The Effects of Racial/Ethnic Minority Status on Sleep, Mood Disturbance, and Depression in People with Fibromyalgia.

Purpose: Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic musculoskeletal pain disorder that is characterized by persistent and widespread pain. FMS has been associated with sleep disturbance, mood disorders and depression. Racial/ethnic minorities are less likely to receive a diagnosis of FMS than White individuals.

Vignette responses and future intentions in a health decision-making context: How well do they correlate?

Introduction: Vignettes are commonly used to assess health care decision making when it is impractical or unethical to use experimental methods. We sought to determine whether decisions made in response to hypothetical vignettes requiring medical decisions for self or parents related to reported future likelihoods of engaging in similar behaviors.

Method: Respondents ( = 1,862) were adults recruited in person in general community settings.

A longitudinal analysis of pain experience and recall in fibromyalgia.

Aim: To evaluate pain experiences and memories in fibromyalgia (FM) patients over time.

Method: Participants included 572 females who were members of a large health maintenance organization who had a diagnosis of FM syndrome (FMS) and met inclusion criteria for the study. Recruitment was for an intervention study that tested the effects of social support and education treatment arms, but there were no treatment effects.

You get used to it, or do you: symptom length predicts less fibromyalgia physical impairment, but only for those with above-average self-efficacy.

To determine whether the effects of symptom duration on fibromyalgia physical impairment are moderated by symptom self-efficacy, data from 572 female participants, who were members of a large health maintenance organization and had a diagnosis of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) were assessed. Age, symptom duration, history of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, fibromyalgia-specific self-efficacy (Arthritis Self-Efficacy Scale adapted for FMS [ASES]), depression (Centers for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale [CES-D]), fibromyalgia physical impairment (Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire [FIQ]), and pain (McGill Present Pain Index [PPI]) were measured five times across 18 months. Linear regressions were performed to predict baseline FIQ and PPI cross-sectionally.

Factors associated with continued participation in a matched monetary incentive programme at local farmers' markets in low-income neighbourhoods in San Diego, California.

Objective: The Farmers' Market Fresh Fund Incentive Program is a policy, systems and environmental intervention to improve access to fresh produce for participants on governmental assistance in the USA. The current study examined factors associated with ongoing participation in this matched monetary incentive programme.

Design: Relationship of baseline factors with number of Fresh Fund visits was assessed using Poisson regression.

The Effects of Age, Mental Health, and Comorbidity on the Perceived Likelihood of Hiring a Healthcare Advocate.

Background And Purpose: The projected increase in chronically ill older adults may overburden the healthcare system and compromise the receipt of quality and coordinated health care services. Healthcare advocates (HCAs) may help to alleviate the burden associated with seeking and receiving appropriate health care. We examined whether having dementia or depression, along with hypertension and arthritis, or having no comorbid medical conditions, and being an older adult, affected the perceived likelihood of hiring an HCA to navigate the health care system.

Assessing the Structure of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire in Fibromyalgia Patients Using Common Factor Analytic Approaches.

The Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ) is a widely used measure of coping processes. Despite its use in a variety of populations, there has been concern about the stability and structure of the WCQ across different populations. This study examines the factor structure of the WCQ in a large sample of individuals diagnosed with fibromyalgia.

Community BMI Surveillance Using an Existing Immunization Registry in San Diego, California.

This study examines the demographic representativeness of the County of San Diego Body Mass Index (BMI) Surveillance System to determine if the BMI estimates being obtained from this convenience sample of individuals who visited their healthcare provider for outpatient services can be generalized to the general population of San Diego. Height and weight were transmitted from electronic health records systems to the San Diego Immunization Registry (SDIR). Age, gender, and race/ethnicity of this sample are compared to general population estimates by sub-regional area (SRA) (n = 41) to account for regional demographic differences.

Smoking, depression, & stress: predictors of fibromyalgia health status.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of smoking, stress, and depression on fibromyalgia health status. Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic musculoskeletal pain condition that negatively affects health status. Health status is not only affected by the constellation of physical symptoms, but also by mood symptoms, stress levels, and patient behaviors (e.

"Experience Keeps a Dear School": the Effects of Ethnicity and Caregiving Experience on Hiring a Healthcare Advocate.

In the present study, ethnic differences in evaluating the severity and associated needs of medical complications experienced by an elderly man and the likelihood of seeking professional assistance (i.e., hire a healthcare advocate [HCA]) to care for him, and for one's own family or parent should they become ill, as a function of previous caregiving experience, were investigated.

Honor Thy Parents: An Ethnic Multigroup Analysis of Filial Responsibility, Health Perceptions, and Caregiving Decisions.

