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PubMed1998

Secular changes in standards of bodily attractiveness in women: tests of a reproductive model.

OBJECTIVE: Since success at work is favored by a more slender body build while reproduction is favored by curvaceousness, standards of women's bodily attractiveness should be predictable from economic and reproductive variables. METHODS: This hypothesis was tested in a replication and extension of a study by Silverstein, Perdue, Peterson, Vogel, and Fantini (1986) which looked at correlates of curvaceousness of Vogue models over time. RESULTS: As economic prosperity increased, and as women's participation in the economy, and higher education, increased, curvaceousness of the standards declined. As the proportion of single women to men, both aged 20-24 years, increased, and as the birth rate declined, curvaceousness was reduced. DISCUSSION: Results suggest that cultural standards of attractiveness are influenced by an evolved psychology of mate selection.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Secular change in body height and cephalic index of Croatian medical students (University of Rijeka).

An investigation of body height and cephalic measurements was performed among five groups of first-year medical students of the University of Rijeka School of Medicine (Rijeka, Croatia). Body height and different cephalic measurements showed normal distribution, both in male and female students. Differences between measured variables were statistically analyzed by ANOVA. No significant difference with regard to year of birth was found in either males or females. The cephalic index showed no statistically significant difference between sexes or with regard to body height, while head breadth and length correlated significantly with birth year and body height, both in males and females. Head breadth decreased within the study period, while head length increased. Results were compared with those of similar studies from the mid-20th century. Student's t-test showed a significant change of cephalic indices and other head measurements, but not of body height, in males. The frequency difference between various head shapes was tested using the chi-square test. A significant increase of dolichocephalic and mesocephalic and a significant decrease of brachycephalic head shape were found in both sexes. These results suggest a continuity of the debrachycephalization process observed in our population at the past midcentury.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Some secular changes in the growth of American-born and native Japanese children.

Three hundred and sixteen (35%) of the American-born Japanese children whose height, weight, and skeletal age were recorded in 1956-57 were reexamined as young adults between 1968 and 1974, when they were found to be taller, heavier and shorter legged than men and women in Japan who were born in the same years as they. These differences between the American-born and the native Japanese adults were relatively smaller than they had been during childhood, due to both an acceleration in the growth rate of the native Japanese and a concomitant decline in that of the American-born Japanese during the intervening years. A comparison of our 1956-57 data with Kondo and Eto's findings in Los Angeles in 1971 shows that there has been very little increase in the size of California-Japanese children since 1956. The curves of average heights of native Japanese children 6 to 20 years of age, at 10-year intervals from 1900 to 1970, disclosed the changing rate at which they grew during different decates of that period. Those curves and other data discussed in this paper provide additional evidence of the biological superiority of the human female as compared with the male.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Secular changes in the quality of published randomized clinical trials in rheumatology.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the quality of published randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in rheumatology and to determine whether there has been improvement in quality between 2 time periods, 1987-1988 and 1997-1998. METHODS: Using MEDLINE and a hand search of selected rheumatology journals, we identified RCTs of adult rheumatic diseases published in English in 1987-1988 or 1997-1998. We examined trial quality with an expanded version of the Jadad scale, which assesses the adequacy of reported random sequence generation, allocation concealment, blinding, and analysis. All trials were read by 1 reviewer, with prior standardization using a random sample read by 2 reviewers. We also evaluated "high"- versus "low"-impact journals based on citation index. RESULTS: Two hundred forty RCTs (1987-1988 119 RCTs, 1997-1998 121 RCTs) were assessed. Results showed improvement in the quality of the trials, but the rates of reported random sequence generation, allocation concealment, power, and intent-to-treat analyses were persistently low. Low rates of reports of random sequence generation, allocation concealment, and intent-to-treat analyses were present even in the high-impact journals. CONCLUSION: There has been improvement in the quality of reporting of RCTs in rheumatology between 1987-1988 and 1997-1998. However, methodologic problems such as lack of allocation concealment, inadequate random sequence generation, lack of reporting of power, and lack of intent-to-treat analyses remain common. Many of these problems are established sources of bias in RCTs and are easily rectifiable.

Humans↗
PubMed2006

Secular changes in colorectal cancer incidence by subsite, stage at diagnosis, and race/ethnicity, 1992-2001.

BACKGROUND: Cancers of the colon and rectum are the third most common malignancy among males and females in the United States, although incidence and mortality have declined in recent years. We evaluated recent trends in colorectal cancer incidence in the United States by subsite and stage at diagnosis. METHODS: Data for this analysis included all cases of colorectal cancer diagnosed between 1992 and 2001 and reported to the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. Incidence rates were stratified by gender, race/ethnicity, anatomic subsite, stage at diagnosis, and SEER registry. Trends in incidence over time were measured using the estimated annual percentage change. RESULTS: The study population included 95,539 males and 93,329 females with colorectal cancer. For all 12 SEER registries combined, incidence declined between 1992 and 2001 by 1.2% per year among males and 0.7% per year (not statistically significant) among females. Rates for non-Hispanic whites declined by an average of 1.3% per year for males and 0.6% per year for females. Overall rates for black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Hispanic males and females did not change significantly except for a 0.8% decline among Asian/Pacific Islander males. Declines in rates among males and females were most pronounced for tumors of the sigmoid colon. CONCLUSIONS: Colorectal cancer rates decreased in the United States during the 1990s. Decreases were most pronounced among males, among non-Hispanic whites, and for tumors of the sigmoid colon. These reductions are probably dueto the increased use of screening.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1994

Secular changes in the short-term preventive, positive, and temperature checks to population growth in Europe, 1460 to 1909.

