Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

B Crossley

Publications and source records attributed to B Crossley.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Body fatness and physical activity at young ages and the risk of breast cancer in premenopausal women.

We examined the relationship between body fatness, sports participation and breast cancer risk in 1560 premenopausal cases and 1548 controls, from three related population-based case-control studies in the UK. Half of the women with breast cancer were aged less than 36 years at diagnosis. Women who perceived themselves as plump at age 10 years had a relative risk of 0.83 (95% confidence interval 0.69-0.99, P = 0.03) as compared with those who perceived themselves as thin. Self-reported obesity compared with leanness at diagnosis was associated with a relative risk of 0.78 (95% confidence interval 0.56-1.06, P = 0.11). Women who reported having been plump at age 10 years and overweight or obese at diagnosis had a relative risk of 0.75 (95% confidence interval 0.56-1.01, P = 0.06) as compared with those who reported being thin at age 10 years and at diagnosis. Findings for three related measures of body fatness suggested that obesity is associated with a reduced risk of premenopausal breast cancer. There was no association between sports participation and breast cancer risk in these premenopausal women. The relative risk for spending an average of more than 1 h per week in sports compared with less from ages 12 to 30 years was 1.00 (95% CI 0.86-1.16, P = 0.98).

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed2003

Risk factors for adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix in women aged 20-44 years: the UK National Case-Control Study of Cervical Cancer.

We report results on risk factors for invasive squamous cell and adenocarcinomas of the cervix in women aged 20-44 years from the UK National Case-Control Study of Cervical Cancer, including 180 women with adenocarcinoma, 391 women with squamous cell carcinoma and 923 population controls. The risk of both squamous cell and adenocarcinoma was strongly related to the lifetime number of sexual partners, and, independently, to age at first intercourse. The risk of both types of cervical cancer increased with increasing duration of use of oral contraceptives, and this effect was most marked in current and recent users of oral contraceptives. The risk of squamous cell carcinoma was associated with high parity and the risk of both squamous cell and adenocarcinoma increased with early age at first birth. Long duration smoking (20 or more years) was associated with a two-fold increase in the risk of squamous cell carcinoma, but smoking was not associated with the risk of adenocarcinoma. Further studies are needed to confirm the suggestion from this and other studies of differences in risk related to smoking between squamous cell and adenocarcinomas of the cervix.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2002

Predictors of outcome of mammography in the National Health Service Breast Screening Programme.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the factors influencing the risk of recall for assessment, invasive diagnostic procedures, and early rescreening after screening mammography. METHODS: From June 1996 to March 1998 women attending screening at 10 National Health Service Breast Screening Programme (NHSBSP) centres completed a self administered questionnaire and were followed up for their screening outcome. RESULTS: 1969 (3.3%) out of 60 443 women aged 50-64 who had never used hormone replacement therapy (HRT) were recalled for assessment but were not diagnosed with breast cancer (defined here as false positive recall). After adjustment for the variation between centres, false positive recall was decreased significantly among women who were likely to have had a previous NHSBSP mammogram (odds ratio (OR) 0.49, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.38 to 0.63 for likely versus unlikely), who were postmenopausal (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.56 to 0.76 for postmenopausal v premenopausal) and increased significantly for women reporting previous breast surgery (OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.42 to 1.89). Although false positive recall decreased significantly with parity and increasing body mass index, these effects were not large and no significant variation was found with age, education, family history of breast cancer, oral contraceptive use, sterilisation, exercise, smoking, or alcohol consumption. Altogether 655 (1.1%) women had an invasive diagnostic procedure; no personal characteristics were predictive of this outcome, 286(0.5%) were referred for early rescreening, and this was increased significantly by nulliparity and a family history of breast cancer. INTERPRETATION: Premenopausal women, those without a previous NHSBSP mammogram, and women with previous breast surgery have an increased risk of false positive recall by the NHSBSP.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2000

Agreement among three quality of life measures in patients with ALS.

