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PubMed2000

Knowledge and perception of oral health promotion in schools among dental nurses in Sarawak, Malaysia.

In recent years, the concept of a Health-Promoting School has received much interest. In Malaysia, dental nurses are ideally placed to play a lead role in promoting Oral Health within the school setting. This study aims to provide information on the knowledge, perception and perceived role of Oral Health Promotion in schools, among dental nurses. A postal questionnaire was used to measure dental nurses' knowledge, perception and perceived role of Oral Health Promotion. The majority (60%) of dental nurses had good knowledge of Oral Health Promotion. Generally, they perceived that they play an important role in promoting Oral Health in schools. However, a sizeable proportion (25%) did not think they had a role to play in working together with school authorities to provide children with healthy food choices in school canteens. The majority (60%) of dental nurses did not perceive Oral Health Promotion to be important as a whole. They had a good perception of the concepts: it supports behaviour change, it has appropriate goals, it integrates oral health and general health and relieves anxiety. However, they had a poorer perception of the concepts; diverse educational approaches, participation, focus on prevention, early intervention, "spread of effect" of dental health education and "make healthier choices the easier choices". Years of service was not significantly associated with knowledge and perception of Oral Health Promotion. Dental nurses should be reoriented towards a more holistic practice of Oral Health Promotion. Workshops that invite active participation from dental nurses should be conducted to equip them with the necessary knowledge and skills.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Surviving childhood cancer: parents' perceptions of their child's health.

The improving prognosis for children with cancer refocuses attention to long-term outcomes. The purpose of this study was to assess whether changes in mothers' and fathers' perception of caregiving demands and well-being over a 1-year time period predicted parents' perception of their child's health at 12 months and to evaluate if these variables predicted change in health perceptions over a period of 1 year. Twenty Icelandic families of children younger than 18 years with cancer participated in the study. The change in general well-being over the year significantly predicted parents' perception of their child's health at 12 months; for the mothers, the change in well-being also predicted the changes in their perception of their child's health over the 1-year period. These findings suggest the importance of incorporating long-term health-related outcomes and measures to improve well-being among family members in future research and clinical practice, when caring for children and families surviving childhood cancer.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2002

Health perceptions of Mexican American women.

This article describes the health perceptions of a sample of moderately to highly acculturated Mexican American women. Using an ethnographic design, the author interviewed 13 women to determine their health perceptions. The interviews were guided by the domains of health described in the World Health Organization (WHO) definition of health. Three broad categories of health perceptions were identified: the physical body, the emotional component, and finding balance. With the addition of a spiritual component, the WHO definition was a useful tool for uncovering health perceptions. The process of in-depth ethnographic interviewing provided a contextual view of health in which the complexity of intrafamilial relationships was revealed, as were the importance of spirituality as a coping mechanism and the perception of health as an integrated, holistic experience.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Pharmacists' perceptions of consumer demand for patient-oriented pharmacy services.

This study examined pharmacists' perceptions of consumer demand for various patient-oriented pharmacy services. Data on pharmacists' perceptions were gathered by a mail questionnaire of pharmacist-managers in Raleigh, NC. Conjoint and regression analyses indicate that pharmacists perceive little demand either for voluntary provision of advisory services or for patient medication records, and that pharmacists' perceptions of the demand for patient medication records relate significantly to their provision of this service. Comparison of pharmacists' perceptions of demand with previously collected consumer data indicates that pharmacists underestimate the demand for patient medication records but not for voluntary provision of advisory services. These findings suggest that pharmacists' perception of consumer demand is as important as actual consumer demand in explaining why pharmacists do not provide patient-oriented pharmacy services more frequently.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed2003

Members' perceptions of community care network partnerships' effectiveness.

Investment in voluntary partnerships raises important questions: Should we invest in collaboration in moving toward the goals of health system redesign? What makes collaborative groups effective? Given the voluntary nature of these partnerships, membership perceptions of their experiences and the partnership's effectiveness should be important predictors of success. This article provides a preliminary analyses of perceived effectiveness of participants' perceptions of their own partnership, particularly focusing on leadership, conflict management, decision-making dynamics, and the breadth and depth of partnership membership. Members' perceptions that the partnership membership was "sufficiently broad to accomplish objectives" had a negative and highly significant relationship to perceived effectiveness. Members' perceptions about leadership being ethical was positively related to perceived effectiveness while perceptions that the leadership was not effective a keeping the group focused was negatively related to perceived effectiveness.

