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Biomedical subjects

B De Stavola

Publications and source records attributed to B De Stavola.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Do common mental disorders increase cigarette smoking? Results from five waves of a population-based panel cohort study.

A prospective panel cohort design was used to investigate whether mental disorders common in the general population increase the likelihood of increased cigarette smoking at 12 months follow-up. By 1995, the last year for which data were available, a random sample of 12,057 persons aged 16-75 years residing in private households in Great Britain had been recruited. At each of five annual waves, the main exposure, past mental disorder, was derived from assessments of psychiatric morbidity as measured by the General Health Questionnaire-12. Increased cigarette smoking was derived from observations of number of cigarettes smoked and was defined by an increase of five or more per day relative to the previous calendar year. After logistic regression analysis, persons with a common mental disorder were about 30% more likely to have increased their cigarette smoking over the previous year (odds ratio = 1.29, 95% confidence interval: 1.16, 1.43). The estimated effect in the youngest (16-21 years) and oldest (51-75 years) age groups was higher than that in the middle (31-50 years) age group (odds ratios = 1.50, 1.57, and 1.12, respectively; test for interaction, chi2 = 6.8 (3 df), p = 0.078). These findings indirectly support the hypothesis that common mental disorders may have an enduring effect of increasing cigarette smoking a year later.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

The effect of reproductive history on future pregnancy outcomes.

The aim of this study was to examine the separate and joint effects of previous pregnancy history, year of pregnancy outcome, maternal age, height, smoking and fertility on risk of fetal death. Data were available from a study of female radiographers. Analyses were carried out on 3053 women with a total of 6993 pregnancies. Women reporting problems with conception or previous fetal losses had an increased risk of a pregnancy ending in a fetal death. In particular, women with primary or secondary infertility had an approximately fourfold increase in risk compared with women who reported no difficulties [odds ratio (OR): 3.92; 95% confidence interval (CI): (3.02, 5.07)]. This relationship was independent of pregnancy order and pregnancy history and was more marked in older maternal ages. The effect of pregnancy history was cumulative and possibly multiplicative in effect, with a threefold increase in the risk of losing a third pregnancy following two previous losses [OR: 3.19; 95% CI: (1.60, 6.35)]. There were no consistent patterns of risk associated with year of pregnancy outcome, maternal age, height or smoking status. These results suggest that previous pregnancy outcomes and problems with conception may be the strongest determinants of fetal loss in subsequent pregnancies.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Do urinary oestrogen metabolites predict breast cancer? Guernsey III cohort follow-up.

This is the first prospective study of urinary measures of the two major competing pathways of oestrogen metabolism, 16alpha-hydroxyoestrone (16alpha-OHE1) and 2-hydroxyoestrone (2-OHE1), in relation to incident breast cancer risk. Experimental and case-control study results suggest that metabolism favouring the more oestrogenic 16alpha-OHE1 pathway may be linked to higher breast cancer risk. Women aged 35 and older from Guernsey (n = 5104) were surveyed in 1977-85 and have been continuously monitored for breast cancer and mortality up to the present (Guernsey III, Imperial Cancer Research Fund). Incident cases of breast cancer were matched to three control subjects for comparison of urinary oestrogen metabolite levels measured by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) in spot urine samples collected at baseline and stored frozen for up to 19 years. Consistent with case-control study results, post-menopausal (but not premenopausal) women at baseline who went on to develop breast cancer showed about a 15% lower 2:16alpha-OHE1 ratio than matched control subjects. Further, subjects with metabolite ratios in the highest tertile of 2:16alpha-OHE1 had about a 30% lower risk than women with ratios in the lowest two-thirds, although results were not statistically significant (OR = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.29-1.75). It is of potential importance that, in contrast to most risk factors for breast cancer, such as late age at first birth, oestrogen metabolism appears to be modifiable via diet and exercise, offering women the possibility of lowering breast cancer risk through non-pharmacological measures, although this remains to be tested.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

A population-based study of cancer risk in twins: relationships to birth order and sexes of the twin pair.

One thousand and sixty-three twins with cancer whose co-twin was born alive were identified among patients born since September 1939 with cancers incident in England and Wales during 1971-1984 at childhood and young adult ages. Site-specific risks of cancer were analysed in relation to birth order within the twinship and sexes of the twin pair, using adjusted national birth data to give control distributions of these variables. Risk of leukaemia was increased in first-born twins, risk of testicular cancer was increased in second-born twins with female co-twins but decreased in second-born twins with male co-twins and lung cancer risk was increased in first-born twins with same-sex co-twins. Cutaneous melanoma risk was increased in persons with opposite-sex co-twins, nervous system cancer risk was increased in females with opposite-sex co-twins and Hodgkin's disease risk was increased in persons with same-sex co-twins. For most of the findings, no previous comparable analyses are available, so interpretation of the results must be provisional until the analyses can be repeated on other data. The result for leukaemia would accord with previous suggestions that leukaemia may be of prenatal origin and may sometimes lead to intrauterine death. The Hodgkin's disease result would fit with theories of an infectious aetiology, and this view is strengthened by reanalysis of previous data on paralytic poliomyelitis in twins, which show a pattern similar to that for the Hodgkin's disease patients. Cancer risk in relation to birth order and sex of twins can give novel, objective data relating to prenatal and infectious disease aetiology of cancers.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

A case-control study of cervix cancer in Singapore.

Cervix cancer is about twice as common in Asia as in the Western world and its incidence varies among different Asian ethnic groups. A study based in Singapore, the population of which comprises Chinese, Indians and Malaysians, offers the opportunity to evaluate whether the same risk factors are important in this part of the world as in the West. A total of 135 cases and an equal number of controls were interviewed and details concerning reproductive and sexual history, smoking, hygiene, socio-economic status and education were collected. Seventy-three cases had invasive cancer while 62 had micro-invasive disease or CIN III. The most important risk factors were parity and number of sexual partners. Smoking was rare in cases and controls and did not appear to be an important determinant of risk. Of the socio-economic factors, education appeared most predictive and lowered the risk. Age at first intercourse was strongly correlated with education (positively) and parity (negatively), but not with number of sexual partners. Biopsies were available for HPV DNA analysis in 38 cases and 37% were positive, mostly for HPV type 16. All these factors gave similar risks in invasive and preinvasive disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Multiple myeloma--a case-control study.

A total of 399 patients with multiple myeloma and an equal number of match controls were interviewed about factors possibly related to the causes of their disease. Factors studied included occupation, chemical exposure, radiation exposure, prior diseases, immunizations, chronic infections and markers for defects in immune regulation. A strong risk associated with agriculture/food processing was observed (RR = 1.8, P = 0.002). The risk could not be restricted to those exposed to animals or meat products, or those exposed to pesticides. Significant excesses were also noted for reported exposures to chemicals and gases/fumes, but no specific agent or group of agents could be identified. Cases had fewer tonsillectomies above the age of 10 (P = 0.01). A large excess of shingles (herpes zoster) was observed in cases (P less than 0.001), but most of the excess cases occurred within 10 years of diagnosis, suggesting this was a preclinical manifestation of disease rather than a cause of it.

Adult↗