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Biomedical subjects

Michael Hennessy

Publications and source records attributed to Michael Hennessy.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2007

Evaluating the risk and attractiveness of romantic partners when confronted with contradictory cues.

Research shows that people engage in "risky" sex with "safe" partners and in "safer" sex with "riskier" partners. How is the determination of "risky" or "safe" status made? Factorial survey methodology was used to randomly construct descriptions of romantic partners based on attractive and/or risky characteristics. Respondents evaluated 20 descriptions for attractiveness, health risk, likelihood of going on a date, likelihood of unprotected sex, and likelihood of STD/HIV infection. Respondents were most attracted to and perceived the least risk from attractive descriptions and were least attracted to and perceived the most risk from the risky descriptions. The differences between the "conflicting information" descriptions are attributable to a primacy effect: descriptions that began with attractiveness information but end with risk information were evaluated more positively than those that began with risk and ended with attractive information.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Public opinion on sex education in US schools.

OBJECTIVE: To examine US public opinion on sex education in schools to determine how the public's preferences align with those of policymakers and research scientists. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: July 2005 through January 2006. PARTICIPANTS: Randomly selected nationally representative sample of US adults aged 18 to 83 years (N = 1096). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Support for 3 different types of sex education in schools: abstinence only, comprehensive sex education, and condom instruction. RESULTS: Approximately 82% of respondents indicated support for programs that teach students about both abstinence and other methods of preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Similarly, 68.5% supported teaching how to properly use condoms. Abstinence-only education programs, in contrast, received the lowest levels of support (36%) and the highest level of opposition (about 50%) across the 3 program options. Self-identified conservative, liberal, and moderate respondents all supported abstinence-plus programs, although the extent of support varied significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that US adults, regardless of political ideology, favor a more balanced approach to sex education compared with the abstinence-only programs funded by the federal government. In summary, abstinence-only programs, while a priority of the federal government, are supported by neither a majority of the public nor the scientific community.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

The effect of cataract surgery on neuropsychological test performance: a randomized controlled trial.

Recent cross-sectional studies have reported strong associations between visual and cognitive function, and longitudinal studies have shown relationships between visual and cognitive decline in late life. Improvement in cognitive performance after cataract surgery has been reported in patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment. We investigated whether improving visual function with cataract surgery would improve neuropsychological performance in healthy older adults. A randomized clinical trial of cataract surgery performed at acute hospitals was conducted on 56 patients (mean age 73) with bilateral cataract, after excluding a total of 54 patients at the screening stage, of whom 53 did not meet visual acuity criteria and one did not have cataract. In-home assessments included visual and neuropsychological function, computerized cognitive testing and health questionnaires. Results showed no cognitive benefits of cataract surgery in cognitively normal adults. We conclude that visual improvement following cataract surgery is not strongly associated with an improvement in neuropsychological test performance in otherwise healthy adults. Joint associations between visual and cognitive function in late life are likely to be due to central factors, and unlikely to be strongly related to eye disease. Short-term increased neural stimulation from improved visual function does not appear to affect cognitive performance.

Aged↗
PubMed2005

Teleophthalmology-assisted corneal foreign body removal in a rural hospital.

This paper describes two cases of using telementoring from the Prince of Wales Hospital (POWH) Ophthalmology Department, Sydney, to Bourke Base hospital, a rural hospital in far west New South Wales, Australia. Eye trauma occurs frequently in a rural setting, and it can be difficult to assess the extent of the injury without a specialist ophthalmic service. One of the aims of the teleophthalmology is to facilitate the transfer of ophthalmic skills to local health providers such as general practitioners. We demonstrate that the removal of corneal foreign bodies and rust rings can be effectively supervised via teleophthalmology.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

The cost-effectiveness of the WINGS intervention: a program to prevent HIV and sexually transmitted diseases among high-risk urban women.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of the WINGS project, an intervention to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases among urban women at high risk for sexual acquisition of HIV. METHODS: We used standard methods of cost-effectiveness analysis. We conducted a retrospective analysis of the intervention's cost and we used a simplified model of HIV transmission to estimate the number of HIV infections averted by the intervention. We calculated cost-effectiveness ratios for the complete intervention and for the condom use skills component of the intervention. RESULTS: Under base case assumptions, the intervention prevented an estimated 0.2195 new cases of HIV at a cost of $215,690 per case of HIV averted. When indirect costs of HIV were excluded from the analysis, the intervention's cost-effectiveness ratios were $357,690 per case of HIV averted and $31,851 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) saved. Under base case assumptions, the condom use skills component of the intervention prevented an estimated 0.1756 HIV infections and was cost-saving. When indirect HIV costs were excluded, the cost-effectiveness ratios for the condom use skills component of the intervention were $97,404 per case of HIV averted and $8,674 per QALY saved. CONCLUSIONS: The WINGS intervention, particularly the two sessions of the intervention which focussed on condom use skills, could be cost-effective in preventing HIV among women.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
PubMed2002

Designing partner-notification programs to maximize client participation: a factorial survey approach.

BACKGROUND: Factorial survey methods were used to elicit preferences for partner-notification contact, interviewing, and treatment procedures. Most of the experimental alternatives were not rated as highly as standard practice, although there were differences in ratings in accordance with respondents' roles as infected persons or sex partners of infected persons. GOAL: To report on research that identifies the preferences of clients and potential clients for different features of partner-notification programs. STUDY DESIGN: A factorial survey was used to investigate which aspects of current and potential partner-notification programs increase the likelihood of cooperation. Six dimensions defined the hypothetical programs: (1) the sex of the client, (2) the ethnicity of the person meeting with the client,(3) the location of the first meeting with the client, (4) the method of collecting data on sex partners, (5) the contact and referral methods for partners, and (6) how infected sex partners receive medical treatment. Respondents (n = 186) were recruited from a county-run STD clinic, a community clinic, and a community-based organization that primarily provided drug treatment. Each respondent evaluated five different vignettes from two different perspectives: (1) as an infected person and (2) as a sex partner of an infected person. RESULTS: Regression analysis of the responses showed that most experimental approaches to partner notification were negatively evaluated in comparison with evaluations for the conventional program description. There were some differences between the two sets of results, depending on the role of the respondent, suggesting that as sex partners of infected persons, respondents are less concerned about confidentiality at the notification stage but more concerned about it at the treatment stage. Finally, there was no effect of the ethnic or sex match between the disease intervention specialist program staff and the client; this demonstrates that professionalism and training can overcome cultural or ethnic disparities between program staff and clients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Developing a collaborative community, academic, health department partnership for STD prevention: the Gonorrhea Community Action Project in Harlem.

Community interventions are rare in the field of sexually transmitted disease (STD) control and prevention. The goals of the Gonorrhea Community Action Project are to design and implement interventions for the reduction of gonorrhea in high-prevalence areas and to increase the appropriateness and effectiveness of STD care in the participating formative research and developing the interventions was the creation of a community-academic-health department collaborative partnership. Using a staged model, this article presents a case study of collaboration development in the community of Harlem, New York.

Community Health Centers↗