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L Downey

Publications and source records attributed to L Downey.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

Adolescent enrollees in Medicaid managed care: the provision of well care and sexual health assessment.

PURPOSE: (1) To estimate the proportion of adolescents receiving outpatient care, well care, and sexual health assessment during 12 months of continuous enrollment in Medicaid managed care. (2) To investigate factors associated with provision of these categories of service. METHODS: Chart reviews were completed for a statewide random sample of adolescent Medicaid enrollees in Washington State. Multivariate logistic regression models included age, gender, race, language, residence, enrollment plan, and service level as independent variables. Dependent variables were receipt of outpatient care, well care, and sexual health assessment. RESULTS: Of 2000 enrollees' records, 78.3% provided evidence of outpatient service, 30.5% included well care, and 20.8% documented a sexual health assessment. Among adolescents who obtained service, younger enrollees and non-Whites were more likely to receive well care; females, older enrollees, and those with well care were more likely to have sexual health assessments. Use of standardized charting tools increased the likelihood that sexual health assessments would be documented. The variable most strongly associated with provision of outpatient service was plan of enrollment. Plan rankings on provision of outpatient care were not associated with organizational descriptions, such as for-profit status or plan structure. CONCLUSION: The low rates of well care and sexual health assessment documented for adolescents in Medicaid managed care suggest that interventions are needed.

Adolescent↗

Attrition prevention with individuals awaiting publicly funded drug treatment.

AIMS: To evaluate the effectiveness of a motivational intervention to reduce attrition from a waiting list for substance abusers seeking publicly funded treatment. DESIGN: Randomized clinical trial comparing an "attrition prevention" condition to standard care while awaiting treatment admission. SETTING: A centralized substance abuse assessment and referral center in Seattle, Washington. PARTICIPANTS: Substance abusers (n = 654) eligible for publicly funded drug abuse treatment. MEASUREMENTS: Alcohol and drug use, substance-related negative consequences, areas in need of help, perceived need for help, emotional status, readiness to change, reasons for seeking and perceived barriers to entering treatment. FINDINGS: Overall, approximately 70% of clients entered treatment, and of these approximately 70% completed their assigned treatment. Those who entered treatment showed significant reductions in substance use and improved psychosocial function at a short-term 3-month follow-up. However, the attrition prevention intervention had no differential effect on treatment entry, completion or outcome compared to the standard waiting list. Further, there were no differences across therapists on these outcome measures. CONCLUSIONS: A motivational attrition prevention intervention did not enhance treatment entry, completion or outcome among treatment-seeking substance abusers. It is suggested that alternative strategies, such as contingency management and case management, may help facilitate treatment entry for individuals seeking publicly funded treatment.

Adolescent↗

Herpes simplex virus type 1 as a cause of genital herpes: impact on surveillance and prevention.

This study compared characteristics of patients who had herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 with characteristics of patients who had HSV-2, by use of data from a cross-sectional analysis. Data were collected in an urban sexually transmitted diseases clinic from patients who had positive genital HSV cultures. Overall, 17.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 14.9%-19.3%) of 1145 genital HSV isolates obtained during 1993-1997 were HSV-1. The proportion of HSV-1 among initial genital herpes infections was higher among men who had sex with men (46.9%) than among women (21.4%) and was lowest among heterosexual men (14.6%). White race (odds ratio [OR], 3.7; 95% CI, 2.3-5.9) and receptive oral sex in the preceding 2 months (OR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.9-4.3) significantly increased the odds that initial infections were HSV-1 rather than HSV-2. Genital HSV-1 may often be acquired through contact with a partner's mouth. These data suggest that seroprevalence studies based solely on HSV-2 type-specific assays underestimate overall prevalence of genital HSV infection.

Adult↗

"I already stopped": abstinence prior to treatment.

