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Biomedical subjects

H O'Neal

Publications and source records attributed to H O'Neal.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

Worksite physical activity interventions.

BACKGROUND: National objectives for public health have targeted worksite as important settings for interventions to increase physical activity. However, expert reviews reveal no scientific consensus about the effectiveness of worksite interventions for increasing physical activity or fitness. METHODS: We judged the quantity and quality of existing evidence against scientific standards for the internal and external validity of the research design and the validity of measurements. Meta-analytic methods were used to quantify the size of effects expressed as Pearson correlation coefficients (r). Variation in effect was examined in relation to several features of the studies deemed important for implementing successful worksite interventions. Pre-experimental cohort studies were excluded because they are sensitive to secular trends in physical activity. RESULTS: Twenty-six studies involving nearly 9,000 subjects yielded 45 effects. The mean effect was heterogeneous and small, r = 0.11 (95% CI, -0.20 to 0.40), approximating 1/4 S.D., or an increase in binomial success rate from 50% to 56%. Although effects varied slightly according to some of the study features we examined, effects were heterogeneous within levels of these features. Hence, the moderating variables examined did not explain variation in the effects (P > 0.05). The exception was that effects were smaller in randomized studies compared with studies using quasi-experimental designs (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that the typical worksite intervention has yet to demonstrate a statistically significant increase in physical activity or fitness. The few studies that have used an exemplary sample, research design, and outcome measure have also yielded small or no effects. The generally poor scientific quality of the literature on this topic precludes the judgment that interventions at worksites cannot increase physical activity or fitness, but such an increase remains to be demonstrated by studies using valid research designs and measures.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Plasma concentrations of mianserin after single dose and at steady-state in depressed elderly patients.

Plasma mianserin and desmethylmianserin concentrations were measured in 17 clinically depressed elderly patients after a single 30 mg dose of mianserin. The patients then received mianserin 30 mg daily for up to 6 weeks and the plasma concentrations were measured at weekly intervals. The relationship between concentrations of mianserin and desmethylmianserin at steady-state and at 16 and 24 hours after the single test dose was not good enough to be used for prediction of dosage requirements. Reasons for this finding are discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed1984

Rapid diagnosis of urinary tract infection using a simple photometer.

A photometric method which detects bacterial multiplication in urine is described. The apparatus is both inexpensive and easy to use, and results are obtained within four hours. A total of 217 urine specimens from 181 patients were assessed and the results compared with the corresponding laboratory tests, which showed a significant growth in 102 specimens. The sensitivity and specificity of the photometric method was 77% and 99%, respectively, with a positive accuracy of 99%. The photometer detected 83% of significant enterobacterial infections and 76% of mixed infections. It is suggested the false negative results (23%) may have included high laboratory colony counts not associated with active urinary tract infection.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Five year follow-up of effects of treatment of mild and moderate hypertension.

A five-year follow-up study of the effects of treating patients with both mild and moderate hypertension was performed. The patients were identified during a hospital-based community survey of hypertension. A total of 961 patients were divided into four groups. The first group, the controls, were age- and sex-matched normotensive subjects selected sequentially from the same survey. The second group were patients defined as well-controlled hypertensives; the third group were patients whose blood pressures were less well-controlled; and the fourth group consisted of patients who, for various reasons, were not treated and as such acted as an untreated control group. Both mortality and morbidity were considerably greater in the untreated patients than in the normal subjects. The well-controlled hypertensive patients showed no difference in either morbidity or mortality from normal subjects. The less well-controlled patients had a significantly greater cardiovascular morbidity but no excess mortality over groups 1 and 2. This was true for both mild and moderate hypertension and for women as well as men. These findings therefore confirm the conclusions of other recent studies that good control of hypertension at all levels and in both sexes is justified by the reduction in morbidity and that even less than excellent control is of considerable benefit.

Blood Pressure↗