Biomedical subjects

D Jolley

Publications and source records attributed to D Jolley.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1998

The prevalence of hepatitis C in patients admitted with acute hepatitis to Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital, 1971-1975.

OBJECTIVE: To identify and determine trends in the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody in stored sera from 1971 to 1975 and to determine associations with HCV seropositivity, including markers for other hepatitis infections and possible routes of transmission. DESIGN: A retrospective cross-sectional study. PATIENTS AND SETTING: 1511 adults admitted to Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital, Victoria, with a clinical and biochemical diagnosis of hepatitis between 1 January 1971 and 31 December 1975. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence over study period of hepatitis A virus antibody (anti-HAV) IgM, hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc), hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis C virus antibody (anti-HCV) in stored sera; sociodemographic data and risk factors for blood-borne viruses documented in original medical records. RESULTS: Anti-HCV was detected in 17% of adults admitted with hepatitis from 1971 through 1975. Prevalence increased significantly over this period. Most cases were in young men who had a history of injecting drug use. HCV seropositivity was also significantly associated with markers for hepatitis B infection. CONCLUSIONS: Given the 20-30-year period between infection with hepatitis and the development of liver disease, our findings predict significant liver-related morbidity in Australia in the next decade. The increase in prevalence over the five years studied suggests rapid spread of HCV through susceptible populations, principally injecting drug users.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed1998

Specificity of binding of HIV-1 anti-p24 antibodies to CD4+ lymphocytes from HIV-infected subjects.

The clinical utility of a flow cytometric assay (FCA) for intracellular HIV p24 antigen was evaluated in a group of HIV-1-infected subjects. A previously described method, p24-FCA (1), was modified to minimize nonspecific staining and to include irrelevant isotype-matched control antibodies. Blood mononuclear cells from 32 HIV-1 seropositive subjects and 14 HIV-1 seronegative controls were examined. In HIV-1 seropositive individuals, the proportion of CD4+ lymphocytes that bound the p24 monoclonal and the isotype control antibodies were not different. The frequency of cells binding p24 antibodies increased with declining CD4 counts and was highest in patients with low CD4+ lymphocyte counts. Although results of p24-FCA do reflect disease progression, the high nonspecific binding of monoclonal antibodies in infected subjects obscures specific p24 binding and precludes its use as an accurate measure of infection within single cells.

Antibody Specificity↗

PubMed1998

Maryborough skin health survey: prevalence and sources of advice for skin conditions.

A computer-assisted telephone interview survey was carried out in the City of Maryborough to determine the prevalence and sources of advice for self-reported skin conditions. Of the 443 adults contacted, 416 (94%) agreed to participate in the study. One hundred and fourteen people (27%) reported having one or more skin conditions over the past 2 weeks, which included eczema/dermatitis 25.5% (range, 18.1-32.8%; 95% CI), warts 16.1% (9.8-22.4%), acne 16.2% (9.6-22.7%), cold sores 13.1% (7.3-18.9%) and tinea 11.2% (5.9-16.5%). Medical practitioners were the most common source of advice for 49% of skin conditions, followed by family and friends or self-prescribed (25%). Advice from a pharmacist was sought for 19% of skin conditions. Logistic regression analysis showed that those people who reported a moderate to severe inflammatory skin condition, such as dermatitis, urticaria or psoriasis, were most likely to seek advice from their medical practitioner. The type and severity of skin condition were factors which determined where a person sought advice on diagnosis and management.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Spontaneous reperfusion after ischemic stroke is associated with improved outcome.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The rationale behind thrombolytic therapy in acute ischemic stroke is penumbral salvage by rapid restoration of cerebral blood flow. The relationship, however, between early reperfusion (potentially composed of both nutritional and nonnutritional components) and outcome remains unclear. METHODS: To establish the relationship between reperfusion parameters and outcome variables (Canadian Neurological Scale, Barthel Index, outcome CT scans), we used 99Tc-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (99Tc-HMPAO) single-photon emission CT (SPECT) to examine 41 acute ischemic stroke patients. All patients had at least 2 SPECT studies (24 with 3 studies), and none had been treated with thrombolytic or other acute investigational drugs. RESULTS: A total of 106 studies were performed. Mean time to acute study was 9.2 hours; that for subacute study was 42 hours and for outcome study was 150 days. Hypoperfusion (HP) volumes at each of the 3 time points correlated with outcome clinical state and final infarct size. Both early reperfusion (61% of patients) and nutritional reperfusion alone (56%), which is early reperfusion maintained at outcome, were associated with improvement in clinical state and better functional outcome. Early HP volume change (acute minus subacute HP volume) and total HP volume change (acute minus outcome HP volume) also correlated with clinical improvement and better outcome. CONCLUSIONS: This study establishes the benefit of spontaneous reperfusion after ischemic stroke and emphasizes the prognostic value of HP deficit volumes. 99Tc-HMPAO SPECT may be used to screen patients and group them according to perfusion deficit in acute stroke trials, thereby decreasing patient numbers required to show drug effect.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Prediction of stroke outcome with echoplanar perfusion- and diffusion-weighted MRI.

