SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “home testing”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 343 records · Page 19Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Multipup homing: a rapid test for olfactory discrimination in neonatal rats.

The multipup homing procedure (MHP) is a rapid test for olfactory discrimination performance that can be run on an entire 8-pup litter of neonatal rats in 8 min. Performance improved developmentally with age, and females tended to perform better than males. The MHP was examined for its usefulness in detecting early postnatal effects of low-level prenatal exposure to chlorpromazine (CPZ) or d-amphetamine (AMPH). CPZ increased response latencies in both males and females, but AMPH had no significant effects. The MHP appears promising for use in behavioral teratological assessment of neurobehavioral function.

Animals↗

PubMed1998

Year-round housedust mite levels on the Highveld.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the levels of the allergen DerPI, attributable to the house-dust mite (HDM) Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus. DESIGN: A four-season study conducted during 1994/95, sampling mattresses and carpets in the main bedrooms of suburban homes. SETTING: Thirty randomly selected homes in the Edenvale area, occupied by both black and white families living under similar socio-economic conditions in comparable environments. RESULTS: All homes tested positive for the allergen, and in 20% HDM levels exceeded levels recognised as 'safe' in terms of respiratory allergy, i.e. 2 micrograms/g of dust. Once mites were established in a home, they remained for months thereafter. The considerable seasonal variation recorded in HDM levels could not readily be explained. CONCLUSIONS: The HDM is extremely sensitive to minimal variations in microclimate. Its year-round presence is of concern on the Highveld. Infestation levels below 2 micrograms/g of dust, until recently considered the critical point for sensitisation, may be significant triggers of symptoms.

Black or African American↗

PubMed1994

The effects of intrahippocampal raphe and/or septal grafts in rats with fimbria-fornix lesions depend on the origin of the grafted tissue and the behavioural task used.

Long-Evans female rats sustained electrolytic lesions of the fimbria and the dorsal fornix and, two weeks later, received intrahippocampal suspension grafts of fetal tissue. The grafts were prepared from regions including either the medial septum and the diagonal band of Broca (septal grafts), or the mesencephalic raphe (raphe grafts), or from both these regions together (co-grafts). All rats were submitted to a series of behavioural tests (home cage and open-field locomotion, spontaneous alternation, radial-arm maze and Morris water maze performance) run over two periods after grafting (one to nine weeks and 20-35 weeks). Two weeks after completion of behavioural testing, histological (acetylcholinesterase and Cresyl Violet staining) and/or neurochemical (choline acetyltransferase activity, high-affinity synaptosomal uptake of choline and serotonin, noradrenaline, serotonin and 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid concentrations) verifications were performed on the hippocampus. Compared to sham-operated rats, lesion-only rats exhibited hyperactivity which was transient in a familiar environment (home cage) and lasting in an unfamiliar one (open field), decreased rates of spontaneous T-maze alternation, and impaired memory performance in both the radial-arm maze and the Morris water maze. These rats also showed decreased cholinergic and serotonergic markers with a maximal depletion in the septal two-thirds of the hippocampus. Noradrenaline concentration tended to be increased in the dorsal third of the hippocampus, but was not modified in the other two-thirds. While septal grafts specifically increased the cholinergic markers and raphe grafts the serotonergic ones, neither of these grafts produced a lasting effect on any behavioural variable. Conversely, the co-grafts, which increased both the cholinergic and serotonergic markers in the septal two-thirds of the hippocampus, completely normalized the Morris water maze probe trial performance, but failed to affect any of the other behavioural variables. Our present results confirm that grafts of fetal neurons injected into the denervated hippocampus may induce a neurochemical recovery that depends on the anatomical origin of the grafted cells, and that co-grafting two fetal brain regions allows the combination of their individual neurochemical properties. Furthermore, our results show that these neurochemical effects of the co-grafts may be involved in the recovery of behavioural function observed in the water maze. However, somewhat paradoxically, those effects appear inefficient for inducing any recovery in other behavioural tasks, even in the radial-arm maze; which is assumed to measure similar spatial functions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1992

