Biomedical subjects

E L Goldberg

Publications and source records attributed to E L Goldberg.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1991

A longitudinal study of risk factors for depressive symptomatology in elderly widowed and married women.

Few studies have examined whether risk factors for depressive symptomatology differ in bereaved and nonbereaved individuals or whether risk factors differ in bereaved individuals over time. Between 1979 and 1983 in Washington County, Maryland, the associations between various health and social network variables and depressive symptomatology were evaluated prior to bereavement and at 1 and 12 months after bereavement in 136 widows and 409 married controls. Prior Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale scores were generally a good predictor of subsequent scores; however, shortly after bereavement prior scores proved relatively uninformative as most widows experienced a marked increase in depressive symptomatology. Poor health and limitations in physical activity at baseline were consistently associated with higher levels of symptomatology. Although having more friends was also consistently associated with lower levels of symptomatology, the effect of family size appeared to be time and circumstance specific. These results suggest that women at risk of prolonged depression after the death of their husbands can be identified prior to or at the time of bereavement and that widows have risk factors similar to those of women at risk of depression in the general community.

Aged↗

PubMed1991

A longitudinal study of the prevalence of depressive symptomatology in elderly widowed and married women.

The expected duration and magnitude of elevations in depressive symptomatology following bereavement have not been fully characterized. This study describes the natural history of changes in depressive symptomatology after widowhood, using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. We studied 1144 elderly married women who completed a baseline interview; 136 women who were subsequently widowed, and a subset of 409 still-married women, selected as controls, were reinterviewed at 1, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after bereavement. Widows were more depressed than their married controls at every interview, including baseline. About 10% of married women had high scores (> 15) at each interview. One month after bereavement, the proportion of widows with high scores rose to 58%; this proportion declined but remained elevated at 6 months. By 12 months, the proportion with high scores was comparable with prebereavement levels. Only about 40% of the elevation in widows' scores at 12 months is potentially attributable to bereavement.

Aged↗

PubMed1989

Gender differences in sexual behaviors and fantasies in a college population.

This study presents male and female responses of 193 university students to questions about sexual experiences and fantasies. There are few significant gender differences in experiences, but many in fantasies. Males fantasized about sex more and exhibited greater interest in partner variation and in the spectrum from domination to sadism. While male sexuality is often described as aggressive/sadistic and female sexuality as passive/masochistic, most men and women in our population do not report fantasies supporting such stereotypes.

Adult↗

PubMed1988

Emotional problems and widowhood.

In 1979, 1,144 married women between the ages of 65 and 75 were interviewed about their health and social support networks. During the next two-and-a-half years, 150 of them were widowed; 128 were interviewed six months after bereavement. Among the 115 women who had denied needing help for an emotional problem at the initial interview, 25 admitted the need for such help after the deaths of their husbands. Predictive factors for needing emotional counseling six months after bereavement were recent disability, having few friends, and not feeling close to one's children.

Affective Symptoms↗

PubMed1986

A study of a possible association between breast cancer and gallbladder disease.

Because gallstones and breast cancer were reported to have several of the same risk factors, a study was conducted in Washington County, Maryland to determine if women with breast cancer have an increased risk of prior gallbladder disease. Living white female breast cancer cases (n = 133), who were diagnosed from 1973 to 1983, were identified from the county's cancer registry and interviewed along with an equal number of sex-, race-, and age-matched controls about a history of gallbladder disease and other risk factors. Medical records were used to verify a history of gallbladder disease in interviewed cases and controls and to search for a diagnosis of gallbladder disease in 52 white female breast cancer cases who were diagnosed and died between 1974 and 1983, and 52 matched controls. No difference was found in gallbladder disease frequency among living or deceased cases and their matched controls. The results confirm the known association of several risk factors with breast cancer and with gallbladder disease, but most of the risk factors hypothesized to be the same for the two diseases were not the same. However, an unexpectedly strong association was found between gallbladder disease and history of myocardial infarction; this result deserves further study.

Aged↗

PubMed1985

Depressive symptoms, social networks and social support of elderly women.

A total of 1,144 white married women aged 65-75 years living in Washington County, Maryland were interviewed during February-August 1979 as part of a larger study. This cross-sectional analysis was undertaken to investigate the question of whether or not selected demographic, social network, and social support characteristics of these women were related to their level of depressive symptoms. Women at the low end of the socioeconomic scale were found more likely to have a high level of depressive symptoms than were women at the high end. Two structural characteristics, size and homogeneity of the social network, were also found to be related to symptoms of depression, although only homogeneity of the social network reached statistical significance. There was a larger percentage of women with a high level of depressive symptoms among those with small networks and among those with heterogeneous networks. Those women with good quality networks, which offer the opportunity for social support, were much less likely to have a high level of depressive symptoms than others. Cross-sectionally, social network factors were related to level of depressive symptoms; this relationship now needs to be demonstrated prospectively.

