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Biomedical subjects

C Eiser

Publications and source records attributed to C Eiser.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Effects of information about specific nutrient content on ratings of "goodness" and "pleasantness" of common foods.

In a study of the effects of information concerning nutrient content on ratings of foods, subjects (247 male and female school students aged 13-14 years) rated a list of 21 common foods on two scales "good for you" and "pleasant", either without prior information (control group) or after being shown, and asked to memorize, a classification of the foods as "high" "medium" and "low" in terms of a specified nutrient. There were five experimental groups, each receiving classificatory information about a different nutrient (iron, protein, carbohydrate, calorie or fat). Compared with controls, experimental subjects rated the value of the foods in a way corresponding more closely with the specific classification presented to them. Ratings of pleasantness, however, showed no such consistent effects. These findings are interpreted in terms of models of attitudinal judgement concerned with factors influencing the salience to individuals of different stimulus attributes. Implications for the effects of selective information on judgements are discussed, with specific reference to advertising and nutrition education.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Communicating with sick and hospitalised children.

This paper is concerned with preparing paediatric patients for hospitalisation. It is concluded that most work has focused on children requiring short-stay hospitalisation for minor surgery. All of the main techniques in use (pamphlets, video or pre-admission nursing contact) appear more beneficial to the patient and family than routine care, but no method is superior. Little attempt has been made to modify the technique according to the age of the child. It is suggested that greater benefits to the child might occur where information about illness is made appropriate to the child's cognitive level. The implications of developmental changes in children's beliefs about health and illness for such education are discussed.

Adenoidectomy↗
PubMed1984

Diabetes and developing knowledge of the body.

Fifty seven diabetic children were compared with healthy children for knowledge of their bodies and causes of diabetes. Diabetic children were more likely to include the pancreas and less likely to include the brain or stomach in drawing their bodies. The data have implications for understanding how illness affects psychological development.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Psychological sequelae of brain tumours in childhood: a retrospective study.

Forty-seven patients who had been treated for brain tumours during childhood were assessed on standardized measures of intellectual ability. Five patients could not be satisfactorily assessed. For the remaining 42, the mean IQ was lower than expected (09.0), with 20 patients having scores in the 'below average' categories. There were no apparent effects in IQ between patients treated for different tumours, but patients treated before five years of age had significantly lower scores (mean equal 76.54) than patients treated from 6-10 years (mean 91.86) and 10-16 years (99-93). There was wide variability in educational achievement and type of employment among the group.

Achievement↗
PubMed1980

How leukaemia affects a child's schooling.

A questionnaire was sent to the teachers of 38 children being treated for leukaemia and also to the teachers of 19 siblings. The questionnaire was concerned with the child's attendance rate, the teacher's perceptions of the child and thirdly with his attainments and behaviour. Those with leukaemia had a poorer attendance record (41.5 per cent absences) than their siblings (15.6 percent). Teachers reported special difficulties in teaching the leukaemic child, and had modified expectations regarding him. Children's attainments were comparable to other members of the class, although tending to be somewhat poorer. Teachers did not report any differences in attainmets between siblings and other members of th class. The data indicate that closer liaison between school and hospital would be advantageous to teachers.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed1980

Effects of chronic illness on intellectual development. A comparison of normal children with those treated for childhood leukaemia and solid tumours.

40 children who had been treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia by irradiation to the central nervous system and by chemotherapy were assessed, using general psychological measures. These children were compared with a group of normal children of similar ages and backgrounds, and with a group of 16 patients treated for solid tumours. The group of 16 patients with solid tumours was also compared with a normal control group and there were no differences between the scores for IQ, reading, memory, and learning. Children with leukaemia had lower scores then normal children for all these tasks. In young leukaemic children (those diagnosed when aged under 5 years) differences were significantly greater compared with controls. There were no effects of age at diagnosis on the scores made by children with solid tumours compared with normal children. These results implicate the role of central nervous system irradiation in reducing intellectual development in children, especially in young children, treated for leukaemia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Psychological development of the child with leukemia: a review.

With improvements in prognosis for children with leukemia, there has been a corresponding increase in degree of adverse psychological effects on the patient and his family. This review considers (1) the methods of coping adopted by parents, siblings, and the patient and (2) the possibility of damage to normal intellectual growth following the type of medical treatment involved. Implications of previous research in terms of practical help for the families and theoretical issues regarding normal brain development are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1978

Intellectual abilities among survivors of childhood leukaemia as a function of CNS irradiation.

Twenty-eight children in remission at least 2 years after completing chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia were assessed on standardised psychological tests. It was found that 7 who never had central nervous system (CNS) irradiation and 9 having prophylactic CNS irradiation at least 6 months after diagnosis tended to perform at average or above levels, while those 10 each having prophylactic CNS irradiation (within 2 months of diagnosis) were generally of lower ability. Within the latter group, 3 children showed serious intellectual impairments, while the group as a whole functioned especially poorly on quantitative tasks and those involving speeded performance with abstract material. General language ability was not affected. Practical and theoretical implantation are discussed.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1977

