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PubMed2003

Case-control study of physical activity and breast cancer risk among premenopausal women in Germany.

Important aspects of the recognized inverse relation between physical activity and breast cancer risk are still under discussion. Data on physical activity from sports, occupational activity, household tasks, walking, and cycling by reported frequency, duration, and intensity during adolescence and young adulthood were collected in 1999-2000 from 360 premenopausal breast cancer cases and 886 controls who had previously participated in a German population-based case-control study. In multivariate conditional logistic regression, no association between total physical activity and premenopausal breast cancer was found in two age periods. For women who were active during both periods, the adjusted odds ratio was 0.83 (95% confidence interval: 0.60, 1.14). When both age periods were combined, higher quartiles of total physical activity compared with the lowest quartile showed adjusted odds ratios of 0.97, 0.68, and 0.94. Only the effect of moderately high physical activity was statistically significant. Analyses by type of activity revealed significant protective effects for women who reported the highest levels of cycling activities (adjusted odds ratio = 0.66, 95% confidence interval: 0.45, 0.97). These data do not suggest an inverse monotonic association between total physical activity and breast cancer risk in premenopausal women. The study prevalence of cycling and walking for transportation demonstrated that national habits need consideration in the exposure assessment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

A comparative evaluation of quality of life and life satisfaction in patients with psoriatic and rheumatoid arthritis.

Both rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) have a negative impact on patients' quality of life (QOL). The aim of this study was to compare QOL and life satisfaction in patients with RA and PsA. Forty patients with PsA, 40 patients with RA, and 40 healthy control subjects were included in the study. Demographic data and clinical characteristics including age, sex, disease duration, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), peripheral pain assessed by visual analog scale (VAS) and Larsen scores of hand X-rays were recorded. Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) was used to evaluate QOL, and Life satisfaction index (LSI) was used to measure psychological well-being in both groups. The demographic data of the subjects were similar between the groups. The scores of all NHP subscales were significantly higher and the scores of LSI were significantly lower in PsA and RA patients than in control subjects. The inflammation markers including ESR, CRP, pain by VAS and Larsen scores were found to be significantly higher in RA patients. The scores of LSI were similar between the groups. Although the scores of physical domains of NHP (pain and physical disability) were statistically higher in RA patients (p<0.05), the scores of psychosocial subgroups of NHP were similar between RA and PsA patients (p>0.05). Both PsA and RA patients had disturbed QOL and decreased life satisfaction. In conclusion, peripheral joint damage, inflammation, and physical disability are significantly greater in RA but psychosocial reflection of QOL and life satisfaction are the same for both groups which can be explained by the additional impact of skin disease in patients with PsA.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

The relation between low facial expressivity during emotional arousal and somatic symptoms.

Differential emotions theory has suggested that suppressed emotion, and specifically suppressed facial signs of emotion, might be aetiologically associated with illness, and moreover, that suppression of different classes of emotion might be related to differential symptom formation. This study examined the relationship between degree of facial emotional expressivity under conditions of emotional arousal and the presence and extent of various self-reported physical symptoms. Twenty-three adult women underwent emotion induction procedures and were videotaped while they described their emotional reactions. Judges viewed the videotapes of subjects' facial behaviour and rated the degree of expressivity during the sadness, fear, and anger inductions. Correlational statistics indicated that physical symptoms were almost exclusively negatively correlated with emotion expression. There was also some evidence of an emotion-specific/symptom-specific configuration. Although causal inferences about emotion-symptom linkages are unwarranted at this time, the study provides some support for theoretical formulations about the relationship between physical symptoms and emotion and suggests a methodology with which to pursue this line of research.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

[Self-rated health status of pregnant and postpartum women].

OBJECTIVE: To To understand the self-rated health of pregnant and postpartum women. METHODS: Using Self-rated Health Measurement Scale Version 1.0 (SRHMS V1.0), health status of 50 reproductive-age nonpregnant women and 55 pregnant women on days 7 and 42 after delivery was assessed. RESULTS: There was statistic significance in daily physical activities, physical mobility and total score of physical health subscale between pregnant women and reproductive-age nonpregnant women (P<0.01). Statistical significance was also found in daily physical activities, physical mobility and total score of physical health subscale as well as total score of the SRHMS V1.0 between women before and 7 days after delivery (P<0.01). The scores of physical mobility, total score of physical health subscale and total score of SRHMS V1.0 showed significant difference between women before and 42 days after delivery (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Although the physical health status of pregnant women is generally poorer than that of the reproductive-age nonpregnant women, their self-rated health show no significant differences. The self-rated health status of women 7 days after delivery is worse than that before delivery, while such status on days 42 after delivery is obviously better than that before delivery. SRHMS V1.0 provides an effective means for health evaluation of perinatal and postpartum women.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Two-dimensional probabilistic images discrimination. I. Simultaneously presented pairs of patterns.

Reaction time and judgment of similarity or dissimilarity were studied in an experiment on two-dimensional probabilistic images (TDPIs) composed of rectangular black and white cells with statistical distribution of these elements 0.5-0.5. The subjects were asked to report verbally whether pairs of TDPIs, presented for 700 ms, appeared to them similar or not. Three sets of TDPIs differed as to the size of their "grain". Within the pairs "physically identical patterns", "statistically same patterns" or "different patterns" have been used. The statistically same patterns pairs reached the lowest (39 percent) judgment correctness. Reaction times for these pairs were generally longer than for others. In the case of identical patterns and statistically same patterns pairs the results indicated a general increase of the processing time as the size of grain had increased. There was a general tendency of reaction time shortening in successive sessions. These results suggest that correct discrimination of TDPIs does not depend primarily upon their grain.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Influences of physical conditioning and deconditioning on coronary vasculature of dogs.

