Biomedical subjects

R A Hiatt

Publications and source records attributed to R A Hiatt.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1997

Urinary phytoestrogen levels in young women from a multiethnic population.

Phytoestrogens include several classes of chemical compounds (i.e., isoflavones, coumestans, and lignans) which are structurally similar to endogenous estrogens. In biological systems, they have both estrogenic and antiestrogenic effects and may reduce the risk of developing certain types of hormonally related diseases. However, little information is available on population differences in exposure to phytoestrogens. To examine racial/ethnic differences in urinary phytoestrogen levels, 50 young women (ages 20-40 years) were randomly selected from participants in a previous epidemiological study in which 24-h urine specimens and a dietary assessment were obtained. Subjects were members of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program of northern California. Selection was stratified on race/ethnicity. Urinary levels of seven phytoestrogens were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Substantial variation in phytoestrogen levels was observed and racial/ethnic differences are described. The highest levels of coumestrol and the lignans were observed in white women and the lowest levels in Latina and African American women. Genistein levels, however, were highest in Latina women; other isoflavone levels did not differ significantly by race/ethnicity.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Randomized controlled trial of a low animal protein, high fiber diet in the prevention of recurrent calcium oxalate kidney stones.

Low protein diets are commonly prescribed for patients with idiopathic calcium nephrolithiasis, who account for > 80% of new diagnoses of kidney stones. This dietary advice is supported by metabolic studies and epidemiologic observational studies but has not been evaluated in a controlled trial. Using 1983-1985 data from three Northern California Kaiser Permanente Medical Centers, the authors randomly assigned 99 persons who had calcium oxalate stones for the first time to a low animal protein, high fiber diet that contained approximately 56-64 g daily of protein, 75 mg daily of purine (primarily from animal protein and legumes), one-fourth cup of wheat bran supplement, and fruits and vegetables. Intervention subjects were also instructed to drink six to eight glasses of liquid daily and to maintain adequate calcium intake from dairy products or calcium supplements. Control subjects were instructed only on fluid intake and adequate calcium intake. Both groups were followed regularly for up to 4.5 years with food frequency questionnaires, serum and urine chemistry analysis, and abdominal radiography; and they were urged to comply with dietary instructions. In the intervention group of 50 subjects, stones recurred in 12 (7.1 per 100 person-years) compared with two (1.2 per 100 person-years) in the control group; both groups received a mean of 3.4 person-years of follow-up (p = 0.006). After adjustment for possible confounding effects of age, sex, education, and baseline protein and fluid intake, the relative risk of a recurrent stone in the intervention group was 5.6 (95% confidence interval 1.2-26.1) compared with the control group. The authors conclude that advice to follow a low animal protein, high fiber, high fluid diet has no advantage over advice to increase fluid intake alone.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Unsolved problems in early breast cancer detection: focus on the underserved.

In the last decade, numerous research and programmatic efforts have attempted to improve cancer screening practices among women from diverse race/ethnic backgrounds on the assumption that observed differences in breast cancer survival were largely due to differences in early detection practices. Recent data from the 1992 National Health Interview Survey and a 1992 survey in San Francisco Bay Area multiethnic communities indicate that rates of self-reported breast cancer screening tests among African American, Hispanic, and white women no longer differ significantly. However, there are large, persistent socioeconomic differences as reflected in educational and income levels, the recency of immigration, and English language proficiency. This emphasizes the continuing need for interventions tailored specifically for the underserved, with the racial, ethnic, and cultural composition of the intended audience informing educational messages and strategies. However, effective research interventions are complex and costly throughout the spectrum of outreach, inreach, and follow-up. Thus the generalizability of these strategies to under-founded providers and agencies in low-income communities may be limited. Therefore, as ongoing research continues to refine strategies, the application of effective community-based intervention should seek out potential partnerships with programs that provide the critical access to services. Cancer control scientists are well positioned to advocate for community-based infrastructures that facilitate translation of research into practice.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Comorbidity and breast cancer survival: a comparison between black and white women.

