Developing Content for the Food Environment Assessment Survey Tool (FEAST): A Systematic Mixed Methods Study with People with Disabilities.

Almost 1 in every 8 adults in the U.S. have a physical disability that impairs mobility.

Promoting psychological health in women with SCI: Development of an online self-esteem intervention.

Background: There are no known interventions addressing self-esteem in women following spinal cord injury (SCI).

Objectives: To test the feasibility of an online self-esteem intervention for women with disabilities, as modified for women with SCI.

Method: We conducted a randomized, controlled feasibility test of a self-esteem intervention (N = 21).

A pilot test of the GoWoman weight management intervention for women with mobility impairments in the online virtual world of Second Life.

Pilot test GoWoman, a small-group weight management intervention for mobility impaired women that was a disability- and gender-responsive adaptation of the Diabetes Prevention Program delivered in the online virtual world of Second Life. Objectives were to (1) examine pre-/post-intervention differences in weight, waist circumference, diet, physical activity, self-efficacy for diet and physical activity, nutrition knowledge and social support for weight management, (2) determine intervention feasibility (fidelity, attrition, engagement, acceptability). Single-group modified interrupted time series quasi-experimental design whereby participants served as their own controls.

An Internet-based virtual reality intervention for enhancing self-esteem in women with disabilities: Results of a feasibility study.

Purpose: To examine the feasibility of an online self-esteem enhancement group program for women with disabilities.

Method: A sample of 19 racially and ethnically diverse, community-living women with physical disabilities, 22 to 61 years old, participated in a 7-session interactive group intervention (extending Hughes et al., 2004) in the 3-D, immersive, virtual environment of SecondLife.

Depression and depression treatment in women with spinal cord injury.

Background: Research has documented high rates of depression in people with spinal cord injury (SCI); however, most SCI research is conducted with predominantly male study participants. Additional research is needed on depression and depression treatment among women with SCI.

Objective: Study objectives were to examine depression, correlates of depression, and depression treatment in a sample of women with SCI.

Development and psychometric assessment of the function-neutral health-related quality of life measure.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the conceptual framework, item pool, and psychometric properties of a new function-neutral measure of health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL).

Design: This is an expert panel review of existing measures of HRQOL and development of a conceptual model, core constructs, and item pool and a validation by experts in specific disabilities and in cultural competence. Items were cognitively tested, pilot tested for functional bias, field tested with a national sample of adults with various limitations, and reliability tested via repeat administration.

Depressive symptoms in women with physical disabilities: identifying correlates to inform practice.

Objective: To examine correlates of depressive symptomatology in a sample of women with diverse physical disabilities to inform practice of modifiable risk factors that warrant attention and intervention.

Design: Interview survey.

Setting: Outpatient chronic care clinics.

The dilemma of measuring perceived health status in the context of disability.

Background: Advances in the conceptual differentiation of health from disability have not been incorporated in popular measures of perceived health status. The inclusion of function in the measurement of health presents a dilemma for researchers assessing the perceived health of people with functional limitations.

Objectives: The purposes of the present paper are to identify this problem in health measurement, describe its implications for disability and health researchers, and outline potential strategies for future measure development of perceived health status.

Do secondary conditions explain the relationship between depression and health care cost in women with physical disabilities?

Objective: To examine the influence of depression on health care utilization and costs among women with disabilities and to determine whether the severity of other secondary health conditions affects this association.

Design: A time series of 7 interviews over a 1-year period.

Setting: Large, southern metropolitan area.

Mammography use may partially mediate disparities in tumor size at diagnosis in women with social security disabilities.

Objective: This study determined the association between screening mammography and tumor size at diagnosis in older women whose original reason for entitlement to Medicare benefits was disability (SSDI).

Methods: A retrospective study of female Medicare beneficiaries older than 69 years diagnosed with breast cancer using Surveillance Epidemiological End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked database. Multiple linear regression techniques were used to determine the effect of screening mammography use on tumor size.

Overweight and obesity in women with physical disabilities: associations with demographic and disability characteristics and secondary conditions.

Background: This cross-sectional study was designed to examine weight in association with demographic and disability characteristics and secondary conditions in a sample of community living women with physical disabilities.

Methods: 443 predominantly ethnic minority women with physical disabilities were recruited through public and private health clinics and community organizations. They completed questionnaires including measures of body mass index and a health conditions checklist.

