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Biomedical subjects

M Farquhar

Publications and source records attributed to M Farquhar.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Elderly people's definitions of quality of life.

The subject of this paper is the definition and measurement of the concept of quality of life, and questions the operationalization of quality of life simply in terms of health status measures and scales of functional ability. It is based on a review of the literature, and the initial analyses of the first stage of a study designed to identify individual's views of the quality of their lives and to test the relevance of various scales used to measure quality of life. The study focuses on older people living at home in two contrasting areas of south east England, and demonstrates not only that older people can talk about, and do think about, quality of life, but also highlights how quality of life varies for different age groups of the elderly population living at home, in different geographical areas. In addition, early conclusions also indicate that there is more to quality of life than health; indeed, social contacts appear to be as valued components of a good quality of life as health status. This study deals with issues high on the agenda of the current debate on quality of life and its measurement; it has implications for those involved in both quality of life research and in health and social service policy for older people.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1995

Definitions of quality of life: a taxonomy.

Quality of life is of central concern in evaluative research; improved quality of life is probably the most desirable outcome of all health care policies. However, definitions of quality of life are as numerous and inconsistent as the methods of assessing it. Stemming from a larger piece of work looking at the definition and measurement of quality of life, this paper highlights the lack of a consensus definition of quality of life by means of a taxonomy of definitions that emerge from the literature. The paper describes and gives examples of four main types of definition which make up the taxonomy: global (type I); component (type II); focused (type III); and combination definitions (type IV). In addition, an outline of factors influencing the definition of quality of life is given, and an alternative strategy for both defining and measuring the concept (the use of lay definitions) is suggested.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

Changes in life satisfaction over a two and a half year period among very elderly people living in London.

Research evidence concerning the contributions of social networks and support to the subjective wellbeing (i.e. life satisfaction) of older persons is not consistent. This paper reports the results of an investigation of the effects life satisfaction at baseline, social network type and health status, on life satisfaction at follow-up at two and a half years later among people ages 85+ living in the East end of London. The percentage of the total variation in overall life satisfaction which was explained by the model was 47%. Baseline life satisfaction score explained most of this (43%), and the remaining variation was explained largely by functional status and age. Previous analyses of baseline life satisfaction reported that health and functional status had accounted for most of the variation between groups, far more than social network and support variables.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1992

Health beliefs: a cultural division?

Uptake of preventive health programmes seems to be related to people's underlying motivations, attitudes and beliefs about health and illness. Current theories used to account for variance in behaviours by social group (such as the health belief model and locus of control model) explain only some of the variance in these motivations and attitudes, and have not been adequately tested on women from different ethnic minority groups. Health beliefs have important implications for nursing given the role of the nurse in health promotion and patient teaching. This paper identifies and compares the health beliefs of women of Asian origin and white indigenous women living in an inner-London borough, through in-depth semi-structured interviews, and considers the findings in relation to health promotion practices and the role of the nurse. The Asian women rated their health as worse than the white women; this requires further study. Comments and views gathered about the causes of various diseases indicated that it may be unrealistic to fit a person's health beliefs into a distinct model. Beliefs about disease appeared to be culturally sensitive; health education, therefore, must also be culturally sensitive.

Asia↗
PubMed1992

Jewish people and ageing: their emotional well-being, physical health status and use of services.

Little is known about what has been termed cultural gerontology, or the experience of ageing among members of particular ethnic minority groups. One of the greatest gaps in current knowledge relates to the subjective health status and use of health services among elderly people in ethnic minorities, particularly those who are Jewish. The research results reported here are from a survey of elderly people in City and Hackney, London. They show that Jewish respondents were more likely than other elderly people to report problems with emotional well-being, mental and physical health problems and problems with functional ability (tasks of daily living). Jewish respondents were also more likely to use services, particularly health services, than other respondents. The associations with service use generally held when controlling for health status.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1991

Associations with social networks, social support, health status and psychiatric morbidity in three samples of elderly people.

The effects of social network structure, support and physical health status on psychiatric morbidity were investigated among 1415 people over retirement age who took part in three independent but comparable surveys in London (urban area) and Essex (semi rural area). Multivariate analysis showed that the model explained between 14.3% and 28.6% of the variation in psychiatric morbidity in the three samples. Poor health status was a more powerful predictor of psychiatric morbidity than the social network variables. Age and sex contributed little to the model. The model was strongest among the two samples of Hackney respondents.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1991

Use of services in old age: data from three surveys of elderly people.

It has been suggested that home sharers, particularly spouses, act as substitutes for formal health and social care provision. This hypothesis was investigated in relation to three independent samples of elderly people, using comparable methodology in London (urban area) and Essex (semi-rural area). The uniqueness of the study lies in the ability to make comparisons between younger and older elderly people, in particular with those aged 85 and over. Utilisation of health and social services was found to be higher in the urban area, and it increased with age. Marital status was not associated with service use nor with contact with general practitioners in any age group or area. The social network variables analysed had little or no predictive ability in relation to recency of contact with general practitioners (GPs). Household size was associated with total use of health and social services, and social services in particular. The multivariate analysis confirmed that household size was a strong predictor of use of home help and meals on wheels services; functional status was the best predictor of use of district nursing services.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1983

Restriction endonuclease mapping of globin genomic regions of HEL (human erythroleukemia) line.

