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S Reisine

Publications and source records attributed to S Reisine.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Family work demands, employment demands and depressive symptoms in women with rheumatoid arthritis.

The effects of psychological demands, work autonomy and social support on psychological well-being are evaluated in a sample of employed women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Two hundred sixty-seven employed women with a diagnosis of RA were recruited from a national random sample of private rheumatology practices. Women were interviewed by telephone and data were obtained on demographic variables, health status, demands in paid and family work, autonomy in paid and family work, social support and depressive symptoms. Women reported relatively high levels of psychological demands in both paid and family work, with time constraints being the most frequent problem. Women also had relatively high levels of autonomy in family work. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that family demands appeared to be more important than paid work demands in psychological well-being. High autonomy in family work seemed to mediate the effects of family demands. Having higher social support reduced the effects of work demands on depressive symptoms in employed women with RA.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMed1993

Social and psychological theories and their use for dental practice.

This paper discusses four major theoretical constructs that have helped broaden our understanding of oral hygiene behaviours and dental health risks, including: social class, life stress, self-efficacy and locus of control. The potential of these constructs to enhance the treatment of dental diseases is illustrated using data from a study based on a biopsychosocial model of caries risk. In two cities in Connecticut, 481 children aged 3 years were recruited from the Head Start programme. Two dentists examined the children with a mirror and explorer and collected data on dmfs. A parent or guardian of 369 of these children completed an interview with a research assistant which provided data on each child's brushing habits, dietary intake of sugar, social class indicators, stressful life events, dental health locus of control and perceived dental self efficacy. The effects of psychosocial variables on two clinical measures were assessed, the levels of S. mutans and the prevalence of decay. Analysis indicated that S. mutans was the most important predictor of caries risk. Mothers who had more external locus of control beliefs, lower income, more knowledge about tooth decay and higher stress levels had children with greater risk of having caries. Further, use of a baby bottle at night was a significant factor in caries risk. Analyses of S. mutans risk showed that socioeconomic status and ethnicity significantly differentiated those with no colonies from those with one or more colonies while attitudinal and behaviour factors predicted who would be in the group with the highest number of S. mutans colonies.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Self-administered patient questionnaire for assessing knowledge about joint arthroplasty prior to surgery.

This article assesses the discriminant validity of a questionnaire designed to test patients' knowledge about total joint arthroplasty prior to preoperative educational intervention. The method employed was to compare responses on the test by surgeons, health care workers, and patients and to evaluate whether the test could discriminate among groups. A total of 148 patients, 59 health care workers and 28 orthopedic surgeons completed the questionnaire. The results show that patients are knowledgeable about the benefits of surgery, but are in need of information about surgical risks and complications. The test was able to discriminate between surgeons and the other two groups, but there were few differences between health care workers and patients. Item analysis also demonstrates that the test is reliable. Although the test exhibits acceptable psychometric properties, a major problem in using this test in evaluating educational interventions is the relatively high average score and the potential ceiling effect that prevents measurement of further gains in knowledge. More work is needed on expanding the test to include more items where knowledge of total joint arthroplasty is limited.

Discriminant Analysis↗
PubMed1992

Characterizing the meaning of psychological distress in rheumatoid arthritis.

Symptoms of depression are frequently reported by people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). To advance our understanding of how best to assess and treat these symptoms, their meaning must be elucidated. This article explores two possible meanings for the emotional distress of RA patients reported on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale: (1) Certain CES-D scale items may inflate actual depressive symptom scores. (2) Depressive symptoms are experienced and/or expressed in unique ways in an RA population due to the presence of chronic physical symptoms. In this study of 988 people with RA, it was found that there is some modest inflation of the CES-D scale due to the items of "having difficulty getting going" and "everything was an effort." However, irrespective of the modest inflation of the scale, there is evidence that distress in RA is not a static concept. Distress in this RA population was expressed differently from that of a community population, and within the RA population, distress was expressed differently over time.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMed1992

Expanding the definition of disability: implications for planning, policy, and research.

Disability remains an area that is difficult to define and measure. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), with its greater impact on women than on men, is one example of this. People with RA are limited in many areas besides paid work, so to measure this disability only in terms of paid work greatly underestimates its impact on people's lives, particularly those of women. This article reviews the major definitions of disability and reports the results of a national study assessing disability in both family and paid work roles. Both areas reveal high rates of disability among RA patients. The study concludes that measuring disability only in terms of paid work seriously underestimates its prevalence among women. These results have important implications for health policy because the greatest needs of the disabled may be, not in income replacement programs, such as Social Security disability programs, but rather in fortifying family and other care services that would enable people with RA to maintain higher levels of function in all domains of life.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMed1992

Using patient-instructors to teach and evaluate interviewing skills.