Aged↗

PubMed1984

An epidemiological study of Hirschsprung's disease.

All newly diagnosed cases of Hirschsprung's Disease among children born in Baltimore City and County, Maryland and diagnosed within the Baltimore Standard Metropolitan Area during 1969 through 1977 were identified. Using hospital records and death certificates, 33 cases were ascertained. An overall incidence rate of 18.6 per 100 000 livebirths was found, similar to that reported by others. A high male to female ratio (4.32:1) was found; the ratio for non-whites to whites was 1.67:1. Non-white males had the highest rate, 37.6 per 100 000 livebirths. These findings plus the fact that 9% of these children were also diagnosed as having Down's Syndrome, were evidence that the aetiology of Hirschsprung's Disease may be partially genetic. Among environmental factors studied, there was no time trend and no relationship with socioeconomic status found. Among whites, there was a larger percentage of children who were the first births of mothers aged 30 and above, a result previously reported for children with neural tube defects. Very little is known about micro-environmental factors in relation to Hirschsprung's Disease and this would seem to be the area for future emphasis in research.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1981

Depression and suicide ideation in the young adult.

As part of the Community Mental Health Epidemiology Program 489 18--24-year-olds in Washington County, Md., and Kansas City, Mo., were studied to learn which factors are related to thoughts of suicide in young adults. Depressive symptomatology, poor physical health, and minor psychiatric symptoms were present in this population, as they are in adults of all ages who have suicide ideation. Overt aggression and separation from the mother before 16 years of age were also present. These factors have been previously shown to be characteristic of suicide attempters and completers, so early identification of people at high risk for suicide by use of these factors may be feasible.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1980

Psychosocial factors and blood pressure.

Blood pressure levels as recorded in a community-wide screening programme were compared with findings in an earlier mental health study for persons who participated in both programmes. Blood pressure was not related to previously ascertained psychosocial characteristics among persons who were not under treatment for hypertension, suggesting that depression, hostility, psychosomatic reactions to stress, or the felt need for help with emotional problems were not important in the pathogenesis of hypertension. Treatment for hypertension, however, was associated with an excess of psychosomatic symptoms, a factor which needs to be taken into account in assessing the benefits of treatment.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1980

Epidemiology of life events: frequency in general populations.

The objective was to provide additional background information for a refinement of life events methodolgy. Data about life events for a one year period were gathered from a representative sample of the population in Kansas City, Missouri, and Washington County, Maryland, between 1971-1974. Using binary variable multiple regression, the relationships between individual events, overall scores and demographic variables were examined for 2780 subjects. Age, education, marital status, location and race were shown to be significantly related to scores of one or more on the life events scale. Individual items were also related to these and other demographic variables. Fifteen individual events were shown to be moderately related to one another, so that when one event occurred the other was likely to occur also. Because different subgroups of the population experience different frequencies of total life events and of particular individual events, life events scores can vary considerably from group to group, depending on demographic composition and the appropriateness of the life events list for each demographic subgroup. Such relationships, if not adjusted for, could lead to coincidental associations between life events and health-related outcomes.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1979

Depressed mood and subsequent physical illness.

The authors describe the results of a matched case-control analysis in which 82 pairs of subjects were selected from a large-scale community study carried out in two general populations. Cases were those of persons hospitalized during an interval between two interviews for an illness starting during that interval or persons who died during the interval. Controls were persons with no new illnesses or hospitalizations during the interval. No relationship between measures of depressive symptomatology or depressed mood and subsequent physical illness was shown. This result corroborates the findings of prospective studies in more selected populations and suggests that it is unlikely that depressed mood is related to subsequent physical illness.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1976

Life events and subsequent illness.

The objective was to examine for relationships between stress, as measured by life events, and hospitalization or death during the following 6 to 12 months, using a case-control design. As part of the Community Mental Epidemiology Program, life events data for the preceding year were gathered on a random sample of the population at two sites, and health data for the interval between interviews were collected at follow-up. A case is defined as anyone becoming ill and being hospitalized or dying during the interval between interviews. Each case was individually matched by several variables to a control who had neither been sick nor hospitalized. There were no significant demographic differences between cases and control in either site or between sites. When life events were examined by various scoring methods, there were no differences between cases and controls. This finding is important since most longitudinal studies that have shown a positive relationship between life events and subsequent illness have had methodologic limitations or have been based on healthy, young, male populations who generally did not become seriously ill during the study period. The results of this study plus the lack of generalizability of previous findings and their somewhat conflicting results raise serious questions about the etiologic relationship of life events to subsequent illness.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1974