Visual function tests, eye disease and symptoms of visual disability: a population-based assessment.

Purpose: To examine associations between eye disease and tests of visual function with self-reported visual disability.

Methods: The Blue Mountains Eye Study is a cross-sectional census-based survey of eye disease in two postcode areas in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, Australia. Of 4433 eligible residents, 3654 (82,4%) participated.

Sensitivity and specificity of tests to detect eye disease in an older population.

Objective: To compare the ability of tests of visual function to detect the presence of eye disease.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Participants: Three thousand six hundred fifty-four of 4433 (82.

Incidence of nursing home placement in a defined community.

Objective: To assess cumulative incidence and non-cognitive factors predicting nursing home placement in a defined older population.

Design And Setting: Six-year follow-up of a population-based cohort living west of Sydney.

Participants: 3654 non-institutionalised residents aged 49 years or older (82.

Direct on-filter assay of subtilisin-type proteolytic enzymes for rapid analysis of analyte captured from the workplace atmosphere.

A simple assay for some proteolytic enzymes has been developed which can be performed directly on the surface of a cellulose nitrate filter used to capture the analyte during workplace monitoring for health and safety purposes. Following air sampling the analysis is performed on the filter which is retained within the air sampler. This involves two steps: first, a 15 min incubation in which the captured enzyme is dissolved and then digests an alkaline-phosphatase-labelled antibody immobilised as a small dot on the surface of the filter; and second, is a 10 min incubation with substrate solution, which follows an in situ wash under a vacuum.

Detection of protease activity in the wetted surface of gelatin-coated electrodes in air by AC impedance spectroscopy.

As a step towards developing a biosensor which can detect airborne protease droplets, a biosensor which had previously been developed to detect protease in solution is shown to be capable of detecting different concentrations of protease in liquid films on the sensor surface in air. The biosensor measured impedance change due to proteolytic digestion of its gelatin coating. In saturated air there was a rise in impedance, with a loss in weight of the gelatin, in proportion to collagenase concentration.

Mathematical analysis for impedance change with proteolytic digestion of gelatin.

A mathematical analysis is proposed to demonstrate an inter-relationship between the proteolytic digestion of gelatin on the surface of an interdigitated gold electrode and the resulting rate of impedance change, at different collagenase concentrations, in a biosensor used to detect protease in solution. The impedance change due to digestion of the gelatin layer by collagenase for the overall digestion process was expressed in two different stages: an initial exponential period where the rate of impedance change with enzymic digestion was slow, leading to a critical thickness; after which there was a greater change in impedance associated with subsequent dissolution of the layer and partial or complete uncoating of the digits on the electrode surface. An inter-relationship between the rate of impedance change and collagenase concentration within the range 0.

Preoperative mobilization of circulating dendritic cells by Flt3 ligand administration to patients with metastatic colon cancer.

Purpose: To evaluate preoperative dendritic cell (DC) mobilization and tumor infiltration after administration of Flt3 ligand (Flt3L) to patients with metastatic colon cancer.

Patients And Methods: Twelve patients with colon cancer metastatic to the liver or lung received Flt3L (20 microg/kg/d subcutaneously for 14 days for one to three cycles at monthly intervals) before attempted metastasectomy. The number and phenotype of DCs mobilized into peripheral-blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were evaluated by flow cytometry.

Visual impairment and risk of hip fracture.

As part of a case-control study, the Auckland Hip Fracture Study (1991-1994), the authors examined associations between impaired vision and risk of hip fracture. Subjects (911 cases and 910 controls aged 60 years or older) completed a questionnaire and had vision measurements taken, including measurements of visual acuity and stereopsis (depth perception). Binocular visual acuity worse than 20/60 was statistically significantly associated with increased risk of hip fracture after adjustment for age, sex, proxy response, hours of activity per week, and height (odds ratio (OR) = 1.

Iris color and cataract: the Blue Mountains Eye Study.

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between eye color and cataract.

Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study (N = 3654) was conducted near Sydney, Australia. Lens photographs were graded for cortical, nuclear, and posterior subcapsular cataract.

Mortality and morbidity after hip fracture: can evidence based clinical pathways make a difference?

Objective: To evaluate whether evidence based clinical pathways for acute management of hip fracture have an effect on patient care, short term mortality, or residential status.

Methods: Observational cohort study comparing management, as determined by medical record review, and outcomes, as determined by telephone followup 4 months post-fracture, before (n = 455) and after (n = 481) clinical pathway implementation within pathway hospitals as well as between patients admitted to hospitals with (n = 2) and without (n = 4) pathways.

Results: Mean age was 82 years, 80% were women and 30% were admitted from nursing homes.

Postoperative sore throat and hoarseness following tracheal intubation using air or saline to inflate the cuff--a randomized controlled trial.

