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At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMed2001

Trauma-related sleep disturbance and self-reported physical health symptoms in treatment-seeking female rape victims.

The purpose of the study was to assess the relationship between trauma-related sleep disturbance and physical health symptoms in treatment-seeking female rape victims. A total of 167 participants were assessed for PTSD symptoms, depression, sleep disturbance, and frequency of self-reported health symptoms. Results demonstrated that trauma-related sleep disturbance predicted unique variance in physical health symptoms after other PTSD and depression symptoms were controlled. The findings suggest that trauma-related sleep disturbance is one potential factor contributing to physical health symptoms in rape victims with PTSD.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Nonclinical competencies: a survey of occupational health physical therapists.

Consulting with business and industry represents a very new world for physical therapists--a world in which most have had little formal academic preparation. Some competencies in consulting in occupational health physical therapy are beyond specific clinical skills and knowledge. The purpose of this research was to survey occupational health physical therapists (OHPTs) concerning a previously identified list of nonclinical competencies in consulting with business and industry. The survey addressed how OHPTs rated the importance of these competencies, how they rated their own level of competence for each, and how they developed these competencies. The survey sample was based on members of the American Physical Therapy Association Orthopaedic Section's Special Interest Group in Occupational Health Physical Therapy. The response rate was 98% (61/62). Mean importance of competencies was 3.66/4.00 (range 3.00-3.88), which further validated the list of nonclinical competencies. The mean level of competence was 3.17/4.00 (range 2.40-3.50). The mean importance of individual competencies was consistently higher than level of competence. This discrepancy is of practical significance in terms of professional development of OHPTs consulting with business and industry. Primary sources of competence were practical experience (59.87%) and continuing education for physical therapists (15.51%). These results may indicate that current continuing education programs are not meeting OHPTs' educational needs and may serve as a basis for developing programs to better meet these needs. The survey instrument may help OHPTs identify and prioritize their own educational needs and to plan their own professional development accordingly.

Commerce↗
PubMed2005

Sense of coherence and physical health. A review of previous findings.

The aim of this paper is to systematically review the available scientific publications published concerning the association between the sense of coherence (SOC) designed by Aaron Antonovsky (1923-1994), measured with the scales SOC-29 or SOC-13, and different aspects of health. The study is descriptive and integrates more than 50 scientific publications. The results are divided into the categories: Physical health; biological measures; psychological measures; health measures incorporating psychological aspects; stress; and behavioural aspects. The conclusion from this review is that SOC is highly associated with psychological aspects, including stress and behavioural aspects when SOC is operationalized with the prevailing scales. However we were unable to show a strong association between SOC and physical health that Antonovsky had predicted. Therefore we conclude that the SOC scale can only serve as a predictor for health that is measured by incorporating psychological aspects, while it is not capable of explaining physical health that is measured only by means of physical terms.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2006

Changes in family financial circumstances and the physical health of married and recently divorced mothers.

This study investigates how divorce followed by single parenthood undermines the long-term physical health of rural mothers using four waves of survey data collected in Iowa, USA from 336 married and 80 divorced mothers during a 10-year period. Findings generally support the hypothesized pathways in that single-parenthood creates financial difficulties for rural mothers. Furthermore, this financial adversity is linked to self-assessed physical health trajectories that then contribute to change in morbidity. This reflects the developmental course of morbidity during the middle years. Methodologically, this extends existing research on the association between women's marital status and well being by explicitly examining individual trajectories of change in family financial strain and physical health, as well as by examining the dynamic association between both during the middle years.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Health physics ethics.

Ethics is defined in the New World Dictionary as ". . . moral principles governing appropriate conduct for an individual or group." The Health Physics Membership Directory contains 2 references for professional conduct for health physicists. The first is for members of the Health Physics Society. The second is for Certified Health Physicists. They are similar: A health physicist must always maintain the highest ethical standards whether beginning a career or having practiced for decades. A review of some key principles by example will hopefully demonstrate how to avoid ethical dilemmas for health physicists.

Conflict of Interest↗
PubMed1995

Sexual assault, social reactions, and physical health.

This study examined the role of postassault social reactions in the association between sexual assault and physical health in a convenience sample of 155 women completing a mail survey. Regression analysis showed that tangible aid/information support and depressive symptoms were each related to poorer perceived health, whereas other positive social reactions (e.g., emotional support/validation) were related to better health perceptions. More severe (e.g., physically violent) assaults were associated with poorer current perceptions of one's physical health. Negative social reactions (e.g., distraction/discourage talking) mediated this association, suggesting that the link between assault severity and poorer health may be due to increased negative social reactions to victims of these assaults. Implications for studying the role of social reactions in relation to health consequences of sexual assault are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

How to use and cite Internet resources, with special attention to radiation protection and health physics WWW sites.

