Construction and characterisation of a longitudinal clinical blood pressure database for epidemiological studies of hypertension in pregnancy.

Blood pressure measurement plays a central role in the screening and management of hypertension during pregnancy. Although descriptions of changes in blood pressure patterns of normotensive and hypertensive pregnancies are plentiful, relatively little is known about how modifiable environmental and lifestyle characteristics, including maternal diet and physical activity, influence blood pressure levels in pregnancy. In this paper we provide a detailed description of the first 2000 subjects enrolled in the Omega Prospective Cohort Study.

Seroprevalence and risk factors of syphilis infection in pregnant women delivering at Harare Maternity Hospital, Zimbabwe.

Objective: To evaluate risk factors and outcomes of syphilis during pregnancy.

Design: Hospital based, cross sectional study.

Setting: Harare Maternity Hospital, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Recommendations for treating depression in community-based older adults.

Objective: To present recommendations for community-based treatment of late-life depression to public health and aging networks.

Methods: An expert panel of mental health and public health researchers and community-based practitioners in aging was convened in April 2006 to form consensus-based recommendations. When making recommendations, panelists considered feasibility and appropriateness for community-based delivery, as well as strength of evidence on program effectiveness from a systematic literature review of articles published through 2005.

Pre-pregnancy body mass index, gestational weight gain, and other maternal characteristics in relation to infant birth weight.

Objectives: Infant birth weight is influenced by modifiable maternal pre-pregnancy behaviors and characteristics. We evaluated the relationship among pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), gestational weight gain, and infant birth weight, in a prospective cohort study.

Methods: Women were enrolled at < or =20 weeks gestation, completed in-person interviews and had their medical records reviewed after delivery.

Employment status among adult survivors in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

Background: With increased cure, childhood cancer survivors are reaching adulthood and seeking employment. Host, disease and treatment risk factors may contribute to inability to attain or maintain employment.

Procedure: The prevalence and risk factors for unemployment were evaluated using self-reported employment history in 10,399 childhood cancer survivors and 3,083 siblings >/= age 18 in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS).

Risk of preterm delivery in relation to maternal low birth weight.

Objective: We examined the relationship between maternal low birth weight and preterm delivery risk.

Methods: Information concerning maternal birth weight was collected during in-person interviews. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).

Preterm delivery risk in relation to maternal HIV infection, history of malaria and other infections among urban Zimbabwean women.

Objective: To examine preterm delivery risk in relation to maternal HIV infection, malaria history, and other infections among Zimbabwean women.

Design: Hospital based, cross sectional study.

Setting: Harare Maternity Hospital, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Ergonomics and regulatory politics: the Washington State case.

Background: Every year in the State of Washington more than 50,000 workers experience a work related musculoskeletal disorder (WMSD), making up more than 30% of all worker compensation cases. In 2000, the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) adopted a workplace ergonomics rule requiring employers to reduce worker exposure to hazards that cause or contribute to WMSDs. In 2003, the ergonomics rule was repealed by a margin of 53.

Psychological and social impacts of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in the home.

Background: The majority of cardiac arrests occur in the home. The placement of AEDs in the homes of at-risk patients may save lives through early defibrillation. However, the impact of having an AED in the home on psychological outcomes and quality-of-life is unknown.

Coffee consumption and the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus.

Background: Coffee consumption has been associated with a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. We examined the relationship between coffee consumption and the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus [GDM].

Methods: In this prospective study, 1744 non-diabetic pregnant women were questioned during early gestation about their coffee consumption.

Prevalence and risk factors of hypercholesterolemia among Thai men and women receiving health examinations.

The purpose of our study was to evaluate risk factors for hypercholesterolemia and correlates of serum lipid concentrations in Thai men and women. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 1392 patients (380 men and 1012 women) who received health examinations during July 1999 - February 2000 at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand. Serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and high density lipoprotein- cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations were determined using standard procedures.

A cervical cancer curriculum for Hispanic adolescents in rural high schools: a pilot study.

We assessed the effectiveness of a one-hour curriculum about cervical cancer for high school students. The curriculum was developed and delivered to 142 female students in the 9th to 12th grade at two high schools in rural Eastern Washington State. Self-administered questionnaires assessed changes in knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes related to cervical cancer and Pap smears.

Maternal mid-arm circumference and other anthropometric measures of adiposity in relation to infant birth size among Zimbabwean women.

Background: To examine relationships between maternal anthropometric measures in Zimbabwean women and indices of infant birth size.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of pregnant women admitted for labor and delivery at the Harare Maternity Hospital from July 1998 to March 1999. The study population was comprised of 498 participants who delivered singleton infants.

Epidemiology and pathogenesis of esophageal cancer.