Community Networks↗

PubMed2002

Potential masking effect on dyspnoea perception by short- and long-acting beta2-agonists in asthma.

Asthma patients evaluate the effect of medication treatment through the degree of their asthma symptoms, which might be affected by their ability to perceive these symptoms. It has been suggested that beta2-agonists may mask the effects of an increase in airway inflammation. This study compared the perception of histamine-induced bronchoconstriction during monotherapy with short- or long-acting beta2-agonists. Asthmatic patients (68 male and 60 female, mean age 35+/-11 yrs, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) 86+/-15% of the reference value, provocative concentration causing a 20% fall in FEV1 (PC20) geometric mean 0.97 mg x mL(-1) (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.73-1.30)) were selected and randomly allocated to use either a short-acting (salbutamol, n=41) or long-acting beta2-agonist (formoterol, n=46) or placebo (n=41) for 12 weeks. Perception of dyspnoea provoked by histamine-induced bronchoconstriction was measured at the start and every 4 weeks thereafter. Subjects quantified their sensation of breathlessness during the challenge tests on a modified Borg scale at the start of the study and every 4 weeks thereafter. The sensitivity to changes in FEV1 was analysed by the linear regression slope (alpha) Borg versus % fall in FEV1. The absolute perceptual magnitude (PS20) was determined by the perception score at the 20% fall in FEV1. Although the geometric mean PC20 decreased significantly within the group using short-acting beta2-agonists (in the group with initial PC20 > or = 2 mg x mL(-1) there was a drop from 5.26-1.94 mg x mL(-1); p=0.013), repeated measurement analysis showed no difference in the course of time of perception (both slope alpha and PS20) between the three medication groups. This study showed that chronic use of short- or long-acting beta2-agonists in asthmatics for a period of 12 weeks, did not significantly change the perception of histamine-induced bronchoconstriction compared with placebo. Further investigation is required to establish whether this suggests that these drugs do not mask a deterioration of asthma.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Public perception of drinking water from private water supplies: focus group analyses.

BACKGROUND: Over four million Canadians receive their drinking water from private water supplies, and numerous studies report that these supplies often exceed the minimal acceptable standards for contamination. Canadians in rural areas test their water intermittently, if at all, and treatment of water from private supplies is not common. Understanding the perceptions of drinking water among residents served by private systems will enable public health professionals to better target education and outreach activities, and to address the needs and concerns of residents in their jurisdictions. The purpose of this study was to explore the drinking water perceptions and self-described behaviours and needs of participants served by private water systems in the City of Hamilton, Ontario (Canada). METHODS: In September 2003, three focus group discussions were conducted; two with men and women aged 36-65 years, and one with men and women 20-35 years of age. RESULTS: Overall, participants had positive perceptions of their private water supplies, particularly in the older age group. Concerns included bacterial and chemical contamination from agricultural sources. Testing of water from private supplies was minimal and was done less frequently than recommended by the provincial government. Barriers to water testing included the inconvenience of the testing process, acceptable test results in the past, resident complacency and lack of knowledge. The younger participants greatly emphasized their need for more information on private water supplies. Participants from all groups wanted more information on water testing, and various media for information dissemination were discussed. CONCLUSION: While most participants were confident in the safety of their private water supply, the factual basis for these opinions is uncertain. Improved dissemination of information pertaining to private water supplies in this population is needed. Observed differences in the concerns expressed by users of different water systems and age groups may suggest the need for targeted public education strategies. These focus groups provided significant insight into the public perception of private water supplies and the need for public health outreach activities; however, to obtain a more representative understanding of the perceptions in this population, it is important that a larger scale investigation be performed.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Thresholds for perception of direction of linear acceleration as a possible evaluation of the otolith function.

