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Biomedical subjects

J C Konen

Publications and source records attributed to J C Konen.

47 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Smoking status and psychosocial variables in type 1 diabetes mellitus.

While depression, anxiety, and negative affect are associated with smoking and smoking cessation outcomes in healthy individuals, these associations have not been established in smokers with chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus, a condition which greatly increases cardiovascular disease risk. Other psychosocial variables such as stress and locus of control may also be associated with smoking but are seldom reported. We examined stress, affect, and locus of control by smoking status in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Results indicated that current smokers reported significantly higher levels of perceived stress, a more negative affect, and higher powerful others locus of control compared with nonsmokers. These findings indicate that those patients who have diabetes and who smoke are at greater risk for depressive symptoms. This knowledge may aid clinicians in their attempts to help these patients quit smoking.

Adolescent↗
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Racial differences in symptoms and complications in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the frequency of common symptoms and complications between African- and white American adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus in a primary care setting, and to examine associations of these conditions with glycemic control. DESIGN: Three hundred and four adults with type 2 diabetes participated in this cross-sectional analysis; 142 of whom were African-Americans. Patients were recruited from a family practice ambulatory care unit and a community health center. RESULTS: Both male and female African-Americans had higher mean diastolic blood pressure and poorer metabolic control than their white counterparts. After adjustment for diabetes duration, glycosylated hemoglobin and diastolic blood pressure, African-American females were significantly more likely to experience constipation and hypertension but less likely to experience chest pain, claudication, peripheral neuropathy or have peripheral vascular disease. Among male subjects, African-Americans were significantly more likely to experience blurred vision and hypertension but less likely to have peripheral atherosclerotic disease. Poor glycemic control was more strongly associated with the occurrence of common diabetic symptoms in African-American subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Both African- and white Americans with type 2 diabetes are likely to experience a wide variety of symptoms and vascular complications. African-American subjects appear more likely than whites to experience symptoms related to glycemic control but less likely to have, or experience symptoms and complications of, cardiovascular disease. That nearly half of these subjects seen in a primary care setting had microalbuminuria suggests that vascular complications are likely to be present in the majority of adults with type 2 diabetes, even in these currently asymptomatic. These findings may have implications for screening and preventive strategies for the treatment of this disease.

Adult↗
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Association between exercise and other preventive health behaviors among diabetics.

Two hundred and seventy patients were studied to investigate the cross sectional association between exercise and other preventive health behaviors in a diabetic population. Patients included both insulin and noninsulin dependent diabetics and were recruited from the Family Practice and Pediatrics Clinics at Bowman Gray School of Medicine. During screening, patients underwent a physical examination as well as completing a survey to assess exercise and health behavior habits. Three exercise groups were compared: (a) patients who expended more than 600 kilocalories per week during exercise, (b) patients who expended 600 kilocalories or less, and (c) patients who did not exercise. The mean body weights of both exercise groups were found to be less than the nonexercise group, and the heavy exercise group also had a lower mean body mass index. Heavy exercisers reported greater caloric intakes than both moderate and nonexercisers. There were no differences found concerning the composition of their diets among groups. The heavy exercise group reported wearing their seatbelts a greater percentage of the time and visited the dentist more often compared with the sedentary group. There were no significant differences found among exercise groups concerning blood sugar monitoring, alcohol consumption, smoking, or in obtaining periodic health examinations. It was concluded that exercise was associated with several, but not a majority, of other healthful behaviors in a population of diabetics.

Blood Glucose↗
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A family practice residency curriculum in critical appraisal of the medical literature.

This paper reports a five-year experience with a comprehensive curriculum for teaching critical appraisal and practical research skills to family practice residents. The curriculum includes a seminar series in research and medical practice and simulated research projects. Rationale, methods, format, and evaluations of the curriculum are presented. The curriculum prepared graduates to critically review research studies in the professional literature and translate valid conclusions into medical practice. Residents were able to identify potential areas of research interest and acquired additional skills that encouraged continuing education and professional growth.

Curriculum↗
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Microtransferrinuria and microalbuminuria: enhanced immunoassay.

An enhanced-sensitivity immunoassay for urinary microtransferrin and microalbumin was devised based on protein precipitation with cold trichloroacetic acid followed by dissolution of the precipitate in a small volume of phosphate buffer. Samples can be concentrated 10-fold by this method while at the same time removing many of the chromogens present in urine. Concentrated samples were assayed by immunoturbidity and radial immunodiffusion. The average recovery for urinary microtransferrin was 82 percent and for microalbumin 91 percent. The reference range for 80 normal adults for microtransferrinuria and microalbuminuria is 0 to 0.9 and 5 to 32 mg per g creatinine, respectively. The same method can be used for the assay of other proteins such as B2-microglobulin in the urine or the cerebrospinal fluid.

Acids↗
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Using a family practice preceptorship to teach clinical epidemiology.

