Biomedical subjects

Deborah Morton

Publications and source records attributed to Deborah Morton.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Use of self-assessed fitness and exercise parameters to predict objective fitness.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this prospective study was to examine the effectiveness of self-assessed fitness and exercise in predicting objectively measured physical fitness. METHODS: Study subjects included 1583 men who entered Marine Corps training in San Diego, CA, between September and November 2002 and completed a questionnaire and an objective fitness test. The questionnaire included demographic and self-assessed fitness/exercise items, and was administered immediately upon entry into the training program. The objective fitness measure was obtained using a standardized test after approximately 1 month of training. RESULTS: Multivariate modeling found that several measures of self-assessed fitness and exercise (estimated number of pull-ups; good, very good, or excellent self-assessed fitness; sweating quite a lot or most or all of the time during physical activity; and competitive experience) were all associated with the objective fitness score. These results remained statistically significant after controlling for age, race, and body mass index (model adjusted R2 = 0.469, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: In this analysis, self-assessed fitness and exercise parameters that can be easily ascertained with a short questionnaire predicted objective fitness scores approximately 1 month later. This information could be used by recruiters to make recommendations for pre-enlistment conditioning.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Coffee consumption and cognitive function among older adults.

This study examined the association of caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee intake with cognitive function in a community-based sample of older adults in 1988-1992. Participants were 890 women with a mean age of 72.6 years and 638 men with a mean age of 73.3 years from the Rancho Bernardo Study. Cognitive function was assessed by 12 standardized tests, and lifetime consumption and current coffee consumption were obtained by questionnaire. After adjustment for confounders, higher lifetime coffee consumption in women was associated with better (p < or = 0.05) performance on six of 12 tests, with a trend (p < or = 0.10) on two other cognitive function tests; current caffeinated coffee intake was associated with better performance on two tests (p < 0.05), with a trend (p < 0.10) on one other test. Among women aged 80 or more years, lifetime coffee intake was nonsignificantly associated with better performance on 11 of the 12 tests. No relation was found between coffee intake and cognitive function among men or between decaffeinated coffee intake and cognitive function in either sex. Lifetime and current exposure to caffeine may be associated with better cognitive performance among women, especially among those aged 80 or more years.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Postmenopausal estrogen and increased risk of clinical osteoarthritis at the hip, hand, and knee in older women.

OBJECTIVE: We examined postmenopausal estrogen (PME) use and prevalence of clinical osteoarthritis (OA) at the hand, knee, and hip in 1001 community-dwelling postmenopausal women aged 43-97 years (mean age 72). METHODS: OA at the hip, hand, and knee was defined by validated and standardized criteria based on pain history plus a clinical examination performed by a specially trained nurse. RESULTS: PME, validated by examination of pills and prescriptions, had been used for at least 1 year by 638 women (63.4%) for an average duration of 14.6 (+/-10.6) years. OA prevalence was 34.5% among women who had used PME for at least 1 year and 30.9% among women who did not use PME (age adjusted p = 0.02). Knee OA prevalence did not differ by PME use (p > 0.05). A significantly larger proportion of women who used PME for at least 1 year had hip and hand OA compared with women not using PME (4.1% vs. 1.1%, age-adjusted p = 0.002, and 15.8% vs. 13.5%, age-adjusted p = 0.02, respectively). In analyses adjusted for the potential confounding effects of age, body mass index (BMI), smoking, exercise, and type of menopause, women who used PME still were more likely to have hip OA (odds ratio [OR] = 5.03, confidence interval [CI] = 1.70-14.84, p = 0.003) and hand OA ([OR] = 1.57, CI = 1.05-2.33, p = 0.03). Among estrogen users, duration of PME use was longer for women with OA than for women without OA (16 vs. 11 median years, p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: PME is associated with a higher prevalence of clinical OA.

Adult↗