Are parent‐reported repetitive and restricted behaviours associated with psychological problems in pre‐school‐aged children?

This study surveys the association of restricted and repetitive behaviours in pre-school children with their emotional and behavioural problems. Parents of 504 pre-school children selected by cluster sampling participated and filled in the questionnaires including repetitive and restricted behaviour (RRB) scale and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The parents reported repetitive and restrictive behaviours are gender-related in pre-school-aged children. Hyperactivity and emotional problems are significantly in association with all the four types of repetitive and restrictive behaviours. Prosocial problems score is in association with 'reaction to change' subscale score. Children with higher scores of conduct problems have higher rates of 'sensorimotor stereotypies', 'reaction to change' and 'modulation insufficiency'. Pre-school children with a higher rate of RRBs are more hyperactive and have more emotional problems than those with lower rates of RRBs. Conduct problems are more common in children with 'sensorimotor stereotypies', 'reaction to change' and 'modulation insufficiency' problems. Repetitive and restricted behaviours are associated with mental health problems in pre-school-aged children.     

Are there sex differences in emotional and biological responses in spousal caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease?

The purpose of this study was to compare emotional and biological responses of men and women who are spousal caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Quality-of-life measurements, bioinstrumentation data, and immunophenotype assessments were obtained from female and male spousal caregivers of patients with AD. Spousal caregivers (women, n = 45 with average age 69.7; men, n = 16 with average age 71.4 years) completed questionnaires that assessed psychosocial variables. Blood was drawn and lymphocyte subsets (including natural killer [NK] cell number) were determined using flow cytometry. The degree of relaxation was determined measuring muscle tension (EMG) in the frontalis and trapezius muscles, skin conductance, skin temperature, and heart rate. Male spousal caregivers, as compared to female spousal caregivers, had significantly lower levels of stress, depression, caregiver burden (subjective), anxiety, anger-hostility, and somatic symptoms and higher levels of mental health, sense of coherence, NK cell number, and social and physical functioning. There were no statistically significant differences between the 2 groups in social support, coping resources, or T, T suppressor, or activated T cells. Women had more T helper cells and fewer NK cells than men. Men had fewer manifestations of a physiological stress response, as indicated by bioinstrumentation parameters. Unique sex-specific issues need to be considered when strategies are implemented to assist the increasing number of caregivers as our society ages.     

Are psychosocial factors associated with the pathogenesis and consequences of cardiovascular disease in the elderly?

It is well known that older individuals are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). In addition, evidence exists for the relationship between psychosocial factors and the pathogenesis and cognitive consequences of CVD. However, less is known about the effect of psychosocial factors on the development and consequences of CVD in older individuals. Using a biopsychosocial framework, this article examines the influence of psychosocial factors, specifically depression, anxiety, and social isolation on older persons with CVD as well as the influence of CVD on psychosocial factors. The effectiveness of interventions for modifying adverse psychosocial factors is also discussed.     

Are condoms effective in reducing the risk of sexually transmitted disease?

A panel of more than two dozen experts reviewed the scientific evidence on condom effectiveness for sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention, and a final report was released July 20, 2001, by the Department of Health and Human Services. This panel was cosponsored and convened for a two-day workshop by four government agencies (Agency for International Development, Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], and the National Institutes of Health [NIH]).     

Are symptoms associated with increased levels of perceived stress in first‐episode psychosis?

Several studies report on the presence of external stress and life events prior to the onset and exacerbation of psychotic illness. However, the relationship between the subjective appraisal of stress at first presentation with psychosis is less well understood. This paper reports on the relationship between the individual perception of stress and symptomatology in individuals with first‐episode psychosis at presentation to community mental health services. We assessed 123 individuals using standardized measures of symptoms, quality of life, perceived stress, global functioning, and duration of untreated psychosis. At first presentation, people with more depressive symptoms and reduced overall functioning were more likely to report increased levels of perceived stress. In addition, people with less positive symptoms of psychosis were experiencing higher levels of subjective stress. In terms of stress vulnerability models, it is important to consider how functioning and symptoms can influence individual appraisal of stress. Acknowledging this interaction can provide opportunities for nursing interventions directed at enhancing adaptive coping and provide benchmarks for assessing the effectiveness of nursing interventions provided in the acute phase of psychosis. Further research should focus on the interaction between symptoms and individually‐appraised stress over time.     

Nurse and resident satisfaction in magnet long‐term care organizations: do high involvement approaches matter?

AIM: This study examines the association of high involvement nursing work practices with employer-of-choice (magnet) status in a sample of Canadian nursing homes. BACKGROUND: In response to a severe shortage of registered nursing personnel, it is imperative for health care organizations to more effectively recruit and retain nursing personnel. Some long-term care organizations are developing employee-centred cultures that allow them to effectively enhance nurse and resident satisfaction. At the same time, many nursing homes have adopted progressive nursing workplace practices (high involvement work practices) that emphasize greater employee empowerment, participation and commitment. METHOD: A mail survey was sent to the director of nursing in 300 nursing homes in western Canada. In total, 125 useable questionnaires were returned and constituted the data set for this study. Separate ordinary least squares regressions are performed with magnet strength, nurse satisfaction and resident satisfaction used as dependent variables. RESULTS: Nursing homes that demonstrate strong magnet (employer-of-choice) characteristics are more likely to have higher levels of nurse and patient satisfaction, even after controlling for a number of significant factors at the establishment level. Magnet nursing homes are more likely to have progressive participatory decision-making cultures and much more likely to spend considerable resources on job-related training for their nursing staff. The presence of high involvement work practices is not found to be a significant predictor in magnet strength, nurse or resident satisfaction. CONCLUSION: Merely adopting more high involvement nursing work practices may be insufficient for nursing homes, which desire to become 'employers-of-choice' in their marketplaces, especially if these practices are adopted without a concomitant investment in nurse training or an enhanced commitment to establishing a more democratic and participatory decision-making style involving all nursing staff.     

