bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Testicular Self‐Examination in Young Adult Men
Authors: Wynd Christine A. 
Published: April 2004

Purpose: To describe patterns of testicular self‐examination (TSE) in a sample of young adult men and to identify factors distinguishing between men who do and do not practice TSE.Design: A comparative descriptive design with a convenience sample of 191 adult men aged 18–35 years, recruited from a large industrial complex in the U.S. Midwest. Data were collected during several occupational health fairs held from 1999–2001.Methods: A self‐report, 75‐item health risk appraisal (HRA) was administered to identify health‐related lifestyle habits. Men who did and did not perform TSE regularly were compared using Mann‐Whitney U statistics for discrete variables and t tests for continuous data. Discriminant function analysis was used to identify factors allowing prediction of frequent or infrequent TSE performance.Findings: Sixty‐four percent of 191 participants reported rarely or never performing TSE, and 36% practiced TSE monthly or every few months. Men who infrequently performed TSE were more often African American or Hispanic and had less than a college education. Other significant factors associated with infrequent TSE practice included less satisfaction with current job assignment; less satisfaction with life in general; greater worries interfering with daily life; more serious family problems in dealing with spouse, children, or parents; and reduced availability of people to turn to for support.Conclusions: Demographic and socioeconomic variables were related to TSE knowledge and performance. Further investigation is required to determine why men, especially ethnic minority men, are not performing this important cancer‐screening activity.
Outcomes of Therapeutic Massage for Hospitalized Cancer Patients
Authors: Smith Marlaine C. , Kemp Janet , Hemphill Linnea , Vojir Carol P. 
Published: April 2004

Purpose: To examine the effects of therapeutic massage on perception of pain, subjective sleep quality, symptom distress, and anxiety in patients hospitalized for treatment of cancer.Organizing Construct: Rogers' Science of Unitary Human Beings and Watson's theory of human caring.Methods: Quasiexperimental. The sample consisted of 41 patients admitted to the oncology unit at a large urban medical center in the United States for chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Twenty participants received therapeutic massage and 21 received the control therapy, nurse interaction. The outcome variables were measured on admission and at the end of 1 week via the following instruments: a Numerical Rating Scale for pain intensity and Likert‐type scale for distress from pain; The Verran Snyder‐Halpern Sleep Scale, McCorkle and Young's Symptom Distress Scale, and the Speilberger State Anxiety Inventory. ANOVA and t tests were used to analyze between and within group differences in mean scores and main effects on outcome variables.Findings and Conclusions: Mean scores for pain, sleep quality, symptom distress, and anxiety improved from baseline for the subjects who received therapeutic massage; only anxiety improved from baseline for participants in the comparison group. Statistically significant interactions were found for pain, symptom distress, and sleep. Sleep improved only slightly for the participants receiving massage, but it deteriorated significantly for those in the control group. The findings support the potential for massage as a nursing therapeutic for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
Children's Perceptions of TV and Health Behavior Effects
Authors: Kennedy Christine M. , Strzempko Fran , Danford Cynthia , Kools Susan 
Published: April 2004

Purpose: To understand and document children's stated experiences and beliefs about television and to elicit their suggestions for alternative activities.Design and Methods: Eleven focus groups were conducted with 51 Anglo and Latino children, ages 7–10, in a large Northern California city. Philosophical underpinnings of developmental psychology were the basis for multiphase thematic analysis. Data were collected in 1998–1999.Results: Themes were identified in five conceptual categories. Findings showed that children did not perceive many parental rules related to TV watching, rather daily routines are associated with TV viewing. Children revealed both covert and overt motivations for watching. Nearly all participants spoke of the deception of advertising, but they were unclear about the role of commercial sponsors in payment for TV shows. Children perceived both negative physical and behavioral health effects of TV and they had great difficulty imagining life without a TV.Conclusions: Children perceived television as providing educational and relational needs. Although they preferred alternatives to TV, they had difficulty articulating and getting those needs met. Clinicians and researchers can utilize these findings to design health interventions that attenuate the health‐impairing effects of habitual sedentary activity in childhood.
Priorities for Nursing Research in Korea
Authors: Kim Mi Ja , Oh Eui‐Geum , Kim Cho‐Ja , Yoo Ji‐Soo , Ko Il‐Sun 
Published: April 2004

