Smoking policies among private employers and public agencies in Texas: a statewide analysis.

The present study examined the prevalence, correlates, and perceived impact of smoking policies among private employers and public agencies in Texas. An identical survey instrument was administered to two groups of Texas employers: a random sample of private industries and all state agencies (excluding universities). Response rates were 62% (n = 420) for private industries and 73% (n = 130) for public agencies. Fifty-two percent of state agencies and 53% of private employers reported having a smoking policy, with the majority of policies having been implemented since 1986. Concern about employees' health or comfort was the most important reason for implementing a policy for both state agencies and private employers. Both groups believed that implementation of a policy resulted in fewer complaints from employees and less smoking in the workplace but had less impact on productivity or morale. This study on the prevalence of smoking policies in the workplace is the first to document that the majority of surveyed employers have a restrictive smoking policy in place. In addition, this study found minimal differences in the prevalence, rationale, and perceived benefits of smoking policies between private employers and state agencies.

Psychometric characteristics and norms for disadvantaged third and fourth grade children on the state-trait anxiety inventory for children.

The STAIC was administered to 1,522 third and fourth grade Black disadvantaged children from a large metropolitan school district. Although A-State scores were equivalent to the original normative sample. A-Trait levels for boys and girls were found to be higher. Similar alpha coefficients were observed for the A-State scale; the A-Trait scale yielded slightly lower alpha coefficients than the original sample. Norms for the STAIC scales were extended to the third grade level. The small differences between the present study and the original normative study were attributed to differences in population. The STAIC provides a valid and reliable means to measure trait and state anxiety in children of elementary school age.

Differential attitudes of Chinese students toward people with disabilities: a cross-cultural perspective.

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of 338 Chinese secondary school students toward three major disability groups (people who are physically disabled, emotionally disturbed, and mentally retarded) using an adaptation of the American Scale of Attitudes toward Disabled Persons (SADP). We found that physically disabled persons were rated higher across the three subscales of the SADP compared to either emotionally disturbed and mentally retarded individuals, who were rated similarly low by the students. The lack of differentiation between the two mental handicapping conditions is at variance with contemporary western findings. The overall negative attitudes toward people with mental disabilities may have significant implications for community rehabilitation programming for this population.

Faculty qualifications and teaching responsibilities of community college dental hygiene faculty.

The purpose of this survey was to assess the current status of community college dental hygiene faculty qualifications in relationship to assigned teaching responsibilities. Data were collected on 508 full-time and part-time faculty from 92 of the 101 community college dental hygiene programs active in the spring of 1977. The majority of faculty degrees were in nondental hygiene disciplines, particularly at the graduate level. The predominant degree was in education. Teaching assignments were generally independent of degree levels and dental hygienists had major teaching assignments in all biomedical, dental, and clinical science areas. Of the dental hygienists serving as program directors, 71% had degrees at or above the master's level. The hypothesis that newer programs tend to have less qualified faculty was not supported. These findings should be of assistance to academic programs preparing dental hygienists for teaching careers by delineating the nature of current teaching assignments in community college settings.

Simulated grading decisions of allied health educators: a survey of Texas faculty.

Using simulated student data, this study investigated the grading decisions and future performance expectations of faculty members from allied health programs in Texas. These randomly selected faculty members evaluated linear and nonlinear grade profiles and formed expectations of students' future performances based on these grade profiles. Results indicated that student grade-performance patterns were differentially related to assigned grades and future expectations. Factors related to overall grade assignment included mean performance level, slope of academic performance (ascending, descending), and time of performance change (early, late). Two potential grading biases were suggested (age, sex of faculty), particularly for ascending performance patterns. Other faculty characteristics were unrelated to grading decisions and expectations.

Simulated grading decisions of allied health educators. Part II: Variations in causal attributions.

The present study investigated the causal attributions of allied health faculty to hypothetical student achievement data. Faculty rated linear and nonlinear (ascending or descending) grade profiles along ten causal dimensions. As predicted, student ability and effort attributions were prominent for ascending and uniformly high performance while external factors were more prevalent for descending and uniformly low performance. Faculty also used a diverse set of attributions in rating the performance profiles. Faculty age and length of clinical experience appeared to have mediating effects on perceptions of causality for declining student performance. Overall, these results suggest that allied health faculty demonstrate predictable patterns of causal attributions, yet differ in several important aspects from that expected from previous research.

Attrition in an undergraduate program in allied health education.