Are we not over-estimating the prevalence of coeliac disease in the general population?

Until the 1980s, coeliac disease was considered to be a rare disease, but in the 1990s it became clear that it was a frequent condition. Recently, it was suggested to affect 1 out of 100 subjects in the Western world. To understand what the true prevalence of coeliac disease is in the general population, we conducted a systematic review of published papers. The overall prevalence of coeliac disease in the general population appears to be around 1/160 (6.2‰), but this figure varies widely according to the diagnostic criteria used in the original papers. Prevalence obtained with tissue transglutaminase antibodies only was markedly higher than that obtained through a histological diagnosis. We conclude that the prevalence of coeliac disease in the general population has been over-estimated. This is mainly due to tissue transglutaminase antibodies being used as the only diagnostic tool.     

Are baroreflex events detected by invasive and non‐invasive techniques coincident?

Cardiac baroreceptor sensitivity, a prognostic indicator for a range of diseases, such as myocardial infarction and stroke, may be estimated from spontaneous fluctuations of arterial blood pressure (BP) and heart rate using sequence analysis. We tested the hypothesis that BP values recorded with the non-invasive Finapres device do not always produce sequences coincident with sequences detected from central BP measurements. Finapres recordings of resting BP in the finger, ascending aorta (Millar catheter-tip transducer) and ECG were obtained from 34 patients undergoing coronary angioplasty, including 24 patients treated with betablockers. Coincidence of baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) sequences was expressed by the sensitivity of the Finapres to detect a simultaneously occurring sequence in aortic pressure. The influence of different criteria to detect and accept sequences from beat-to-beat values of systolic BP (SBP) and cardiac interval (RRi) on the Finapres sensitivity was also assessed. The Finapres was able to detect 70.7% of all three beat intra-arterial sequences when the selection criteria was based on the correlation coefficient between SBP and RRi (>0.85), but decreased to 27.5% when the P-value of the linear regression was limited to 0.05. Changing the thresholds for minimum changes in SBP and RRi also had significant effects on sensitivity, as well as in the corresponding values of BRS. Significant differences in BRS were obtained between invasive and non-invasive estimates, but there was no difference between non-invasive estimates calculated from coincident and non-coincident sequences. Non-invasive, compared with intra-arterial estimates of BRS by sequence analysis are not influenced by coincidence of sequences if acceptance of sequences is based on the correlation coefficient criteria (>0.85).     

Are early and late rate of force development differently influenced by fast‐velocity resistance training?

This study examined the effect of fast‐velocity concentric isokinetic resistance training (FV) on the rate of force development (RFD) at early (<100 ms) and late phases (>100 ms) of rising muscle force. Nine men participated in a 6‐week resistance training intervention for the lower body, and nine matched subjects participated as controls (CON). During concentric isokinetic (180°s^?1) knee extension training, subjects were instructed to do each contraction ‘as fast and forcefully as possible’. Maximal muscle strength (MVC) and RFD (0–10, 0–20, …, 0–250 ms from the onset of contraction) were measured during maximal voluntary isometric contraction of the knee extensors (KE). There were no significant changes in MVC of KE in both groups after intervention (FV = 314·2 ± 101·1 versus 338·7 ± 88·0 N?m, P>0·05; CON = 293·3 ± 94·8 versus 280·0 ± 72·2 N?m, P>0·05). The RFD increased 39–71% at time intervals up to 90 ms from the onset of the contraction (P < 0·05), whereas no change occurred at later time intervals. Similarly, relative RFD (i.e.%MVC?s^?1) (RFDr) increased 33–56% at time intervals up to 70 ms from the onset of the contraction (P<0·05). It can be concluded that a short period of resistance training performed with concentric fast‐velocity isokinetic muscle contractions is able to enhance RFD and RFDr obtained at the early phase of rising muscle force.     

Are soft tissue composition of bone and non‐bone pixels in spinal bone mineral measurements by DXA similar? Impact of weight loss

Weight loss seems associated with a decrease in bone mineral density (BMD) as measured by absorptiometry, which may be the result of accuracy errors caused by differences in soft tissue between non-bone and bone pixels. The aim was to study the abdominal fat% and thickness in regions corresponding to non-bone, soft tissue-only and bone pixels for spinal BMD measurements by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and to calculate the theoretical errors in measurement of changes in BMD by DXA as a result of changes in soft tissue heterogeneity with weight loss. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) and DXA scans were performed in 34 obese subjects (42.1+/-10.1 years (mean +/- SD), wt: 102.1+/-12.8 kg and BMI: 36.6+/-3.8 kg m(-2)) before and after weight loss (11.3+/-6.9 kg after 1 year). There were some significant differences in fat% and thickness of soft tissue between abdominal regions corresponding to non-bone and bone pixels, respectively, for spinal BMD measurements by DXA, both before and after weight loss. With weight loss there were some changes in the soft tissue heterogeneity, which caused a minor theoretical error (apparent, but false decrease of 1-2%) of borderline significance for the anterior-posterior (AP) spinal BMD by DXA.