The relationship of sexual daydreaming to sexual activity, sexual drive, and sexual attitudes for women across the life-span.

The association among sexual daydreaming and sexual attitudes and activity was examined in a cross-sectional life-span sample of women (N = 117, 26 to 78 years). Sexual daydreaming was measured using the Imaginal Processes Inventory (IPI) while sexual history measures of sexual activity, sexual drive, and sexual attitudes were derived from a comprehensive personal interview. A factor analysis and varimax rotation of the sexual history variables, age, and the Sexual Daydream Scale of the IPI revealed three primary factors representing dimensions of sexual activity and drive, attitudes toward sexual activity, and sexual satisfaction. Age was associated with less sexual daydreaming, less sexual drive, less sexual activity, and more negative sexual attitudes. Sexual daydreaming varied directly with sexual drive and sexual activity and with a positive sexual attitude.

Attitudes of medical school faculty and students toward acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

Attitudes of faculty and students will influence the success of educational programs to address acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). In 1988-89, 170 medical school faculty and 227 students completed needs assessment questionnaires at the University of Louisville, and the results were compared to assess the respondents' attitudes about AIDS. Both the faculty and the students were found to be fearful of infection, had strong negative attitudes toward AIDS patients, and had low levels of confidence in the current knowledge about AIDS. Both cognitive and affective training strategies are recommended to help learners distinguish unwarranted from warranted fears of infection and to increase their empathy for patients with AIDS.

Outcomes of AIDS training for supervisory and nonsupervisory personnel in the workplace.

Dealing with AIDS in the workplace is complicated by a variety of complex issues. One factor influencing how AIDS is dealt with is the difference in knowledge and attitudes between supervisory and nonsupervisory personnel. We surveyed 3834 supervisory and nonsupervisory personnel from a number of businesses and corporations in the Louisville metropolitan area. The differences found in this study suggest strategies for training to address the problem of AIDS in the workplace.

Evaluating the outcomes of AIDS education.

AIDS provides a unique challenge to health educators, requiring continuous evaluation and modification of educational strategies. Pretest and posttest questionnaires were thus used to assess the outcomes of AIDS training sessions. Results show that hour-long sessions result in knowledge acquisition and increased confidence among a demographically representative sample of 3,966 U.S. trainees. Results also reveal the dynamic nature of a training session, with some trainees exhibiting learning and others retaining either correct or incorrect responses or changing from one incorrect to another incorrect answer. Content areas that showed the most learning were sharing a glass or food with and being sneezed on by someone infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Areas resistant to learning included the possibility of transmission from receiving blood transfusions, eating in a restaurant where a cook is infected, being bitten by a mosquito, giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and providing first aid to someone infected. Repeat training sessions that take into account affective dimensions as well as the diverse needs of adult learners are recommended.

Age, sex and bilateral variability in cortical bone loss and measurements of the second metacarpal.

Bilateral hand-wrist radiographs were obtained from 176 female and 448 male adult participants of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA). Between-age group analysis revealed no change with age in total width (TW) of the second metacarpal but a significant increase in medullary width (MW) along with decreases in per cent cortical area (PCA) and combined cortical thickness (CCT) in both sexes. The magnitude of change was greater in females compared to males after the fifth decade, suggesting an interaction of the female climacteric with those processes causing bone resorption at the endosteal surface. Those women currently on estrogen exhibited significantly higher PCA and CCT and lower MW for their respective ages compared to non-users. In females, body mass index (weight/height2) was also associated with increased PCA and CCT and decreased MW. In general, the second metacarpal was longer and larger for right hands compared to left, and for males compared to females. Right hand dominance further enhances growth of the right second metacarpal so that bilateral differences for TW, MW, CCT and LEN become statistically significant. Conversely, left hand dominance promotes growth of the left metacarpal so that none of the variables studied showed significant bilateral differences.

Serum Androgens and sex hormone binding globulin in obese Pima indian females.

Levels of serum androgens and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) were measured in 20 obese Pima Indian females aged 19-44 and compared with those of normal-weight Caucasians aged 20-46. The Pima exhibited significantly decreased SHBG compared to Caucasians, but a strong effect of age on androgen levels rendered mean comparisons useless. Androstenedione (A) and dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S) decreased significantly, and testosterone (T) declined slightly with age in the Pima, whereas these androgens showed no significant decreases in Caucasians for this age range. A possible relationship of androgens to the Pima female's propensity for android obesity as well as possible effects of obesity on SHBG, and aging is discussed.