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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

The impact of rheumatoid arthritis on the household work performance of women.

We conducted a study to assess whether and to what degree household work disability exists in women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to examine the role of health versus family and personal factors as predictors of household work disability. In addition, the participation of other family members and paid employees in household work was evaluated. One hundred forty-two women with RA and 58 female friends/neighbors completed questionnaires which assessed household work performance and health, family, and personal variables. Performance was measured in 4 ways: the current amount of time spent on household work, the proportion of the household work done, and the changes in time and proportion since just before the onset of RA. Functional status was measured via the Health Assessment Questionnaire. Pain, anxiety and depression, and general health perception were measured via the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales. The results indicate that household work disability exists in women with RA, but is substantial only in women with moderate-to-severe disease. In families in which the wife/mother has moderate-to-severe RA, the other family members spend 7 hours more per week on household work than in control families, but there was no increase in the use of paid household employees. Health factors were the strongest predictors of household work disability, but family and personal factors also had significant effects. Household work disability in women with moderate or severe RA merits more attention because of the importance of household work to family functioning and the negative effects that changes in this area can produce.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1992

A woman's place: unpaid work in the home.

Household work has only recently become a valid topic of study. Feminist scholars were among the first social scientists to draw attention to women's unpaid work in the home. Although household work occupations are frequently used for assessment and treatment within practice, occupational therapy literature demonstrates a paucity in the area of these occupations. This review of the feminist literature summarizes theory and research that explore the historical, political, social, and personal meanings of household work. Feminist analysis of household work may sensitize occupational therapists to the complex interactions of these meanings and lead them to the realization that women's responsibility for unpaid work in the home may have repercussions in the daily lives of both women and men.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1992

Double exposure: the combined impact of the home and work environments on psychosomatic strain in Swedish women and men.

This study investigates the relative distribution of home responsibilities and psychosocial work environment characteristics and their associations with psychosomatic strain in a random sample of the female and male working population of Sweden (N = 12,772). Occupational variables investigated were psychological and physical demands, job control, social support, and job hazards. Home characteristics included measures of household work, number and age of children, and child care resources. A sex-pooled logistic regression analysis was performed to detect sex differences in the effects of the variables upon strain. Gender was no longer associated with psychosomatic strain after adjusting for work and home characteristics and their interactions, and while there were some similarities between the sexes with respect to the main effects of the home and work characteristics, in 52 of 60 combined effect comparisons women had a greater combined odds ratio for strain than men.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Detection of blood benzodiazepines in injured people. Relationship with alcoholism.

In 2021 accident victims (household, work and road accidents) the qualitative test for benzodiazepines in the serum by the EMIT method was positive in 9.6% of cases, including 3.2% of subjects who also had a blood alcohol level greater than 0.10 milligram. Benzodiazepines were detected with a particularly high frequency in household accidents and road accidents and rarely in work accidents. These results raise the problem of the role of benzodiazepines as a possible risk factor for accidents, particularly road accidents.

Accidents↗
PubMed1989

Instrumental activities of daily living in two patient populations, three months and one year after a stroke.

The pattern of instrumental activities of daily living (I-ADL) such as household work, locomotion, psychosocial functions and intellectual activity was investigated in two groups of patients, three months and one year after a stroke. Group A (n = 78 at three months, n = 63 at one year) had received conventional care during the hospital period, while Group B (n = 129 at three months, n = 120 at one year) had taken part in a more individualised care programme. There was no difference in I-ADL performance between the two groups on the follow-up occasions according to interviews. The individualised care programme in the present study did not result in any significant differences in long-term functional improvements, although the mortality rate was somewhat lower in Group B. The patients of both groups were dependent to a large extent on somebody else in all activities except locomotion. Three-fourths of the patients, however, declared that they were satisfied with their health and life situation, in spite of their handicap.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1992

Vision and visual disability in the daily life of a representative population sample aged 82 years.

