Annals of epidemiology
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Annals of epidemiology · Nov 1997
Comparative StudyAssociations of oral contraceptive use with serum lipids and lipoproteins in young women: the Bogalusa Heart Study.
Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of serum lipids and lipoproteins with oral contraceptive (OC) use were examined among white and black women aged 18-27 years in 1985-86 and 1988-1991 in the Bogalusa Heart Study, a study of cardiovascular disease in a Southern community. ⋯ The unfavorable lipid profile associated with OC use was not apparent upon discontinued use. Lack of an adverse effect of OC use on HDL cholesterol at follow-up may be the result of changing formulations, and requires further examination.
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Annals of epidemiology · Jul 1997
Improving question wording in surveys of culturally diverse populations.
The purpose of this paper is to briefly describe a theoretical model articulating cognitive theory and sources of potential response bias resulting from racial or ethnic cultural experience to survey questions that deal with health behavior. The theory components are then evaluated using questions obtained from national health surveys conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The analysis explores the effects of four cognitive tasks involved in responding to questions as specified by the model: question interpretation, information retrieval from memory, judgment formation, and response editing. Implications for epidemiological research are considered. ⋯ Overall, the results of this research suggest several ways in which the validity of questions about risk behavior can be improved. In designing such questions, the investigator should envision the interview as a structured conversation in which ordinary conversational norms apply. Thus, questions that might request redundant information or that are threatening to the respondent need to be asked in ways that minimize these effects. Using interviewers of the same racial or ethnic group is important. Attending to the order of questions to ensure that redundant information is not requested is important. Writing questions to ensure that where response cues occur they lead the respondent to answer in unbiased ways is also important. Testing questions for potential racial or ethnic bias before using them is also important, even if the questions have been used successfully with population groups other than that or those included in a study.
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Annals of epidemiology · Apr 1997
Case ReportsUrban and rural traumatic brain injuries in Colorado.
The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast the epidemiology of traumatic brain injury among urban and rural residents of Colorado. ⋯ These results provide justification for expanding efforts to prevent traumatic brain injury to include the small, but high-risk group of residents in rural areas.
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The development and attributes of the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) and the Injury Severity Score (ISS) are reviewed. The ISS was proved to be an excellent method for retrospective comparison of overall injury data between populations differing in time or space. Its strengths, purpose, and appropriate uses are emphasized, together with specific comments on statistical analyses and combined scales of anatomic and physiologic injury.
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Annals of epidemiology · Jul 1995
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialA secondary prevention trial of antioxidant vitamins and cardiovascular disease in women. Rationale, design, and methods. The WACS Research Group.
The evidence for a potential benefit of antioxidant vitamins in the prevention and therapy of atherosclerotic disease is derived from laboratory, clinical, and observational epidemiologic studies but remains inconclusive. Data from randomized clinical trials are sparse, particularly for women. Therefore, it is both timely and important to conduct large-scale primary and secondary prevention trials of antioxidants and cardiovascular disease (CVD). ⋯ In the WACS, US female health professionals aged 40 years and older with a history of myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, coronary revascularization, stroke, transient cerebral ischemia, carotid endarterectomy, or peripheral artery surgery will be randomly assigned, utilizing a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design, to receive vitamin E, vitamin C, beta-carotene, and/or placebo. Cardiovascular end points include nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, coronary revascularization procedures, and total CVD mortality. The present article describes the rationale, design, and methods of the trial.