To investigate the effects of physical conditioning and deconditioning on the coronary vasculature, eight dogs were exercised by treadmill running. Five dogs were deconditioned by confinement in cages following the conditioning period. A technique was developed and validated for measuring circumflex coronary artery diameter from magnified projections of standardized coronary angiograms. Myocardial capillary density, perimeter, and basement membrane thickness were determined from electron microscopy of serial ventricular septal biopsy samples. Physical conditioning caused a small but statistically significant increase in cross-sectional area of the circumflex artery. Although physical conditioning caused no statistically significant changes in the myocardial capillaries, trends were apparent for increases in density and perimeter of myocardial capillaries and a decrease in basement membrane thickness. Physical deconditioning caused statistically significant reductions in cross-sectional area of the circumflex artery and in myocardial capillary density but little change in perimeter or basement membrane thickness of myocardial capillaries. The results suggest that physical conditioning may be associated with an improvement in coronary vascular capacity which may regress rapidly with deconditioning.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

River pollution from non-point sources: a new simplified method of assessment.

Assessment of the pollution of water bodies from non-point sources is a complex data- and time-consuming task. The potential non-point pollution index (PNPI), is a new tool designed to assess the global pressure exerted on rivers and other surface water bodies by different land uses. The main feature of PNPI is the wide availability of its input data. Very detailed input maps, often lacking over many areas, are not needed for PNPI calculation. As a consequence of the input data used, the modelling of physical reality and of processes is heavily simplified. The authors counterbalanced such a simplification using an 'expert system' approach. The system bypasses the accurate representation of the physical reality to assess globally the pollution potential of different land uses according to the judgement of scientists. The scientific community proposes many models for depicting the dynamics of pollutants coming from diffuse sources. Most of them can be grouped into two broad categories: statistical models and physically based models. PNPI belongs to neither of the above-mentioned groups. PNPI is a GIS-based, watershed-scale tool designed to inform decision makers and public opinion about the potential environmental impacts of different land management scenarios. PNPI applies the multicriteria technique to pollutant dynamics and water quality. The pressure exerted on water bodies by diffuse pollution coming from land units is expressed as a function of three indicators: land use, run-off and distance from the river network. They are calculated from land use data, geological maps and a digital elevation model (DEM). The weights given to different land uses and to the three indicators were set according to experts' evaluations and allow calculation of the value of the PNPI for each node of a grid representing the watershed; the higher the PNPI of the cell, the greater the potential impact on the river network. The output of the calculation is presented in the form of maps that highlight areas that are more likely to produce pollution. Last, possibilities, strategies and results of the validation of the PNPI are described. In the authors' view, the explicit link between land use and potential pollution on which PNPI is based, together with its high communication potential, make it particularly interesting for a participatory and integrated approach to land management and environmental protection.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed1999

Health status versus quality of life in older patients: does the distinction matter?

PURPOSE: Although health-related quality of life in older people is generally assessed by measuring specific domains of health status, such as activities of daily living or pain, the association between health-status measures and patients' perceptions of their quality of life is not clear. Indeed, it is controversial whether these health-status measures should be considered measures of quality of life at all. Our objective was to determine the association between health-status measures and older patients' perceptions of their global quality of life. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study of 493 cognitively intact patients 80 years of age and older, interviewed 2 months after a hospitalization. We measured patients' self-assessed global quality of life and four domains of health status: physical capacity, limitations in performing activities of daily living, psychological distress, and pain. RESULTS: Each of the four scales was significantly correlated with patients' global perceptions of their quality of life (P <0.001). The ability of the health-status scales to discriminate between patients with differing global quality of life was generally good, especially for the physical capacity (c statistic = 0.72) and psychological distress scales (c statistic = 0.70). However, for a substantial minority of patients, scores on the health-status scales did not accurately reflect their global quality of life. For example, global quality of life was described as fair or poor by 15% of patients with the highest (best tertile) physical capacity scores, 25% of patients who were independent in all activities of daily living, 21% of patients with the least psychological distress (best tertile), and by 30% with no pain symptoms. Similarly, global quality of life was described as good or better by 43% of patients with the worst physical capacity (worst tertile), 49% of patients who were dependent in at least two activities of daily living, 47% of patients with the most psychological distress (worst tertile), and 51% of patients with severe pain. CONCLUSION: On average, health status is a reasonable indicator of global quality of life for groups of older patients with recent illness. However, disagreement between patients' reported health status and their perceptions of their global quality of life was common. Therefore, assumptions about the overall quality of life of individual patients should not be based on measures of their health status alone.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Diabetes mellitus and comorbidity. Change between 1984-1986 and 1995-1997: results of the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study.

The prevention of diabetic complications is a challenge to the health services. A health survey was carried out in the Nord-Trøndelag county of Norway during the period 1984-1986 (77,224 respondents) and repeated in 1995-1997 (65,599 respondents). In this study, self-reports of diabetes and other diseases and impairments in the two screenings are compared. Did respondents report more or less morbidity in 1995-1997 than in 1984-1986? Comparisons between self-reports in the two surveys show higher morbidity among young people (below 40 years of age) in 1995-1997 than in 1984-1986, both among people with and without diabetes, but the change was not statistically significant. For the middle-aged (40-59 years of age), there were smaller changes. For older people (above 60 years of age) with diabetes, there was a decrease in some of the reported morbidity, namely for cerebral stroke, mobility impairment, and impairment due to other physical diseases, compared to older people without diabetes. There was a slight increase in reported vision impairment, but smaller than for people without diabetes. The changes in relative risk for people with stroke, mobility and vision impairment, and other physical disease are statistically significant. Splitting the sample according to gender, this trend was only significant among women.

Adult↗