Articles: mortality.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jan 1981
Comparative StudyCauses of death among anesthesiologists: 1930-1946.
The causes of death among anesthesiologists from 1930 through 1946 were determined and compared to the causes of death for contemporaneous physicians as well as anesthesiologists in later eras. Names of US white male anesthesiologists listed in the annual Directories of Anesthetists compiled by the International Anesthesia Research Society were searched for in the death files of the American Medical Association. Among those listed in the Directories 274 deaths were located. ⋯ Anesthesiologists practicing in the earlier part of this century had lower death rates and they were less likely to die of malignant neoplasms than contemporaneous white men. The death rates for these anesthesiologists were similar to those for anesthesiologists during 1947-1956, but greater than rates observed for anesthesiologists during 1957-1971. This suggests that exposure to the fluorinated anesthetic agents introduced in the mid-1950s may not be an important health hazard.
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The pediatrician's role in teenage pregnancy is multifaceted. The problem is a sociologic phenomenon with medical consequences. The pregnant teenager actually represents three patients: the mother, the baby, and the adolescent herself. ⋯ Pediatricians should work to gain acceptance of laws modeled after the American Academy of Pediatrics' health care for minors policy. Lastly, support services to promote proper parenthood and establishment of families can be developed with pediatric input. The entire problem must be viewed in the context of current social patterns, an understanding of adolescent development, the significance of peer pressures, and the biological changes that make it possible for children to bear children.
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A pilot survey was recently undertaken among 301 married women below 50 years of age and having been pregnant at least once. These women lived in a rural environment: the first group in a peri-urban area which is developing rapidly, and the second in a traditional rural area. The survey elicited information on various aspects of the 1,476 pregnancies reported by the women in the sample, including infant mortality, complications in pregnancy, abortions, as well as the number of medical consultations. ⋯ It is evident that health care is equated with curative treatment and that the positive dimensions of prevention and health maintenance are not properly perceived. The fact that in the more conservative areas 98.1% of births take place at home shows the existence of a traditional health system which is not sufficiently taken into account by health planners. In fact, local birth attendants and midwives represent for the health services untapped manpower which, if adequately trained, could help to eliminate the risks currently associated with home births.