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PubMedDate not supplied

Health status of illiterate adults: relation between literacy and health status among persons with low literacy skills.

BACKGROUND: In nonindustrialized nations, illiteracy is independently associated with poor health. The objective of this research was to determine whether such a relation exists in the United States. METHODS: One hundred ninety-three persons were randomly selected from a group of adult students enrolled in a publicly funded literacy training program. Subjects' health status was measured with the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP), a behaviorally based measure of sickness-related dysfunction. Subjects' literacy skills were also measured. Multivariate statistical techniques were then used to evaluate the relation between health status and literacy level and to adjust for confounding sociodemographic factors. RESULTS: The physical health (measured by the SIP) of subjects with extremely low reading levels was poor compared with that of subjects with higher reading levels. The relation between reading level and physical health was statistically significant (P less than 0.002), even after adjusting for confounding sociodemographic variables. Psychosocial health (measured by the SIP) was poor across all levels of reading skills and was comparable with the psychosocial health of populations with severe psychosocial disability. The relation between reading level and psychosocial health was statistically significant (P less than 0.02) after adjusting for confounding variables. CONCLUSIONS: In the United States, illiteracy and poor health status are independently associated.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Hemodynamic responses to positional change in habitually physically active and inactive older men.

This study explored hemodynamic responses to positional change in 11 habitually physically active and 11 physically inactive healthy older men (mean age 70 years). Data were collected in the supine, sitting, standing, and 70 degrees upright tilt positions over a 10-minute period (long-term response). Dependent variables were heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output, total peripheral resistance, and blood pressure. Stroke volume, cardiac output, and total peripheral resistance were expressed per unit body surface area. The results of this study indicated that the physically active older men had significantly lower resting heart rates and significantly higher stroke volume indices in all four positions compared with the physically inactive men. The physically active men also tended to have lower total peripheral resistance indices and higher cardiac indices in all four positions, but the differences were not statistically significant. However, physically active and inactive older men reacted similarly (with respect to all hemodynamic variables except the stroke volume index) in the sitting, standing and 70 degrees upright tilt positions as compared with the supine; the stroke volume index decreased significantly more compared with that of the supine in the physically active men.

Aged↗
PubMed2002

[Cross sectional study of the relationship between physical fitness and life style, health-status in healthy aged males].

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between physical fitness and life style, as well as health-status in aged males living in a community. METHOD: A total of 304 males aged 60 to 89 years volunteered as subjects for this study. Eleven performance-test items were selected from four physical fitness domains of muscle, joint, neuromuscular and lung functions, with consideration given to the safety, reliability, and feasibility of the tests. To assess life style and health-status, a questionnaire consisting of 40 items was constructed. Principal component analysis was applled to the correlation matrix consisting of 11 physical fitness variables. Statistical techniques for Creamer's association coefficient and theory of quantification I were used to examine the relationships between life style, medical condition and fundamental physical fitness (FPF). RESULTS: Cramer's association coefficient was only significant for the variable of quantity consumed at dinner. Multiple correlation coefficient between FPF and age-grade, life style, and health-status were significant (P < 0.01). Partial correlation coefficients were high for the variables of aged-grade, sleeping hours, and receiving medical treatment. CONCLUSION: Fundamental physical fitness showed a decreasing trend with age. It was inferred that acquisltion of adequate sleeping hours and not taking medical treatment for injury of illness might be related to the decline of FPF level with aging in aged males.

Aged↗
PubMed2002

Environmental factors associated with adults' participation in physical activity: a review.

BACKGROUND: Promoting physical activity is a public health priority, and changes in the environmental contexts of adults' activity choices are believed to be crucial. However, of the factors associated with physical activity, environmental influences are among the least understood. METHOD: Using journal scans and computerized literature database searches, we identified 19 quantitative studies that assessed the relationships with physical activity behavior of perceived and objectively determined physical environment attributes. Findings were categorized into those examining five categories: accessibility of facilities, opportunities for activity, weather, safety, and aesthetic attributes. RESULTS: Accessibility, opportunities, and aesthetic attributes had significant associations with physical activity. Weather and safety showed less-strong relationships. Where studies pooled different categories to create composite variables, the associations were less likely to be statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Physical environment factors have consistent associations with physical activity behavior. Further development of ecologic and environmental models, together with behavior-specific and context-specific measurement strategies, should help in further understanding of these associations. Prospective studies are required to identify possible causal relationships.

Adult↗
PubMed2007

Health-related quality of life in French people living with HIV in 2003: results from the national ANRS-EN12-VESPA Study.