BACKGROUND: Previous attempts to measure otolith function using ocular counter-rolling have shown poor sensitivity and specificity, thereby hindering a useful clinical application. We have conducted a study to investigate whether thresholds for the perception of the direction of linear acceleration might be an alternative for the clinical evaluation of otolith or statolith function. METHODS: Perception of the direction of motion was evaluated in 28 healthy subjects while all external auditory and visual cues were eliminated. Whole body motion stimulus was generated by a motor driven linear sled at a stimulus frequency of 1 Hz at a linear acceleration ranging from 0 to maximum 40 cm/s2. Subjects were required to correctly indicate the direction of motion (anterior-posterior or lateral) or whether they were stationary. Both velocity and acceleration thresholds were measured. RESULTS: The median acceleration thresholds for the perception of direction of linear movement for anterior-posterior movement was 8.5 cm/s2 and for lateral movement 6.5 cm/s2. According to the literature, acceleration thresholds depend on the stimulus profile whereas velocity thresholds do not. The median velocity thresholds for the perception of direction of linear movement for anterior-posterior movement was 13.5 cm/s and for lateral movement was 10.4 cm/s. The median velocity thresholds for the perception of direction of linear movement for anterior-posterior movement increased linearly with age, whereas the median velocity threshold for lateral movement was not correlated with age. CONCLUSION: The thresholds found in this study are lower than reported in the literature before which may be due to the repetitive predictive sinusoidal stimulus which makes it relatively easy to lower the threshold by learning already within one test profile. The variability is large in line with the previous literature, but our experiments indicate that variability decreases after a training session. We interpret the literature and our current results that linear velocity thresholds after some training might reflect the sensitivity of the otolith system per se.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2006

The influence of partnership centrality on organizational perceptions of support: a case study of the AHLN structure.

BACKGROUND: Knowledge of the structure and character of inter-organizational relationships found among health promotion organizations is a prerequisite for the development of evidence-based network-level intervention activities. The Alberta Healthy Living Network (AHLN) mapped the inter-organizational structure of its members to examine the effects of the network environment on organizational-level perceptions. This exploratory analysis examines whether network structure, specifically partnership ties among AHLN members, influences organizational perceptions of support after controlling for organizational-level attributes. METHODS: Organizational surveys were conducted with representatives from AHLN organizations as of February 2004 (n = 54). Organizational attribute and inter-organizational data on various network dimensions were collected. Organizations were classified into traditional and non-traditional categories. We examined the partnership network dimension. In- and out-degree centrality scores on partnership ties were calculated for each organization and tested against organizational perceptions of available financial support. RESULTS: Non-traditional organizations are more likely to view financial support as more readily available for their HEALTR programs and activities than traditional organizations (1.57, 95% CI: .34, 2.79). After controlling for organizational characteristics, organizations that have been frequently identified by other organizations as valuable partners in the AHLN network were found significantly more likely to perceive a higher sense of funding availability (In-degree partnership value) (.03, 95% CI: .01, .05). CONCLUSION: Organizational perceptions of a supportive environment are framed not only by organizational characteristics but also by an organization's position in an inter-organizational network. Network contexts can influence the way that organizations perceive their environment and potentially the actions that organizations may take in light of such perceptions. By developing evidence-based understandings on the influence of network contexts, the AHLN can better target the particularities of its specific health promotion network.

Alberta↗

PubMed2004

Psychophysiology and psychoacoustics of music: Perception of complex sound in normal subjects and psychiatric patients.

Perception of complex sound is a process carried out in everyday life situations and contributes in the way one perceives reality. Attempting to explain sound perception and how it affects human beings is complicated. Physics of simple sound can be described as a function of frequency, amplitude and phase. Psychology of sound, also termed psychoacoustics, has its own distinct elements of pitch, intensity and tibre. An interconnection exists between physics and psychology of hearing.Music being a complex sound contributes to communication and conveys information with semantic and emotional elements. These elements indicate the involvement of the central nervous system through processes of integration and interpretation together with peripheral auditory processing.Effects of sound and music in human psychology and physiology are complicated. Psychological influences of listening to different types of music are based on the different characteristics of basic musical sounds. Attempting to explain music perception can be simpler if music is broken down to its basic auditory signals. Perception of auditory signals is analyzed by the science of psychoacoustics. Differences in complex sound perception have been found between normal subjects and psychiatric patients and between different types of psychopathologies.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Surgical decompression in dogs with thoracolumbar intervertebral disc disease and loss of deep pain perception: A retrospective study of 46 cases.

