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Biomedical subjects

T Wysocki

Publications and source records attributed to T Wysocki.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Review of Papyrus bibliographic database software.

Papyrus is an inexpensive bibliographic database which provides some features not found in other similar packages. Its flexibility in handling references of many types and formats, its capacity for integration with manuscripts prepared with word processors, its capacity for importing references from national databases and its ability to perform microcosmic literature searches are attractive features. Because Papyrus has tackled a complex task, mastery of the intricacies of the program may present a substantial challenge to novice computer users. Although the manipulation of an existing customized bibliographic database would seem to be attractive for any researcher or author who prepares manuscripts for publication, the optimal use of the program also requires an extensive commitment of time and labor for the initial entry of all pertinent references into the database. While this could be accomplished gradually in conjunction with the preparation of individual manuscripts, the creation of a complete file of references could require hundreds of hours of labor. Individual authors, as well as larger research groups, should be prepared for this type of commitment before acquiring the Papyrus system.

Bibliographies as Topic↗
PubMed1989

Blood glucose monitoring by diabetic adolescents: compliance and metabolic control.

Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is used in the management of diabetes to guide insulin and diet adjustments. However, SMBG has not achieved its potential impact on diabetic control, perhaps due to poor compliance. Research on SMBG compliance interventions has been hampered by a lack of reliable and practical methods of behavioral assessment. The appearance of reflectance meters with memory permits precise, yet efficient, measurement of SMBG behaviors, allowing more effective interventions. This study evaluated a behavioral contract for SMBG compliance among diabetic adolescents, using reflectance meters with memory to assess the target behavior. Thirty patients were randomized to either meter-alone or meter-plus-contract conditions; an additional 12 patients served in a conventional-therapy control group. Compliance for the meter-alone group declined sharply during the 16-week intervention, whereas it remained at or above baseline levels for the meter-plus-contract group. Despite the large between-groups differences in SMBG frequency, both groups showed equal, moderate improvement in measures of diabetic control, suggesting that SMBG frequency had little impact on health status in this sample. There were no intervention-specific effects on overall diabetes compliance or patient or parent adjustment to diabetes. Few of the measured patient characteristics were significant predictors of treatment response. Further research into maximizing the therapeutic impact of SMBG is needed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Adjustment to diabetes mellitus in preschoolers and their mothers.

Although preschool-aged children with diabetes might be at increased risk for both general and disease-specific psychological adjustment difficulties, this issue has not been investigated. We evaluated both general and diabetes-related adjustment of 20 preschool-aged children and their mothers. The mothers completed the Child Behavior Checklist, Parenting Stress Index, Parents' Diabetes Opinion Survey, and the Preschool Diabetes Behavior Checklist. The latter measure was constructed specifically for this study to measure the frequency of oppositional and avoidance behaviors of children regarding diabetes management tasks. Mothers reported that their children displayed significantly more internalizing behavior problems (anxiety, depression, withdrawal) and were a significantly greater source of parental stress compared with corresponding nondiabetic normative group samples. Also, certain maternal attitudes about diabetes and its treatment were correlated with the children's disease-specific behavior problems. The children's general psychological adjustment, however, was not predictive of these diabetes-specific behavior problems.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1987

Training pediatric residents in early intervention with handicapped children.

Pediatric residents gained experience in the management of disabled children in a four-session training component that linked the residency program and a school- and home-based early intervention program. Each resident worked with a disabled child's parents, a special education teacher, therapists, and others. The training emphasized working with parents and special education professionals to solve problems in the management of handicapped children and working with appropriate community agencies. The residents completed a questionnaire before and after the training that measured their perceptions of their knowledge and skill in several areas. At the completion of the rotation, they also rated their satisfaction with the training program. The results of these evaluations suggest that such a program is an effective method for introducing pediatric residents to issues concerning interventions with handicapped infants.

Child↗
PubMed1984

Reducing the use of restrictive procedures in a residential facility.

Restrictive procedures are frequently used in residential facilities for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled despite humanitarian, professional, and legal concerns. Administrators in a regional residential facility for the developmentally disabled instructed staff to reduce the use of seclusion, mechanical restraint, and psychotropic drugs in the facility and set clearly defined policies and procedures on the use of such restraints. Data were gathered on the prevalence of restrictive procedures before and after the new policies were implemented, and staff received frequent feedback. The data showed that in the two and a half years following the adoption of the new policies, the use of seclusion, mechanical restraint, and psychotropic drugs dropped significantly without a concomitant increase in violent incidents, staff turnover, or use of other restrictive procedures. The authors conclude that instructions and feedback are an effective and inexpensive way to reduce the use of restrictive treatment procedures and that the approach used in their facility merits further investigation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Effects of phenytoin withdrawal on matching to sample and workshop performance of mentally retarded persons.

