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Biomedical subjects

D F Duncan

Publications and source records attributed to D F Duncan.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Alcohol use and reported physician visits in older adults.

BACKGROUND: In general, older adults use a greater proportion of health care services than other age segments of the population. Alcohol abusers also use a greater proportion of health care services than alcohol nonabusers. Therefore we expected that among older adults, alcohol consumption would be positively related to health service use. In a sample of older adults, this study examined the relationship between alcohol consumption and an indicator of health service use--the self-reported number of physician visits. METHODS: Data obtained on adult participants in the 1990 National Health Interview Survey, age 60 and older (n = 10,522), were examined. The number of physician visits was regressed on health status and alcohol consumption measures. RESULTS: Counter to a priori expectations, alcohol consumption was negatively associated with physician visits. This finding was obtained after adjusting for respondent sex and health status measures. CONCLUSIONS: Other research suggests that the rates of alcohol-related hospital admissions among older adults are on par with those of myocardial infarctions--an indication that harmful use of alcohol in older adults is going undetected. We found heavier alcohol consumption associated with fewer physician visits. This underscores the need for a better understanding of the role alcohol serves in the health perceptions of older adults. Broadening our knowledge in this area would be of benefit not only to the well-being of individuals also for health services policy considerations.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

Health practices and mental health revisited.

The relationships of seven health practices with a measure of mental well-being were explored in a sample of 490 university students. Mental well-being was associated with moderate exercise and regular sleep.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Drugs and sex: 'a survey of college students' beliefs.

71 university students were surveyed regarding the effects of five drugs on human sexuality. Most of the myths examined were believed by a number of the 71 students surveyed. Users of alcohol (n = 62) and cocaine (n = 22) were more accurate in identifying effects than were nonusers.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Who does have a test for AIDS?

Of 184 persons (18 to 78 yr.) presenting at one site for HIV testing, 112 were men, 173 were white, and 179 were HIV-. Principal risk groups identified were 53 gay/bisexual males, 46 with multiple heterosexual sex partners, and 33 transfusion recipients.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗
PubMed1991

Health psychology and clinical psychology: a comparison through content analysis.

Extension of a previous analysis of articles published in two journals representative of health psychology and two in health education showed some similarities and differences. The present analysis of 100 papers from two journals in health psychology and 495 from two in clinical psychology clearly shows health as a subspecialty of clinical psychology.

Health Education↗
PubMed1991

Violence and degradation as themes in "adult" videos.

Videocassettes have become the dominant medium for pornography. One previous content analysis examined the prevalence of violence in such videos. The Attorney General's Commission on Pornography (1986) has asserted that nonviolent pornography depicting degradation produces harm similar to that from violent pornography. Content analysis of a 10% random sample (n = 50) of the videos displayed in the "adult" section of a video store showed that 13.6% of the scenes in the videos contained violent acts and 18.2% contained degrading acts.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Health psychology and community psychology: a comparison through content analysis of representative journals.

This is an extension of previous analyses comparing the content of health psychology journals with the content of journals in health education and clinical psychology. The present content analysis of two journals in health psychology and two journals in community psychology identified commonalities and differences between the two specialties as well as between the two community psychology journals.

Health↗
PubMed1989

Community mental health ideology of preprofessional students.

Adherence to the ideology of mental health was measured in a cluster sample of preprofessional students in four majors: psychology, social work, rehabilitation and health education. Mean inventory scores for the four groups did not differ significantly.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

A health assessment of older Americans: some multidimensional measures.

This study examined the relationships among self-reported health practices and self-reported health status variables for 126 older adults drawn from a population of senior center participants, homebound elderly, and nursing home residents. Canonical correlation was used to determine significant relationships among linear combinations of the health variable set and the health practices-demographic data variable set. One significant canonical variate indicated that older adults who were more satisfied socially, free of or low in depression, had fewer or no physical disabilities, an internal locus of control, higher self-esteem, and fewer or no symptoms of aging, also tended to report engaging in current and lifelong exercise, sleeping 7 or 8 hr per day, having a higher educational attainment, and being in the younger age group of elderly. Current health practices of older adults were related to important health status variables. This finding contradicts some earlier investigations and suggests that older adults are indeed appropriate targets for health education and health promotion activities.

Activities of Daily Living↗