The usage of pregnancy tests in one health district.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the total number of pregnancy tests performed and the proportion that are repeated in one health district. To relate these results to the number of conceptions. DESIGN: Collection of data related to the numbers of pregnancy tests performed from all sources. Surveys of women booking for antenatal care or undergoing nonroutine obstetric ultrasound examination. SETTING: One health district in the south of England. RESULTS: About five pregnancy tests were performed for each proven pregnancy. Nearly two-thirds of tests were purchased over the counter, the remainder being carried out by hospital laboratories and pregnancy advisory services. Very few women had their pregnancy diagnosed on clinical grounds alone and a small number of ultrasound examinations were apparently performed in lieu of chemical tests. Repeated testing was more likely in primiparous women (P < 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Chemical pregnancy tests appear to be trusted more than clinical examination for the diagnosis of pregnancy by women and doctors. When there is no medical urgency, women who want formal confirmation of pregnancy should be advised that home testing kits will provide the quickest results.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Evaluation of diabetic patients' home urine glucose testing technique and ability to interpret results.

The attention of diabetes educators has focused on home blood glucose monitoring, with little attention being given to the educational needs of patients who choose to perform home urine glucose monitoring. This study assessed patients' urine glucose testing technique and ability to interpret test results. A questionnaire was developed and administered by clinic nurses to 100 adults with diabetes who perform home urine glucose monitoring. Patients selected the urine testing product they used at home and demonstrated the technique using a prepared glucose solution. The nurse recorded whether patients correctly performed each step in the procedure according to product instructions. Results indicated that 61% of patients did not perform the procedure correctly. Patients had difficulty reading package insert instructions, could not correctly read a clock, did not wait the correct amount of time before reading test results, and did not routinely keep written result diaries. This study demonstrates the importance of routine review of home urine glucose testing with the product used at home.

Citrates↗

PubMed1993

Home blood glucose monitoring: effectiveness in a general population of patients who have non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether home blood glucose monitoring as used by non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients followed in primary care nonresearch clinics improves glycemic control or reduces utilization of the outpatient laboratory. DESIGN: A retrospective chart review for 229 patients receiving outpatient supplies for home testing of either blood or urine. SETTING: A variety of nonresearch clinics at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center, a teaching hospital affiliated with an academic university medical center. PATIENTS: Outpatient veterans followed in diabetes, primary care, internal medicine, or endocrine clinics. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The mean glycosylated hemoglobin for an unselected group monitoring glycemic control by urine testing only was 11.32% and for those using blood monitoring was 11.37%. Frequency and duration of monitoring had no apparent impact on glucose control. There was no decrease in the utilization of the laboratory among those patients practicing home blood glucose monitoring. CONCLUSIONS: For non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients followed in a nonresearch clinic setting, the benefits of home blood glucose monitoring remain to be proven.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Characterizing the occurrence, sources, and variability of radon in Pacific Northwest homes.

A compilation of data from earlier studies of 172 homes in the Pacific Northwest indicated that approximately 65 percent of the 46 homes tested in the Spokane River Valley/Rathdrum Prairie region of eastern Washington/northern Idaho had heating season indoor radon (222Rn) concentrations above the U. S. EPA guideline of 148 Bq m-3 (4 pCi L-1). A subset of 35 homes was selected for additional study. The primary source of indoor radon in the Spokane River Valley/Rathdrum Prairie was pressure-driven flow of soil gas containing moderate radon concentrations (geometric mean concentration of 16,000 Bq m-3) from the highly permeable soils (geometric mean permeability of 5 x 10(-11) m2) surrounding the house substructures. Estimated soil gas entry rates ranged from 0.4 to 39 m3h-1 and 1 percent to 21 percent of total building air infiltration. Radon from other sources, including domestic water supplies and building materials was negligible. In high radon homes, winter indoor levels averaged 13 times higher than summer concentrations, while in low radon homes winter levels averaged only 2.5 times higher. Short-term variations in indoor radon were observed to be dependent upon indoor-outdoor temperature differences, wind speed, and operation of forced-air furnace fans. Forced-air furnace operation, along with leaky return ducts and plenums, and openings between the substructure and upper floors enhanced mixing of radon-laden substructure air throughout the rest of the building.

Air Pollutants↗

PubMed1987

Chemical assays--new opportunities.

