PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S T Sacks

Publications and source records attributed to S T Sacks.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1987

Burns in the elderly.

The records of 327 burn patients over age 65 show that flame burns were the most common causative agent and that more than 70 percent of all burns occurred in the home. Despite improved treatment, mortality from burns remains unacceptably high among the elderly. Future efforts must be directed toward the prevention of these injuries, especially those sustained in the home.

Accidents, Home↗
PubMed1986

Fine-needle aspiration biopsy. Perceptions of physicians at an academic medical center.

In an earlier survey, we asked private practitioners in San Francisco about their perceptions of fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB). In the present study we sent the same survey to clinicians in our hospital, a tertiary medical center. Although the response rate to this survey was lower, it appears that FNAB is used more often in our hospital than it is among private practitioners for the evaluation of palpable masses (53% vs 24%), and that it is most often performed by pathologists. Seventy percent of the FNAB at this institution were performed by pathologists; a small percentage (7%) of cases (nonpalpable) were performed by a radiologist for the evaluation of intra-thoracic and intra-abdominal lesions. Fifty-nine percent of private practitioners performed the FNAB themselves, and the remainder (39%) were referred to pathologists, radiologists, and surgeons. That there are differences in perceptions concerning the use of FNAB in a variety of specific clinical settings was also illustrated by this survey.

Academic Medical Centers↗
PubMed1985

Report from the California Burn Registry--the causes of major burns.

In its first four years of operation, the California Burn Registry recorded 3,332 cases of burns, of which 73.1% were in male and 26.9% were in female patients of all ages. The average total body surface area burned was 15.4+/-0.3%. Flame burns were the most common (31.4%). Other common sources included scalds (24.5%) and flammable liquids (12.9%). Several other causes were cited with less frequency. Burns taking place at home occurred more commonly than at all other locations combined. In all, 221 deaths (6.6%) were reported, most (66.1%) of which were due to flame burns.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Ecologic regression analysis and the study of the influence of air quality on mortality.

This presentation focuses entirely on the use and evaluation of regression analysis applied to ecologic data as a method to study the effects of ambient air pollution on mortality rates. Using extensive national data on mortality, air quality and socio-economic status regression analyses are used to study the influence of air quality on mortality. The analytic methods and data are selected in such a way that direct comparisons can be made with other ecologic regression studies of mortality and air quality. Analyses are performed by use of two types of geographic areas, age-specific mortality of both males and females and three pollutants (total suspended particulates, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide). The overall results indicate no persuasive evidence exists of a link between air quality and general mortality levels. Additionally, a lack of consistency between the present results and previous published work is noted. Overall, it is concluded that linear regression analysis applied to nationally collected ecologic data cannot be used to usefully infer a causal relationship between air quality and mortality which is in direct contradiction to other major published studies.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed1983

Introduction to biostatistics. An annotated bibliography for medical researchers.

Biostatistical methods have become thoroughly integrated into modern biomedical and clinical research. Nevertheless, every observer who has evaluated articles in medical journals has noted that as many as half the reported results were based on questionable statistical analysis. This situation, combined with the fact that most errors involve relatively simple statistical procedures, points to the need for researchers and practitioners to be able to personally judge the quality of the statistical analyses in what they read. Fortunately, there are several excellent papers and texts available for those interested.

Bibliographies as Topic↗
PubMed1982

An alternative to ecologic regression analysis of mortality rates.

A number of recent papers have used geographically defined data and linear models to study the relationship between a series of epidemiologic factors and the frequency of disease. This "ecologic regression" approach involves serious problems of interpretation. An alternate approach is discussed that does not depend on statistical models, produces easily interpreted results and yields statistical summaries that approximately parallel regression analysis. This alternative procedure is illustrated by using acute lymphocytic leukemia mortality data on a county level from among white females less than five years of age between 1969-1977.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1982

Major histologic types of cancers of the gum and mouth, esophagus, larynx, and lung by sex and by income level.

Incidence rates by income level were computed for squamous cell carcinomas of the gum and mouth, larynx, and esophagus and for squamous cell carcinoma, small cell carcinoma, and adenocarcinoma of the lung in white males and females aged 35--64 years, with the use of data for the nine geographic areas of the Third National Cancer Survey and the 1970 U.S. census. Within sex, age, and geographic area groups, patterns of cancer incidence by income level were analyzed by use of a nonparametric statistical method. Higher rates for males than for females were found for every histologic type studied, and the ratio of male-to-female rates increased with age (especially for squamous cell carcinomas of the larynx and lung). A strong inverse relation to income level was found for all of the histologic types studied in males and for squamous cell carcinomas of the gum and mouth and esophagus and small cell carcinoma of the lung in females. These findings are discussed with reference to patterns of smoking and alcohol use by sex and social class.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Epithelial dysplasia in nipple aspirates of breast fluid: association with family history and other breast cancer risk factors.

Because of the strong association of epithelial dysplasia and breast cancer, the extent to which dysplasia of breast fluid epithelial cells obtained by nipple aspiration is associated with breast cancer risk factors was investigated. A significantly higher proportion of women who had a first-degree family history of breast cancer had dysplastic cells in breast fluid than women who had no such history. When family history status was correlated with various breast cancer risk factors, higher proportions of women with dysplasia were found among those who had a first degree family history of breast cancer and for whom certain other risk factors were present, which suggested additive and synergistic effects of these factors on breast epithelium. Breast epithelia of women with a first-degree family history of breast cancer may be more prone to abnormal differentiation in response to environmentally conditioned risk factors.