OBJECTIVE: Since the advent of HAART, the assessment of health-related quality of life (HRQL) has become a major concern in the therapeutic follow-up of people living with HIV. DESIGN: HRQL was evaluated for 2235 participants in the ANRS-EN12-VESPA Study. These participants completed the Medical Outcome Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (MOS SF-36) questionnaire. Anxiety and depression were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale. Individuals were considered to have an 'acceptable' physical (and mental) HRQL if their MOS SF-36 scores were greater than the 25 percentile of the corresponding age-sex-specific distribution of scores in the French general population. METHODS: Logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with an 'acceptable' physical and mental HRQL among demographic, psychosocial and clinical characteristics. Potential selection bias caused by non-random missing responses to the MOS SF-36 questionnaire was statistically tested. RESULTS: Physical and mental HRQL were 'acceptable' in 1176 (53%) and 1152 (51%) individuals, respectively. After adjusting for sociodemographic factors, HIV clinical status and hepatitis C co-infection, high HAD scores and the consumption of anxiolytic, antidepressant and hypnotic drugs were found to be negatively associated with normal physical and mental HRQL. CONCLUSION: The role of disclosure and discrimination is determinant in HRQL, and the various cultural and psychological dimensions require further research. The presence of other infections or co-morbidities requires a comprehensive care system including medical staff and social worker teams. HIV should increasingly be regarded as a chronic disease characterized by different pathological conditions requiring a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Prediction of physical and chemical qualities of crude-oil using statistical time series analysis.

An application of a statistical time series analysis method is given for the interpretation of physical and chemical qualities of crude-oil samples taken from two oil-fields in Poland. The analytical data was gathered in the years 1995-1999, the information being collected once a month. Randomly selected crude-oil samples were examined in several analytical laboratories. For each sample examined, the following chemical-physical parameters were defined: date, source of the sample, specific gravity, density, colour, relative viscosity, viscosity, kinematic viscosity, drip point, setting point, etc. The data obtained played a decisive role in classifying the samples of crude-oil and in forecasting the properties of crude-oil that will be obtained from the mines in the future. To process the data obtained, the STATISTICA programme was used. It contains a module for time series analysis and for graphical presentation of the results.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

A physically based, probabilistic model for ultrasonic images incorporating shape, microstructure, and system characteristics.

Recent successes with Bayesian methods for analysis of shape in medical images have motivated our development of a shape-based data likelihood for ultrasound, the foundation of which is a computationally feasible, pixel-based, probabilistic image model. Previous probabilistic models for ultrasound generally assume an analytic form, e.g., Rayleigh, Rician, K, Generalized K, etc., then attempt to fit data to the model. Assumptions and intensive computation inherent in such an approach make it unsuitable for our purposes. In the pursuit of a new model, we have described previously a physical model for image formation that incorporates the imaging system characteristics, the surface shape, and the surface microstructure. That physical model was validated via a visual comparison of simulated and actual images of a cadaveric vertebra. In this work, a random phasor sum representation of the physical model provides the basis for a probabilistic form. In contrast to existing probabilistic models, we compute the amplitude mean and variance directly from the physical model. These statistics can be displayed as images to characterize the tissue, but, more importantly, they permit the subsequent assignment of a suitable density function to each pixel for the purposes of constructing a data likelihood. The order of these steps, i.e., first computing the statistics and then assigning a density function, permits the inclusion of the local surface shape, the surface microstructure, and the system characteristics at every image pixel without violating the physical model. Currently, the value of the SNR0, the ratio of the mean to the standard deviation, is used to estimate whether a pixel is Rayleigh- or non-Rayleigh-distributed. This assessment forms the basis for a data likelihood constructed as a product of Rayleigh and Gaussian density functions describing the individual image pixels.

Humans↗
PubMed1992

Coping and adjustment of spouses of critically ill patients with cardiac disease.

An acute cardiac illness represents a significant stressor to both patients and families. In a convenience sample of 100 spouses of critically ill adults, the relationships among personality factors, coping responses, social network, age, education, and emotional and physical distress were investigated. Results indicated a significant positive relationship between positive personality factors and problem-focused coping and between negative personality factors, emotion-focused coping, and emotional and physical distress. As expected, spouses who reported more negative personality factors and used greater emotion-focused coping scored higher on emotional and physical distress. Moreover, spouses who scored higher in emotional distress reported greater physical distress. No statistically significant relationships were found among the variables of personality factors, problem-focused coping, and support provided by the spouses' social network and the outcome variables of emotional and physical distress. Regression analysis revealed negative personality factors, emotion-focused coping, and education explained 52% of the variance in emotional distress. Future studies using experimental design are needed to evaluate the influence of a multitude of factors on coping and health outcome of spouses of critically ill patients with cardiac disease.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1979

Natural history of male psychologic health: effects of mental health on physical health.

Four decades ago 204 men were selected as adolescents for an interdisciplinary study of health; since then they have been followed biennially. Of the 185 men who remained in the study and in good health until 1964 (age, 42 +/- 1 years), 100 men remained in excellent physical health over the next 11 years, 54 acquired minor problems, and 31 acquired serious chronic illness or died. Of 59 men with the best mental health, assessed from the age of 21 to 46 years, only two became chronically ill or died by the age of 53. Of the 48 men with the worst mental health from the age of 21 to 46, 18 became chronically ill or died. The relation between previous mental health and subsequent physical health remained statistically significant when the effects on health of alcohol, tobacco use, obesity, and longevity of ancestors were excluded by multiple regression analysis. The data suggest that good mental health retards midlife deterioration in physical health.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

The distribution of restriction enzyme sites in Escherichia coli.

