Environmental influences, employment status, and religious activity predict current cigarette smoking in the elderly

The objective of this study was to describe the smoking histories, patterns of cigarette use, and quitting behaviors in a predominantly African American sample of older adults. Study participants were a convenience sample of senior center attendees in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Self-report questionnaires were used to measure depression, nicotine dependence, smoking motives, and readiness to quit. Results showed that living with another smoker increased the likelihood of current smoking (odds ratio = 2.07, 95% CI = 1.72-36.73). Being employed or seeking work was also associated with a higher likelihood of current smoking (odds ratio = 2.73, 95% CI = 2.00-118.76). Subjects who reported less frequent participation in organized religious activities were also more likely to smoke (odds ratio = 2.04, 95% CI = 1.17-50.38). Both former and current smokers identified personal will power and physician advice as the two most influential factors in successful smoking cessation. However, current smokers believed that nicotine replacement would aid in a successful cessation attempt, while former smokers did not endorse the efficacy of these products. The findings are discussed in terms of implications for intervention.

The relationship between neuropsychological measures and self-care skills in patients with cerebrovascular lesions

The present investigation examined the relationship between performance on the Michigan Neuropsychological Battery (MNB) and selected self-care skills in a group of patients with unilateral cerebrovascular lesions. Among MNB measures, left-sided somatosensory and motor functions were the best predictors of self-care skills, showing that in these stroke patients lower level cerebral functions mediated by the right hemisphere are more strongly related to the self-care skills examined than higher cerebral functions. Also, evidence that patients with cerebrovascular lesions in the left hemisphere performed better than patients with right hemisphere lesions in several self-care categories is further indication that right hemisphere processes have a special role to play in the mediation of these self-care activities. The research and clinical implications of these findings are noted.

Neuropsychological studies of blacks with cerebrovascular disorders: a preliminary investigation

Very few studies have been conducted that examine brain behavior functions in blacks and other ethnic minorities. Recognizing that measures of higher cortical functions have cultural, experiential, and organic determinants, the present investigation was designed to ascertain whether findings reported in neuropsychologic studies of white patients with lateralized cerebral lesions are applicable to groups of black patients with lesions in similar locations. Thirty-seven patients with left (n = 15) and right (n = 22) cerebrovascular lesions were administered the Michigan Neuropsychological Battery (MNB). This battery is comprised of a number of objective standardized measures of higher and lower-level cerebral functions. With one exception, the performance of patients in the brain-injured groups was not systematically different on tests of higher brain functions. As expected, tests of lower-level somatosensory and motor functions showed a pattern of greater impairment on the side of the body contralateral to the lesion. But, in contrast to neuropsychological studies of white patients, a pattern of laterality specific deficits on verbal IQ and performance IQ was not observed. Methodological and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.