Seizures with fever after unprovoked seizures: an analysis in children followed from the time of a first febrile seizure.

Purpose: To determine how the onset of unprovoked seizures influences recurrence of seizures with fever in children followed from the time of a first febrile seizure.

Methods: In a prospective cohort of children (n = 428) identified at the time of a first febrile seizure, predictors of a second seizure with fever were identified. The occurrence of a first unprovoked seizure was treated as a time-dependent covariate in a Cox regression model rather than as a censoring point as it traditionally has been in the past.

Mouthwash use and dentures in relation to oral epithelial dysplasia.

This case-control study investigated the potential association between oral epithelial dysplasia (OED) and both mouthwash and denture use. Incident OED cases aged 20-79 years were identified through two oral pathology laboratories. Controls were pair-matched (1:1) to cases on age (+/- 5 years), gender, appointment date and surgeon.

Spontaneous abortion and exposure to electric blankets and heated water beds.

We conducted a prospective study (N = 2,967) to evaluate the relation of spontaneous abortion with use of electrically heated beds (electric blankets and heated water beds) during pregnancy. At interview, 61.5% of women were at less than 12 weeks gestation, and 38.

Statistical evaluation of the role of Helicobacter pylori in stress gastritis: applications of splines and bootstrapping to the logistic model.

Stress gastritis is a serious problem in the intensive care unit population. The recent discovery of the causal nature of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in the development of gastric ulcers led us to examine its relationship with stress gastritis.

The increase of Hodgkin's disease incidence among young adults. Experience in Connecticut, 1935-1992.

Background: Recent studies have indicated an increase in young adulthood Hodgkin's disease incidence, particularly among females, since 1970. However, no studies have examined the long term trends and period-cohort patterns of Hodgkin's disease incidence.

Methods: The current study reported time trends and age-period-cohort patterns of Hodgkin's disease incidence during the period 1935-1992, with an emphasis on incidence rate changes among young adults, using data from the Connecticut Tumor Registry.

Administration of methylprednisolone for 24 or 48 hours or tirilazad mesylate for 48 hours in the treatment of acute spinal cord injury. Results of the Third National Acute Spinal Cord Injury Randomized Controlled Trial. National Acute Spinal Cord Injury Study.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of methylprednisolone administered for 24 hours with methyprednisolone administered for 48 hours or tirilazad mesylate administered for 48 hours in patients with acute spinal cord injury.

Design: Double-blind, randomized clinical trial.

Setting: Sixteen acute spinal cord injury centers in North America.

Are cancers of the salivary gland increasing? Experience from Connecticut, USA.

Background: Recent studies indicate that cancers of the salivary gland are increasing, and the factors responsible for the increase are unknown. Artefactual changes, such as shift in classifying cancers of the floor of the mouth to cancers of the salivary gland, could affect the time trend for salivary gland cancer.

Methods: The current study examined the time trends for cancers of the salivary gland and for cancers of the floor of the mouth and lower gum by using Connecticut Tumor Registry data for the time period 1935-1992.

Predictors of recurrent febrile seizures. A prospective cohort study.

Objectives: To define the risk and identify predictors of single and multiple recurrent febrile seizures.

Methods: Children (n = 428) with first febrile seizures were prospectively identified and followed for 2 or more years. Parents were interviewed soon after their children's first febrile seizure and were called every 3 months to ascertain recurrent febrile seizures.

Risk of tongue cancer associated with tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption: a case-control study.

Recent studies indicate that cancer of the tongue is increasing rapidly among the younger population in many parts of the world. Few studies, however, have directly examined the risk factors for the disease. A case-control study was conducted in Beijing, China to investigate risk factors for tongue cancer.

Time trend of female breast carcinoma in situ by race and histology in Connecticut, USA.

A rapid increase of female breast cancer has been reported in many areas of the world and the reasons are not fully understood. While some have attributed the increase to the increasing detection of early stage breast cancer through mammography screening, few studies have directly examined the time trend of in situ breast cancer specifically. This study included all incident cases of female breast carcinoma in situ reported to the Connecticut Tumor Registry between 1973 and 1992.

A simulation study of the number of events per variable in logistic regression analysis.

We performed a Monte Carlo study to evaluate the effect of the number of events per variable (EPV) analyzed in logistic regression analysis. The simulations were based on data from a cardiac trial of 673 patients in which 252 deaths occurred and seven variables were cogent predictors of mortality; the number of events per predictive variable was (252/7 =) 36 for the full sample. For the simulations, at values of EPV = 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25, we randomly generated 500 samples of the 673 patients, chosen with replacement, according to a logistic model derived from the full sample.

Time trend and age-period-cohort effect on incidence of bladder cancer in Connecticut, 1935-1992.

