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M Geddes

Publications and source records attributed to M Geddes.

53 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

The accuracy of local death certificates in cancer of the lung and stomach.

The study analysed the accuracy of local death certificates (LDC) for patients with lung cancer (424 males, 36 females) and stomach cancer (99 males, 62 females) who died between 1979 and 1984. All the diagnoses were confirmed histologically. For a subgroup of lung cancer (males), we also evaluated the national death certificate (NDC) and the correspondence of LDC vs. NDC. The reliability of LDC was quite poor. This paper examines the different reasons for the underevaluation of cancer in LDC and the variables which modify the accuracy of cause of death on the death certificate.

Death Certificates↗

Analysis of trends in cancer mortality in Italy 1951-1978; the effects of age, period of birth, and period of death.

We describe trends in cancer mortality in Italy between 1951 and 1978 for 6 different sites (esophagus, lung, breast, cervix uteri, testis, and bladder) as well as all cancers. This is done using a statistical model which separates the contributions associated with age, period of birth and period of death. The results are related to equivalent analyses in England and Wales and also to trends in lifestyle in Italy (alcohol consumption, cigarette consumption, birth rates).

Adult↗

A case control study of lung cancer in Florence, Italy. I. Occupational risk factors.

A case control study of lung cancer in Florence, Italy was performed to investigate occupational risk factors for both men and women. The case series (n = 376) comprised all incident, histologically confirmed cases of primary lung cancer occurring in a three year period. Controls (n = 892) were patients in the same hospital of similar age, sex, date of admission, and smoking status with discharge diagnoses other than lung cancer or suicide. A detailed occupational history was collected from each subject directly. Logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios for specific occupations compared to all others. Among men, the lung cancer risk for bricklayers using firebrick and other refractory materials was elevated (adjusted odds ratio 6.5, 95% limits 2.1 and 20.9). Female hat makers, probably exposed to arsenic while making felt hats, had an elevated risk of lung cancer (6 cases versus 0 controls, p = 0.01). Risks in other occupations are discussed.

Adult↗

A case control study of lung cancer in Florence, Italy. II. Effect of migration from the south.

Risk of lung cancer related to region of birth in Italy was investigated among migrants to Florence, in a case control study of all histologically confirmed incident cases of primary lung cancer in a three year period in that city (n = 376). Controls (n = 892) were patients in the same hospital of similar age, sex, date of admission, and smoking status with discharge diagnoses other than lung cancer or suicide. Information on place of birth and year of migration to Florence was collected directly from each subject, along with a detailed occupational history. Logistic regression models were used to calculate the odds ratio for birth in the south of Italy relative to birth elsewhere. Male migrants from the south have an odds ratio of lung cancer of 0.5 (95% limits 0.3 to 0.7) relative to those born elsewhere. This "protective effect" is not explained by smoking or by any known occupational risk. The risk is lowest among those born on the island of Sicily (odds ratio 0.2 compared to those born in the centre-north).

Age Factors↗

Cell type distribution in histologic specimens of primary lung cancer.

A total of 1986 cases of primary lung cancer, observed in the Pathology Department of the University of Florence during 1971-1981, were analysed by age, sex, year of diagnosis, source of specimen, and cell type. Adenocarcinomas occurred more frequently in females and at younger ages and were diagnosed mainly from surgically obtained specimens. In contrast, squamous cell carcinomas developed more often in males and at older ages, and were chiefly diagnosed by bronchial biopsy. Over the 11-year period of study, a significant increase in the percentage of squamous cell carcinomas and a consequent decrease in the percentage of adenocarcinomas occurred both in females and in males, independent of changes in the specimen sources.

Adenocarcinoma↗

[Mortality from malignant tumors in residents of the city of Verona in 1980].

Malignant tumours mortality among residents of the city of Verona (267,703 at 31-12-1980) during the year 1980 is assessed from the ISTAT individual death cards and/or municipal death certificates (especially in the case of deaths outside the municipality). The figures are broken down by site, apparatus or system (in accordance with the VIII-ICD), sex, age at death, and compared with the Italian mortality figures for 1976 (indirectly standardised) and those for the province of Verona for 1976-77 (directly standardised). Tumour mortality per site was generally higher than the Italian level. This is line with the differences noted between geographical areas and the similarity of the rates in more industrialised areas. A salient finding was that lung tumour mortality exceeded that for the province of Varese, which is among the highest in Italy entered on the Register of Tumours. Genital and breast tumours were responsible for the highest number of deaths in women, while stomach cancer was the second cause of death in both sexes. The study will be completed with an analysis of tumour deaths during 1980 and 1981 in the province of Verona as a whole.

Epidemiologic Methods↗

The symbolic drawing of the family life space.

Several innovative techniques have been developed in the last ten years for facilitating meaningful communication and interaction among family members. These techniques serve the purpose of highlighting relatively stable patterns of verbal and nonverbal communication among family members and bring to the surface various aspects of familial structure, thereby illuminating focal points for intervention. The purpose of the present article is to describe the technique of the Symbolic Drawing of the Family Life Space, to compare this technique with other techniques for facilitating communication and interaction among family members, and to illustrate the clinical use of this technique with case examples. In reviewing the literature, the authors extracted two types of symbolic and interactive procedures, which may be conveniently divided into those that tend to be task-centered and those that tend to be expressive modalities.