This paper describes an Internet search for the phrases radiation protection and health physics using major search engines and discusses the search procedure and the related problems. Depending on the search engine used, the number of hits ranged from 10,000 to only 17. The author presents some of the most relevant Web sites for radiation protection and health physics, and gives their URLs. As expected, these are mainly the sites of major national and international organizations. The author discusses a model for citation of WWW resources and refers to Internet links where this issue has been elaborated in more detail. Numerous links to various institutions and Web resources are given as well.

Computer Communication Networks↗
PubMed2004

Trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder symptom clusters, and physical health symptoms in postabused women.

The purpose of this retrospective, descriptive-correlational research was to examine the relationships between violent and nonviolent trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its symptom clusters of avoidance, intrusive/re-experiencing, and hyperarousal, and self-reported physical health symptoms in 50 postabused women. Results indicated: (1) PTSD hyperarousal and avoidance symptom clusters were positively associated with physical health symptoms, and (2) childhood physical abuse accounted for a significant and unique portion of the variance in physical health symptoms. The results highlight the need for health care practitioners in all settings to assess for a history of trauma in a woman's life.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, physical health, and health care utilization 50 years after repeated exposure to a toxic gas.

The posttraumatic sequelae of contaminant exposure are a contemporary international concern due to the threats posed to military personnel and civilians by war and bioterrorism. The role of PTSD symptoms as a mediator between potentially traumatic toxin exposure and physical health outcomes was examined with structural equation modeling in a probability sample of 302 male World War II-era U.S. military veterans 50 years after exposure to mustard gas tests. Controlling for age and psychological distress, the most parsimonious structural model involved PTSD symptoms mediating the relationship between toxin exposure and physical health problems, and physical health problems mediating the relationship between PTSD symptoms and outpatient health care utilization. Implications for researchers, mental health clinicians, and health care providers are discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed2006

Physical health and schizophrenia.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Patients with schizophrenia have higher than expected rates of morbidity and mortality. It is debatable whether this is related to shared risk factors, antipsychotic medication or inherent to the condition itself. This review will describe this association and the recent advances in the field. RECENT FINDINGS: The majority of patients with schizophrenia have at least one chronic comorbid medical condition. In the absence of systematic screening this may or may not be brought to the attention of health professionals. The cause of high rates of physical illness appears to be multifactorial involving shared vulnerability and genetic factors. Yet it is vascular risk factors and the adverse effects of prescribed medication that are most amenable to intervention. Current atypical antipsychotics may offer neurological and cognitive benefits, but there is accumulating evidence of problems with weight gain, diabetes, lipid dysregulation, metabolic syndrome and sexual side effects. SUMMARY: The physical health of patients with schizophrenia remains a concern. Yet the quality of medical and psychiatric care of patients with comorbid physical and mental health disorders has been shown to be unsatisfactory in several areas. We suggest that clinicians routinely assess and monitor physical health needs of patients with serious mental illness.

Antipsychotic Agents↗
PubMed2002

An initial radiation safety needs assessment of Costa Rica: the South Texas Chapter of the Health Physics Society's strategic planning appraisal for participation in the "Radiation Safety Without Borders" initiative.

In response to the Health Physics Society's recent 'radiation safety without borders" initiative, the South Texas Chapter of the Health Physics Society selected Costa Rica as its partner country of choice. To develop an understanding of the radiation safety needs of this country, the fall 2001 University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health Environmental Radiation and Radioactivity class was tasked with the assignment of assessing the possible radiation safety needs and concerns for this country. The assignment culminated in a class presentation to the membership of the South Texas Chapter during its annual fall meeting. Using library and web based resources, tile students reviewed a number of public health and radiation-related topics. Life expectancies were found to be equivalent to the United States, even though significant differences in per capita health expenditures were noted. Costa Rica exhibited lower population mortality rates from major causes such as cardiovascular diseases, neoplasms, and external sources. Maternal and infant mortality rates were found to be much higher in Costa Rica than in the United States. Naturally occurring radiation sources such as uranium deposits were not identified as apparent major radiation issues of concern, although ultraviolet radiation exposures are consistently high. Several recent events in the country and the region involving patient overexposures suggest that concerns are likely focused on ensuring the proper use and maintenance of healing arts radiation equipment. The lack of available information on radioactive waste disposal suggests that waste handling also may be an issue warranting attention. The exercise proved to be very educational for the students, and the information gathered will serve to focus the Chapter's efforts when technical exchanges are initiated. The importance of linking this initiative to other existing programs within the country is also discussed.