The presence of concurrent health conditions (comorbidity) at the time of breast cancer diagnosis has an adverse effect on survival. It is unclear, however, whether the strength of the association between comorbidity and survival varies in different populations of breast cancer patients. It is necessary, therefore, to establish (1) whether a comorbidity index derived from a general population of patients (mostly white) would predict survival in a black population, and (2) whether comorbidity would have the same degree of relationship to mortality in black as in white populations. We studied 1196 breast cancer patients who were members of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program and were diagnosed with local (n = 708), regional (n = 446), or remote (n = 49) stage breast cancer from 1973 to 1986. Mortality follow-up was completed to December 1994. Ten-year survival was studied in relation to the Charlson comorbidity index for black women and for white women, and for both groups of women combined. Compared to women with a Charlson comorbidity score of 0 (no comorbidity), patients with scores of 1, 2, and 3+ had risk ratios for ten-year mortality of 1.23 (P = 0.10), 2.58 (P < 0.001), and 3.44 (P < 0.001), respectively. This pattern of risk associated with comorbidity was similar to that found in the original Charlson study. The pattern of risk ratios for different levels of comorbidity was very similar for black and white patients. The results confirm previous studies indicating that comorbidity (in particular, the Charlson Comorbidity Index) predicts the survival of women with breast cancer, independently of other factors, such as stage of breast cancer at diagnosis. The Charlson index has prognostic significance for both black and white populations. Research is needed to determine whether the Charlson index can be improved by including health conditions that are particularly prevalent or severe in specific subgroups of women.

Aged↗

PubMed1996

Can hematuria be a predictor as well as a symptom or sign of bladder cancer?

In a case-control study of urinalysis screening in the prevention of death from bladder cancer, hematuria was present in a higher proportion of cases than controls as long as five or six years before the diagnostic evaluation that led to the diagnosis of bladder cancer. In a separate cohort study data base that permitted the follow-up of 1046 persons with a physician's diagnosis of hematuria, 11 cases of bladder cancer were diagnosed more than two (mean 7.4) years after the hematuria diagnosis (4.3 cases expected; age-sex standardized morbidity ratio, 2.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.3-4.5). Bladder cancer was ruled out initially by cystoscopy in 8 of the 11 cases. Although we cannot be certain that preexisting bladder cancer or bladder cancer risk factors did not cause the bleeding, we hypothesize that hematuria can be a predictor as well as a manifestation of bladder cancer, based on a tendency for bladder mucosa with premalignant changes to bleed. The implications for screening and clinical practice remain to be determined.

Aged↗

PubMed1995

Psychologic stress in the workplace and spontaneous abortion.

The relation of work-related psychologic stress to spontaneous abortion was examined in a prospective study of 3,953 pregnant, employed members of a prepaid health plan in California, recruited between 1990 and 1991. Information on occupation, psychologic stress-related factors at work, social support at work, physical exertion at work, life events, pregnancy worries, and potential confounders was obtained by a telephone interview. Psychologic job stress and social support at work were assessed using an abbreviated version of the instrument developed by Karasek and colleagues (Los Angeles: University of Southern California, 1986). Results from the multivariate model indicated that, overall, stressful work was not associated with an increased risk of spontaneous abortion. However, interactions were observed between stressful work and maternal age over 32 years (p = 0.04), cigarette smoking (p = 0.02), and primigravidity (p = 0.06). Relative to the odds ratio for stressful work in young, nonsmoking, multigravid women without a history of two or more spontaneous abortions, the odds ratios for spontaneous abortion given stressful work were higher by 2.45 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03-5.81) for older women, 2.96 (95% CI 1.16-7.52) for smokers, and 2.27 (95% CI 0.97-5.27) for primigravid women.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗

PubMed1995

Biologic sex as a risk factor for Helicobacter pylori infection in healthy young adults.

Diseases associated with Helicobacter pylori infection, such as peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer, afflict men more frequently than women. No study, however, has demonstrated any difference in sex-specific rates of H. pylori infection. In a healthy population undergoing multiphasic health evaluations in 1992-1993 as members of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program of Northern California, adults aged 20-39 years were screened for antibodies to H. pylori infection using a serum enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and were surveyed with regard to their demographic characteristics and health practices. Among 556 African-American, Hispanic, and white men and women, male sex was a significant risk factor for infection. Other risk factors included African-American race and Hispanic ethnicity, increasing age, living with children, birth in a developing country, and lower levels of income and education. Men consistently had a higher prevalence of antibodies across all strata of race/ethnicity, age, education, and income, and in multivariate analysis male sex remained significantly associated with infection (odds ratio = 2.0, 95% confidence interval 1.2-3.1). African-American race, Hispanic ethnicity, increasing age, lower levels of education, and birth in a developing country were also associated with infection in multivariate analysis. Data from previously reported seroprevalence studies support a tendency for men to have a higher risk of infection. The higher prevalence of infection among young males as observed in Northern California may account in part for the increased incidence of H. pylori-related diseases among men in later decades of life.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

Agreement between self-reported early cancer detection practices and medical audits among Hispanic and non-Hispanic white health plan members in northern California.