Esophageal cancer remains an important public health problem worldwide. Understanding and preventing the occurrence of this cancer are complicated by the fact that the 2 major histologic types, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (ACE), differ substantially in their underlying patterns of incidence and key etiologic factors. The main characteristic that they share is a high mortality rate.

Factors associated with early opioid prescription among workers with low back injuries.

Unlabelled: Prescription of opioids for nonmalignant musculoskeletal pain has increased substantially in recent years, but there is little information on the incidence of, or factors associated with, such prescription for work-related back pain. In a prospective cohort study (N = 1,067), we examined associations between worker sociodemographic and other characteristics and opioid prescription within six weeks of the first medical visit for workers' compensation claims for work loss due to back injury. We examined administrative, pharmacy, and worker-reported data.

The tobacco industry's response to the COMMIT Trial: an analysis of legacy tobacco documents.

We analyzed internal tobacco industry documents that describe the industry's response to the Community Intervention Trial for Smoking Cessation (COMMIT), a multi-center community-based tobacco intervention project funded by the National Cancer Institute from 1988 to 1992. Our analysis of documents from the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library (www.legacy.

Prevalence and correlates of migraine among women attending a prenatal care clinic in Lima, Peru.

Migraine headaches are among the leading causes of disability in the world. The burden of migraines is highest in women of reproductive age. This cross-sectional study characterized the prevalence, symptoms and correlates of migrainous headaches in 154 pregnant women attending a prenatal care clinic in Lima, Peru.

Predicting major hemorrhage in patients with pelvic fracture.

Background: Pelvic fractures can be an important source of major hemorrhage in victims of blunt trauma. However, no rapid and reliable noninvasive method exists for predicting which subjects will have major hemorrhage. The objective of this study is to use information available upon presentation to the trauma center to develop a clinical prediction rule to identify subjects with pelvic fracture who are at high risk of major hemorrhage.

Survival benefit associated with adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy combined with radiotherapy for high- and low-risk patients with nonmetastatic prostate cancer.

Background: The use of adjuvant androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) combined with radiotherapy has become common in low-risk patients, although clinical trials have focused primarily on high-risk patients. This study examines the effectiveness of adjuvant ADT combined with radiotherapy for a wide range of patients treated in the 1990s.

Methods And Materials: Prostate cancer survival was examined in a population based cohort of 31,643 patients aged 65 to 85 years who were diagnosed with nonmetastatic prostate cancer and treated with external beam radiotherapy and/or brachytherapy.

Wildfire air pollution and daily mortality in a large urban area.

Unusual air pollution episodes, such as when smoke from wildfires covers a large urban area, can be used to attempt to detect associations between short-term increases in particulate matter (PM) concentrations and subsequent mortality without relying on the sophisticated statistical models that are typically required in the absence of such episodes. The objective of this study was to explore whether acute increases in PM concentrations from wildfire smoke cause acute increases in daily mortality. The temporal patterns of daily nonaccidental deaths and daily cardiorespiratory deaths for June of 2002 in the Denver metropolitan area were examined and compared to those in two nearby counties in Colorado that were not affected by the wildfire smoke and to daily deaths in Denver in June of 2001.

Employer coverage of clinical preventive services in the United States.

Purpose: To characterize employers' coverage of clinical preventive services.

Design: Mercer Human Resource Consulting Inc. included questions on clinical preventive services as part of its National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans, 2001.

Monthly variation in preeclampsia prevalence: Washington State, 1987-2001.

Objective: We investigated the extent of monthly variation in preeclampsia prevalence among primiparous women in Washington State who delivered from 1987 through 2001.

Methods: We identified all primiparae who gave birth to a singleton live infant during the study period using state birth records linked to hospital inpatient discharge data. We obtained a random sample and excluded women with pre-existing hypertension, renal disease, or diabetes mellitus or missing information on estimated date of conception (EDC) (n = 79 298).

Homeopathy for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a pilot randomized-controlled trial.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to carry out a preliminary trial evaluating the effectiveness of homeopathy in the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Design: This work was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Settings/location: This study was conducted in a private homeopathic clinic in the Seattle metropolitan area.

Maternal plasma transforming growth factor-beta1 concentrations in preeclamptic and normotensive pregnant Zimbabwean women.

Objective: We examined the relationship between maternal plasma transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) concentrations and risk of preeclampsia among women delivering at Harare Maternity Hospital in Zimbabwe. We evaluated the relationship in the context of maternal systemic inflammation using plasma tumor necrosis factor-a soluble receptor p55 (sTNFp55) as a marker.

Methods: 132 women with preeclampsia and 180 controls were included in this case-control study analysis.