Self-Care Instruments to Measure Nutrition Practices in Children and Parents: Psychometric Analysis.

The purposes of this study were to evaluate the psychometric properties of English and Spanish instruments that measure the nutrition behavior and practices of children and their parents. Orem's self-care deficit nursing theory was used in this methodological study. A convenience sample of 333 children and 262 mothers participated from two schools in Washington, D.C. and two schools in Santiago, Chile. Principal component analysis indicated three component per instrument corresponding to Orem's Theory of operations demonstrating construct validity of the instrument. The study findings showed evidence for validity and reliability of the English and Spanish versions and indicated that the instruments appropriately represented Orem's operations. The results have implications for the development of health behavior measurement instruments that are valid, reliable, designed for children, culturally appropriate, and efficient. Measuring the nutrition behavior of children and parents is critical for determining the effectiveness of nutrition intervention programs. Furthermore, instruments are needed so that researchers can compare corresponding child and parent behaviors or compare behaviors across cultures.

Concepts of anemia among low income Nicaraguan women.

Anemia is a common health problem among women throughout the world, however, there has been minimal research on women's concepts of anemia. The purpose of this study was to examine concepts of anemia in low income Nicaraguan women. A qualitative design was used. Audio-taped open-ended interviews in Spanish with 14 women were used to obtain data. Tapes were transcribed and content analyzed. The findings indicate that few of the women had biomedically accurate concepts of anemia, such as that it was due to lack of iron from poor eating. Others held folk medical beliefs including home remedies, for example drinking the milk of a mare or beet juice and eating certain foods such as bean soup. Most of the women did not know any symptoms of anemia and a few reported that it can develop into leukemia. These concepts of anemia are instructive for nurses working with patients from Nicaragua and will be useful in developing nursing interventions to alleviate this public health problem.

Concepts of anemia among low income Nicaraguan women / Conceptos de anemia entre mujeres nicaragüenses de baja renta / Conceitos de anemia entre mulheres nicaragüenses de baixa renda

Anemia is a common health problem among women throughout the world, however, there has been minimal research on women's concepts of anemia. The purpose of this study was to examine concepts of anemia in low income Nicaraguan women. A qualitative design was used. Audio-taped open-ended interviews in Spanish with 14 women were used to obtain data. Tapes were transcribed and content analyzed. The findings indicate that few of the women had biomedically accurate concepts of anemia, such as that it was due to lack of iron from poor eating. Others held folk medical beliefs including home remedies, for example drinking the milk of a mare or beet juice and eating certain foods such as bean soup. Most of the women did not know any symptoms of anemia and a few reported that it can develop into leukemia. These concepts of anemia are instructive for nurses working with patients from Nicaragua and will be useful in developing nursing interventions to alleviate this public health problem.

La anemia es un problema de salud común entre las mujeres alrededor del mundo, sin embargo, se han realizado pocas investigaciones sobre los conceptos de anemia entre las mujeres. El propósito de este estudio fue examinar los conceptos de anemia en mujeres Nicaragüenses de bajos ingresos económicos. La investigación fue de orden cualitativa. Para la recolección de datos, se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas, grabadas en castellano, con 14 mujeres. Las cintas grabadas fueron transcritas y se realizó un análisis de contenido. Los resultados indican que pocas mujeres poseen conocimientos biomédicos sobre anemia, por ejemplo, la ingestión de alimentos pobres en hierro. Otras expresaron creencias populares, como remedios caseros, ingestión de leche de yegua o jugo de remolacha y ciertos alimentos como sopa de judías. La mayoría de las mujeres no conocía ningún síntoma de anemia y pocas relataron que creían que esta enfermedad podría transformarse en leucemia. Estos conceptos de anemia son instructivos para las enfermeras que trabajan con pacientes en Nicaragua y será de mucha utilidad para desarrollar intervenciones de enfermería para aliviar este problema de salud pública.

A anemia e um problema de saúde comum entre as mulheres de todo a mundo inteiro, mas tem havido um mínimo de investigação sobre os conceitos de anemia entre as mulheres. O objetivo deste estudo foi o de analisar os conceitos de anemia em mulheres nicaragüenses com baixos rendimentos. Foi utilizado um desenho qualitativo. Para a coleta de dados, entrevistas semi-estruturadas foram conduzidas, áudio gravadas em espanhol para 14 mulheres. As fitas foram transcritas e tornou-se uma análise conteúdo. Os resultados indicam que poucas mulheres possuem conhecimento biomédico preciso sobre anemia, tal como ingestão de alimentos pobre em ferro. Outras mantiveram outras crenças populares incluindo remédios caseiros, ingestão de leite de égua ou suco de beterraba e certos alimentos como sopa de feijão. A maioria das mulheres não conhecia nenhum sintoma de anemia e poucas relataram que pode progredir para leucemia. Estes conceitos de anemia são esclarecedores para os enfermeiros que trabalham com doentes na Nicarágua e que será muito útil para desenvolver intervenções de enfermagem para minorar o problema de saúde pública.

Statistical and nonstatistical significance: implications for health care researchers.

Quality improvement professionals have to decide whether a change has led to improvement. This is typically done through testing the statistical significance of the findings. In this article, we explore controversies surrounding statistical significance testing with attention to contemporary criticism of bad practice resulting from the misuse of statistical significance testing. Most statistical significance tests use tests (eg, F, chi) with known distributions with the P values used as the main evidence to evaluate whether tests are statistically significant. The primary conclusion of this article is that the P value alone as a measure of statistical significance does not give sufficient information about testing of hypotheses. When it is coupled with other measures, however, such as the point estimation of the effect size and the use of a confidence interval around it, the combination of these statistics can provide a more thorough explanation of statistical testing. This article offers recommendations for process improvement investigators as to when to appropriately apply and not to apply statistical significance testing.

Adherence to latent tuberculosis infection therapy among latino immigrants.

BACKGROUND: One third of the world population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In the United States, a key component for eliminating tuberculosis (TB) is treating latent TB infection (LTBI) in high-risk persons such as immigrants. OBJECTIVE: Examine the prevalence of adherence to LTBI therapy and the influence of basic conditioning factors on adherence among Latino immigrants, guided by Orem's Self-Care Deficit Theory. Adherence was treated as a health deviation self-care requisite; the self-care practice of taking daily medication for 9 months is essential to LTBI adherence. Conditioning factors include gender, age, sociocultural factors, environment, and health state. DESIGN: Exploratory, cross-sectional. SAMPLE: Nonprobability sample (n=53) of Latino immigrants attending an urban public health clinic in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. METHODS: Participants completed a brief questionnaire documenting selected conditioning factors, and 9-month adherence to LTBI therapy was determined from their medical records. RESULTS: Adherence dropped from 98% in month 2 to 72% at 9 months. The mean number of months adherent was 7.4. Adherence was not significantly associated with gender, country of origin, languages spoken, age, education, or years in the United States. Adherence was slightly lower (t=2.059, p=.059) in persons who knew someone with TB. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses should emphasize the importance of adherence for the full 9 months to this population.