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A 15-year longitudinal study of Halstead-Reitan neuropsychological test performance.

Using a two-stage growth curve analysis, change over time in performance on tests in the Halstead-Reitan Battery and Average Impairment Rating (AIR) was assessed for 53 individuals who varied in age and health status. In the first stage of the analysis, estimated slope and intercept values were calculated for each individual by regressing longitudinal data points on time. In the second stage, estimated slope and intercept values obtained in the first-stage analysis were regressed on age at entry into the study with statistical control for health status, education, occupation, and gender. Control for health status had an insignificant influence on magnitude of associations between age and test performance. Age-at-entry into the study was associated with statistically significant increasing change over time (poorer performance) for tests placing relatively heavy demands on speed of psychomotor performance and for AIR.

Adult↗

The association between state income inequality and worse health is not confounded by race.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between income inequality and health across US states has been challenged recently on grounds that this relationship may be confounded by the effect of racial composition, measured as the proportion of the state's population who are black. METHODS: Using multilevel statistical models, we examined the association between state income inequality and poor self-rated health. The analysis was based on the pooled 1995 and 1997 Current Population Surveys, comprising 201 221 adults nested within 50 US states. RESULTS: Controlling for the individual effects of age, sex, race, marital status, education, income, health insurance coverage, and employment status, we found a significant effect of state income inequality on poor self-rated health. For every 0.05-increase in the Gini coefficient, the odds ratio (OR) of reporting poor health increased by 1.39 (95% CI: 1.26, 1.51). Additionally controlling for the proportion of the state population who are black did not explain away the effect of income inequality (OR = 1.30; 95% CI: 1.15, 1.45). While being black at the individual level was associated with poorer self-rated health, no significant relationship was found between poor self-rated health and the proportion of black residents in a state. CONCLUSION: Our finding demonstrates that neither race, at the individual level, nor racial composition, as measured at the state level, explain away the previously reported association between income inequality and poorer health status in the US.

Adult↗

Major mental disorders in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I. Schizophrenia, schizoaffective and cognitive disorders.

We report here on a survey conducted in Addis Ababa between September and December of 1994 to estimate the prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of schizophrenia, schizoaffective, and severe cognitive disorders. An Amharic version of the CIDI was used to collect data from a random community sample of 1420 individuals aged 15 and above. Weighted lifetime and one-month prevalence were 0.4% and 0.3%, for schizophrenia, and 0.5% and 0.4% for schizoaffective disorders, respectively. The prevalence of severe cognitive disorders was found to be 2.6%. Multivariate logistic analysis showed that the risk of lifetime psychosis (schizophrenia, schizoaffective, bipolar disorders, and depressive episodes with psychotic symptoms) was significantly higher in the age group 25-44 years compared to the reference age group of 15-24 years: adjusted Odds Ratio and 95% confidence interval, OR (95% CI) = 2.41 (1.01, 5.74); it was also significantly higher in the never married group compared to those married: OR (95% CI) = 3.01 (1.08, 8.42). The risk was significantly lower in the employed compared to the unemployed: OR (95% CI) = 0.42 (0.18, 1.00). There was a statistically significant trend of increasing risk of severe cognitive disorders with increasing age. The trend was in the reverse direction for educational status, the risk decreasing significantly with increasing educational attainment.

Adolescent↗

A longitudinal perspective on entitlement income among homeless adults.

OBJECTIVE: Sources of entitlement income were examined in a sample of homeless adults to determine whether certain subgroups more consistently obtain entitlement income and are more likely to continue receiving it over time. METHODS: From a baseline sample of 564 homeless residents of Alameda County, California, 397 were interviewed at both five- and 15-month follow-ups. Information was obtained on income received from public sources in the 30 days before each interview, including general assistance, Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC), Supplemental Security Income, or Social Security Disability Insurance. Data were also obtained on psychiatric diagnosis, race, marital status, education, duration of homelessness in adulthood, household status, and reported disability. RESULTS: At baseline fewer than half of the respondents were receiving any entitlement income. The benefits of almost half of the AFDC and general assistance recipients were terminated during the 15-month period. Respondents who continued receiving entitlement income over the 15-month period were more likely to be black, to be women alone or with children, to have a family history of receiving welfare, and to report a disability. Respondents with dual disorders were six times more likely than others to have their benefits terminated. CONCLUSIONS: Entitlement income is tenuous for many homeless adults, particularly those with dual diagnoses.

Adult↗

Breast cancer treatment guidelines in older women.