AIM: To determine the concurrent validity of three self-administered health-related quality of life (HRQOL) questionnaires when administered to patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). BACKGROUND: ALS is the most common motor neuron disease among adults. As a rapidly progressive and fatal disease, ALS has devastating effects on the patient's relationships, functional capacity and mental health. HRQOL measures include information about patients' physical impairments, functional level, and psychosocial status. This study compares a tool designed for the ALS population, the Sickness Impact Profile ALS-19 (SIP/ALS19), and two tools designed to be used in any population, the Quality of Well-being Scale SA (QWB SA), and the SF-36 Health Survey (SF-36). Correlation of the scores would suggest that each tool is valid as a stand-alone measurement of quality of life for this patient population. METHODS: The SIP/ALS-19, the SF-36, and the QWB SA were self-administered to 19 subjects diagnosed with ALS. The scores for each test were ranked and analyzed for agreement using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient. RESULTS: The SIP/ALS-19 demonstrated moderate to good correlation with the QWB SA and fair correlation with the SF-36. The SF-36 had little to no correlation with the QWB SA. CONCLUSIONS: The study did not demonstrate significant correlation among the three quality of life measures. The SIP/ALS-19, SF-36, and QWB SA each have a different focus in measuring HRQOL. The healthcare practitioner should consider the patient's stage of disease, treatment goals, and type of interventions planned when selecting a HRQOL tool for the ALS patient.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Effect on attendance at breast cancer screening of adding a self administered questionnaire to the usual invitation to breast screening in southern England.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of the research described in this paper was to ascertain whether inclusion of a self administered questionnaire with the usual invitation to routine breast screening affected screening uptake. Secondary aims included establishing appropriate questionnaire distribution and collection methods within the framework of the National Health Service Breast Screening Programme and optimisation of questionnaire design. DESIGN: Randomised study. SETTING: Oxfordshire and West of London Breast Screening Units. PARTICIPANTS/METHODS: 6400 women invited for routine screening mammography were individually randomised to receive either the usual breast screening invitation alone, or to receive the usual invitation accompanied by a self administered questionnaire, to be returned at the time of screening. Participants were then followed up and attendance rates at screening were compared between groups. MAIN RESULTS: Screening attendance rates were similar in women who did and did not receive a questionnaire (71% in each group). Of those who were sent a questionnaire and attended for screening, 77% returned a completed questionnaire. Screening uptake was not affected by the way in which the questionnaire was returned or by whether or not personal details and signed permission for follow up were requested. CONCLUSIONS: The inclusion of a self administered questionnaire accompanying the invitation to breast screening did not adversely affect screening uptake. A high proportion of women completed the questionnaire.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1994

General practitioner notes as a source of information for case-control studies in young women. UK National Case-Control Study Group.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: The UK National Case-Control Study was carried out to investigate the relationship between oral contraceptive use and breast cancer risk. This study investigates whether general practitioner notes could be used as the sole data source for epidemiological studies of young women and what the effect would be on non-response and recall bias. DESIGN: Case-control study with data on gynaecological, obstetric, and contraceptive history collected at interview and from general practitioners' notes. Information from these two sources was compared. SETTING: This was a population-based study. PARTICIPANTS: Altogether 755 women with breast cancer aged under 36 years at diagnosis, each with an age-matched control, participated in the study. Response rates at interview were 72% and 89% for cases and controls but GP data were available for 90% of the 1049 case and first-selected control pairs. MAIN RESULTS: There was generally good agreement between the two data sources with respect to obstetric history and gynaecological procedures (hysterectomy, oophorectomy, and tubal ligation). The use of intra-uterine devices, or diaphragm, and partner's vasectomy were not reliably recorded in the GP's notes. The overall results of the UK study would have been qualitatively the same with respect to the relationship between oral contraceptive use and breast cancer risk if GP notes only had been used, in spite of the fact that only about half of all oral contraceptive usage was recorded in the notes. Response rates would have been higher, recall bias eliminated, and the cost of the study halved. CONCLUSIONS: When planning case-control studies in young women, the possibility of using GP notes as the primary data source should be considered. Lack of data on potential confounding factors is a possible drawback to such use. The practice of destroying GP's notes shortly after the death of patients seriously restricts the possibility of using these notes when studying rapidly fatal conditions.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

The ability of women to recall their oral contraceptive histories.