Retrospective study of intellectual development in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Nine younger children (mean age 6-3 years) and 6 older children (mean age 9-0 years), previously treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia by cranial irradiation and subsequently by 2 or 3 years of chemotherapy, were assessed in terms of intellectual development in relation to 15 controls, matched individually for age, sex, and social background. All children were functioning within a normal range. The older group of children performed as well as their matched controls in all tasks. However, the younger group tended to perform somewhat below their matched controls, and this applied especially to tasks measuring quantitative, memory, and motor skills, but not to language tasks. It is concluded that there is a continual need to monitor the development of children treated for leukaemia, especially when diagnosed in the 2- to 5- year age range.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Surviving cancer; what does it mean for you? An evaluation of a clinic based intervention for survivors of childhood cancer.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate a clinic based intervention designed to improve attitude to follow-up, increase self-efficacy or confidence to care for health, and raise awareness of possible vulnerability to future health issues among survivors of childhood cancer. The intervention included an information booklet, treatment summary and separate information sheets, which were explained to survivors as part of routine follow-up care. PROCEDURE: Survivors (n=263; mean age=21 years; >5 years since diagnosis) attending one of seven United Kingdom Children's Cancer Study Group (UKCCSG) late-effects follow-up clinics completed questionnaires before and after the intervention. Outcome measures included self-ratings of importance of follow-up, readiness to change behaviour, self-efficacy, perceived vulnerability, and ratings of informativeness and emotional content of the written material. RESULTS: Responders were more likely to be female than non-responders, held more positive views about the importance of follow-up and perceived themselves to be more vulnerable to health risk. After the intervention, responders reported that they were more prepared to change their behaviour, had increased self-efficacy, but also perceived themselves to be more vulnerable to future health problems. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the intervention is a relatively simple way to enhance awareness among survivors about the importance of follow-up and need for vigilance in their healthcare. Difficulties in recruiting survivors who failed to attend are considered.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Learning difficulties in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).

Concern about the adverse affects of brain irradiation used in treatment for childhood leukaemia on children's learning have been put forward since the 1960s. Early work based on assessment of IQ suggested considerable problems associated with CNS irradiation of 2400cGy, and that children who were younger on diagnosis (below 5 years) were particularly at risk. Consequently, new protocols were introduced in which the amount of irradiation was reduced, or children were treated by chemotherapy alone. There is some evidence that reduction from 2400 to 1800cGy irradiation is beneficial, especially for younger children, as is treatment by chemotherapy alone. Methodological problems in conducting this work and limitations in relying on IQ tests are discussed. Where there are no indications of differences in survival, there would seem to be implications for reducing as far as possible the use of CNS directed therapy among young children treated for leukaemia.

Brain↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Exploring links between the concepts of Quality of Life and resilience.

This paper explores links between the concepts of Quality of Life (QoL) and resilience. First, the definitions of QoL and resilience are explored separately, emphasizing that both concepts have been criticized for a lack of theory with resulting problems in description, prediction and measurement. The similarities and differences are then considered between these two related psychological concepts-resilience and QoL. The need is identified for establishing a theoretical model of QoL, and how elements from resilience research can be beneficially integrated within such a model is discussed. Further empirical work is needed to explore explicitly the relationship between these two related psychological concepts, and establish how well resilience can help explain individual variation in QoL reports in young children.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A generic measure of Quality of Life for children aged 3-8 years: results of two preliminary studies.

Preliminary findings from the development of a new quality of life (QoL) measure for children aged 3-8 years are presented in two studies. Thirty-six children (5-6 years) completed a 10-item measure in Study 1, which included ratings of their abilities and 'happiness'. The children also completed an established QoL measure and 24 parents completed a proxy QoL measure. Preliminary support for the face and construct validity of the new measure is reported. There were correlations between the children's scores on the two measures (p < 0.05). However, child and parent scores were not correlated (p = 0.65). Twenty-four children (3-4 years) completed a modified version of the new QoL measure in Study 2, which consisted of 23 items. The internal reliability of the measure and the speed of children's responses allowed comparison of the efficacy of two response formats. Significant differences in speed were found in children's responses using different response formats, and differences in the internal consistency of the measure. Eighteen parents completed a proxy QoL measure, as in Study 1. Child and parent scores on the two measures were not correlated (p = 0.23). These studies highlight the difficulties in obtaining self-report QoL data from children below 5 years.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

'Slugs and snails and puppy-dog tails'-children's ideas about the inside of their bodies.

Twenty-six children at each of four age-levels (6, 8, 10 and 12 years) were asked to draw the inside of their bodies and to answer some questions on body organization and function. Although knowledge increased with age, it was consistently below that reported in earlier American studies. Children's responses to questions about how their bodies worked revealed some basic misunderstandings and errors. The significance of these data both for health education and for communicating with sick children is discussed.

Body Image↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Children's knowledge of health and illness: implications for health education.

20 children at each of 4 age-levels (6, 8, 9 and 11 years) were interviewed about their knowledge of health and illness. Children were asked to define 'being healthy' and what they must do to remain healthy. Knowledge of diseases and their prevention was poor. Children assigned a central role to diet in maintaining good health. The results are discussed in relation to possible ways of improving health education to school-children.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Illness experience and children's concepts of health and illness.

The effects of chronic illness on children's knowledge of health and illness were investigated by interviewing 57 children with diabetes and the same number of healthy children of similar age and background. There were few differences between the groups in their definitions of health or knowledge of the cause of illness. The data are discussed in terms of their theoretical relevance to the development of ideas about health and illness.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Health education needs of primigravidae.

Forty-eight primigravidae were interviewed when 3-4 months pregnant about their knowledge of fetal development, awareness of hazards to development and sources of information. Although there was reasonable knowledge about normal fetal development, the women were not generally aware of the repercussions of maternal rubella or rationale for many routine tests at antenatal clinics. Fourteen of the women were smoking and only four of these intended to change during pregnancy. The general practitioner was perceived as a vital source of information, in marked contrast to the midwife. Few women reported learning about child development or care at school, but most used pamphlets or books as a source of information.

Adult↗