Correlates of mothers' use of medications for their children.

This study examines the extent, determinants and quality of mothers' independent use of medications for treating their children's symptoms. Data on mother-initiated medication behavior (MIMB) were obtained from a stratified systematic random sample of 500 mothers of children presenting for a well child visit at two pediatric ambulatory care sites. Six expert pediatric judges each rated every reported medication use (N = 3908) along three dimensions (usefulness, correctness and harmfulness or helpfulness) and also evaluated the overall appropriateness of each mother's MIMB. Results indicate that: (1) mothers keep available and use for children a considerable variety of different medications and medical applicances; (2) a positive linear relationship exists between mothers' socioeconomic status (SES) and degree of MIMB; (3) mothers' attitudes toward medications and toward their children's health are associated with the number of categories of medications and applicances they possess and use; (4) the combination of SES and attitudinal characteristics accounts for substantial portions of the variance in MIMB; and (5) judges' ratings show only minimal-level support of MIMB (extending to mothers in all SES groups) and are linearly related to SES (P less than 0.001). These findings emphasize the need for health care providers to review MIMB, and to provide advice concerning use and misuse of mother-initiated treatments.

How mothers treat their children's physical symptoms.

An important area of concern in community health is the widespread practice of individuals undertaking courses of treatment in the absence of medical advice or direction. This is especially a problem when it involves the administration of medicines to children. This study examines the extent, determinants, and quality of the independent use by mothers of medications for treating their children's symptoms. Data on mother-initiated medication behavior (MIMB) were obtained from a random sample of 500 mothers of children at two pediatric ambulatory care sites. Six expert pediatric judges rated every reported medication use (N = 3,908) along three dimensions (usefulness, correctness, and harmfulness/helpfulness) and also evaluated the overall appropriateness of each mother's MIMB. Results indicate that: 1) mothers keep available and use for their children a considerable number of different medications; 2) clear relationships exist between mothers' socioeconomic status and the different categories of medications they employ; 3) mothers' perceptions of their children's vulnerability to specific illnesses, and of the efficacy of over-the-counter medications for treating those illnesses, were related to the possession and use of relevant medications; and 4) judges' ratings indicated little enthusiasm for the mothers' therapeutic actions. These findings suggest the need for pediatricians to become aware of the medications their patients may be ingesting as a result of MIMB, and to educate mothers concerning use and misuse of over-the-counter (and other) treatments.

Partial characterization of sialoglycopeptides produced by cultured human melanoma cells and melanocytes.

The sialoglycopeptides produced by HM7 human melanoma and fetal uveal melanocyte cultures grown in the presence of [3H]glucosamine and [35S]sulfate were isolated from the Pronase digests of cells, spent media, and intracellular material. From the melanoma culture, six sialoglycopeptides, accounting for 43% of the total 3H radioactivity in the nondiffusible cell-associated glycopeptides, were purified. A major glycopeptide (GPIb) having an apparent molecular weight in the range 12 000-15 000 showed specific sialic acid dependent to interaction with wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). It was found to contain mainly O-glycosidically linked oligosaccharides having the structure (AcNeu) leads to 0-2[Gal leads to GalNAc]; some N-glycosidically linked saccharides were also present. A second WGA-binding glycopeptide (GPIa) was smaller and less anionic and had a higher proportion of N-glycosidically linked saccharides than GPIb. The normal fetal cultures yielded either no (iris) or markedly reduced (melanocytes) quantities of the WGA-binding glycopeptides. The four WGA-nonbinding sialoglycopeotides purified from melanoma were shown to have complex (N-acetyllactosaminly type) oligosaccharides linked via N-acetylglucosamine to asparagine with either no or insignificant amounts of O-glycosidically linked saccharides. The corresponding glycopeptides from melanocytes were of smaller molecular size and lower anionic charge, reflecting an overall lower degree of glycosylation.