Pamela Davis Martin

A primary care weight management intervention for low-income African-American women.

Objective: To determine whether a tailored weight management program, addressing the needs of obese, low‐income African‐American women, would produce greater weight loss than standard medical care.

Psychological adjustment during Army basic training.

This study evaluated changes in depression, anxiety, and stress during Army basic training. During week 1 of training, 139 soldiers from two companies volunteered for participation. In week 8, 93 soldiers were available for retesting. Self-reports of depressive symptoms and perceptions of stressfulness at both assessments fell within the normative range for nonclinical samples, whereas endorsement of anxiety symptoms remained slightly elevated, in the mild range. Women endorsed higher levels of anxiety (F = 8.87, p < 0.01) than did men. No gender or ethnicity differences were noted for changes in psychological distress over time. Regression analyses showed that subjects with the highest levels of initial distress on the anxiety, depression, and stress measures had the most change at the end of 8 weeks of training (r values between 0.61 and 0.39; all p < 0.01). Results suggest that initial levels of psychological distress are slightly elevated for anxiety but most individuals adapt to the stress of basic training, with normal levels of distress by the last week.

Smoking relapse and weight gain prevention program for postmenopausal weight-concerned women: A pilot study

OBJECTIVE Postmenopausal women have substantial concerns about weight gain when quitting smoking, which may contribute smoking relapse. There is a need for smoking cessation and weight gain prevention programs effective in this population. METHODS Two formats of a smoking cessation/weight gain prevention follow-up intervention in postmenopausal weight concerned women were compared: a minimally-tailored group format and a highly tailored, multidisciplinary individual format. Effects on sustained abstinence and postcessation weight gain were assessed. Postmenopausal smokers received 6 sessions of behavioral counseling over a 2-week period, 8weeks of the nicotine transdermal patch, and subsequent random assignment to receive follow-up relapse prevention sessions at 1, 3, 8, and 16weeks postcessation in either group or individual format. RESULTS The sample (N=98) was 67% Caucasian and 33% African-American. Age: m=52.3 (7.8) years, follicle stimulating hormone: m=42.6 (25.7), body mass index (BMI): m=27.4 (6.2), daily smoking rate: m=20.3 (11.5), for m=29.4 (10.7) years, Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND): m=6.4 (2.1), and carbon monoxide: m=23.8 (13.0) ppm. Abstinence rates in the group condition were significantly higher at 8weeks posttreatment. Group format significantly predicted abstinence rates at 8 and 16weeks posttreatment, even while controlling for age, race, BMI, CPD, years smoking, FTND, and weight concern. Weight concern predicted postcessation weight gain at 8 and 16weeks posttreatment. CONCLUSIONS Results indicate that smoking cessation programs for postmenopausal women may best be delivered in a group format and that postcessation weight concerns be dealt with prior to a quit date.

The Multidisciplinary Hemodialysis Patient Satisfaction Scale: Reliability, Validity, and scale development:

Patient satisfaction is frequently used to evaluate service quality. Although this is a common construct, satisfaction scale development has often overlooked the importance of psychometric properties and the uniqueness of patient experiences. Although there is a substantial body of literature investigating satisfaction with general patient services and physicians, development in the areas of multidisciplinary team assessment, specific patient populations, and minority groups is needed. To date, only one hemodialysis patient satisfaction scale with attention to psychometric properties appears to be available. However, this instrument does not assess satisfaction with the roles of the full hemodialysis treatment team. The present study reports the development and preliminary reliability and validity studies of the Multidisciplinary Hemodialysis Patient Satisfaction Scale (MHPSS). This 110-item Likert scale assesses the degree of satisfaction with the health care services of a multidisciplinary hemodialysis team. Methods used to construct the subscales, measuring different dimensions of service, include item analyses and principal components factor analysis. Matched-pair items were included and partialled out of a correlation matrix to control for inconsistent responding or for possible response biases. Results indicate that the MHPSS is psychometrically sound and may be a useful tool for assessment of patient satisfaction and continuous quality assessment of hemodialysis services.