AIMS: To determine pre-treatment abstinence rates among treatment seekers and identify factors associated with pre-treatment abstinence. To evaluate the association between pre-treatment abstinence and subsequent outcome. DESIGN: An observational study using data collected for a randomized, experimental design. SETTING: Conducted with participants immediately after assessment for publicly funded substance abuse treatment at the King County Assessment Center (KCAC) in Seattle. PARTICIPANTS: People referred for outpatient or inpatient treatment by KCAC who had illicit drug use in the previous 90 days (N = 565). Participants waited a median of 12 days (range = 0-108 days) until either treatment entry or waiting-list dropout. MEASUREMENTS: A modified Drug History Questionnaire quantified drug use at baseline, treatment entry or waiting-list dropout and 3 months later. Other measurement methods: Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale, participant confidence ratings and KCAC chart review. FINDINGS: Sample-wide, 45% of participants reported abstinence from initial assessment to when they entered or failed to enter treatment. Higher rates of abstinence were associated with shorter waiting periods, less substance use prior to initial assessment and higher scores on change readiness. Pre-treatment abstinence was not associated with either treatment entry or completion. There was a non-significant trend towards less improvement in substance use with pre-treatment abstinence, with the greatest effect observed for short waits. CONCLUSIONS: Participants can become abstinent prior to treatment, but this is not a good predictor of treatment entry, completion or outcome. A decisional balance strategy may be a more productive use of client and treatment program energy.

Adolescent↗

Relationship between follow-up rates and treatment outcomes in substance abuse research: more is better but when is "enough" enough?

AIMS: To examine the effects of different follow-up rates on estimates of treatment outcome and predictive models thereof, and to specify participant characteristics associated with tracking difficulty. DESIGN: An observational study using data collected for a randomized, experimental design. SETTING: The King County Assessment Center in Seattle, Washington, an organization responsible for referral to publicly funded substance abuse treatment. PARTICIPANTS: Substance-addicted individuals referred to publicly funded inpatient or outpatient treatment. MEASUREMENTS: Standardized self-report instruments measuring substance use, substance use consequences and general functioning. Chart review was used to measure treatment entry and completion. FINDINGS: There was a significant association between follow-up difficulty and outcomes related to addiction treatment and later substance use. However, outcome estimates based on 60% of the sample who were easiest to locate were only minimally different from those based on the 90-100% ultimately captured, and predictive models of outcome based on the 60% group were reasonably similar to those based on the final sample. Of baseline characteristics examined, only age was associated with later tracking difficulty. CONCLUSIONS: Studies reporting follow-up rates below 70% may produce valid findings and study attrition may be largely unpredictable from participant characteristics at baseline. However, a number of factors such as type of population studied, geographical location of the sample, reasons for loss to follow-up and sample size must be considered when attempting to generalize the findings of this study.

Adult↗

Relapse prevention as an interventive model for HIV risk reduction in gay and bisexual men.

Despite considerable self-initiated HIV risk reduction among men who have sex with men, little is known about how to design interventions that will effectively assist individuals from this population in maintaining safer sex behaviors over time. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a 17-session group counseling intervention that incorporated components based on a cognitive-behavioral model of relapse. Differential behavioral outcomes following treatment included an increase in the percentage of sexual activities that were protected and a decrease in unprotected oral sex. However, considerable risk reduction (e.g., increased condom use, decreased unprotected sex, and decreases in the number of male partners and in the total number of sexual acts) occurred in both treated and untreated participants. Measures of mediating attitudinal variables drawn from relapse prevention theory largely predicted behavioral changes. Over time, several of the risk reduction behaviors achieved at posttreatment were not maintained, suggesting the importance of further developing effective strategies for supporting behavior change maintenance.

Adult↗

Improved outcome after rupture of anterior circulation aneurysms: a retrospective 10-year review of 224 good-grade patients.

