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Biomedical subjects

S Alemagno

Publications and source records attributed to S Alemagno.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Automated telephone-administered substance abuse screening for adults in primary care.

Despite a general awareness that screening for substance abuse is an important component of primary care, many clinicians are reluctant to screen for such issues. This study examines the utility of an interactive telephone technology for screening for substance abuse in primary care settings. The study was conducted at two primary care medical practices in Cleveland, Ohio. The project was implemented in two phases. The first phase examines the general reaction to the new screening methodology of 305 patients and 40 practitioners in two general medical practices. The second phase examines the concordance of patient responses given to the telecomputer screening system as compared to responses given to a research nurse in the practice. Results indicate that both patients and practitioners have generally positive reactions to this mode of screening and results may be comparable to clinician-administered screening.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Healthy talk: a telecommunication model for health promotion.

The growth of managed care has led to a greater emphasis on health promotion--disease prevention (HP/DP) as a primary component of health care delivery. New technology is simplifying the HP/DP process. One agency used a disease management monitoring system to track clients' general health status.

Computer Communication Networks↗
PubMed1995

Taped therapeutic suggestions and taped music as adjuncts in the care of coronary-artery-bypass patients.

A randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled trial examined the benefits of taped therapeutic suggestions and taped music in coronary-artery-bypass patients. Sixty-six patients listened to either suggestion tapes or music tapes, intraoperatively and postoperatively; 29 patients listened to blank tapes intraoperatively and listened to no tapes postoperatively. Half the patients who listened to a tape found it helpful. There were no significant differences between groups in length of SICU or postoperative hospital stay, narcotic usage, nurse ratings of anxiety and progress, depression, activities of daily living, or cardiac symptoms. There were no significant differences in these same outcomes between the patients who were helped by the tapes and the patients not helped. These results suggest that if taped therapeutic suggestions have a measurable effect upon cardiac surgery patients, demonstrating this effect will require more detailed patient evaluations to identify subgroups of patients responsive to this type of intervention.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

Adequacy of prenatal care among inner-city women.

BACKGROUND: Lack of prenatal care is a well-recognized risk factor for infant mortality and low birthweight. This study was conducted to identify factors that facilitate or inhibit access to prenatal care among low-income inner-city women. METHODS: A case-control interview study was conducted with women during their postpartum hospitalization at a midwestern inner-city hospital. Fifty-eight women who had received no prenatal care and 71 women who had received markedly inadequate prenatal care were compared with 123 controls who had received intermediate or adequate prenatal care. RESULTS: The majority of subjects were minorities, single, had low incomes, and were in the Medicaid program. Subjects' median age was 23 years and median parity 2, and the majority had not completed high school. Inadequate prenatal care was independently associated with the following variables (adjusted odds ratios): lack of any insurance, including Medicaid (5.3), being a smoker (3.8), being homeless (2.7), being black (2.5), not being worried what the physician or nurse might say (2.4), not using contraception (2.1), having a household income of less than $400 a month (1.8), being ashamed or afraid of the pregnancy or the physician (1.4), having transportation problems (1.3), and level of education (0.8). CONCLUSIONS: Practical factors related to poverty are substantial barriers to obtaining prenatal care. Comprehensive approaches to prenatal services that address these barriers may be more effective in facilitating adequate prenatal care among low-income women.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Carrier screening for cystic fibrosis: a pilot study of the attitudes of pregnant women.

We surveyed the attitudes of a consecutive sample of 306 pregnant Caucasian women toward carrier screening for cystic fibrosis. Of the 214 respondents, 98% said that screening should be offered before pregnancy, and 69% said they would accept carrier screening during pregnancy. Twenty-nine percent of the respondents indicated a willingness to terminate a pregnancy if the fetus were found to have cystic fibrosis. We conclude that carrier screening is of interest to pregnant women, although interest in terminating a pregnancy because of screening results may be limited.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Upper respiratory infection: stress, support, and the medical encounter.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between stress and social support to behaviors of patients and physicians during an episode of upper respiratory infection (URI). METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of 104 patients older than age 14 from three family practice sites; all of the patients had experienced a URI during an 8-week period. Stress scores were calculated for each patient's family using several standard instruments. Clinical and medical care utilization data were also reviewed. Data were analyzed to determine if there were relationships among stress and support scores and measures of patient and physician behaviors. RESULTS: Measures of stress and support were related to the use of medical services, seeking additional medical care, extra phone calls, and longer perceived duration of illness. Physicians prescribed more medications, ordered more laboratory tests, and scheduled more return visits for patients with high stress or low support scores. CONCLUSIONS: Stress and support are related to patient utilization of health services and perception of illness severity. Physicians respond to patients with high stress and low support by offering more medical services.

Adolescent↗