SEARCH · PubMed Health
Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
The authors describe a software program called CeDAR, for Census Data Analysis and Retrieval System, which is "a microcomputer-based census information system that can be used to retrieve, display, manipulate and analyze published data from the 1980 U.S. Census and other geographic databases." General characteristics, sequence of operation, and availability of CeDAR are discussed.
We have designed and built a data-base system for the storage of nucleic-acid sequences. The system consists of a data base ("the library") and software that manages and provides access to that data base ("the Librarian").
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The typical, handwritten anesthesia record of the 1980s does not satisfy its many users. The document is used for clinical care by the anesthetist, nurses, physicians, and technicians in postanesthesia, intensive, and postoperative surgical care units; for historical information by the billing officer, the statistician, and the anesthetist in preparation for a future anesthetic; and for the review of the quality of care by clinical peers and lawyers. For all of these users the typical record contains some to much unnecessary information and lacks some to much needed information. Electronic capture, storage, retrieval, and formatting of data can generate electronic displays or paper records tailored to answer the needs of specific users. The anesthetist in particular will benefit from a well-designed system that takes the place of the traditional handwritten anesthesia record.
This report describes a technically feasible method to deal with the enormous volume of literature published regarding oral contraceptives. This subject was discussed in 3735 publications during the period from November 1977 through October 1980. Our findings showed that those papers reporting original, numeric relationships involving risk of cancer and use of oral contraceptives were one percent of the total 3735 publications. However, only seven of the 27 articles involved were authored by individuals from departments of obstetrics and gynecology. Further, only four of the 27 were published in journals devoted to obstetrics and gynecology. The analyses suggest a form of censorship taking place, in that the obstetrics/gynecology specialists do not have ready access to the primary data.
Oral pathology diagnostic services accumulate considerable clinicopathologic information on oral diseases/conditions. The authors describe an Oral Pathology Data-Management System (ORPAMS) designed for an oral tissue diagnostic program. Various features of data entry, manipulation, retrieval, and storage are outlined, and the research potential of the system is discussed.
Primary Health Care (PHC) in Crete is in a state of rapid development. The strategy for introducing PHC involves an orientation towards the population and the creation of possibilities for evaluation. A case records system, "Egino", was installed in the University of Heraklion and at the Health Centre in Spili in 1988, and was further developed according to local needs during 1989, when also a Greek version of the statistical system, "DoIt", was installed. The main reasons for establishing a computerized medical information system were (i) to assess the health needs in Crete, (ii) to monitor activities of the primary health care organizations, and (iii) to introduce epidemiological research into primary health care in Greece. The information system was based on specially assigned patient numbers containing several pieces of information about the individual; the system was developed at the Dalby Health Sciences Centre in Sweden. Each month, data were extracted in Spili Health Centre, and these data were regularly used to present incidence and prevalence indices. Some of the data extracted were reported to the health authorities in Greece. "EginO" and "DoIt" gave possibilities to evaluate health services by following the morbidity, while also making it possible to describe and analyse health needs in the population of Spili and other primary health care catchment areas in Greece.
Computed radiography (CR) plates are currently used in radiation therapy clinics to acquire digital radiographic images for the purpose of verifying the treatment field size, shape, and location. Each CR plate may be used numerous times, and the use of these digital images allows for easy storage and retrieval of patient data. Over prolonged repeat exposures of the CR plates, however, the image quality begins to degrade, making it increasingly more difficult for the therapists and physicians to determine where one anatomical structure begins, and the other ends. The purpose of this project was to analyze and compare the linearity and uniformity responses of new CR plates, versus CR plates that have been used clinically for a period of 2 years, and determine whether linearity or uniformity response may be used as an indicator of image quality degradation. To determine this, 44 old Agfa MD10 CR plates and 56 new Agfa MD10 CR plates were tested. When comparing the results of the uniformity test, we found both the old and the new plates varied from approximately 0.5% to 3.2%. When comparing the results of the linearity test, we found that the correlation coefficient, R(2), for both the old and the new plates varied from approximately 0.996 to 0.998, with the mean values being 0.9972 and 0.9979, respectively. We concluded that linearity and uniformity response cannot be used as an effective method for the evaluation of CR plate performance. Additional research is currently underway to evaluate various other methods of assessing CR plate performance.