PURPOSE: To determine patterns and predictors of concordance with institutional treatment guidelines among older women with breast cancer. METHODS: The study population included 1,568 patients aged 55 years and older who were treated at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center between July 1997 and January 2002 for stage I to IIIA invasive ductal and lobular breast cancer. Concordance with institutional guidelines was determined for definitive surgical therapy, radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery, radiation therapy after mastectomy, adjuvant chemotherapy use, and adjuvant hormonal therapy use. The following variables were considered as possible modifiers of concordance: patient age, marital status, race, educational level, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, comorbidity score, clinical stage, hormone receptor status, HER2-neu status, tumor grade, pathologic tumor size, lymphatic invasion, and number of lymph nodes involved. Logistic regression modeling was performed to determine the independent effect of each variable on guideline concordance. RESULTS: Older women were less likely to receive treatment in concordance with guidelines for definitive surgical therapy (P < .001), postlumpectomy radiation (P = .03), adjuvant chemotherapy (P < .001), and adjuvant hormonal therapy (P < .001). In multivariate analysis, age > or = 75 years predicted a deviation from guidelines for definitive surgical therapy, adjuvant chemotherapy, and adjuvant hormonal therapy. Nonwhite race was associated with decreased likelihood of adjuvant radiation therapy after breast conservation. CONCLUSION: After adjustment for comorbidity score, race, marital status, educational status, clinical stage, and tumor characteristics, increasing patient age was independently associated with decreased guideline concordance for definitive surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy, and adjuvant hormonal therapy. Future research should focus on delineating the possible reasons for guideline discordance.

Age Factors↗

The impact of Medicaid on physician use by low-income children.

This study evaluated the determinants of physician use by low-income children, with an emphasis on the effect of Medicaid. Data are from the 1980 National Medical Care Utilization and Expenditure Survey. Regression analysis revealed that Medicaid children were more likely than both privately insured and uninsured children to visit an office-based physician. Also, Medicaid children with at least one visit to any setting had a higher number of visits than uninsured children. Such factors as age, health status, number of children in the family, educational status, and income also accounted for differences within the low-income population. The results suggest that access to physicians' services (including office-based physicians) can be increased by expanding Medicaid eligibility to uninsured low-income children and by improving private health insurance benefits among the underinsured.

Adolescent↗

Predictors of smoking in a cross section of novice mine workers.

OBJECTIVE: To determine demographic predictors of smoking status amongst novice mine workers. SETTING: Prospective mine workers undergoing fitness examination at the Medical Bureau for Occupational Diseases. DESIGN: Cross sectional study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Current smoking status. RESULTS: Smoking status is significantly linked to age, race group, nationality and previous employment status. Education is also a predictor of smoking status, but the association is weak. Smoking prevalence in subgroups of novice mine workers varies from less than 10% to nearly 75%. CONCLUSION: Assumptions of very high smoking rates amongst all mine workers are too simplistic. Smoking cannot be regarded globally as a major confounder of occupational exposure and occupational lung disease for all groups of mine workers.

Adolescent↗

Short form 36 (SF-36) health survey: normative data from the general Norwegian population.

Anchoring health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measures in population norms makes clinical interpretations more meaningful and is in accordance with practice in other fields of medicine. In this paper norms for the Short Form 36 (SF-36) are presented in a random sample, representative of the general Norwegian population. In addition, sociodemographic variables affecting the scale scores are explored and discussed. The response rate was 67%, being lowest among subjects aged 70 years or over. Data-completeness strongly declined with increasing age. Physical health scales were also strongly affected by age. In all scales, with the exception of general health perceptions, women reported having poorer health than men. Marital status affected the four mental health scales. Educational status affected all the scales, but the effect was smallest in the mental scales. These norms can be employed for comparison in case-control studies, or to interpret HRQOL changes in prospective studies. Differences in social status should be given special attention. Caution should be exercised when assessing subjective health or employing the norms among subjects aged 70 years or over.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Educational level and risk profile of cardiac patients in the EUROASPIRE II substudy.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To ascertain, whether, conventional risk factors and readiness of coronary patients to modify their behaviour and to comply with recommended medication were associated with education in patients with established coronary heart disease. DESIGN AND METHODS: EUROASPIRE II was a cross sectional survey undertaken in 1999-2000 in 15 European countries to ascertain how effectively recommendations on coronary preventions are being followed in clinical practice. Consecutive patients, men and women </=71 years who had been hospitalised for acute coronary syndrome or revascularisation procedures, were identified retrospectively. Data were collected through a review of medical records, interview, and examination at least six months after hospitalisation. The education reached was ascertained at the interview. MAIN RESULTS: A total of 5556 patients (1319 women) were evaluated. Significantly more patients with ischaemia had only primary education, in contrast with the remaining diagnostic groups. Body mass index and glucose were negatively associated with educational level, while HDL-cholesterol was positively associated. Men with highest education had significantly lower systolic blood pressure and total cholesterol. The prevalence of current smoking decreased significantly from primary to secondary and high education only in men. Both men and women with primary educational level were more often treated with antidiabetics, and antihypertensives, but less often with lipid lowering drugs. The effectiveness of treatment was virtually the same in all education groups. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with higher education had lower global coronary risk, than those with lower education. This should be considered in clinical practice. Particular strategies for risk communication and counselling are needed for those with lower education status.