The case details and outcome after surgical decompression of 46 dogs with thoracolumbar intervertebral disc disease with loss of deep pain perception prior to surgery were reviewed. Nineteen dogs (41.3%) recovered with a median follow-up period of 12.5 months. Recovery was defined as an ambulatory paraparesis, or better, with urinary and fecal continence. There was a better outcome in dogs with loss of deep pain for less than 24 hours prior to surgery (19/41; 46.3% recovered) than in dogs without deep pain perception for more than 24 hours (0/5; 0% recovered). Dogs with deep pain perception present at two weeks postoperatively had significantly higher success rate (8/12; 66.7% recovered) than dogs without deep pain perception at this time period (1/10; 10.0% recovered). The return of deep pain perception by two weeks postoperatively can be a useful positive prognostic indicator.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Quality of life, quality of care, and patient satisfaction: perceptions of patients undergoing outpatient autologous stem cell transplantation.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To further expand the limited body of knowledge of the perceptions of quality of life (QOL), quality of care, and patient satisfaction among patients who receive high-dose chemotherapy with an autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) on an outpatient basis. DESIGN: Descriptive longitudinal. SETTING: Nine clinical sites associated with a national oncology practice management network in locations across the United States. SAMPLE: 36 patients scheduled to receive high-dose chemotherapy with ASCT selected by nonprobability consecutive sampling. METHODS: Subjects completed the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Bone Marrow Transplant (FACT-BMT) before high-dose chemotherapy, four to six weeks postchemotherapy, and six months postchemotherapy. An independent nurse researcher conducted telephone interviews about the treatment experience, perceptions of quality of care, and satisfaction with care. FACT-BMT data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of variance, and qualitative data about perceptions of care were analyzed using Giorgis methodologic reduction. Bivariate associations were made between overall degree of satisfaction with care and QOL as measured by the FACT-BMT. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES: Clinical outcome, QOL, patient satisfaction, and patient perceptions of care quality. FINDINGS: Mean FACT-BMT scores were lower one month post-treatment than at baseline and highest six months post-treatment. Subjects with progressive disease reported lower QOL at one and six months post-treatment, noted more complaints, and ranked their satisfaction with care lower than subjects with no evidence of disease. Subjects offered ASCT program improvement recommendations in the areas of communication, information, nursing care, ancillary needs assistance, ancillary agencies, and survivor support. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the QOL of patients undergoing outpatient high-dose chemotherapy with ASCT decreased post-treatment but increased to levels higher than those found at pretreatment by six months. A good clinical outcome following high-dose chemotherapy and ASCT was associated with higher QOL and greater satisfaction with care. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: Knowledge of the outpatient ASCT experience and its effect on QOL can be used to further refine the content and timing of educational and supportive interventions for patients undergoing ASCT. Information about patients satisfaction with treatment and perceptions of quality of care provides insight about their expectations and perceived needs and can be used to redesign outpatient ASCT programs.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗

PubMed2005

Perceptions of positive meaning and vulnerability following breast cancer: predictors and outcomes among long-term breast cancer survivors.

BACKGROUND: Survival rates for women with early-stage breast cancer have increased significantly in recent years. However, little is known about the long-term impact of the cancer experience on women's psychological functioning. Theoretical and descriptive accounts suggest that cancer may evoke both perceptions of vulnerability and positive meaning, with potentially different effects on mental health. PURPOSE: This study was designed to evaluate the prevalence and stability of these perceptions in a large sample of breast cancer survivors, to identify their antecedents, and to determine their impact on long-term adjustment. METHODS: Breast cancer survivors (N = 763) were assessed longitudinally at 1 to 5 years and 5 to 10 years postdiagnosis. Participants completed surveys assessing perceptions of positive meaning and vulnerability and standard measures of psychological adjustment and quality of life. RESULTS: The majority of women reported positive changes in outlook and priorities as well as feelings of vulnerability at both assessment points. Consistent with hypotheses, results showed that perceptions of positive meaning and vulnerability were positively correlated and were both associated with factors that increased the disruptiveness of the cancer experience. Vulnerability was strongly associated with negative affect, whereas meaning was associated with positive affect in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that a cancer diagnosis may lead to enduring feelings of vulnerability as well as positive changes in meaning; however, these perceptions have very different mental health correlates.

Adult↗

PubMed1980

Scales measuring people's perception of themselves as origins and pawns.

Scales measuring people's perception of themselves as origins (determining their own behavior) or pawns (their behavior being determined by forces beyond their control) were devised using content analysis of verbalizations. Scoring categories were based on the work of Heider (1955). Reliability was satisfactory. Normative data were obtained from 528 people, each experiencing one of nine life situations. Pawn and origin perception differed across situations and these differences were correlated with independent ratings of how people would perceive the situations. Pawn perception was more stable over time than origin perception but both varied over time. Origin scores were relatively independent of measures of negative affect. Pawn scores were associated with hostility directed inward, ambivalent hostility and total anxiety. Associations were found with some forms of Coping behavior and people's reactions to a relative's serious or less serious illness. Origin and pawn scores were not negatively correlated, indicating the inappropriateness of regarding them as opposite ends of a single dimension of causal perception.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2003

Anxiety, threat perception abnormalities, and emotional reasoning in nonclinical Dutch children.