The complex array of antecedents of depression in women with physical disabilities: implications for clinicians.

Purpose: This article discusses the complex interrelation of elements of the physical, psychological, social, and environmental life context of women with physical disabilities and the association of these elements with significant disparities in rates of depression and access to mental health care for this population.

Methods: Literature and concept review.

Results: High rates of depression in women with physical disabilities are well documented in the literature.

Response shift theory: important implications for measuring quality of life in people with disability.

Measurement of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in people with disability can be problematic. Ambiguous or paradoxical findings can occur because of differences among people or changes within people regarding internal standards, values, or conceptualization of HRQOL. These "response shifts" can affect standard psychometric indices, such as reliability and validity.

Correlates of depression in rural women with physical disabilities.

Objective: To describe demographic and disability-related characteristics, to examine the patterns of treatment for depression, and to investigate correlates of depression severity and predictors of who receives treatment among a sample of depressed rural women with physical disabilities.

Design: A correlational analysis of data gathered from women recruited for a depression intervention study.

Setting: Rural centers for independent living located in nine different states across the United States.

Improving the health and health behaviors of women aging with physical disabilities: A peer-led health promotion program.

Objective: To examine the efficacy of a health promotion program for women aging with physical disabilities.

Method: A sample of 137 middle-aged and older women with physical disabilities was randomly assigned to either an 8-week health promotion program or to a wait-list control group. Both groups completed questionnaires before, immediately after, and 3 months after the intervention.

Physical activity and nutritional behaviors of women with physical disabilities: physical, psychological, social, and environmental influences.

Introduction: We examined predictors of 2 important health behaviors, namely, physical activity and nutritional behaviors, in a sample of community-living women with physical disabilities (N = 386).

Method: We conducted a cross-sectional survey with regression analysis.

Results: Our regression model accounted for 33.

Health, preventive health care, and health care access among women with disabilities in the 1994-1995 National Health Interview Survey, Supplement on Disability.

Objectives: This study presents national estimates on the health, preventive health care, and health care access of adult women with disabilities. We compared women with 1 or 2 functional limitations (FLs) and > or =3 FLs with women with no FLs. Topics covered included demographic characteristics, selected reported health measures, selected clinical preventive services, and selected access to care indicators and health care coverage.

Disability, psychosocial, and demographic characteristics of abused women with physical disabilities.

In a sample of 415 predominantly minority women with physical disabilities recruited from private and public specialty outpatient clinics, we examined experiences of physical, sexual, and disability-related abuse within the past year and its associations with demographic, disability, and psychosocial characteristics. Logistic regression analyses identified 27% of the variance and indicated that women with disabilities who were younger, more educated, less mobile, more socially isolated, and who had higher levels of depression may have a higher likelihood of having experienced abuse in the past year. This model correctly identified 84% of the abused women with disabilities.

Secondary conditions in a community-based sample of women with physical disabilities over a 1-year period.

Objective: To examine prevalence and predictors of secondary conditions in women with physical disabilities.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Women were recruited through private and public health clinics and various community organizations.

Characteristics of depressed and nondepressed women with physical disabilities.

Objectives: To describe the characteristics of depressed versus nondepressed women with disabilities.

Design: Survey.

Setting: Women were recruited through private and public health clinics and various community organizations.

Stress and women with physical disabilities: identifying correlates.

Introduction: We examined correlates of perceived stress among women with physical disabilities to identify variables that may be amenable to change through psychosocial interventions.

Method: The method for this investigation involved a correlational analysis of data gathered from 415 women living with physical disabilities on abuse and other health concerns. The women were recruited in outpatient clinics where they each participated in a face-to-face, semistructured interview.

The meaning of health for women with physical disabilities: a qualitative analysis.

Unlabelled: Researchers used qualitative research methods to explore determinants of and barriers to the health of women with physical disabilities. Semistructured, open-ended interviews were conducted with one focus group (n=9) and 9 individual women with various physical disabilities.

Participants: (1) defined physical health as a correlate of functional capacity; (2) noted the importance of a positive mental state; (3) recognized the effect of having or lacking social support; (4) described the role of health behaviors in health promotion, as adapted to their functional limitations; and (5) described problems with their medical practitioners' lack of knowledge.