Adolescent↗

Critical evaluation of several years' activity aimed at the diagnosis of asymptomatic diabetes in the Province of Florence. Revision of method.

The authors have based this critical evaluation on the methods at present adopted for mass screening for symptomatic diabetes in a group of 39,405 subjects, in full working activity. The results obtained from these tests confirm the social importance of this illness in the active population. However, the authors suggest that the glycosuria test be abandoned as the primary discriminating criterium and suggest that blood glucose assay in specimens drawn two hours after a standard glucose and load (50 g as proposed by WHO) and the singling out of potential diabetic individuals by reason of their family and physiological background be adopted for this purpose. The relationship between diabetes, obesity, dysmetabolism and cardiovascular alterations lead us to stress once more the importance of primary prevention, aimed at correcting the eating habits and life style of patients with a potential predisposition to the illness.

Adult↗

Risk factors in male infertility: a case-control study.

A case-control study was undertaken to evaluate environmental risk factors potentially involved in male infertility. One hundred twelve azoospermic or oligospermic subjects and 127 controls were interviewed, before sperm count results were available, about coffee and alcohol consumption, smoking habits, x-ray exposure, usual sitting posture, drug consumption, other nonoccupational risk factors, socioeconomic status, education level, and occupational history. An unmatched analysis was then conducted. None of the occupational risk factors appeared to be related to azoospermia or oligospermia. A high relative risk was associated with (1) occupation in the radioelectric industry, (2) nonsedentary clerical workers, (3) clerical work in the typographic industry, and (4) occupation in the textile industry, but none of these figures were statistically significant. Because of the population from which cases and controls were drawn, certain occupational risks could not be investigated in this study, e.g., exposure of agricultural workers to chemicals.

Adult↗

Epidemiology of classic Kaposi's sarcoma, with special reference to mediterranean population.

An excess of classic Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) in individuals of southern European ancestry has long been suspected and recently quantified in terms of age-standardized rates. In Italy and most notably in southern Italy for the period 1976-84, prior to the AIDS epidemic, KS incidence rates were two-to-three-fold higher than in the United States and Sweden and many ten-fold higher than in England and Wales and Australia. A high frequency of classic KS has also been documented in Israel and, in low-risk countries, in individuals born in southern Europe and the Middle East. Many infections have been suspected to play a role in the etiology of KS, including cytomegalovirus, malaria and, most recently, a new virus of the herpes family, identified in AIDS-associated and classic KS. The present review deals with epidemiologic data concerning KS in the Mediterranean and stresses the opportunity to combine the study of KS in AIDS as well as non-AIDS patients in order to shed light on this no longer rare disease.

Arabs↗

Colorectal, lung, and breast cancer care during the three years following the diagnosis: a population-based study.

AIMS: We evaluated a number of basic parameters of care during hospitalization that contribute to the total cost of therapy during the 3 years after the first diagnosis of cancer. METHODS: The study examined a sample of cases of cancer of the colon-rectum (164 cases), lung (160 cases) and breast (144 cases) diagnosed in 1987, taken from the data base of the Tuscany Cancer Registry. All the information collected by the Registry was examined and the sample was further validated by reviewing original clinical records. The agreement between the two sources was very high, confirming the adequacy of the Registry as a source of information. The parameters evaluated for each patient were the number of cytohistologic examinations, surgery, hospital admissions and days spent in hospital during the 3 follow-up years. RESULTS: The average number of admittances in 3 years was 1.93 for colorectal, 3.39 for lung and 2.15 for breast cancer. The mean number of days spent in hospital in the 3 follow-up years was 39.9 for colorectal, 50.1 for lung and 21.1 for breast cancer. The parameters differed among subjects still alive, those deceased and those in various stages of the illness. CONCLUSIONS: The costs of the time spent in hospital, based on the number of days during the first 3 years of the illness, were higher in cases of lung cancer than of the other sites, and more so for patients diagnosed in an advanced phase of the disease.

Breast Neoplasms↗

[Hospital admissions, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures of patients with colorectal cancer during 5 years after diagnosis: population-based study].

This research evaluated basic parameters of care, also in the terms of costs. The study examined a sample of colorectal cancer cases incident in 1987 in the population of Florence's municipality, taken from the data base of Tuscany Cancer Registry (RTT). We collected, for 71 patients, all clinical records, for the five follow-up years and evaluated the diagnostic and therapeutic procedures (blood tests, histologic examination, instrumental investigation and surgical intervention) and the duration of all hospitalisations. Besides, on the basis of the diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and of the discharge diagnosis, each hospitalisation was coded following the DRG system and the economic cost of hospital care was analysed. The average number of hospitalisations and the average length of stay for patient in five follow-up years are respectively 1.9 (SD = 1.3) and 41.3 (SD = 25.8); the length of stay resulted highly correlated with the stage of disease. The mean hospital cost per patient (about ItL 18.000.000 overall) was higher in patients with more advanced disease at diagnosis. In the period of study an average 125.9 blood tests (SD = 110.7), 1.2 histologic examinations (SD = 0.9) and 10.3 instrumental investigations (SD = 9.0) were performed for each patient; 61 subjects (86%) were submitted to surgical intervention, of which 4 had a second intervention, and 1 subject was submitted to surgical intervention for liver's metastases.

Adolescent↗