Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Health Physics”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources

Is caregiving hazardous to one's physical health? A meta-analysis.

Caring for a family member with dementia is generally regarded as a chronically stressful process, with potentially negative physical health consequences. However, no quantitative analysis has been conducted on this literature. The authors combined the results of 23 studies to compare the physical health of caregivers with demographically similar noncaregivers. When examined across 11 health categories, caregivers exhibited a slightly greater risk for health problems than did noncaregivers. However, sex and the health category assessed moderated this relationship. Stronger relationships occurred with stress hormones, antibodies, and global reported health. The authors argue that a theoretical model is needed that relates caregiver stressors to illness and proffers moderating roles for vulnerabilities and resources and mediating roles for psychosocial distress and health behaviors.

Caregivers↗

Social role quality, physical health, and psychological well-being in women after heart surgery.

Women's social role quality may be an important factor in their adaptation after heart surgery. Relationships among different dimensions of role quality, physical health, and psychological well-being were examined in 157 midlife and older women who had undergone heart surgery. Overall, older women (n = 89) were similar to younger women (n=68) in physical recovery from heart surgery. Poorer health outcomes were associated with number of health problems, not age. Women with more health problems and lower subjective health perceptions had lower role quality. Multiple regression analyses indicated that, in general, role quality mediated the effects of physical health on psychological well-being. Regardless of the extent of physical health problems, women with higher role quality had higher levels of psychological well-being.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Physical health status in young subjects after colectomy: an application of the Roy model.

The aim of this study was to describe the long-term physical health status after colectomy in 30 young subjects with ulcerative colitis, 11 of whom had ileostomies. The subjects, aged between 14 and 31 years of age, were assessed post-operatively for their physical health status. In assessing physiological adaptation in these subjects four basic needs were the foci: nutrition, elimination, activity and rest, and protection. Adaptation problems related to nutrition, elimination, activity/rest and protection were found in four, 17, 17 and three subjects respectively. Nine out of 30 had pain that influenced their daily life. Six out of 30 subjects had no adaptation problems at all. Nineteen subjects found their health to be 'excellent' or 'good' despite the adaptation problems reported.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Linking occupational conditions to physical health through marital, social, and intrapersonal processes.

In the present longitudinal study of 330 married men and 300 married women, we use a comprehensive structural equation model to investigate how occupation is linked to physical health. Results show that occupational quality influences health-risk behavior (measured by composite indices) for both men and women through a series of mediating variables: social integration, marital integration, and psychological control. Health-risk behavior is related to adverse change in physical health status over a two-year period. Occupational quality influences social and marital integration and psychological control for both husbands and wives. Social integration and marital integration also enhance husbands' psychological control, but marital integration is the only factor contributing to wives' psychological control. In turn, psychological control is associated with health-risk behaviors for both husbands and wives. In addition, both social and marital integration directly deter husbands' health-risk behaviors, while social integration is the only variable to directly influence wives' health-risk behaviors.

Adult↗

Exposure to interparental conflict and children's adjustment and physical health: the moderating role of vagal tone.

Physiological regulation, as indexed by baseline vagal tone and delta vagal tone (the change in vagal tone during an attention-demanding or challenging task), was examined as a moderator in the relations between exposure to verbal and physical parental marital conflict and children's adjustment and physical health. Higher vagal tone was posited to serve a protective function (i.e., buffer) for children exposed to higher levels of marital conflict. Seventy-five 8- to 12-year-olds and their mothers completed measures of parental conflict, and children's adjustment and physical health. Children's vagal tone was assessed during baseline conditions and during exposure to an audiotaped interadult argument. Results indicate that higher vagal tone buffered children against increased externalizing, internalizing, and health problems related to exposure to more frequent marital conflict, especially verbal conflict. Further, higher levels of delta vagal tone protected boys against externalizing problems associated with verbal conflict, and health problems associated with physical conflict.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Physical health monitoring of patients with schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: Schizophrenia is associated with several chronic physical illnesses and a shorter life expectancy, compared with life expectancy in the general population. One approach to improving the health of patients with schizophrenia is to improve the monitoring of physical health that occurs in psychiatric settings. The authors discuss a consensus panel's recommendations for improving the physical health monitoring of patients with schizophrenia who are treated in outpatient settings. METHOD: A consensus meeting including psychiatric and other medical experts assembled on October 17-18, 2002, to evaluate the existing literature and to develop recommendations for physical health monitoring of patients with schizophrenia. Conference participants reviewed the literature in the following areas: 1) weight gain and obesity; 2) diabetes; 3) hyperlipidemia; 4) prolongation of the QT interval on the ECG; 5) prolactin elevation and related sexual side effects; 6) extrapyramidal side effects, akathisia, and tardive dyskinesia; 7) cataracts; and 8) myocarditis. Experts for each topic area formulated monitoring recommendations that were discussed by all of the participants until a consensus was reached. RESULTS: Consensus recommendations included regular monitoring of body mass index, plasma glucose level, lipid profiles, and signs of prolactin elevation or sexual dysfunction. Information from monitoring should guide the selection of antipsychotic agents. Specific recommendations were made for cardiac monitoring of patients who receive medications associated with QT interval prolongation, including thioridazine, mesoridazine, and ziprasidone, and for monitoring for signs of myocarditis in patients treated with clozapine. Patients who receive both first- and second-generation antipsychotic medications should be examined for extrapyramidal symptoms and tardive dyskinesia. Patients with schizophrenia should receive regular visual examinations. CONCLUSIONS: The conference participants recommended that mental health care providers perform physical health monitoring that typically occurs in primary care settings for their patients who do not receive physical health monitoring in those settings. This change in usual practice is recommended on the basis of the conference participants' belief that this additional monitoring will result in the earlier detection of common, serious risk factors that could, without detection and intervention, contribute to impaired health of patients with schizophrenia.