The teaching and evaluation of clinical interviewing skills is a continuing challenge for medicine and dentistry. The use of patient-instructors who provide consistency in presenting scenarios has recently been pioneered in dental education. This program focused primarily on teaching and used patient-instructors to give individual feedback from the patient's perspective to students after each of five scenarios. Feedback was constructive and behaviorally oriented so that it could be applied immediately to succeeding scenarios. Rating instruments assessed both process and content skills. Results indicated that students improved significantly in interpersonal interviewing skills as they progressed through the exercise. Content skills improved only slightly. Student and faculty reaction was positive. The program is an effective and time efficient means of teaching history taking and interviewing skills as well as an effective evaluation tool.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1987

A path analysis of the utilization of dental services.

In this paper Andersen's model of health services utilization is applied to the use of dental visits. This analysis builds on previous work by including clinical oral health indicators rather than self-reports as measures of need by using a path model to analyze the dynamics of predisposing, enabling and need factors on dental utilization. The sample consisted of 287 volunteers who were employees of a university health center. The path analysis using ordinary least squares found that sex was the most important variable affecting use of services. Men tended to have higher number of visits due to higher need and women more visits regardless of need. A surprising result was that income had no significant effect on volume of dental visits, which contradicts much of the literature in the area. Finally, the analysis suggests that because of the nature of clinical oral health indicators cross-sectional analysis of dental service utilization may not be appropriate.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

A longitudinal study of work loss related to dental diseases.

This paper analyzes the effects of dental conditions on social functioning by measuring the incidence of work loss days associated with dental problems and treatments in 1 year. A longitudinal study of 1992 employed adults in the Hartford, Conn. area was conducted. Participants were interviewed at baseline to collect data on sociodemographic, health care and health status factors and were followed for 1 year to assess the incidence of dental work loss days. The results showed that 26.4% of the sample reported an episode of dentally-related work, with a mean of 1.26 hours per person per year. The most important predictors of having work loss were high number of dental visits, previously having an episode of work loss, being young and being in the higher social classes. The most important variables explaining total hours of work loss were treatment severity, previous work loss, low income and being non-white. While work loss rates varied by some important treatment and sociodemographic factors, more sensitive outcome indicators are needed to detect individual differences in the effects of dental conditions on social functioning. Yet, the results do suggest that work loss days may be a useful population statistic in measuring oral health status because of the high prevalence of dental disease.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed1982

Effects of fluoride and regular dental care on personal dental expenditures of young adults in Finland.

This paper analyzes the relationship among presence of fluoride in the drinking water, oral health and dental expenditures in four towns in Finland. A two-stage least-squares model is used to determine the effect of fluoridated water and other independent variables on the number of missing teeth and per capita annual dental service expenditures for 555 adults. The results show that regularity of dental visits is the only significant factor explaining per capita expenditures. In contrast, many factors affect the number of missing teeth; most importantly, the number of dentists per capita, level of fluoride, age, education, use of services and smoking habits. These findings suggest that fluoride significantly improves oral health status but does not reduce adult per capita dental expenditures.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Controlling the cost of dental care.

Methods for controlling dental care expenditures are taking on greater importance with the rapid increase in prepaid dental plans. The use of regulatory systems to monitor provider performance are necessary to prevent gross over-utilization but are unlikely to result in net savings of more than five per cent of total gross premiums. Theoretically, prepaid group dental practice (PGDP) may reduce expenditures by changing the mix of services patients receive. The modest estimated savings and the small number of PGDPs presently in operation limit the importance of this alternative for the next five to ten years. If substantial reductions in dental expenditures are to be obtained, it will be necessary to limit dental insurance plans to cover only those services which have demonstrated cost-effectiveness in improving health for the majority of people. The concept that richer benefit plans may have small marginal effects on improving oral health may not be easy for the public to accept but, until they do, expenditures for dental care will be difficult to control.