Adult↗

Prevalence of anaemia among adolescent girls in rural area of District Meerut, U.P.

The prevalence of anaemia in 504 adolescent girls (10-18 yrs) representing 24 subcentre villages of Daurala block of Meerut was 34.5%. The prevalence of mild, moderate and severe anaemia among adolescent girls was 19.0%, 14.0% and 1.4% respectively. Majority (55.2%) were having mild anaemia and only 4.0% had severe anaemia. Anaemia was found to be significantly associated with educational status (P < 0.05), birth order (P < 0.05), awareness regarding anaemia (P < 0.05) and marital & obstetric status (P < 0.05) with no association with age, anthropometry and menarcheal age (P > 0.05).

Adolescent↗

Acculturation and dental health among Vietnamese living in Melbourne, Australia.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the relationship between acculturation and oral health status, oral health knowledge and frequency of dental visits in subjects of Vietnamese background, 18 years or older, living in Melbourne, Australia. METHODS: Oral health status was measured using the DMFS index. Oral health knowledge was estimated by responses to six specific oral preventive measures: brushing, flossing, use of fluorides, diet, and dental visits. Dental visits was measured by the number of visits in the 12 months prior to the survey. Acculturation was measured along two dimensions, psychological and behavioural, using the Psychological-Behavioural Acculturation Scale. Data were analysed using multivariate analysis to identify the combined effect of eight predictors (age, gender, occupational status, education, reason for migration, proportion of life in the host country, behavioural acculturation and psychological acculturation) against the dependent variables. RESULTS: The analysis was conducted on a sample of 147 subjects and showed significant interactions between the acculturation variables and three outcome measures: dental caries, knowledge of preventive measures and dental visits. Results indicated that acculturation was an important intervening variable. Psychological acculturation was strongly related to the three oral health outcomes, although the effect of behavioural acculturation was also apparent regarding dental status. CONCLUSIONS: This study offers several insights for understanding the mechanisms by which acculturation impacts oral health status. Interventions that simplify the cultural influence of immigrant groups by focusing on socio-demographic differences and even immigration variables to define risk groups might not produce predicted changes in oral health status.

Acculturation↗

A case control study of cancer cervix patients attending Command Hospital, Pune.

A case control study was undertaken with the objective to determine the association of certain host factors like marital status, age at first marriage, duration of married life, parity, literary status and genital hygiene, in the subsequent development of cancer cervix. A total number of ninety-two cases and an equal number of control subjects, under matched case control design, were studied at Command Hospital, Pune over a period of nine months. Salient findings of this epidemiological study have been highlighted in this communication. Few of the risk factors viz early age at first marriage, longer duration of married life, increased and early parity, low educational status and poor genital hygiene were found to have played significant role in the subsequent development of carcinoma cervix.

Adult↗

Health, schooling and lifestyle among young adults in Finland.

This was a longitudinal, general population study based on a Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort, using a structural equation approach to estimate the health production function and health input functions for four lifestyle variables (smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise and unhealthy diet) for males and females. In particular, we examined the productive and allocative effects of education on health. We used 15D, a generic measure of health-related quality of life, as a single index score measure but we also estimated models for some of its dimensions. Among the males, the important factors impacting on health were education and all the four lifestyle factors, as well as some exogenous variables at 31 years and variables describing parents' background, and health and behaviour at 14 years. An increase of five years in schooling increased the health score by 0.008, of which about 50% was due to direct effect and 50% due to indirect effects. Among the females, education does not impact on health, but health was affected by the use of alcohol, exercise and diet, but not by smoking. Our results indicate that policy options that increase education among men will increase their health indirectly via healthier lifestyles. However, since the total effect was rather modest and the direct effect insignificant, an increase of schooling is not a cost-effective way to increase health given the present high educational level of Finland. The young adults' and particularly women's internationally high educational status in Finland might be a reason why we find only a modest effect of schooling on health and the non-existence of such effects among women.

Adult↗

Prevalence and abuse of psychoactive substances in children and adolescents.

