PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

G Strong

Publications and source records attributed to G Strong.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

The stability of impact of assistive devices.

PURPOSE: Abandonment of an assistive device (AD) is a frustrating issue yet is very common. An important reason for abandonment is that the device fails to improve the quality of life of the adopter. METHOD: By means of a new questionnaire, the Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale (PIADS) the impact on quality of life of any AD can be measured. This study tested the hypothesis that the impact of the adoption of an AD would wane with time, as the user becomes more adapted to the AD. The study attempted to do a one year follow up on all patients at a leading Canadian clinic who had received first-time prescriptions for eyeglasses. RESULTS: The results showed that the positive impact, present on adoption, did not diminish significantly for those who retained the use of the device. CONCLUSION: The PIADS provides clinicians with a reliable and economical method for assessing the role of psychosocial factors in the retention or abandonment of an AD.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1998

A comparison of low vision clinic data with low vision survey and blindness registration information.

PURPOSE: To determine whether low vision demographic data provided by low vision clinic data are comparable to that provided by blindness registration and disability questionnaire information. METHODS: Low vision demographic data for Canada and Ontario within the postcensus Health and Activity Limitation Survey (HALS 1991) were obtained from Statistics Canada. These data were compared with 4744 reports of low vision examinations obtained in a multi-center low vision clinic study in Ontario, Canada (1991-1994) and appropriate annual figures from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB). RESULTS: Data from the low vision clinic study and the CNIB were similar. The low vision clinic study (and CNIB) reported far fewer adults (15 to 64 years) and far more seniors (65+ years) obtaining low vision examinations than suggested by HALS. CONCLUSIONS: HALS does not report on patients with low vision, as defined in low vision clinics. The differences between survey, low vision clinic, and blindness registration data are presented.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Design elements of professional ethics courses.

Optometrists face ethical dilemmas daily in the practice of their profession. Students training to become optometrists also face ethical dilemmas, some of which are unique in their role as students. The focus on ethical practice has been heightened by the increasing scope of optometric practice, the greater demand of society for professional accountability, the greater diversity of membership and viewpoints, the decrease in available dollars for health care delivery, and the conflicting roles of ophthalmology and opticianry with optometry. These factors have led to the addition or expansion of professional ethics courses in optometry programs. This paper examines the difficulties inherent in defining professional ethics and designing ethics courses. Curricular issues are examined, including course objectives, instructors, content, evaluation, timetabling, teaching strategies, student assessment, and resource implications. Much of the research in this area has been done in medical education. Although the content of ethical dilemmas encountered by medical students and physicians may not be applicable to optometry, the process by which they learn to approach the dilemmas is the same.

Curriculum↗
PubMed1995

The Waterloo Vision and Mobility Study: postural control strategies in subjects with ARM.

Binocular vision function and standing balance control was assessed in 16 subjects with age-related maculopathy (ARM) (mean age 73.9 +/- 7.4 years) and 19 controls (mean age 69.1 +/- 5.5 years). Balance control was assessed using the center of pressure signal from force plate data. It was quantified using the root mean square (RMS) error of the amplitude, sampled over a 1 min period. This was evaluated during normal standing, and while the input from the kinesthetic and/or visual systems were disrupted. The two subject groups showed significantly different RMS values across conditions (P < 0.005). The differences in RMS between ARM and control groups were only significant when the input to the kinesthetic sensory system was disrupted. Our results suggest that in the normal standing condition, the kinesthetic and vestibular systems compensated for the lack of useful information from the visual system in ARM subjects. When kinesthetic system input was disrupted, balance control of the ARM group was significantly poorer than the control. There was a weak correlation between postural control and contrast sensitivity. Various strategies for preventing falls in elderly patients with low vision are suggested.

Aged↗
PubMed1987

Conservative treatment of Morton's neuroma.

Morton's metatarsalgia (plantar digital neuritis) is a syndrome caused by the development of a neuroma in a digital nerve just proximal to its point of bifurcation. Severe neuralgic pain in the distal part of the sole is referred to the corresponding two toes. The treatment of this syndrome with the injection of a local anesthetic and methylprednisolone is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Combined preoperative and postoperative radiation for bladder cancer. Results of RTOG/Jefferson Study.

Ninety-two patients with bladder cancer have been treated with combined pre- and postoperative radiation in a Radiation Oncology Study Group (RTOG) Phase I-II study and at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Patients with invasive bladder cancer were entered into the study and given low-dose preoperative radiation (500 rad) to the whole pelvis, either on the day of or the day before cystectomy. Following surgery, patients were pathologically staged. Patients with stage B1 (T2) (grade 3 or 4), stage B2 and C (T3) tumors were given 4500 rad in 5 weeks postoperative radiation. Follow-up in the study ranges from a minimum of 24 months to 5 years, with a median of 36 months. Incidence of complications was 15% (14/92). The 4-year actuarial survival (Kaplan-Meier) by stage of disease is 68% for stage B1 (T2) (grade 3 or 4), 78% for stage B2, and 57% for stage C. These survival results appear to be better than those obtained with other approaches of adjuvant therapy and/or surgery in comparable histopathologically staged patients.

Carcinoma, Transitional Cell↗
PubMed1985

A distance visual acuity chart incorporating some new design features.

