SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Appearance concern”

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 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed2003

Racial/ethnic differences in weight concerns: protective and risk factors for the development of eating disorders and obesity among adolescent females.

OBJECTIVE: This study compared African American and Caucasian adolescent girls on measures of appearance concerns, body-contingent self-esteem, pressures for thinness, and dieting behaviour. Also, correlations among these measures were contrasted across the two ethnic groups. METHOD: African American (n = 32) and Caucasian (n = 29) adolescent girls completed a series of self-report measures concerning dieting behaviour, perceived pressures for thinness, self-esteem, and perceptions of physical appearance. RESULTS: Across all measures, Caucasian girls endorsed more disturbed eating behaviors and beliefs about body shape and weight. Dieting among Caucasian girls was correlated with preoccupation with body shape. Among African American girls dieting behaviour was unrelated to concerns about body shape. DISCUSSION: These findings support the hypothesis that in comparison to Caucasian girls, African American girls may be at lessened risk for developing eating disorders but may be at greater risk for developing obesity. This conclusion is based upon the findings of higher levels of eating disorder symptoms among Caucasian girls and the relative absence of significant correlations between dieting and body shape and appearance concerns among African American girls.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1986

Effect of separate malocclusion traits on concern for dental appearance.

Effects of separate traits of malocclusion on concern for dental appearance were isolated by means of multiple regression analysis in a 15-yr follow-up study of 30-yr-old Danes. On the basis of questionnaires (response rate 86%, n = 841), the dependent "concern-for-dental-appearance" variable was constructed from the respondents' replies about recalled perceptions and societal reactions concerning their dental appearance at the time of adolescence. In the same individuals, separate traits of malocclusion had been recorded clinically 15 yr earlier. These traits were inserted as independent dummy variables into the regression model. In both sexes the closest relationship with the dependent variable was displayed by the most conspicuous traits in the anterior region of the dentition. Some traits showed significant associations only in women, whose regression coefficients were, in general, higher than those of men. About half of the variation in the dependent variable was explained by the model.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Prevalence of concern about physical appearance in the general population.

Using information gathered in the introductory sections of the Derriford Appearance Scales (DAS24 and DAS59), the prevalence and epidemiological characteristics of concern about physical appearance have been determined for a carefully constructed sample of the general population of southwest Devon (rural and urban). In all, 2108 usable replies were received from a postal survey of a targeted population of 5400 men and women, aged 18 and over and randomly selected with constraints for age, sex and socio-economic status. The prevalence of concern about physical appearance was highest among women through to age 60 and younger men. There was no association with socio-economic status or living status. Concerns about the nose, weight and skin disorders were reported most frequently by both men and women and additionally concerns about breasts and abdomen were reported by women and premature balding by men. The mean DAS24 and DAS59 full-scale scores of 19% of male and 25% of female responders who were concerned about appearance exceeded the mean scores of preoperative patients undergoing reconstructive and cosmetic plastic surgery. Concern about appearance is widespread in the general population. More often than not, concern is about one feature only, which runs counter to the hypothesis that concern about appearance reflects a neurotic trait. The high levels of measured psychological distress and dysfunction found in a substantial minority of those in the general population who are concerned about appearance highlight the need for appropriate services.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Development and validation of disease-specific measures for choroidal melanoma: COMS-QOLS report No. 2.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate scales measuring common concerns of patients with choroidal melanoma: perception of appearance, concern about cancer recurrence, and difficulty with vision-dependent activities requiring stereopsis or binocularity. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study within a randomized multicenter clinical trial. METHODS: Eight-hundred forty-two of 1317 patients with choroidal melanoma enrolled in the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS) for medium-sized tumors and randomized to receive iodine 125 brachytherapy or enucleation were interviewed. Scale reliability was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha, and validity was investigated through correlation with existing scales and with data collected during COMS clinical examinations. RESULTS: All 3 proposed scales had good internal consistency reliability. The appearance and recurrence scales had low to moderate correlation with the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey mental health scale (r = 0.26 and 0.31, respectively) and with the the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale depression (r = -0.22 and -0.19) and anxiety (r = -0.27 and -0.42) scales. Appearance scores were significantly associated with occurrence of appearance-altering complications and conditions, recurrence scores were associated with recent removal of the brachytherapy-treated eye, and stereopsis/binocularity scores were higher in patients with good visual acuity in both eyes than in those with good visual acuity in one eye and an enucleated fellow eye. CONCLUSIONS: All 3 proposed scales have good internal consistency, range, and SDs of measurement in the tested population. Based on clinical data, there is evidence of good construct validity for all 3 scales, although there also is evidence that the stereopsis/binocularity scale is sensitive to other aspects of vision in addition to stereopsis and binocularity. The appearance and recurrence scales capture clinically relevant information not available from standard mental health scales.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Development of the College Student Reasons for Living Inventory.

