Validation of Health Event Capture in the Marshfield Epidemiologic Study Area.

Objective: In this study, health event capture is broadly defined as the degree to which a group of people use a particular provider network as their primary source of health care services. The Marshfield Epidemiologic Study Area (MESA) is a valuable resource for population-based health research, but the completeness of health event capture has not been validated in recent years. Our objective was to determine the current level of outpatient and inpatient health event capture by Marshfield Clinic (MC) facilities and affiliated hospitals for people living within MESA.

Prevalence of asthma in a general population cohort of farm children: comparison of estimates based on parental report and medical record review.

Methods of ascertaining and defining asthma in epidemiologic research vary, and the extent of agreement between such measures is not clearly understood. Within a broader investigation of early-life farm exposures and risk of childhood asthma and other atopic conditions, the authors sought to generate and compare population-based estimates of asthma prevalence among farm children using several definitions, based on both parental report and medical chart review. The Marshfield Epidemiologic Study Area (MESA) is a geographically defined, population-based cohort that receives nearly all health care from Marshfield Clinic and affiliated institutions.

Applying case definition criteria to irritable bowel syndrome.

Objective: The quality of documentation of signs and symptoms and validation of the diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) according to case definition criteria of Manning, Rome I and Rome II in an office setting has not been previously described. We sought to identify and validate cases of IBS based on the Manning, Rome I and Rome II diagnostic criteria in a rural practice setting.

Setting: Marshfield Epidemiologic Study Area (MESA) Central consisting of 14 ZIP codes in central Wisconsin, USA.

Predictors of antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli in the feces of vegetarians and newly hospitalized adults in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

To determine whether poultry contact/consumption predicts colonization with antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli, 567 newly hospitalized patients and 100 vegetarians were assessed microbiologically and epidemiologically. Multivariable analysis showed that poultry contact/consumption, other dietary habits, and antimicrobial use did not significantly predict resistance. In contrast, foreign travel significantly predicted both trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole resistance (prevalence ratio, 2.

Use of streptogramin growth promoters in poultry and isolation of streptogramin-resistant Enterococcus faecium from humans.

Background: Virginiamycin use in poultry selects for Enterococcus faecium with cross-resistance to quinupristin-dalfopristin, a drug for vancomycin-resistant E. faecium in humans. We conducted an epidemiologic study of poultry exposures as risk factors for human carriage of quinupristin-dalfopristin-resistant E.