Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Symptoms Of Diminished Autonomy Over Cigarettes With Non-Daily Use, Judith A. Savageau, Paul D. Mowery, Joseph R. Difranza

Judith A. Savageau

Data from a nationally representative sample of smokers (ages 12-22 years, n=2,091) was examined to investigate the prevalence of symptoms of diminished autonomy over cigarettes. Six symptoms were assessed: failed cessation, smoking despite a desire to quit, and a need or urge to smoke, irritability, restlessness, or disrupted concentration attributed to nicotine withdrawal. One or more of the six symptoms were present in 18.9% of subjects who smoked less often than once per week. Among subjects who had not smoked 20 cigarettes in their lifetime, 12.6% had symptoms of nicotine withdrawal, and 25% had made an unsuccessful quit attempt.

Lesson In A Pill Box: Teaching About The Challenges Of Medication Adherence, Darlene M. O'Connor, Judith A. Savageau, David B. Centerbar, Kimberly N. Wamback, Jennifer S. Ingle, Nicole J. Lomerson

Judith A. Savageau

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Medication mismanagement is a serious health issue affecting elders and people with disabilities, who often manage multiple medications. This project's goal was to educate medical and nursing students about the challenges patients face when managing complex medication regimens.

METHODS: A total of 104 first-year medical students and 40 second-year nursing students were randomly assigned to participate in a 1-week regimen of mock prescriptions or to read a description of the regimen and make predictions about what the experience would be like had they participated.

RESULTS: Quantitative results in combination with qualitative information suggest that the students taking …

Enforcement Of Underage Sales Laws As A Predictor Of Daily Smoking Among Adolescents: A National Study, Joseph R. Difranza, Judith A. Savageau, Kenneth E. Fletcher

Judith A. Savageau

BACKGROUND: With a goal to reduce youth smoking rates, the U.S. federal government mandated that states enforce laws prohibiting underage tobacco sales. Our objective was to determine if state compliance with tobacco sales laws is associated with a decreased risk of current daily smoking among adolescents.

METHODS: Data on tobacco use were obtained from a nationally representative sample of 16,244 adolescents from the 2003 Monitoring the Future survey. The association between merchant compliance with the law from 1997-2003 and current daily smoking was examined using logistic regression while controlling for cigarette prices, state restaurant smoking policies, anti-tobacco media, and demographic …

Dual Task Performance In A Healthy Young Adult Population: Results From A Symmetric Manipulation Of Task Complexity And Articulation, Albert Armieri, Jeffrey Holmes, Sandi Spaulding, Mary Jenkins, Andrew Johnson

Andrew M. Johnson

The ability to execute and maintain gait while performing simultaneous cognitive, verbal, or motor tasks ('dual-tasking') is beneficial in many ways. It is well-documented, however, that dual-tasking can result in cognitive or motoric interference that results in diminished gait performance, and impaired secondary task performance. When manipulating cognitive load, it is common to have participants respond verbally to stimuli. While this is an ecologically valid way to measure the effects of cognitive load on gait, it ignores the additional demands inherent in the verbal aspect of the task. In the present study, we manipulated complexity and articulation within a single …