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Biomedical subjects

Kenneth A Lawson

Publications and source records attributed to Kenneth A Lawson.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Pharmacy students' learning styles before and after a problem-based learning experience.

OBJECTIVES: To determine learning-style scores of second-year pharmacy students before and after a problem-based learning (PBL) teaching experience and to evaluate the relationships between scores and demographic variables. METHODS: The Grasha-Reichmann Student Learning Style Scale (GRSLSS) was given to pharmacotherapy laboratory students before and after a semester-long problem-based learning class. RESULTS: Only one of the GRSLSS score variables was reported as "high" ("collaborative") and none were reported as "low." Students' "avoidant" mean score increased and "participant" mean score decreased after completing the PBL experience (p < or = 0.05). CONCLUSION: While PBL appears to be a teaching style that is conducive to the learning preferences of this cohort of pharmacy students, significant changes in learning styles were noted after completing the PBL experience. These changes may reflect difficulties that occurred in adapting from a didactic teaching style to PBL, and specifically, difficulties in adjusting to participating in a group learning experience. A major limitation was that the teaching style of the facilitator was not measured.

Educational Measurement↗
PubMed2006

Temporal relationship between use of NSAIDs, including selective COX-2 inhibitors, and cardiovascular risk.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The search for NSAIDs with less gastrointestinal toxicity led to the introduction of the selective cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors. However, following their introduction into the market, concerns have developed regarding their safety, particularly their cardiovascular safety. The purpose of this study was to assess the cardiovascular risk (events included were myocardial infarction, stroke and myocardial infarction-related deaths) associated with long-term (>180 days of exposure) and short-term ( or=35 years of age who received celecoxib, rofecoxib, ibuprofen, etodolac and naproxen from 1 January 1999 through 31 December 2001, were included. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard models were used to analyse the relationship between cardiovascular risk and NSAID use, including selective COX-2 inhibitor use, while adjusting for various risk factors. RESULTS: We identified 12 188 exposure periods (11 930 persons) and 146 cardiovascular events over the entire study period. Compared with long-term ibuprofen use, long-term use of celecoxib (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 3.64; 95% CI 1.36, 9.70) and rofecoxib (adjusted HR 6.64; 95% CI 2.17, 20.28) was associated with a significant increase in cardiovascular risk. When restricted to patients >or=65 years of age, the cardiovascular risks associated with long-term celecoxib (adjusted HR 7.36; 95% CI 1.62, 33.48) and rofecoxib (adjusted HR 13.24; 95% CI 2.59, 67.68) use increased. Short-term use of celecoxib (adjusted HR 0.75; 95% CI 0.42, 1.35) and rofecoxib (adjusted HR 0.85; 95% CI 0.39, 1.86) was not associated with any significant change in cardiovascular risk when compared with short-term ibuprofen use. Neither long- nor short-term exposure to naproxen and etodolac was associated with cardionegative or cardioprotective effects when compared with ibuprofen use. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this observational study, along with recent clinical trial results, suggest that prolonged exposure to selective COX-2 inhibitors may be associated with an increased risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2004

Educating treatment professionals about addiction science research: demographics of knowledge and belief changes.

Communication of accurate, objective, and timely scientific information to treatment professionals is important--especially in the "drug abuse" and addiction field where misinformation and a lack of exposure to new information are common. The purpose of this study was to assess knowledge and belief changes that accompanied educational workshops (3 or 6 hr-long) on addiction science targeted to treatment professionals (N=1403) given in the United States and Puerto Rico between July 2000 and August 2001. Each workshop covered three main concepts: (1) terms and definitions; (2) basic neurochemistry of addiction; and (3) how new neurobiological knowledge will affect the treatment of addictions in the future. Analysis of variance was used to compare mean pretest to posttest change scores among levels of four independent variables: gender, age, occupation/position, and race/ethnicity. Workshop participants achieved a significant improvement in knowledge about addiction with younger groups achieving greater gains. Participants' beliefs shifted in the desired direction. Significant differences in belief shifts occurred among occupational and gender groups, but not among race/ethnicity or age groups. There was also a consistent change in the policy belief subscale that related to how strongly the audience members believed research on addiction was important. We conclude that addiction science education provided to treatment professionals can increase their knowledge and change their beliefs about the causes of addictions. In addition, the workshop participants form a base of constituents who are likely to support greater addiction research funding.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Trends in medical use and abuse of sustained-release opioid analgesics: a revisit.