BACKGROUND: Using the medical records of a large, prepaid health plan, our purpose was to assess the accuracy of self-reported data on cancer detection practices and to evaluate any differences in accuracy between Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites. METHODS: Data were collected on six procedures: mammography, clinical breast examination, Pap smear, sigmoidoscopy, fecal occult blood tests, and digital rectal examination. We audited the medical records of 815 randomly selected Hispanic and 483 non-Hispanic white members of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in Northern California. All responded to a telephone survey. Using a standardized form, we recorded any of the six target examinations that had been performed within 5 years of the telephone interview. We then compared the times of the most recent screening tests as reported in the telephone survey with those in the medical record. RESULTS: For the 2 years before the telephone interview, self-reports for screening tests overestimated the actual rates at which these tests were performed as documented in the medical records. Lack of agreement between self-report and medical record audits was substantial for all screening procedures except sigmoidoscopy. Hispanic members had fewer procedures done for most tests, but the differences were not statistically significant. Overestimates in self-reported screening rates did not differ substantially between Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites. CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported data on early cancer detection procedures can substantially overestimate their occurrence among both non-Hispanic white and Hispanic populations. These findings confirm earlier findings for Pap smear and affect decisions on cancer prevention procedures that rely on the accuracy of self-reported data.

Breast Neoplasms↗

PubMed1995

Problems in assessing screening experience in observational studies of screening efficacy: example of urinalysis screening for bladder cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate screening urinalysis for its efficacy in preventing fatal bladder cancer. METHODS: A case-control study of 290 case subjects with fatal bladder cancer upsilon 290 age and sex matched control subjects, with ascertainment of urinalyses by medical record review. RESULTS: In the five years before the symptoms that led to the detection of bladder cancer, case subjects had significantly fewer routine (screening) urinalyses than controls (matched odds ratio for one or more urinalyses upsilon none = 0.60 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.41 to 0.87], adjusted for cigarette smoking and occupational bladder cancer risk). However urinalyses for urinary symptoms and problems before those that led to bladder cancer diagnosis were more frequent in the cases; hence there was only a small statistically non-significant deficit in cases of urinalyses for all reasons combined (corresponding adjusted odds ratio 0.94, 95% CI 0.61 to 1.46). Since urinalyses for symptoms and problems could have led to the detection of bladder cancer, the latter finding appears more applicable. Methodological problems included: difficulty in assigning the reason for urinalysis; the possibility that clinically indicated urinalyses led to a reduction in screening urinalyses; and difficulty in identifying the detectable and curable preclinical phase for targeting ascertainment of urinalyses. Reducing potential efficacy, haematuria on urinalysis, particularly transient or mild asymptomatic microhaematuria, was often not followed up by cystoscopy. CONCLUSIONS: This study did not show that ordinary urinalysis was effective in preventing fatal bladder cancer but because of methodological problems a clear answer may require a randomised controlled trial.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

How many stool examinations are necessary to detect pathogenic intestinal protozoa?

Recent reports have suggested that examination of one stool specimen is sufficient to detect protozoa in symptomatic patients. To verify this hypothesis, we examined specimens submitted to the regional laboratory of a large, prepaid health plan that provides primary care to a membership representative of the general population in northern California. We examined the number and results of stool specimen examinations in the two-month period before detection of Entamoeba histolytica in 125 infected persons, of Giardia lamblia in 154 infected persons, and of Dientamoeba fragilis in 60 persons infected with this parasite. About 13% of the entire group had a single stool specimen examined, 19% had two examined, 65% had three examined, and 6% had more than three examined. Most infections were detected in the first specimen or specimens submitted, but many were not detected until later examination. Thirteen patients with E. histolytica (10.4%) required 4-9 examinations. The sensitivity of one examination was compared with that of three examinations; with the additional examinations, the yield increased 22.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 11.8-33.5%) for E. histolytica, 11.3% (95% CI = 6.9-81.8%) for G. lamblia, and 31.1% (95% CI = 17.7-54.4%) for D. fragilis. Our results suggest that a single stool specimen examination will miss many pathogenic protozoan infections in symptomatic persons.

Animals↗

PubMed1995

Use of Spanish surnames to identify Latinos: comparison to self-identification.