The acceptance of the solid-phase format in various areas of clinical chemistry is the consequence of the advantages of this test format, which include stability of the reagents, unitized packaging, convenient and small instruments, and minimal preparations by users before testing. Overall, these advantages provide very convenient tests. Future successful uses of solid-phase reagents depend upon how well these features meet the needs of the users. Needs for systems to be used in the decentralized laboratory include even less cost, even more convenience, and improved quality control. Needs for home testing include convenient tests with clinically useful accuracy, improved quality control, and improved recording systems to overcome user bias in recording results. New solid-phase technologies being developed include noncolorimetric systems suitable for use with miniature probes, for in vitro or in vivo use, and spectrophotometric systems for determinations of analytes directly in capillaries of the skin without invasive sampling.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2003

Computer screen as a programmable light source for visible absorption characterization of (bio)chemical assays.

Visible absorption features suitable for color recognition and micro-plate reading of a standard bioassay are performed by the combination of a computer screen used as a programmable light source and a web camera as detector. The method provides in this way a highly available platform for 'home tests' or 'self-tests', where the requirement is to monitor well defined assays and the use of economical instrumentation is advantageous.

Automation↗

PubMed1977

Home follow-up of urinary tract infection. Comparison of two nonculture techniques.

Thirty children with recurrent urinary tract infection were followed up at home by their parents, using urine nitrite and urine glucose bacteruria detection methods. Their results were compared with traditional clinic culture techniques. The home testing chemical methods proved to be more effective than office cultures in detecting children with recurrent infections with a considerable saving in cost and inconvenience.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Non-invasive vascular imaging for erectile dysfunction.

In the era of orally active agents the clinical context of the diagnosis and treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED) has radically changed. There is a general trend oriented towards choosing invasive diagnostic testing and surgical treatment solutions. Along this view, penile pharmacotesting (PPT) may represent an inexpensive and easy diagnostic procedure to be performed in the office setting. However, this procedure provides no direct vascular imaging, has a high percentage of false diagnoses and its accuracy for subsequent treatment decisions remains quite limited. Hence, home testing with orally active agents may provide better information for the patient's goals. In the diagnostic work-up of ED, the combination of PPT plus colour-duplex Doppler ultrasonography (CDDU) has gained more credit because of a higher diagnostic accuracy than PPT alone, so that it should be always performed when possible. It represents an accurate mean to predict cavernous artery inflow and venous leakage when compared to more invasive diagnostic techniques; in fact it allows the measurement of the resistive index when maximal response to vasodilator challenge has occurred. In conclusion, we recommend CDDU to all ED patients with a significant risk of cardiovascular disease, as well as in the presence of penile plaques whereas a frequent involvement of neuro-anatomical structures occurs. Other vascular testing--i.e. natural penile tumescence, cavernosometry/graphy, angiography are reserved to selected patients in whom CDDU alone has provided inconsistent information.

Erectile Dysfunction↗

PubMed1989

Urinary tract cancers found by homescreening with hematuria dipsticks in healthy men over 50 years of age.

In a homescreening study 235 asymptomatic men, 50 years of age and older without known causes of hematuria, tested their urine each week with a chemical reagent strip for the presence of blood for 1 year. Forty-four men had hematuria at least once, and 31 had a full urologic evaluation. Of these, eight were found to have urinary cancers and seven had nonmalignant diseases warranting immediate treatment. In six of these 15 men (only two with cancer) hematuria occurred in over 1/3 of the testings, and in four hematuria was found on microscopic urinalysis at the time of urologic evaluation. The degree of hematuria was unrelated to the seriousness of its cause. We conclude that in this population hematuria occurs intermittently and when found, regardless of quantity or symptoms, serious underlying pathology must be ruled out. Furthermore, regular hematuria home testing offers a promising means of detecting urinary cancers and other diseases that warrant therapy in asymptomatic men 50 years of age and older.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Detection of dementia and depression using the Brief Assessment Interview (BAI): results of a reliability and validity study with residents of a nursing home in Mannheim].

