Biomedical subjects

Karen Basen-Engquist

Publications and source records attributed to Karen Basen-Engquist.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed2003

School-year employment among high school students: effects on academic, social, and physical functioning.

This study describes the effects of different weekly work intensity levels on adolescent functioning in a sample of 3,083 high school students in rural South Texas, where economically disadvantaged and Hispanic youth are heavily represented. Anonymous surveys were conducted in 10th- and 12th-grade students' classrooms in 1995. The following effects were associated with long hours of weekly employment during the school year: (1) decreased performance/engagement in school and satisfaction with amount of leisure time, and (2) increased health risk behaviors and psychological stress. The effects of school-year work on academic factors and health behaviors differed by grade, but not by race/ethnicity, parent education, or race/ethnicity and parent education considered together. It was concluded that parents and professionals should continue to monitor the number of weekly hours that students work during the school year.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Patient preferences regarding side effects of chemotherapy for ovarian cancer: do they change over time?

OBJECTIVE: The goals of this study were to: (1) systematically evaluate patient preferences regarding side effects of high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell support for treatment of advanced ovarian cancer; and (2) assess whether patients' preferences changed over time. METHODS: Forty patients with stage III or IV disease were enrolled in this study. Patients' preferences regarding 12 health states (side effects) were assessed using visual analogue scale (VAS) and time trade-off (TTO) methods during mobilization chemotherapy (T(1)) and 6-7 weeks later after high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplant (T(2)). Each assessment involved a 45-min interview conducted at the patient's bedside. RESULTS: The three most preferred health states were no evidence of disease (NED), a chemotherapy with few or no side effects, and alopecia, while the least preferred health states were chemotherapy with multiple severe side effects, hepatotoxicity, and nausea and vomiting. These results were observed at both T(1) and T(2) using both preference assessment methods. Pancytopenia scores significantly increased from T(1) to T(2) using the VAS method (P < 0.05), but decreased using the TTO method. CONCLUSIONS: Chemotherapy-experienced women with ovarian cancer have consistent preferences for the best and worst health states associated with the side effects of chemotherapy. Patients are more averse to nausea and vomiting than many other symptoms. Women's perceptions of pancytopenia may be dependent upon the number of prior cycles of chemotherapy and site of care for anemia, thrombocytopenia, and febrile neutropenia.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Predictors of breast and cervical screening in Vietnamese women in Harris County, Houston, Texas.

The Vietnamese are a quickly growing, important part of the Texas population. Breast cancer is known to have different biologic characteristics in Vietnamese women. In order to develop appropriate intervention and screening strategies, we conducted a study of barriers to cervical and breast screening in Vietnamese women in Harris County, Tex. Our objective was to characterize the demographic factors, beliefs, and barriers to cervical and breast cancer screening in our study population and test the effect of these on Papanicolaou test, breast self-examination (BSE), medical breast examination (MBE), and mammography use. The Health Belief Model Scales for Measuring Beliefs Related to Breast Cancer (Champion VL, Nursing Research 1993;42:139-143) was the framework used to assess attitudes regarding risk of breast cancer and to design a component assessing risk of cervical cancer. The questionnaire addressed susceptibility, seriousness, benefits, barriers, and health about screening for breast and cervical cancer. It was translated into Vietnamese and back-translated into English prior to use. The questionnaire was mailed to Harris County residents. Those returned were entered into a database. The data were analyzed for validity using Chronbach's alpha. Simple descriptive analyses and nominal logistic regression identified predictors of Papanicolaou test, BSE, MBE, and mammography use. Twelve hundred surveys were mailed out to Vietnamese women using the telephone directory and the church directories in Harris County; 209 were returned and entered into the database. Of the respondents, 67% had ever received a Papanicolaou test; of these, 89% had received a Papanicolaou test within the past year; 55% of respondents had performed a BSE, 45% of patients received an MBE, and 45% of respondents had ever received a mammogram (15% of respondents had a mammogram during the previous year). The most significant predictors of Papanicolaou test, BSE, MBE, and mammography use were marital status (being married), high educational level, lack of barriers, a family history of the cancer, older age, and increased perception of seriousness. Compared to other studies of Vietnamese women, the women in Texas are among the highest users of the Papanicolaou test, BSE, MBE, and mammography. Barriers and incentives to breast and cervical screening were similar to those in other studies.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Optimism, distress, health-related quality of life, and change in cancer antigen 125 among patients with ovarian cancer undergoing chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated whether situational and dispositional optimism were protective against dimensions of distress and aspects of health-related quality of life (HQoL) in patients with ovarian cancer undergoing chemotherapy. This study also evaluated whether optimism predicted a decrease in cancer antigen (CA) 125 levels during treatment. METHODS: Ninety women with epithelial ovarian cancer were assessed at the start and end of chemotherapy. Optimism, distress, and HQoL were measured by self-report; CA 125 levels were gathered from patients' medical charts. RESULTS: Both measures of optimism were inversely associated with baseline anxiety, perceived stress, and depression. In addition, situational optimism was positively associated with baseline social and physical well-being, and dispositional optimism was positively associated with baseline social and functional well-being. However, neither measure of optimism predicted domains of distress or HQoL at the follow-up assessment after controlling for baseline levels. Dispositional optimism predicted CA 125 at the end of treatment after controlling for baseline levels. However, neither situational nor dispositional optimism predicted CA 125 falling to normal levels (< or =35 U/mL). CONCLUSION: Consistent with prior research, optimism was inversely associated with distress and positively associated with HQoL in patients with ovarian cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Higher levels of dispositional optimism at the start of chemotherapy were associated with a greater decline in patients' CA 125 during treatment.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Collecting direct non-health care and time cost data: application to screening and diagnosis of cervical cancer.

BACKGROUND: Data on direct non-health care and time costs are rarely collected, though the incorporation of such data is essential for performing cost-effectiveness analyses according to established guidelines. OBJECTIVES: To explore the challenges involved in collecting and analyzing these data from patients enrolled in a clinical trial. METHODS: Through the use of a pilot study, the authors designed a questionnaire to collect these costs. They used this questionnaire in a clinical trial conducted at a comprehensive cancer center and a public community hospital. Patients in the trial were undergoing screening or diagnostic procedures through a clinical protocol designed to measure the effectiveness of fluorescence and reflectance spectroscopy for detecting cervical precancers. Direct non-health care costs were adjusted to 2003 constant dollars. RESULTS: The authors successfully collected direct non-health care and time cost data, thus demonstrating the feasibility of acquiring such data. Compared to patients receiving diagnostic services for cervical cancer, those receiving screening services for the same condition in both settings incurred lower direct non-health care costs and time costs, as defined in the questionnaire. Compared to patients receiving either service at the comprehensive cancer center, those seeking either service at the public community hospital incurred lower direct non-health care costs and time costs. When outliers were removed, total direct non-health care costs and time costs substantially decreased for diagnostic patients in the comprehensive cancer center; total direct non-health care costs and time costs for other subgroups remained essentially unchanged. CONCLUSIONS: Direct non-health care and time cost data can be collected within a large-scale clinical trial. The setting (community v. specialty hospital) and population (patients receiving screening v. diagnostic examination) makes a difference regarding the cost totals. The order of magnitude of the final result depends on the context in which the non-health care and time cost data will be used.

Adult↗