Cost Control↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mood states associated with transitory changes in asthma symptoms and peak expiratory flow.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the within-person relations between transitory changes in mood, asthma symptoms, and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR). METHODS: Thrice-daily for 21 consecutive days, 48 adults with moderate to severe asthma entered information in palm-top computers about their mood and asthma symptoms. A multidimensional model of mood, ie, the mood circumplex, informed the assessment of mood arousal and mood pleasantness. At each observation, participants also recorded their PEFR with peak flow meters that stored blinded data. Albuterol doses were also monitored electronically. Before and after the 21-day study, spirometric measures of airways obstruction were taken under controlled conditions. RESULTS: Random effects regression models revealed a significant, but weak, within-person relation between symptoms and PEFR. Changes in mood vectors with an arousal component were significantly related to PEFR changes, whereas changes in mood vectors with a pleasantness component tracked changes in asthma symptom reports, even after adjustment for contemporaneous PEFR and after controlling for time of day and albuterol dosing. Comparison of spirometric assessments with unsupervised PEFR suggested that part of the relation between mood arousal and PEFR may be attributable to the "effort-dependence" of peak flow self-monitoring. CONCLUSIONS: Different dimensions of mood were associated with transitory changes in asthma symptoms and PEFR. This may be one reason why individuals with asthma misperceive the severity of their symptoms in relation to underlying airways obstruction.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Measuring disability: application of the Rasch model to activities of daily living (ADL/IADL).

This paper describes a comparative analysis of (ADL) and (IADL) items administered to two samples, 4,430 persons representative of older Americans, and 605 persons representative of patients with rheumatoid arthrisit (RA). Responses are scored separately using both Likert and Rasch measurement models. While Likert scoring seems to provide information similar to Rasch, the descriptive statistics are often contrary if not contradictory, and estimates of reliability from Likert are inflated. The test characteristic curves derived from Rasch are similar despite differences between the levels of disability with the two samples. Correlations of Rasch item calibrations across three samples were .71, .76, and .80. The fit between the items and the samples, indicating the compatibility between the test and subjects, is seen much more clearly with Rasch with more than half of the general population measuring the extremes. Since research on disability depends on measures with known properties, the superiority of Rasch over Likert is evident.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Computer assisted instruction for preoperative and postoperative patient education in joint replacement surgery.

This article describes a comprehensive system for preoperative and postoperative patient education. The system offers a cost-effective method of instruction which encourages patient interaction and practice with decision making. The system was designed for patients undergoing total joint replacement surgery and includes two preoperative lessons, and a third lesson presented postoperatively at the bedside. The computer lessons were developed using data collected by a patient assessment instrument, and collaboratively with input from a nurse clinical specialist, orthopedic surgeon, physical therapist, and computer programmer. In this project, several advantages for using computer assisted instruction for preoperative and postoperative patient education were identified.

Computer-Assisted Instruction↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Measuring disability: application of the Rasch model to activities of daily living (ADL/IADL).

This paper describes a comparative analysis of (ADL) and (IADL) items administered to two samples, 4,430 persons representative of older Americans, and 605 persons representative of patients with rheumatoid arthrisit (RA). Responses are scored separately using both Likert and Rasch measurement models. While Likert scoring seems to provide information similar to Rasch, the descriptive statistics are often contrary if not contradictory, and estimates of reliability from Likert are inflated. The test characteristic curves derived from Rasch are similar despite differences between the levels of disability with the two samples. Correlations of Rasch item calibrations across three samples were .71, .76, and .80. The fit between the items and the samples, indicating the compatibility between the test and subjects, is seen much more clearly with Rasch with more than half of the general population measuring the extremes. Since research on disability depends on measures with known properties, the superiority of Rasch over Likert is evident.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Multidimensional causal model of dental caries development in low-income preschool children.

Despite the decline in the incidence of dental caries in the United States over the past several years, the condition remains a significant problem for the nation's poor children. Efforts to identify the factors responsible for caries development in samples of children of low socioeconomic status have primarily focused on a limited number of variables, and those have been predominantly biological (mutans streptococci, for example). Resulting models of caries development have usually shown good sensitivity but poor specificity. They have had limited implications for treatment. In an effort to produce a comprehensive model of caries development, 184 low-income preschool children were clinically assessed for mutans streptococci and for decayed, missing, or filled surfaces of deciduous teeth twice, first at age 4 years (baseline) and again a year later (year 1 assessment). As the clinical assessments were being done, caretakers were being interviewed to obtain data from five domains: demographics, social status, dental health behaviors, cognitive factors such as self-efficacy (self-confidence) and controllability, and perceived life stress. Data were analyzed using a structural equations modeling approach in which variables from all domains, plus baseline decayed missing and filled surfaces and baseline mutants, were used together to create a model of caries development in the year 1 assessment. Results confirmed earlier work that suggested that caries development at a 1-year followup was strongly dependent on earlier caries development. Early caries development in this sample was determined in part by mutans levels and by dental health behaviors. These behaviors themselves were accounted for partly by a cognitive factor. The results support the advantages of employing multidimensional models and provide some direction for intervention to reduce caries incidence.

Causality↗