Biomedical subjects

P J Dolin

Publications and source records attributed to P J Dolin.

22 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1990

Influence of education and advertising on the uptake of smoking by children.

How effective are peer-led programmes in preventing the uptake of smoking by children? In 1981, we conducted a randomized controlled trial of a school-based educational programme for the prevention of smoking in children who were in their seventh year at school. In this article, the reported results of two years of follow-up confirm an earlier report that both teacher-led and peer-led programmes resulted in a reduction, to about the same degree, in the uptake of smoking by girls, while only the teacher-led programme appeared to be effective in boys. In girls, both the teacher-led and peer-led programmes maintained their effects over the two years of follow-up with adjusted differences in prevalence rates of the uptake of smoking relative to the control group of -6.6% (95% CL, -17.3%, 4.0%) and -8.1% (95% CL, -18.9%, 2.7%), respectively, after two years. In boys, the effect of the teacher-led programme was reduced substantially by the second year with a difference in the prevalence rate of -2.8% (95% CL, -11.2%, 5.6%); for the peer-led programme the difference in the prevalence rate was +6.4% (95% CL, -3.6%, 16.4%). Other variables which had a significant effect on the smoking behaviour were the perceived response to cigarette advertising, parental and sibling smoking status, the perceived parental sanctions on smoking behaviour, selected peer influences and the intention to smoke. The children's perceived responses to cigarette advertising showed the strongest and most consistent evidence of an effect on the uptake of smoking by children who initially were non-smokers. After adjustment for the effects of other variables there was an excess of 15.0% (95% CL, 2.1%, 27.9%) in the prevalence rate of smoking after two years for girls who thought that they were influenced by advertising compared with those who did not. The corresponding difference for boys was 15.3% (95% CL, 4.0%, 26.6%). As smoking-prevention programmes only may delay the onset of smoking in children, it is important that legislative measures be introduced to reduce the effects of cigarette advertising.

Advertising↗

PubMed1989

The incidence of malignant mesothelioma in Australia, 1947-1980.

Details of patients with malignant mesothelioma that was diagnosed in Australia before 1981 were obtained by searching all possible sources throughout Australia as far into the past as possible and up to and including 1980. The earliest patient with mesothelioma who was identified was diagnosed in Victoria in 1947. By 1980, 535 (81%) men and 123 (19%) women had been diagnosed with the disease; only 14 persons were aged less than 35 years at the time of diagnosis (the youngest person was 15 years of age). The incidence rate in subjects who were 35 years or older at diagnosis was less than 1.0 cases per million person-years until 1964-1968, and then it rose progressively to 15.5 cases per million person-years in 1979-1980. The highest rate (69.7 cases per million person-years) was observed in 65- to 74-year-old men in 1979-1980. The incidence rate in Western Australia was greater than were the rates in other states of Australia after the mid 1960s. Pleural mesotheliomas accounted for 88% of cases in which the site of the tumour was known; peritoneal mesotheliomas accounted for 10% of such cases and "other" sites for 2% of such cases. In 6% of cases the site was not specified. The exposure to asbestos was stated as "definite" in 59% of the cases with a recorded history of exposure: 8% of all the cases in the study had been exposed to crocidolite (blue asbestos) from Wittenoom Gorge in Western Australia. The age at diagnosis of patients with known exposure to asbestos was similar to that in those without known exposure. The increases in the incidence of malignant mesothelioma in Australia follow the published trends in the production and use of the amphibole varieties of asbestos in this country after a lag period of between 20 and 30 years.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1989

Patterns of pesticide usage by cereal crop farmers in Western Australia.

In Western Australia there has been an increase in the use of herbicides in recent years due to a change in farming practices. This change, together with more general public concern over exposure to chemicals, has resulted in farmers expressing concern over the possible long term health effects from exposure to herbicides. As part of a long term study of the possible health effects from such exposure, a survey was carried out to establish the extent of pesticide use within the cereal farming community of Western Australia. Of the 9,408 properties surveyed, 2,921 responses were received which represents a 32.2% response rate. The results indicate that a wide range of chemicals are used as insecticides, fumigants, seed dressings, seed pickles, herbicides, and rodent poisons. At the time of the survey in 1985, products containing prespruf and 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDT) were the most popular insecticide, and products containing diquat, diclofop-methyl, chlorsulfuron and glyphosate as active ingredients represented the four most popular herbicides.

Agriculture↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Assessment of epidemiological evidence that exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation causes cataract.

In this paper an assessment is made of the evidence that exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation is causally associated with cataract. The evidence is reviewed separately for cortical, nuclear and posterior subcapsular cataract. The assessment examines the consistency and magnitude of an association, the dose-response relationship, supporting ecological data, and data from animal studies. Based on the assessment, it is concluded that there is sufficient experimental evidence that exposure to artificial sources of UV-B can cause cortical opacities in laboratory animals. However, there is only limited evidence that exposure to solar UV-B causes cortical opacities in humans. Similarly, there is only limited evidence that exposure to solar UV-B causes posterior subcapsular cataract in humans. The epidemiological evidence is consistent in suggesting that nuclear cataracts are not causally associated with exposure to solar UV-B.

Animals↗