Associations between vitamin D levels and polycystic ovary syndrome phenotypes.

Background: Studies comparing serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations in women with and without polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have produced inconsistent results. Additionally, no previous studies have evaluated associations between vitamin D and specific PCOS phenotypes.

Methods: This case-control study was conducted among women undergoing intrauterine insemination.

E-Cigarettes for Immediate Smoking Substitution in Women Diagnosed with Cervical Dysplasia and Associated Disorders.

The aim of this study was to determine if 31 women with cervical dysplasia and associated conditions exacerbated by smoking would be successful substituting cigarettes with their choice of either nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) or electronic cigarettes (EC). Women received motivational interviewing and tried both NRT and ECs, choosing one method to use during a six-week intervention period. Daily cigarette consumption was measured at baseline, six, and 12 weeks, with differences analyzed by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.

Childhood cancer in children with congenital anomalies in Oklahoma, 1997 to 2009.

Background: Data-linkage studies have reported an association between congenital anomalies and childhood cancer. However, few studies have focused on the differences in the effect of congenital anomalies on cancer as a function of attained age. We aimed to examine associations between anomalies and childhood cancer as a function of attained age among children born in Oklahoma.

Evaluating antidepressant treatment prior to adding second-line therapies among patients with treatment-resistant depression.

Background: Patients with depression can be mistakenly labeled as treatment-resistant if they fail to receive an adequate first-line antidepressant trial. Adding second-line agents to the treatment regimens can create an additional burden on both the patients and the healthcare system.

Objectives: To determine if depressed patients receive an adequate antidepressant trial prior to starting second-line therapy and to investigate the association between the type of second-line treatment and severity of illness or depression among unipolar versus bipolar patients.

State-Level Correlates of Unassisted Quit Attempts and Success.

Background: Although the majority of smokers attempting to quit do so without assistance, research in the area of unassisted quit behaviors is limited. The aim of this study was to investigate whether population-level policies and programs, such as smoke-free air policies and tobacco control programs, contribute to unassisted quit attempts and cessation.

Methods: The current study used the 2003 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (TUS-CPS) special Cessation Supplement (CS) to estimate unassisted quit attempt and success rates by state.

Does the use of atypical antipsychotics as adjunctive therapy in depression result in cost savings? Comparing healthcare costs and utilization between second-line treatment options.

Background: Several atypical antipsychotics (AAPs) are used as second-line agents for treatment resistant depression. AAPs can be expensive compared to other treatment options and can cause several side effects.

Objectives: To estimate healthcare costs and utilization of AAPs compared to other second-line agents.

A multiple motive/multi-dimensional approach to measure smokeless tobacco dependence.

Background: Unlike various research studies conducted to address dependence among smokers, only a few studies have examined smokeless tobacco (ST) dependence. The Fagerström Tolerance Questionnaire (FTQ) and Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) based scales are the most widely used measures of nicotine dependence for both ST users and smokers. These scales were initially developed to measure physical dependence and tolerance and not to assess other salient dimensions of dependence such as craving, compulsion, or withdrawal, as defined by DSM-IV and ICD-10.

The Communities Advancing Resilience Toolkit (CART): development of a survey instrument to assess community resilience.

While building community resilience to disasters is becoming an important strategy in emergency management, this is a new field of research with few available instruments for assessing community resilience. This article describes the development of the Communities Advancing Resilience Toolkit (CART) survey instrument. CART is a community intervention designed to enhance community resilience to disasters, in part, by engaging communities in measuring it.

The psychometric properties of the Vanderbilt attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder diagnostic teacher rating scale in a community population.

Objective: This study examined the psychometric properties of the Vanderbilt AD/HD Diagnostic Teacher Rating Scale (VADTRS).

Methods: Information was collected from teachers and parents in 5 school districts (urban, suburban, and rural). All teachers in participating schools were asked to complete the VADTRS on all their students.

The psychometric properties of the Vanderbilt attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder diagnostic parent rating scale in a community population.

Objective: To examine the psychometric properties of the Vanderbilt ADHD Diagnostic Parent Rating Scale (VADPRS) using a community-based sample of primarily elementary and middle school-aged children.

Method: Participants were initially recruited from 41 elementary schools in 5 Oklahoma school districts including urban, suburban, and rural students. Vanderbilt rating scales were obtained from all teachers (n = 601) and sampled parents (n = 587) of the participating children.

Comparison of autoantibody specificities between traditional and bead-based assays in a large, diverse collection of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and family members.

Objective: Replacement of standard immunofluorescence methods with bead-based assays for antinuclear antibody (ANA) testing is a new clinical option. The aim of this study was to evaluate a large, multiethnic cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), blood relatives, and unaffected control individuals for familial aggregation and subset clustering of autoantibodies by high-throughput serum screening technology and traditional methods.

Methods: Serum samples (1,540 SLE patients, 1,154 unaffected relatives, and 906 healthy, population-based controls) were analyzed for SLE autoantibodies using a bead-based assay, indirect immunofluorescence (IIF), and immunodiffusion.

Direct transport of geriatric trauma patients with pelvic fractures to a Level I trauma center within an organized trauma system: impact on two-week incidence of in-hospital complications.

Background: Undertriage of elderly trauma patients to tertiary trauma centers is well documented. This study evaluated the impact of directness of transport to a Level I trauma center on morbidity in geriatric trauma patients sustaining severe pelvic fractures.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of 87 geriatric trauma patients diagnosed with potentially unstable pelvic fractures, treated at a Level I trauma center between 2008 and 2010.

