A cross-sectional study of quality of life in an elderly population (75 years and over) with atrial fibrillation: secondary analysis of data from the Birmingham Atrial Fibrillation Treatment of the Aged study

AIMS: To compare the quality of life (QoL) of those in atrial fibrillation (AF) aged 75 years and over with that of the general population, to explore what factors affect the QoL of those with AF, and to assess the sensitivity of the EuroQol (EQ-5D) and Short-Form 12 (SF-12) generic health questionnaires in detecting differences in health status in those with AF in this age group. METHODS AND RESULTS: The study population was 1762 men and women aged 75 years and over with confirmed AF who attended a randomization clinic for the Birmingham Atrial Fibrillation Treatment of the Aged (BAFTA) study, a primary care based trial of stroke prevention. Patients self-completed the EQ-5D and SF-12 questionnaires, and a simple measure of disability (Rankin). Cardiovascular co-morbidities were collected and number of drugs used as an additional proxy for co-morbidity. Quality-of-life outcomes were compared with general population samples of the same age. On multiple regression, female gender, greater medication use, and disability were independently associated with lower QoL scores in AF. Those in AF with a Rankin score ≥2 had lower QoL scores, while those with a Rankin score <2 had higher scores than the general population. Increasing co-morbidity was associated with reduced QoL scores, with the EQ-5D and SF-12 Physical Component Score showing similar sensitivity to these associations, and the SF-12 Mental Component Score showing less sensitivity. CONCLUSION: In the absence of co-morbidity, chronic AF has little impact on generic QoL in an elderly non-acutely ill population.     

Social network influences on smoking,drinking and drug use in secondary school: centrifugal and centripetal forces

We explore how school experiences and social networks structure young people’s substance use in different institutional contexts. The concepts of ‘selection’ and ‘influence’ are situated within the context of bounded agency, counter‐school cultures and Bourdieusian notions of capital. We employed individual and group interviews, network‐mapping, and observations at two contrasting English secondary schools. Both schools were characterised by extended social network structures that appeared to influence patterns of substance use, although the mechanisms via which this occurred varied according to school context. At Grange House school (suburban context) a minority of students from disadvantaged families were alienated by the attainment‐focused regime, marginalised by a strong peer‐led centrifugal force pushing them outwards, and substance use was an alternative source of bonding and identity for these students. In contrast, at North Street a centripetal force operated whereby the majority of students were pulled towards highly‐visible, normative markers of ‘safe’, ‘road culture’, such as cannabis use and gang‐involvement, as they attempted to fit in and survive in an inner‐city school environment. We conclude that health inequalities may be reproduced through these distinctive centrifugal and centripetal forces in different institutional contexts, and this should be the focus of quantitative examination in the UK and elsewhere.     

Associations Between Interparental Relationships and Experiences of Parenting Stress Among Mothers: The Mediating Role of Perceived Control

The current study investigated the potential benefits of relationships between parents whose children were friends (closure relationships) within a sample of 404 mothers. Associations between closure and three domains of parenting stress were explored. Mothers' perceived control was considered as a potential mediator of closure-stress associations. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that higher mean levels of closure were associated with lower levels of parenting stress related to child problem behaviors. Perceived control mediated the association between closure and parenting stress. The benefits of cross-household parental relationships for mothers' psychological wellbeing are discussed.     

A comparison of online versus face-to-face teaching delivery in statistics instruction for undergraduate health science students

The objective of this study was to assess if online teaching delivery produces comparable student test performance as the traditional face-to-face approach irrespective of academic aptitude. This study involves a quasi-experimental comparison of student performance in an undergraduate health science statistics course partitioned in two ways. The first partition involves one group of students taught with a traditional face-to-face classroom approach and the other through a completely online instructional approach. The second partition of the subjects categorized the academic aptitude of the students into groups of higher and lower academically performing based on their assignment grades during the course. Controls that were placed on the study to reduce the possibility of confounding variables were: the same instructor taught both groups covering the same subject information, using the same assessment methods and delivered over the same period of time. The results of this study indicate that online teaching delivery is as effective as a traditional face-to-face approach in terms of producing comparable student test performance but only if the student is academically higher performing. For academically lower performing students, the online delivery method produced significantly poorer student test results compared to those lower performing students taught in a traditional face-to-face environment.     

Coping with stress

Stress management has received much attention in the past decade as researchers have focused on the contribution to organic illness of psychosocial factors, such as family and job tension, environmental stresses, and death of a loved one. Stress has been linked to a multitude of disorders, ranging from asthma to Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. According to Dr Fletcher and Mr Bezanson, a concerted effort by primary care physicians to help patients learn techniques of dealing with stress could have a significant effect on both morbidity and mortality.     

Treating Legg-Perthes Disease

Treatment for Legg-Perthes disease should provide dynamic maintenance of the femoral head in the acetabulum, with the hip in moderate abduction and some internal rotation, and minimize stress of body weight on the avascular femoral head. The trilateral socket hip abduction orthosis accomplishes both goals while allowing the patient to be ambulatory and to participate in normal daily activities.     

Periodic health monitoring

The average American has come to expect good health as a natural occurrence. In fact, confidence in physicians as healers has often led to blatant disregard for prudent health measures, as is evidenced by the large numbers of Americans who are obese, smoke, ingest alcohol and other dangerous drugs, eat nutritionally deficient foods, and lead sedentary and stressful lives. Proponents of health promotion contend that physicians should share with patients their wisdom in how to stay healthy. The best way to start, according to Dr Fletcher, is to incorporate periodic health monitoring into clinical practice to individualize the approach to preventive health care.