Publications by authors named "Tracey Serpi"
Article Synopsis
- Heartburn that doesn't improve with proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) is a common issue, possibly needing alternative treatments like surgery or different medications, as there’s no proven effective solution yet.
- In a study, 366 patients with persistent heartburn were initially tested with omeprazole; those who didn’t find relief underwent various diagnostic procedures before being randomly assigned to different treatment groups.
- The results showed that surgical treatment was significantly more effective than active medical treatment or placebo, with 67% of surgical patients reporting success compared to 28% in the active treatment group.
Objectives: We analyzed long-term differences in incident diabetes associated with military service in a warzone among women who served during the Vietnam War era.
Methods: For HealthViEWS, the largest later-life study of women Vietnam War-era U.S.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a leading cause of impairments in quality of life and functioning among Veterans. Service dogs have been promoted as an effective adjunctive intervention for PTSD, however published research is limited and design and implementation flaws in published studies limit validated conclusions. This paper describes the rationale for the study design, a detailed methodological description, and implementation challenges of a multisite randomized clinical trial examining the impact of service dogs on the on the functioning and quality of life of Veterans with PTSD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Little is known about medical morbidity among women Vietnam-era veterans, or the long-term physical health problems associated with their service. This study assessed agreement comparing data on physical health conditions from self-report and medical records from a population-based cohort of women Vietnam-era Veterans from the Health of Vietnam Era Women's Study (HealthViEWS).
Materials And Methods: Women Vietnam-era veterans (n = 4219) self-completed a survey and interview on common medical conditions.
Purpose: Few wartime experiences scales capture unique issues related to women's service, address their military roles, or have been validated with women. The Women's Wartime Stressor Scale was developed for use with women who served during the Vietnam era, primarily as nurses in Vietnam. We revised this measure by modifying existing items, adding new items, and revising response formats to create a scale less nursing specific and nondeployment specific, and conducted a preliminary assessment of the revised scale.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Many Vietnam-era women veterans served in or near war zones and may have experienced stressful or traumatic events during their service. Although posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is well studied among men who served in Vietnam, no major epidemiologic investigation of PTSD among women has been performed.
Objectives: To assess (1) the onset and prevalence of lifetime and current PTSD for women who served during the Vietnam era, stratified by wartime location (Vietnam, near Vietnam, or the United States), and (2) the extent to which wartime location was associated with PTSD, with adjustment for demographics, service characteristics, and wartime exposures.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) module is widely used in epidemiological studies of PTSD, yet relatively few data attest to the instrument's diagnostic utility. The current study evaluated the diagnostic utility of the CIDI 3.0 PTSD module with U.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe conducted a retrospective study among 4,734 women who served in the US military in Vietnam (Vietnam cohort), 2,062 women who served in countries near Vietnam (near-Vietnam cohort), and 5,313 nondeployed US military women (US cohort) to evaluate the associations of mortality outcomes with Vietnam War service. Veterans were identified from military records and followed for 40 years through December 31, 2010. Information on underlying causes of death was obtained from death certificates and the National Death Index.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: Topiramate has shown efficacy at facilitating abstinence from alcohol and cocaine abuse. This double-blind, placebo-controlled out-patient trial tested topiramate for treating methamphetamine addiction.
Design: Participants (n = 140) were randomized to receive topiramate or placebo (13 weeks) in escalating doses from 25 mg/day [DOSAGE ERROR CORRECTED] to the target maintenance of 200 mg/day in weeks 6-12 (tapered in week 13).
Primary Objective: To examine the validity of Maryland Hospital Discharge (MHD) data for identifying and characterizing traumatic brain injury (TBI)-related hospitalizations.
Methods: All TBI-related hospitalizations in 1999 were identified using MHD and Maryland Trauma Registry (MTR) data. In addition, a sample of records were abstracted to compare agreement between MHD and chart data.
Background: This study aimed to examine the validity of using Maryland hospital discharge data to characterize injuries sustained by trauma patients.
Methods: Maryland hospital discharge and Maryland trauma registry data for 1999 were merged, and the extent of agreement regarding the presence and severity of injuries sustained was evaluated.
Results: The mean Injury Severity Score was 8.
Objectives: To describe the epidemiology of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among children in Maryland and to examine factors that influence hospital admission.
Methods: Statewide mortality, hospital discharge, and ambulatory care data were used to identify all TBI-related emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, and deaths that occurred in 1998 to children aged 0-19 years according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's standard case definition and protocol. Inpatient admission was modeled as a function of patient, injury, and hospital characteristics.