OBJECTIVE: Previous literature suggests that increases in the medical use of opioids over the early 1990s did not contribute to increased morbidity secondary to opioid abuse. Our objective was to evaluate the period 1997-2001 to analyze trends in medical use and medical abuse of three classes of opioid analgesics that are commonly used in sustained-release formulations: fentanyl, morphine, and oxycodone. DESIGN AND SETTING: A retrospective analysis of the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) database and the Automation of Reports and Consolidated Orders System (ARCOS) database for the years 1997-2001 was used for this study. RESULTS: The analysis of the DAWN database showed that there was an 83.5% increase in all opioid analgesic mentions from 1997 to 2001. Mentions involving any fentanyl compound increased 249.8%, any morphine compound increased 161.8%, and any oxycodone-containing compound increased 267.3%. Mentions of each of these three classes of opioids remained less than 2% of all total drug mentions per year for each year studied. Medical use of the selected opioid classes, as reported in the ARCOS database and measured by grams distributed, all increased substantially (fentanyl 151.2%, morphine 48.8%, oxycodone 347.9%). CONCLUSION: Using this method of analysis, the rates of drug abuse, and resultant morbidity secondary to the use of opioid analgesics, remain low in spite of the increase in medical use of these substances.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Effectiveness of addiction science presentations to treatment professionals, using a modified Solomon study design.

OBJECTIVES: Knowledge of addiction research findings is critical for healthcare professionals who treat addicted patients. However, there is little information available about the instructional effectiveness of lecture-slide presentations in changing knowledge vs. beliefs of such professionals. DESIGN: A modified Solomon four-group experimental design was used to assess the instructional effectiveness (knowledge gain vs. belief changes) of three-hour addiction science workshops presented to health-care professionals by neurobiologically-trained academic researchers. Effectiveness of the workshops was assessed by a 28-item questionnaire on participant versus control group knowledge/beliefs on addiction. Six-month follow-up questionnaires measured "retention" of knowledge and belief changes. RESULTS: The workshop participants showed significant knowledge gain and belief changes, whereas the two control groups showed no change in knowledge or beliefs. After six months, knowledge gains decreased, but were still higher than pre-test scores. In contrast, belief changes on three subscales persisted over six months in 40 to 52 percent of the subjects. CONCLUSIONS: These results illustrate a successful continuing education model by which academic researchers who are skilled teachers present a three-hour lecture-slide workshop with extensive question-and-answer sessions on addictions. We conclude that motivated health-care professionals can experience important knowledge gains and belief changes by participating in such workshops. In contrast to the transient retention of knowledge, belief changes persisted surprisingly well for at least six months in about half the subjects. These results suggest that long-term changes in the professional orientation of these health-care workers are possible.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Relationship between direct-to-consumer advertising and physician diagnosing and prescribing.

The relationships between direct-to-consumer advertising expenditures and the monthly frequencies of diagnoses and prescriptions written associated with the products advertised are examined. The analyses utilized quasi-experimental time-series techniques. Data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and Competitive Media Reporting were used to calculate monthly levels of the dependent and independent variables. The dependent variables included monthly frequencies of diagnoses for the products' FDA-approved indications, medications prescribed within the advertised pharmaceutical class, and medications prescribed for the specific advertised agent. The independent variables included monthly expenditures for advertising each pharmaceutical class and each specific agent. Several significant monthly relationships were found. The diagnoses of hyperlipidemia (p = 0.008) and the number of prescriptions written for antilipemics (p = 0.003) were positively associated with the advertising expenditure for antilipemics. The number of prescriptions written for Claritin (p = 0.004) and Zocor (p < 0.001) was positively related to the advertising expenditure for their respective pharmaceutical classes; the amount of prescriptions written for Hismanal (p = 0.007), Seldane (p < 0.001), and Zantac (p = 0.004) was negatively related to the advertising expenditure for their respective pharmaceutical classes. The number of prescriptions written for Claritin (p = 0.005) and Zocor (p < 0.001) was positively related to the advertising expenditure for each specific product; the amount of prescriptions written for Hismanal (p = 0.049) was negatively associated with the amount of money spent specifically advertising the agent. No significant associations were found in antihypertensive drugs and drugs to treat benign prostatic hypertrophy. The results of the analyses suggest that the direct-to-consumer advertising expenditure is associated with physician diagnosing and physician prescribing for certain drugs and drug classes.

Advertising↗