OBJECTIVES: We examined the utility of echoplanar magnetic resonance perfusion imaging and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in predicting stroke evolution and outcome in 18 patients with acute hemispheric infarction. METHODS: Patients were studied within 24 hours (mean, 12.2 hours), subacutely (mean, 4.7 days), and at outcome (mean, 84 days). Comparisons were made between infarction volumes as measured on perfusion imaging (PI) and isotropic DWI maps, clinical assessment scales (Canadian Neurological Scale, Barthel Index, and Rankin Scale), and final infarct volume (T2-weighted MRI). RESULTS: Acute PI lesion volumes correlated with acute neurologic state, clinical outcome, and final infarct volume. Acute DWI lesions correlated less robustly with acute neurologic state, but correlated well with clinical outcome and final infarct volume. Three of six possible patterns of abnormalities were seen: PI lesion larger than DWI lesion (65%), PI lesion smaller than DWI lesion (12%), and DWI lesion but no PI lesion (23%). A pattern of a PI lesion larger than the DWI lesion predicted DWI expansion into surrounding hypoperfused tissue (p < 0.05). In the other two patterns, DWI lesions did not enlarge, suggesting that no significant increase in ischemic lesion size occurs in the absence of a larger perfusion deficit. CONCLUSIONS: Combined early PI and DWI can define different acute infarct patterns, which may allow the selection of rational therapeutic strategies based on the presence or absence of potentially salvageable ischemic tissue.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

The incidence of dementia: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To carry out a meta-analysis of the age-specific incidence of all dementias, including AD and vascular dementia. BACKGROUND: Several meta-analyses have been carried out on dementia prevalence, but none on its incidence. METHODS: We used loess-curve fitting to analyze data from 23 published studies reporting age-specific incidence data. RESULTS: The incidence of both dementia and AD rose exponentially up to the age of 90 years, with no sign of leveling off. The incidence rates for vascular dementia varied greatly from study to study, but the trend was also for an exponential rise with age. There was no sex difference in dementia incidence (p = 0.21), but women tended to have a higher incidence of AD in very old age, and men tended to have a higher incidence of vascular dementia at younger ages. East Asian countries had a lower incidence of dementia than Europe (p = 0.0004), and also tended to have a lower incidence of AD. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of dementia rises exponentially to the age of 90 years. Any sex differences are small, and incidence is lower in East Asia than in Europe.

Age Factors↗

PubMed1998

Does additional lubrication affect condom slippage and breakage?

