Publications by authors named "Alfred Rimm"

Background: Estrogen and hormone replacement therapies to reduce Alzheimer's disease (AD) have yielded conflicting results. However, this study proposes that the well-characterized increase in serum gonadotropins following menopause or andropause are accountable for the increased risk of developing AD among the elderly population.

Objective: To determine the role of gonadotropins in the development of AD and investigate gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist therapy as a potential preventative and/or disease-modifying approach to AD management.

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Background: Prevalence of herpes simplex type 2 virus (HSV-2) is high worldwide. Previous studies in Uganda were rural or in women. We estimated age and sex-specific sero-prevalence of HSV-2 in Kampala, Uganda.

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Background: Delayed chemotherapy is associated with inferior survival in stage III colon and stage II/III rectal cancer patients, but similar studies have not been performed in stage II colon cancer patients. We investigate the association between delayed and incomplete chemotherapy, and the association of delayed chemotherapy with survival in stage II colon cancer patients.

Patients And Methods: Patients (age ≥ 66) diagnosed as stage II colon cancer and received chemotherapy from 1992 to 2005 were identified from the linked SEER-Medicare database.

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Context: There is a continuing debate about which adiposity measure is the best risk factor.

Objectives: This study compared the associations of 14 health outcomes with combinations of four adiposity measures: body mass index (BMI), waist to hip ratio (WHR), waist, and waist to height ratio.

Design: Data were from the Women's Health Initiative, a prospective study of women enrolled from 1993-1998 with a median follow-up time of 8 yr.

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Objective: To estimate the effect of assisted reproductive technology (ART) on major malformation (MM) rate in ART offspring independent of the effect of subfertility on MM.

Design: Meta-analysis.

Methods: This meta-analysis is based on our previously published meta-analysis of observational studies evaluating the relationship between ART treatment and MM rates, as well as recent research by Zhu et al.

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Purpose: To determine the association between mucin ball formation and corneal infiltrative events (CIEs) during continuous wear with lotrafilcon A silicone hydrogel contact lenses.

Methods: Subjects (n = 205) in the Longitudinal Analysis of Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lens Study wore lotrafilcon A contact lenses for 12 months of continuous wear. The primary outcome was a CIE.

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Background: Post-acute care (PAC) is available for older adults who need additional services after hospitalization for acute cardiac events. With the aging population and an increase in the prevalence of cardiac disease, it is important to determine current PAC use for cardiac patients to assist health care workers to meet the needs of older cardiac patients. The purpose of this study was to determine the current PAC use and factors associated with PAC use for older adults following hospitalization for a cardiac event that includes coronary artery bypass graft and valve surgeries, myocardial infarction (MI), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and heart failure (HF).

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Purpose: This study determined which microbiologic, clinical, demographic, and behavioral factors are associated with corneal infiltrative events (CIEs) during continuous wear of silicone hydrogel (SH) contact lenses.

Methods: Subjects (n = 205) were fitted with lotrafilcon A lenses for continuous wear and observed for 1 year. The main exposures of interest were corneal staining and bacterial lens contamination.

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Purpose: Microbial contamination of contact lenses is associated with corneal infection and inflammation. This study determined the microbiological, clinical, and demographic factors that are associated with bacterial contamination of a silicone hydrogel contact lens when worn for continuous wear (CW).

Methods: Two hundred five healthy subjects were enrolled in the Longitudinal Analysis of Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lens Study and were fitted with lotrafilcon A lenses for monthly CW and followed for 1 year.

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Purpose: To investigate the association of overall and disease-specific survival with the five standard treatment modalities for prostate cancer (CaP): radical prostatectomy (RP), brachytherapy (BT), external beam radiotherapy, androgen deprivation therapy, and no treatment (NT) within 6 months after CaP diagnosis.

Methods And Materials: The study population included 10,179 men aged 65 years and older with incident CaP diagnosed between 1999 and 2001. Using the linked Ohio Cancer Incidence Surveillance System, Medicare, and death certificate files, overall and disease-specific survival through 2005 among the five clinically accepted therapies were analyzed.

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Objective: To determine mammography utilization rates for randomly selected white and black women in the USA.

Study Design: This was an observational study using data from 1988 to 2000. Data were extracted from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, an annual self-report telephone survey conducted nationally by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Objectives: Although more men are diagnosed as having chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), its prevalence is increasing among women. Little is known about gender differences in exacerbations of COPD. The objective of this study was to determine if acute presentation, management, and outcomes differ among men and women seeking care in the emergency department (ED) for exacerbation of COPD.

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Purpose: To estimate the risk of major malformations in IVF and ICSI infants.

Methods: Forty-four studies published in English since 1990 where the major malformation rate for IVF or ICSI cases was compared to an appropriate control group were reviewed. Nineteen studies met all selection criteria.

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Background: The completeness of Medicare claims for identifying patients with melanoma for purposes of conducting population-based studies of melanoma is unknown.

Methods: Using a linked Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result (SEER) tumor registry-Medicare database, the sensitivity of Medicare claims for identifying 5372 patients age > or =65 years diagnosed with invasive melanoma between 1992 and 1996 was determined. Sensitivity was calculated as the proportion of incident cases of melanoma reported by SEER that was also captured by Medicare claim diagnostic codes.

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Little is known about variation in surveillance practices following the diagnosis of invasive melanoma. The objective of this study was to characterize geographic, patient, and tumor variation in the use of follow-up surveillance testing in patients with local or regional stage melanoma. A cohort of Medicare beneficiaries > or =65 y diagnosed with invasive melanoma during 1992 to 1996 living in a Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry area was studied.

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Background: The use of Medicaid data to study cancer-related outcomes would be highly desirable. However, the accuracy of Medicaid claims data in the identification of incident cases of breast cancer is unknown.

Objectives: (1) To estimate the sensitivity of Medicaid claims data for case ascertainment of breast cancer, and (2) to determine the positive predictive value (PPV) of diagnostic and procedure codes retrieved from Medicaid claims, using the Ohio Cancer Incidence Surveillance System (OCISS) as the gold standard.

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We examined the effects of nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)), ozone (O(3)), particulate matter of <10 microm aerodynamic diameter (PM(10)), and sulfur dioxide (SO(2)) on asthmatics ages 5-34 years enrolled in Medicaid in Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus, OH (N=5416). Our study period was for the summer months, June-August, from July 1, 1991 to June 30, 1996. We preformed Poisson regression analyses for the number of daily emergency department (ED) visits for asthma in each city and on the aggregate data controlling for time trends and minimum temperature.

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Background: National-level population-based data about breast carcinoma incidence and its association with screening mammography are currently not available.

Methods: Inpatient, hospital outpatient and physician/supplier Medicare claims were used to identify incident cases of breast carcinoma in women > or = 65 years from 1996 to 1997 and calculate county-level incidence rates. The 1994-1995 claims data were used to determine county-level rates of mammography, and determine the correlation with incidence.

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