Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Correction: Using Participatory Design To Develop (Public) Health Decision Support Systems Through Gis, S. Michelle Driedger, Anita Kothari, Jason Morrison, Michael Sawada, Eric J. Crighton, Ian D. Graham

Anita Kothari

Background: Organizations that collect substantial data for decision-making purposes are often characterized as being 'data rich' but 'information poor'. Maps and mapping tools can be very useful for research transfer in converting locally collected data into information. Challenges involved in incorporating GIS applications into the decision-making process within the non-profit (public) health sector include a lack of financial resources for software acquisition and training for nonspecialists to use such tools. This on-going project has two primary phases. This paper critically reflects on Phase 1: the participatory design (PD) process of developing a collaborative web-based GIS tool.

Methods: A case study …

Aterosclerose: Comparando Brasil E Estados Unidos, Paulo A. Lotufo

Paulo A Lotufo

No abstract provided.

Sunshine And Suicide At The Tropic Of Capricorn, São Paulo, Brazil, 1996–2004, Paulo A. Lotufo

Paulo A Lotufo

Several studies have confi rmed seasonal variation in suicide rates according to hours of sunshine. The suicide pattern was assessed in São Paulo, southeastern Brazil, at the tropic of Capricorn from 1996 to 2004. Poisson regression was employed to estimate parameters of seasonality, as well as to verify associations for each day between daylight duration and suicide. During the nine-year study period, there were 3,984 suicides (76.9% in men; median age=38.7 years old). Seasonal averages of suicides were similar, as were monthly averages. Poisson regression did not reveal any association between suicide rates and hours of sunshine (p=0.45) for both …

Definitive Radiation Therapy Management For Medically Non-Resectable Clinically Localised Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Results & Prognostic Factors, Edward Yu, Patricia Tai, Robert Ash, Michael Lee, Larry Stitt, George Rodrigues, Rashid Dar, Mark Vincent, Richard Inculet, Richard Malthaner

Edward Yu

The aim of this paper is to review the experience of radical radiation therapy and the prognostic factors of patient outcome for clinically localised, medically inoperable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Clinically staged node-negative NSCLC patients who were not a surgical candidates due to co-morbid diseases but who were eligible for curative treatment, were reviewed in the London Regional Cancer Program (LRCP). This study population was treated between 1st Jan 1985 to 31st Jan 2004. Patients were excluded if they were previously treated with chest radiotherapy. Patients with localised disease, but who refused surgery, were also included in the …

Injury Prevalence Among Children And Adolescents With Mental Retardation, Elspeth M. Slayter, Deborah W. Garnick, Joanna M. Kubisiak, Christine E. Bishop, Daniel M. Gilden, Rosemarie B. Hakim

Elspeth Slayter

Human Rights Abuse And Other Criminal Violations In Port-Au-Prince, Haiti: A Random Survey Of Households, Royce Hutson, Athena Kolbe

Royce A. Hutson

Reliable evidence of the frequency and severity of human rights abuses in Haiti after the departure of the elected president in 2004 was scarce. We assessed data from a random survey of households in the greater Port-au-Prince area. Methods Using random Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinate sampling, 1260 households (5720 individuals) were sampled. They were interviewed with a structured questionnaire by trained interviewers about their experiences after the departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The response rate was 90·7%. Information on demographic characteristics, crime, and human rights violations was obtained. Findings Our findings suggested that 8000 individuals were murdered in the …

Additional Cardiovascular Risk Factors Associated With Excess Weigth In Children And Adolescents. The Belo Horizonte Heart Study, Paulo A. Lotufo

Paulo A Lotufo

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association of overweight and obesity with physical activity, blood pressure (BP) and serum lipid profiles. METHODS Epidemiologic investigation of 1,450 students, between the ages of 6 and 18, in the city of Belo Horizonte, MG. Data: weight, height, BP, skinfold thickness, waist circumference, physical activity, total cholesterol (TC), LDL-c, HDL-c, and dietary habits. RESULTS The prevalence rates for overweight and obesity were 8.4% and 3.1%, respectively. In relation to the students in the lower quartile (Q1) of the distribution of subscapular skinfold, the students in the upper quartile (Q4) presented a 3.7 times higher risk (odds …

