Search

Objective: Assess impact of a computer-based patient support system on quality of life in younger women with breast cancer, with particular emphasis on assisting the underserved.Design: Randomized controlled trial conducted between 1995 and 1998.Setting: Five sites: two teaching hospitals (Madison, Wis, and Chicago, Ill), two nonteaching hospitals (Chicago), and a cancer resource center (Indianapolis, Ill). The latter three sites treat many underserved patients.Participants: Newly diagnosed breast cancer patients (N = 246) under age 60.Interventions: Experimental group received Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System (CHESS), a home-based computer system providing information, decision-making, and emotional support.Measurements and Main Results: Pretest and two post-test surveys (at two- and five-month follow-up) measured aspects of participation in care, social/information support, and quality of life. At two-month follow-up, the CHESS group was significantly more competent at seeking information, more comfortable participating in care, and had greater confidence in doctor(s). At five-month follow-up, the CHESS group had significantly better social support and also greater information competence. In addition, experimental assignment interacted with several indicators of medical underservice (race, education, and lack of insurance), such that CHESS benefits were greater for the disadvantaged than the advantaged group.Conclusions: Computer-based patient support systems such as CHESS may benefit patients by providing information and social support, and increasing their participation in health care. These benefits may be largest for currently underserved populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using an existential-phenomenological approach, this paper describes how women with breast cancer experience the giving and receiving of social support in a computer-mediated context. Women viewed their experiences with the computer-mediated support group as an additional and unique source of support in facing their illness. Anonymity within the support group fostered equalized participation and allowed women to communicate in ways that would have been more difficult in a face-to-face context. The asynchronous communication was a frustration to some participants, but some indicated that the format allowed for more thoughtful interaction. Motivations for seeking social support appeared to be a dynamic process, with a consistent progression from a position of receiving support to that of giving support. The primary benefits women received from participation in the group were communicating with other people who shared similar problems and helping others, which allowed them to change their focus from a preoccupation with their own sickness to thinking of others. Consistent with past research is the finding that women in this study expressed that social support is a multidimensional phenomenon and that their computer-mediated support group provided abundant emotional support, encouragement, and informational support. Excerpts from the phenomenological interviews are used to review and highlight key theoretical concepts from the research literatures on computer-mediated communication, social support, and the psychosocial needs of women with breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the relationships among viewers' family communication patterns, sex and pregnancy experience, music video viewing motivations, and viewers' cognitive processing of a music video about teenage pregnancy. Respondents were high school students, who watched a music video and filled out questionnaires on two occasions. Method; Results; Discussion.

This study examined the relationship between breast cancer patients' experience of barriers to accessing health information and their psychosocial health outcomes and explored the extent to which this relationship was mediated by patient perceptions of competence in dealing with health-related issues. Study sample consisted of 225 women surveyed within 6 months of diagnosis. Regression analyses suggested that patients who reported greater difficulty in accessing needed information experienced lower emotional (P=0.05), functional (P<0.05), and social/family (P<0.05) well-being as well as lower perceptions of health competence (P<0.001). Also, patient perceptions of health competence mediated the relationship between barriers to accessing information and patient outcomes (emotional well-being, P<0.05; functional well-being. P<0.01; social/family well-being, P=0.01). Breast cancer patients often report dissatisfaction with the extent to which their information needs are addressed by their health care providers. Our findings underscore the need for designing and implementing interventions that would aid providers in better meeting the information needs of their patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the interplay of depression and different types of e-health interventions on breast cancer patients' perceived healthcare competence, emotional processing, and social well-being over time. The three e-health interventions--Internet Only as a control condition, CHESS (Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System) Only, and CHESS with a Human Mentor, a cancer information specialist--provided varying degrees of interactivity and presence. A total of 328 women with breast cancer participated in one of the three interventions for a 6-month period. Women were further split into two groups based on reported levels of depression. For perceived healthcare competence and social well-being, results revealed significant interaction effects for intervention type by depression over time, such that breast cancer patients with higher levels of depression benefited most from the CHESS with Mentor intervention over the 6-month study period. For emotional processing, depressed cancer patients benefited more from the CHESS with Mentor than the other two interventions, regardless of time. These findings have (a) theoretical implications on how mental health factors can intersect with interactivity and presence to influence psychosocial outcomes, (b) conceptual implications for the role of human interaction within e-health systems, and (c) practical implications for the development of e-health interventions for cancer patients with depression.

