Articles: mortality.
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To assess the relation between body mass index and mortality in middle aged British men. ⋯ This study provides strong evidence of the impact of cigarette smoking on body weight and mortality and strongly suggests that the benefits of giving up smoking are far greater than the problems associated with the increase in weight that may occur.
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To see whether the use of oral contraceptives influences mortality. ⋯ These findings contain no significant evidence of any overall effect of oral contraceptive use on mortality. None the less, only small numbers of deaths occurred during the study period and a significant adverse (or beneficial) overall effect might emerge in the future. Interestingly, the mortality from circulatory disease associated with oral contraceptive use was substantially less than that found in the Royal College of General Practitioners study.
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Scand J Prim Health Care · Dec 1989
Sickness absenteeism and mortality in patients with excessive drinking in somatic out-patient care.
In a study of 2114 patients attending somatic outpatient clinics, 208 were classified as excessive drinkers. Sickness benefit days and sickness periods per year, disability pension, and mortality were studied for the years 1981 to 1985. The excessive drinkers as a group had 13 to 27 more sickness days per year than the other patients. ⋯ The excessive drinking patients without advanced alcohol problems did not have more sickness days than the other patients. Most of these patients (75%) were sick-listed without recognition of their excessive drinking by their doctor. This emphasizes the importance, in terms of sickness benefits and mortality, of better identification of patients with excessive drinking.
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Int J Gynaecol Obstet · Sep 1989
Comparative StudyThe role of confidential enquiries in the reduction of maternal mortality and alternatives to this approach.
The aim of confidential enquiries into maternal deaths is to identify weaknesses in the maternal health care system with a view to remedying them. The method of confidential enquiry is explained using the British system as an example. The reasons why this apparently useful practice is not more widely adopted can in some countries include fears of litigation or lack of trust in confidentiality. Alternative approaches to maternal death audit are discussed.
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Growth of rural Bangladeshi children aged 6-35 months was examined in relation to the history of diarrhoea in 1772 3-month intervals. Weight gain and linear growth were lower in intervals with a history of diarrhoea than in intervals without diarrhoea. However, comparison of weight and height gains in intervals during which diarrhoea occurred at the beginning or at the end showed that after non-bloody diarrhoeas children catch up and that deficits in weight gain and linear growth were no longer apparent a few weeks later. These findings suggest that the effect of diarrhoea on growth is transient and that efforts to control diarrhoea are unlikely to improve children's nutritional status in the long term.