Purpose: To identify priorities for nursing research in Korea.Methods: A national sample of nurses in academic and clinical settings, representing varied clinical specialties, participated in two rounds of a Delphi survey. Participants listed five most important nursing research problems rated on three dimensions: the degree of nurses' lead role, contribution to nursing profession, and nurses' contribution to health and welfare of patients and clients. A total of 29 research areas were derived from 1,013 research problems identified from the Delphi surveys, and 26 expert panel members who participated in a 1‐day workshop to determine the priority of these areas. Key words of 706 research articles published in the major nursing research journals in Korea were analyzed to identify priorities.Results: In the two rounds of Delphi surveys 347 of 1,047 nurses participated (31%–33% response rates respectively). Top three research areas common to both Delphi survey and literature analysis were: clinical nursing practice, nursing education, and nursing research. Cultural nursing was rated the lowest in the Delphi survey but was rated third by the expert panel members.Conclusions: In the clinical practice area, research on the advanced practice nursing system was the first priority research problem followed by development of nursing interventions, clinical competency, quality and effectiveness of nursing care, and standardized nursing tasks. Research on home health care, nursing education, utilization of nursing research, and geriatric nursing were other areas of priority. Nurses around the world are encouraged to develop collaborative research projects based on common priority areas.
Examination of Primary Care Characteristics in a Community‐based Clinic
Authors: Hartley Lou Ann 
Published: April 2004

Purpose: To (a) examine the reliability and validity of the Primary Care Assessment Survey (PCAS), (b) describe the primary care characteristics of a community‐based clinic in an underserved area in Appalachia, (c) examine the relationships between primary care characteristics and socioeconomic factors, (d) compare and contrast patients who have regular providers of care with those who did not have regular providers of care; and (e) examine provider primary care characteristics that predict comprehensive knowledge of patients.Design: Data for this cross‐sectional survey (N=227) were collected over a 4‐month period using face‐to‐face interviews at a not‐for‐profit, community‐based clinic serving patients in three Appalachian states in the southeastern United States.Methods: The PCAS was used to measure 11 domains of primary care provider performance and to identify and group patients who had regular providers of care (n=126) and patients who did not have regular providers of care (n=98) at the clinic.Findings: Cronbach's coefficient alpha for the total scale was .74 after deleting one subscale. Factor analysis revealed one PCAS dimension, Communication, accounting for 44% of the total variance. Primary care providers' Interpersonal Treatment and Longitudinal Continuity were predictors of Comprehensive Knowledge of the patient and accounted for 26% and 6% of the variance, respectively.Conclusions: The PCAS showed evidence of reliability and validity with underserved Appalachian patients receiving care in a community‐based clinic. The findings showed that patients receiving care from primary care providers had sustained relationships that affected communication aimed at improving primary care outcomes.
Parental Uncertainty and Posttraumatic Stress in Serious Childhood Illness
Authors: Santacroce Sheila Judge 
Published: April 2004

Purpose: To explicate the link between parental uncertainty and posttraumatic stress as a way to stimulate advancement in the design and evaluation of nursing interventions for parents of children with serious illness.Methods: The literature on Mishel's uncertainty in illness theory and its reconceptualization‐parental uncertainty in serious childhood illness‐and posttraumatic stress are reviewed and synthesized. Pertinent methodological and sociocultural issues are discussed.Conclusions: The literature indicates support for the theoretical link between parental uncertainty and posttraumatic stress. This linkage provides direction for the design and evaluation of nursing interventions to support parents of children with serious childhood illness.
Decreasing Pain and Depression in a Health Promotion Program for People With Rheumatoid Arthritis
Authors: Oh HyunSoo , Seo WhaSook 
Published: April 2004

Purpose: To examine whether a comprehensive health promotion program for rheumatoid arthritis (CHPPRA) could alleviate patients' pain, depression, and functional disability.Design: A quasi‐experimental design, nonequivalent control group pretest‐posttest design and a preexperimental design, one‐group pretest‐posttest design were used. The study was conducted in Korea.Methods: Outcome variables (pain, depression, and functional disability) and objectives (the practice of pain‐management behaviors, regular exercise, and psychosocial coping strategies) were measured in 36 Korean outpatients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). ANOVA/MANOVA and the Wilcoxon signed rank test were used to analyze data.Findings: Participants in CHPPRA had reduced pain and depression, but did not show improvements in functional disability. In the intervention group, pain management and psychosocial coping skills were significantly improved, but exercise was not significantly altered after participating in CHPPRA.Conclusions: Although this study was limited in design, the results can be reference data for designing, using, and evaluating programs for people with RA.
Reconceptualizing the Nurse‐Patient Relationship
Authors: Hagerty Bonnie M. , Patusky Kathleen L. 
Published: April 2004

Purpose: To review assumptions inherent in the nurse‐patient relationship as historically described and practiced, and to propose an alternate framework for nurse‐patient interaction that is congruent with current health care environments.Organizing Constructs: The theory of human relatedness and the nurse‐patient relationship.Methods: Analysis of assumptions inherent in the current theoretical and empirical literature on nurse‐patient relationships and evidence from observation of nurses engaged in practice. Proposal and discussion of the theory of human relatedness as an alternative model for conceptualizing nurse‐patient relationships.Conclusions: The theory of human relatedness framework provides new insights and opportunities for assessment, intervention, and research within the context of nurse‐patient relationships.
Effects of a Relationship‐Enhancing Program of Care on Outcomes
Authors: McGilton Katherine S. , O'Brien‐Pallas Linda L. , Darlington Gerarda , Evans Martin , Wynn Francine , Pringle Dorothy M. 
Published: April 2004