"Annual variations in births, marriages, deaths, grain prices, and quarterly temperature series in England, France, Prussia, and Sweden [for the period 1460-1909] are analyzed using a distributed lag model. The results provide support for the existence of the short-term preventive, positive and temperature checks to population growth. Decreases in fertility and nuptiality are generally associated with increases in grain prices. Increases in mortality appear to be associated with high grain prices, cold winters and hot summers. Changes in these responses over time are examined within the context of economic development."

Climate↗
PubMed1996

Genetics of educational attainment in Australian twins: sex differences and secular changes.

The relative effects of genetic and environmental factors in producing individual differences in educational achievement are compared across women and men and over birth cohorts. In a large sample of Australian twin pairs, the heritability of self-reported educational attainment did not vary among women and men born before and after 1950. In a "psychometric" model of twin resemblance, based on separate self-reports in 1981 and 1989, genetic factors explained 57% of the stable variance in educational achievement, while environmental factors shared by twins accounted for 24% of the variance. Corrections for phenotypic assortative mating for educational level, however, suggested that estimated common-environmental effects could be entirely explained by the correlation between additive genetic values for mates. Taking this into account, heritability "true" educational attainment in Australia may be as high as 82% with the remaining variation being due to individual environments or experiences. Unlike previous studies in Scandinavian countries, results in Australia suggest that factors influencing educational success are comparable between women and men and for individuals born at different points during this century.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Secular changes in health care utilization and work absence for migraine and tension-type headache: a population based study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess changes in consultation rates, medication use and work absences due to migraine and tension-type headache (TTH) in Denmark over a 12-year period. METHODS: Surveys of the general population in 1989 and 2001. Medical doctors conducted all headache diagnostic interviews based on ICDH-I and II. The participation rate was 76% (740) in 1989 and 74% (711) in 2001. Headache status was categorized as pure migraine, pure frequent TTH (frequent episodic or chronic TTH), coexisting migraine and frequent TTH, and healthy subjects (no primary headache or only infrequent TTH). RESULTS: Headache-related consultation rates (OR = 1.6 (1.1-2.2)), especially specialist consultations (OR = 3.6 (2.3-5.6)), increased for all headache groups. Use of prescription medication because of headache increased moderately (OR = 2.1 (1.1-3.9)) while the use of prophylactic medication was stable (OR = 1.1 (0.3-4.0)). Both headache-related (OR = 1.1 (0.7-1.7)) and overall (OR = 0.9 (0.7-1.2)) absence rates were largely unchanged. Headache-related absence rates were higher for subjects with both headache types (OR = 7.5 (4.3-13.1)) or with pure migraine (OR = 3.6 (2.0-6.6)) than for subjects with frequent TTH alone. Triptans users had higher migraine headache frequency and tended to have higher absence rates than non-users. Overall absence rates were higher for subjects with both headache types (OR = 2.3 (1.3-4.0)) or with frequent TTH (OR = 1.9 (1.4-2.7)) than for healthy subjects. Pure migraine was not associated with higher overall absence rates (OR = 1.0 (0.6-1.6)). CONCLUSION: Despite an increase in headache consultation rates and in use of prescription medication and triptans, no improvement in work absence rates was observed. Consultations, medication use, and absence rates were highest for individuals with both migraine and frequent TTH.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed2004

Secular changes in disability among middle-aged and elderly Finns with and without coronary heart disease from 1978-1980 to 2000-2001.

PURPOSE: To examine time trends in the prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD) and disability. METHODS: Data were used from two large nationally representative cross-sectional health examination surveys conducted in Finland (1978-1980 and 2000-2001). RESULTS: The prevalence of CHD decreased in men and women aged 45 to 64 years and increased among those aged 75 years or more. In men with and without CHD, and in women without CHD, the prevalence of disability decreased until the age of 75 years, but in women with CHD no statistically significant decrease was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Favorable changes in prevalence of CHD and disability have occurred in people aged 45 to 75 years, but not in older people particularly in women. The proportion of decrease in disability attributable to CHD was estimated to be up to 25%. The causes of unequal development by age and gender should be ascertained.

Age Distribution↗
PubMed2005

Twenty-year secular changes in sex specific lung cancer incidence rates in an urban Chinese population.

The objective of this study was to describe trends in the incidence rates of primary lung cancer in a geographically defined Chinese population. Primary lung cancer cases (N=40,022) diagnosed between 1981 and 2000 were identified by the Tianjin Cancer Registry. Age-specific and age-adjusted incidence rates to the world standard population were examined in both males and females. Age-period-cohort (APC) model and Poisson regression were used to assess the cohort effects and incidence trends. Crude and age-adjusted incidence rates in the study period were: 66.2/100,000 and 45.2/100,000 in males; and 47.7/100,000 and 28.2/100,000 in females, respectively. The major birth cohort effect can be described as for those born before 1940, in every age group lung cancer incidence rate increased as the birth years advanced. For those born after 1940, age specific incidence rates decreased as the birth years advanced. Results from the Poisson regression analyses suggested a statistically significant increasing trend of incidence rates of lung cancer from 1981 to 1990 and changed little afterwards. Through first 10 years of the study period between 1981 and 2000, lung cancer incidence rates increased in both males and females. While the study results suggest that the age-adjusted incidence rates may have reached their peak and may even decline, as the Chinese population ages, and smoking prevalence remains high, the number of new lung cancer cases will continue to increase and overall burden of lung cancer will remain high.

Adult↗