Objectives
The authors examined whether selected demographic and psychological factors would predict physical health dimensions in a sample of 53 cognitively high-functioning and ethnically diverse women (age 65-105).
Method
Predictors encompassed PTSD symptomatology and perceived stress (of a non-traumatic nature and beyond health status) in relation to all dimensions of physical health of the Medical Outcome Study 36-item Short Form Health Survey (MOS SF-36; J.E. Ware & C.D. Sherbourne, 1992). Age and income, well-known correlates of health in the target population, were included as potential predictors. The authors first tested the relationship between potential predictors and health dimensions via a canonical correlation analysis, and then employed full multiple regression analyses to simultaneously test the predictors in each health dimension model.
Results
Perceived stress was a significant predictor of lower levels of general health (GH), but not of physical role limitations (PRL) or physical functioning (PF). Conversely, PTSD symptomatology predicted more limitations in role fulfillment (and, to a lesser extent, impaired physical functioning), but not lower levels of GH. As expected, age and income were predictive of some physical health dimensions. The hypothesized predictors failed to account for a significant portion of variance in pain scores.
Conclusion
PTSD symptomatology and perceived stress might influence older women’s physical health dimensions differentially; additional research on larger samples is needed to corroborate these findings.
PTSD symptomatology and perceived stress might influence older women's physical health dimensions differentially; additional research on larger samples is needed to corroborate these findings.
Anoxic brain injury (ABI) often results in severe memory impairment and other cognitive and behavioral deficits, although limited information is available regarding pediatric cases. This study reported the neuropsychological outcomes in six children and adolescents who sustained ABI. Profiles were compared by mechanism of injury (ischemic vs. hypoxemic) and three cases were evaluated more than once. Severe intellectual, attention, memory, and behavioral impairments were observed in all six cases although academic achievement, internalizing behavioral problems, and visuospatial deficits were in general less severe than other cognitive and behavioral deficits. The longitudinal case studies varied but showed steady increases in memory and intellectual performance in the younger children with strongest improvement in nonverbal abilities and little change in parent-reported behavior. This study raises several possible hypotheses about specific cognitive and behavioral outcomes observed in pediatric ABI.
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