Described here is the German version of the Brief Assessment Interview (BAI), an instrument developed originally in the course of the US-UK cross-national studies and designed to compile data on dementia and depression among the elderly. A study in Mannheim, FRG, of residents in an old people's home tested the reliability and validity of the BAI. Raters corresponded to a high degree on both the dementia and depression scales; intraclass coefficients (ICC) amounted to 0.95 and 0.97, respectively. Compared to the interrater reliability, test-retest reliability was somewhat lower (dementia scale: 0.83, depression scale; 0.74), but always significant at the 1% level. The internal consistency of the dementia scale lay between 0.62 and 0.77, and that of the depression scale between 0.78 and 0.92. In evaluating the validity of BAI, results of the dementia and depression scales were compared to the corresponding diagnoses. These independent diagnoses had been made with the aid of the Feighner criteria by the director of the facility, who had special training in psychiatry. The diagnoses yielded a significant relationship (p less than 0.01) between the dementia (r = 0.49) and depression scales (r = 0.60). The BAI also attained sufficiently high values for sensitivity, specificity, and total efficiency. It is, therefore, well suited for use in elderly target groups that are otherwise difficult to assess, and it also affords a high degree of international comparability.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Direct costs of diabetes care: a survey in Ottawa, Ontario 1986.

205 unselected Ottawa area patients with diabetes completed questionnaires indicating their annual utilization of equipment, supplies, professional and institutional services. Respondents' average age was 47.3 and average duration of diabetes 18.3 years. About 70% used self-testing of blood glucose. Calculations of costs were based on prevailing local prices. Annual treatment-related costs for the 9.3% on anti-diabetic tablets averaged $236.40, for the 79% on injected insulin $362.34, and for the 7.3% on insulin-by-pump $1603.20. Averaged over all respondents, routine care costs were $962.01 annually, of which 23.4% was for at-home testing, 45.3% for treatment supplies, 20.9% for physicians' services and 10.4% for miscellaneous items. Non-routine care costs averaged $1982.24 with all except $45.84 for emergency room charges being in-hospital care costs. Cost of routine plus non-routine care averaged $2944.25 annually of which 64.4% was for hospital services, 13.9% for treatment needs, 9.6% for physicians' services and 7.7% for testing supplies. This type of survey, particularly if carried out with help from diabetes association volunteers, offers an affordable means to monitor utilization trends and costs of supplies and services for patient care.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

Radon testing in households with a residential smoker--United States, 1993-1994.

Epidemiologic investigations of underground miners and studies of alpha particle carcinogenesis among laboratory animals suggest that exposure to the radioactive decay products (progeny) of radon is an important risk factor for lung cancer. Persons who smoke cigarettes and are exposed to these radon progeny have a substantially greater risk for developing malignancy than nonsmokers. Residential radon concentrations above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) action level of 4 pCi/L are the primary sources of exposure among the general population. EPA and the Public Health Service promote home testing for radon, especially in households with a person who smokes. However, it is unknown whether households that contain smokers are more likely than those without smokers to test for radon. To characterize radon testing practices of households that contain a person who smokes within the dwelling (i.e., residential smoker), CDC analyzed survey data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). This report summarizes the results of this analysis, which indicates that households with a residential smoker are significantly less likely to test for radon than those without smokers.

Air Pollutants, Radioactive↗

PubMed2004

The incidence of Helicobacter pylori acquisition in children of a Canadian First Nations community and the potential for parent-to-child transmission.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: We have previously reported that Wasagamack, a Canadian First Nations community has a seroprevalence rate of Helicobacter pylori of 95% and a prevalence rate among children aged 0-12 years as measured by stool antigen testing of 56%. We aimed to determine the rate of infection acquisition and possible modes of transmission of childhood Helicobacter pylori infection in this Canadian First Nations community. METHODS: Children who were previously negative for H. pylori by stool antigen testing in August 1999 were eligible for enrollment in August 2000; 50 (77%) eligible children underwent stool collection. H. pylori stool antigen status was tested using the Premier Platinum HpSA test. Drinking water samples, maternal saliva, breast milk, local berries and flies were tested by three complementary H. pylori-specific PCR assays. Soothers or bottle nipples, collected from 16 children whose H. pylori stool antigen status was determined, were bathed in sterile water and this water was tested by PCR. RESULTS: Stool was positive for H. pylori in 16% (8/ 50) of children retested. Five had no other siblings infected and three had infected siblings. The mothers of all children infected were positive for H. pylori. The median age of newly infected children was 6 years (range 1-13 years). By PCR, 78% (18/23) mothers' saliva samples, 69% (11/16) soother water samples and 9% (1/11) water samples from infected homes tested positive. All of 24 sequenced PCR-produced DNA fragments from samples showed 99% homology with that from ATCC type strain H. pylori. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of childhood H. pylori acquisition was 16% over 1 year, and was not dependent on number of siblings infected. The finding of homologous H. pylori DNA in saliva and in soother water suggests the possibility of human to human transmission, particularly via an oral-oral route. Thus, there is the potential for further investigations in this population and other endemic communities that are directed at prevention of infection transmission via this modality.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

