5 percent) was nearly twice that of nonrural hospitals (6.8 percent).

Cardiovascular Diseases↗