PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M M Bergman

Publications and source records attributed to M M Bergman.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Young adolescents' wellbeing and health-risk behaviours: gender and socio-economic differences.

In this paper we use the 1994-1997 Youth Surveys of the British Household Panel Study to examine the wellbeing of young adolescents. We conceptualize wellbeing as a multi-dimensional construct and we develop and test models of gender and age differences. Using confirmatory factor analysis, we find clear gender differences in self-esteem, self-efficacy, unhappiness and worries. We confirm that wellbeing and some health-risk behaviours (fighting and smoking) are linked. We test models that examine how family structure, father's occupation, tenure, and household income, affect adolescent wellbeing. While socio-economic factors affect health-risk behaviours and also adolescents' reported worries, they have little impact on other aspects of youth wellbeing. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Aggression↗
PubMed2000

Development and validation of the Attitudes Towards Smoking Scale (ATS-18).

AIM: To develop and test the validity of a scale measuring attitudes towards smoking in current and former cigarette smokers. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: In a first mail survey, we collected qualitative data from 616 smokers. In a second mail survey, we collected quantitative data from 529 smokers and ex-smokers. We conducted a 16-month follow-up survey among 93 participants in the second survey. SETTING: Geneva, Switzerland, 1995-98. FINDINGS: The study resulted in a three-dimensional, 18-item scale: the "Attitudes Towards Smoking Scale" (ATS-18). The scale was validated with reference to criteria of content-, construct- and predictive validity. The three subscales measure perceptions of adverse effects of smoking (10 items), psychoactive benefits (four items) and pleasure of smoking (four items). Internal consistency coefficients (0.85, 0.88 and 0.81) and test-retest correlations were high (0.90, 0.75, 0.89, respectively). Differences in attitude scores between smokers in the pre-contemplation and preparation stages of change were -0.83, 0.71 and 1.23 standard deviation units, respectively. A differential score (advantages minus disadvantages of smoking) predicted smoking cessation in baseline smokers and relapse in baseline ex-smokers. CONCLUSION: ATS-18 is a valid and reliable instrument which can be used in both research and clinical settings.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Development and validation of a scale measuring self-efficacy of current and former smokers.

AIMS: To develop and test the validity of a questionnaire measuring the confidence of current and former smokers in their ability to abstain from smoking in high-risk situations. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: We collected qualitative data in a first mail survey in 115 smokers and ex-smokers, and used these data to develop survey items. We collected quantitative data in a second mail survey in 529 smokers and ex-smokers to finalize the instrument. SETTING: General population in Geneva, Switzerland, 1995, 1997 and 1998. FINDINGS: The study resulted in a two-dimensional 12-item scale: the "Smoking Self-Efficacy Questionnaire" (SEQ-12). The two six-item subscales measure confidence in ability to refrain from smoking when facing internal stimuli (e.g. feeling depressed) and external stimuli (e.g. being with smokers). Internal consistency coefficients were high ("internal stimuli": alpha = 0.95; "external stimuli": alpha = 0.94). Test-retest intraclass correlation coefficients were high (0.95 and 0.93 for the two scales, respectively). In smokers, baseline self-efficacy scores predicted smoking cessation at 16-month follow-up. Finally, the scale respected criteria of content- and construct validity. CONCLUSION: SEQ-12 is a valid and reliable scale, which has applications in both research and clinical settings. It can also produce input data for computer systems that generate counselling reports tailored to the characteristics of each individual smoker.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Successful mastery with a cognitive orthotic in people with traumatic brain injury.

A multifunction cognitive orthotic (CO), designed for individuals with significant deficits from traumatic brain injury, enables rapid unassisted reliable performance of a targeted task and facilitates transfer of training across subsequent activity tasks for most participants. Consistency in design ensures consistent cues and organization as well as unchanging procedural format as content and tasks vary. Of the 41 participants provided a clinical assessment trial with a CO, 36 (88%) demonstrated rapid achievement of success on the initial task. Thereafter, transfer of training was achieved across subsequent targeted activity tasks by changing only the content, in the context of stable CO design. Many individuals with brain injury can be self-sufficient in performing, unassisted, the essential steps of targeted activities when provided a properly designed compensatory assistive device.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Pichia ohmeri fungemia.

A patient with a history of diabetes, coronary artery disease, stroke, previous renal transplantation, and multiple hospital admissions for recurrent pancreatitis was transferred to the hospital from a chronic care facility because of fever and severe epigastric discomfort. At the time of admission, she was receiving hyperalimentation through a central venous TPN catheter. Multiple blood cultures obtained on the first and second hospital days yielded pure cultures of the yeast, Pichia ohmeri. The patient developed acute renal failure, and despite high-dose amphotericin B therapy, ultimately expired.

Female↗
PubMed1988

Acute interstitial nephritis associated with vancomycin therapy.

Nephrotoxicity due to vancomycin is relatively uncommon and usually occurs in patients receiving concomitant therapy with an aminoglycoside or in patients with preexisting renal disease receiving prolonged courses of therapy and who exhibited excessive serum levels. We treated a healthy young woman who developed acute interstitial nephritis and moderate reversible azotemia associated with intravenous vancomycin hydrochloride therapy.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1987

Bacterial pneumonia: specific diagnosis and treatment of the elderly.

Community-acquired bacterial pneumonia remains a formidable problem for the elderly. Patients' clinical presentations do not invariably coincide with those "classically" described. Predisposing factors, clinical manifestations, laboratory assessment, and differential diagnosis are discussed. The pivotal role of the technically adequate chest x-ray and the potential limitations of its interpretation are underscored. A comprehensive treatment program is presented, including supportive measures and specific antibiotic strategies. Immunoprophylaxis, its advantages and limitations, is also outlined.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Newer antibiotics: their place in geriatric care. Part I.

The third-generation cephalosporins offer considerable appeal for treatment of specific life-threatening infections (nosocomial pneumonia, meningitis, urosepsis) in elderly patients when the disorders are caused by aerobic gram-negative bacilli. Despite the frequent presence of cross-reactive antibodies in the sera of recipients of cephalosporins, clinically evident serious reactions to cephalosporins occur infrequently in patients with known penicillin allergy.

Bacterial Infections↗
PubMedDate not supplied

On quitting smoking: development of two scales measuring the use of self-change strategies in current and former smokers (SCS-CS and SCS-FS).

Smoking-cessation advice may be more effective and acceptable if it is based on strategies used by people who quit smoking on their own. The objective of this study was to identify these self-change strategies and to develop and validate questionnaires measuring the frequency of their use in current and former smokers. Development of questionnaire items was based on qualitative data provided by 120 current and former smokers, and the validation study was conducted by mail in 638 smokers and ex-smokers in Geneva, Switzerland, from 1996 to 1998. We identified 5 distinct and interpretable self-change strategies in current smokers and 5 strategies in former smokers, and measured their frequency of use with a 19-item questionnaire in current smoker (SCS-CS) and with a 17 item questionnaire in former smokers (SCS-FS). Eight items and 2 strategies were common to both current and former smokers. the scales fulfilled criteria of test-retest reliability, and content, construct, and predictive validity. Participants who quit smoking between the baseline survey and the 1-month follow-up had higher baseline scores for all self-change strategies (+0.65 to +1.16 standard deviation units) than participants who remained smokers at follow-up. These scales may be used to describe and understand the processes of smoking cessation and relapse, as well as to produce input data for computer systems which produce individually-tailored smoking cessation advice.

Adolescent↗