Articles: health.
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Annals of epidemiology · May 1994
Age-specific patterns of association between breast cancer and risk factors in black women, ages 20 to 39 and 40 to 54.
Data from the 1980 to 1982 population-based Cancer and Steroid Hormone case-control study of women 20 to 54 years old afforded the opportunity to investigate risk factors for breast cancer among black women younger than 40 years (177 patients and 137 control subjects) and to compare the results to black women 40 to 54 years old (313 patients and 348 control subjects). Information on exposure variables was obtained by in-person interviews. The logistic regression results indicated that the risk of breast cancer among black women younger than 40 years was nearly three times greater for those who used oral contraceptives for more than 10 years relative to never-users (odds ratio, 2.8; 95% confidence interval, 1.2 to 6.8) and more than four times greater for severely obese women (body mass index > or = 32.30 kg/m2) relative to women whose relative weights were less than 24.90 kg/m2. Patterns of association for the two age groups were similar for surgical menopausal, age at first full-term pregnancy, and multiple births, but differed for age at menarche.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of mortality between villages with and without Primary Health Care workers in Upper River Division, The Gambia.
Health services utilization was analysed in a rural area of the The Gambia. In general, health workers were consulted frequently. ⋯ The relationship between cause specific mortality and the utilization of health services is discussed. Childhood mortality was similar in villages with or without a primary health care worker at the time of the study.
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Comparative Study
Attitudes to malaria, traditional practices and bednets (mosquito nets) as vector control measures: a comparative study in five west African countries.
Five West African communities were visited to assess the knowledge of the cause of malaria and to document traditional ways of treating and preventing the infection. Knowledge of the cause of malaria was low in the five communities visited. ⋯ Malaria was treated by a number of traditional practices, including herbal remedies. Bednets were used to a varying extent, from 44% Ghana to 86% Gambia, in each community to protect against mosquito bites but also for other purposes such as privacy, decoration and protection from roof debris dropping on the bed.
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1344 expectant mothers were selected by random sampling from the catchment population of 15 health centres in Riyadh. The health centres were taken to represent all areas of urban Riyadh. These mothers were asked to complete a pre-designed questionnaire in Arabic and undergo a structured interview by trained midwives to explore their knowledge, attitude and practice toward antenatal visits. ⋯ However the family income and gestational age at booking affected the number of antenatal visits (P-values were less than 0.0003 and 0.0001 respectively). The respondents' most striking reason for non-compliance was related to accessibility to health centre. 23.3% thought that the health centres were far away from their residence and they needed to involve the husbands in driving them to health centres. Recommendations were given to improve aspects of accessibility and inviting more antenatal visits in addition to improving quality of such service.