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Biomedical subjects

John Benson

Publications and source records attributed to John Benson.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Risky behavior in youth: an analysis of the factors influencing youth smoking decisions in Canada.

This article considers smoking behavior among young people in Canada, looking in particular for evidence on why young people take up smoking. Using data from the National Population Health Survey, we find that reported knowledge about the health effects of own smoking is less useful than might have been expected in explaining why some young people smoke but that responses to a question about whether people worry too much about the health effects of second-hand smoke is informative. We also find that for subjects too young to have begun their own household formation, the number of people in their household who regularly smoke in the house is an informative variable. In particular, among young people aged 12-14 years, having a household member who regularly smokes inside the house (as opposed to having none) increases the probability that the young person will smoke by 2%, whereas for the those aged 15-19, having a household member who regularly smokes inside the house increases the probability that the young person will smoke by 18%.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

What effects do patients feel from their antihypertensive tablets and how do they react to them? Qualitative analysis of interviews with patients.

BACKGROUND: Patients commonly experience palpable effects from antihypertensives. Few studies have examined patients' experiences of these effects and how they influence patients' behaviour and medicine-taking. OBJECTIVES: To describe the palpable effects that patients attribute to their antihypertensive tablets and the ways that they react to them. METHODS: In depth interviews with a maximum variety sample of 38 patients taking antihypertensive medication in 2 mainly urban UK general practices. Qualitative analysis based upon the study's objectives. RESULTS: Most patients attributed palpable effects to their antihypertensives. Some effects were welcome, attributed to lowered blood pressure or a calming effect of tablets, but others were unwelcome. As a result of these, some patients stopped their tablets, but more continued taking tablets as usual, took their tablets in a different way, or countered unwelcome effects by some other means. Although patients discussed stopping tablets with their doctor, they commonly did not discuss other reactions. Patients who accepted persistent unwelcome effects balanced them against reasons to take medication: positive experiences with doctors; perceived benefits of medication; or pragmatic considerations. These reasons overlap with those described previously as balancing patients' reservations about medicines. CONCLUSION: The term 'side effect' fails to distinguish between palpable effects that are welcome or unwelcome, or to recognise that some unwelcome effects may nevertheless be acceptable. If clinicians explore the range of palpable effects that patients attribute to antihypertensives and patients' possible preparedness to tolerate unwelcome effects, they will be better able to identify patients' preferences in this area.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed2005

Impact on patients of expanded, general practice based, student teaching: observational and qualitative study.

OBJECTIVES: To compare patients' enablement and satisfaction after teaching and non-teaching consultations. To explore patients' views about the possible impact that increased community based teaching of student doctors in their practice may have on the delivery of service and their attitudes towards direct involvement with students. DESIGN: Observational study using validated survey instruments (patient enablement index--PEI, and consultation satisfaction questionnaire--CSQ) administered after teaching consultations and non-teaching consultations. Ten focus groups (two from each practice), comprising five with patients participating in prearranged teaching sessions and five with patients not participating in these. SETTING: Five general practices in west Suffolk and southern Norfolk, England, that teach student doctors on the Cambridge graduate medical course. PARTICIPANTS: 240 patients attending teaching consultations (response rate 82%, 196 patients) and 409 patients attending non-teaching consultations (response rate 72%, 294 patients) received survey instruments. Ten focus groups with a total of 34 patients participating in prearranged teaching sessions and 20 patients not participating in these. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Scores on the patient enablement index and consultation satisfaction questionnaire, analysed at the level of all patients, allowing for age, sex, general practitioner, and practice, and at the level of the individual general practitioner teacher. Qualitative analysis of focus group data. RESULTS: Patients' enablement or satisfaction was not reduced after teaching consultations compared with non-teaching consultations (mean difference in scores on the patient enablement index and consultation satisfaction questionnaire with adjustment for confounders 2.24% and 1.70%, respectively). This held true for analysis by all patients and by general practitioner teacher. Qualitative data showed that patients generally supported the teaching of student doctors in their practice. However, this support was conditional on receiving sufficient information about reasons for doctors' absence, the characteristics of students, and the nature of teaching planned. Many patients viewed their general practice as different from hospital and expected greater control over students' presence during their consultations. CONCLUSIONS: Patients' enablement and satisfaction are not impaired by students' participation in consultations. Patients generally support the teaching of student doctors in their general practice but expect to be provided with sufficient information and to have a choice about participation, so they can give informed consent. Recognising this when organising general practice based teaching is important.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Confidence in crisis? Understanding trust in government and public attitudes toward mandatory state health powers.

