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Biomedical subjects

S Wall

Publications and source records attributed to S Wall.

176 records · Page 10Linked to original sources

A factor analytic study of effectiveness criteria in intercollegiate athletics.

The study was concerned with developing a set of effectiveness criteria for intercollegiate athletics and assessing the importance of these criteria as viewed by a sample of students in a Canadian University. The responses to 46 items selected from a larger pool of items were factor analyzed. An 11-factor solution was accepted as the most meaningful. Further analysis showed that the students were generally homogeneous in rating Satisfaction of Athletes, Spectator Appeal, Student Recruitment, and Sharing of Costs as the four most important criteria that should be used in evaluating the effectiveness of athletic teams. There were, however, differences among the sexes and among the physical education and general students. Since different criteria will be used by different decision makers reflecting the various objectives they hold for the program, it was stressed that further study be conducted with different sets of decision makers.

Female↗

Survival and mortality pattern among Swedish smelter workers.

The study analyses work history and mortality data for 3919 male workers first employed during 1928-66 at Rönnskärsverken, a copper smelter in north-east Sweden. 99% of the workers were traced from employment records and central population registers. By means of standarized mortality ratios and life-table analysis comparisons were made with both the general and local populations. For all causes excess mortality is 18% relative to the general population. This can be ascribed to tumours and circulatory diseases, for which excess figures are 39 and 32% respectively. For tumours, the excess mortality is mainly due to lung cancer for which the risk is trebled relative to the general population and 5-fold relative to local populations. For circulatory diseases, the excess figure is mainly accounted for by cerebrovascular disease with an elevated risk of 60-70%. The probable remaining life-time from 50 years is 2 years shorter than for Swedish men in the 60's. Internal comparisons were made to analyse the importance of latency, exposure, calendar time and place of work. A dose-response analysis clearly indicates that the roasters and arsenic departments are risk places for the development of cancer, especially lung cancer. A 50-year old worker who has been exposed to the roasters for more than 5 years, has a probable remaining life-time which is almost 3 years shorter than the average Rönnskär employee and almost 5 years shorter than the average Swedish male. Case-control studies aimed at exploring exposure associated with stomach cancer and cerebrovascular mortality are under way.

Adolescent↗

Ascariasis and malnutrition. A study in urban Ethiopian children.

Treatment of 13 urban Ethiopian children with mild ascariasis did not produce any evidence of improved intestinal morphology and absorption or nutritional status. Ascariasis treatment had no impact on anthropometric measures in an additional study group of 84 children. A review of the literature reveals that the nutritional consequences of ascariasis are uncertain.

Anthropometry↗

Quantity and variation in morbidity: THAID-analysis of the occurrence of gastroenteritis among Ethiopan children.

Morbidity figures from a one-year longitudinal child health study comprising 749 children in an urban area in Ethiopia are reported. Aggregated morbidity measures, based on frequency distributions according to morbidity level, demonstrate gastroenteritis among infants and young preschool children as a quantitatively important morbidity problem. Variation in the occurrence of gastroenteritis is studied among 390 children under 5 years by means of a multi-variate method, THAID-analysis, designed for a categorical or, as in this study, a categorized criterion variable. The results indicate that variables expressing nutrition, housing, hygiene and sanitation are dominating predictors of childhood diarrhoeal disease.

Age Factors↗

The incidence of diabetes mellitus in Swedish children 1970--1975.

We report a retrospective study of diabetic children, 0--14 years of age, from seven Swedish departments of paediatrics. There were 359 new cases in the years 1970--1975. Notification suggested that there was a mean yearly incidence of 19.6 cases per 100 000 with a year to year variation of 10.0--26.4 per 100 000. Consequently about 330 new cases of childhood diabetes would be expected in Sweden every year. Incidence varied considerably between different geographical areas. The age distribution was bimodal with a main peak at about 12 years and another peak at about 7 years. There was some evidence for clustering of new cases in January and the autumn. The mean prevalence of childhood diabetes in the seven districts was 1.3 per 1 000.

