PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M L Lerchen

Publications and source records attributed to M L Lerchen.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1988

Delay in seeking care for cancer symptoms: a population-based study of elderly New Mexicans.

To characterize the delay by the elderly in seeking care for cancer symptoms, we interviewed 800 New Mexicans, greater than or equal to 65 years of age, with newly diagnosed cancer. Overall, 29.4% of the subjects were asymptomatic when cancer was detected, and 48.0% presented within 2 months of symptom onset. However, 19.2% of the subjects delayed seeking care for at least 12 weeks and 7.4% delayed at least 1 year. Site of cancer was the strongest determinant of delay. Hispanics tended to report longer delay than non-Hispanics, and age was not associated with delay. Of the numerous other factors considered, only having a regular checkup was significantly associated with delay interval.

Aged↗
PubMed1987

Lung cancer and occupation in New Mexico.

The association between occupation and lung cancer risk was examined in a population-based, case-control study of 506 patients (333 males and 173 females) and 771 control (499 males and 272 females) subjects in New Mexico. A personal interview was used to obtain lifetime occupational and smoking histories and self-reported history of exposures to specific agents. High-risk jobs were identified in advance of data analysis and linked with industrial and occupational codes for hypothesis testing. For females, lung cancer risk was not associated with employment history, but power was limited. For males, elevated risks were found for the uranium mining industry [odds ratio (OR) = 1.9; 95% confidence internal (CI) = 0.8-4.9], underground miners (OR = 2.1; 95% CI = 1.1-3.7), painters (OR = 2.7; 95% CI = 0.8-8.9), and welders (OR = 3.2; 95% CI = 1.4-7.4). For self-reported exposure to any of 18 agents, only the OR for exposure to "other metals" was elevated. The population attributable risk in males was estimated as 14% for employment in any high-risk industry or occupation with an OR above 1 in this study.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

An assessment of the validity of questionnaire responses provided by a surviving spouse.

Studies of the etiology of rapidly fatal diseases often use data from surrogate sources. To assess the validity of the wife as a source of exposure information, 80 wives were interviewed in 1983-1984 for the same histories provided earlier by their husbands, who were cases in a case-control study of lung cancer in New Mexico, 1980-1982. Both interviews obtained detailed information concerning lifetime occupational history, smoking habits, and consumption of certain foods high in vitamin A. With regard to lifetime occupational histories, the wives reported significantly fewer jobs. Concordance of the coded histories was approximately 50% for occupation and industry, but was higher for the last job and usual job held. Wives correctly reported the cigarette smoking status of their husbands. For the number of cigarettes smoked per day, wives tended to report 20 cigarettes smoked even when their husbands smoked substantially more or less. The mean frequencies of consumption of certain food items based on the two sources were comparable. However, the percentage of exact agreement and the kappa statistics were generally low.

Aged↗