Standardized visual acuity assessments are possible when consideration is given to legibility, acuity row legibility, letter spacing, optotype, row arrangement, and letter size gradation. The relative optotype legibilities reported by Sloan were verified experimentally under simulated conditions of optical defocus. Acuity row component letters were selected to equalize aggregate row legibilities and were arranged to minimize contaminative sequencing dependency. We describe a new acuity chart format with vertical acuity row presentations to eliminate bias from previous reading experience, and testing procedures using this chart.

Humans↗
PubMed1982

Phoria measurements using chromatic targets.

Von Graefe phoria measurements were obtained for ten prepresbyopic subjects at 40 cm and 6 m test distances using a vertical column of black letters on red, green, and white backgrounds. Phorias measured at 40 cm using red and white target backgrounds were similar, but the phoria measured using a green target background indicated a change toward greater exophoria. No difference in phoria measurements was found between all targets at 6 m.

Accommodation, Ocular↗
PubMed1980

Adjuvant "sandwich" radiation therapy for bladder cancer.

Preliminary results of a study using a new concept of adjuvant "sandwich" radiotherapy in bladder cancer are presented. In this approach low-dose preoperative irradiation (500 rads) is delivered prior to cystectomy, and then on the basis of histopathologic staging patients with superficial tumors (Stage A and B) are followed with no further treatment; patients with deeply invasive tumors (Stage B, Grade III or IV, B2 or C) are treated with high-dose postoperative irradiation (4,500 rads in five weeks); and patients with advanced or metastatic disease (Stage D) are treated palliatively. Eighteen patients were treated with this approach, and all patients have been followed for at least one year. Sixteen (89 per cent) are alive with no evidence of tumor. One patient died of distant metastasis, and 1 patient died of peritonitis without evidence of disease. Since recurrence is known to develop in 50 per cent of patients within the first year after treatment, the low rate of failure obtained using this approach of adjuvant "sandwich" radiotherapy with a minimum follow-up of one year appears to be promising. This approach ideally balances the risk versus benefit ratio of adjuvant therapy sparing patients with superficial tumors from unnecessary treatment while treating patients with more advanced disease aggressively.

Follow-Up Studies↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Fragile X screening program in New York State.

Most fragile X [fra(X)] males in New York State have not been identified. Hence, a large number of female relatives are unaware of their risks for having an affected child. A program was established in New York State in 1987 to screen for the fra(X) syndrome in mentally retarded males with living relatives. The goal of the program is to identify affected males and inform their families about the diagnosis. In this way relatives would be able to assess their risks for having a fra(X) male. In order to identify the males a screening form was developed to assess 10 features which included physical characteristics, behavior, and family history. Males who exhibited at least 5 of these manifestations were selected for cytogenetic analysis. Any male who had macroorchidism or a family history of mental retardation was also included. A total of 995 males have been screened of which 352 (35%) were selected for cytogenetic analyses. Seventeen (10.5%) of the 161 completed studies were positive for fra(X). A large number of possible female carriers were identified in the families of the propositi. This program identifies fra(X) males in a population of the mentally retarded for whom there had been no previous diagnosis. By using a two-step procedure, it is possible to screen a large population of the mentally retarded for fra(X) without testing each male cytogenetically.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMedDate not supplied

New York State screening program for fragile X syndrome: a progress report.

New York State has established a program to screen post-pubertal mentally retarded males for the fragile X [fra(X)] syndrome. The goal of the program is to identify affected males and inform their families of the diagnosis. Females in these families who are at risk for inheriting the mutation will then be able to determine their carrier status and consider that information in making reproductive decisions. Males were evaluated for 10 features of the syndrome by physicians and nurses throughout the state; cytogenetic analysis was carried out on a subset of this population. A total of 1332 males has been screened and chromosome studies have been completed for 489. Forty-three (9%) were positive for fra(X), and an additional 11 other chromosome abnormalities were identified. The 43 patients belonged to 38 families. Of the 24 families who were informed of the diagnosis, 12 consulted genetic counseling centers for follow-up studies and 12 did not.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Analysis of human epidural pressures.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: During performance of epidural injection, entry into the epidural space has traditionally been determined by identification of negative pressure to the advancing needle by indirect means such as hanging drop; loss of resistance to air, saline, or water; or use of a MacIntosh balloon. Confusion in the literature regarding entry pressures versus postentry (baseline) pressures and zero reference pressure was noted. METHODS: Baseline epidural pressure changes were examined using a closed system zeroed to the dorsal spine during and after injection of local anesthetics in 39 patients referred to the Pain Treatment Center, located at SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse, New York, for epidural injections. The course of epidural pressure changes after injection and the temporal relation of epidural pressure waves to the arterial and venous wave forms were examined. RESULTS: In contrast to previous investigations, subatmospheric pressure was found in the epidural space in only one patient. Baseline pressure for all patients was 7.7 +/- 3.9 mmHg. There were significant differences in baseline pressure in patients who had undergone back surgery compared with patients who had not undergone such surgery: 11.8 +/- 3.4 as opposed to 7.0 +/- 3.5 mmHg, respectively (p less than 0.005). Three minutes after a 2-ml injection of local anesthetic into the epidural space, the pressure returned to baseline. This contrasted to the effects of a 6-ml injection, which resulted in the pressure remaining above baseline after 3 minutes. The epidural pressure wave forms more closely paralleled the radial artery wave form than the central venous pressure. CONCLUSION: Lumbar epidural pressure is greater than atmospheric pressure when referenced to zero at the dorsal spine level.

Adult↗