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Biomedical subjects

D Swearingen

Publications and source records attributed to D Swearingen.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Study of the pharmacokinetic interaction between simvastatin and prescription omega-3-acid ethyl esters.

The coadministration of prescription omega-3-acid ethyl esters (P-OM3) with a statin may present a treatment option for patients with mixed hyperlipidemia. This open-label, randomized, 2-way crossover, drug-drug interaction study evaluated the impact of P-OM3 capsules on plasma simvastatin pharmacokinetics in 24 healthy volunteers. Under fasted conditions, 80 mg simvastatin was administered with or without 4 g P-OM3 for two 14-day periods. After 14 days of dosing to achieve steady state, no significant differences were found in either the extent (AUC(tau)) or rate (Cmax) of exposure to simvastatin or its major beta-hydroxy metabolite after coadministration of P-OM3 with simvastatin compared with administration of simvastatin alone. At steady state, the coadministration of P-OM3 capsules did not appear to affect the pharmacokinetics of simvastatin tablets. The combination of P-OM3 capsules and simvastatin appeared to be well tolerated.

Administration, Oral↗

Approaches to reliability in a clinical simulation study.

Discusses the reliability of measurements made by 48 raters who used the Problem Dysfunction Rating Scale (PDRS) under simulated routine clinical record-keeping conditions. Ten- to 15-minute videotape interviews of two simulated patients with predefined problems were shown to a multidisciplinary psychiatric hospital staff of varying educational background and clinical experience. These raters were given only brief instructions and no training in the use of the PDRS. Statistical analysis included application of the usual, traditional test and retest variation studies and used variance components and comparison to random rating models. A random contrast of rater agreement was found to index most realistically reliability in instances such as this, in which a large number of raters rate a small number of items. There was greater intrarater consistency than interrater agreement, and it was concluded that when reasonably adequate information was available the degree of dysfunction due to patients' problems could be rated on the PDRS with a useful degree of consistency by untrained raters.

Hospitals, Psychiatric↗

Improving patient care through measurement: goal importance and achievement scaling.

Sophisticated treatment record keeping requires something more than a focus on problems. An emphasis on positive aspects of treatment, i.e., on goals may be more appropriate for certain patients or for certain types of treatment or at specific stages of an illness. Unfortunately, currently available methods of quantifying goal importance and achievement are not entirely satisfactory for general everday use. GIA is proposed as a simple procedure for quantifying judgments of the importance of a treatment goal, of the extent to which that goal is achieved and of determining the social value of what treatment has accomplished. GIA ratings have considerable potential for improving patient care through measurement.

Humans↗