Biomedical subjects

H K Delcher

Publications and source records attributed to H K Delcher.

21 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Peer instruction of home glucose monitoring.

During a 2-wk summer camp for insulin-dependent children aged 9-15 yr, a voluntary program of home glucose monitoring using an Ames' Dextrometer was offered. The primary instructors were campers who had mastered the procedure and who, with limited staff assistance, tutored naive campers. By camp's end, 96% of all naive campers had practiced this new home glucose monitoring procedure. Procedural errors were infrequent and decreased as a function of practice. No significant differences were found in error rates as a function of either the age or sex of the user. The data suggest that home glucose monitoring could be incorporated into the treatment regimen of many young patients and that peer instruction is an effective method of introducing the procedure to young children.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A cohort study of mortality in two clinic populations of patients with diabetes mellitus.

Mortality rates of two cohorts of patients with diabetes mellitus are estimated and compared. The Atlanta cohort is defined as all black patients receiving care at the diabetes clinic of Grady Memorial Hospital for the first time during calendar year 1971. The Memphis cohort is defined as all black patients referred from the City of Memphis Hospital outpatient clinic to a decentralized neighborhood clinic operated by the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department during September 1969 through August 1970. The Atlanta program discontinued all prescriptions of oral hypoglycemic drugs and emphasized instead an aggressive diet therapy. The Memphis program has used diet therapy but also insulin and/or oral hypoglycemic agents according to current guidelines. The ratios of observed to expected deaths (standardized mortality ratios) were remarkably similar for the two cohorts. In both cohorts the standardized mortality ratios were greatest for the youngest patients and for those patients whose duration of illness was longest. Nine-year survival rates, estimated by the life-table method and adjusted for differences in frequency distributions of entry age and duration of diabetes, were also similar for the two cohorts.

Actuarial Analysis↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The Memphis and Atlanta continuing care programs for diabetes. II. Comparative analyses of demographic characteristics, treatment methods, and outcomes over a 9-10-year follow-up period.

A total of 1467 black patients (911 in Atlanta, 556 in Memphis) were selected (1969-70) and followed longitudinally and prospectively until death (404 patients) or through 31 December 1979, when 676 were alive and active and 387 were lost to follow-up. The women/men ratio in each cohort was 4.7/1. Women had more excess body wt than men at maximum weight and at time of diagnosis. At selection, the Atlanta cohort was older (60.2 vs 56.8 yr), had diabetes longer (7.5 vs 5.2 yr), and had a higher initial mean random plasma glucose (MRPG) level (217 vs 195 mg/dl) than the Memphis cohort. The Atlanta cohort was on sulfonylurea/phenformin therapy, which was discontinued at entry. After 9-10 yr follow-up, the MRPG level was not significantly different from the initial level in either cohort, and the Atlanta cohort level was still significantly higher (221 vs 185 mg/dl). Mean weight loss after 9-10 yr follow-up was significantly greater in Atlanta (17.7 vs 6.8 lb). Those under good control in 1979, as indicated by random plasma glucose (RPG) of less than 150 mg/dl, lost more weight (means: Atlanta, 23 lb; Memphis, 8.7 lb) than those under poor control in 1979 (RPG greater than 300 mg/dl; means: Atlanta, 14.7 lb; Memphis, 1.3 lb). In the pooled alive and active cohorts (1979), 29.1% were under good control (RPG less than 150 mg/dl); 52.9%, fair control (RPG = 150-300 mg/dl); and 18.0%, poor control (RPG greater than 300 mg/dl). Of the 639 alive and active patients, paired plasma glucose levels were less than 200 mg/dl in 207 patients in 1969-70 and less than 200 mg/dl in 322 in 1979.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aged↗