In response to the possibility of a bioterror attack using smallpox, many states have updated and revised their current public health laws in line with the Model Act, which would effectively give states the right to invoke mandatory state health powers, such as quarantine or vaccine. Previous studies have supported the importance of allying with the public in creating and implementing effective bioterror response policies. Historical case studies and recent research suggest that when the public is not supportive of government health policies, they may be less willing to comply. In this study we analyze a recent survey to determine the effects of a set of variables, including aspects of trust in government that have been found in previous studies to influence public opposition to compulsory government health policies, on opinions about compulsory vaccination and quarantine.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Next generation autonomous wheelchair control.

Often times the physically challenged, limited to a wheelchair, also have difficulty with vision. In order to help, something must "see" for them. Therefore there must be some way for a wheelchair to know its environment, sense where it is, and where it must go. It also must be able to avoid any obstacles which are not normally part of the environment. An autonomous wheelchair will serve an important role by allowing users more freedom and independence. This design challenge is broken into four major steps: wheelchair control, environment recognition, route planning, and obstacle avoidance. The first step is to reverse engineer a wheelchair and rebuild the controls, which will be the main topic of discussion for this paper. Two big challenges with this step are high power motor control and joystick control. An H-bridge motor interface, controlled by a microprocessor, was designed for the motors. The joystick control is handled with the same microprocessor.

Artificial Intelligence↗
PubMed2003

Marrying content and process in clinical method teaching: enhancing the Calgary-Cambridge guides.

Communication skills training is now internationally accepted as an essential component of medical education. However, learners and teachers in communication skills programs continue to experience problems integrating communication with other clinical skills, ensuring that clinical faculty support and teach communication beyond the formal communication course, extending communication training coherently into clerkship and residency, and applying communication skills in medical practice at a professional level of competence. One factor contributing to these problems is that learners confront two apparently conflicting models of the medical interview: a communication model describing the process of the interview and the "traditional medical history" describing the content of the interview. The resulting confusion exacerbates the above dilemmas and interferes with learners using communication skills training to advantage in real-life practice. The authors propose a comprehensive clinical method that explicitly integrates traditional clinical method with effective communication skills. To implement this more comprehensive approach, they have modified their own Calgary-Cambridge guides to the medical interview by developing three diagrams that visually and conceptually improve the way communication skills teaching is introduced and that place communication process skills within a comprehensive clinical method; devising a content guide for medical interviewing that is more closely aligned with the structure and process skills used in communication skills training; and incorporating patient-centered medicine into both process and content aspects of the medical interview. These enhancements help resolve ongoing difficulties associated with both teaching communication skills and applying them effectively in medical practice.

Clinical Medicine↗
PubMed2002

Patients' decisions about whether or not to take antihypertensive drugs: qualitative study.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the ways in which patients taking antihypertensive drugs balance reservations against reasons for taking them. DESIGN: Qualitative study using detailed interviews. SETTING: Two urban general practices in the United Kingdom. PARTICIPANTS: Maximum variety sample of 38 interviewees receiving repeat prescriptions for antihypertensives. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Interviewees' reservations about drugs and reasons for taking antihypertensives. RESULTS: Patients had reservations about drugs generally and reservations about antihypertensives specifically. Reasons for taking antihypertensive drugs comprised positive experiences with doctors, perceived benefits of medication, and pragmatic considerations. Patients weighed their reservations against reasons for taking antihypertensives in a way that made sense for them personally. Some individual patients weighed different reservations against different reasons for taking antihypertensives. CONCLUSIONS: Patients' ideas may derive from considerations unrelated to the drugs' pharmacology. Doctors who want their patients to make well informed choices about antihypertensives and to reach concordant decisions about prescribing should explore how individuals strike this balance, to personalise discussion of drug use.

Adult↗