Adult↗

Psychological and physical health correlates of body cell mass depletion among HIV+ men.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether significant body cell mass depletion related to HIV is associated with declines in physical health and psychological well-being. METHODS: As part of a 2-year prospective HIV study, semiannual assessments included measures of body composition, psychological status, and physical health. RESULTS: As measured by bioelectric impedance analysis, 58 (31%) of 187 enrolled HIV+ men had significant body cell mass depletion at some point during the study, of who 23 subsequently lost at least an additional 5% of body cell mass in the 6 months between any two consecutive study visits. This additional body cell mass depletion was associated with significant increase in fatigue, global distress and depressive symptomatology, and reduced life satisfaction. CONCLUSION: These data illuminate the importance of monitoring body weight and body cell mass, and the need for awareness of the association between malnutrition, mental health, and quality of life.

Adult↗

John Henryism and self-reported physical health among high-socioeconomic status African American men.

We performed a cross-sectional survey of high-socioeconomic status (SES) African American men and their health to examine the relationship between John Henryism (the strong behavioral predisposition to directly confront barriers to upward social mobility) and self-reported physical health status. We found a positive association between John Henryism and better physical health among high-SES African American men. The study of social and behavioral implications of health of men of differing SES is required to develop strategies to improve the health of African American men.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Self-reported satisfaction with life and physical health in long-term cancer survivors and a matched control group.

The response to two validated questions assessing self-reported satisfaction with life and physical health were compared between 204 long-term head and neck cancer survivors from a randomised radiotherapy trial and 766 matched controls. The control group, participants in a large population health survey in a county in the middle of Norway, was matched to the patients with regard to age, gender, marital status/family type and education. Compared with the controls, the patients reported significantly lower satisfaction with life and physical health. Sixty-four per cent of the patients were satisfied with life and 44% felt strong and healthy while the percentages of the controls were 82% and 52%, respectively. Clinical and sociodemographic variables were poor predictors of the patients' responses. Clinicians must be aware of the psychosocial morbidity in the growing population of cured cancer patients, and intervention studies are needed in patients at risk, in order to determine whether this morbidity can be prevented, reduced, or treated.

Adult↗

Children's coping with marital conflict and their adjustment and physical health: vulnerability and protective functions.

Children's strategies for coping with parental marital conflict were examined as predictors, mediators, and moderators of the relations between marital conflict and 8- to 11-year-olds' internalizing, externalizing, and physical health problems. In the context of marital conflict, a higher level of active coping and support coping combined was a protective factor against girls' depression symptoms and self-esteem problems and both boys' and girls' health problems. Further, avoidance coping was a vulnerability factor for externalizing, internalizing, and physical health problems in boys, and distraction coping was protective against children's depression and health problems. These findings extend the literature by delineating coping strategies that either protected children against, or heightened their vulnerability to, adjustment and health problems associated with exposure to parental marital conflict.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Modeling physical health and functional health status: the role of combat exposure, posttraumatic stress disorder, and personal resource attributes.

This study examined associations of combat exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with physical health conditions and also incorporated hardiness and social support as mediators and functional health status as an outcome. Data were derived from 1,632 male and female Vietnam veterans who participated in the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study. Path analysis revealed that hardiness and social support operated primarily as intermediary variables between combat exposure and PTSD, and PTSD emerged as the pivotal variable explaining physical health conditions and functional health status. Gender-based differences in means and patterns of associations among variables were found. The results stress the importance of assessing trauma in clinical settings as a meaningful determinant of health outcomes.

Adult↗

Work, marriage, lifestyle, and changes in men's physical health.

