Biomedical subjects

G D Papandonatos

Publications and source records attributed to G D Papandonatos.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Smoking-cessation counseling in the home. Attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of home healthcare nurses.

BACKGROUND: Despite advances in smoking treatment, cessation rates remain stagnant, possibly a function of the lack of new channels to reach heavily addicted smokers. This cross-sectional study examined home care nurses' attitudes, beliefs, and counseling behaviors regarding counseling their home care patients who smoke. METHODS: Home healthcare nurses (N=98) from the Visiting Nurse Association of Rhode Island were randomly selected to participate in a study helping home-bound medically ill smokers to quit. At baseline, nurses completed a questionnaire that assessed a constellation of cognitive factors (self-efficacy, outcome expectations, perceived effectiveness, risk perception, motivation, and perceived patient adherence) as correlates of self-reported nurse counseling behaviors. RESULTS: Nurses with higher outcome expectations spent more time counseling their patients about quitting (p<0.04). Nurses' self-efficacy was the only variable associated with consistent counseling (p<0.05). While the majority of nurses "asked and advised" their patients, a minority of nurses "assisted or arranged" follow-up. Perceived importance of counseling was associated with a greater likelihood of asking, advising and assisting (p<0.05). None of the nurses who currently smoked (n=13) provided follow-up to their patients. Nurses who reported higher levels of both risk perception (regarding the harmful effects of smoking) and perceived effectiveness were more likely to recommend the nicotine patch. CONCLUSIONS: Attitudes and beliefs about smoking are significantly associated with nurse counseling behaviors. Helping nurses to overcome their barriers to smoking counseling may open up new channels for smoking intervention.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Influence of antidepressant pharmacotherapy on behavioral treatment adherence and smoking cessation outcome in a combined treatment involving fluoxetine.

The authors examined whether serum fluoxetine levels influence behavioral treatment adherence and smoking cessation outcome. Nondepressed smokers (N = 989) from 16 centers were randomized on a double-blind basis to receive either fluoxetine (30 or 60 mg) or placebo plus 9 sessions of behavioral smoking cessation treatment. Fluoxetine and norfluoxetine blood levels were assayed 1 week after the quit date. Logistic regression was used to predict treatment completion and cessation outcome, controlling for gender, age, treatment site, and degree of nicotine dependence. Higher steady-state fluoxetine blood levels (fluoxetine + norfluoxetine) predicted less likelihood of dropping out, chi2(1, N = 820) = 3.9, p < .05, and more likelihood of being abstinent, chi2(1, N = 513) = 18.1, p < .001. Attaining a higher fluoxetine blood level improved the likelihood of completing behavioral treatment and increased the probability of achieving abstinence.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Prevention of disseminated Mycobacterium avium complex infection with reduced dose clarithromycin in patients with advanced HIV disease.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the ability of once daily reduced dose clarithromycin to prevent disseminated Mycobacterium avium complex (dMAC) infection in patients with advanced HIV disease. DESIGN: Non-randomized, retrospective study. SETTING: Outpatient clinic of an urban university-affiliated municipal hospital. PATIENTS: A group of 192 HIV-infected patients with a CD4 count < 100 x 10(6) cells/l who were followed for at least 90 days during a 6-year period (1991-1996) before the use of protease inhibitors. INTERVENTIONS: Clarithromycin 500 mg orally once daily (n = 84), rifabutin 300 mg orally once daily (n = 47) or no prophylaxis (n = 61). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Positive blood culture for M. avium complex (MAC), time to development of dMAC, and time to death. RESULTS: When compared with no prophylaxis or rifabutin, the incidence of dMAC and time to development of dMAC were improved among those patients receiving clarithromycin (P < 0.001). Prolonged survival was associated with both clarithromycin and rifabutin use when compared with no prophylaxis (P < 0.002). In patients who failed prophylaxis, resistance to clarithromycin and rifabutin was observed. CONCLUSIONS: In the era prior to protease inhibitor use, once daily clarithromycin at a dose of 500 mg was associated with a reduction in the incidence of dMAC, appeared to be superior to rifabutin, and was associated with prolonged survival in patients with advanced HIV disease.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

PubMed1998

Ecological momentary assessment in a behavioral drinking moderation training program.

We assessed predictors of self-reported excessive drinking (> 5 drinks) in a sample of heavy drinkers. Participants were randomly assigned to moderation training or a waiting-list control condition. They were trained in ecological momentary assessment (EMA) involving self-monitoring of drinking and other variables on a small hand-held computer, the electronic diary (ED). During the 8-week study, participants were compliant in their use of the ED for both random prompts and the entry of data related to specific drinking episodes. Generalized estimating equations were used to fit models involving predictors related to past history of drinking, aspects of the training program, drinking restraint, and episode-specific mood. The models indicated robust predictors of decreased and increased drinking. Our results suggest that EMA is a useful methodology for assessing drinking and related behaviors.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Associations between oral conditions and respiratory disease in a national sample survey population.

Respiratory infectious diseases such as bacterial pneumonia and bronchitis are common and costly, especially in institutionalized and elderly inpatients. Respiratory infection is thought to rely in part on the aspiration of oropharyngeal flora into the lower respiratory tract and failure of host defense mechanisms to eliminate the contaminating bacteria, which then multiply to cause infection. It has been suggested that dental plaque may act as a reservoir of respiratory pathogens, especially in patients with periodontal disease. However, the impact of poor oral health on oral respiratory pathogen colonization and lung infection is uncertain, especially in ambulatory, non-institutionalized populations. To begin to assess potential associations between respiratory diseases and oral health, data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I (NHANES I) were analyzed. This database contains information on the general health status of 23,808 individual Of these, 386 individuals reported a suspected respiratory condition that was further assessed by a physician. These subjects were categorized as having a confirmed chronic respiratory disease (chronic bronchitis or emphysema) or an acute respiratory disease (influenza, pneumonia, acute bronchitis). They were compared to those not having a respiratory disease. Initial non-parametric analysis noted that individuals with a confirmed chronic respiratory disease (n = 41) had significantly greater oral hygiene index scores than subjects without respiratory disease (n = 193; P = 0.0441). Logistic regression analysis of data from these subjects, which considered age, race, gender, smoking status, and simplified oral hygiene index (OHI), suggested that subjects having the median OHI value were 1.3 times more likely to have a chronic respiratory disease relative to those with and OHI of O. Similarly, subjects with the maximum OHI value were 4.5 times more likely to have a chronic respiratory disease than those with an OHI of O. No evidence was found to support an association between the periodontal index and any respiratory disease. These results suggest OHI to have a residual effect on chronic respiratory disease of both practical and statistical significance.

Acute Disease↗