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Biomedical subjects

Richard Madeley

Publications and source records attributed to Richard Madeley.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Indicators of mortality in African adults with malaria.

Malaria is a major cause of morbidity and mortality amongst adults in sub-Saharan Africa, but descriptions of symptoms and mortality in this group have received little attention in the past. A retrospective study was performed on adults admitted to a tertiary hospital in Tanzania with a primary diagnosis of malaria. Frequency and mortality for the criteria in the WHO definition of severe malaria were recorded. Logistic regression analysis was then used to identify symptoms with the greatest prognostic value. Two hundred and sixty-nine adults (median age 28 years) with a primary diagnosis of malaria were studied, with an overall mortality rate of 15.2%. Logistic regression identified three key prognostic indicators: unconsciousness (odds ratio (OR) 44.44; 95% CI 4.05-488.24), renal failure (OR 7.37; 95% CI 1.70-31.96) and pulmonary oedema (OR 13.83; 95% CI 3.52-54.32). Whilst the WHO criteria predicted all of the 41 adults who died, 37 (90.2%) had at least one of the following symptoms: unconsciousness (n=39, fatality rate 74.4%), renal failure (n=26, fatality rate 66.7%) and pulmonary oedema (n=28, fatality rate 64.3%). These symptoms can therefore identify those at a high risk of death in African adults with malaria.

Adult↗

Designing smoking cessation services for school-age smokers: A survey and qualitative study.

To identify the preferred design characteristics of smoking cessation services for school-age smokers, we conducted focus groups with teenage smokers motivated to stop smoking. We surveyed all pupils in years 9-11 (aged 13-16) in a random sample of 10 schools in Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom, to elicit details of smoking behavior, and conducted 25 focus groups in 6 schools with current smokers who wanted to stop smoking. Of 4,065 pupils surveyed, 888 (22%) were current smokers, and 438 (50% of smokers) wanted to quit smoking. We sampled 226 of these individuals for focus group studies, and 135 (60%) participated. These participants were motivated to quit, and almost all had tried to do so but had found it too difficult. Many were aware of smoking cessation methods but had low perceptions of their effectiveness based on their own or others' poor experiences of these interventions, and few were aware of the possibility of professional cessation support. Given clear, nondirective information about interventions, participants reported a preference for confidential, nonjudgmental services delivered during school time by a trained counselor, allowed the option to attend with friends, and offered nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). School-age smokers in Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom, who are motivated to stop smoking have low knowledge and opinions of smoking cessation interventions. Our findings indicate that young smokers would favor school-based services offering confidential professional counseling and NRT.

Adolescent↗

Prospective study of the effect of exposure to other smokers in high school tutor groups on the risk of incident smoking in adolescence.

Adolescent smokers tend to have peers who smoke, but it is unclear whether this arises from self-selection of smoking peers or whether this is a causal effect on the uptake of smoking (incident smoking). The authors used school tutor group current smoking prevalence, an unbiased measure of peer smoking in high schools in the United Kingdom, to estimate the independent effect of peer smoking on incident smoking among high school students. In a prospective cohort study of children aged 13-15 years (grades 9 and 10) in 10 high schools in Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom, smoking behavior was surveyed in 2,881 students in 2000, and the survey was repeated in 2,109 students (73%) in 2001. There were 267 incident smokers (15%) among the 1,766 nonsmokers in 2000. The adjusted odds of incident smoking were significantly higher in girls, in students with parents or siblings who smoke, and in relation to school tutor group current smoking prevalence in 2000 (relative odds for highest relative to the lowest quartile of prevalence = 1.78, 95% confidence interval: 1.20, 2.64). This tutor group effect was independent of having a best friend who smoked in the 2001 study. Incident smoking is therefore increased among students exposed to other students who smoke, and preventing smoking at school may reduce adolescent smoking.

Adolescent↗