Several significant diagnostic and therapeutic advances in the management of subarachnoid hemorrhage have emerged during the last 10 years. The present study was undertaken to determine whether these advances have improved overall outcome in patients of low surgical risk and what factors predict outcome. The authors retrospectively reviewed the management of good-grade patients seen at the Harborview Medical Center at the University of Washington, who suffered ruptured anterior circulation aneurysms between 1983 and 1993. The results in this series demonstrate that favorable outcomes occurred in 96.8% of patients designated Hunt and Hess Grade I, 88.3% of those assigned Grade II, and 81.3% of those deemed Grade III after rupture of anterior circulation aneurysms. On the basis of clinical and radiographic factors present at admission, correct prediction can be made about all favorable, but only 17% of unfavorable outcomes. During the decade under investigation, the authors observed a significant (p = 0.002) increase in the number of favorable outcomes: 74.5% of patients treated during the first management period (1983-1987); 87% of patients treated during the second period (1987-1990); and 93.5% of patients treated during the third management period (1990-1993) experienced favorable outcomes. Improvements in critical-care techniques and the management of vasospasm may be associated with the improved outcome observed during this series.

Adult↗

Intergenerational change in sex behavior: a belated look at Kinsey's males.

This article replicates for Kinsey's male sample the decade-of-birth analyses provided in the Kinsey "female volume." Five generations of male respondents are compared in terms of total frequency of sexual activity, and frequency and incidence of nine specific categories of sexual behavior. Inj general, unmarried males born after 1900 experienced more frequent sexual outlet than did nineteenth-century males. Additionally, the proportion of total outlet devoted to various specific activities varied by birth decade. Solitary masturbation rose somewhat spectacularly in significance with the passing decades, while nocturnal emissions and animal contacts declined. Orgasms provided by heterosexual activities increased slightly for the early twentieth-century generations, but then declined to a point below their nineteenth-century levels. Although homosexual contacts accounted for a constant percentage of total outlet for unmarried males over the five generations, more males in each succeeding generation were actively engaging in homosexual activity, at least on a casual basis. Similarly, although heterosexual contacts accounted for a smaller percentage of all activity among the unmarried in later generations, more of the later-born males had engaged in such activity at least once. For married males, on the other hand, frequency of total outlet was unaffected by generation. A large and stable proportion of this outlet was provided by marital coitus. Although more males in later generations had experienced extramarital contacts, such activities accounted for a small and resonably stable proportion of total outlet, when frquency of occurrence was considered. Masturbation gained in significance, while nocturnal emissions and homosexual contacts declined, and animal contacts among the married were almost nonexistent in all generations.

Adolescent↗

Sources of motivation for abstinence: a replication analysis of the reasons for quitting questionnaire.

The Reasons for Quitting Questionnaire (RFQ) as modified by McBride and colleagues (C. M. McBride et al., 1994) for use with substance users other than tobacco smokers, was administered to individuals approved for public-sector addiction treatment. Four motivation dimensions, similar to those found by McBride et al., were identified: self-concept issues, health concerns, legal issues, and social influence. A forced two-component solution yielded dimensions interpretable as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Self-concept issues provided the highest levels of motivation for abstinence in this sample, with moderate levels provided by health concerns, and the lowest levels provided by legal and social influence components. Intrinsic motivation was higher than extrinsic motivation. Logistic regression models, with adjustment for total motivation, tested the association of successful abstinence during a follow-up period with baseline extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, and with the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic levels. All three associations were significant: intrinsic motivation (positive association), extrinsic motivation (negative association), and the difference score (positive association). The results suggest the usefulness of the 20-item modified RFQ in evaluating motivation for abstinence among treatment seekers exhibiting severe negative consequences of addiction. Testing with samples varying in severity of addiction consequences is recommended.

Adolescent↗

To thine own self be true: self-concept and motivation for abstinence among substance abusers.

Individuals approved for public-sector addiction treatment were interviewed regarding their reasons for attempting abstinence. Follow-up interviews were completed 3 to 6 months after participants' removal from county-controlled treatment wait-lists. Rates of continuous self-reported abstinence for 90 days preceding follow-up were positively associated with motivation linked to discrepancies between substance use and self-standards. Characteristics associated with high identity-linked motivation were cocaine preference, a history of reducing self-dissatisfaction through substance use, low rewards and high costs associated with using. and low support for the user identity among significant others. The perception of discrepancies between substance use and self-standards was an effective motivator of abstinence even among those who reported previous use of substances to dampen self-dissatisfaction.

Adult↗