Because physicians in training can benefit from an epidemiological approach to primary care practice, research, and education, educators are turning their attention to better methods and settings to teach preventive and epidemiological principles while cultivating an attitude for clinical research. This report describes the development of a clinical epidemiological problem studied in the context of a one-week family practice preceptorship. The project was designed to study the possible association between obesity and hypertension and to familiarize students with a common study design. Data from 393 case control pairs produced results of the same magnitude as that documented by formal, carefully controlled research studies. Students participated with dedication and excitement in the clinical application of relevant and practical epidemiologic and biostatistical tools in a clinical setting. Often difficult to comprehend concepts of interaction and confounding were clearly demonstrated using data derived from actual patients encountered during the preceptorship experience.

Adult↗
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Oral health behaviors in medical patients with diabetes mellitus.

PURPOSE: Periodontal disease is common among patients with noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and interferes with diabetic control. However, no study has examined predictors of oral health behavior among patients with diabetes in a medical setting. This study describes self-reported oral hygiene among primary care patients with IDDM and NIDDM, evaluating age, race, gender, psychosocial stress, family dysfunction, and other health predictors of preventive oral behaviors. METHODS: A written survey of oral health behaviors, psychological stress, and family function was conducted among 390 out of 473 possible primary care dentate patients with diabetes (IDDM=81; NIDDM=309). Fasting blood sugar and hemoglobin A1C also were obtained. Data were collected between January 1989 and June 1991, and analyzed using Mantel-Haenszel's chi-square and logistic regression. RESULTS: Patients with IDDM with severe family dysfunction were less likely to brush, floss, or visit a dentist regularly than those with better reported family function. Whites with NIDDM were more likely to practice these oral health behaviors than were blacks. Female gender correlated with flossing in the group of patients with IDDM, and with brushing in both groups. Patients with NIDDM who exercised were also more likely to visit the dentist annually. Age was positively associated with a history of periodontal disease in the group with IDDM. CONCLUSIONS: These data document for the first time the relationship between family dysfunction and oral health practices of patients with IDDM, and corroborate the known associations among white race, female gender, and oral hygiene. This information could be used to coordinate diabetic oral health promotion between primary care physicians and oral health professionals.

Adolescent↗
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Hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and abdominal obesity and the development of microalbuminuria in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND: The hyperlipidemia syndrome (also called syndrome X or the deadly quartet) is a recognized constellation known to increase cardiovascular mortality, but its effect on renal decline is not well-described. This study examined the differential effects of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and abdominal obesity on overnight urinary albumin excretion ratios (UAERs) among patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), who by definition possess the remaining component of the syndrome, insulin resistance. METHODS: We conducted a survey of 317 primary care NIDDM patients measuring waist-to-hip ratios, fasting lipid levels and glycemic values, and overnight UAERs. The study was carried out between January 1989 and June 1991. RESULTS: Using logistic regression controlling for age, race, sex, duration of NIDDM, and smoking status, elevated glycosylated hemoglobin (odds ratio [OR] = 1.95, 95 percent confidence interval [CI] = 1.16-3.27) or the addition of one component of the deadly quartet to pure diabetes doubled or tripled the odds of an elevated UAER (NIDDM plus obesity OR = 2.00, 95 percent CI = 1.02-3.93; NIDDM plus hypertension OR = 3.45, 95 percent CI = 1.38-8.63; NIDDM plus hyperlipidemia OR = 1.60, 95 percent CI = 0.53-4.81). In a dose-response manner, two additional factors exerted additive effects; all three additional factors combined with pure NIDDM multiplied the effect, with an odds ratio of 9.34 (95 percent CI = 2.24-38.9). CONCLUSIONS: These data quantify the incremental effects of abdominal obesity, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia on abnormal UAERs among NIDDM patients and strongly suggest the need for aggressive and simultaneous correction of multiple risk factors to prevent end organ damage in this population.

Aged↗
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Correlates of abnormal urinary albumin excretion rates among primary care patients with essential hypertension.

BACKGROUND: The excretion of small amounts of urinary protein, known as microalbuminuria, among patients with essential hypertension is associated with increased mortality from cardiovascular disease and, possibly, future renal decline. Correlates of microalbuminuria among primary care patients with essential hypertension, however, have not been well described. METHODS: One hundred forty patients enrolled in a large family practice ambulatory care center who had essential hypertension but not diabetes participated in a screening project to document cardiovascular and renal diseases in this population. Patients underwent a brief physical examination and submitted blood and urine samples for analysis. RESULTS: Twenty-five percent of patients had elevated urinary albumin excretion (UAE) rates, defined as greater than 30 micrograms/min. Patients with elevated UAE rates did not differ from patients without elevated UAE rates by age, race, sex, duration of hypertension, or type of antihypertensive medications used (if any). Although no patients had abnormally elevated glycosylated hemoglobin, after controlling for age and duration of hypertension, elevated UAE rates were significantly related to higher mean glycosylated hemoglobin levels (odds ratio [OR] = 3.06, 95 percent confidence interval [CI] = 1.11 to 8.41) and to current smoking (OR = 3.14, 95 percent CI = 1.09 to 9.04). CONCLUSIONS: These data are the first in a primary care population to show a threefold increase in risk for elevated UAE rates among patients with essential hypertension who currently smoke or who have above-average glycosylated hemoglobin levels. Although cross-sectional in nature, these data can also point toward subgroups of hypertensive patients who have a worse cardiovascular prognosis.

Albuminuria↗