Using three waves of data for 320 men living in the rural Midwest, this study tested a model which proposed independent effects of work conditions and marital experiences on change in physical health through health behaviors. The findings support the hypothesized model. Both control over work and positive marital interactions reduced the probability of a risky lifestyle in terms of health related behaviors after controlling for family economic status. Risky lifestyle, in turn, was related to poorer self and spouse reported health after controlling for previous health status and family income. The findings underscore the importance of specific work and marital processes for men's physical health.

Adult↗

The relationship of individual, family, and community characteristics with physical health: an adult study in 27 rural Minnesota counties.

CONTEXT AND PURPOSE: This study; investigates associations between the proportion of farm families in rural counties and the health of rural individuals, independent of county poverty rate and individual and family socioeconomic factors. This study also examines relationships of these socioeconomic factors and prevalence of specific diseases. METHODS: Multilevel analysis of 10,485 responses to a mailed health survey in 27 nonmetropolitan Minnesota counties. FINDINGS: Individual- and family-level variables such as age, gender, lower income, and unemployment were significantly associated with adverse physical health. The percentage of farm families in counties was significantly associated with adverse physical health of adults, independent of individual and family characteristics, county poverty rate, ethnic composition, and population density.

Adult↗

The structure of self-reported physical health among the aged in the United States and Japan.

This article attempts to extend the generalizability of a three-dimensional model of self-reported physical health among the aged to a nonwestern culture. Consisting of three interrelated dimensions, chronic illness, functional status, and self-rated health, this model was empirically evaluated by using national data on the aged gathered in the United States and Japan. The three-dimensional specification was found to apply equally well to U.S. and Japanese elderly. In addition to examining the internal structure of this three-dimensional model, the study assessed the model's relationships with a set of selected exogenous variables including age, sex, marital status, and education. The relationships between the selected exogenous variables and physical health dimensions are largely similar in both countries. However, clear differences appeared in at least three instances.

Activities of Daily Living↗

The impact of professionally conducted cultural programs on the physical health, mental health, and social functioning of older adults.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to measure the impact of professionally conducted community-based cultural programs on the physical health, mental health, and social activities of individuals aged 65 and older. DESIGN AND METHODS: Participants in the study were 166 healthy, ambulatory older adults from the Washington, DC, area. We assigned them to either an intervention (chorale) or comparison (usual activity) group and assessed them at baseline and after 12 months. RESULTS: Results obtained from utilizing established assessment questionnaires and self-reported measures, controlling for any baseline differences, revealed positive findings for the effectiveness of the intervention such that the intervention group reported a higher overall rating of physical health, fewer doctor visits, less medication use, fewer instances of falls, and fewer other health problems than the comparison group. The intervention group also evidenced better morale and less loneliness than the comparison group. In terms of activity level, the comparison group evidenced a significant decline in total number of activities, whereas the intervention group reported a trend toward increased activity. IMPLICATIONS: The positive impact of participatory art programs for older adults in this study on overall health, doctor visits, medication use, falls, loneliness, morale, and activities reflects important health promotion and prevention effects and a reduction of risk factors driving the need for long-term care.

Aged↗

Parental support and adolescent physical health status: a latent growth-curve analysis.

Applying latent growth curve analysis to a sample of 310 adolescents, this study demonstrates that level of and changes in observed parental behavior are liked to the level of and changes in adolescent physical health status, respectively, through adolescent perception of parental support. In addition, the level of observed parental behavior had a significant direct effect on subsequent changes in adolescent health status. The results provide evidence for the influence of parental support on adolescent physical health, both directly and indirectly through the adolescent's perception of that support. Confidence in the findings is strengthened by (1) employing a prospective, longitudinal research design, (2) analyzing intraindividual changes in support and health, and (3) reducing potential method variance confounds by using multi-informant reports of parental behavior.

Adolescent↗

[The effects of a rehabilitation program on physical health, physiological indicator and quality of life in breast cancer mastectomy patients].

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a rehabilitation program on physical health, physiological indicators and quality of life in breast cancer mastectomy patients. METHODS: The subjects included thirty-one patients with breast cancer (17 in the experimental group and 14 in the control group). The subjects in the experimental group participated in a rehabilitation program for 10 weeks, which was composed of an exercise program, teaching, counseling and support for 2 sessions per week. RESULTS: There was a significant increase in flexion, internal rotation and external rotation but no significant increase in extension in the experimental group compared to the control group. The total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL, LDL, and CD56 in the experimental group compared to the control group was not significantly decreased after the rehabilitation program. Compared to the control group, quality of life in the experimental group was significantly improved and fatigue in that group was significantly decreased after the rehabilitation program. CONCLUSION: The 10-week rehabilitation program showed a large affirmative effect on physical health, physiological indicators and quality of life in breast cancer mastectomy patients.

Adult↗