Two studies were carried out in an effort to develop and evaluate an instrument designed to assess suicidal risk in college students. Study 1 describes the development of the College Student Reasons for Living Inventory (CSRLI), an instrument that measures the extent to which college students place importance on various reasons for living even when contemplating suicide. The impetus for the current study was provided by Linehan et al., who in 1983 developed the Reasons for Living Inventory for use with adults. In the current study college students generated a series of 84 "reasons for living" items, which were reduced through factor analysis to a final inventory of 46 items. Six factors were extracted as follows: Survival and Coping Beliefs, College and Future-Related Concerns, Moral Objections, Responsibility to Friends and Family, Fear of Suicide, and Fear of Social Disapproval. Five of these factors reflect the same basic themes contained in the Linehan et al. (1983) study. The sixth factor (College and Future-Related Concerns) appears to be unique to college students. Linehan et al.'s Child-Related Concerns factor expectedly did not appear in this college sample. In Study 2 initial evaluation of the CSRLI was carried out through the use of correlational, confirmatory factor, and discriminant analyses. Results indicate that the CSRLI holds promise as an instrument to predict suicidal risk among college students.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Does the camera add 10 pounds? Media use, perceived importance of appearance, and weight concerns among teenage girls.

PURPOSE: To examine the relationship between use of electronic media and perceived importance of appearance and weight concerns among adolescent girls. METHODS: Physical measures and self-report surveys were obtained from 837 ninth-grade girls attending pubs lic high schools in San Jose, California (mean age = 14.9 +/- 0.47 years; 36% Latino, 24% White, 22% Asian, 8% Black, 10% other). Correlational and multiple regression analyses were performed with ethnicity, body mass index (BMI), perceived importance of appearance, weight concerns, and media use (based on self-reported average weekly use of television, videotapes, video and computer games, and music videos). RESULTS: Total media use was not significantly related to perceived importance of appearance or weight concerns. When media use was separated into distinct media genres, only hours of watching music videos was related to perceived importance of appearance and weight concerns (r = 0.12, p < .001, and r = .08, p < .05, respectively). In multivariate analyses, after controlling for BMI and ethnicity, no media use variables were significantly associated with either perceived importance of appearance or weight concerns. CONCLUSIONS: Frequent music video use may be a risk factor for increased perceived importance of appearance and increased weight concerns among adolescent girls.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Contraception in Germany: a review.

In this paper studies on current contraceptive use and attitudes toward various contraceptive methods in Germany are reviewed. Both the former West and East Germany are considered. On the basis of the existing studies it is difficult to have a clear impression of which methods are currently used in both countries and how contraceptive practice developed over time, due to methodological differences between studies. Nevertheless, it can be concluded that use of reliable contraceptive methods is widespread in both East and West Germany. In this respect East Germany differs considerably from other previously communistic countries. Attitudes were mainly assessed in West Germany, and with respect to oral contraceptives and IUDs great concern appeared to exist regarding the safety of both methods. As far as oral contraceptives are concerned, selective mass media attention toward possible side-effects of oral contraceptives may have contributed to this situation.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Development of a questionnaire to measure concern for dental appearance.

100 adults, selected for cosmetic dental treatment in a general dental practice, completed a 42-item questionnaire designed, on the basis of previous research and the author's clinical experience, to measure concern for dental appearance. This had high internal consistency and was reduced to a questionnaire of 23 items with internal consistency shown by a standardised Cronbach alpha of .84. An exploratory factor analysis with varimax rotation identified six factors, the main one appearing to be a measure of concern for dental appearance. The high internal consistency suggests that the total score for the revised questionnaire is a measure of a construct, concern for dental appearance. Although the simplest measure of that may be contained in the items for the first factor, a much larger sample would be necessary to confirm the complex factor structure and so the questionnaire's total score is probably the more reliable measure at present. A study is summarised showing that the total score provides a measure that, in statistical regression analysis, may predict the intentions of adults to take care of the appearance of their teeth.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Bulimic symptoms, cognitions, and body dissatisfaction in women with major depressive disorder.

OBJECTIVE: The goals of this study were to assess eating disorder symptoms in depressed women with no history of eating disturbance and to evaluate the clinical significance of these symptoms relative to those reported by women with bulimia spectrum disorder. METHOD: Participants were 63 women with major depressive disorder (MDD) (n = 19), bulimia spectrum disorder (n = 20), or no history of MDD or eating disorder (n = 24). Measures included diagnostic interviews and self-report questionnaires designed to assess diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa, subthreshold eating disorder symptoms, dysfunctional attitudes about appearance, and body dissatisfaction. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between depressed and bulimic women on shape concerns, appearance overvaluation, or body dissatisfaction. Depressed women endorsed significantly more subthreshold eating disorder symptoms, dysfunctional attitudes about appearance, and body dissatisfaction than did control subjects. DISCUSSION: Eating disorder symptoms may be associated with depression in women in the absence of comorbid eating disorder diagnoses.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1989

Psychological features of obesity.

