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Biomedical subjects

R B Shekelle

Publications and source records attributed to R B Shekelle.

98 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Personality and risk of cancer: 20-year follow-up of the Western Electric Study.

Psychologic depression as measured by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) in a cohort of 2018 middle-aged men employed at the Western Electric Company in 1957-1958 was positively associated with 20-year incidence and mortality from cancer. The association with incidence was apparent only during the first 10 years of follow-up, but the association with mortality was observed for the full 20 years of follow-up. The association persisted after adjustment for age, number of cigarettes smoked, alcohol intake, occupational status, family history of cancer, body mass index, and serum cholesterol. The association did not appear to be stronger for one type of cancer than another, but the power of this study to detect differences among types of cancer was limited by small numbers. However, the association did appear to be stronger with risk of fatal cancer than with total incidence. No association was noted between other variables measured by the MMPI or Cattell 16 Personality Factor Inventory and subsequent incidence or mortality from cancer. Specifically, the data did not support the hypothesis that psychologic repression, as measured by Welsh R scale in the MMPI, would be associated with risk of cancer. These results are consistent with previously reported results that have suggested that psychologic depression might promote the development and spread of malignant neoplasms.

Depression↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Neuroticism and cynicism and risk of death in middle-aged men: the Western Electric Study.

MMPI measures of neuroticism (N) and of cynicism (C) were obtained at the initial examination of 1871 employed, middle-aged men in Chicago. Neither N nor C was significantly associated cross-sectionally with systolic blood pressure or serum cholesterol, but both were positively associated with cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption. N was not significantly associated with risk of death from coronary disease, other cardiovascular diseases, cancer, all other causes combined, or all causes combined after adjustment for C, age, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, systolic blood pressure, and serum cholesterol. C was significantly associated with coronary death and total mortality after adjustment for N and the other variables listed above, and relative risks of 1.4 to 1.6 were observed for all endpoints. These results support the idea that neuroticism is not associated with major causes of mortality, but that cynicism is associated with several causes. The associations between cynicism and mortality may be mediated by cigarette smoking and excessive alcohol consumption since adjustment for these factors may have been incomplete due to correlation between cynicism and errors in self-reported data.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Personality and coronary heart disease.

Three MMPI variables--HsK + Hy, neuroticism, and somatic complaints--were positively associated with incidence of uncomplicated angina pectoris and not significantly associated with incidence of myocardial infarction and coronary death in a 10-year cohort study of 2003 employed middle-aged men. All three were negatively associated with risk of coronary death after the diagnosis of uncomplicated angina had been established. These results support the hypothesis that tendencies to report somatic complaints or to experience negative, distressing emotions chronically are not related to incidence of coronary heart disease but are associated with incidence of a relative benign, nonatherosclerotic condition that is similar clinically to angina pectoris. Also, HsK + Hy and somatic complaints were positively associated with risk of coronary death in men who had survived an initial myocardial infarction. This result does not indicate an association with coronary hearth disease itself because all of these men already had coronary heart disease. This result may indicate that the tendency to report somatic complaints is related to increased susceptibility to acute emotional stressors that can trigger arrhythmias in an ischemic myocardium.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The population attributable risk of hypertension from heavy alcohol consumption.

The association between alcohol consumption and hypertension was studied in 11,899 men aged 40-55 years. The prevalence of hypertension among heavy drinkers was significantly higher than among those who did not drink heavily. Heavy drinking was defined as consumption of five or more drinks daily or four or more drinks daily. A total of 136 persons fulfilled the five drinks or more per day definition and 230, the four drinks daily definition. The population-attributable risk of hypertension contributed by heavy drinking, depending on the diagnostic criteria used to define each endpoint, varied from 3 to 12 percent. There is reason to suspect that the contribution of alcohol to hypertension in the general population may be somewhat higher at the present time than in the late 1950s when the study was conducted. Moderation of alcohol consumption, in addition to weight reduction and salt restriction, is another important nonpharmacological means to control hypertension.

Adult↗