Ten years of laboratory diagnosis of HIV: how accurate is it now?

The high expectations of laboratory diagnosis of HIV have mostly been met, but some problems remain. Current tests for anti-HIV antibodies are sensitive enough for many purposes, but for earliest diagnosis direct tests for virus are necessary. False negative results may occur, for instance because infection with virus variants such as HIV 1 subtype O is not recognised, or because of laboratory or clerical error. The laboratory monitoring of mothers and babies who have been treated with zidovudine, to establish whether perinatal infection has taken place will be difficult, and more reliable quantitative assays of HIV are needed to measure the risk of transmission from mother to baby. Proposals to introduce home testing for HIV may improve ascertainment of infection, but there must first be adequate support in place for those individuals who find themselves HIV-positive. Quality assurance, especially through clinical and laboratory audit, may now add more to diagnostic accuracy than the development of even more sensitive assays. The outstanding challenge is to make universally available tests with the accuracy and consistency achieved when best laboratory practice is enforced.

Clinical Laboratory Techniques↗

PubMed1998

A new tonometer--the pressure phosphene tonometer: clinical comparison with Goldman tonometry.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare the results of pressure phosphene tonometry, a new tonometric technique, with Goldmann applanation tonometry. DESIGN: Comparative case series. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 100 consecutive patients (192 eyes) without diagnostic specificity, plus a separate subset of 14 eyes with intraocular pressure (IOP) above 19 mmHg, participated. INTERVENTION: Intraocular pressure was measured with Goldmann tonometry by one examiner and pressure phosphene tonometry by a different examiner. There was no communication between the examiners regarding test results. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Intraocular pressure. RESULTS: In the group without diagnostic specificity, the mean difference between the two techniques was 0.3 mmHg. Fifty-one percent of the measurements were within +/-1 mmHg, 74.9% of the measurements were within +/-2 mmHg of each other, and the average deviation for 100% of the data was 1.8 mmHg. For pressure phosphene tonometry, the mean IOP was 15.2 mmHg with a standard deviation of 2.9 and a range of 18 mmHg (minimum, 10; maximum, 28). With Goldmann, the mean was 15.5 mmHg, the standard deviation was 3.1, and the range was 20 mmHg (minimum, 8; maximum, 28). The t test for paired data showed a Gaussian approximation with a P value of 0.05. A comparison between the results of the two techniques gave a correlation coefficient of 0.71. Results for the separate 14 patients with higher IOPs yielded a statistically significant mean difference of 0.1 mmHg between the two techniques (P < 0.05, t test for paired data). For pressure phosphene, the mean was 21 mmHg with a standard deviation of 5.5 and a range of 24 mmHg (minimum, 14; maximum, 38). For Goldmann, the mean was 21.1 mmHg with a standard deviation of 4.7 and a range of 19 mmHg (minimum, 15; maximum, 34). The correlation coefficient was 0.73. CONCLUSIONS: The close agreement between the two techniques suggests that pressure phosphene tonometry offers an alternative method for measuring IOP. It has the advantages that it is simple, noninvasive, and inexpensive. Potential uses of the pressure phosphene tonometer may include self-administered home testing, in outreach clinics by nonophthalmic technicians, and in patients with corneal conditions that preclude the use of Goldmann tonometry.

Humans↗