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Biomedical subjects

G De Backer

Publications and source records attributed to G De Backer.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1980

The Belgian heart disease prevention project. Modification of the coronary risk profile in an industrial population.

The Belgian Heart Disease Prevention Project is a controlled, multifactorial prevention trial involving 19,390 males aged 40-59 years employed by 30 Belgian industries. These industries were paired and randomized into a control or intervention unit. In each intervention factory, the subjects from the two highest deciles of a coronary risk-score distribution curve were given individual advice twice a year. A health education campaign was also organized in each intervention factory. In the control group, 10% of randomly chosen subjects had the same baseline examination as the whole of the intervention group. After 2 years, high-risk subjects and random samples of the control and intervention group were compared regarding the coronary risk profile by means of a multiple logistic function (MLF). In the intervention high-risk group, the MLF showed a decrease of 20%, and in the control group there was an increment of 12.5% (p less than 0.001). Comparing the random samples an increment of 25% was found in the control group vs a drop of 2.26 in the intervention group (p less than 0.001). The coronary risk profile can be altered in a middle-aged male working population through mass media health education supplemented by face-to-face counseling in high-risk subjects.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Regional differences in risk factor distributions, food habits and coronary heart disease mortality and morbidity in Belgium.

Belgium can be divided in 4 major geographical areas: two Dutch speaking areas in the north (Campine and Flanders), a French speaking area in the south (Wallonia) and the Brussels area in between. Significant differences in mean serum cholesterol levels were observed with the lowest level in Campine, intermediate in Flanders and Brussels, and the highest level in Wallonia. Similar differences were observed in the prevalence of CHD and mortality from CHD is also higher in the French speaking part of the country. A survey of food habits since 1959 shows a higher butter and lower soft margarine consumption in the south. However, differences in smoking habits and personality traits also exist.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Intermittent claudication--epidemiology and natural history.

Epidemiological information on the prevalence, incidence and natural history of intermittent claudication and peripheral vascular disease is limited, partially by the limitation of techniques of their study. The available data from the literature are review and supplemented by results from an on-going survey the ankle blood pressure measurement with Doppler ultrasound.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Ventricular premature beats. Reliability in various measurement methods at rest and during exercise.

The yield and reproducibility of various methods of ventricular premature beat (VPB) detection are examined in otherwise healthy middle-aged men first found to have VPB in a 2-min lead I ECG rhythm strip. With a combination of an isometric and treadmill exercise test, VPB were repeatedly detected in 83%. Test-retest reliability in classifying the subjects by frequency of VPB was 67%. The reliability of detecting complex VPB was 47% for multiform VPB, 35% for pairs of VPB, 17% for runs and 36% for VPB showing the R-on-T phenomenon. These data suggest that simple and complex VPB detected by the described methods among normal men are poorly reproducible in the individual. Taking the VPB reproducibility for the group as a whole, the proportion of subjects having different frequency or kinds of ectopic beats is reasonably stable for the different test occasions.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Phentolamine infusion in cor pulmonale due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Continuous phentolamine infusion, produced a marked decrease in pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance with an increase in cardiac output, in the majority of a group of 13 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cor pulmonale. Changes in vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in one second, arterial blood gas values and peripheral blood pressure were not significant except in one patient. The changes in the pulmonary circulation are probably due to the alpha blocking effect of phentolamine, although a direct effect of the drug on vascular smooth muscle can not be excluded.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

The pattern of food and mortality in Belgium.

Belgians have been gradually shifting from a low ratio of polyunsaturated/saturated fat in their food to a higher one with lower total fat and cholesterol. This has occurred predominantly in the north, where the most obvious change is a decrease in butter consumption and an increase in margarine consumption. The northerners have a four to five times smaller intake of butter than the southerners and nearly double the intake of margarine. Evidence gathered over the past ten years reveals in the north a decreasing serum-cholesterol and in the south a significantly higher serum-cholesterol, associated with higher coronary morbidity and mortality. Life expectancy of males in the north is 2-4 years higher at birth and 2-2 years higher at the age of 30. It is concluded that the food habits of a population can be changed, with great benefit.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Patient compliance and therapeutic coverage: amlodipine versus nifedipine (slow-release) in the treatment of angina pectoris. Belgian Collaborative Group.

Patient compliance with therapy is often poor and overestimated by the treating physician; it is particularly important in cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and angina pectoris. Compliance was studied in an open parallel study in out-patients with stable angina pectoris, given either amlodipine (5 mg, once daily) or slow-release nifedipine (20 mg, twice daily) for 12 weeks. Compliance was assessed using pill counting and using an electronic device, the medication event monitoring system, to record the time and date of each opening and closure of the pill container. There was no difference between the two groups in pill count or in 'taking compliance' (the percentage of prescribed doses taken as indicated by the monitoring system). Compliance was significantly better (P < 0.001) with amlodipine, however, for 'correct dosing' (the percentage of days on which the correct dose was taken) and for 'timing compliance' (the percentage of doses taken at the prescribed time interval after the last dose). 'Therapeutic coverage' (the estimated proportion of treatment time for which the drug was active) was also significantly better for amlodipine (P < 0.001). There was no difference in reported side-effects between the two therapies.

Aged↗