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Biomedical subjects

S Almond

Publications and source records attributed to S Almond.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Mental health and stress in the workplace: the case of general practice in the UK.

This study adopted a 'workforce' perspective in a study of job strain in primary care (general practice) in the UK. It explored the level of stress amongst workers in general practice and between practices and examined the relationship between level of stress and work characteristics. Postal questionnaires were sent to a random sample of general practices (n = 81) in southern England. The study showed that 23% of all responders could be classified, according to the GHQ-12, as suffering from mental distress with practice managers having the highest level of stress and clerical and administrative staff the lowest. Work characteristics as measured by Karasek's Job Content Instrument were shown to be significant predictors of job stress as were marital status and health status. The implications of these findings are discussed, particularly focusing on the value of the job strain model for explaining job stress in general practice.

England↗
PubMed2000

Patient education literature and help seeking behaviour: perspectives from an evaluation in the United Kingdom.

Decisions by patients upon when to use health care services are a major influence on the consumption of health care resources. Patient education--often based upon written information on how to identify symptoms of common illnesses, when to seek help and how to self-treat--is an increasingly popular strategy to rationalise demand. A large body of literature, in evaluating the impact of such written information, has though overlooked the possession or acquisition of comparable publications by respondents in the course of the studies. This study attempted to overcome this limitation in considering the impact of a prominent patient education booklet that makes reference to over 40 common ailments. Questionnaire data from a cohort sample of residents (n = 495) in an area within which the booklet was circulated and that from a comparison area (n = 509) suggests that such literature exerts a modest influence in orienting patients towards "appropriate" self-referral and self-care behaviour. Reasons for this limited impact emerged however in semi-structured interviews with a sub-sample of respondents (n = 85). These data show that understanding of the way in which written advice for patients is perceived has to focus upon the ways in which diverse sub-populations process and attribute meaning to "official" and "unofficial" sources of advice. More fundamentally, the increasingly sophisticated and specialised nature of medical and scientific knowledge may be distancing expert knowledge from individuals and society such that "lay" responses to "expert" advice now reflect a continuing process of risk assessment, trust or the withholding of trust.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Cost analysis of the treatment of schizophrenia in the UK. A simulation model comparing olanzapine, risperidone and haloperidol.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the costs of 2 atypical drug therapies (olanzapine and risperidone) with one another and with a conventional antipsychotic (haloperidol) in the treatment of schizophrenia. DESIGN AND SETTING: The analysis is based on a simulation model with parameter values taken mainly from clinical trial data in patients with schizophrenia, and was conducted within a UK context. RESULTS: The 3 therapies are approximately cost neutral over a 5-year period (olanzapine 35,701 Pounds, risperidone 36,590 Pounds and haloperidol 36,653 Pounds). There is evidence of greater efficacy with the atypical drugs [average percentage of 5 years with Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) scores < 18: olanzapine 63.6%, risperidone 63.0% and haloperidol 52.2%]. The cost and efficacy differences between the 2 atypical drugs are too small to rank them in terms of cost effectiveness. Extensive sensitivity analysis does not change any of the main conclusions. CONCLUSIONS: Given evidence of efficacy gains to the atypical drugs, these represent cost-effective treatment options. Prospective data from nontrial treatment settings would help substantiate the model findings.

Antipsychotic Agents↗
PubMed1999

A painful lesson

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Journal Article↗
PubMed1999

Ambient air, oxygen and nitrox effects on cognitive performance at altitude.

The effects on cognitive performance of breathing air, oxygen and nitrox gas mixtures at surface ambient pressures were investigated during an expedition to the Everest region of Nepal. A slight improvement in grammatical reasoning at altitude was found under nitrox (p < 0.05) and mathematical reasoning showed improvement at altitude on air (p < 0.05), oxygen (p < 0.01) and nitrox (p < 0.01). There were non-significant trends towards decreasing mathematical ability, coupled with an increase in variance on both grammatical and mathematical test performance, with increasing pO2 (all p > 0.05). The results suggest that there is a subtle interaction on cognition as indicated by a significant three-way interaction between subject x altitude x gas (p < 0.05).

Adult↗
PubMed1998

The inflating lady

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Journal Article↗