Developmental screening using parent report.

The need for comprehensive screening of pediatric populations to identify potential development problems is widely accepted. The lack of systematic screening in pediatric practice is due to several factors, including the need for an efficient, reliable instrument and the limited professional time available for screening. The present study compares the effectiveness of a screening instrument, the Minnesota Child Development Inventory, with an individually administered psychological test, the McCarthy Scales of Child Development.

Verification of smoking status by thiocyanate in unrefrigerated, mailed saliva samples.

A simple method of obtaining an unbiased verification of smoking status was developed for use in a randomized clinical trial. At the end of smoking cessation intervention for pregnant women, each participant mailed a saliva sample to a laboratory for the determination of thiocyanate. For comparison, salivary thiocyanate also was measured by a standard collection method in a reference group of non-study women who did not smoke during pregnancy.

The vulnerable child syndrome: fact and theory.

Studies which have evaluated parent-child relationships following a life-threatening event indicate that parents and children have subsequent interactional difficulties. This study sampled a group of 17 mothers who gave birth to a low birth weight infant (mean weight 1260 grams) and compared them to 17 mothers of normal infants matched for age, education and marital status. The mothers were studied at the infant's adjusted chronological age of 12 to 18 months.

Sex, race, age, and hypertension as determinants of employee absenteeism.

This study examined the effects of hypertension on two measures of employee absenteeism with the three confounding variables of sex, race, and age held constant. Subjects were 820 Maryland State employees who participated in a worksite blood pressure screening program. Comparison of official records for the year before (1978) and after screening (1979) revealed a small increase in the frequency of sick calls, a decrease in average duration of sick calls, and no net effect on total number of sick hours.

The effect of antismoking intervention during pregnancy: an assessment of interactions with maternal characteristics.

In a previous experimental study, which included 935 pregnant smokers recruited from private obstetric practices located in a large metropolitan area and from one hospital obstetric clinic, a 92-g difference was found between infants born to women who had antismoking intervention and those born to women in a control group. The current report further examines the effect of intervention on both smoking cessation during pregnancy and birth weight. Specific attention is given to interactions between intervention and maternal characteristics.

A hypertension treatment program at the workplace to complement community care.

A worksite hypertension control program was established for employees of the state of Maryland. Employees were screened for hypertension, and individuals identified as hypertensive were encouraged to seek care from community physicians. For those choosing not to seek such community care, a treatment program was initiated at the worksite.

Malignant melanoma simulating schwannian differentiation.

A malignant melanoma demonstrating palisades of spindled melanocytes strikingly similar to Verocay bodies is reported. Immunohistochemical staining for S-100 protein and neuron-specific enolase revealed uniform positive staining of the neoplastic cells consistent with malignant melanoma. Immunohistochemical staining for myelin basic protein, a marker specific for Schwann cells, was negative in neoplastic cells.

A clinical trial of change in maternal smoking and its effect on birth weight.

These clinical trial results are the first, to our knowledge, from a prospective, randomized, and controlled experiment demonstrating that a reduction of smoking during pregnancy improves the birth weight of the infant. Nine hundred thirty-five pregnant smokers were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups; the former received smoking intervention. At the eighth month of pregnancy, differences between the two groups in salivary thiocyanate level and reported smoking were statistically significant.

Salivary thiocyanate in pregnant smokers: a comparison of two collection methods.

Two simple methods of obtaining a salivary thiocyanate sample were tested to determine (1) if salivary thiocyanate could adequately differentiate a group of pregnant women into smokers and nonsmokers and (2) whether the simpler collection method of having the woman spit directly into the container produced as good a measurement of smoking exposure as having the woman chew a dental roll. Results show that thiocyanate measured from saliva samples collected by either of the two tested methods discriminates smokers from nonsmokers among pregnant women. The method of spitting directly into the collection container resulted in as good a discrimination of smokers from nonsmokers as results from the more complicated method of having subjects chew a dental roll.

Infectious gastroenteritis in Norfolk Island and recovery of viruses from drinking water.

A high incidence of gastroenteritis in both islanders and tourists has been recorded in recent years on Norfolk Island--a popular tourist resort for Australians and New Zealanders. No bacterial cause has been found. However, electron microscopic examination of 28 faecal specimens revealed viruses associated with gastroenteritis in 21 (75%).

Sexual abuse of young children.

For an 18-month period, all sexual abuse cases were referred to a project social worker. From her initial interview and the medical records, data were analyzed for 113 children who were 12 years of age or younger. It was found that half were five years or younger and three-fourths of the cases were female children.

Alienation, dogmatism, and related personality characteristics.

Examined the relationship between alienation and dogmatism, as measured by shared personality characteristics. Scores from the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale, the Keniston Alienation Scale, the California Test of Personality, and the Omnibus Personality Inventory were obtained for a sample of 92 college freshmen. Alienation and dogmatism were found to be positively related concepts.

Correlates of attendance and compliance in the hypertension detection and follow-up program.

The Hypertension Detection and Follow-Up Program (HDFP) screened 159,000 individuals aged 30-69 years in 14 communities. Using a two-stage process, 10,940 hypertensives were randomized into two treatment groups. The first group was referred to community sources for care (RC), and the second received free Stepped Care (SC) treatment with extensive efforts to reduce the barriers to care.

Relationship of demographic characteristics of interviewers to blood pressure measurements.

This report describes findings from the Hypertension Detection and Follow-Up Program (HDFP) on the relationship between traits of interviewers and outcome of blood pressure measurements taken during home interviews. Mean diastolic blood pressure readings and prevalence data for 137,417 respondents taken by 617 interviewers are analyzed. Findings from regression analysis show that the magnitude of the absolute or relative difference in outcome of blood pressure measurements is associated much more positively with the characteristics of race and sex of the respondent than these characteristics in the interviewer.

Efficacy of two dosage schedules of cephalexin in dermatologic infections.

Is the administration of oral antibiotics four times a day as necessary as some pharmacokinetic studies indicate? The efficacy of cephalexin administered twice a day was compared to the same drug administered four times a day for the treatment of skin and skin structure infections due to staphylococcus and/or streptococcus. The 154 outpatients in this four-clinic study ranged in age from 1 month to more than 70 years. A random number table was used to assign patients to either the twice a day or the four times a day regimen.

Phonological fusion in dichotic monitoring.

Phonological fusion (e.g., BACK + LACK perceived as BLACK) was examined in a dichotic monitoring task that required subjects to press a button whenever they thought a predesignated target (e.

Effect of diet and Lactobacillus acidophilus supplements on human fecal bacterial enzymes.

The effect of diet and Lactobacillus acidophilus supplements on fecal microflora enzyme activity was studied in humans. The bacterial enzymes that were investigated are known to catalyze reactions that may result in formation of proximal carcinogens. Compared to vegetarians, omnivores eating a "Western-type" diet had higher levels of beta-glucuronidase, nitroreductase, azoreductase, and steroid 7-alpha-dehydroxylase in their fecal microflora.