A representative population sample (n = 203) aged 82 years was studied to determine the prevalence of impaired vision and visual disability in a cohort previously investigated at the age of 70 years. Visual impairments and disabilities were generally most marked among the non-ambulatory subjects. In the ambulatory group (n = 160) 54% had VA greater than 0.8 and 8% VA less than 0.3. Near vision was also markedly better in this group. About 90% of the ambulatory cases could read J2 or better, read books and watch TV. Statistical analysis showed no sex difference with respect to visual ability for ambulatory subjects. Subjects with a wide range of distance VA were able to read J1 and J2, whereas only one ambulatory patient with J4 or worse had a distance VA above 0.3. To watch TV and manage most of the everyday activities a distance VA of 0.4-0.5 was required. To read newspapers and books a near vision of J2 was needed and for the telephone book J1 was needed. Improvements of near vision obtained by a change of own glasses were small. Hobby and household work proved less dependent on vision. The subjects showed a fairly realistic view of their visual capability, and distance VA was a valuable predictor of visual ability and disability.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Comparison of osteoporosis and calcium intake between Japan and the United States.

The number of osteoporotic females in Japan with vertebral bone mineral density measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry, defined as less than -3 SD of the peak bone mass, is approximately 10,000,000, corresponding to 8% of the whole population of Japan. While this value approximately corresponds to the prevalence of low bone mineral density in the United States, the incidence of hip fracture appears to be much less in Japan than in the United States, 50,000 per 125,000,000 per year compared with 250,000 for a population twice as large. This seems to be paradoxical because of the lower bone mineral density and lower calcium intake in Japan, with 400-500 mg/day mainly as soybean products, small fish with bones, and vegetables. The difference in hip fracture incidence, however, may not actually be as wide as it seems when the larger number of bedridden elderly subjects in Japan is taken into consideration. In these bedridden subjects with severe immobilization osteoporosis, hip fracture is only prevented by the fact that they are not ambulatory. Life-style difference may also offer an explanation. Sitting on a tatami mattress on completely flexed knees with frequent standing up, along with other household work, in a narrow home space may ensure a marked development of hip musculature and also provide skill in balancing oneself to prevent fails. The difference in fracture incidence should be analyzed from various angles to obtain a firm ground for the future prevention of hip fracture due to osteoporosis. Although osteoporosis universally affects all races and nationalities, conspicuous differences may be encountered in the severity of its manifestations and complications.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Calcium↗
PubMed1991

[The course and topography of pain in generalized tendomyopathies].

The generalized tendomyopathy (fibromyalgia) is characterized by the characteristic picture of multilocular pain symptoms, severe pressure-type pain in the tendon insertions and muscles, vitality deficiency, sleep disturbance and other vegetative disorders as well as functional complaints and is often also characterized by an altered psychological condition. Nevertheless, the disease is often not recognized, resulting in extensive superfluous diagnostic procedures and sometimes invasive and useless therapeutic measures. The disorder develops on average in the 37th year of life and initially affects, mostly monolocular, the cervical and lumbar region. The further course of the disease is progressive or recurrent and extends over years, often over decades. The patients' quality of life is markedly impaired and in many cases they are no longer able to carry out their occupational and household work. The socioeconomic significance of the generalized tendomyopathy probably exceeds that of chronic polyarthritis. One problem is the still poor therapeutic possibilities and also the assessment of the treatment. It is, therefore, of great importance to follow the course of the disease and the pain course via hand measurement methods, so as to enable the evaluation of new, but also known therapies. Measuring instruments, which record the intensity and the topography of the pain, such as dolorimetry and the pain score, will be presented and discussed. One of the newest possibilities is the computerized recording of the current symptoms, which is made by the patient himself by means of an electronic pain diary.

Fibromyalgia↗
PubMed1988

Evaluation of functional capacity after stroke with special emphasis on motor function and activities of daily living.

