PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

K L Olson

Publications and source records attributed to K L Olson.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Promotion of breast cancer screening in communities: a research agenda.

This paper used the National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC) cancer control framework to review research on participation in breast cancer screening programs and identify areas for further study. Cancer Lit, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Sociofile, Health and the Public Affairs Information Service databases were searched for literature published from 1990 to 1995. Information was also obtained from provincial breast cancer screening programs and Health Canada. Interventions designed to promote participation in screening programs have not been effective. Involvement of the target community, however, increased success and sustainability. Barriers to initial participation within screening programs include alternative sources of screening and the lack of funds to screen all eligible women. Studies show that participation decreases with successive screening rounds. The priorities for study are development of: a theoretical framework for recruitment strategies, a method to capture all Canadian screening results including those performed through provincial health insurance plans and a mechanism to deliver screening to all eligible Canadian women.

Academies and Institutes

Intravenous therapy needle choices in ambulatory cancer patients.

The purpose of this research utilization project was to evaluate a set of research-based decision rules designed to guide needle choice for peripheral intravenous (i.v.) therapy in ambulatory cancer patients. A consecutive series of 100 patients receiving i.v. therapy for one day were assigned to receive either a plastic catheter or a steel needle using the decision rules based on age, weight, vein condition, solution to be administered, and infusion volume, and were evaluated for phlebitis, local or systemic infection, and extravasation. None of the patients experienced phlebitis or infection, and a 25% cost savings ($6,800 Canadian) was obtained. Two patients (5%) from the "steel needle group" experienced an extravasation of 5FU but neither required treatment nor experienced changes to subsequent peripheral i.v. therapy. Our nursing procedure for initiation of i.v. therapy has been changed to reflect the needle choice decision rules evaluated in this project.

Ambulatory Care

Quality of prenatal care; selected social, behavioral, and biomedical factors; and birth weight.

Two hundred two poor, mainly black women were studied to assess the effects of selected social, behavioral, and biologic factors on birth weight. A path analysis was used to model hypotheses about the interrelationships among these variables. Six sociocultural factors had direct paths to quality of prenatal care: amount of insurance, delay in telling others about the pregnancy, attitudes toward health professionals, month of gestation in which the pregnancy was suspected, perception of the importance of prenatal care, and initial attitude toward the pregnancy. Together, these factors accounted for 64% of the variance in the quality of prenatal care received. Four variables had direct paths to birth weight: month in which the pregnancy was suspected, quality of prenatal care, hypertension, and substance abuse, which together accounted for 13% of the variance in birth weight. The key findings were the relative impact that the quality of prenatal care, especially the source of care, had on birth weight, and the potential for improving birth outcomes by addressing the negative effects of underlying social factors.

Attitude

Effects of naloxone on ethanol dependence in rats.

Adult male Long-Evans rats were maintained on an ethanol-containing liquid diet. During development of ethanol dependence, the rats were given daily i.p. injections of either naloxone (2 mg/kg) or saline daily. At the beginning of ethanol withdrawal, the rats were injected with either naloxone (10 mg/kg) or saline i.p. Rats injected with naloxone during the development of ethanol dependence consumed significantly more of the ethanol diet and therefore more ethanol than rats injected with saline. Rats treated with naloxone throughout both the development of ethanol dependence and during ethanol-withdrawal showed delayed or reduced withdrawal symptomatology compared to rats injected with only saline, naloxone only during the development of dependence and naloxone only during ethanol withdrawal. These results indicate that naloxone can alter the effects of chronic ethanol exposure and further suggest that ethanol may exert some of its actions via the brain opioid system.

Alcohol Drinking

Behavioral effects on juvenile rats from perinatal exposure to low levels of toxaphene, and its toxic components, toxicant A, and toxicant B.

Behavioral effects of toxaphene, and its toxic components, toxicant A and toxicant B, were studied by perinatally exposing juvenile rats. Toxaphene was given daily to pregnant rats (and their offspring) at 50 microgram/kg body weight via their diet. The daily dietary levels of toxicants A and B were 2.0 microgram/kg body weight. Behavioral tests were performed on the offspring. All rats fed toxaphene, as well as toxicants A and B, showed retarded maturation as judged by the swimming test during their early development. However, the treated rats eventually attained normal swimming ability. The maze retention test demonstrated significant differences between the toxicant A group and all other groups. The toxicant A animals had no difficulty in learning the test problems but were inferior to the other groups in retaining that knowledge.

Aging

Phosphazenes: high molecular weight reference compounds for field desorption mass spectrometry.

Because of poor field ionization sensitivity or an insufficient number of peaks, conventional reference materials are inadequate for field desorption mass spectrometry. Hexakis (multifluoroalkoxy)cyclotriphosphazenes satisfy a growing need for high molecular weight reference compounds amenable to either electron impact or field ionization. In comparison with tris(perfluoroalkyl)-s-triazine standards, the substituted phosphazenes offer greater volatility, easier synthesis and better mass spectral characteristics. Phosphazene mixtures, in particular, cover a broad mass range in either ionization mode, creating new measurement capabilities for ions at high masses.

Chromatography, Gas

Explaining breast self-examination practice.

Research efforts to discover why women do or do not perform breast self-examination (BSE) have produced contradictory findings with poor explanatory power. In this study, ethnoscience was used to elicit the perceptions of women who perform BSE and of those who do not. The components of the emerging taxonomies are broader than those currently thought to be associated with this practice. A new model (BSE frequency model) explaining compliance with BSE was developed.

Adult