Exercise as a clinical tool.
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Adolescent↗
Biomedical subjects
J M Altekruse
Publications and source records attributed to J M Altekruse.
Cholylglycine measured in serum by RIA and interleukin-1 beta determined by ELISA in differentiating viral hepatitis from chemical liver injury.
Serum bile acids have been shown to serve as useful indicators of liver disease. We have confirmed these findings and added an analysis of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) profiles to further differentiate viral hepatitis from toxic liver damage associated with exposure to vinyl chloride (VC) or trinitrotoluene (TNT). The frequency of elevated cholylglycine (CG) was 100%, 75%, and 37.5% in viral hepatitis, VC- and TNT-linked liver injury patients, respectively. The mean levels, expressed in micrograms/dL, were 578, 507, 142, and 65 in hepatitis B, hepatitis non-A non-B, VC and TNT liver injury patients, respectively. Thus, the CG test could detect viral hepatitis and, VC liver injury, and (less frequently) liver injury associated with exposure to TNT. The mean level of IL-1 beta in patients with hepatitis type B was 424 pg/mL and hepatitis non A non B was 384 pg/mL compared with a mean of 33-40 pg/mL in those with VC or TNT-linked liver disease. The IL-1 beta detection test proved further to be an important distinguishing parameter as it was 100% positive in patients with viral hepatitis but only 12.5% to 25% positive in patients with VC/TNT-induced liver damage.
Adult↗
The risk of low birth weight. Alternative models of neonatal mortality.
The authors examine the use of the infant's weight at birth to estimate its risk of mortality by the 28th day of life. The performance of several commonly employed statistical models is compared for the population of single births to resident South Carolina mothers in 1975-1980. A log-linear function, fitting the natural logarithm of the probability of neonatal mortality to birth weight, performs far better in this analysis than a quadratic or a logistic model or a model using the logarithm of the probability of survival. The parsimonious log-linear model also appears preferable to more complex models with additional parameters. The authors use the model in an analysis of data in two-year periods to demonstrate its value as an indicator of underlying changes in neonatal prospects and its easily interpreted parameters. The results highlight the importance of changes in neonatal mortality affecting low birth weight infants, which produce a noticeable shift in the range in which low birth weight is associated with the risk of mortality. These have proven more important in accounting for the decline in mortality rates than have changes affecting only neonates with more typical birth weights in South Carolina in 1975-1980.
Birth Certificates↗
Firearm-related fatalities: an epidemiologic assessment of violent death.
This study examines 1970-78 South Carolina firearm fatalities utilizing vital record data. During this period, 5,808 firearm deaths, classified as accident, homicide, suicide, or undetermined, were reported with an average annual fatality rate of 23.35 deaths per 100,000 estimated population. Firearm fatalities in South Carolina were the sixth leading cause of death in 1975 and accounted for 2.9 per cent of all deaths to residents. A significant period decline in the firearm fatality rate was observed and was attributed mainly to decreases in the non-White rate. In 1978, the fatality rate for non-Whites (18.5) fell below the rate for Whites (19.1) for the first time in the years investigated. Firearm deaths represent a major community health problem and, as such, warrant attention and direct involvement by state and local health professionals.
Accidents↗
The role of the nurse in occupational health programs: an industry survey.
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Humans↗
An enrichment program for South Carolina high school students interested in future biomedical science professions.
The Biomedical Sciences Program of the University of South Carolina intends to increase the number of qualified, economically disadvantaged minority students graduating from educational programs that lead to careers in the health field. The objective is to provide students with an overview of the health care delivery system in the United States and to acquaint students with a wide range of health care occupations and opportunities in the health care field. Experience-based learning, through site visits to different health care centers, is used in this program.In 1981, 100 ninth-grade students from rural school districts in South Carolina were recruited to participate in the program from 1981 through 1985. To assist in evaluation of the summer program, each student completed a self-administered questionnaire composed of questions related to background information and a pre-test covering factual material derived from information provided by visits to health care delivery agencies. At the completion of the summer program, the same test (excluding the collection of background material) was administered as a post-test.Of the 113 students who took the pre-test, 89 students also took the post-test. The decrease in students was accounted for by early withdrawal from the summer program or conflicts in scheduled events. Of the post-test group, 75 (84.3 percent) were nonwhite and 14 (15.7 percent) were white. The sex distribution was 60 women (67.4 percent) and 29 men (32.6 percent).Follow-up on academic advancement and career development progress is planned for each student over the next five years.
Adolescent↗
A health enrichment program for junior high school students.
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Delivery of Health Care↗
Dynamic model for preventing mental retardation in the population: the importance of poverty and deprivation.
