PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S Vandal

Publications and source records attributed to S Vandal.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

[Elaboration of a conceptual frame to explain fatigue secondary to a health difficulty and implications for nursing practice].

Many definitions and conceptual frameworks were developed on fatigue related to health problems, mostly from scientific research among cancer patients. From a summary of a literature review, the first objective of this article is to describe different theoretical perspectives on the concept of fatigue. The second objective is to elaborate an integrative conceptual framework from the definitions chosen. The third objective is to describe different coping strategies and nursing interventions in relation with the conceptual framework. The literature review includes studies on fatigue in general with an emphasis on cancer related fatigue in particular. The review was conducted from 3 scientific data bases, Medline, Cinahl and Psychlit, for the last twenty years. The relevance of the conceptual framework for nursing intervention is discussed.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2001

[Models of health behavior].

One of the challenges for health professionals is to understand how individuals adopt and maintain healthy behaviours that lead to a better quality of life. This review of health behaviour models will help nurses determine appropriate interventions, and enhance programs that promote health and prevent sickness in individuals or groups of individuals. In order to establish priorities and to prevent omitting important points in planning such health programs, many theoretical and conceptual models have attempted to explain health behaviours as well as the indicators of compliance. The purpose of this article is to summarise the most utilised health behaviour models, to offer a schematic representation, and to explain the advantages and disadvantages of each model. Until now, no article had reviewed these models into the same work. This article will be of assistance to nurse researchers and clinicians working in health prevention, who are interested in choosing a health behaviour model to plan a scientific research, or to develop a clinical program. The models are presented according to the following classifications: cognitive value expectation; theories of personality; communication theories; models of program planning; and models of integration.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed2000

Intra-operative tracking of the trunk during surgical correction of scoliosis: a feasibility study.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a technique for intra-operative tracking of the trunk during scoliosis surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eleven magnetic sensors placed on specific anatomical landmarks are used to compute 11 geometric indices of the trunk. This technique was assessed on a cohort of 40 subjects (19 normal, 21 scoliotic) using an experimental set-up simulating the position of patients during scoliosis surgery. RESULTS: The indices varied less than 2 mm and 1 degrees when breathing (except for chest AP diameter), and less than 1 mm and 1 degrees after transient displacement from the initial positioning of the subjects. No significant changes were observed for most of the indices between two acquisition sessions. Comparison between normal and scoliotic subjects demonstrated that the trunk geometry is more influenced by the positioning of each subject on the operating table than by the magnitude of the spinal deformity. CONCLUSION: The proposed technique will allow intra-operative tracking of the trunk and enable the surgeon to optimize the correction of both spinal and trunk deformities. The technique can also be used to evaluate the adequacy of patient positioning on the operating table, and to obtain a complete follow-up of patients in pre-, intra-, and post-surgical conditions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

[Adoption and maintenance of health behavior: the challenge of treatment compliance].

The aim of this article is to give an overview of the different concepts related to the phenomenon of regularity so as to better outline it in the context of a medical treatment. The attitudes, the beliefs, the perception of the personal control as well as the motivation are presented as the different factors influencing the adoption and upholding of a health behaviour. The recent conception of the learning process and the active role given to the learner have led to the recognition of the fact that, in order to have an effective learning process, the learner must become involved in the self management and self control of his own learning process. Whatever the chosen strategy, an educative intervention focused on the knowledge can only be efficient if it enables the person to increase his (her) control.

Health Behavior↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Perceptions of parents' participation in the care of their child undergoing day surgery: pilot-study.

In Canada, more than 100,000 children have procedures in day surgery units. In spite of certain programs designed to prepare those children and their parents for the procedures and events that take place in a hospital, the parents' role during the day stay is not openly and directly approached. Although many pediatric centers recognize the importance of the role of the family in the life of children with health problems, the perceptions of parents with children undergoing day surgery and their role in the hospital have not yet been studied. Therefore, the objective of our study was to describe parents' perceptions regarding their participation in the care of their children in a day surgery. Godin and Kok's (1996) integrated behavior prediction model related to health, which was drawn from Ajzen's theory of planned behavior (1991), was chosen for this research. An interview questionnaire was developed as the measurement instrument. Content analysis was the basis for the analysis of the data gathered through the interview questionnaire. Our article presents the results of this pilot study.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Measuring the compliance behavior of adolescents wearing orthopedic braces.

This paper reports the observed difference between two measures of compliance in wearing an orthopedic brace among teenagers affected by idiopathic scoliosis. The first measure was obtained with a small device called a "compli-o-meter" that was developed specifically for this purpose. When fastened to an orthopedic brace, this instrument determines the brace's actual wearing time. The second compliance measure was derived from a questionnaire-interview administered to the participants. The subjects were 40 female teenagers aged between 10 and 16 years who had been wearing an orthopedic brace for 18 months or less. While the compliance rate reported by the participants averaged 88%, the actual rate measured by the compli-o-meter was only 33%. Pearson's correlation was r = .33, with a significance of p < .05 between these two measurements. Care should be exerted in assessing the therapeutic efficiency of an orthopedic brace based exclusively on a patient's reported compliance level. In particular, basing a recommendation to change the brace based solely on this information may result in erroneous and serious therapeutic actions. The efficiency of orthopedic braces should be assessed on objective measures of the actual compliance rate wherever possible.

Adolescent↗