Biomedical subjects

Peter Ford

Publications and source records attributed to Peter Ford.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

An evaluation of the Dartmouth Assessment of Lifestyle Inventory and the Leeds Dependence Questionnaire for use among detained psychiatric inpatients.

AIM: To examine the psychometric properties of the Dartmouth Assessment of Lifestyle Inventory (DALI) as a substance use disorder screening instrument, and the Leeds Dependency Questionnaire (LDQ) as a measure of severity of dependence among inpatients with severe mental disorders detained in hospital. DESIGN: Comparison of DALI scores, LDQ scores and a clinical assessment of substance use disorder. Statistical analysis calculated Cronbach's alpha, receiver operator characteristics, anova and multivariate linear regression. SETTING: An English medium secure psychiatric hospital. PARTICIPANTS: A random sample of 60 adult inpatients with one or more diagnoses of schizophrenia, personality disorder and mild to moderate learning difficulty. MEASUREMENTS: All participants completed the LDQ, DALI and a clinical assessment of substance use disorder using ICD-10 criteria. FINDINGS: The diagnostic accuracy of the DALI instrument was 74% for alcohol disorders and 83% for drug disorders. The reliability of the LDQ and concurrent validity with the DALI were good (a = 0.915, R2 = 0.439, F (2, 57) = 22.3, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The DALI's overall accuracy for screening inpatients is good, but it under-diagnosed substance use disorders, probably because the hospital environment moderates substance use. The results suggest that the LDQ has very good psychometric properties and is useful as a measure of substance dependence in this population. Furthermore, the validity of the LDQ in this clinical population provides evidence to suggest the same cognitive and behavioural processes of addiction operate among those inpatients with severe mental disorders detained in psychiatric hospital as in the general population.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Causes of death among people in custody in Ontario, 1990-1999.

BACKGROUND: People in custody are more likely to die prematurely, especially of violent causes, than similar people not in custody. Some of these deaths may be preventable. In this study we examined causes of death (violent and natural) among people in custody in Ontario. We also compared the causes of deaths in 3 custodial systems (federal penitentiaries, provincial prisons and police cells). METHODS: We examined all available files of coroners' inquests into the deaths of people in custody in federal penitentiaries, provincial prisons and police cells in Ontario from 1990 to 1999. Data collected included age, cause of death, place of death, history of psychiatric illness and history of substance abuse. Causes of death were categorized as violent (accidental poisoning, suicide or homicide) or natural (cancer, cardiovascular disease or "other"). Crude death rates were estimated for male inmate populations in federal and provincial institutions. There were inadequate numbers for women and inadequate denominator estimates for police cells. RESULTS: A total of 308 inmates died in custody during the study period; data were available for 291 (283 men, 8 women). Of the 283 deaths involving men, over half (168 [59%]) were from violent causes: suicide by strangulation (n = 90), poisoning or toxic effect (n = 48) and homicide (n = 16). Natural causes accounted for 115 (41%) of the deaths among the men, cardiovascular disease being the most common (n = 62 cases) and cancer the second most common (n = 18). Most (137 [48%]) of the deaths among the men occurred in federal institutions; 88 (31%) and 58 (21%) respectively occurred in provincial institutions and police cells. The crude rate of death among male inmates was 420.1 per 100,000 in federal institutions and 211.5 per 100 000 in provincial institutions. Compared with the Canadian male population, male inmates in both federal and provincial institutions had much higher rates of death by poisoning and suicide; the same was true for the rate of death by homicide among male inmates in federal institutions. The rates of death from cardiovascular disease among male inmates in federal and provincial institutions -- 102.7 and 51.7 per 100,000 respectively -- were also higher than the national average. INTERPRETATION: Violent causes of death, especially suicide by strangulation and poisoning, predominate among people in custody. Compared with the Canadian male population, male inmates have a higher overall rate of death and a much higher rate of death from violent causes.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Cervical spine injury and airway management.

Cervical spine injuries occur in 2-5% of blunt trauma patients, and 1-5% of these injuries are initially missed. Data from the large National Emergency X-Radiography Utilisation Study have helped to define the problem in some detail. There is a consensus on how to clear the cervical spine in patients who are alert, but in patients with altered mental status the choice of strategy for spinal clearance is more controversial. Despite obtaining extensive radiological studies, some clinicians will not clear the patient's cervical spine until full recovery of consciousness. As long as manual in-line neck stabilization is applied, rapid sequence induction of anaesthesia, followed by direct laryngoscopy and oral intubation appears to be safe in the patient with a cervical spine injury. If intubation is not urgent, an awake fibreoptic technique is a useful option. If intubation of the patient with a potential cervical spine injury fails, or appropriate experienced personnel are unavailable, the laryngeal mask airway or one of its various modifications are useful alternatives.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1999

PrP (prion) gene expression in sheep may be modulated by alternative polyadenylation of its messenger RNA.

Scrapie-associated fibrils and their major protein component, PrP or prion protein, accumulate in the brains and some other tissues of all species affected by transmissible spongiform encephalopathies or prion diseases. To investigate the role of PrP gene expression in the hosts of these diseases, we have analysed some characteristics of PrP gene RNA transcripts in sheep and cattle tissues and made comparisons with PrP RNA transcripts in human and mouse tissues. Two PrP messenger RNAs of 4.6 kb and 2.1 kb, the result of alternative polyadenylation, were found first in sheep peripheral tissues and also occurred at low levels in sheep brain and bovine tissues, but not in human and mouse tissues. Our results from transfection assays of murine neuroblastoma cells with constructs expressing different regions of ovine PrP messenger RNA revealed the presence of sequences in the 3' untranslated region of the gene that modulate protein synthesis.

3' Untranslated Regions↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Understanding the issues involved in requesting X-rays.

Ordering X-rays is one of the 10 key roles for nurses (DoH, 2003). Increasing numbers of nurses are requesting examinations involving the use of ionising radiations, such as X-rays and computerised tomography (CT) scans. This article explains some of the issues, suggests ways to go about gaining requesting rights and gives practical advice on the process.

Humans↗