A statistical analysis of physical map data for eight restriction enzymes covering nearly the entire genome of E. coli is presented. The methods of analysis are based on a top-down modeling approach which requires no knowledge of the statistical properties of the base sequence. For most enzymes, the distribution of mapped sites is found to be fairly homogeneous. Some heterogeneity in the distribution of sites is observed for the enzymes Pstl and HindIII. In addition, BamHI sites are found to be more evenly dispersed than we would expect for random placement and we speculate on a possible mechanism. A consistent departure from a uniform distribution, observed for each of the eight enzymes, is found to be due to a lack of closely spaced sites. We conclude from our analysis that this departure can be accounted for by deficiencies in the physical map data rather than non-random placement of actual restriction sites. Estimates of the numbers of sites missing from the map are given, based both on the map data itself and on the site frequencies in a sample of sequenced E. coli DNA. We conclude that 5 to 15% of the mapped sites represent multiple sites in the DNA sequence.

DNA, Bacterial↗
PubMed2005

Quality of life in Indian patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

PURPOSE OF STUDY: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a multisystem disease with various extra-articular manifestations (EAMs). Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) issues are assuming increasing importance in chronic rheumatic diseases like RA. No data on QOL in RA is available from the Indian subcontinent. There is also a paucity of literature on the impact of EAMs on HRQOL in RA. The objective of this study was to address these lacunae. METHODS: The study group comprised 81 patients with RA from a rheumatology clinic in India. Quality of life was estimated by the generic HRQOL measure: World Health Organization quality of life instrument (WHOQOL-Bref). Disease activity in RA was measured by calculating Disease Activity Score-28 (DAS28). RESULTS: The mean HRQOL scores of the patients were 12.0+/-2.8, 13.2+/-2.7, 14.4+/-2.9 and 13.3+/-2.6 in the physical, psychological, social, and environmental domains of the WHOQOL-Bref respectively. Age, gender, disease duration, educational status, constitutional symptoms, rheumatoid factor positivity, erosions and deformities did not influence HRQOL. Disease activity had a negative influence on the physical and psychological domains. Patients with EAMs had significantly higher DAS28 scores compared to patients without EAMs. Even after adjustment for disease activity, patients with EAMs had lower HRQOL scores than patients without these features (statistically significant for physical domain). CONCLUSIONS: The physical domain of HRQOL is most affected in Indian patients with RA. Increasing disease activity and presence of EAMs worsens the quality of life.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

The importance of physical fitness versus physical activity for coronary artery disease risk factors: a cross-sectional analysis.

Numerous epidemiological investigations have shown that low physical fitness and low physical activity are related to the incidence of coronary artery disease (CAD). Most studies, however, have not examined both variables concurrently to determine which has the strongest association with CAD risk. The purpose of this investigation was to cross-sectionally examine the relationships among physical fitness, physical activity, and risk factors for CAD. Male law enforcement officers (N = 412) from the City of Austin, Texas, were subjects for this study. Physical fitness, physical activity, and risk factors for CAD were assessed through health screenings and from data collected as part of an annual physical fitness assessment. Multivariate analysis of covariance revealed that physical fitness, but not physical activity, was related to several single CAD risk factors. Percent body fat, smoking habits, and Type A behavior score were negatively related to physical fitness level, and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol was positively related to physical fitness level. Univariate analysis of variance found both physical fitness and physical activity to be significantly related to a composite CAD risk score. Low physical fitness and low physical activity were associated with a high CAD risk score. These data suggest that physical activity must be sufficient to influence physical fitness before statistically significant risk-reducing benefits on single CAD risk factors are obtained, although minimal engagement in weekly vigorous activity provides a significant benefit for the composite CAD risk score. It is plausible, however, that physical fitness is a stronger measure than physical activity and optimally characterizes the relationship among physical activity and CAD risk factors.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Physical therapy management of low back pain has changed.

BACKGROUND: Since the 1990s, new insights in the physical therapy management of low back pain have been described in guidelines. Furthermore, insurance companies introduced a volume policy to control the costs for physical therapy. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to establish if developments in knowledge and health policy since the 1990s have resulted in changes in the physical therapy management of patients with low back pain (LBP) in the Netherlands. METHODS: Data from 3148 patients, referred because of LBP, were selected from the databases of two registration studies (1989-1992 and 2002-2003) of patients treated by physical therapists. Descriptive statistics were used to compare patient characteristics. A multi-level regression analysis was carried out to determine a change in the number of treatment sessions adjusting for patient and disease characteristics, and to control for different levels (patient and physical therapist). RESULTS: A small decline in the number of treatment sessions was observed. In 2002, exercise therapy was the most frequently applied intervention, while massage and physical modalities were the interventions of first choice in the early 1990s. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that since 1990 the management of patients with LBP by physical therapists in the Netherlands has changed. Both quality management by the profession and volume policy by government and insurance companies seem to have been instrumental in bringing about a decline in the number of treatment visits and an increase in the use of evidence-based interventions.

Adolescent↗