Multiple Autoantibodies Display Association with Lymphopenia, Proteinuria, and Cellular Casts in a Large, Ethnically Diverse SLE Patient Cohort.

Purpose. This study evaluates high-throughput autoantibody screening and determines associated systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) clinical features in a large lupus cohort. Methods.

The prevalence of ADHD: its diagnosis and treatment in four school districts across two states.

Objective: To describe the epidemiology of ADHD in communities using a DSM-IVTR case definition.

Method: This community-based study used multiple informants to develop and apply a DSM -IVTR-based case definition of ADHD to screening and diagnostic interview data collected for children 5-13 years of age. Teachers screened 10,427 children (66.

Determining a definite diagnosis of primary immune thrombocytopenia by medical record review.

The objective of this study is to establish a method to identify patients with primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) utilizing administrative data from diverse data sources that would be appropriate for epidemiologic studies of ITP, regardless of patients' age and source of health care. Medical records of the Oklahoma University Medical Center, 1995-2004, were reviewed to document the accuracy of the administrative code ICD-9-CM 287.3 for identifying children and adults with ITP, using novel, explicit levels of evidence to identify patients with a definite diagnosis.

Prevalence of primary immune thrombocytopenia in Oklahoma.

To determine the prevalence of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) in Oklahoma regardless of age, clinical characteristics, insurance status, and source of health care. Patients with ITP were identified by the administrative code ICD-9-CM 287.3 in Oklahoma hematologists' offices for a 2-year period, 2003-2004.

Effects of power wheelchairs on the development and function of young children with severe motor impairments.

Purpose: The purpose of this pilot randomized controlled study was to identify any effects of power wheelchairs on the development and function of young children with severe motor impairments.

Methods: Participants were 28 children with various diagnoses, aged 14 to 30 months when they entered the study. The Battelle Developmental Inventory (BDI), Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory, and Early Coping Inventory were administered at entry and after 12 months.

B lymphocyte stimulator levels in systemic lupus erythematosus: higher circulating levels in African American patients and increased production after influenza vaccination in patients with low baseline levels.

Objective: To examine the relationship between circulating B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS) levels and humoral responses to influenza vaccination in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, as well as the effect of vaccination on BLyS levels, and to investigate clinical and serologic features of SLE that are associated with elevated BLyS levels.

Methods: Clinical history, disease activity measurements, and blood specimens were collected from 60 SLE patients at baseline and after influenza vaccination. Sera were tested for BLyS levels, lupus-associated autoantibodies, serum interferon-α (IFNα) activity, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D), and humoral responses to influenza vaccination.

Heart rate reactivity and current post-traumatic stress disorder when data are missing.

Aims: This study demonstrates that auxiliary and exclusion criteria variables increase the effectiveness of missing imputation in correcting underestimation of physiologic reactivity in relation to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caused by deleting cases with missing physiologic data.

Methods: This study used data from survivors of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and imputed missing heart rate data using auxiliary and exclusion criteria variables. Logistic regression was used to examine heart rate reactivity in relation to current PTSD.

Survival benefit of transfer to tertiary trauma centers for major trauma patients initially presenting to nontertiary trauma centers.

Objectives: Recent evidence suggests a measurable reduction in mortality for patients transferred from a nontertiary trauma center (Level III or IV) to a Level I trauma center, but not for those transferred to a Level II trauma center. Whether this can be generalized to a predominantly rural region with fewer tertiary trauma care resources is uncertain. This study sought to evaluate mortality differences for patients initially presenting to nontertiary trauma centers in a predominantly rural region depending on transfer status.

Directness of transport of major trauma patients to a level I trauma center: a propensity-adjusted survival analysis of the impact on short-term mortality.

Background: Whether severely injured patients should be transported directly to tertiary trauma centers, bypassing closer nontertiary facilities, or be transported first to nearby, less-specialized facilities for immediate care and stabilization has been studied with mixed findings. Differences in study locale, case mix, and variation in the structure and level of maturation of the trauma system may explain some of the discrepancy in findings. In addition, risk adjustment strategies used in these studies did not take into account prehospital baseline characteristics as well as time since injury.

A propensity score analysis of prehospital factors and directness of transport of major trauma patients to a level I trauma center.

Background: Indications for direct transport may be strongly related to risk of future health outcomes, and these indications may not be adequately controlled by considering only in-hospital variables. This study was designed to identify prehospital factors associated with directness of transport.

Methods: The study included 2,062 patients treated at a Level I trauma center between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2007.

Ribosomal P autoantibodies are present before SLE onset and are directed against non-C-terminal peptides.

Autoantibodies to ribosomal P (ribo P) are found in 15-30% of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and are highly specific for SLE. The goal of this study is to assess the temporal association of anti-ribosomal P (anti-P) responses with SLE disease onset, as well as to characterize select humoral ribo P epitopes targeted in early, pre-diagnostic SLE samples. Patients with stored serial serum samples available prior to SLE diagnosis were identified from a military cohort.

Intrauterine tobacco exposure may alter auditory brainstem responses in newborns.

This study of tobacco exposure and auditory processes was conducted in a predominantly low-income population of 40 pregnant women and their newborns. Urinary cotinine concentrations and self-reported smoking status were obtained from the mother during the first prenatal care visit. Auditory brainstem-evoked responses (ABRs) were recorded in neonates to assess neuroelectrical activity of the auditory nerve following a sound stimulus.