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J M Pascoe

Publications and source records attributed to J M Pascoe.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Help with prenatal household tasks and newborn birth weight: is there an association?

Although prenatal psychosocial factors influence pregnancy outcome, the specific components of prenatal social support which affect infants' birth weight have not been examined prospectively. To define those elements of prenatal social support which are associated with newborn birth weights, we studied 198 indigent mothers seen consecutively by a social worker at a community hospital-based obstetrical clinic. At the first prenatal clinic visit, we used the Maternal Social Support Index (MSSI) to assess the availability of help with daily tasks, a communicative male and other adults, emergency child care, and community involvement. The only MSSI item related to low birth weight (LBW less than or equal to 2,500 g) for both multigravida and primigravida mothers was daily task sharing. Help with grocery shopping and the process of paying bills (p = 0.0007) were both significantly associated with LBW for multigravida mothers. Significant items for primigravida mothers included help with inside cleaning (p = 0.03) and working outside (p = 0.005). Help with things around the house was associated with LBW for both multigravida (p = 0.02) and primigravida (p = 0.04) mothers. Car availability was associated with low birth weight only for multigravida mothers (p = 0.006). Stepwise discriminant function analysis was performed for multigravida mothers. Low birth weight was the dependent variable. Eight well-known risk factors for low birth weight (excluding daily tasks) were the independent variables. The "best" function included marital status, maternal age, gravidity, and smoking during pregnancy. The addition of daily task-sharing to this model increased sensitivity (low birth weight classified low birth weight by the model) from 21% to 50%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1986

Use of the likelihood ratio in the management of the young child with fever.

The febrile infant is a common clinical problem for the primary health care provider. This paper employs the example of a young infant with fever to describe an important epidemiologic concept that is useful in the interpretation of diagnostic data--the likelihood ratio. The likelihood ratio expresses the odds of a given diagnostic test result occurring in a patient with (as opposed to without) the target disorder. Likelihood ratios have three properties that are helpful for clinicians: (1) The likelihoods that make up the likelihood ratio are calculated in a manner similar to sensitivity and specificity and therefore show little variation with change in disease prevalence (unlike predictive values, which change dramatically with disease prevalence). (2) Likelihood ratios can be calculated at several levels of a sign, symptom, or laboratory test. (3) Likelihood ratios can be used to shorten the list of diagnostic possibilities because the pretest "odds" X likelihood ratio = post-test "odds" of a disease. Using likelihood ratios in the practice of primary care medicine should reduce the number of patients with false-positive or false-negative results, sparing some patients needless therapy as well as minimizing the number of patients denied efficacious interventions. Support for likelihood ratios within the primary care medical community will hasten their availability in laboratories of clinical medicine.

Epidemiologic Methods↗
PubMed1985

Attitudes of high school girls in Israel and the United States toward breast feeding.

Newborns are breast fed more frequently in Israel than in the United States (92% vs. 57%). Differences in the attitudes of the two countries might suggest interventions to increase breast feeding. We studied the breast-feeding attitudes of high school girls in Israel and the United States using a 21-item questionnaire. Israeli girls were significantly more positive about breast feeding than U.S. girls. Israeli girls answered 13 items positively more frequently than U.S. girls, while American girls responded positively more frequently than Israeli girls for only two items. Israeli girls were more likely to plan on breast feeding (68.2% vs. 42.4%). We speculate that interventions designed to improve the breast-feeding attitudes of young people may increase the prevalence of breast feeding.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

The effect of mothers' social support and life changes on the stimulation of their children in the home.

The relationship between mothers' life changes, social support, and the preschool home environment of their children was analyzed three years after all study children were discharged from a neonatal intensive care unit. The number of reported life changes occurring to mothers since the births of the children in the group was not related to the amount of home stimulation mothers provided their children; however, mothers reporting more social support provided a more stimulating home environment unrelated to the number of life changes.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1982

Perinatal precursors of home stimulation in families of sick newborns.

The relationship between biological, psychosocial, and demographic perinatal factors and the adequacy of the children's home environment was evaluated in a sample of 69 families 3 years after their children had been discharged from a newborn intensive care unit. Almost 40% of the variance (p = .0001) in the amount of home stimulation was explained by income, race, and maternal age. Three maternal perinatal psychosocial characteristics explained an additional 12% of the variance (p = .0001). Both maternal demographic and psychosocial factors appear to contribute to the preschool home environment. Research focused on the precursors of an adequate early home environment could suggest specific interventions for the primary prevention of parenting problems.

Child Abuse↗
PubMed1981

The association between mothers' social support and provision of stimulation to their children.

Specific forms of maternal social support were analyzed for their relationship to a validated measure of home stimulation (the Inventory of Home Stimulation). The 69 study families were chosen to represent a wide variability of social support at the time of the child's birth. All index children had been discharged from a neonatal intensive care unit 3 years before the study. The overall Maternal Social Support Index (MSSI) developed for the study explained a significant (p less tha 0.1) amount of variance in the home stimulation of 3-year-olds after income, race, maternal age, and other possible confounding variables had been controlled. In addition, specific MSSI items were strongly associated with various forms of environmental stimulation. The data suggest that augmentation of specific aspects of mothers' social support networks may increase their children's informal learning opportunities.

Child Development↗
PubMed1979

Child abuse.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Child↗
PubMed1979

Patterns of skin injury in nonaccidental and accidental injury.

The patterns of soft tissue injuries in a group of 154 children reported to protective services for child abuse or neglect were compared with patterns of soft tissue injury found in a group of 91 emergency room patients who sustained an accidental injury and 105 children seen in a pediatric ambulatory clinic. All children in the three groups were 1 to 12 years old. Children in the suspected child abuse and neglect group had significantly more (P less than .01) soft tissue injuries over the cheeks, trunk, genitals, and upper legs. Lacerations were significantly more common (P less than .001) in the emergency room group.

Accidents↗