Examined the relation between childhood anxiety and threat-perception abnormalities using vignettes in which external (i.e., exposure to potential threat cues) and internal (i.e., experience of anxiety responses) information were systematically varied. Nonclinical children (N = 156) aged 8 to 13 years completed anxiety questionnaires and were then exposed to 3 types of stories: ambiguous stories, ambiguous + anxiety-response stories, and nonthreatening stories. From children's responses to these stories, a number of threat-perception indexes were derived. Results showed that both external and internal information inflated children's perception of threat. Further, high levels of anxiety were accompanied by enhanced threat perception in response to external threat cues. Finally, little evidence was found that high levels of anxiety, and in particular of anxiety sensitivity, were associated with a greater tendency to use internal information (i.e., emotional reasoning). Potential avenues for future studies on anxiety-related threat-perception distortions are briefly discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Correlation between diagnostic accuracy and perceptibility.

OBJECTIVES: To correlate diagnostic accuracy for proximal caries with perceptibility of low contrast image details using regression analysis. The other purpose was to determine the attenuation range required for proximal caries diagnosis. METHODS: The results of the two types of observer performance tests described above were retrieved from previous studies. Recording media included in those studies were the Compuray and the Dixel, direct digital radiographic systems, and Ektaspeed Plus film. The average numbers of perceptibility of image details from five observers were calculated for each step and for every combination of contiguous steps of the aluminium test phantom from the perceptibility test. The average diagnostic accuracy for proximal caries from the same five observers was correlated with the total number of perceptible details from the phantom using regression analysis. Finally, attenuation range required for proximal caries diagnosis was calculated from the attenuation range of the phantom where the maximum correlation coefficient was obtained. RESULTS: Maximum correlation (r=0.68) was obtained at the combination of five contiguous steps of the aluminium test phantom. Attenuation range required for proximal caries diagnosis corresponded to the 2 mm to 6 mm thickness of aluminium with acrylic block of 12 mm thickness. CONCLUSIONS: There is a correlation between perceptibility of low contrast image details and diagnostic accuracy for proximal caries. There may be a possibility to simplify observer performance tests for proximal caries diagnosis by using the standardized phantom simulating its attenuation range.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

[Research on the influences that affect the physician's perception of discharge summaries. A survey of outpatient department physicians].

The object of this study was to improve the completion of discharge summaries. The purpose of this article is: 1. to describe the perceptions of outpatient department physicians as to whether incomplete discharge summaries affect outpatient medical care or not, and 2. to elucidate the factors contributing to their perceptions. The physicians were randomly selected from among "the National Certified Training Hospitals" and "Japan Society for Quality in Health Care", and the size of the hospitals, the medical record management system and the format of the discharge summary were chosen for analysis of the factors that affect physicians' perceptions. Of the 2,304 questionnaires sent, 935 (40.6%) were returned. The results showed that 832 (89.0%) of the physicians thought that outpatient medical care would be affected if discharge summaries were not completed. Based on the analysis of the factors affecting the perceptions of the physicians, there was a trend showing that the influence was lower in small hospitals (p < 0.05), that the centralized management system for medical records had a higher influence (p < 0.05), and that the format of the discharge summary also affects physician's perceptions (p < 0.05).

Ambulatory Care↗

PubMed2002

Do Mexican Americans perceive environmental issues differently than Caucasians: a study of cross-ethnic variation in perceptions related to water in Tucson.

Little is known about the environmental perceptions of our nation's Mexican and Mexican American population, especially in the area of water quality. We examined these perceptions to determine the extent to which Caucasians and Mexican Americans living in the Tucson, Arizona, metropolitan area differ in their perceptions of water quality-related risk, inequity, trust, and participation in civic activities. Ethnic variations in perceptions toward inequity, trust, and public participation were observed even when socioeconomic variation between Caucasians and Mexican Americans was controlled. However, significant ethnic variations in perceptions of water quality-related risks were observed only when socioeconomic variation was not controlled. Implications of these findings to environmental justice efforts in Mexican American communities are discussed.

Adult↗