American journal of epidemiology
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The relation between height and lower extremity peripheral insensate neuropathy among persons with and without diabetes was examined by use of the 1999-2002 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey with 5,229 subjects aged 40 or more years. A monofilament was used to determine whether any of three areas on each foot were insensate. Peripheral insensate neuropathy was defined as the presence of one or more insensate areas. ⋯ The authors conclude that body height is an important correlate of peripheral insensate neuropathy. This association largely accounts for the difference in peripheral insensate neuropathy prevalence between men and women. Height may help health-care providers to identify persons at high risk of peripheral insensate neuropathy.
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The authors conducted a population-based incident case-control study to assess the relations between different types of interior surface materials and recent renovations at home and at work and the risk of asthma in adults. The authors systematically recruited all new cases of asthma during a 2.5-year study period (1997-2000) and randomly selected controls from a source population consisting of adults 21-63 years of age living in south Finland. ⋯ Use of floor-leveling plaster at home during the past 12 months was also a determinant of onset of asthma (adjusted OR = 1.81, 95% CI: 1.06, 3.08). These findings underline the need to consider the health aspects of materials used in floor, wall, and other indoor surfaces.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Pragmatic randomized trial evaluating the clinical and economic effectiveness of acupuncture for chronic low back pain.
In a randomized controlled trial plus a nonrandomized cohort, the authors investigated the effectiveness and costs of acupuncture in addition to routine care in the treatment of chronic low back pain and assessed whether the effects of acupuncture differed in randomized and nonrandomized patients. In 2001, German patients with chronic low back pain were allocated to an acupuncture group or a no-acupuncture control group. Persons who did not consent to randomization were included in a nonrandomized acupuncture group. ⋯ Nonrandomized patients had more severe symptoms at baseline and showed improvements in back function similar to those seen in randomized patients. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was euro10,526 (euros) per quality-adjusted life year. Acupuncture plus routine care was associated with marked clinical improvements in these patients and was relatively cost-effective.
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The authors used a population-based birth cohort of 3,253 children (52% males) born in Brisbane, Australia, between 1981 and 1984 to prospectively examine whether maternal smoking during pregnancy was associated with offspring overweight and obesity. The authors compared mean body mass indexes (weight (kg)/height (m)2) and levels of overweight and obesity at age 14 years among offspring by patterns of maternal smoking (never smoked, smoked before and/or after pregnancy but not during pregnancy, or smoked during pregnancy). ⋯ These results were independent of a range of potentially confounding factors and suggest a direct effect of maternal smoking during pregnancy on adolescent overweight and obesity. They provide yet another incentive for pregnant women to be persuaded not to smoke and for young women to be encouraged to never take up smoking.