Chemotherapy treatment and survival in older women with estrogen receptor-negative metastatic breast cancer: a population-based analysis.

Unlabelled: To investigate the survival benefit associated with chemotherapy receipt in older women with estrogen receptor-negative (ER-) Stage IV breast cancer.

Design: Observational, retrospective cohort study using Cox proportional hazards regression to determine effect of chemotherapy on hazard of all-cause mortality. The two samples were an overall sample (n=1,519) and a propensity score-matched sample (n=580) to control for selection to treatment receipt.

Minority enrollment in Parkinson's disease clinical trials.

Under-representation of minorities in clinical trials limits access to information relevant to all segments of the population. We assessed the enrollment of minority subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD) into clinical trials. We searched PubMed for published studies of PD trials conducted in the US over the past 20 years and found that only 41 reported racial/ethnic participation (17%).

Parkinson's disease and functional decline in older Mexican Americans.

The purpose of this study was to establish prevalence and five-year incidence, and explore functional decline among older Mexican Americans with Parkinson's disease (PD). Using data from the Hispanic EPESE, baseline characteristics were compared across PD response profiles. Weighted generalized estimating equations (GEE) modeled the association between PD and outcomes.

Associations of stress and depressive symptoms with cancer in older Mexican Americans.

Objectives: Cancer outcomes vary by ethnicity and socioeconomic status, particularly among the elderly. Although not well understood, there is increasing evidence that psychosocial issues, including depression, may be particularly influential among older minority groups. The objective of this study was to explore associations of stress and depressive symptoms with prevalent cancer in older Mexican Americans.

Associations of psychosocial factors with the stress of infertility treatment.

This study investigated psychosocial factors thought to be associated with perceived stress over the course of infertility treatment. The research was based on secondary analysis of data from the Study of Marriage, Family, and Life Quality with a sample of 128 people who completed an infertility-related stress instrument at all three measurement intervals (1988, 1999, and 1990). Self-esteem and perceived health were associated with stress at the study baseline, importance of a biological family and extent of spousal support associated with stress at the 12-month follow-up, and factors pertaining to infertility treatment (number of treatments, relationship with physicians) associated with stress at the 24-month follow-up.