The present study has been carried out in the slum areas of Gorakhpur city, covering a population of 10,187 in the four colleges of Gorakhpur. Five hundred and eighty children and adolescents in urban slums, and 750 college students between 10-18 years were studied by means of a questionnaire card for detection of prevalence rate and various others co-relates of abuse of psychoactive substances. Overall, prevalence of abuse of psychoactive substances was 25% in slum areas, and 18% in college students. Abuse of tobacco was most frequent (50.3% & 72.5%) followed by that of alcohol (11.7% & 16.2%) in both the groups respectively. Cannabis was also used by some children (0.6%). More abusers were from Hindu families with low educational status and low family income. Surprisingly no one was found to be abusing tablets and street drugs.

Adolescent↗

Increasing trends in plural births in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the nature and possible reasons for the increasing trend in plural births in the United States during the 1980s. METHODS: We performed a descriptive analysis of births in the United States for five racial and ethnic groups from 1980-1989, using the United States vital records natality files. RESULTS: The rates of twin and triplet births rose 19 and 100%, respectively, during the 1980s. Approximately one-fourth of the observed increases can be attributed to rising maternal age. The increases in twin and triplet births occurred mainly among more educated and older white women. CONCLUSION: The association of high education status with rising rates of plural births, independent of maternal age, suggests that the observed increase is the result of increasing use of fertility-stimulating therapy among a subset of the childbearing population.

Adult↗

A survey of blood lead levels among young Johannesburg school children.

Studies conducted around the world have established beyond doubt that elevated childhood blood lead levels may lead to detrimental health effects. Research has shown that certain groups of South African children are at particular risk of elevated blood lead levels. Johannesburg is the largest urban complex in southern Africa, with a population of around 3 million and extensive industrial and manufacturing activity. Among the challenges posed in the city are rapid urbanization, extensive poverty, and inequity. Little information on the blood lead distribution of Johannesburg children is available. This study was undertaken to determine blood lead levels among children living in three areas of Johannesburg: inner city suburbs and the low-income townships of Alexandra and Westbury to the north and west of the city center, respectively. The results indicated that blood lead levels ranged from 6 to 26 micro g/dL, with a mean level of 11.9 micro g /dL. The blood lead levels of 78% of children equaled or exceeded 10 micro g/dL, the current international action level. Maternal educational status, the presence of smokers in the home, and living in an informal dwelling were among the factors associated with elevated blood lead levels.

Child↗

School dropout and injecting drug use in a national sample of white non-Hispanic American adults.

In this study we sought to extend our previous finding of an association between school dropout and injecting drug use (IDU) among African Americans by testing the association in a sample of White non-Hispanic Americans. A nationally representative sample of White non-Hispanic Americans age eighteen years and older was drawn from public use data files of the 1995-1996 National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). Adults with a self-report history of IDU were identified, and were matched to non-IDU adults in the same neighborhoods of residence. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the association between dropping out of high school and the occurrence of IDU. White non-Hispanic American high school dropouts were more likely than high school graduates to have injected a drug at least once. The findings of this research on non-Hispanic Whites are generally consistent with our earlier evidence on the association between educational status and a history of IDU among African-American adults. School dropout prevention programs may merit attention in an overall strategy of preventing injecting drug use and HIV/AIDS.

Adult↗

Factors influencing patronage of traditional bone setters.

In clinical orthopaedic practice, many patients are seen presenting with complications after being treated by traditional bone setters (TBS). These complications do not seem to deter other patients from patronising the TBS rather than modern orthopaedic service (MOS). Basic beliefs about TBS in particular and traditional healers (TH) in general are likely to be responsible for their continuing popularity. One hundred and eighty adults and adolescents were surveyed by means of interviewer administered questionnaires at a popular motor park, traditional and modern health facilities. While 37% (n = 67) of the respondents believe that TBS are indispensable (cannot do without), 32.8% (n = 65) believe they are desirable (can do without though useful) and 11% (n = 20) thought they are nuisances and fraudsters. Forty three per cent of them felt that TBS are competent or very competent, 24% adjudged their practice satisfactory (good but with some deficiencies) and 23% believe they are either incompetent or very incompetent. Education did not seem to influence these beliefs as the expressed opinion on the indispensability/desirability of TBS by those who had no formal education was similar to that of those who had primary education, p > 0.5, and College/University education, p) 0.1. The services of the TBS were thought to be cheaper (n = 103) than MOS (n = 36) although more (n = 120) believe that doctors explain the causes of injuries and illness rather than TBS (n = 35). The community opinion of TBS, irrespective of educational status, is probably predominantly positive in addition to their services being thought to be cheaper than modern orthopaedic service, hence their continued relevance in the treatment of musculo skeletal injuries and diseases.

Adolescent↗