In a multidisciplinary study comprising 280 patients with acute cerebrovascular disease (median age 76, range 30-96 years), instruments for functional assessment in stroke care were developed. The improvements of motor function and activities of daily living were investigated during a period of up to one year after a stroke. A new chart for motor capacity assessment, which includes both the paretic and the non-paretic side, modified after that of Fugl-Meyer et al, was tested for its reliability and validity. At the same time the Activity Index of Hamrin & Wohlin was further tested. The internal consistency reliability measured with the standardized item alpha method confirmed that the two instruments have high homogeneity. Construct validity was investigated by factor analysis and showed a logical structure. The predictive validity of the scores on admission was significant and the two tools had a satisfactory predictive capacity for survival and later functional outcome. The improvements in different motor functions were followed up for up to one year after the stroke among the 183 one-year survivors. In patients with minor impairment, the improvement occurred mostly during the first week. Patients with moderate or moderately severe impairment improved more continuously for up to three months, while the few surviving patients with very severe impairment continued to recover to some extent even after three months. Older patients with severe functional loss seemed to improve more slowly and not as well as younger patients with equivalent impairment. The patterns of instrumental activities of daily living (I-ADL), such as household work, locomotion, psychosocial functions and intellectual activities, were investigated in the 207 three-month survivors and the 183 one-year survivors. At both the three-month and the one-year follow-ups the scores had decreased considerably, compared with before the stroke, for all activities except locomotion, and many patients were dependent on somebody else for help. The same group of patients was also examined by a Standardized Practical Equipment (SPE) test constructed by Tömquist three months and one year after the stroke. The construct validity of the SPE test was estimated through factor analysis. Three factors emerged, one concerning mainly cognitive factors and co-ordination, one concerning hand function and one concerning mainly mobility and balance. The instruments developed in the course of this study have proved to be reliable and valid, and useful in assessing functional losses and following progress. The tools are well suited for any clinical settings and for home care examinations as well as research.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1991

Women and social class: a methodological study comparing individual, household, and census measures as predictors of black/white differences in reproductive history.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: The aim was to compare four different measures of women's social class (interview and census based) as predictors of well known social gradients in reproductive outcomes. The intent was to address two obstacles that confront research in the United States regarding social gradients in women's health: how women's social class should be measured, and the absence of socioeconomic data in most health records. STUDY DESIGN: The study was a retrospective cohort analysis, using a community based random sample. Setting--Alameda County, California, 1987. SUBJECTS: 51 black and 50 white women, ages 20 to 80 years, identified by random digit dialling, were interviewed by telephone. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Census data were linked to individual records via the respondents' addresses. Using number of full term pregnancies as an example, multiple linear regression analyses demonstrated that individual class was not significantly associated with this outcome, whereas household class was: women from non-working-class households had 0.8 fewer such pregnancies than women from working class households (95% confidence interval [CI] = -1.4, -0.1). The block group measure functioned most like the household class measure (beta = -0.7, 95% CI = -1.4, 0.1), while the census tract measure was non-significant (beta = -0.4, 95% CI = -1.2, 0.4). Similar results were obtained for the outcomes: age at first full term pregnancy, percent of early terminated pregnancies, and yearly income. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest block group data may offer a uniform source of social class information that can be appended to individual health records, and that this strategy is not invalidated by concerns regarding ecological fallacy.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

A collaborative EEC study on seasonality and marginal nutrition: the Glasgow Hyderabad (S. India) Study.