The study of obesity from a variety of psychological perspectives has been exciting and inventive, although we still do not understand fully the role of psychological variables in the etiology of obesity. Many of the factors thought to be of etiologic significance--field dependence, lack of impulse control, inability to delay gratification, or a maladaptive eating style--have not been supported by experimental evidence. Other factors once thought to be of importance as causes of obesity, depression and dysphoria, for example, appear, instead, to be consequences of being obese and may serve to maintain and intensify weight-related problems. Dieting behavior in response to weight concerns appears, perversely, to be implicated in increasing overweight and adiposity. Finally, arousability in response to food cues in the environment may play a causal role in some obesities.

Eating↗

PubMed1999

An Orwellian scenario: court ordered caesarean section and women's autonomy.

Between 1992 and 1996, a small number of women in the UK were forced by the courts to undergo caesarean section against their expressed refusal. Analysis of the reported cases reveals the blanket assumption of maternal incompetence and the widespread use of thinly veiled coercion. Such attitudes and practices are themselves frequently compounded by inadequate communication. Medical discretion in such problematic cases seems to err on the side of safety and so appears to favour the life of the fetus over maternal autonomy. Despite current policy's placement of the pregnant woman at the centre of maternity care, obstetricians' concerns appear to lie more with the unborn fetus. In other words, there seems to be a point at which the value of fetal life begins to outweigh, not so much the life of the woman, but her right to self-determination, her plans and her choices. While it is important to acknowledge that these court ordered caesareans represent an unusual extreme within contemporary maternity care in this country, that they have happened brings into sharp relief some of the stereotypical assumptions about women. These are assumptions that underlie much of current medical practice and may compromise or disempower women in other ways during their experience of pregnancy and labour. Using the first and last of the six reported cases as contextual illustrations, this article focuses on the complex interplay of processes that have brought the medical profession to a position in which their own self-conviction and determination to do what they believe is best for their patients has resulted in gross denial of women's autonomy and the use of the law to override pregnant women's refusal of consent.

Advance Care Planning↗

PubMed1993

Early events in auditory processing.

During the last year, further evidence has appeared concerning the basis of frequency selectivity in the cochlea, which may ultimately depend on a motile mechanism residing within the walls of the outer hair cells. Evidence has also appeared on hair-cell mechanotransduction, and on the way that the stimulus is coupled to the mechanotransducer channels.

Animals↗

PubMed1977

[Nasopharyngeal angiofibroma. Histochemical observations and hormone therapy (author's transl)].

There were carried out substrate- and enzymhistochemical reactions of the typical nasopharyngeal angiofibroma in 6 cases. In the environs of the vessels there were mainly neutral mucopolysaccharides, in the left intercellular substance and in the fibroblasts and most cells acid carbohydrates were found. The protein reactions pointed out a conspicouos strong contents of alkaline proteins in fibroblasts, mast cells and vessel environs. In the mast cells and fibroblasts tryptophan was found plentifully, in fibroblasts and vessel environs a lot of tyrosin was provable. The alakline phosphatase was traceable in fibroblasts and mast cells with great intensity. Strong reactivities of the acid phosphatases in all of the cells of the tissue refer to intensive lysosomal activities and considerable secretion transactions. The reaction of LDH as a representative of energy metabolism settles down in all of the cells and vessel environs in a strong way. The histochemical examination of a preparation of the naso-pharyngeal angiofibroma after hormone therapy showed a falling out of all the enzyme activities. The reduction of the acid phosphatases seems to be of special importance. Substrathistochemically there weren't any clear modifications concerning quality and quantity. A comparatively examined separation of an ordinary fibroma of the nasopharynx indicated similar enzymhistochemical pictures disregard the intensive reaction of the unspecific esterase, which doesn't appear concerning the nasopharyngeal angiofibroma. The carbohydrate reactions demonstrated some differences to the typical nasopharyngeal angiofibroma.

Acid Phosphatase↗

PubMed2006

Residues of genotoxic alkyl mesylates in mesylate salt drug substances: real or imaginary problems?

