Responsiveness and calibration of the general well-being adjustment scale in patients with hypertension

We examined the discriminant ability and responsiveness of the General Well-Being Adjustment Scale in patients enrolled in a randomized clinical trial of antihypertensive therapy. We also tried to translate the effects of physical symptoms on general well-being. This secondary analysis used demographic, clinical, physical symptom, and general well-being data for 545 white, male hypertensive patients. General well-being was measured by the General Well-Being Adjustment Scale (GWB) collected on 2 occasions over 8 weeks of treatment. Patients with any one of 14 physical symptoms or problems, compared to those without symptoms, had lower GWB scores (p < 0.003 to p < 0.0001). Decreases of 2.83–8.76 points in GWB scores were observed in patients developing physical symptoms over the 8 week study period (p < 0.05 to p < 0.0001). These effects were demonstrated in patients developing cold sensitivity, sexual problems, chest pain, shortness of breath, loss of taste, nausea, hot or cold spells, numbness and tingling, dry mouth, blurred vision, and dizziness. We conclude that the GWB is responsive to clinically meaningful changes in symptoms and may provide a more complete evaluation of the effects of medical treatment. The GWB is a valid and responsive measure of health status outcomes in the evaluation of antihypertensive treatment.     

Health status measurement in Parkinson's disease: validity of the PDQ-39 and Nottingham Health Profile.

We assessed the feasibility and psychometric properties of two commonly used health status questionnaires in Parkinson's disease (PD): the generic Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) and the disease-specific 39-item Parkinson's disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), from a cross-sectional postal survey of PD patients (N = 81), using traditional and Rasch measurement methodologies. Overall response rate was 88%. Both questionnaires were found feasible, although the NHP performed less well. The PDQ-39 had fewer floor effects and was better able to separate respondents into distinct groups than the NHP, whereas the latter exhibited less ambiguous dimensionality and better targeting of respondents with non-extreme scores. Reliability and validity indices were similar, and potential differential item functioning by age and gender groups was found for both questionnaires. PDQ-39 response alternatives indicated ambiguity. With few exceptions, questionnaire scales were unable to meet recommended standards fully. While preliminary, this study illustrates the need for thorough evaluation of outcome measures and has implications beyond the questionnaires used here. Although promising, both questionnaires warrant further developmental work and stronger support of measurement validity before they could be considered fully suitable for valid use in PD, in particular in earlier stages of the disease.     

Effects of race and socioeconomic status on survival of 1,332 black, hispanic, and white women with breast cancer

Background: A survival disadvantage for black women with brest cancer, which persists after controlling for stage of the disease, has been reported. This study investigates the effects of race and socioeconomic status (SES) on breast cancer survival after controlling for age, stage, histology, and type of treatment. Methods: Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards models were used to analyze the interaction between race and SES in predicting survival in a sample of 163 black, 205 Hispanic, and 964 white women with breast cancer treated at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center (1987–1991). Results: The results of univariate and multivariate analyses indicate that race was not a significant predictor of survival after adjusting for SES and other confounding factors such as demographic and disease characteristics. SES remained a significant predictor of survival after all adjustments were made. There was no evidence of differences in type of treatment by race or SES if adjustments were made for stage. Conclusions: These results suggest that institutional factors, such as access to treatment, do not explain survival differences by race or SES. Other factors associated with low SES, such as life-style and behavior, may affect survival.     

Familial and socioeconomic influences on children''s well-being: An examination of preschool children in Kenya

As patterns of family formation change, it is important to know how children's lives are affected by their parents' marital and socioeconomic circumstances. Using data from the 1993 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, this study shows that children of never married and formerly married mothers have significantly higher probabilities of polio dropout and acute undernutrition than those of monogamously married mothers. The number of male household members of working age greatly enhances the chances of full immunization and the nutritional status of children whose mothers were previously married. For children of never married mothers, the benefits of residing with males of working age are largely a function of ethnicity. The results also show that, although children are not disadvantaged nutritionally when their fathers have more than one wife, polygyny is associated with a higher probability of polio dropout and lower probability of full immunization than monogamy. Higher socioeconomic status is associated with a greater probability of full immunization and a lower probability of malnutrition but socioeconomic factors do not explain the effects of mothers' marital status. The findings underscore the complex realities of family interaction and the importance of the broader social context in accounting for variations in child welfare across diverse marital situations.     

Controlling for occasion-specific effects when assessing the test–retest reliability of self-report health questionnaires

OBJECTIVE: This study proposes a method for self-report health questionnaires to adjust test-retest reliability for changes during the test-retest interval based on an external measure, and to distinguish such changes from random response errors. METHODS: In our application, eighty participants completed the Symptoms of Illness Checklist (SIC) on two occasions, two weeks apart, immediately before interviews given on each occasion by one of two physicians in a crossover design. The physician interview scores served as external measures, and structural equation modeling was used to estimate the parameters of a model that corrected for the occasion-specific effect of participants' responses using information from the interviews. RESULTS: Correcting for changes in symptoms during the test-retest interval increased SIC test-retest reliability from .744 to .804 and significantly improved model fit (chi2(diff)(1) = 30.78, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest methods that can improve the evaluation of self-report health questionnaire test-retest reliability by identifying changes using an external measure, and distinguishing these from random response errors; these increased the estimated SIC test-retest reliability and indicated that the SIC was indeed able to measure changes over the studied time interval. This method can be applied across a broad range of questionnaires.     

应用经皮内镜下胃造口术(PEG)实施肠内营养

目的 介绍应用经皮内镜下胃造口术(PEG)实施肠内营养支持。方法 在内镜引导下行胃造口术．7例病人均予以肠内营养。结果 7例病人置管8次，成功率100％，6例经治疗后恢复情况好，无严重并发症。结论在肠内营养输注途径中PEG具有创伤小、时间短、经济，安全等特点。易于护理和长期使用。     

丙戊酸钠静脉滴注治疗偏头痛持续状态

目的评估丙戊酸钠治疗偏头痛持续状态的有效性和安全性。方法我们前瞻性地用静脉滴注丙戊酸钠来治疗偏头痛持续状态,然后比较患者治疗前与出院时视觉模拟评分(VAS)。并比较各种因素(一般情况,累计的丙戊酸钠剂量,合并用药)与治疗之间的关系。结果首次治疗中,26次(74.3%)治疗时患者VAS评分较治疗前减少50%或50%以上。所有治疗中,37次(82.2%)治疗使患者VAS评分较治疗前减少50%或50%以上。患者的性别与治疗反应无关。所有治疗中,合并用药(强痛定,索密通,散粒痛和达宁)和治疗时间与治疗反应呈负相关。仅3例(8.6%)出现短暂性眩晕。结论丙戊酸钠静滴是快速,有效和安全的止痛治疗。它对偏头痛持续状态有效。     

中老年普外非急诊入院患者营养状况调查(附169例分析)

本文报道了169例中、老年普外科非急诊入院患者营养状况调查,多参数指标包括人体测量和实验室检查。结果显示40％患者有不同程度的营养不良。120例(71％)患者在8项调查指标中,有2～6项异常。按消化道和非消化道疾病进行比较,体重身高指数(WT/HT)、上臂周径(AMC)在中年组有显著差异(P<0.05)。     

试论医院药剂科的法律地位和作用

本文论述了医院药剂科的法律地位和作用,药政部门的执法盲点,提出法律措施是促使医药同步发展的可靠保障。