Perioperative Beta-Blocker Therapy And Mortality After Major Noncardiac Surgery, Peter K. Lindenauer, Penelope Susan Pekow, Kaijun Wang, Dheeresh K. Mamidi, Benjamin Gutierrez, Evan M. Benjamin

Peter Lindenauer MD

Background: Despite limited evidence from randomized trials, perioperative treatment with beta-blockers is now widely advocated. We assessed the use of perioperative beta-blockers and their association with in-hospital mortality in routine clinical practice.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients 18 years of age or older who underwent major noncardiac surgery in 2000 and 2001 at 329 hospitals throughout the United States. We used propensity-score matching to adjust for differences between patients who received perioperative beta-blockers and those who did not receive such therapy and compared in-hospital mortality using multivariable logistic modeling.

Results: Of 782,969 patients, 663,635 (85 percent) …

A Wintertime Study Of Pahs In Fine And Coarse Aerosols In Sa˜O Paulo City, Brazil, Paulo A. Lotufo

Paulo A Lotufo

The Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons PAHs (naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene, chrysene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene and benzo(ghi)perylene) concentrations in fine (PM2.5) and coarse (PM2.5–10) atmospheric particulate matter were measured at Sa˜o Paulo city, Brazil. The dominant PAHcompounds were indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene, benzo(ghi)perylene and benzo(b)fluoranthene for both the fractions. The calculated ratios of some specific PAHs were in close agreement with those attributed to direct emissions of car exhaust. The factor analysis for PM2.5 produced four factors: Factor 1 was attributed to diesel emissions, Factor 2 was attributed to stationary combustion source, Factor 3 was attributed to vehicular emissions and Factor …

Clinical And Radiographic Correlates Clinical And Radiographic Correlates: A Molecular Epidemiology Study, Elvin H. Geng

Elvin H Geng

No abstract provided.

Ensuring The Comparability Of Comparison Groups: Is Randomization Enough?, Vance Berger, Sherri Rose

Sherri Rose

It is widely believed that baseline imbalances in randomized trials must necessarily be random. In fact, there is a type of selection bias that can cause substantial, systematic and reproducible baseline imbalances of prognostic covariates even in properly randomized trials. It is possible, given complete data, to quantify both the susceptibility of a given trial to this type of selection bias and the extent to which selection bias appears to have caused either observable or unobservable baseline imbalances. Yet, in articles reporting on randomized trials, it is uncommon to find either these assessments or the information that would enable a …

Changes In The Transmission Of Tuberculosis In New York City From 1990 To 1999, Elvin H. Geng

Elvin H Geng

Background: Over the past decade, there has been a reduction in the incidence of tuberculosis in New York City and in the United States. However, the reduction has been confined mainly to U.S.-born persons. Understanding the reasons for the lack of reduction among non–U.S.-born persons may lead to new strategies for tuberculosis control. Methods: We performed DNA fingerprinting with the IS6110 insertion sequence of the organisms isolated from patients with culture-positive tuberculosis in northern Manhattan from 1990 to 1999. The goal was to identify the strains responsible for multiple infections, presumably through recent transmission (clusters of cases), as well as …

Alcohol Consumption And Risk Of Coronary Heart Disease By Diabetes Status, Paulo A. Lotufo

Paulo A Lotufo

Background—An inverse association between moderate alcohol consumption and coronary heart disease (CHD) has been observed in several epidemiological studies. To assess whether a similar association exists among diabetics, we examined the relation between light to moderate alcohol consumption and CHD in men with and without diabetes mellitus in a prospective cohort study. Methods and Results—A total of 87 938 US physicians (2790 with diagnosed diabetes mellitus) who were invited to participate in the Physicians’ Health Study and were free of myocardial infarction, stroke, cancer, or liver disease at baseline were followed for an average of 5.5 years for death with …

O Estado Atual Do Controle Do Diabetes, Da Dislipidemia E Da Hipertensão [Portuguese], Paulo A. Lotufo

Paulo A Lotufo

No abstract provided.

Mortality From Asthma In State Of Sao Paulo (1970-92), Paulo A. Lotufo

Paulo A Lotufo

No abstract provided.