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Biomedical subjects

P Winstead-Fry

Publications and source records attributed to P Winstead-Fry.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Predictors of quality of life in rural patients with cancer.

Quality of life (QOL) as an outcome for cancer treatment has been studied primarily in urban populations. Yet, descriptions of rural dwellers suggest that their perception of QOL may differ from that of their urban counterparts. The purpose of this study was to examine QOL in people with a cancer diagnosis of at least 1 month duration in two similar rural northeastern states. The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy General (FACT G) scale was completed by 344 respondents. The mean QOL score was 89.41 +/- 16.55. State of residence, gender, known recurrence, and marital status were significant predictors of QOL, explaining 18.3% of the variance in this study. Age, education level, income, type of cancer, living arrangements, and time since diagnosis were not predictive. The QOL scores in this rural sample were higher than those reported earlier for predominantly urban dwellers. Future research is needed to understand these differences.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

The relationship of rural persons' multidimensional health locus of control to knowledge of cancer, cancer myths, and cancer danger signs.

The purpose of the study was to determine if a relationship exists between multidimensional health locus of control and knowledge of breast cancer, prostate cancer, cancer myths, and danger signs. A descriptive correlational design was used. A convenience sample of 78 rural men and 79 rural women participated in the study. Participants completed three questionnaires: (a) the Cancer Danger Signs Questionnaire, (b) the Cancer Myths Questionnaire, (c) the Prostate Cancer Knowledge Test (completed by the men) and the Breast Cancer Knowledge Test (completed by the women). Results indicated that an internal score on the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLOC) scale did not predict knowledge of breast cancer in women, prostate cancer in men, cancer myths, or danger signs. Women who scored high on the Powerful Others subscale of the MHLOC had statistically significant high scores on knowledge of breast cancer, but not on cancer myths and danger signs. The MHLOC and its subscales did not predict knowledge of prostate cancer, cancer myths, or cancer danger signs for the male participants. The implications of these results for rural nursing practice and their relationship to previous research are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Problem Knowledge Couplers: reengineering evidence-based medicine through interdisciplinary development, decision support, and research.

The rapid growth of medical knowledge is creating a demand for new ways of providing information in support of evidence-based medical practice. Problem Knowledge Couplers are a clinical decision support software tool that offer a new approach to this growing problem. Couplers are developed through a collaboration among clinicians, informaticians, and librarians. They recognize that functionality must be predicated upon combining unique patient information, gleaned through relevant structured question sets, with the appropriate knowledge found in the world's peer-reviewed medical literature. Two pilot studies indicate that couplers can meet the gold standards of decision making within both a primary care and a specialty practice. Issues remain about how to best integrate Problem Knowledge Couplers into clinical practice and whether large-scale outcomes research will support the findings of pilot studies. However, Problem Knowledge Couplers represent a promising approach that might portend a new model for health care delivery in the next millennium.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

An integrative review and meta-analysis of therapeutic touch research.

OBJECTIVE: To perform an integrative research review and meta-analysis of therapeutic touch research. DATA SOURCES: Bibliography maintained by the Nurse Healers-Professional Associates International; MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Psylit databases; dissertations and master's theses. STUDY SELECTION: Thirty-eight research articles were included in the analysis. All dissertations and research articles were analyzed. DATA EXTRACTION: Data on 32 substantive characteristics of the sample, the therapeutic touch procedure, and the article/dissertation were extracted following Moody's method for an integrative research review. The meta-analysis used studies that reported means and standard deviations of the treatment and control groups. DATA SYNTHESIS: The research questions were as follows: (1) What are the substantive characteristics of the sample, the therapeutic touch practice, and the article/dissertation in research studies from 1975 to 1997? (2) What does the research demonstrate regarding the efficacy of therapeutic touch as an intervention? (3) Based on the results of the review and meta-analysis, what are the gaps, trends, and outcomes of the therapeutic touch research studies? CONCLUSIONS: The review demonstrated that there are many approaches to therapeutic touch research, samples are described incompletely, and the therapeutic touch practices vary in the studies. Most of the studies supported hypotheses regarding the efficacy of therapeutic touch, though a number had mixed or negative results. A meta-analysis was performed on 13 studies. The average effect size in these studies was .39, which is described as moderate. Gaps, trends, and outcomes were identified and discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Psychometric assessment of four fatigue scales with a sample of rural cancer patients.

There are differences between rural and urban persons experiencing cancer that may make the experience of fatigue more difficult for rural cancer patients. There were no scale to measure fatigue that had been validated with rural cancer patients. The purpose of the present research was to study the psychometric properties of four fatigue scales for use with rural cancer patients. The four scales were the Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue Scale, the Fatigue Severity Scale, the Visual Analogue Scale for Fatigue, and the Rhoten Fatigue Scale. The four scales were mailed to 270 rural cancer patients, with 131 usable scales returned (48% return rate). Interitem correlations, Cronbach's alpha reliability, and factor analyses were performed on the four scales. Based on these analyses, the Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue Scale, the Fatigue Severity Scale, and the Visual Analogue Scale for Fatigue were judged to be adequate for use with rural cancer patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Psychometric analysis of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) scale in a rural sample.

BACKGROUND: Quality of life for persons with cancer has been studied extensively in urban populations. The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) scale was developed for use in clinical trials. The authors tested the psychometric properties of the FACT-G scale in a sample of rural cancer patients. METHODS: A systematic replication of the 1993 study by Cella et al., in which FACT-G was developed, was employed to assess the reliability, validity, and factor structure of the scale. RESULTS: The reliability and validity of the FACT-G scale for evaluating rural cancer patients was determined to be sufficient for research purposes. The factor structure was the same as that reported by Cella et al. CONCLUSIONS: The FACT-G scale is appropriate for use in studies of the quality of life of rural cancer patients.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

Family-centered nursing in the postanesthesia care unit: the evaluation of practice.

The philosophy of nursing care at the Medical Center Hospital of Vermont (MCHV) is family-centered. In the summer of 1989, an open family visitation policy was implemented. The goals of allowing family members into the PACU were to (1) enhance communication between staff and family members, and (2) evaluate whether patients and family members perceived the open visitation policy as beneficial. The specific focus of phase I of the study is the evaluation of the patients and their families who participated in the experience with the PACU staff. A questionnaire was developed to assess several dimensions of the experience. To date, 46 complete sets of patients and families have responded to the questionnaire. Results show that 89% of the patients and 96% of the families involved felt that the open visitation policy was beneficial. Data were also collected from the PACU nurses who participated and two thirds stated a perceived benefit to patients and family members. Phase II of the study will include implementing a PACU booklet and video preoperatively to prepare patients and family for the perioperative experience. Questionnaires will then be redistributed and responses of the prepared study group will be compared with the phase I control group. The objective of phase II will be to determine the impact of improved environmental awareness of the patient and family on their perception of the PACU visitation.

Adolescent↗