As part of a collaborative project involving three European institutes and institutes in three developing countries, various measurements were made during an 18 month period of adaptations to seasonal food shortages. This study was carried out on a group of 102 economically poor adult women living in a large village near Hyderabad, S. India. These women not only looked after their households but also did agricultural work in the fields. A control group of 30 'middle-income' women were also studied; they did only limited work in the household and no work in the fields. Serial measurements (six in all, three in the harvest season and three in the lean season) were made of body weight, body fat, and various anthropometric variables. Comparisons were also made between these two seasons in food intake, BMR, activity levels and patterns, and a test of exercise capacity. There was a small loss in body weight and body fat (about 0.5 kg), and reductions in energy intake, BMR, and exercise capacity in the working women. No changes occurred in the control group of middle-income women. The nutritional stress imposed by the seasonal food shortage seemed relatively minor in degree, but did seem to induce some small adaptations.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Women undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery: physiological and psychosocial perspectives.

Men and women have similar mortality and long-term survival after coronary artery bypass surgery. When compared with men, however, women have less favorable outcomes in graft patency, perioperative infarction, relief of symptoms, and physical activity levels. Finally, little information is available about women's employment and psychosocial outcomes, making comparisons between genders speculative at best. We suggest that prospective studies of bypass surgery in women include a thorough assessment of key variables such as symptoms, activity, and return to employment, housework, or both, before and after surgery. It is essential to examine the immediate postoperative activity level of female bypass surgery patients for information on resumption of household activities. This information is critical for successful rehabilitation. Whether the term "return to work" includes household activities must be addressed. This will allow researchers to use the same outcome when discussing "gainfully employed or active." For comparisons between the sexes, women of all age groups must be studied, since age clearly affects outcome. The effect of repeated surgeries must also be examined. As more women survive the first bypass, how they fare in subsequent operations will require study. The need to examine benefits of surgical versus medical treatment is critical. A primary issue is whether women are referred for surgical intervention later than men, and if so, is this a reason for their relatively poor outcome after this procedure? Furthermore, we predict that the multiple roles now assumed by women will influence incidence of heart disease and how women fare after surgical intervention.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Coronary Artery Bypass↗
PubMed1989

Evaluation of two floor-mopping work methods by measurement of load.

The workload for two different methods of floor mopping in 11 healthy female cleaners was evaluated by rating the perceived exertion, by recording the ECG and EMG and by video analysis of postures and movements. There was less perceived exertion and local muscle loading during work when the 'push' method was used than with the 'figure-of-eight' method. The 'push' method nevertheless still implied a level of static loading that may be harmful during long term work. The methods did not differ regarding measured heart rate and oxygen consumption. However, for two cleaners the 'figure-of-eight' method and for three cleaners the 'push' method implied a work load corresponding to more than 40% of their normal oxygen uptake. Large individual variations in work postures and movements were found for both methods.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Working wives and housewives: do they differ in mental status and social adjustment?

Matched groups of working wives and housewives drawn from a community sample did not differ on current and past psychiatric symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and social functioning. They did differ markedly on enjoyment in and satisfaction from their work. The working women derived considerably more satisfaction from their outside jobs than either they or the housewives did from their work in the home.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Lead poisoning from art restoration and pottery work: unusual exposure source and household risk.

Two cases of lead poisoning following exposures in the arts and crafts environment are presented. The first illustrates the impact of an unusual exposure source experienced by a female art conservator while restoring an antique Peruvian tapestry from the Chancay Period (A.D. 1000-1500). The second demonstrates the extension to the artist's family members of a lead hazard associated with pottery work. Noted were a wide spectrum of clinical and biochemical abnormalities, ranging from severe neurological and gastrointestinal symptoms to subtle alterations in the biosynthetic pathway of heme. Marked elevation of the blood lead level (up to 130 mcg/100 mL) was found in the most severe case of lead poisoning. The cases illustrate the need for industrial hygiene measures in this type of work in order to prevent lead intoxication, both in the adult artist and children in the household. However, in some instances of increased lead absorption in persons with lead-related hobbies, sources other than those associated with arts and crafts should be investigated. This alternative is illustrated by a third case, in which firearms training was the more likely source of excessive exposure. Multiple occupational factors must occasionally be considered in evaluating increased lead absorption.

Adult↗