The risk of condom slippage (1.94%) and breakage (0.89%) among 3607 condoms was analysed with respect to the use of additional lubricant. Whether or not lubricant was used, the site at which it was applied and the type of lubricant used were all found to vary significantly with the type of sexual act(s) for which the condoms were used. Little evidence was found for differing effects of type of additional lubricant (water-based, saliva or other) or site of lubricant use (on penis/inside condom, on condom, in vagina/anus). The use of lubricant more than doubles the risk of slippage for vaginal sex. While anal sex is associated with much higher risks of slippage the use of lubricant for this practice actually reduces the risk of slippage to that similar for vaginal sex where lubricant is used. No significant effect of additional lubricant on condom breakage was observed. It is recommended that education messages concerning the use of additional lubricant may need to change to take into account the varied nature of lubricant use practices and the differential effects of lubricant with respect to sexual practices. Specifically, if the use of additional lubricant has little or no impact on condom breakage but increases condom slippage then encouraging its use may be counterproductive if condom users consider slippage to be a reason not to use condoms.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Does penis size influence condom slippage and breakage?

This study examined the effect of penis dimensions on the probability of complete condom slippage and condom breakage in actual use. Men were recruited through advertising, used the condoms supplied and completed a diary sheet for each condom used. A total of 3658 condoms were used by 184 men of which 1.34% broke and 2.05% slipped off. No significant effect was demonstrated for penile dimensions on the probability of complete condom slippage. However, condom breakage was strongly associated with penile circumference. These findings suggest that condom manufacturers may need to increase the range of condom sizes available, or some aspects of their performance, in order to ensure that condoms meet the needs of all men without unduly exposing them to risk.

Condoms↗

PubMed1998

Recruitment of women by GPs for pap tests: a meta-analysis.

General practitioners (GPs) have a pivotal role to play in recruiting women for Pap tests. In recent times, considerable attention has been paid to the role of reminder systems in encouraging women to have regular Pap tests. Although a number of studies have investigated the effectiveness of reminder systems, there has been no comprehensive review. This paper aims to determine the effectiveness of patient and GP reminders in increasing the proportion of women screened for cervical cancer. Two electronic databases were searched for English-language randomized controlled trials conducted in a general practice or family medicine setting, and examining the effectiveness of GP and patient reminders in increasing the proportion of women screened for cervical cancer. Ten trials were identified, and meta-analytic techniques were employed to analyse the data from these trials. The women whose GPs had been prompted to remind them to have a Pap test were significantly more likely to do so than were control women (typical risk difference (TRD) = 6.6%, 95% CI = 5.2%-8.0%). The typical risk difference for the patient reminder studies was 4.9% (95% CI = 2.6%-7.2%). In both cases, sensitivity analysis revealed that one study stood out as an exceptional result. The omission of this study induced homogeneity among the remaining studies. Once this study was removed, the TRDs for the GP reminder and patient reminder studies were 7.9% (95% CI = 6.5%-9.4%) and 10.8% (95% CI = 8.1%-13.6%), respectively. The results strongly suggest that GPs should make use of GP and patient reminder systems.

Continuity of Patient Care↗

PubMed1997

Old age psychiatrists: what do they find stressful?

OBJECTIVE: To examine the main sources of stress for practising old age psychiatrists. DESIGN: Postal survey. SETTING: Old age psychiatry services in England and Wales. PARTICIPANTS: Old age psychiatrists on the list held by the Section of Old Age Psychiatry, Royal College of Psychiatrists. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Number and nature of stresses identified by respondents. MAIN RESULTS: One hundred and thirty-eight old age psychiatrists identified a mean of 5.1 stresses per respondent, which fell into seven broad categories: changes within the health service, community care changes, personal, management-related, resource-related, related to time pressures, overwork and others. CONCLUSIONS: Unavoidable stresses were rarely listed. Most were related to work overload and organizational structure and climate. More research is needed on stress in other areas of psychiatry, ways to minimize/prevent stress and how to optimize the balance between work and home life.

Aged↗

PubMed1997

Mortality in elderly patients with organic brain disorder enrolled on the Salford Psychiatric Case Register.

The observed mortality of 397 elderly patients with organic brain disorder, recruited to the Salford Psychiatric Case Register between 1 January 1968 and 31 December 1975 and followed up by record linkage to 31 December 1985, was compared with expected mortality. The overall SMR was 1.91. SMRs were significantly raised for all age groups beyond 65 years, being highest in the younger age-bands and declining almost linearly with age. SMRs were elevated for both men and women, during all calendar periods, for incident and prevalent cases, and throughout the whole follow-up period, being highest in the first year. While social class variations may account for up to 9% of the excess deaths, marital status and ethnic differences had little effect.