OBJECTIVE: To compare the findings of the case-control and cohort studies used to indict the Dalkon Shield (A.H. Robins Company, Inc., Richmond, VA) with the findings of the Dalkon Shield clinical trials. DATA IDENTIFICATION: All published reports on the Dalkon Shield were identified through MEDLARS system (United States National Library of Medicine) searches and by cross checking all references in these reports. The same approach was used to identify all case-control and cohort studies of the purported relationship between intrauterine devices (IUDs) and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). STUDY SELECTION: Only studies of interval patients that included 50 or more women and 6 or more months of follow up that computed standard IUD event rates (rates of pregnancy and expulsion and removal for pain and bleeding) were selected for this study. All case-control and cohort studies identified were included except two case-control studies that included women with sterile chronic salpingitis. RESULTS: The 16 case-control and 2 cohort studies found or suggested that the Dalkon Shield increased the risk of PID. The 71 clinical trials of the Dalkon Shield show that when this device is inserted by an experienced clinician it is a safe and effective contraceptive method, comparable with other IUDs used at the time. There was no evidence of an increased risk of PID found in these clinical trials. CONCLUSIONS: This study offers convincing evidence that the indictment of the Dalkon Shield was a mistake. Additionally, this study shows that physician skill and experience is far more important to successful IUD insertion than previously recognized, a finding with considerable implications for IUD study designs and for marketing strategies.
Atrioventricular nodal (A-H) and infranodal (H-Q) conduction times were determined in 22 patients undergoing intracardiac electrophysiologic studies. These measurements were determined independently both on line from a digital oscilloscope and from paper recordings at a rate of 100 mm/sec. There was no significant difference and excellent correlation between mean A-H (91.39 +/- 29 versus 95.44 +/- 32 msec) and H-Q (53.48 +/- 14 versus 50.52 +/- 15 msec) intervals determined by these two methods. The digital oscilloscope enables virtually instantaneous highly accurate (+/- 1 msec) timing of intracardiac events and rapid and more efficient processing of data. Potential applications during electrophysiologic studies include precise monitoring of drug effects on atrioventricular conduction and refractoriness, on line analyses of complex rhythm disturbances, and ready storage of data for computer retrieval and analyses.
Long-term electroencephalographic (EEG) monitoring is the process of recording an EEG for a prolonged period in order to document epileptic seizures or other episodic disturbances of neurologic function. Indications for long-term EEG monitoring include diagnosis of a seizure disorder (epilepsy), classification of seizure types in patients with epilepsy, and localization of the epileptogenic region of the brain. Methods used for long-term EEG monitoring include prolonged analog or digital EEG, prolonged analog or digital ambulatory EEG, and prolonged analog or digital video-EEG monitoring with telemetry. Each of these methods has distinct advantages and disadvantages, particularly relative to storage, retrieval, and manipulation of data. Long-term EEG monitoring is useful in the management of patients with epilepsy and in the diagnosis of a seizure disorder. For most patients, inpatient long-term EEG monitoring is best performed in a specialized epilepsy-monitoring unit, which can provide a safe environment and both educational and psychosocial support. The choice of the most appropriate method of long-term monitoring for a specific clinical situation is best made by an epileptologist or a neurologist at an epilepsy center.
