American journal of epidemiology
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The association of knee injury and obesity with unilateral and bilateral osteoarthritis of the knee.
The strength of the associations of knee injury and obesity with osteoarthritis of the knee was studied for 3,885 adults aged 45-74 years who received knee x-rays in the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1971-1975. Bilateral osteoarthritis was more prevalent (5%) than unilateral osteoarthritis (2%). Bilateral osteoarthritis was twice as prevalent in women as in men; however, there was no sex difference in the prevalence of unilateral osteoarthritis. ⋯ Obesity was a stronger predictor of bilateral osteoarthritis than was knee injury (odds ratio (OR) = 6.6 for obesity, 3.5 for right knee injury, and 3.0 for left knee injury; 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.71-9.18, 1.80-6.83, and 1.51-6.11, respectively). Knee injury was a stronger predictor of unilateral osteoarthritis than was obesity (OR = 3.4 and 2.4 for obesity in the right and left knee, respectively (95% CI 1.55-7.29 and 0.96-5.75) and OR = 16.3 and 10.9 for injury in the right and left knee, respectively (95% CI 6.50-40.89 and 3.72-31.93]. These findings suggest that different pathogenetic processes may exist for unilateral and bilateral knee osteoarthritis.
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The authors interviewed 116 female residents of western Washington State with serous and mucinous borderline ovarian tumors diagnosed between 1980 and 1985 and questioned them on their use of hygienic powders. A sample of 158 control women from the same counties were identified through random digit dialing and were interviewed as well. ⋯ However, women who used deodorizing powders alone or in combination with other talc-containing powders had 2.8 times the risk (95% confidence interval 1.1-11.7) of women who had not had perineal exposure to powder. These results suggest that future studies of ovarian tumors in relation to the application of talc-containing powders should consider ascertaining the specific type(s) of powder used.