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Biomedical subjects

H Sahai

Publications and source records attributed to H Sahai.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Some comments on teaching biostatistics in medical and health sciences.

The role of statistical methods is now well recognized in health sciences since these disciplines are concerned with the study of communities or populations where the principles of sampling and statistical inference are clearly applicable. However, many medical and health sciences teachers and students have been slower to perceive the need for knowledge of biostatistical methods, even though all aspects of medical diagnosis and prognosis are governed by the laws of probability. Some of them are still skeptical about the value and importance of biostatistical principles to their fields and raise questions about the meaning, content, and nature of biostatistics and relevance of its teaching to health sciences disciplines. The purpose of this essay is to address some of these issues with the hope to invoke comments and responses from other biostatistics instructors who have encountered similar predicaments in their teaching and consulting roles to health sciences students and professionals.

Biometry↗
PubMed1989

Relations of sociodemographic variables and cognitive ability: a comparative analysis of the cognitive scores of high school seniors.

This paper compares subgroups using cognitive scores from a test battery administered to high school seniors in the base year survey in 1980. The procedures used to select the sample were designed to yield a data base that can be statistically projected to represent the national population of about 3,040,000 high school seniors. Comparisons were performed to examine differences in cognitive scores by age, sex, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and census region. Boys scored higher than girls on mathematics and visualization tests, but lower on the picture-number and mosaic comparison tests. Mean scores of the two sexes on the vocabulary and reading tests differed by less than 0.1 SD. Asian/Pacific Islanders had higher means than white students and other minority groups on the mathematics, mosaic comparisons, and visualization test, but their scores did not differ significantly from those of white students on the other three tests. Means for Hispanics were lower than those for white students but higher than those for black students, except on reading. Mean scores of Cubans exceeded those of Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans or other Hispanics. A positive correlation 0.40 obtained between test scores and the socioeconomic status or education attained by the examinees' mothers. Students in New England had the highest means except on visualization for which the highest scores were in the West, followed in order by those in the Middle Atlantic, West North Central, East North Central, Pacific, Mountain, South Atlantic, East South Central, and West South Central regions.

Achievement↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Exposure of Puerto Rican children to environmental tobacco smoke.

BACKGROUND: Many studies of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) have been conducted in northern, industrialized countries. As yet, however, no studies have been carried out on ETS exposure with nonsmokers living in tropical environments. METHODS: Urine specimens were collected from 175 healthy Puerto Rican children (2-11 years) living in an industrial area and were analyzed for cotinine, a quantitative biomarker for exposure to ETS. Their parents completed a questionnaire covering smoking habits. RESULTS: Seventy percent of children were exposed to ETS. Quantitatively, exposure to smoke in households consuming more than 1 pack per day (ppd) caused a doubling of cotinine excretion compared with households consuming less than 1 ppd. Smoke from mothers made the greatest contribution to cotinine, followed by smoke from fathers, with smoke from other persons having no effect. Degree of exposure was inversely related to age of the child. CONCLUSIONS: Young children (2-4 years) were detected to have significantly greater exposure to ETS than older children (5-11 years) and in the younger group the effect seemed to be from the mother's smoking much more than the father's, with other persons contributing negligible amounts. This suggests an obvious strategy for prevention of exposure to ETS in young children.

Age Distribution↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Prevalence and correlates of DSM-IV substance use disorders in Puerto Rico.

We report the basic findings of a survey aimed at estimating rates of substance disorders in a probability sample of 4,709 household residents aged 15 to 64 years old. Lifetime use of alcohol was reported by 77.2%, and 10.7% reported ever using illicit drugs. Overall, 14.7% of the sample met criteria for a lifetime substance disorder, and 4.9% for a past year disorder. The rates of lifetime disorders were 13.1% for alcohol and 4.1% for illicit drug. Past year abuse/dependence was 4.3% for alcohol and 1.3% for illicit drugs. Alcohol use disorders were associated with male gender, higher family annual income, being employed, and being married. Illicit drug use disorders were associated with male gender and younger age. Only 13.0% of respondents with a past year disorder reported using services for their disorder. A program of continuous monitoring of substance using disorders is critical to establishing and monitoring effective policies.

Adolescent↗