The restriction endonuclease map of the alpha and beta globin genomic region of the new human erythroleukemia line, HEL, was compared with that of normal human DNA. The HEL line, which produces mainly fetal (G gamma and A gamma) but no adult (delta and beta) globin chains, was shown to have the same pattern of DNA fragments as that of normal human DNA. This suggests that the selective expression of the gamma globin genes observed in HEL cells is not due to a major deletion or rearrangement in the epsilon-G gamma-A gamma-delta-beta gene complex. Thus, the HEL line provides a model for studying the control of globin developmental switching in cells with structurally intact globin gene regions.

Cell Line↗
PubMed1983

Restriction endonuclease mapping of gamma-delta-beta-globin region in G gamma (beta)+ HPFH and a Chinese A gamma HPFH variant.

Restriction endonuclease mapping of the beta-globin genomic region was used for studying the molecular basis of two variants of hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin (HPFH): an African G gamma (beta)+ HPFH and a Chinese HPFH variant with predominant synthesis of A gamma chains. HPFH and control DNA samples were digested with a battery of restriction enzymes, and the fragments were identified by hybridization to a family of discrete probes. DNA fragments from the A gamma HPFH (Chinese) and the G gamma (beta)+ HPFH individuals were identical with those of the normal controls. These findings suggest that the two mutants are the result of small structural anomalies of DNA sequences that play a role in the regulation of the expression of gamma-globin genes.

Chromosome Mapping↗
PubMed1983

Monoclonal antibodies specific for globin chains.

Six monoclonal antibodies specific for human globin chains are described. They are produced by stable clones obtained by raising hybridomas using cells of mice immunized with either adult or fetal hemoglobin. Characterization of the antibodies included testing against tetrameric human and other animal hemoglobins, isolated hemoglobin chains, and when indicated, cyanogen bromide fragments. Monoclonals 16-2 and 37-8 are beta-chain specific. Antibody 31-2 recognizes an antigenic determinant common to the alpha and beta subunits. Monoclonal 30-3 recognizes determinants best expressed in the alpha 2 beta 2 tetramer. Antibody 45-1 recognizes a determinant common to beta and gamma subunits, while antibody 51-7 is gamma-chain specific. None of the monoclonal antibodies recognizes mouse hemoglobin, and they display significant differences in binding to hemoglobins of various species. The species-specific reactions and the knowledge of the primary structures of globins allowed deductions about the antigenic sites recognized by two of the monoclonals (16-2 and 45-1). These antihemoglobin monoclonal antibodies will provide useful probes for studying hemoglobin expression in vivo and in vitro.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Mapping of antigenic sites on human haemoglobin by means of monoclonal antibodies and haemoglobin variants.

Monoclonal antibodies specific for human globin chains have been prepared and the following strategy has been applied in delimiting the antigenic sites involved in antibody binding. The structural sites of the human globin subunit that might be recognised by the monoclonal antibody were deduced from comparisons of the primary structures of mammalian globin chains that did or did not react with the antibody. The involvement of individual residues at these specific sites was subsequently tested by reacting the antibody with abnormal human haemoglobins in which there was either a substitution or a deletion of one of the residues in question. The primary structural site recognised by monoclonal antibody HuHb beta 3-2(an antibody that reacts with the adult haemoglobins from man and macaque monkey, but not with those from baboon and mouse) includes the aspartic acid residue at position 52 of the beta-globin subunit.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Elderly people's use of services: a survey.

This article describes some of the findings of a longitudinal survey of three samples of older people living at home in East London and Mid Essex. It describes the service use and need for community services of the three samples at their baseline interviews, and then looks at how their patterns of use and need changed by the time of their follow-up interviews. It shows that older people are generally using services appropriately, but that there are still unmet needs. Service use was found to increase with age as health and functional ability declined. Further findings will be published shortly.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Functional ability of very elderly people.

This article, which expands on the research discussed four weeks ago in Nursing Standard, describes the circumstances of very elderly people with different levels of functional ability, and how their ability's changed over a 2.5 year period. In particular, it focuses on the needs of those with poor functional ability, who were found to be more likely to have health problems, poorer emotional well-being, almost no friends in their social networks, and greater needs for help (or more help) from services such as chiropody. Few received services specific to rehabilitation and social support, although this group were more likely to receive a greater amount of help, in terms of instrumental aid, with tasks of daily living.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Elderly housebound: changes over time.

This article, which completes the research discussed in recent articles in Nursing Standard (1, 2), describes the changes in the ability of very elderly frail people to go outdoors. The sample members were first interviewed in 1987 when they were aged 85 or over, and followed up in 1990. Cross-sectional analyses showed that the groups who could not get outside alone or at all in either 1987 or 1990 were more likely to be taking prescribed medication, had poorer functional ability, reported problems with eyesight and aches/pains/stiffness in muscles/joints, had poorer emotional well-being, spent most of their days 'just sitting', and wanted more help with activities of daily living. There were, however, no differences in their social network characteristics, or their use of services.

Activities of Daily Living↗