The present study explores patterns of parity and disparity in the effect of filial responsibility on health-related evaluations and caregiving decisions. Participants who identified as White, Black, Hispanic, or Asian/Pacific Islander read a vignette about an older man needing medical care. They were asked to imagine that they were the man's son and answer questions regarding their likelihood of hiring a health care advocate (HCA) for services related to the father's care.

The good life: assessing the relative importance of physical, psychological, and self-efficacy statuses on quality of well-being in osteoarthritis patients.

Background and Purpose. The purpose of the present study was to examine the interrelationships among physical dysfunction, self-efficacy, psychological distress, exercise, and quality of well-being for people with osteoarthritis. It was predicted that exercise would mediate the relationships between physical dysfunction, self-efficacy, psychological distress, and quality of well-being.

Physical function and quality of well-being in fibromyalgia: the applicability of the goodness-of-fit hypothesis.

: The goodness-of-fit hypothesis suggests that the effectiveness of a coping strategy depends on the match between type of strategy (problem-focused, emotion-focused) and the level of perceived control. This hypothesis was examined as a predictor of physical functioning and quality of well-being (QWB) in a large sample of women with fibromyalgia. Participants were 478 women with diagnosed fibromyalgia ( = 54.

The functional implications of motor, cognitive, psychiatric, and social problem-solving states in Huntington's disease.

Objective: Huntington's disease (HD) is a genetic, neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor, cognitive, and psychiatric dysfunction. In HD, the inability to solve problems successfully affects not only disease coping, but also interpersonal relationships, judgment, and independent living. The aim of the present study was to examine social problem-solving (SPS) in well-characterized HD and at-risk (AR) individuals and to examine its unique and conjoint effects with motor, cognitive, and psychiatric states on functional ratings.

Caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease: views from the population about hiring a health care advocate.

Objective: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with considerable caregiver and social burden. It is important to examine ways to minimize the negative effects of AD. Health care advocates (HCAs) may be one means of limiting the aversive effects of AD.

Fibromyalgia and hysterectomy: the impact on health status and health care costs.

Women account for over 80 % of the fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) population. Some researchers have noted that a large percentage of women with FMS have had hysterectomies. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between FMS and hysterectomies, and to examine the impact of having a hysterectomy on health status and health care costs.

Predictors of pain and functioning over time in fibromyalgia syndrome: an autoregressive path analysis.

Objective: Fibromyalgia is a disabling, chronic pain condition of unknown etiology. Although many factors have been recognized as important contributors to the pain experiences and functional abilities of fibromyalgia patients, the factors that are most impactful (and therefore represent optimal targets for intervention) are still unclear. The aim of the present study was to examine the pathways among depression, self-efficacy, pain, and physical functioning in a large sample of fibromyalgia patients over a 1-year timeframe.

The effects of social support and confidence in the health care system on the likelihood of hiring a health advocate.

Background: In response to the increasing complexity of the health care system, the field of health advocacy has emerged. However, little is known about factors that may influence a person's likelihood of hiring a health advocate.

Purpose: This study was designed to examine factors that influence a person's likelihood of hiring a health advocate.

Sleep disturbances in fibromyalgia syndrome: relationship to pain and depression.

Objective: This study is an examination of sleep, pain, depression, and physical functioning at baseline and 1-year followup among patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). Although it is clear that these symptoms are prevalent among FMS patients and that they are related, the direction of the relationship is unclear. We sought to identify and report sleep problems in this population and to examine their relationship to pain, depression, and physical functioning.

Predictors of mammography screening among ethnically diverse low-income women.

Background And Purpose: Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the United States. Minority women are less likely to be screened and more likely to die from breast cancer than are Caucasian women. Although some studies have examined ethnic disparities in mammography screening, no study has examined whether there are ethnic disparities among low-income, ethnically diverse women.

Ethnic differences in colorectal cancer screening.

The present study was designed to assess ethnic disparities in CRC screening rates in a low-income population and to examine factors that could account for those differences. Participants were randomly selected and asked to complete a questionnaire about CRC screening. After controlling for gender, age, education, income, health insurance, and family history of CRC, differences in screening rates as a function of ethnicity remained.

Understanding ethnic disparities in the use of total joint arthroplasty: application of the health belief model.

Objective: The Health Belief Model holds promise in understanding patient-related factors that may explain disparities in the use of total joint arthroplasty (TJA). We examined whether patients' health beliefs differ between African Americans and whites.

Methods: In a primary care clinic setting, 691 African Americans and whites with at least a moderately severe degree of osteoarthritis (OA) completed the Arthritis-related Health Belief Instrument.