Electron tomography is providing a wealth of 3D structural data on biological components ranging from molecules to cells. We are developing a web-accessible database tailored to high-resolution cellular level structural and protein localization data derived from electron tomography. The Cell Centered Database or CCDB is built on an object-relational framework using Oracle 8i and is housed on a server at the San Diego Supercomputer Center at the University of California, San Diego. Data can be deposited and accessed via a web interface. Each volume reconstruction is stored with a full set of descriptors along with tilt images and any derived products such as segmented objects and animations. Tomographic data are supplemented by high-resolution light microscopic data in order to provide correlated data on higher-order cellular and tissue structure. Every object segmented from a reconstruction is included as a distinct entity in the database along with measurements such as volume, surface area, diameter, and length and amount of protein labeling, allowing the querying of image-specific attributes. Data sets obtained in response to a CCDB query are retrieved via the Storage Resource Broker, a data management system for transparent access to local and distributed data collections. The CCDB is designed to provide a resource for structural biologists and to make tomographic data sets available to the scientific community at large.
Experience around the world shows that health agencies can promote community-based surveillance for equity to focus low-cost interventions on priority needs. Social inequities which have seemed intractable can be resolved if care responds directly to demonstrated need. The concept of promoting equity as a basic principle of primary health care has an interesting psychological twist. The ethical imperative of equity can strengthen services when linked with the practical management tool of surveillance. Moral conviction in applying this social justice norm can facilitate action which is made efficient by the realism of statistically based methods of surveillance. If international agencies condition their aid on surveillance for equity their assistance will more likely go to those in greatest need. This is a more efficient and effective way of tracking their money than the previous tendency to set up vertical programmes which generally have poor sustainability. Surveillance helps mobilize political will and community participation by providing practical data for local, district and national decision-makers. The many field demonstrations of successful surveillance for equity tend to have been brushed off by development experts who say they are difficult to replicate nationally. The Model County Project in China shows how a systematic extension process can test procedures in experimental areas and adapt them for general implementation. Surveillance can help bureaucracies maintain capacity for flexible and prompt response as decentralization promotes decision-making by local units which are held responsible for meeting equity targets. Surveillance for equity provides a mechanism to ensure such accountability.
The main features of research into HIV and AIDS between 1981 and 1990 were examined using a database of medical, nursing and dental journals [compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) version of the Medline database (Silver Platter Information Services, London, UK)]. More than 30,000 papers on HIV and AIDS were indexed by Medline between 1981 and 1990. Of these, only 3% were concerned with African populations although a quarter of AIDS cases worldwide were reported from African countries during the decade. The number of papers on HIV/AIDS increased from 24 in 1982 to an estimated 8300 in 1990. Between 1983 and 1988 the number of indexed papers on HIV/AIDS increased at around 50-60% per year; between 1988 and 1989, however, the rate of growth fell to 6%. The percentage of papers discussing the aetiology of AIDS fell from 25 to 3% between 1983 and 1990. During the same period, papers concerned with HIV increased from 2 to 37% of the HIV/AIDS total. Research into drug therapy also accounted for an increasing proportion of indexed papers during the decade. The percentage of papers dealing with prevention and control rose to 18% in 1988, but had declined to 12% by 1990. Priorities for the 1990s should include a renewed interest in aetiology and a sustained emphasis on prevention. Furthermore, countries that have so far been neglected should be granted priority in future research.
The progress in information and communication technology, together with the search for the most effective and efficient ways to use the limited resources for health care, are opening new areas for research and development in perinatal care. Information systems and practice oriented by evidence-based medicine are modifying the operation of health services, and the quality of their management is being monitored by the success of their outcomes. As a study case, a Perinatal Information System widely used in Latin America and the Caribbean is discussed in some detail. Future challenges in the compatibility of information systems and databanks, the need for longer follow-up periods and measurement of health-related quality of life as outcomes for perinatal care, and the strategies to integrate all these concepts for the improvement of daily practice are discussed.
In Wollo region of Ethiopia, various non-governmental officers have been working closely with each other and with the Regional Health Department to implement the policy of daily integrated mother and child health services. The record cards, registers, procedures and training courses of the separate 'vertically' organized services were brought together to enable the development of a model integrated service. There were improvements in accessibility, acceptability and output of the services. The system was evaluated by a joint Ministry of Health and UNICEF team, and was adopted for use in the rest of Ethiopia.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.