A dynamic simulation model is used to answer the question, "What is the most effective child health policy initiative for the prevention of mental retardation (MR)?" The impact of medical strategies is contrasted with social interventions to see how they affect the prevalence of MR in the general population. The model is based on data from four U.S. Census and California Vital Statistics reports (1960, 1970, 1980, 1990). An interstate comparison (California and South Carolina) uses 1990 data. The results of the simulations reveal that medical interventions to improve the developmental outcome of low birth weight (LBW) infants did not cause a reduction in the rate of MR in the population after a 24-year trial period. In contrast, reducing the proportion of children living in poverty who are exposed to environmental deprivation significantly decreased (10%) MR at the end of the model's time period. This analysis supports the view that long-term reduction in MR prevalence is attainable by modifying public policies that influence children's development. Effective MR prevention calls for public policy committed to multifaceted health and educational services for both affected parents and their young children.
Adolescent↗
Racial differences in the relation of birth weight and gestational age to neonatal mortality.
Utilizing South Carolina live birth-infant death cohort files for the period 1975-80, this study examines the bivariate distribution of birth weight-gestational age (BW-GA), intrauterine growth curves, and BW-GA specific neonatal mortality rates (NMRs) by race. Comparison of BW-GA distributions revealed an appreciable shift between racial subgroups. Nonwhites, on the average, were born 1 week earlier and 270 grams lighter in weight than whites. In addition to racial differences in rates of intrauterine growth, nonwhites experienced lower BW-GA NMRs than whites in BW-GA categories less than 3,000 grams and less than 38 weeks. However, the improved mortality experience of nonwhites at more immature BW-GA categories was not consistently present when different cause-specific NMRs were considered. These persistent racial variations highlight continuing issues regarding both the use of a single norm for defining low birth weight or prematurity and the role of nonsocioeconomic factors related to racial BW-GA distribution and mortality disparities. As birth weight and gestational age represent empirical indicators of the maturity and survivability of an infant at birth, these data and previous supporting research raise further concerns regarding the ability of these indicators to accurately reflect equivalent fetal development and subsequent risk of mortality among racial groups.
Birth Weight↗
Occupational health services in South Carolina manufacturing plants: results of a survey.
A mailed survey of occupational health and safety practices in industrial manufacturing plants with more than 50 employees was carried out in South Carolina, with a response rate of 60 percent. The responding plants represented 73 percent of the total workforce in the industries. Data were analyzed in relation to the types of industry as delineated by the Standard Industrial Code. Eighty-three percent of the responding plants (a percentage that represented more than 92 percent of the total workforce in the industries) had some arrangements for the medical or nursing care of employees. For the study, occupational health services were defined at three levels: basic (mandatory), secondary (beneficial to management), and tertiary (health promotion-preventive medicine). The basic services provided by most of the industries surveyed appeared to be adequate. Secondary services were well developed except in the apparel and lumber industries. Tertiary services, in terms of five selected preventive programs, were moderately developed only in the paper, petroleum, and chemical industries. Only alcohol abuse control programs were commonly offered in the other types of industry. The size of the workforce in a plant partly dictated the level of occupational health services it offered but did not always account for all inter-industry variation.
Health Promotion↗
South Carolina's suicide mortality in the 1970s.
In an epidemiologic study of suicide mortality among South Carolina residents for the years 1970--78, death certificates for 2,763 persons were reviewed. The overall suicide rates were lower than those observed in the same period for the United States. As expected, the highest rates were among white males; females and nonwhite males had rates with intermediate values, and nonwhite females, the lowest rates. Rates for white males increased up to age 75. All other race-sex groups peaked at much younger ages. An increase in suicide rates over time appeared in those under 25 years, and a slight decline was observed in residents aged 50--74. Age-race-sex-adjusted rates proved relatively stable over the 9 years. Geographically, race-adjusted rates by county varied from calculated expected values, with some suggestion of a pattern for the counties with the highest rates. However, no urban-rural differences were seen. Examination of methods used to commit suicide reveals that firearms were the most common means in all race-sex groups, accounting for 78.7 percent of deaths. The percentage of firearm users was almost identical among white males and white females, differing markedly from the country as a whole. Females of both race groups were more likely to have used poisons than males, but the percentage of those who used poisons was much less than would be expected from national data. This study confirms previous findings of sex and race differentials, rate changes with age, increasing rates in young people, and lower overall rates in the Southeast compared with the entire country. Interpretation of race-sex specific rates, together with suicide methods, lends support to the assertion that suicide rates are independent of methods. Rate trends by age groups over time are believed to have important implications.
Adolescent↗