The effects of effleurage hand massage on anxiety and pain in patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of effleurage hand massage performed by trained volunteers on reducing anxiety and pain in patients receiving treatment at a chemotherapy center in Fort Wayne, Ind., as measured by heart rate, respiratory rate, BP, visual analogue scale for anxiety (VAS-A), and visual analogue scale for pain (VAS-P).

Methods: Volunteers trained in effleurage massage gave 10-minute hand massages to 24 patients at the beginning of their chemotherapy session.

Patient and referring provider satisfaction with a gastrointestinal consultation clinic for pregnant patients.

Background: To improve multi-disciplinary care in pregnancy, a gastrointesintal (GI) disorders in pregnancy clinic was created. Patient and referring provider satisfaction with this service was assessed.

Methods: The first 100 patients and their referring providers were surveyed.

Gender differences in the vocational satisfaction of physician assistants.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to analyze vocational satisfaction differences by gender as a follow-up of data gathered from a mailed survey study on American physician assistant vocational satisfaction.

Methods: This is an analysis of a database from an original piloted, validated survey with a response rate of 50% from 2,323 labels from the 2003 AAPA's mailing list (n = 1,137). The survey measured vocational satisfaction in terms of career, job, and specialty choice on a forced-choice 6-point Likert-type scale.

Physician assistant vocational satisfaction.

Physician assistants (PAs) are known to be highly satisfied with their vocational choices, but the reasons for this high degree of satisfaction are not known. The author mailed a survey to 2,323 PAs whose names were randomly chosen from the mailing list of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) to examine the factors that PAs feel contribute to vocational satisfaction. The survey response rate was 50%.

Chronic fatigue syndrome versus neuroendocrineimmune dysfunction syndrome:differential attributions.

Since 1988, when the term chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) was coined, considerable discussion has occurred about stigma associated with this diagnostic term. In particular, patients with CFS have felt that this term trivializes the serious nature of this disorder. A Name Change Work group, appointed by the CFS Coordinating Committee, developed an umbrella term: chronic neuroendocrineimmune dysfunction syndrome (CNDS), and proposed that there would be sub-types under this term, one being CFS.