Biomedical subjects

N P Stocks

Publications and source records attributed to N P Stocks.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Use and perception of hormone therapy following media reports of the Women's Health Initiative: a survey of Australian WISDOM participants.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the impact of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) on the use and perception of hormone therapy (HT) in well-informed and altruistic women who had volunteered for a similar long-term study of HT (Women's International Study of long Duration Oestrogen after Menopause, WISDOM). METHODS: A total of 840 South Australian WISDOM participants were sent questionnaires asking about their source of information about the WHI, interpretation of the 2002 WHI findings, perception of HT as a risk factor for breast cancer, attitudes towards doctors and the media and intent to use HT in the future. RESULTS: Altogether, 618 participants (74%) responded. Written and verbal information provided by WISDOM were rated as the most helpful sources of information about the WHI. Participants were aware of the increase in breast cancer and decrease in fractures seen with combined estrogen/progestogen hormone therapy (EPT) but were less convinced about the other major findings, including cardiovascular disease and dementia. HT was rated as an important risk factor for breast cancer. Participants valued medical research and were more likely to question therapies without evidence. After WHI and WISDOM, most were willing to participate in a subsequent trial and most past HT users resumed therapy. CONCLUSIONS: There are sufficient recruits for future long-term HT studies if they are given sufficient quality information and individual counselling. Our study also suggests that women who are appropriately informed may choose to take long-term HT despite a more conservative approach advised by some agencies.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Blood pressure and birthweight in first year university students aged 18-25.

There have been many papers examining the relationship between blood pressure and birthweight but although the association is clearly established in adults and children findings in adolescence and young adults have been inconsistent. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between blood pressure and birthweight in young adults. The blood pressure of 1358 university students aged 18-25 was recorded at a screening medical examination and their birthweight from parental report. Using linear regression analysis, systolic blood pressure, after adjustment for age, weight and height, decreased by 2.00 mmHg (-3.8, -0.2) for every kg increase in birthweight in females. The relationship was negative but non-significant in males. Substituting body mass index (BMI) for weight in the regression analysis produced similar results. There was a smaller and non-significant relationship between diastolic blood pressure and birthweight which is consistent with other studies. This study confirms the inverse relationship between systolic blood pressure and birthweight in young adults and provides some support for the hypothesis that undernutrition in utero contributes to the development of cardiovascular disease in adults.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

Visual acuity in an Australian aboriginal population.

BACKGROUND: Australia is a developed country. However, Aboriginal Australians have rates of blindness comparable to Third World countries. There have been well-funded eye health programs for 15 years in Central Australia. This paper examines if there has been an improvement in visual disability of one traditional group of Aboriginal Australians. METHODS: Results from an eye health survey of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara of South Australia in 1990 are presented. These data are compared with results for 'blindness' and 'poor vision' from a national survey undertaken in 1976. The two surveys were comparable in design, both were cross-sectional population-based prevalence surveys. Prevalence rates were adjusted for the size of the source population. RESULTS: Young rural Aboriginal Australians have good visual acuity. Low vision and blindness (WHO definitions) occur in 19.6% and 10.4% of 60+ year olds, respectively. Women were more likely than men to be blind or have low vision (OR = 1.93; 1.06-3.58). There was a decline in 'poor vision' between surveys (OR = 2.86; 1.86-4.75) but not in 'blindness'. CONCLUSION: Although there has been a reduction in the prevalence of visual disability in rural Aboriginal Australians, improvements in the provision of eye care for the elderly need to occur.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

Trends in the prevalence of trachoma, South Australia, 1976 to 1990.

The eye health of rural Aboriginal Australians is known to be poor. Over the past 20 years, Aboriginal communities in remote parts of Australia have had increasing access to eye health services through the National Trachoma and Eye Health Program (NTEHP). Using published and unpublished data, we examined trends in the prevalence of inflammatory trachoma in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara of South Australia. Comparisons using a generalised linear model of surveys in 1976, 1985 and 1990 indicate that there has been a significant reduction in the age-standardised prevalence of inflammatory trachoma in 0- to 20-year-olds. When the 1990 survey was compared with 1976 interim report data from the NTEHP survey, the odds of inflammatory trachoma in 1990 were 0.25 (95 per cent confidence interval (CI) 0.18 to 0.35). When the comparison was with data from the NTEHP survey of the Red Centre, the odds of follicular trachoma in 1990 were 0.51 (CI 0.42 to 0.62), and in comparison with the 1985 NTEHP review data, the odds of inflammatory trachoma in 1990 were 0.28 (CI 0.20 to 0.39). In the older age groups (20 and over), an increase in the prevalence of inflammatory trachoma was found. Although significant, the increase affected a small proportion of the population and may have been because of difficulty in standardising the trachoma grading between surveys, or systematic grading error in the 1990 survey. This study therefore shows that the eye health of Aboriginal people in Central Australia may be improving. The decline in trachoma is welcome and may be caused by improvements in socioeconomic conditions, community development and increasing access to medical care.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1994

The epidemiology of blindness and trachoma in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara of South Australia.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of trachoma and blindness in the Aboriginal population in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara and Yalata lands of South Australia. DESIGN AND SETTING: A population-based prevalence survey undertaken in conjunction with routine South Australian Aboriginal Trachoma and Eye Health Program trips during 1989 and 1990. RESULTS: A group of 1514 individuals aged 0-90 years, or approximately 58% of the estimated Aboriginal population in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara and Yalata lands, was examined. Active inflammatory trachoma was found in 17.6% of the group (266 individuals), cicatricial trachoma in 25.2% (382) and binocular blindness (Australian definition) in 1.5% (22). The major causes of monocular and binocular blindness were trachoma, cataracts and trauma. Two per cent of women (17 of 849) were blind, compared with 0.8% (5 of 665) of men (odds ratio, 3.22; 95% confidence interval, 1.03-10.43). CONCLUSIONS: Although trachoma is still endemic in the "traditional" Aboriginal population of SA, its prevalence and severity appear to be less than previously recorded. However, the prevalence of blindness is comparable with that found in developing countries and the causes are still largely preventable. Further effort is required to reduce trachoma and preventable or treatable blindness in these communities.

Adolescent↗