Difficulties in identification of Latinos from secondary datasets have often been addressed by the use of a Spanish surname list. To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the 1980 U.S. Census Spanish surname list in correctly identifying Latino ethnicity, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of adult members of a prepaid health plan in the San Francisco Bay Area. We compared a randomly selected list of 1345 Spanish surnames and 717 non-Spanish surnames from health plan membership lists with their self-identified race and ethnicity obtained by telephone interviews. The sample was stratified according to surname group (Spanish or non-Spanish), sex, age, and county. Compared with self-identified ethnicity, a Spanish surname was 88.4% sensitive in identifying Latino men and 70.4% sensitive in identifying Latina women. The non-Spanish surname list was 94.1% sensitive and 95.0% specific in correctly identifying non-Latinos. Although the overall negative predictive value was 97.8%, the positive predictive value of a Spanish surname was only 68.3% for men and 55.7% for women. The low positive predictive value was largely due to the 316 (61%) Filipinos among the 517 persons with Spanish surnames who were not Latinos. We conclude that the use of the Spanish surname list alone to ascertain race and ethnicity in the San Francisco Bay Area both falsely identifies a large number of non-Latino persons as Latino and fails to identify a small proportion of Latinos. Although the level of sensitivity and specificity for Spanish surnames will vary with the area under study, this source of inaccuracy must be considered in studies that plan to use data based on Spanish surnames.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

Dietary practices, alcohol consumption, and smoking behavior: ethnic, sex, and acculturation differences.

Current knowledge is scarce on Latino dietary practices. This study compared the dietary practices, alcohol consumption, and smoking behavior of Latinos and non-Latino whites in two randomly selected samples. Telephone surveys of adults 35-74 years of age from the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program (Latinos = 844; non-Latino whites = 510) and from census tract-based areas (Latinos = 806; non-Latino whites = 436) were conducted in the San Francisco Bay Area. Latino ethnicity was a significant predictor of dietary and alcohol consumption practices in multivariate logistic regression models after adjustment for sex, education, age, employment, health insurance, martial status, county of residence, and self-perceived health status. Compared with non-Latino whites, Latinos were significantly less likely to report eating vegetables and more likely to eat rice, beans, and fried foods and to drink whole milk. Less acculturated Latinos were more likely to eat fruits, rice, beans, meat, and fried foods and to drink whole milk than more acculturated Latinos. Latino men were significantly more likely to be binge drinkers, and Latina women were significantly more likely to abstain from drinking alcohol during the month prior to the interview. As Latina women acculturate to the U.S. mainstream, they report more cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption. Although Latinos reported higher levels of selected high-fiber foods, the low consumption of vegetables, widespread use of saturated fat, and the heavy drinking and smoking among Latino men, which are associated with the level of acculturation, may increase the risk for cancer. Educational messages targeting less acculturated Latinos should focus on maintaining their current healthy dietary practices of eating fruits, rice, and beans and decreasing their fat consumption. For more acculturated Latinos, emphasis should be placed on resuming the traditional diet.

Acculturation↗

PubMed1994

Self-reported use of cancer screening tests among Latinos and Anglos in a prepaid health plan.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate self-reported use of cancer screening tests by Latino and Anglo prepaid health plan members, we conducted telephone interviews about the knowledge of, use of, and reason for Papanicolaou (Pap) smear, clinical breast examination, mammogram, rectal examination, fecal occult blood test, and sigmoidoscopy. METHODS: Cross-sectional telephone survey of randomly selected Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program members in San Francisco and Alameda Counties, California. A total of 844 Latinos (432 men and 412 women) and 510 Anglos (208 men and 302 women), between 35 and 74 years of age, completed the interview. RESULTS: Overall, 97.4% of Latinas reported having had at least one Pap smear compared with 99.7% of Anglo women; 90% in each group reported a Pap smear within 3 years. A clinical breast examination within 2 years was reported by 87% of Latina and 90% of Anglo women. Seventy-six percent of Latina and 85% of Anglo women aged 35 years or more reported having had at least one mammogram; and 65% of Latina and 75% of Anglo women reported a mammogram within 2 years. Among members 40 to 74 years of age, a lower proportion of Latinos compared with Anglos reported having had at least one digital rectal examination (67% vs 80%) and one fecal occult blood test (46% vs 54%); among those 50 to 74 years of age, fewer Latinos reported at least one sigmoidoscopy (29% vs 41%). After adjusting for age, education, employment, perceived health status, marital status, and county of residence, Latinos were significantly less likely to report having had at least one digital rectal examination (odds ratio; 0.60, 95% confidence interval, 0.45, 0.79), fecal occult blood test (odds ratio, 0.77; 95% confidence interval, 0.59-1.01), and sigmoidoscopy (odds ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval, 0.52, 0.95). After adjusting for the same variables, Latinos were more likely than Anglos to claim forgetfulness/carelessness (75% vs 60%; odds ratio, 1.84; 95% confidence interval, 1.41-2.40) as a reason for not obtaining cancer screening tests. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that, within this prepaid health plan without direct financial barriers to cancer screening services, Latinos are less likely than Anglos to obtain selected recommended cancer screening tests.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Breast cancer and serum organochlorines: a prospective study among white, black, and Asian women.

