Biomedical subjects

Juan Carlos Martín

Publications and source records attributed to Juan Carlos Martín.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Outcome evaluation of a community center-based program for mothers at high psychosocial risk.

OBJECTIVE: This study reported the outcome evaluation of the "Apoyo Personal y Familiar" (APF) program for poorly-educated mothers from multi-problem families, showing inadequate behavior with their children. APF is a community-based multi-site program delivered through weekly group meetings in municipal resource centers. METHOD: A total of 340 mothers referred by the municipal social services of Tenerife, Spain were assessed; 185 mothers participated in the APF program that lasted 8 months, and 155 mothers were in the control group. Pre-post test comparisons for the intervention group and post-test comparisons with the control group on self-rating measures of maternal beliefs, personal agency and child-rearing practices were performed. Multivariate tests, t tests and effect sizes (ES) were calculated to determine the program effectiveness on the outcome measures. RESULTS: Mothers' support of nurturist and nativist beliefs and the reported use of Neglect-permissive and Coercive practices significantly decreased after program completion whereas the reported use of Inductive practices significantly increased. Increases in self-efficacy, internal control and role difficulty were also significant in relation to those of the control group. The program was especially effective for older mothers, with fewer children, living in a two-parent family, in urban areas and with either low or medium educational levels. CONCLUSION: The program was very effective in changing the mothers' perceived competences and modestly effective in changing their beliefs about child development and education and reported child-rearing practices. Changes in personal agency are very important for at-risk parents who feel helpless and with no control over their lives.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Preliminary evidence of striatal D2 receptor density as a possible biological marker of prognosis in naive schizophrenic patients.

UNLABELLED: With the aim of investigating a possible biological marker of prognosis in schizophrenia, the relationship between striatal dopaminergic D2 receptor (D2R) density and clinical prognostic factors was studied in an initial sample of nine neuroleptic-naive schizophrenic patients. Previous psychosocial adaptation was evaluated by means of the Premorbid Adjustment Scale (PAS). Based on the four DSM-IV criteria in schizophreniform disorder for good prognosis, patients were divided in two groups: good prognosis if > or =2 criteria were met (n=5) and poor prognosis if <2 criteria were met (n=4). D2R density was assessed by means of 123I-IBZM single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and striatum/occipital uptake ratios (S/O). S/O ratios previously obtained from a control group of nine age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers were used for comparison. RESULTS: Patients with poor prognosis showed a higher S/O ratio (mean=1.94, range=1.93-1.98) than patients with good prognosis (mean=1.64, range=1.52-1.79) and the control group (mean=1.69, range=1.51-1.85) [analysis of variance (ANOVA) F=10.628, df=2, P=.001, post hoc Scheffé P<.005]. PAS scores were significantly different between patients with good and poor prognosis (40+/-9.39 vs. 84.25+/-26, Mann-Whitney U-test P=.014). A direct correlation of S/O ratios with PAS scores was found (Spearman r=.72, P=.028). CONCLUSIONS: Striatal D2R density in naive schizophrenic patients may be related to DSM-IV prognostic factors and premorbid adjustment criteria (PAS). If these preliminary results are confirmed, striatal D2R density might predict premorbid and clinical features associated with poor prognosis in neuroleptic-naive patients.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Impact of data encoding and thyroids dysfunctions.

In medical environments it is usual to previously encode some variables following medical criteria. In the context of thyroids dysfunctions, the levels of the hormones T3, T4 or TSH are usually treated as low, normal or high instead of using their numerical form, and this is a very common practice in other items. In medical environments it is also frequent to need a clustering process to analyze data. Clus-tering algorithms use always some distance or similarity coefficient to decide which elements have to be grouped in a cluster. The nature of the data determines which distance/similarity can be used, and can change results. In this paper, the impact of preprocessing numerical levels of hormones into categorical labels for clustering is studied, by means of a real sample of patients from a Hospital in Zagreb (Croatia).

Algorithms↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Impact of chronic hepatitis C on HIV-1 disease progression.

BACKGROUND: Although there is clear evidence of an accelerated progression of liver fibrosis in HIV-positive patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, it is unclear whether HCV infection may influence HIV-1 disease progression. We have analyzed the impact of HCV on CD4 counts and plasma HIV RNA in a large group of HIV-positive individuals. METHOD: Epidemiological data, CD4 counts, and plasma HIV RNA values were recorded from 902 consecutive HIV-1-positive persons who attended our institution since 1998. RESULTS: HCV infection was documented (antibodies and/or HCV RNA) in 72% of the total study population. The higher rates were seen among intravenous drug users (97%) compared to other groups (17% in homosexual men, 23% in patients who acquired HIV heterosexually). In a cross-sectional analysis performed at the first trimester of 2000, the mean CD4 count was lower among HCV-positive than among HCV-negative individuals (518 +/- 282 cells/microL vs. 620 +/- 302 cells/microL; p <.001). The mean plasma HIV RNA was 11,188 +/- 55,301 copies/mL in HCV-positive persons versus 6,352 +/- 32,152 copies/mL in HCV-negative persons (p =.03). Undetectable plasma HIV RNA (<50 copies/mL) was recognized in 54% of HCV-positive persons versus 64% of HCV negative persons (p =.04); a similar proportion of patients in each group was on antiretroviral therapy (90% vs. 93%) or HAART (86% vs. 89%). When comparing data from 1998 and 2000, the CD4 count increased an average of 53 cells/microL (11%) in HCV-positive persons versus 111 (19%) in HIV-negative persons during this 2-year interval (p <.05). Plasma HIV RNA on average declined 606 copies/mL (5%) in HCV-positive persons versus 5,788 copies/mL (54%) in HCV-negative persons (p <.05). A significant association between HCV infection and CD4 counts was recognized in the multivariate analysis, which was independent of gender, age, plasma HIV RNA, use of HAART, and adherence to therapy. In contrast, no significant effect of HCV on HIV RNA was found. CONCLUSION: Hepatitis C may be associated with a poor immunologic outcome in HIV-infected persons. This worst influence is not explained by a lower rate of antiretroviral therapy among HCV-positive persons nor a much poorer drug adherence in this population. Therefore, hepatitis C may act as a direct cofactor for HIV disease progression. If so, treatment of chronic hepatitis C might indirectly benefit HIV disease.

Adult↗