A Qualitative Study on the Types and Purposes of Social Activities in Late Life.

This qualitative study examines older adults' subjective views on the types and purposes of social activities. In-depth interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 20 older adults, with low (n = 10) and high (n = 10) memory performance. We used grounded theory methods to analyze the narrative data.

Breast cancer survivors' perception of survivorship.

Purpose/objectives: To explore (a) how women who were diagnosed with breast cancer (BC) defined themselves as survivors and when this occurred, and (b) the types of benefits they derived from their experiences.

Research Approach: An exploratory, qualitative approach.

Participants: 112 women who had BC (response rate = 70%).

Physicians encouraging colorectal screening: a randomized controlled trial of enhanced office and patient management on compliance with colorectal cancer screening.

Background: Colorectal cancer screening is underused. Our objective was to evaluate methods for promoting colorectal cancer screening in primary care practice.

Methods: A 2 x 2 factorial randomized clinical trial measured the effects of a tailored vs nontailored physician recommendation letter and an enhanced vs nonenhanced physician office and patient management intervention on colorectal cancer screening adherence.

Informed decision-making and colorectal cancer screening: is it occurring in primary care?

Background: Current recommendations advise patients to participate in the decision-making for selecting a colorectal cancer (CRC) screening option. The degree to which providers communicate the information necessary to prepare patients for participation in this process is not known.

Objective: To assess the level of informed decision-making occurring during actual patient-provider communications on CRC screening and test for the association between informed decision-making and screening behavior.

Patients with Complex Chronic Diseases: perspectives on supporting self-management.

A Complex Chronic Disease (CCD) is a condition involving multiple morbidities that requires the attention of multiple health care providers or facilities and possibly community (home)-based care. A patient with CCD presents to the health care system with unique needs, disabilities, or functional limitations. The literature on how to best support self-management efforts in those with CCD is lacking.

Factors affecting older african american women's decisions to join the PLCO Cancer Screening Trial.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe the factors associated with the decisions of older African American women to join the PLCO (Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian) Cancer Screening Trial when recruited.

Methods: African American women between ages 55 and 74 years who were never diagnosed with a PLCO cancer were eligible for our study. Two methods of recruitment were used.

Validity of a questionnaire to assess historical physical activity in older women.

Purpose: To compare historical physical activity recall to original physical activity questionnaires collected at four time points over a 17-yr period in postmenopausal women.

Methods: This study examined the recall of physical activity (PA) data collected as part of a clinical trial of a walking intervention and subsequent follow-up in 163 white postmenopausal women (74 +/- 4 yr). Physical activity levels were measured with a modified version of the Paffenbarger Physical Activity Questionnaire (1982, 1985, 1995, 1999) throughout the duration of the study.

Describing a folic acid intervention for health care providers: implications for professional practice and continuing education.

The purpose of this article is to, first, describe the content of a folic acid professional education intervention that was developed and implemented as a result of a collaborative effort between an academic institution and a nonprofit organization-the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, chapter of the March of Dimes-and the process by which it was developed; second, report the results of an evaluation of the impact of this intervention on knowledge and recommendation behaviors of health care providers; and third, discuss the implications for professional practice and continuing education. We developed a novel presentation that had practical utility for practitioners that could be implemented in either a classroom or continuing education setting.

Using the transtheoretical model to stage screening behavior for colorectal cancer.

This study sought to describe the colorectal cancer (CRC)-screening behavior of a population of two lower income communities near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The transtheoretical model was used to characterize individuals according to their stage of readiness to engage in one of two recommended CRC screening tests--the Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT) or Flexible Sigmoidoscopy (FSG) test. A telephone survey was conducted of 50- to 79-year-old men and women in Aliquippa and Clairton in the spring of 1999.

Do beliefs of inner-city parents about disease and vaccine risks affect immunization?

Objective: The objective of this study was to understand how low income, inner-city parents of preschool children think about childhood diseases and prevention and the impact that this has on late receipt of vaccines.

Methods: Parents of all children born between January 1, 1991, and May 31, 1995, whose child received medical assistance and health care at one of four inner-city, primary care clinics in Pittsburgh, PA, completed a telephone interview and gave consent for a vaccine record review. The main outcome measures were lateness for first and third diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis vaccines (DTP) and not receiving at least four DTP, three polio virus containing and one measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) doses by 19 months.

A population-based, community estimate of total colon examination: the impact on compliance with screening for colorectal cancer.

Objective: Colorectal cancer screening is underutilized. Total colon examination (TCE), such as with colonoscopy, can have a significant effect on the measured compliance with screening, as colonoscopy may be able to be performed as infrequently as once every 10 yr. In a population-based survey we determined the prevalence and validated the self-reporting of TCE and assessed its impact on compliance with screening.