Costa Rica↗
PubMed1995

Mental and physical health of male caregivers of a spouse with Alzheimer's disease.

Fifty-two male spouse caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease and 53 demographically equated controls completed multidimensional assessments of mental and physical health. Results indicate that compared with noncaregiving men, male spouse caregivers have poorer mental and physical health, but only within limited domains of health outcomes. In particular, caregiving men showed higher levels of depression, respiratory system symptoms, and poorer levels of health habits, but did not differ from noncaregiving men on other indexes of physical and mental health. The importance of focusing on understudied specific subgroups of caregivers, such as male spouses, as well as using multidimensional instead of summary measures of mental and physical health are emphasized.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

Clinical study of the effects of age on the physical health of adults with mental retardation.

Physical disorders and pharmacotherapy for all 134 people with mental retardation ages 65 years and over living in Leicestershire, United Kingdom, were examined. Results were compared with a randomly selected group of 73 younger adults with mental retardation. Group comparisons revealed higher rates of urinary incontinence, immobility, hearing impairments, arthritis, hypertension, and cerebrovascular disease among the older group. The younger group had higher rates of dermatological disorders; congenital heart disease; ear, nose, and throat (ENT) disorders; and neurological disorders (excluding Parkinson disease). The older group took more drugs for physical illness. The effect of ageing on physical morbidity outweighs the effect of people with more severe mental retardation dying younger: Older people with mental retardation have significant physical health needs.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1994

Simple system upgrades for outmoded health physics instrumentation.

Older radiation detection equipment used in Health Physics operations suffers from unreliable and outdated electronics, even when the radiation detectors, shielding, and mechanical components are still serviceable. Upgrading these systems through relatively simple interfaces to modern personal computers can provide a cost-effective solution to extend the life of these systems and provide state-of-the-art options for computer control and automation. This paper outlines the basic needs and requirements for this type of upgrade and describes three projects at University of Missouri--Columbia that have used this approach.

Costs and Cost Analysis↗
PubMed1998

Temporal profiles of physical health in family members of heart transplant recipients: predictors of health change during caregiving.

This study examined patterns of change in the physical health and well-being of 133 family caregivers to heart transplant recipients during the 1st year after transplant. Caregivers were assessed at 2, 7, and 12 months after transplant. Cluster analysis was used to identify temporal profiles reflecting unique patterns of change in the direction and nature of caregivers' physical health; their temporal profiles showed either (a) a worsening of general medical condition, with weight gain (14% of the sample); (b) worsening medical condition with weight loss (15%); (c) weight gain with stable medical condition (41%); (d) weight loss with slightly improving medical condition (21%); or (e) worsening health perceptions with relatively little objective evidence of change in medical condition or weight (8%). Subsequent multivariate analyses indicated that caregiver characteristics measured at baseline and reflecting caregiving burden, coping styles, demographics, and health history reliably predicted membership in the pattern-of-health-change groups. Among the findings, caregivers who showed a pattern of medical decline with weight loss had a poorer health history and weaker coping styles (lower mastery and higher use of avoidance coping) than other caregivers. Caregivers who experienced medical decline with weight gain had the greatest levels of caregiver burden. These findings are relevant to the design of interventions to maximize not only caregivers' health, but the health of the family members for whom they provide care.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2005

The relationship between religion/spirituality and physical health, mental health, and pain in a chronic pain population.

This study sought to better understand the relationship between religion/spirituality and physical health and mental health in 122 patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. The current study conceptualized religion/spirituality as a multidimensional factor, and measured it with a new measure of religion/spirituality for research on health outcomes (Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religion/Spirituality). Pain patients' religious and spiritual beliefs appear different than the general population (e.g. pain patients feel less desire to reduce pain in the world and feel more abandoned by God). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed significant associations between components of religion/spirituality and physical and mental health. Private religious practice (e.g. prayer, meditation, consumption of religious media) was inversely related to physical health outcomes, indicating that those who were experiencing worse physical health were more likely to engage in private religious activities, perhaps as a way to cope with their poor health. Forgiveness, negative religious coping, daily spiritual experiences, religious support, and self-rankings of religious/spiritual intensity significantly predicted mental health status. Religion/spirituality was unrelated to pain intensity and life interference due to pain. This study establishes relationships between religion/spirituality and health in a chronic pain population, and emphasizes that religion/spirituality may have both costs and benefits for the health of those with chronic pain.

Activities of Daily Living↗