Evaluation and implementation of public health registries.

A rapid proliferation of registries has occurred during the last 20 years. Given the long-term commitment of resources associated with registries and limited public health funding, proposals for new registries should be carefully considered before being funded. A registry is defined as a data base of identifiable persons containing a clearly defined set of health and demographic data collected for a specific public health purpose.

Recovery from end-stage renal disease.

To evaluate the rate and associated factors for recovery of renal function in patients labeled by their nephrologists as having end-stage renal disease (ESRD), the data base of the Michigan Kidney Registry was used. All patients reported as starting treatment for ESRD between 1976 and 1985 (N = 7,404) were evaluated, excluding patients with acute tubular necrosis (ATN) or transplantation cases. While patients with ESRD due to diabetes and cystic diseases had lower recovery rates than average, patients with glomerulonephritis associated with a systemic illness, vasculopathies, and crescents had threefold to fourfold higher recovery rates.

Breast-milk monitoring to measure Michigan's contamination with polybrominated biphenyls.

In 1973 and 1974, several thousand Michigan dairy farms were contaminated by polybrominated biphenyls (P.B.B.