Self-reported contraceptive histories were obtained at interview from 99 women and compared with prospectively collected data from the Oxford-Family Planning Association cohort study. The effect of different memory aids was evaluated and an assessment was made of the completeness and accuracy of contraceptive histories recorded in general practice notes. Accuracy of recall of total duration of use was sufficiently good to establish the presence or otherwise of a duration-response relationship and could be improved by the use of a contraceptive calendar. Recall of specific brands used was less accurate. In studies where accurate information on use of particular preparations is required, the use of a photo album is recommended, supplemented by data obtained from general practice records to improve the accuracy of dates. General practice records on their own are not sufficiently complete to be used as a sole source of exposure data in studies in which it is important to obtain a complete oral contraceptive history.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Physiological and morphological responses of the rat kidney to reduced dietary protein.

Renal physiological and morphological adjustments to a reduced protein diet were studied in young Munich-Wistar rats. Two groups of animals were used for the correlative physiological-morphological studies: normal protein (NP, 24% dietary protein) rats and reduced protein (LP, 8% dietary protein) rats. Both groups were fed their respective diets for 4-5 wk and had free access to drinking water. Physiological measurements of GFR and urea clearance were made on five animals from each group. These data showed that the changes in renal function specifically and almost exclusively affected the handling of urea. There was no difference in GFR between the NP and LP rats. Urea clearance was substantially reduced in LP rats. Morphological analyses were made on perfusion-fixed kidneys of five animals from each group. Selected slices were examined and photographed by light and electron microscopy. These data showed no difference in size and number of elements within the vascular bundles but showed significantly smaller lumina of the thin limbs of the short-looped nephrons and a significant thinning of the wall of the thin descending limbs of the long-looped nephrons. These morphological changes may in part be responsible for the observed physiological adjustments to a reduced protein diet. An additional group of rats (6 NP and 5 LP, all dehydrated) were analyzed for distribution of solutes within the inner medulla. The data showed that the concentration of urea, but not that of Na+, was reduced at the papillary tip in LP rats.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed1984

Clinicopathological observations on metastasis in man studied in patients treated with peritoneovenous shunts.

Fourteen patients with inoperable cancer treated with peritoneovenous shunts for malignant ascites were studied post mortem. Clinical observations and findings at necropsy indicated that peritoneovenous shunting does not result in the establishment of clinically important haematogenous metastases and that metastases do not necessarily develop even when large numbers of viable tumour cells regularly enter the blood. Peritoneovenous shunting provides a unique opportunity for collecting data on the spread of tumours in man.

Aged↗
PubMed1984

Mechanisms of human tumor metastasis studied in patients with peritoneovenous shunts.

The technique of peritoneovenous shunting for the alleviation of abdominal pain and distension in malignant ascites due to inoperable cancer, returns the fluid to the circulation via a one-way, valved, anastomosis between the peritoneum and the jugular vein. Surprisingly, although the patients treated with this technique receive direct infusions of malignant tumor cells into the blood, this study of 29 patients, 15 of whom came to autopsy, shows that they did not all develop metastases, some being completely free of such lesions despite long survival. Even when metastases do form, they are small and clinically asymptomatic, and the technique is therefore not hazardous. In some patients, inert tumor cells identifiable by natural markers were recognized in the tissues, but no growing metastases were observed. In others, the distribution of secondary deposits was unexpected in that metastases did not form in the organ containing the first capillary bed encountered, although hematogenous metastases had formed in other organs. Despite the fact that various factors such as (a) the small numbers of patients treated with the technique; (b) the sensitive nature of studies on terminally ill patients; and (c) the absence of consistency in the sample population with regard to factors such as length of survival and site of neoplasm, combine to reduce the number of suitable cases for study, the approach has unrivaled power and interest for those seeking to understand mechanisms underlying tumor metastasis in humans.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Race and abortion: disconfirmation of the genocide hypothesis in a clinical analogue.

This study examined the validity of the proposition that a latent function of liberalized abortion is racial genocide. Using an abortion counseling analogue, forty-two white abortion counselors rendered clinical reactions, including the relative desirability of abortion, to a bogus female patient described as ambivalent about her pregnancy and designated as black or white within a case report. A stronger preference for abortion when the patient was black-identified was not found either among the sample as a whole or among socially traditional and untraditional subgroups.

Abortion Applicants↗