Sore throat and hoarseness following tracheal intubation is common. The aetiology may include high tracheal cuff pressures. We performed a double-blind, randomized controlled trial in 126 intubated patients to compare the incidence and severity of sore throat and hoarseness following inflation of the cuff using air or saline.

The cost effectiveness of a home hazard reduction program to reduce falls among older persons.

Background: The effectiveness of individual components (other than exercise) of multifactorial intervention packages aimed to reduce the incidence of falls in older people is uncertain. There have been no randomised trials of home modifications alone for the prevention of falls.

Objectives: To estimate the cost-effectiveness of just one component of a multifactorial approach to falls prevention, that is, a home hazard reduction program.

Diabetes, fasting blood glucose and age-related cataract: the Blue Mountains Eye Study.

Aims: To examine the relationship between diabetes and the presence of cortical, nuclear and posterior subcapsular (PSC) cataract in a defined older population, while controlling for known cataract risk factors.

Methods: Slit-lamp and retroillumination lens photographs were taken on 3654 participants attending the population-based Blue Mountains Eye Study during 1992-94. Masked grading of the photographs was performed using the Wisconsin Cataract Grading System.

Systematic review of randomized trials of the effect of exercise on bone mass in pre- and postmenopausal women.

Studies of the effect of exercise programs on bone mass appear inconsistent. Our objective was to systematically review and meta-analyze randomized trials of the effect of exercise on bone mass in pre- and postmenopausal women. A computerized MEDLINE search was conducted for the years 1966-1997.

Prospective study of the impact of fear of falling on activities of daily living, SF-36 scores, and nursing home admission.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of fear of falling on the health of older people.

Methods: A total of 528 subjects (mean age 77 years) were recruited from two hospitals in Sydney, Australia, and followed for approximately 12 months. Eighty-five subjects died during follow-up, and 31 were admitted to an aged care institution.

Interventions for preventing falls in the elderly.

Background: Fractures in the elderly often result from a simple fall.

Objectives: To assess the effects of programmes designed to reduce the incidence of falls in community dwelling, institutionalised, or hospitalised elderly people.

Search Strategy: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycLIT, Social Science Citation Index, Dissertation Abstracts, Index to UK Theses, the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials, and bibliographies of identified studies.

Long-term topical timolol and blood lipids: the Blue Mountains Eye Study.

Objectives: To examine whether an association exists between long-term use of topical timolol and blood lipids, including high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), cholesterol, and triglycerides, among participants of the Blue Mountains Eye Study.

Methods: From 1992 through 1994, a detailed medical and eye examination was performed in 3,654 people aged 49 years or older, representing 82% of permanent residents in two postcode areas west of Sydney. Glaucoma and ocular hypertension were diagnosed, and an ophthalmic history was taken, including use of topical timolol.

Dietary sodium intake and cataract: the Blue Mountains Eye Study.

A population-based cross-sectional study (n = 2,873) was conducted near Sydney, Australia, from January 1992 to January 1994 to assess the relation between dietary sodium intake and risk of cataract. Photographs of subjects' lenses were graded for cortical, nuclear, and posterior subcapsular cataracts. Dietary sodium intake was assessed with a food frequency questionnaire.

Diet and cataract: the Blue Mountains Eye Study.

Purpose: To investigate relationships between a wide range of macro- and micronutrients, including antioxidant vitamins, and the three main types of cataract in older people.

Design: Population-based cross-sectional study.

Participants: Two thousand nine hundred people aged 49 to 97 years living in an urban community near Sydney, Australia.

Hip protectors improve falls self-efficacy.

Objectives: To investigate the effect of use of external hip protectors on subjects' fear of falling and falls self-efficacy (belief in their own ability to avoid falling).

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Aged-care health services in Sydney, Australia.

Quality of life related to fear of falling and hip fracture in older women: a time trade off study.

Objective: To estimate the utility (preference for health) associated with hip fracture and fear of falling among older women.

Design: Quality of life survey with the time trade off technique. The technique derives an estimate of preference for health states by finding the point at which respondents show no preference between a longer but lower quality of life and a shorter time in full health.

Inhaled corticosteroids, family history, and risk of glaucoma.

Objective: Until recently, inhaled corticosteroids were not considered to cause elevated intraocular pressure (IOP), although topical and oral corticosteroids have been shown to do so in susceptible individuals. The authors aimed to (1) identify whether an association existed between inhaled corticosteroid use and elevated IOP or open-angle glaucoma and (2) determine whether this effect may have a genetic basis.

Design: Cross-sectional, population-based study of 3654 persons 49 to 97 years of age attending the Blue Mountains Eye Study, near Sydney, Australia.

Home visits by an occupational therapist for assessment and modification of environmental hazards: a randomized trial of falls prevention.

Objective: To determine whether occupational therapist home visits targeted at environmental hazards reduce the risk of falls.

Design: A randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Private dwellings in the community in Sydney, Australia.