The present study compared the characteristics of allied health professionals who completed a bachelor's degree program in allied health education with those who failed to complete the program, in order to develop recommendations for a retention program. The data base included all graduates and dropouts for the period September 1972 to August 1986. Analyses indicated that alumni and those who dropped out were remarkedly similar with regard to demographic characteristics such as age, sex, ethnicity, and prior academic achievement. Fifty percent of the dropouts occurred within the first semester, although attrition continued to occur over a five-year period. The reasons for dropping out were varied, and few were recorded for academic reasons. It was concluded that adult allied health professionals pose difficult problems for retention because motivation and commitment variables appear more important than academic ability or social/academic integration factors. These findings were consistent with research on attrition in higher education, and with the literature on adult learning.

Undergraduate allied health leadership development: a program evaluation and follow-up study.

The present study reports the 15-year experience of an undergraduate program in preparing allied health professionals for educational leadership positions. Seventy-three professionals completed the BS degree as of August 1986. A substantial percentage of the graduates were attracted to faculty positions in institutions of higher education; 34% had achieved positions of department chair or the equivalent. Over 50% had completed some form of graduate study. The diversified settings and job titles reported indicate that the curriculum possesses validity for a variety of health care educational and administrative positions. Overall, this undergraduate program appears to contribute to the development of leadership personnel in allied health, particularly for those professions that provide entry-level health credentials at the level of associate degree or the equivalent.

Growth and distribution of selected allied health professional groups, United States, 1970-1980.

The growth and geographical distribution of selected allied health professional groups were compared with medicine, dentistry, and nursing for the periods 1970 to 1980 using data from the US census (1970 to 1980) and AMA Physician Masterfile. GINI indexes of health professionals concentration were computed as global measures to evaluate changes in the pattern of locational choice. All allied health professional groups reflected large percentage increases ranging from 25% to 432% in supply of practitioners from 1970 to 1980, with a median percentage increase of 71.9%, and compared well with medicine and dentistry. These allied health supply increases were generally related to better distributional outcomes among the general population and physicians, although several allied health groups became less evenly distributed during this decade. These gains were realized during a decade when less federal support was available for the allied health professions compared with medicine, dentistry, and nursing.

Impacting moral reasoning in allied health students.

This study was designed to assess the relative impact of a course in biomedical ethics on the moral reasoning skills of junior-level students in a school of allied health. A pretest-posttest nonequivalent control group design was used. The course was found to significantly impact principled moral reasoning scores as measured by Rest's Defining Issues Test (DIT). Male-female differences in DIT score changes were also suggested. The nature of the instruction appears paramount to possible changes in moral thinking, indicating that moral education programs need to emphasize dilemma discussion in their formats.

Readability and writing style analysis of selected allied health professional journals.

Using US Department of Defense text sampling procedures, nine allied health journals were analyzed for readability and selected writing style indices via Right Writer, a commercial software program. Two indices of readability were computed for each journal as were several indices of writing style. The computed readability ranged from 13.0 to 15.4, depending upon the journal in question. Two journals showed the highest levels of readability (15.4) compared to the other seven journals. The writing style analyses indicated generally normal ranges for the descriptive and jargon indices, but seven journals showed below recommended strength indices. Sentence structure analyses indicated a need to reduce sentence structure complexity. Implications for journal editors and authors are discussed.

A study of radiation safety education practices in acute care Texas hospitals.

A survey study was performed to assess the extent of radiation safety education and training in acute care Texas hospitals for radiologic technologists and other hospital personnel. The findings revealed a self-perceived need by hospital administrative personnel and were interpreted to suggest a quantitative need for increased radiation safety education for several classes of hospital personnel. The findings are discussed relative to potential certification requirements for technologists and implications for the training of other personnel.

Allogeneic adsorptions: a comparison of the traditional method with a modified PEG adsorption method.

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the benefits of enhancing adsorptions with PEG. Allogeneic adsorptions were performed on 20 patient samples containing warm reactive autoantibodies with two volumes of adsorbing RBCs; results using unenhanced adsorptions were compared with those using PEG-enhanced adsorptions and with using untreated adsorbing RBCs and ficin-treated adsorbing RBCs. Two volumes of adsorbing RBCs, one volume of serum, and one volume of PEG were used. The number of adsorptions, average time saved, and presence or absence of underlying alloantibodies were compared for the two methods and types of adsorbing RBCs. Modified PEG-enhanced adsorptions resulted in a 69 percent decrease in adsorbing time. PEG adsorptions removed all autoantibodies and detected 18 of 19 underlying alloantibodies. The unenhanced method did not remove autoantibodies in two samples and identified only 15 of 19 underlying alloantibodies. As expected, reductions in the number of adsorptions and adsorbing time were observed. The modified-PEG adsorption is an improved method that may replace the current unenhanced method.