Mesylate esters of short-chain (n = 1-3) alcohols are reactive, direct-acting, genotoxic and possibly carcinogenic alkylating agents. Their chemical and biological properties appear to correlate well with Swain-Scott s constants; for example, high S(N)1 character (low s value) is associated with enhanced carcinogenic potential, but also a rapid hydrolysis rate. Concerns over the possible formation of such esters during the preparation of mesylate salt drug substances, by addition of methane sulfonic acid (MSA) to the free base dissolved in an alcoholic solvent, have led regulatory agencies to require applicants to demonstrate that the synthetic method employed does not lead to the presence of detectable levels of alkyl mesylates. Mechanistic considerations, relating mainly to the extremely low nucleophilicity of the mesylate anion, and experimental data, both indicate that alkyl mesylates should not be formed (except from MSA impurities) during mesylate salt synthesis. Mechanistic arguments also predict that residues of alkyl halides (possibly formed in the preparation of amine hydrochlorides or hydrobromides) could represent a similar or greater potential hazard than alkyl mesylates. The perceived risk of alkyl mesylate formation seems to rely on mistaken assumptions and so the concerns appear unjustified. Further reassurance could be achieved however by applying a variety of strategies during synthesis, including pH control, and use of high-purity MSA or of a non-hydroxylic reaction solvent.

Alkylating Agents↗

PubMed2003

Exploring the psychosocial concerns of outpatients with disfiguring conditions.

OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to establish the extent and type of psychosocial need in outpatients attending for treatment for a variety of disfiguring conditions. METHOD: A total of 220 outpatients receiving treatment for burns, skin conditions or head and neck cancer, together with those seeking plastic surgery for other appearance concerns, completed standardised measures of anxiety, depression, social anxiety and quality of life. Participants also completed a semi-structured interview exploring individual concerns and satisfaction with care. RESULTS: A considerable proportion of the outpatients with disfiguring conditions experienced psychosocial difficulties, displaying raised levels of anxiety, depression, social anxiety and social avoidance and reduced quality of life. Levels of psychosocial distress were not well predicted by the severity of disfigurement. CONCLUSION: The psychosocial needs of these patients are not well met in the outpatient setting. Recommendations are made on how patients' concerns might be more effectively addressed.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Medicine, economics and agenda-setting.

The filtering of potential policy issues from a large range of possibilities to a relatively small list of agenda items allows the organisation of power and influence within a policy sector to be examined. This study investigated power and influence in health policy agenda-setting in one State of Australia (Victoria) in the years 1991, 1992 and 1993. The actors seen as influential were predominantly medically trained and working in academia, health bureaucracies and public teaching hospitals. This research supports an elite model of health policy agenda-setting, in which outcomes are dependent on the structured interests within the policy field. However, while the corporate elite of the profession is influential, the frontline service providers are not, as indicated by the location of influentials in large and prestigious organisations. Politicians and professional associations and unions are less well represented, and consumer and community groups are virtually absent. In 1993 there was a sharp increase in economists being nominated as influentials, with a subsequent decrease in influentials with medical training. This relates to a (perceived or real) shift in influence from the medical profession to senior health bureaucrats. Economic concerns appear to be shaping the visible health policy agenda, through an increased number of influentials with economics training, but also through an apparent ability to shape the issues that other influentials are adding as agenda items. The corporate elite of medicine remains powerful, but their range of concerns has been effectively limited to cost containment or cost reduction, better planning and efficiency. This limiting of concerns occurs within an international policy context, where the general trends of globalisation and an emphasis on neo-liberal economics impact on the direction of health policy in individual countries.

Health Planning Councils↗

PubMed1999

Caries assessment and restorative treatment thresholds reported by Swedish dentists.

The aim was to study any variability in approximal and occlusal caries diagnoses and restorative treatment decisions among Swedish dentists. The material consisted of a pre-coded questionnaire sent to a random sample of 923 dentists with 4 items concerning approximal and occlusal caries diagnosis and restorative treatment decisions. Responses were received from 651 (70.5%) dentists. In an adolescent with low caries activity and good oral hygiene, more than 90% of the dentists stated that they would not automatically restore a primary approximal caries lesion if its radiographic appearance did not show obvious progression in the outer 1/3 to 1/2 of the dentin. Moreover, 67% of the dentists would only consider immediate restorative treatment of an occlusal surface if obvious cavitation and/or radiographic signs of dentin caries could be observed. When diagnosing questionable occlusal caries, the dentists largely relied on the radiographic appearance. Concerning both approximal and occlusal caries, the threshold for restorative treatment differed between the metropolitan regions in Sweden, and younger more often than older dentists would postpone restorative treatment of approximal caries until the lesion had reached a relatively advanced stage of progression. The responses also showed that dentists in private practice would restore approximal caries at an earlier stage of progression than the dentists in the Public Dental Health Service.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

Carpal tunnel syndrome in the work place.

The management of patients with the CTS that appears to be related to occupational tasks is a complex issue. At this time, there is no definite evidence to show that any job is the sole cause of an individual worker's symptom complex. Management of patients in this situation requires surgical restraint coupled with an understanding of the worker's overall lifestyle. The most effective outcomes for all concerned appear to occur when there is cooperation among the patient, the physician, and the employer or his or her representatives. The recent prospective study by MacDougal that attempted to correlate job classifications with surgical outcome may be a very positive step in this direction.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome↗