Research Articles

The advent of the Human Genome Project has allowed for increased understanding and sophistication in diagnosis, treatment methods, and overall care planning on the part of healthcare providers for children with genetic disorders. Genetics research dealing with polymorphic changes within a genome has opened the door to awareness of how dormant genetic alleles may become active when coupled with certain environmental insults. Such genetic aberrations may place a child at a higher risk for health disparities when exposed to environmental toxins. It has been posited that such exposure in children with an arylsulfatase-A (ASA) allelic variation is associated with increased risk for neurodevelopmental damage. This initial study contributes to this new field and supports development of finer-tuned methods to prevent ominous outcomes of lead exposure. The purpose of this study was to explore the incidence of children in a representative sample from a Midwest metropolitan city with positive test results for the ASA allelic variation who have been exposed to the environmental toxin lead. In this corollary study of 107 children, part of a parent study on the behavior of African American children prenatally exposed to cocaine, 45% were found to be heterozygous, 11% mutant homozygous, and 44% normal in terms of ASA allele or alleles. Further studies on neurodeficiencies, low-level exposure to environmental toxins, and allelic variations must be conducted before a relation between ASA allelic variance and environmental lead can be determined.
 

Purpose/Objectives: To examine relationships between capacity to direct attention and the quality-of-life (QOL) domains of psychological and physical well-being in breast cancer survivors.Design: Descriptive, correlational.Setting: National Cancer Institute-designated oncology and county hospital outpatient clinics in the midwestern region of the United States.Sample: 134 breast cancer survivors aged 32-79 years (X = 56.3, SD = 9.4) with a mean of 6.4 years since diagnosis (SD = 2.8, range = 1-10).Methods: Secondary analysis of questionnaire data measuring cognitive dysfunction and two QOL domains. Descriptive statistics, Pearson or Spearman correlations, and multiple regression analysis were used.Main Research Variables: Capacity to direct attention, as well as psychological and physical well-being.Findings: Deficits in capacity to direct attention were related to poorer QOL, including more depressive symptoms, lower well-being, poorer physical functioning, and greater fatigue.Conclusions: Capacity to direct attention was related to psychological and physical well-being in breast cancer survivors.Implications for Nursing: Nurses are in a prime position to assess breast cancer survivors' capacity to direct attention and resulting relationships with QOL. Findings suggest that nursing interventions that address survivors' capacity to direct attention may have a broad impact on QOL.
 

Successful outcomes for studies on health disparities depend on recruitment of research participants. Obtaining willing participants, protecting their rights, and acknowledging their contribution to research is as important as seeking answers to the study phenomena. Recruiting research participants can be an arduous process for investigators. Although literature has published participant recruitment methods, investigators sometimes underestimate the time and intensity required to attract eligible participants into research studies. This article reports on methods used to recruit 42 African American generational triads (grandmothers, mothers, and granddaughters) into a hypertension genetics study, the lessons learned, and suggestions for successful recruitment.
 

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of thrombophilic genetic variants in an American Indian population and determine if they are associated with preeclampsia. METHODS: A total of 87 cases, 165 controls and an additional 75 population-based controls were genotyped for two thrombophilic polymorphisms. RESULTS: The allelic prevalence of the factor V Leiden and 20210 G/A prothrombin variants in this population was 2.1% and 0.5% respectively. No statistically significant associations between these genetic variants and preeclampsia were found. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of thrombophilic variants is of possible public health significance for other morbidity; but perhaps not in relation to preeclampsia.