Earlier studies indicated that the incidence rates for bladder cancers rose rapidly in both the United States and Europe. Tobacco smoking is considered to be the major risk factor for urinary bladder cancer, and recent studies from Connecticut show that several smoking-related cancers have started leveling off or decreasing. The time trend for bladder cancer, however, is not clear in Connecticut.

Smoking and drinking in relation to oral epithelial dysplasia.

Oral epithelial dysplasia (OED) is a histopathological diagnosis that is associated with an increased risk of oral cancer. The purpose of this case-control study was to measure the association between OED and the use of smoking tobacco and alcoholic beverages. Incident cases of OED (n = 127) were identified through two oral pathology laboratories.

Asthma among Puerto Rican Hispanics: a multi-ethnic comparison study of risk factors.

For a study of childhood asthma we interviewed 9,276 mothers during 1993-1994, ascertaining whether they had asthmatic children younger than 18 yr of age and asking about genetic and environmental risk factors for asthma. Independent risk factors for asthma in 7,776 children were: Hispanic and African American ethnicity, maternal history of asthma, lower socioeconomic status (SES) of the mother, and the presence of a cigarette smoker in the household. Hispanic ethnicity was also a strong risk factor for asthma in the mother.

Sex differences in survival after myocardial infarction in older adults: a community-based approach.

Objective: To determine sex differences in survival after myocardial infarction in older individuals.

Design: Prospective cohort study based on a community sample of older individuals. All patients were followed for 1 year after hospital admission.

Malignant melanoma risk factors by anatomic site: a case-control study and polychotomous logistic regression analysis.

This population-based case-control study systematically examined reported malignant melanoma risk factors by anatomic site. Study subjects consisted of 548 invasive melanoma cases diagnosed in Connecticut during 1987-1989 and 494 randomly selected controls. Multivariate polychotomous logistic regression was used to determine whether risk factors differed across anatomic sites.

Second solid tumors in patients with Hodgkin's disease cured after radiation or chemotherapy plus adjuvant low-dose radiation.

Purpose: Late solid tumors (STs) are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in long-term survivors of Hodgkin's disease. To investigate the carcinogenic potential of two different therapeutic approaches, we measured the relative risk (RR) of STs in patients with early-stage disease cured after primary full-dose (approximately 40 Gy) radiation therapy (RT) and in patients with advanced disease who were treated with chemotherapy followed by low-dose (15 to 30 Gy) involved-field radiation (CMT).

Patients And Methods: Because therapy-induced STs generally begin after a latency period of 5 to 10 years, we restricted our analysis to patients treated before 1986 who achieved durable remissions.

Time trend and age-period-cohort effect on incidence of thyroid cancer in Connecticut, 1935-1992.

Recent studies from Europe suggest a continuing increase in thyroid cancer, but it is unclear whether this trend also applies to the United States. The current study examined the long-term trend of thyroid cancer in Connecticut. Our results show that the overall age-adjusted incidence rate of thyroid cancer has been increasing in Connecticut, from 1.

MASCIS evaluation of open field locomotor scores: effects of experience and teamwork on reliability. Multicenter Animal Spinal Cord Injury Study.

The Multicenter Animal Spinal Cord Injury Study (MASCIS) adopted a modified 21-point open field locomotor scale developed by Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) at Ohio State University (OSU) to measure motor recovery in spinal-injured rats. BBB scores categorize combinations of rat hindlimb movements, trunk position and stability, stepping, coordination, paw placement, toe clearance, and tail position, representing sequential recovery stages that rats attain after spinal cord injury. A total of 22 observers from 8 participating centers assessed 18 hindlimbs of 9 rats at 2-6 weeks after graded spinal cord injury.

Maternal caffeine consumption and spontaneous abortion: a prospective cohort study.

We investigated the relation between caffeine beverage consumption and spontaneous abortion in 2,967 pregnant women planning to deliver at Yale-New Haven Hospital in 1988-1992. We evaluated coffee, tea, and soda drinking in the first month of pregnancy in interviews before the end of the sixteenth week of gestation. We obtained information on 98.

The continuing increase in adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix: a birth cohort phenomenon.

Background: Adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix has been reported to be increasing among young white women and earlier studies suggest a birth cohort pattern for the observed increase. No study, however, has examined the time trends of adenocarcinoma of the cervix by birth cohort.

Methods: Using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data through 1990, the current study is designed to examine the time trends of invasive adenocarcinoma by birth cohort.

A model for the effect of cigarette smoking on lung cancer incidence in Connecticut.

Population based data on smoking history derived from NCHS surveys were used to develop a model for lung cancer incidence in Connecticut. Trends in smoking prevalence suggest that, while the prevalence in men increased earlier than women, more male smokers have quit than their female counterparts. These trends in smoking prevalence suggest striking gender differences in a period effect for the smoking prevalence.