Despite the mounting evidence of efficacy of eHealth interventions, their mechanisms of action remain unknown. The current study analyzed patient log data as each patient engaged in an eHealth system called the Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System (CHESS) and reports on how patients engage with different combinations of eHealth services over time. Newly diagnosed breast cancer patients (N = 443) were given access for 6 months to one of four different configurations of CHESS: (1) Information, (2) Information and Support, (3) Information, Support, and Coaching (Full CHESS), and (4) Full CHESS and Mentor. Besides a baseline survey, three follow-up posttests were administered. Action log data on how patients engaged with the CHESS were also collected and merged with surveys to examine how patients benefit during the cancer experience. The findings suggest that usage patterns were not competitive, implying that cancer patients' access to more complex tools generates more use with their time spreading out over the diverse services. Despite overall decline in usage rates, it was less severe in Full CHESS and Mentor condition, suggesting that communication functions drive long-term engagement with the system. Notably, the strongest relation between use and cancer information competence appeared late in the follow-up period.

Background: Hospitals frequently evaluate their service quality based on the care and services provided to patients by their clinical and non-clinical staff.(1,2) However, such evaluations do not take into consideration the many interactions that patients have in online patient communities with the health-care organization (HCO) as well as with peer patients. Patients' interactions in these online communities could impact their perceptions regarding the HCO's service quality., Purposes: The objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the impact of social support and responsiveness that patients experience in an HCO's online community on patients' perceptions regarding the HCO's service quality., Method: The study data are collected from CHESS, a health-care programme (Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System) run by the Centre for Health Enhancement System Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison., Findings: Findings show that the social support and the responsiveness received from peer patients in the online patient communities will impact patients' perceptions regarding the service quality of the HCO even when the organizational members themselves do not participate in the online discussions., Practice Implications: The results indicate that interactions in such HCO-provided online patient communities should not be ignored as they could translate into patients' perceptions regarding HCOs' service quality. Ways to improve responsiveness and social support in an HCO's online patient community are discussed., (© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

While many women turn to the Internet to obtain health information, it is unlikely that unstructured Internet use provides optimal benefit to women newly diagnosed with breast cancer, due to uneven quality, conflicting claims, redundancy, and search engine idiosyncrasies, which may make finding information and assessing its accuracy and applicability difficult. To answer the need for information and support, the Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System (CHESS) was developed to provide access to integrated information for decision-making, behavior change, and emotional support, and has been validated in randomized trials. This observational study of real-world implementation focuses on the process of integrating CHESS into standard care in two Denver healthcare systems. Results from this study provide guidance for implementation of other web-based patient information and support programs in large healthcare organizations.

Despite the importance of family environment and computer-mediated social support (CMSS) for women with breast cancer, little is known about the interplay of these sources of care and assistance on patients' coping strategies. To understand this relation, the authors examined the effect of family environment as a predictor of the use of CMSS groups as well as a moderator of the relation between group participation and forms of coping. Data were collected from 111 patients in CMSS groups in the Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System "Living with Breast Cancer" intervention. Results indicate that family environment plays a crucial role in (a) predicting breast cancer patient's participation in CMSS groups and (b) moderating the effects of use of CMSS groups on breast cancer patients' coping strategies such as problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping.

