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Biomedical subjects

C Frost

Publications and source records attributed to C Frost.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

The most important needs of parents of critically ill children: parents' perceptions.

Research studies have identified the needs of relatives when they have had an adult family member in the intensive care unit. However little similar work has been done within the paediatric setting. Therefore the aim of this study was to examine what parents considered to be their most important needs, when they have a child ill in the intensive care environment (PICU). A questionnaire was designed, and was distributed to parents of 30 children admitted into a PICU. The questionnaire identified needs items which may be important to parents of sick children. The parents were required to indicate how important each need was to them during the time of the child's stay in the PICU. Results obtained indicate that parents have a strong need for information and relief of anxieties that they may have about their child's condition. A conclusion reached in this study is that if the critical care staff can go some way to assess and meet the needs of parents of critically ill children, then these parents may be more able to become effective partners in care, which may have therapeutic effects upon the child's health recovery.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Implications of smoking bans in the workplace. A nursing perspective.

1. The occupational health nurse is in a strategic position to promote changes in smoking policies, participate in effective planning and implementation of policy changes, and encourage workers to participate in smoking cessation programs. 2. Nursing process, including data collection and assessment, development of a plan, implementation, and evaluation, provides a framework for action for the informed occupational health nurse. 3. Those policies that are part of an overall health promotion program, including individualized health risk assessment, are most successful in encouraging employees to stop smoking. 4. Development of or changes in smoking policies are emotionally laden issues that require considerable planning, effective communication, and involvement of employees at every level of the organization.

Ethics, Nursing↗
PubMed1990

Serum levels of CA 125 during the first trimester of normal outcome, ectopic and anembryonic pregnancies.

Single serum samples were obtained during the first trimester of pregnancies with a retrospectively normal outcome (n = 150), ectopic pregnancies (n = 38) and anembryonic pregnancies (n = 78). Serial samples during the first trimester were also obtained from 43 women achieving pregnancy following successful treatment for infertility and with a retrospectively defined normal outcome. Significant variation in serum CA 125 levels in relation to gestational age was observed in pregnancies with a normal outcome (P less than 0.0001). Peak serum CA 125 levels were observed at 6-7 weeks, the mean level at this gestation being 40.1 U/ml (range 31.7-50.7 U/ml) in the normal conception/normal outcome group and 36.5 U/ml (range 25.6-52.0 U/ml) in the assisted conception/normal outcome group. A rise and fall in serum CA 125 levels during the first trimester was observed in 42 of 43 assisted conceptions monitored serially, with peak levels ranging from 7 to 1398 U/ml (median 48.8 U/ml) occurring at 28-61 days (median 45 days) gestation. Mean serum CA 125 levels were higher in the anembryonic pregnancy group at 4-5 and 6-7 weeks gestation than in both normal pregnancy outcome groups (P less than 0.01).

Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate↗
PubMed1990

A risk of malignancy index incorporating CA 125, ultrasound and menopausal status for the accurate preoperative diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

Age, ultrasound score, menopausal status, a clinical impression score and serum CA 125 level were assessed to see how they could best distinguish between patients with benign (n = 101) and malignant (n = 42) pelvic masses. Each criteria used alone provided statistically significant discrimination. The most useful individual criteria were a serum CA 125 level of 30 U/ml (sensitivity 81%, specificity 75%) and an ultrasound score of 2 (sensitivity 71%, specificity 83%). Three criteria could be combined in a risk of malignancy index (RMI) which is simply calculated using the product of the serum CA 125 level (U/ml), the ultrasound scan result (expressed as a score of 0, 1 or 3) and the menopausal status (1 if premenopausal and 3 if postmenopausal). This index was statistically virtually as effective a discriminant between cancer and benign lesions as more formal methods. Using an RMI cut-off level of 200, the sensitivity was 85% and the specificity was 97%. Patients with an RMI score of greater than 200 had, on average, 42 times the background risk of cancer and those with a lower value 0.15 times the background risk.

Adult↗