Health Behavior Correlates of Depression in a Sample of High School Students

Frequency of symptoms of depression and selected health-related practices and events were measured in a sample of 219 high school students. Students reported numerous symptoms of depression. Relative proportions of boys and girls reporting symptoms of depression were not significantly different. However, girls reported experiencing more severe depression than their male counterparts. Depression correlated significantly with several of the 22 health practices and states of affect examined. Both the determinants and manifestations of depression in adolescent cohorts require in-depth investigation. Possible implications for school health personnel are discussed.     

Suffering: a relatively unexplored phenomenon among family caregivers of non-institutionalized patients with cancer

Suffering is a phenomenon with physical and emotional components. Although several studies have drawn attention to the needs of, and demands placed on families who provide care for patients with a diagnosis of cancer at home, few have discussed the suffering which many of these caregivers experience. This paper will illustrate the phenomenon of suffering as seen in the responses made by family caregivers of patients with cancer. Eighty-three family caregivers drawn from a probability sample of patients with a diagnosis of cancer were interviewed in their homes to determine needs they encountered in their caregiving roles. The caregivers consisted of 43 males and 40 females, with mean ages of 53 and 54 years respectively. Families not only identified their needs, they also indicated several areas which were for them sources of suffering. The findings revealed that family suffering often stemmed from fear of loneliness; uncertainty about the future (their own and that of the patients); lifestyle disruption; communication breakdown; lack of support; and their sense of helplessness. These findings suggest that health professionals, particularly nurses, who work with families in their homes, must be alert and sensitive to cues and circumstances which could indicate suffering, and in so doing, take the necessary steps to ameliorate their situation.     

Cardiac output by MR imaging: an experimental study comparing right ventricle and left ventricle with thermodilution

Cardiac output was measured by gated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and by thermodilution in four mongrel dogs. The entire heart was examined in contiguous slices at end-diastole and end-systole in a plane parallel to the interventricular septum. Each set of images was analyzed for chamber volume using a custom computer program to evaluate each pixel. No geometric assumptions were made. Cardiac output was calculated for right and left ventricles and compared with the thermodilution data. We found that the cardiac output of the right ventricle compared well with that of the left ventricle and that both fell within the range measured by thermodilution. Cardiac-gated MRI has the potential to assess the cardiac output of both the right and left ventricles. Comparison between right ventricular and left ventricular function will permit quantification of left to right shunting or unilateral ventricular volume overload.