Background: eHealth resources for people facing health crises must balance the expert knowledge and perspective of developers and clinicians against the very different needs and perspectives of prospective users. This formative study explores the information and support needs of posttreatment prostate cancer patients and their partners as a way to improve an existing eHealth information and support system called CHESS (Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System)., Methods: Focus groups with patient survivors and their partners were used to identify information gaps and information-seeking milestones., Results: Both patients and partners expressed a need for assistance in decision making, connecting with experienced patients, and making sexual adjustments. Female partners of patients are more active in searching for cancer information. All partners have information and support needs distinct from those of the patient., Conclusions: Findings were used to develop a series of interactive tools and navigational features for the CHESS prostate cancer computer-mediated system., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Little is known about the effective elements of Interactive Cancer Communication Systems (ICCSs). A randomized trial explored which types of services of a multifaceted ICCS benefited patients and the nature of the benefit. Women with breast cancer (N=450) were randomized to different types of ICCS services or to a control condition that provided internet access. The Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System (CHESS), served as the ICCS. ICCS services providing information and support, but not coaching such as cognitive behavior therapy, produced significant benefits in health information competence and emotional processing. Provision of Information and Support ICCS services significantly benefited women with breast cancer. More complex and interactive services designed to train the user had negligible effects.

Objective: In 1996, 2001, and 2010, the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) group released criteria for reporting critical information about randomized clinical trials [1,2]. These criteria were intended to improve the quality and completeness of reporting of RCTs in health care research. This paper discusses the relevance of the CONSORT recommendations for the reporting and design of eHealth research., Methods: We reviewed the CONSORT recommendations and discussed their particular relevance to eHealth (electronic information, support and/or communication resources designed to promote health) research. This review focuses on such issues as recruitment and screening of participants, description of treatment elements, and reporting of outcome data and adverse events., Results: eHealth research presents special challenges regarding the comprehensive and effective reporting of research information. However, the strategic application of CONSORT recommendations holds great promise for improving the quality and informativeness of eHealth research., Conclusion: Investigators need to consider CONSORT recommendations at all stages of the research enterprise, including planning, execution and reporting in order to increase the informativeness of their research efforts., Practice Implications: The recommendations contained in this paper have the potential to enhance the public health and scientific value of eHealth research., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Test whether three mediating processes of Self-Determination Theory are involved in intervention effects on quality of life for breast cancer patients., Methods: A randomized clinical trial recruited newly diagnosed breast cancer patients for 6 months of (1) Internet training and access, (2) access to an integrated eHealth system for breast cancer (CHESS), (3) a series of phone conversations with a Human Cancer Information Mentor, or (4) both (2) and (3)., Results: This paper reports results after the initial 6 weeks of intervention, at which point patients in the combined condition had higher quality of life scores than those in the other three conditions. All three Self-Determination Theory constructs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) mediated that effect as hypothesized. In addition, the single-intervention groups were superior to the Internet-only group on relatedness, though perhaps this was too soon for that to carry through to quality of life as well., Conclusions: The SDT constructs do mediate these interventions' effects., Practice Implications: Intervention design can profitably focus on enhancing autonomy, competence and relatedness., (Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.)

A number of researchers have identified interactivity and presence as potentially important attributes of e-Health applications, because they are believed to influence users to interact with systems in ways that increase commitment, learning, and other desirable responses. This paper reports on the development of brief scales to assess the two concepts, and on use of them with participants in six conditions of a large-scale trial of interventions for breast cancer patients. Overall, the Internet scored very low on both measures. Versions of an integrated system of services (CHESS) scored higher, particularly as conditions added features to different versions of the system. Interventions involving a human Cancer Information Mentor scored highest, though even the Mentor was perceived as more interactive and having more presence when combined with the integrated eHealth system.