Purpose: To examine the effects of a relationship‐enhancing program of care (REPC) on resident and care provider outcomes.Design and Methods: A quasi‐experimental, repeated measures design, with intervention and comparison groups. Questionnaires were distributed to 50 residents, and observations were conducted of 40 residents and 34 nursing staff at baseline and 3 months after the intervention, on two Canadian nursing home units. An investigator‐designed educational program based on Winnicott's theory of relationships and the empirical literature, was provided to care providers and their supervisors on the intervention unit. Repeated measures analysis of variance (RM‐ANOVA) was used to compare the intervention and comparison groups in regard to changes in the outcomes over time.Findings: The REPC had statistically significant effects on (a) residents' perceptions of care providers' relational care, (b) care providers' relational behaviors, and (c) continuity of care.Conclusions: Evidence showed that these care providers were taught how to enhance their relational skills with residents living in long‐term care facilities without added staff. Recommendations for practice and research are discussed.
Measuring Nursing Power Within Organizations
Authors: Sieloff Christina L. 
Published: April 2004

Purpose: To describe the Sieloff‐King Assessment of Departmental Power (SKADP) instrument and the psychometric evaluation of both the SKADP and its revision: the Sieloff‐King Assessment of Group Power within Organizations (SKAGPO) instrument.Design: A survey of 357 chief nurse executives in the United States to psychometrically evaluate the SKAGPO.Methods: Psychometric evaluation of the SKAGPO included: (a) internal consistency reliability using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, split‐half with the equal‐length Spearman Brown Correction Formula, and item analysis; (b) concurrent criterion‐related validity; and (c) factor analysis.Findings: Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the SKAGPO was.92. Subscales' alphas ranged from.63 to.88. Item‐total correlations ranged from.24 to.68, with an average item‐total correlation of.48 (n = 334). Concurrent criterion‐related validity was supported.Conclusions: The SKAGPO and the related subscales showed initial reliability and validity.
Effects of Coresidence and Caregiving on Health of Thai Parents of Adult Children with AIDS
Authors: Kespichayawattana Jiraporn , VanLandingham Mark 
Published: April 2004

Purpose: To explore potential effects on the health of older parents living with and caring for people infected with HIV.Design: Comparison of health outcomes between affected parents and matched nonaffected parents, and between principal caregivers and nonprincipal caregivers in Thailand.Methods: Survey data from 394 affected households and 376 nonaffected households; qualitative data from 18 interviews of affected older parents.Results: A large proportion of older people with HIV‐infected children provided time‐consuming and strenuous caregiving services to them. Mothers shouldered most of this burden. Mothers who had a child die from AIDS reported lower levels of overall happiness than did others who had not. Mothers and fathers of PHAs (persons with HIV/AIDS) who died reported lower levels of overall happiness compared to 3 years previously (before the time of the death of their child) and compared to parents from households that did not experience an adult child's death. Many parents of children with AIDS experienced anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, muscle strain, and head and stomach aches during the time they cared for their ill children.Conclusions: Many older people suffered adverse health outcomes related to living with and caring for their children with AIDS. Recommendations indicate a variety of programs that might help such older parents.
Measuring Continuity and Discontinuity Following Stroke
Authors: Secrest Janet S. , Zeller Richard 
Published: April 2004

Purpose: To design and test a valid, reliable, and parsimonious instrument to measure continuity and discontinuity of self following stroke.Design: A 45‐item scale with a 3‐point response set was developed. The conceptual basis, “continuity and discontinuity in the experience of self,’ was derived from an existentialphenomenological study of stroke survivors. Study instruments included the Barthel Index (measure of functional abilities) and the pre‐ and poststroke QoL Cantril Ladder.Methods: The instruments were administered one time, in random order, to 55 stroke survivors in the United States in rehabilitation hospitals and in the community. Data were analyzed using a principal components factor analysis.Results: A 2‐factor solution with 10 items per factor was derived. Cronbach's alpha for Factor 1 (discontinuity of self) was .874 and for Factor 2 (continuity of self) was .869. Continuity and discontinuity were inversely related; continuity was related to functional abilities, but discontinuity was not.Conclusions: Use of this instrument validated findings from a qualitative study, which showed that life following stroke was a paradoxical sense of both continuity and discontinuity in the experience of self. This instrument can be used to measure the effectiveness of nursing interventions aimed at increasing stroke survivors' sense of continuity.
Barriers to Utilization of Prenatal Care Services in Turkey
Authors: Erci Behice 
Published: April 2004