The present study was designed to examine the effects of gradual phenytoin withdrawal on the matching to sample performance of three mentally retarded person. The percentage of correct responses per session served as the dependent variable, and the sample and comparison stimuli were red, green, and blue illuminations of translucent response windows. With two of the subjects, the sensitivity of a workshop assembly task to phenytoin effects was explored retrospectively. The dependent variables were percentage of time on task, number of completions, and number and type of prompts required per session. The results showed that doses of phenytoin considerably lower than the suggested optimum therapeutic level impaired the performance of mentally retarded individuals on both matching to sample and workshop assembly tasks. As doses were reduced for each subject, there were increases in the percentage of correct responding on the matching to sample task with the highest percentage correct being obtained after, and only after, the 0-mg dose was reached. In the workshop setting, the greatest number of assemblies completed and the lowest number of prompts required occurred only after the 0-mg dose was reached. The results are discussed in terms of generality, the tasks being well suited ot the study of drug effects with mentally retarded individuals, and implications for habilitation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Effects of thioridazine (Mellaril) on titrating delayed matching-to-sample performance of mentally retarded adults.

The effects of thioridazine on the performance of a titrating delayed matching-to-sample discrimination by four retarded adults was investigated. Trials began with the center of three response panels illuminated by one of three colors. The delay between depression of the center response panel and presentation of the two comparison stimuli on the side response panels varied according to the accuracy of the subjects' performance. The primary dependent variable was the limit of delay, defined as the longest delay at which the subject emitted four consecutive correct responses in a 30-minute session. The subjects' chronic doses of thioridazine were reduced systematically in a multiple baseline across-subjects design. For all of the subjects, the limit of delay increased after, and only after, reductions in the daily thioridazine dose had been implemented. Results indicated that the withdrawal of chronically administered thioridazine resulted in increased accuracy in a delayed matching-to-sample task, suggesting strongly that the drug impairs performance of this discrimination.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Behavioral management of exercise: contracting for aerobic points.

Behavioral contracting was used to encourage physical exercise among college students in a multiple-baseline design. Subjects deposited items of personal value with the experimenters, which they could earn back on fulfillment of two types of contract contingencies. Subjects selected weekly aerobic point criteria, which they could fulfill by exercising in the presence of other subjects. In addition, subjects contracted to observe and record the exercise of other subjects and to perform an independent reliability observation once each week, with both of these activities monitored by the experimenters. Results indicated that the contract contingencies produced increases in the number of aerobic points earned per week for seven of eight subjects, that the aerobic point system possesses several advantages as a dependent variable for behavioral research on exercise, and that inexperienced observers could be quickly trained to observe exercise behavior and to translate those observations into their aerobic point equivalents. Finally, in a followup questionnaire completed 12 months after the end of the study, seven of the eight subjects reported that they were earning more aerobic points per week than had been the case during the baseline condition of this experiment.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Randomized, controlled trial of behavior therapy for families of adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the short-term results of a controlled trial of Behavioral Family Systems Therapy (BFST) for families of adolescents with diabetes. METHODS: We randomized 119 families of adolescents with diabetes to 3 months' treatment with either BFST, an education and support Group (ES), or current therapy (CT). Family relationships, psychological adjustment to diabetes, treatment adherence and diabetic control were assessed at baseline, after 3 months of treatment (reported here), and 6 and 12 months later. RESULTS: Compared with CT and ES, BFST yielded more improvement in parent-adolescent relations and reduced diabetes-specific conflict. Effects on psychological adjustment to diabetes and diabetic control were less robust and depended on the adolescent's age and gender. There were no effects on treatment adherence. CONCLUSIONS: BFST yielded some improvement in parent-adolescent relationships; its effects on diabetes outcomes depended on the adolescent's age and gender. Factors mediating the effectiveness of BFST must be clarified.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Psychometric properties and normative data for the parent version of the diabetes independence survey.

The parent version of the Diabetes Independence Survey measures parents' perceptions of their children's mastery of 38 diabetes self-care skills. The instrument was administered to 648 parents of 622 children with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, ages 3 and 18 years, at seven different pediatric medical centers. Data confirming the internal consistency, interrater reliability, construct validity, and concurrent validity of the instrument are presented in this paper. Age-adjusted normative data for total scores on the instrument as well as item-by-item data on the ages at which mastery of each skill was reported by 25%, 50%, and 75% of parents also are discussed. The Diabetes Independence Survey can be used as a reliable, valid, and efficient research tool for assessing the growth and development of diabetes knowledge and skills among children and adolescents, and as a screening instrument and program evaluation tool for clinical purposes.

Adolescent↗