Age Factors↗

PubMed1997

Who removes pigmented skin lesions?

BACKGROUND: Increasing numbers of pigmented skin lesions are being removed because of concern about possible malignancy. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to determine the ratio of benign to malignant pigmented tumors removed by different categories of physician and to verify whether any improvement had occurred after 5 years of educational programs. METHODS: All pigmented lesions submitted to a major histopathology service in the years 1989 and 1994 were assessed as to the category of physician who removed the lesion, tumor type, and age and sex of the patient. RESULTS: Dermatologists had the lowest benign/malignant ratio and general practitioners had the highest. General practitioners appeared to have difficulty differentiating both seborrheic keratoses and melanocytic nevi from malignant lesions; the frequency of these benign lesions was highly dependent on the age of the patient. During the 5-year period we observed an improvement among general practitioners in the benign/malignant ratio for melanocytic nevi, but not for seborrheic keratoses. CONCLUSION: There is room for improvement by physicians in differentiating both melanocytic nevi and seborrheic keratoses from melanomas. This is especially true for general practitioners, from whom the public in Australia and in other countries is encouraged to first seek advice about a suspect pigmented lesion.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Epidemiology of hepatitis C virus infection among injecting drug users in Australia.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To review the epidemiology of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among injecting drug users (IDUs) in Australia, and consider needs for further research and prevention policies and programmes. DESIGN: (1) Review of the results of surveillance for HCV; (2) review of published literature on prevalence, incidence, and risk factors for HCV among IDUs; and (3) reconstruction of incidence rates from prevalence studies of HCV in IDUs. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Field and clinic based studies of IDUs in Australia. MAIN RESULTS: HCV has been present at high prevalences (of the order of 60-70%) in populations of Australian IDUs since at least 1971. Duration of injecting and main drug injected were the main predictors of seropositivity, the latter possibly a surrogate for frequency of injecting and both together as surrogate for cumulative numbers of times injected. Risk of infection begins with first injection and continues as long as injecting does. Current incidence is approximately 15 per 100 person years, and up to 40 per 100 person years in some subpopulations. Incidence may have decreased through the 1980s as a result of behaviour change in relation to HIV, as it has for hepatitis B, but not significantly so. CONCLUSIONS: Control of HCV infection in Australia will depend on effectiveness of measures to control HCV spread among IDUs. This will be a greater challenge than the control of HIV in this population has been. Needs identified include improved surveillance, especially for recently acquired infection, better understanding of exact transmission modes, and urgent improvement in prevention strategies.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Behavioural dynamics of a clinical trial of sunscreens for reducing solar keratoses in Victoria, Australia.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the behaviour of participants based on perception of treatment group in a randomised trial contributed to clinical outcome. DESIGN: A double blind randomised controlled trial of the effect of daily application of SPF 17 broad spectrum sunscreen cream (or placebo) on solar keratoses. SETTING: A rural city in Victoria, Australia. Residents aged 40 years or over were invited by letter to attend for a skin cancer screening check. Of these, 588 people with between one and 30 solar keratoses enrolled in the trial and 431 completed the trial, which extended over a six month period that included summer. Participants' perceptions of their treatment allocation, adherence with the treatment regimen, adoption of other sun protection behaviours, side effects, and perceptions of change in condition were measured at two monthly intervals. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between those who completed the study and those that did not for sex, age, treatment group, skin type, number of solar keratoses or correct perception of treatment group. Thirty per cent of those completing the study correctly guessed their treatment allocation, and people were just as likely to be right as to be wrong when they stated their opinion about their treatment allocation (z = 1.04; p = 0.15). Study group, skin type, amount of time spent outdoors, presence of side effects, perceptions of change in skin condition did not significantly predict correct perception of treatment allocation. Multivariate analysis of variance indicated that adoption of other sun protection and adherence with cream use were not significantly affected by actual treatment allocation, correct perception of treatment allocation nor by their interaction. Poisson regression analysis showed a significantly lower difference ratio of solar keratoses in the sunscreen group compared with the placebo base cream group (OR 0.55; CI = 0.46, 0.64), and for women compared with men (OR = 0.76; CI = 0.63, 0.93) but no independent effect of any of the indices of other sun protection or adherence. CONCLUSIONS: A sufficient level of commitment to study procedures was achieved, so that trial participants did not adopt other behaviours that affected treatment outcomes. It is recommended that the potential threat to validity posed by the behaviour of participants be recognised at an early stage in planning of clinical trials, so that strategies to deal with this can be integrated into study protocols.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Cryptosporidiosis in patients with AIDS.