In order to provide insights about cancer patients' online information seeking behaviors, the present study analyzes individuals' transaction log data and reports on how demographics, disease-related factors, and psychosocial needs predict patterns of service use within a particular Interactive Cancer Communication System (ICCS). Study sample included 294 recently diagnosed breast cancer patients. Data included pretest survey scores of demographic, disease-related, and psychosocial factors and automatically collected ICCS use data over the 4-month intervention. Statistical analyses correlated pre-test survey scores with subsequent, specific types of ICCS service usage. Patterns of online cancer information seeking differed according to the patients' characteristics, suggesting that lower income, less educated women and those lacking in information-seeking competence use the computer and online services to the same or a greater degree if those services are made available to them. Results of this study can inform more effective resource development for future eHealth applications.

By developing a number of measures distinguishing amount, type of content, and when and how that content is used, the current study revealed effective patterns of use that are associated with quality of life benefits during an eHealth intervention. Results generally suggest that the benefits depend on how a patient uses the system, far more than on sheer amount of exposure or even what type of content is chosen. The next generation of eHealth system should focus on providing new and varying content over time, but even more on encouraging intensity of use and long-term commitment to the system.

Based upon Fredrickson's Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions, this study examined the role of expressing positive emotions in online support groups for women with breast cancer. Underserved women with breast cancer in rural Wisconsin and Detroit, Michigan were recruited from 2001 to 2003, and they were given access to online support groups. Both pretest and four-month posttest surveys were conducted with a sample of 231 women. Messages from 96 active participants were analyzed using a computerized text analysis program. Psychological benefits that occurred following the expression of positive emotions were greater among those who expressed more negative emotions.

Despite concerns about online health information and efforts to improve its credibility, how users evaluate and utilize such information presented in Web sites and online discussion groups may involve different evaluative mechanisms. This study examined credibility and homophily as two underlying mechanisms for social influence with regard to online health information. An original experiment detected that homophily grounded credibility perceptions and drove the persuasive process in both Web sites and online discussion groups. The more homophilous an online health information stimulus was perceived as being, the more likely people were to adopt the advice offered in that particular piece of information.

To compare the benefits of the Internet generally versus a focused system of services, 257 breast cancer patients were randomly assigned to a control group, access to the Internet with links to high-quality breast cancer sites, or access to an eHealth system (Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System, CHESS) that integrated information, support, and decision and analysis tools. The intervention lasted 5 months, and self-report data on quality of life, health-care competence, and social support were collected at pretest and at 2-, 4-, and 9-month posttests. CHESS subjects logged on more overall than Internet subjects and accessed more health resources, but the latter used non health-related sites more. Subjects with access to the Internet alone experienced no better outcomes than controls at any of the 3 time points, compared to pretest levels. Subjects with CHESS experienced greater social support during the intervention period and had higher scores on all 3 outcomes at 9 months, 4 months after the intervention ended. CHESS subjects also scored higher than those with Internet access during the intervention period but not significantly after the intervention ended. Thus, CHESS (with one simple interface and integrated information, communication, and skills services) helped newly diagnosed breast cancer patients even after computers were removed. In contrast, patients received little benefit from Internet access, despite having links to a variety of high-quality sites.

Purpose: To examine changes in readiness to quit and self-efficacy among adolescents who received a clinic-based, brief office intervention (BOI) for smoking cessation., Methods: This study utilized a prospective, pre-post- treatment design. Participants were adolescent smokers (34 females, 35 males) with a mean +/- SD age of 15.8 +/- 1.4 years; 86% were Caucasian, who were randomly assigned to receive the BOI as part of a larger clinical trial. They were recruited from three cities in the Midwest and Northeastern part of the United States. After the baseline assessment, the BOI was designed for adolescents to receive four weekly individual sessions with a research counselor lasting between 10 and 40 min each. The BOI includes motivational interviewing and cognitive-behavioral techniques. Readiness to quit was assessed at each treatment session using the stages of change algorithm. The validated Adolescent Smoking Self-Efficacy Scale (SES) was used to assess self-efficacy at baseline (week 0) prior to the intervention and at post-treatment (week 4). The SES items comprise three factors or subscales: opportunities to smoke, emotional stress, and friends' influence., Results: The percentage of adolescents who made improvement on readiness to quit from the baseline treatment session was statistically significant (p < .001) for each of the three subsequent treatment sessions. Self-efficacy scores increased significantly (p < .004) from baseline to post-treatment for all three subscales., Conclusions: Adolescents receiving a BOI progressed in their readiness and self-efficacy to quit. Understanding the change process among adolescent smokers during treatment could influence the design of future stop smoking interventions.