Purpose: To identify barriers to utilization of prenatal care services in Turkey, including pregnant women's attitudes toward pregnancy and prenatal care.Design: Descriptive. The population was Turkish women who lived in Erzurum and had delivered their infants but were still hospitalised.Methods: The sample of 446 women had or had not received prenatal care, had no complications during pregnancy, carried their pregnancies to term, and were considered to have normal deliveries. Attitudes toward pregnancy and prenatal care and barriers to prenatal care services were measured by use of a questionnaire.Findings: Low education of pregnant women and unwanted pregnancy were barriers to use of prenatal care services. Additional barriers were negative attitudes toward pregnancy and attitudes toward prenatal care. These barriers decreased frequency of use and delayed early initiation of prenatal care. The most important barrier reported by the women was being too busy at home to seek care.Conclusions: Although this sample was limited, the findings indicate barriers for attention by health care providers to ensure appropriate prenatal care and maternal and infant health.
American and Icelandic Parents' Perceptions of the Health Status of their Young Children with Chronic Asthma
Authors: Svavarsdóttir Erla Kolbrun , Rayens Mary Kay 
Published: April 2004

Purpose: To identify factors that influence American and Icelandic parents' health perceptions among families of infants or young children with asthma.Design: A cross‐sectional research design of 76 American families and 103 Icelandic families. Data were collected mainly in the Midwest of the United States (US) and in Iceland from August 1996 through January 2000.Method: Parents in these two countries who had children aged 6 or younger with chronic asthma completed questionnaires regarding family demands, caregiving demands, family hardiness, sense of coherence, and health perceptions. Descriptive statistics, chi‐square tests and t tests were compiled. Multiple regression analysis was used to test path models and for mediation.Findings: American parents differed from their Icelandic counterparts in family hardiness. In both countries, significant differences were found in caregiving demands and health perceptions between mothers and fathers. Illness severity and caregiving demands affected health perceptions of both mothers and fathers. Sense of coherence mediated the relationship between family demands and parents' perceptions for both parents. For mothers only, family hardiness mediated the relationship between family demands and health perceptions.Conclusions: The Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment, and Adaptation was useful for building knowledge on parents' health perceptions in two Western cultures for families of young children with asthma. Interventions emphasizing family and individual resiliency and strengths have the potential to affect parents' views of their children's health.
Shower PUVA: A Novel Variant of Photochemotherapy
Authors: Sánchez Ruderisch H. , Aryee-Boi J. , Schwarz C. , Radenhausen M. , Tebbe B. 
Published: April 2004

Shower PUVA is a new variant of photochemotherapy suitable for therapy of various skin disorders. Psoralen, e.g. trioxsalen-containing water recirculates in a closed shower system and wets the skin continuously. After showering, whole-body UVA irradiation (320–400 nm) is performed. In order to prove the equal distribution of photosensitivity in vivo minimal phototoxic dose (MPD) was determined in different skin areas of healthy individuals. Additionally, we investigated the accumulation of trioxsalen in psoriasis lesions under the conditions described by quantifying psoralen in scales collected after showering. In a randomized study 20 healthy volunteers (skin type I–III) took showers for 5 and 10 min in trioxsalen (0.27 mg/l)-containing water at 37°C. Immediately afterwards, MPD was tested on the inside of the upper arms and on the buttocks by using a polychromator light source (315–400 nm). The applied UVA doses were 0.06–0.75 J/cm<sup>2</sup> with steps of 0.125 J/cm<sup>2</sup>. MPD was evaluated after 72 h. Equal distribution of photosensitivity was defined as equal MPD on the insides of the upper arm and the buttocks (±0.125 J/cm<sup>2</sup>). Skin scales of 21 patients with psoriasis were collected by scratching after showering with trioxsalen-containing water (0.27 mg/l) for 5 min. For quantification of trioxsalen in the scales HPLC was performed. An equal distribution of photosensitivity was achieved in 70% (14/20) cases after 10-min showering in trioxsalen-containing water. Showering for 5 min only revealed a 30% (6/20) rate of equal distributed photosensitivity. After 10-min shower time MPD was 0.325 J/cm<sup>2</sup> (median; range: 0.06–0.625 J/cm<sup>2</sup>). The average amount of trioxsalen found in the scales was 2.03 ng/mg scales (range: 0.38–7.2 ng/mg). For shower PUVA using trioxsalen, 10 min shower time is recommended to achieve sufficient distribution of photosensitivity on the skin. Clinical efficacy of shower PUVA can be explained by skin accumulation of trioxsalen which enters from the aqueous phase into the upper skin layers in detectable amounts. This is the first report demonstrating the efficacy of shower PUVA which in short shower time allows an uptake of psoralen by the skin.