Body Fluids↗
PubMed1982

Effects of caffeine-free diet on benign breast disease: a randomized trial.

There is considerable interest in the potential effect on benign disease of a diet free of methylxanthines (caffeine, theophylline, and theobromine) found in coffee, tea, colas, and chocolate. We randomly assigned 158 women who presented with a breast concern either to a group encouraged to abstain from methylxanthine-containing foods and beverages or to a group who received no dietary recommendations (controls). At the initial visit each patient's sociomedical history and data on methylxanthine consumption were obtained by interview, and clinically palpable breast findings were graded on a scale of 0 to 4 (no nodularity to confluent hard "dysplasia") for each quadrant of both breasts. On the follow-up visit approximately 4 months later similar information was obtained. Mammograms were taken at both visits for a subset of women in each group. We found a statistically significant reduction in clinically palpable breast findings in the abstaining group as compared with controls, but the absolute change was minor and may be of little clinical significance. Comparison of before-after mammograms offered little support for the methylxanthine hypothesis. There was no relation between clinically palpable breast finding scores at initial examination and caffeine consumption levels reported at that time.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Epidemiology of breast fluid secretion: association with breast cancer risk factors and cerumen type.

The epidemiology of breast fluid secretion was studied on the basis of nipple aspirates of breast fluid obtained from 3,929 nonlactating women of various racial groups. The results confirmed and extended earlier findings by our group: Variation in the proportion of secretors was related to most breast cancer risk factors, including age, race, age at menarche, age at first pregnancy, age at menopause, clinically diagnosed fibrocystic disease, menopausal estrogen use, and cerumen phenotype. Secretory activity as measured by nipple aspiration appeared to reflect hormonal and genetic effects on breast epithelium.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Mammographic parenchymal patterns and risk factors for breast cancer.

A classification scheme to mammographically identify women at high risk for breast cancer proposes four patterns of breast duct prominence: N1 (normal), P1, P2, and DY (dysplasia). The authors investigated the claims of several studies that women who later get breast cancer are more likely than controls to be in the P2 and DY categories, and attempted to determine whether parenchymal patterns are related to known epidemiological risk factors. Mammograms of the noncancerous breast of 102 women with cancer were matched according to age and race with those of 204 controls; the two sets were intermixed and classified by parenchymal type. Patients and controls were similarly distributed by parenchymal type, the majority being P2 and DY. Nulliparous women and women with a family history of breast cancer were those most likely to fall into the P2 and DY categories. The risk estimates associated with these categories vary considerably across studies, and breast parenchymal patterns may be related to other known risk factors.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Cancer incidence by marital status: U.S. Third National Cancer Survey.

Site-specific cancer incidence rates were computed by sex, age, and marital status for whites and blacks separately for ages 35-64 years with the use of population-based incidence data from the Third National Cancer Survey (1969-71) and with demographic data from the 1970 U.S. Census. Although rates were presented for all cancer sites combined and for 44 specific sites or rubrics, discussion focused on the 17 most common cancers. Within age, race, and sex groups, patterns of cancer incidence by marital status were compared by means of standardized incidence ratios, and the consistency of marital status patterns across age groups was assessed statistically. Among the most notable findings were: excess cancer rates across most sites and age groups in single black males, consistently high rates for cancer of the lung and bronchus in divorced white males and in single black females, low rates for the hormone-dependent reproductive tumors (prostate gland, breast, uterine corpus, and ovary) in separated white males and females, and high rates for cervical cancer among separated white women. Marital status patterns, where found, frequently differed between whites and blacks and between males and females.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Prostatic cancer: mortality and incidence rates by race and social class.

Among the most striking epidemiologic characteristics of prostatic cancer in the United States is the sizeable excess in rates for the disease among blacks as compared with whites. This study attempted to determine whether the higher black rates might be explained by controlling for social class, using mortality data from Alameda County for the pericensal period 1968--1972 (n = 400), and the population-based series of cases for Alameda County included in the Third National Cancer Survey, 1969--1971 (n = 750). Reviewed first are previous studies addressed to the relationship of prostatic cancer and socioeconomic status (SES), most of which have been confined to whites. In the present study, each death or case was assigned to a socioeconomic class based on census tract of residence and rates by race and social class determined. Comparison of age-specific mortality and incidence rates by SES reveals no gradient for prostatic cancer in either whites or blacks.

Black or African American↗
PubMed1977

Correlations of incidence rates for selected cancers in the nine areas of the Third National Cancer Survey.

Incidence date from the Third National Cancer Survey were used to study geographic variation in the occurrence of nine common cancers of nonsexual sites and five sexual sites. It was hypothesized that cancers which varied together across the nine survey communities might have common etiologic factors. The variation was measured by a series of rank and product-moment correlation coefficients in order to summarize the association between pairs of cancers in white males and in white females. The most notable findings were the high correlations between the incidence rates for the three gastrointestinal sites (stomach, colon, and rectum) and bladder cancer in both men and women and the high correlation between three female sexual sites (breast, corpus, and ovary). These two clusters are also correlated with one another. A number of other substantial correlations between pairs of cancers were observed and discussed. These associations suggest possible common etiologic agents, despite the fact that the individual secular trends for some of these cancers differ.

Breast Neoplasms↗