Purpose: The Internet offers a potential medium for delivering smoking cessation treatment to adolescents. However, few Internet-based cessation programs for adolescents have been evaluated. We describe adolescent use of a home-based Internet intervention to stop smoking (Stomp Out Smokes [SOS]) and explore baseline characteristics associated with SOS use., Methods: Participants were 70 adolescent smokers aged 12-18 years (50% female, 90% Caucasian) randomized to receive the SOS intervention for 24 weeks as part of a larger clinical trial. SOS comprised 40 components, of which eight were primarily interactive (e.g., discussion support group, ask an expert, quit plan) and 32 were primarily informational (e.g., managing withdrawal, medications to stop smoking). SOS use data were captured electronically, including total logins to the site, and type of SOS components used defined by page hits on the interactive and information components., Results: A total of 7,708 SOS website pages (6825 interactive and 883 informational) were accessed over the 24 weeks. The highest proportion of page hits was for the discussion support group (35%) and quit plan (30%). Interactive pages were significantly more likely to be used than informational pages (median 65 vs. 6, p < .001). Males accessed fewer interactive pages compared with females (p = .04). No other baseline characteristics were univariately associated with total logins or use of informational or interactive pages., Conclusions: Adolescent smokers most often used a discussion support group and other interactive Internet-based cessation components. Future studies designed to increase adolescent use, and efficacy of, Internet-based cessation programs are warranted.

Research indicates that two common ways breast cancer patients or women with breast cancer cope with their diagnosis and subsequent treatments are participating in computer support groups and turning to religion. This study is the first we are aware of to examine how prayer and religious expression within computer support groups can contribute to improved psychosocial outcomes for this population. Surveys were administered before group access and then 4 months later. Message transcripts were analyzed using a word counting program that noted the percentage of words related to religious expression. Finally, messages were qualitatively reviewed to better understand results generated from the word counting program. As hypothesized, writing a higher percentage of religion words was associated with lower levels of negative emotions and higher levels of health self-efficacy and functional well-being, after controlling for patients' levels of religious beliefs. Given the proposed mechanisms for how these benefits occurred and a review of the support group transcripts, it appeared that several different religious coping methods were used such as putting trust in God about the course of their illness, believing in an afterlife and therefore being less afraid of death, finding blessings in their lives and appraising their cancer experience in a more constructive religious light., (Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Objective: Evaluation of novel treatment delivery methods, such as the Internet are notably absent from the adolescent smoking treatment literature., Methods: Adolescent smokers ages 11-18 years were randomized to a clinic-based, brief office intervention (BOI; N=69) consisting of four individual counseling sessions; or to Stomp Out Smokes (SOS), an Internet, home-based intervention (N=70). Adolescents in SOS had access to the SOS site for 24 weeks., Results: The 30-day, point-prevalence smoking abstinence rates for BOI and SOS were 12% versus 6% at week 24 and 13% versus 6% at week 36, with no significant treatment differences. Among participants who continued to smoke, SOS was associated with a significantly greater reduction in average number of days smoked than BOI (P=0.006). The BOI was found to be feasible with high session attendance rates. SOS participants accessed the site a mean+/-S.D. of 6.8+/-7.1 days. SOS use dropped to less than one-third of participants by week 3., Conclusion: Additional research is needed to tap the potential capabilities of the Internet for adolescent smoking cessation using proactive, personalized, patient-education components., Practice Implications: Augmenting the SOS type of intervention with more structured, personal and proactive patient-education components delivered in-person or by telephone or electronic mail is recommended.