Adolescent↗

A model for the estimation of change in knowledge between two interview occasions with unreliable responses.

If a person gives the right answer to a question of yes/no type concerning a certain fact, the answer is correct either because the person knows the truth or because he/she happens to guess the right response alternative. Suppose that such a question is given to the same persons on two occasions, and that between these occasions, a campaign is undertaken, the aim of which is to raise the level of knowledge in the population. A model is introduced for this situation, making it possible to estimate the proportion (PB) of persons who know the answer before the campaign, the difference (D=PA-PB) in knowledge after (PA) vs. before the campaign, and the rate (g) of persons who guess the correct answer without having the actual knowledge. Asymptoic variances for the estimates are also given. The method is illustrated by means of data from a socio-medical survey in Addis Ababa, were the spread of knowledge concerning various vaccinations was investigated.

Health Surveys↗

Changing social-sexual patterns in gynecologic practice.

One hundred randomly selected patients from the outpatient Gynecology Unit of the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center were interviewed to determine current attitudes toward reproductive and sexual roles. Major areas of change apparent in the younger population were a substantial decrease in formal marriage, a reduction in the wish for children, a movement away from oral contraception back to mechanical barrier methods, and an attitudinal shift toward acceptance of a bisexual adaptation. It is important for the practicing physician to be responsive to the life-style pattern present in the new generation of women patients.

Adult↗

Breast feeding and the dietary habits of children in rural Somalia.

Breast feeding and dietary habits were studied prospectively in a cohort of children under the age of five years in a rural Somali community. The median duration of breast feeding was 19.5 months. However, all the children also received cow's milk by cup from the first day of life and onwards. Energy supplements (mainly sugar and oil) as well as additional water were given daily from early infancy. Staples, protein-rich foods (beans and meat), vegetables and fruits were usually introduced when the children reached the age of 12-18 months. There was a seasonal variation with the lowest intake of protein-rich and vitamin-rich foods during the rains in May to June. Thus, there was a complete absence of exclusive breast feeding. Energy-reinforced cow's milk and human milk dominated the diet up to the age of one year. Staples were mixed with oil and supplemented with milk, thereby leading to a much higher energy density in the complementary food than is usually the case in African communities.

Breast Feeding↗

Prevalence and incidence of syphilis and its association with HIV-1 infection in a population-based study in the Kagera region of Tanzania.

Population-based prevalence and incidence studies on HIV-1 infection were started in the Kagera region of Tanzania in 1987. The prevalence and incidence of infection with Treponema pallidum was studied to enable development of better strategies for STD control. Serological diagnosis of a past or treated infection with Troponema pallidum was made by seropositivity only to TPHA testing while active syphilis was diagnosed by seropositivity to both VDRL and TPHA tests. Seroconversion was measured in 1989 by finding TPHA serologically positive individuals during the follow-up period among the initially seronegative study population of 1987. The overall prevalence of active syphilis in the total sample of adults in the region was found to be 5.9% while that of past syphilis was 13.5%. The association between the prevalence of HIV-1 infection and syphilis of both types was found to be highly significant. However, the association between one pre-existing infection and seroconversion in the other was present but not statistically significant. The overall incidence of syphilis based on seroconversion in a cohort of adults in the region was found to be 11.6 per 1000 person-years at risk. In view of these findings, syphilis is a significant health problem in the region with a high level of transmission and efforts should be made to control it. Intervention studies should use these base-line data and monitor changes in syphilis incidence which may indicate changes in sexual behaviour. Such indicators could also be useful for evaluating the impact of interventions directed at reducing the transmission of HIV, syphilis and other STDs in the region.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Transformations in public health systems.

Public health systems are undergoing major changes. Historically, population-oriented services framed the responsibilities of the public health system. Yet over time, clinical services, particularly maternal and child health care, became an important component. More recently, many public health agencies have begun to refocus on traditional services, largely in response to Medicaid managed care and an associated decline in clients. This paper examines such transformations in thirteen states.

Financing, Government↗