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Biomedical subjects

R Catalano

Publications and source records attributed to R Catalano.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Time series designs of potential interest to epidemiologists.

Recent developments in time-series designs that may be useful in epidemiology are described. The hypothesis that increased employment affects the rate of accidental injuries per worker month among manufacturing workers is tested to demonstrate the methods. Results suggest that increased employment increased the monthly rate of accidental injuries in San Diego and Los Angeles Counties in the 11-year period 1974 through 1984.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed1986

Megestrol acetate v tamoxifen in advanced breast cancer: correlation of hormone receptors and response.

This report describes the preliminary results from a randomized study comparing megestrol acetate with tamoxifen in the treatment of postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer, correlating estrogen receptors (ER) and progesterone receptor (PgR) status with response. Patients received megestrol acetate (40 mg) orally four times daily or tamoxifen (10 mg) orally twice daily. If the initial therapy failed, patients were crossed over to the alternate treatment. Of 197 patients entered in the study, 190 were considered evaluable. The overall response rates were 35% with megestrol acetate and 42% with tamoxifen. Twenty-three percent (7/30) of patients responded to megestrol acetate after being crossed over from tamoxifen, while 22% (6/27) responded to tamoxifen after being crossed over from megestrol acetate. Response did not correlate significantly with combined receptor (ie, ER plus PgR) levels. A significant trend was seen between ER level and response only in the tamoxifen group. There was no association between PgR levels and response for either tamoxifen or megestrol acetate.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMed1985

Metastatic breast cancer: preliminary results with oral hormonal therapy.

Hormonal therapy is very effective in the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer. Response to various therapies leads to improved quality of life and prolonged survival. This clinical trial compared two commonly utilized additive hormonal agents, tamoxifen citrate and megestrol acetate (Megace). Preliminary data indicate equal efficacy and equal toxicity of these two hormones and suggests that both are suitable for first-line hormonal treatment of stage IV breast cancer.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1984

A pilot study of combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy for esophageal carcinoma.

Between 9/80 and 9/83, 20 patients with esophageal carcinoma were treated with combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy (5-FU and mitomycin). Thirteen patients with Stages I or II disease received definitive treatment consisting of 6000 rad in 6-7 weeks and 5-FU (1000 mg/m2/24 hours) as a continuous I.V. infusion for 96 hours starting on days 2 and 28. Mitomycin (10 mg/m2) was administered as a bolus injection on day 2. Palliative treatment (5000 rad plus above chemotherapy) was delivered to six patients with Stage III disease (two with extra-esophageal spread, four with distant metastases) and to one patient with an anastomotic recurrence following resection. Two of 13 definitively treated patients were not evaluable due to early death from intercurrent disease. Ten of 11 evaluable patients treated definitively are alive from 4-32 months; the median survival has not been reached at 17 months. Four of 11 evaluable patients treated definitively have relapsed, with only one relapsing within the irradiated field. Among the palliative and definitively treated patients, relief of dysphagia was seen in 16/17, and continued until the time of last follow-up or until death in 13/17. The treatment was well tolerated and no significant hematologic problems were incurred. This combination of radiation therapy with infusional 5-FU and mitomycin appears to be an effective and well-tolerated regimen in the treatment of esophageal carcinoma and is worthy of further study.

Aged↗
PubMed1983

Central venous access in oncology patients: the "peel-away" sheath for rapid insertion.

A safe, fluoroscopically controlled method of rapid silastic catheter introduction in oncology patients provides long-term access to a high blood flow area near the right atrium. A "peel-away" disposable sheath and introducer have been adapted for the rapid introduction of the catheter. Benefits of the use of this technique are that (1) it can be easily adapted from the widely known technique of central venous line placement, (2) catheter position is easily confirmed by fluoroscopy, and (3) the procedure can be performed under local anesthesia, minimizing anesthetic risks and expense.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMed1981

Economic antecedents of child abuse and neglect.

Previous cross-sectional studies of economic influences on child maltreatment reveal that higher rates of child abuse are associated with undesirable economic conditions. The cross-sectional approach, however, is inherently unable to reveal causal direction and leaves open the possibility that the relationship between the economy and child maltreatment is due to some third variable. The present study employs an aggregate longitudinal approach to test the hypothesis that undesirable economic change leads to increased child maltreatment. Cross-correlational analyses of data over a 30-month period reveal that increases in child abuse are preceded by periods of high job loss. This finding is replicated in 2 distinct metropolitan communities under very conservative criteria which rule out most "third-variable" explanations. The loss of jobs in a community may endanger the well-being of children.

California↗
PubMed1979

Economic, life, and disorder changes: time-series analyses.

Implicit in recent social science research and political discussions is a model linking the economy to mental disorder through the intervening constructs of life change and trauma. Using time-series analysis of a 16-month survey in Kansas City, Missouri (n = 1,140), economic and noneconomic life events and the Midtown scale were predicted using a variety of economic measures for the standard metropoliton statistical area. Both life event variables and the symptom measure were related positively to unemployment, and absolute economic change measures lagged 1 and 2 months. However, the life event variables were not strongly associated with the Midtown scale. Most striking of the subgroup findings was that, on the Midtown scale, the low-income group was more responsive than the middle-income group to economic fluctuations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Health costs of economic expansion: the case of manufacturing accident injuries.

The hypothesized relationship between economic expansion and accident injuries is tested using archival economic and accident data from the Los Angeles-Long Beach, California metropolitan area. The association is measured using cross-correlation techniques after variation shared with a comparison metropolitan area (Anaheim-Santa Ana-Garden Grove) is removed. Two tests of association are conducted. The first uses the raw accident rate of the comparison metropolitan area as a control variable while the second adjusts the control variable to reflect shared industrial sectors. Findings suggest that the incidence of disabling accidents increases in the month before and during the month that the manufacturing work force expands. The impact appears strongest during the month that new workers are added.

Accident Prevention↗
PubMed1977

Money and mental disorder: toward behavioral cost accounting for primary prevention.

This paper reviews recent retrospective sociological research suggesting that rises as well as falls in the economy are associated with such indicators of mental disorder as suicide and mental hospitalization. The review emphasizes that a lag exists between economic change and the changes in associated mental indicators. It is suggested that these findings hold promise both for early warning for practitioners and for primary prevention. Also described is a survey in four centers of 93 community mental health workers, indicating that such workers are receptive to the use of such economic indicators but not well-informed about them. Suggestions are made for prospective research to relate economic change to mental disorder through such intervening constructs as life change and stress. Such research, it is hoped, would expand the capacities of community psychologists to account for the behavioral costs of economic policy alternatives.

Adaptation, Psychological↗