Written expression about emotionally traumatic events is associated with physical and mental health benefits, and this study examines how insightful disclosure within a computer-mediated support group for women with breast cancer affects breast cancer-related concerns, emotional well-being, and self-reported physical well-being. Using a word counting program that notes the percentage of words related to various linguistic dimensions, this research specifically examined the effects of insightful disclosure written within these groups. Surveys were administered just before group access and then 2 months and 5 months later. Insightful disclosure improved emotional well-being and reduced negative mood but did not influence breast cancer-related concerns or self-reported physical well-being. Despite the common and frequent use of computer-mediated social support (CMSS) groups for people coping with health concerns, very little research to date has quantitatively tested the effects of participating in CMSS groups, and this is among the first published studies to quantitatively link any specific activity within a CMSS group to any specific outcomes. Implications for improving psychosocial interventions for people with health concerns are discussed, and future research objectives are suggested.

The development of online communication systems related to prevention, decision making, and coping with cancer has outpaced theoretical attention to the attributes that appeal to system users and that create effective interactions. This essay reviews a number of sociotechnical attributes related to online discussion systems and tutorials, including interactivity, presence, homophily, social distance, anonymity/privacy, and interaction management. These attributes are derived from different theoretical perspectives which have led to clinical trials and other empirical studies demonstrating effectiveness or attraction to end users. The effects of a subset of these attributes are connected to learning, social influence, and coping, as illustrated in evaluations of an interactive smoking prevention site and a cancer advice/support discussion system.

Purpose: To compare black, Hispanic and white adolescent smokers on socioenvironmental factors associated with smoking., Methods: The study uses a cross-sectional design. A needs assessment of 1305 current, former and never adolescent smokers from four ethnically and geographically diverse sites in the United States was conducted in 1999. Two sites were selected because they represented urban cities in the Northeast and Midwest with a high proportion of black and Hispanic residents. Two additional sites were selected to recruit rural and suburban adolescents. From this larger sample, 181 subjects from three focal ethnic groups (white n = 138; black n = 24; Hispanic n = 19) who had smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and were current smokers (smoked in the past 30 days) were included. The three ethnic groups were compared on the following variables of interest: peer and family influences on smoking, situational factors associated with smoking, places that were likely sites for smoking and perceptions of friends and family as potential support persons for quitting smoking. All data were analyzed with Chi-square analysis., Results: Almost all (96%) of the black adolescents lived with another smoker compared to 68% of Hispanic and 60% of whites (p = .004). Black teens were more likely to smoke with family members (50%) than Hispanics (5%) or whites (25%) (p = .003). In addition, 50% of black teens compared to 5% of Hispanics and 12% of white teens, reported smoking to fit in (p < .0001). Black teens in this study emphasized the familial and social pressures of smoking. Higher rates of acceptance of smoking by family members, role modeling by household members, more prevalent beliefs that smoking is a way to achieve belonging, and lack of perceived support for quitting by friends appear to influence cigarette smoking more for black than white or Hispanic youth., Conclusions: These preliminary results indicate that familial and household norms play a critical role in influencing cigarette smoking among black teens.

Background: This study of 1025 adolescent nonsmokers aged 11-19 years examined level of interest and factors associated with reported willingness to help someone stop smoking., Methods: Data were collected from a survey distributed primarily in the schools at four geographic and ethnically diverse study sites., Results: A total of 692 adolescents identified someone close to them who smokes whom they thought should quit. Of these, 90% reported that they would be willing to help this person stop smoking. Multivariate predictors of willingness to help were female gender, less difficulty reading English, and greater level of comfort with talking to the smoker about their smoking. The smoker that the adolescents were willing to help was most often a parent or same age friend., Conclusions: If this strong interest among adolescents could be tapped, engaging teens as support persons could be a novel public health approach to reaching parents, adolescents, and other smokers in the population.