Cases of cryptosporidiosis in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) residing in Melbourne over a 6-year period (1990-1995) are described. During this period 85 cases occurred, while 979 new AIDS diagnoses were notified. Over this period temporal clustering in cryptosporidial detection was evident (P=0.007), but the pattern was not statistically associated with the season, rainfall (P=0.88), mean average maximal temperature (P=0.15) or mean average minimal temperature. Further studies should identify these risk factors and provide an opportunity to prevent this devastating disease.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

PubMed1997

An actual use comparison of condoms meeting Australian and Swiss standards: results of a double-blind crossover trial.

The performance of condoms in actual use has been poorly researched in the past, especially in comparing condoms that met different quality control standards as indicated by laboratory testing. The present study used a double-blind crossover design to compare the performance of 2 types of condoms in actual use; one that met the Australian and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards for condom quality and one that met the more stringent Swiss Quality Seal requirements. Ninety-two men recruited from Metropolitan Melbourne completed a self-report diary sheet after each condom was used which assessed the performance of the condom and the conditions under which it was used. From a total of 1917 condom uses, there was an overall breakage risk of 2.7%. The breakage risk ratio (Australian/ISO:Swiss) for all types of use was 1.16 (95% confidence interval 0.68-1.99). When subanalyses by method of entry were performed, the condoms meeting the Swiss standard appeared to fare better than the Australian/ ISO standards for anal sex (RR = 4.84, 95% CI 1.07-21.8, P = 0.022), while the opposite was the case for vaginal sex (RR = 0.74, 95% CI 0.35-1.53, P = 0.41). The result for anal use was statistically significant at the 5% level, despite being based on fewer condom trials than that for vaginal use, but this result needs to be replicated. Although the participants appeared representative of the general male population in Melbourne in the age bracket 18-46 years, there was a significant history of condom usage reported. This may have influenced the risk of breakage.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

An evaluation of educational outreach to general practitioners as part of a statewide cervical screening program.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine the acceptability, effectiveness, and cost of a face-to-face educational outreach intervention in the context of a program aimed at increasing cervical screening in Victoria, Australia. METHODS: All identified general practitioners in a specified intervention area were offered a visit by a general practitioner educator. Practitioners completed a questionnaire evaluating the acceptability of the visit. Odds ratios for a woman being screened in the 3 months following the visits were determined. RESULTS: Fifty-nine general practitioners (69.4%) accepted the offer of a visit. Most found both the process and the content of the intervention to be acceptable. The intervention and nonintervention regions did not differ either before or after the intervention. In both regions, there was a statistically significant increase in number of Pap tests performed. There was no difference in the change in screening between the two regions. Costs were estimated at Au$34 per general practitioner visited. CONCLUSIONS: This strategy cannot be recommended for widespread use in a cervical screening program.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Depression in dementia: a study of mood in a community sample and referrals to a community service.

The association between degree of cognitive impairment and severity of depressive symptoms was examined in a randomly selected community-based sample of elderly people and in a sample of patients referred to an old age psychiatry service. Findings contradict previous reports of less cognitive impairment in demented patients with depressive symptoms. We suggest that sample selection bias has contributed to the earlier reports.

Affect↗