BACKGROUND: Five small case-control studies have examined the relationship between exposure to organochlorines and the risk of breast cancer and have found inconsistent results. In these studies, organochlorine levels in breast cancer patients were measured after (or at most 6 months before) diagnosis. PURPOSE: We tested the hypothesis that organochlorines are a risk factor for breast cancer, using prospectively gathered data on serum levels of DDE [1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene] (the main metabolite of the pesticide DDT [2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-1,1,1-trichloroethane]) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). METHODS: Study subjects belonged to a cohort of 57,040 women (46,629 white, 8123 black, and 2288 Asian) from the San Francisco Bay Area who took a multiphasic health examination, independent of concern about risk of breast cancer, in the late 1960s. At that time, a sample of blood was obtained, then frozen and stored. Follow-up was through December 31, 1990. We conducted a nested case-control study of 150 case patients and 150 matched control subjects. A random sample of 50 women per racial/ethnic group who had been diagnosed with breast cancer more than 6 months after the multiphasic examination (mean follow-up = 14.2 years) was selected, and each case patient was matched to a cancer-free control subject. RESULTS: Matched analyses found no differences in the case patients' and control subjects' serum levels of DDE (mean difference = 0.2 parts per billion [ppb]; 95% confidence interval [CI] = -6.7, 7.2) or PCBs (mean difference = -0.4 ppb; 95% CI = -0.8, 0.1). DDE levels, however, tended to be higher among black case patients compared with black controls (mean difference = 5.7 ppb; 95% CI = -3.3, 14.8), and PCBs were lower among white case patients compared with white controls (mean difference = -0.6 ppb; 95% CI = -1.2, -0.1). Organochlorine levels were significantly higher among black and Asian women compared with white women. The mean difference for DDE was 11.0 ppb for black women (95% CI = 4.3, 17.6) and 12.6 ppb for Asian women (95% CI = 6.0, 19.2); for PCBs, the respective differences were 0.8 ppb for black women (95% CI = 0.2, 1.4) and 1.4 ppb for Asian women (95% CI = 0.8, 1.9). The results were not altered by adjusting for relevant confounders, and the lack of association between exposure to organochlorines and breast cancer was present regardless of length of follow-up, year of diagnosis, or the case patient's menopausal and estrogen-receptor status. CONCLUSION: The data do not support the hypothesis that exposure to DDE and PCBs increases risk of breast cancer. IMPLICATIONS: Future investigations must consider the biologic mechanisms involved and variations in exposure to chemical pollutants and of breast cancer incidence rates among diverse groups of women.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Renal cell carcinoma and thiazide use: a historical, case-control study (California, USA).

Renal cell carcinoma has been linked to hypertension and antihypertensive medications. We investigated the association between renal cell carcinoma and the use of thiazide in a case-control study of 167 men and 90 women. Subjects were members of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in northern California (United States) who had taken a multiphasic health check-up from 1964 through 1988 and who were evaluated for cancer until the end of 1989. Control subjects received the same check-up, were matched by gender, year of check-up, and age at check-up, and had to be in the health plan until the date on which renal cell carcinoma was diagnosed. Data on known and potential risk factors, including hypertension, body mass index (BMI), and smoking status, were collected from the record of the check-up. Thiazide use was abstracted from the medical chart, which was reviewed from the date of the first entry until the date on which the cancer was diagnosed or the equivalent date for control subjects. The mean follow-back to check-up was 11.3 years. Among women, we found a significantly elevated risk of 4.0 (95 percent confidence interval [CI] 1.5-10.8) associated with ever having used thiazide after we adjusted for smoking, BMI, hypertension, and history of kidney infection at check-up. We did not find a statistically significantly elevated risk in men. Smoking was related to renal cell carcinoma in men (odds ratio [OR] 2.5, CI = 1.1-5.4) for those who smoked at least one pack per day compared with those who had never smoked, but was not related in women.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Body Mass Index↗

PubMed1994

Alcohol consumption, smoking, and other risk factors and prostate cancer in a large health plan cohort in California (United States).

Alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking have been suggested as possible causes of prostate cancer. We therefore examined this relation in a cohort of 43,432 men who were members of a prepaid health plan in northern California (United States) and who had received a health examination in the period from 1979 through 1985. Detailed information on demographic variables, alcohol consumption, smoking habits, medical complaints and conditions, occupation, and surgery (including vasectomy) was assessed. Symptoms of prostatism and a history of sexually transmitted diseases were abstracted from the medical records of all prostate cancer patients and of a matched subsample of randomly selected control-subjects. Alcohol consumption was associated with no elevated prostate cancer risk for the 238 men in our study in whom prostate cancer developed, but smoking one or more packs of cigarettes per day was associated with an adjusted relative risk (RR) of 1.9 (95 percent confidence interval [CI] = 1.2-3.1). Prostate cancer risk for Black men was 2.2 (CI = 1.6-3.1) when compared with that for White men, and education level was associated positively in an increasing trend (P < 0.020) up to an RR of 1.4 (CI = 0.9-2.1) among men with postgraduate education. Symptoms of prostate hypertrophy were not associated with elevated risk of prostate cancer if they occurred two or more years before the diagnosis. The finding that smoking increased the risk of prostate cancer confirms the observations of others but needs cautious interpretation because we were unable to adjust for the potential confounding effect of dietary and hormonal factors.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMed1994

Inter-observer variability among pathologists' evaluation of malignant melanoma: effects upon an analytic study.

This study examined whether inter-observer variability in rating tumor characteristics affected results of an investigation of surveillance bias and malignant melanoma at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The 20 cases from the Laboratory and their 36 non-Laboratory controls belonged to the same pre-paid health plan and were diagnosed with melanoma between 1970 and 1984. Tumors were independently and then jointly rated by three dermatopathologists blind to the subjects' Laboratory status. The mean difference between the reviewers and the consensus reading for tumor thickness was small, ranging from -0.06 mm (95% confidence interval [CI]--0.12, 0.00) to 0.00 mm (95% CI--0.07, 0.07). Agreement was much lower for histologic type (kappa = 0.48, 95% CI 0.37, 0.58). Because the inter-observer variability, the study's hypothesis was rejected by analyses based on data from the consensus reading and two reviewers, but not on data from the third reviewer. These findings suggest that epidemiologists using data subject to inter-observer variability may want to employ consensus instead of individual ratings.

Dermatology↗

PubMed1993

Concordance of self-reported data and medical record audit for six cancer screening procedures.

BACKGROUND: Self-reported data about the interval since last cancer screening are often used to determine whether individuals are due for periodic screening and to monitor adherence to guidelines for early cancer detection. PURPOSE: In a study conducted within the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, we examined the concordance of self-reported information and medical record documentation about recency of and reasons for six procedures for early cancer detection. We also assessed the concordance of population-level estimates of screening rates based on these two sources. METHODS: Data were obtained from a mailed questionnaire or telephone interview completed by 779 men and women. The data from these randomly selected study participants (431 women and 348 men), who had been members of the health plan for the previous 5 years, were compared with information obtained from their medical charts. Intersource agreement about whether each procedure was done within the last 2 years was evaluated, with the medical record used as the gold standard. To assess the accuracy of patient self-reporting, we also calculated sensitivity, false-positive and false-negative results, and Kappa statistics. RESULTS: Concordance between self-reported data and medical record documentation was greater for procedures that generated a test report (mammogram, Pap smear, fecal occult blood test, and sigmoidoscopy) than for those generating a physician's note (clinical breast examination and digital rectal examination). Kappa statistics showed a similar pattern. Sensitivity of self-reported data was more than 90% for mammogram, clinical breast examination, Pap smear, and fecal occult blood test and nearly 80% for sigmoidoscopy and digital rectal examination. However, false-positive results were above 40%, except for fecal occult blood test and sigmoidoscopy. For all six procedures, estimated population-level rates of screening within the past 2 years would have been significantly higher (P < .0001) if self-reported data were used instead of medical record audit data. CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported data may overestimate the percentage of the population that has been screened and underestimate the interval since the last cancer detection procedures. IMPLICATIONS: Such data should be used cautiously for clinical decision making, research, and surveillance activities at both individual and population levels. Also, comparability of data should be considered when population screening rates are evaluated on the basis of different data sources.

Adult↗