This study compared the survey responses of 280 current and former adolescent smokers for what they perceived would be helpful (or what had helped) in quitting smoking. The survey was developed from focus groups and was structured using Prochaska and DiClementes Stages of Change health behavior framework. Results showed that former smokers and current smokers in the preparation stage of change shared beliefs about the importance of interpersonal support, those who were contemplating a quit decision worried about obstacles and internal issues, and current smokers not thinking about quitting focused on external rewards. The findings that significant differences exist based on the adolescent smokers Stage of Change imply that this framework can be appropriately applied to this context.

This study assessed adolescent smoker and nonsmoker perceptions of strategies that would help an adolescent smoker in his or her attempt to stop smoking. Surveys were distributed primarily in the schools at 4 geographic and ethnically diverse study sites. Respondents were 965 adolescents (49% female; 46% minority). Current smokers (n = 232) were asked to rate the extent to which they agreed or disagreed that supportive behaviors of friends and family, quitting strategies, or learning about quitting strategies would be helpful if they decided to quit. Nonsmokers (n = 733) were asked to indicate the degree to which they agreed or disagreed that these behaviors and strategies would be helpful if a friend decided to quit. Responses to each of the 33 attitude items were rated on a 5-point scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Marked differences were observed between smokers and nonsmokers in the level of agreement on each item. In general, smokers reported far less enthusiasm for cessation strategies than nonsmokers. After adjusting for gender, age, and other covariates, smoking status was the strongest independent predictor of the number of items endorsed as agree or strongly agree. The results have implications for the design of peer-based and other interventions for adolescent smokers.

This article describes how 121 women newly diagnosed with breast cancer used a computer mediated discussion group to cope with their diagnosis. These data are part of a larger data set from a randomized clinical trial assessing the impact of a computer-based system called CHESS (the Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System) on health outcomes. The larger study found significant improvement in health outcomes for those in the experimental group (those receiving CHESS), especially for women of color. Since discussion group is by far the most heavily used service of CHESS, one might conclude that these benefits (both overall and greater for women of color) should be attributed to amount of discussion group use. This study looks at how women of color and Caucasian women used the CHESS discussion group over the period of the study. Content analysis of messages in the discussion group showed that women of color used the discussion group differently from Caucasian women-they used it less frequently but their messages were more focused on breast cancer, suggesting they used discussion group more instrumentally.

This paper reviews the research and development around a consumer health informatics system CHESS (The Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System) developed and tested by the Center for Health Systems Research and Analysis at the University of Wisconsin. The review places particular emphasis on what has been found with regard to the acceptance and use of such systems by high risk and underserved groups.

Background: The period of neurogenesis represents a window of susceptibility for in utero methylmercury (MeHg) exposure. This study examined the toxicokinetics of potentially neurotoxic doses of MeHg during neurogenesis in the developing rat to provide additional information in the areas of mercury speciation and inter-study variability., Methods: Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were dosed s.c. with 5-22 mg/kg MeHg on Day 11 of gestation to target rapidly dividing cells of the developing midbrain. Maternal liver, kidney, skin, blood, placenta, and the embryonic body and brain were evaluated for total and inorganic mercury content at 24, 48, and 72 hr after dosing. Tissue Hg partitioning ratios derived from our data were then compared to those derived from previous studies., Results: Mercury was present in all tissues examined by 24 hr after dosing, and levels remained relatively stable over the subsequent 2 days in most tissues. The exceptions were the maternal blood and kidney, in which total mercury decreased significantly over the three days after dosing. Inorganic mercury concentrations were similarly stable over time. At maternal MeHg doses above 12 mg/kg, non-linearities were observed in mercury accumulation in the embryo, placenta and maternal liver. The mercury tissue partitioning coefficients ranged from 0.09 for maternal blood:embryo to 1.97 for maternal blood:kidney., Conclusions: Our observations at the 5 mg/kg dose were consistent with those of previous studies that involved evaluations at slightly later gestational times. The estimates of tissue partitioning coefficients we derived using multiple studies provide valuable insight into the effects of inter-study variability., (Copyright 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)