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Biomedical subjects

W S Shaw

Publications and source records attributed to W S Shaw.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

The social networks of older schizophrenia patients. Clinical Research Center on Late Life Psychosis Research Group.

There is a paucity of research that examines the role of family members and friends in the lives of older schizophrenia patients. This study compared 66 middle-aged and elderly outpatients with 31 normal comparison subjects. Five dimensions of social network were assessed: (a) family composition, geographic proximity, and frequency of contact; (b) instrumental support; (c) emotional support and interpersonal difficulties; (d) role of friends; and (e) use of formal service providers as sources of support and assistance. As compared with normal subjects, the schizophrenia patients were less likely to be married, less likely to have children, more likely to live alone, and had fewer friendships. The patients were, however, similar to comparison subjects on the following family-relationship variables: frequency of contact, instrumental support received, presence of a family confidant, and extent of interpersonal difficulties. These findings do not support the stereotype of older schizophrenia patients as being estranged from family members. The need for developing interventions that use key family members to interface with service providers and to monitor treatment compliance and continuity of care is discussed.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1995

Predicting health care use among older osteoarthritis patients in an HMO.

OBJECTIVE: To determine factors that predict health care use among members of Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs). Demographic, health, and psychological factors were examined simultaneously. METHODS: Participants were HMO members 60 years of age or older who had osteoarthritis (OA). All participants reported symptoms of OA, with 90% of the diagnoses confirmed by evaluation of physician records. RESULTS: Age, the presence of other medical conditions, quality of well-being, and the Health Worries subscale from the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales accounted for 11.2% of the total variance in health care contacts. A model including prior health care use, age, quality of well-being, physical impairment, and pain accounted for 29.5% of the variance in utilization rates. CONCLUSION: The best single predictor of health care utilization was prior use of the system. Being older, more impaired, and having lower well-being scores were also predictors of health care use.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1994

Predictors of attrition in health intervention research among older subjects with osteoarthritis.

Attrition in an experimental osteoarthritis intervention was studied among 364 (130 male) volunteers (ages 60-87). Subjects were randomly assigned to control, social support, education, or combined treatment groups. A series of discriminant function analyses showed that the final intervention groups were more homogeneous than the original samples. The most robust predictor of attrition was having either high or very low depression scores. Social support variables were predictors of poor attendance in the social support group, indicating possible attrition bias in evaluating this treatment. The results indicate that psychosocial variables may be the best predictors of attrition in health intervention research among older subjects, and that variables related to attrition can be related to the content of the intervention.

Aged↗