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Biomedical subjects

S Sabroe

Publications and source records attributed to S Sabroe.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Solvent-induced chronic toxic encephalopathy.

Chlorinated solvents, especially trichloroethylene, have been extensively used for metal degreasing since the beginning of this century. There have been case reports of cranial nerve damage and symptoms of acute and reversible encephalopathy. However, another issue during the last decade is the possible existence of a syndrome of chronic cerebral dysfunction. Our study deals with the risk of developing a state of psychoorganic syndrome after long-term exposure to solvents, mainly trichloroethylene. In this historical cohort study, 96 metal degreasers participated in a clinical medical and psychological examination. The risk of developing psychoorganic syndrome was proportional to the exposure duration, to increasing age, and to decreasing primary intellectual level. Using logistic regression analysis, there was a significantly increased risk of developing psychoorganic syndrome from solvent exposure. There was an odds ratio of 5.6 (0.93-34.3) for psychoorganic syndrome in the medium-exposed group. In the most highly exposed group, with a mean full-time exposure duration of 11 years, there was a significantly increased risk of psychoorganic syndrome, the adjusted odds ratio was 11.2 (1.9-66.6). None of four other potential confounders (arteriosclerotic disease, neurologic/psychiatric disease, alcohol abuse, and current solvent exposure) had any significant associations to psychoorganic syndrome.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Psychometric tests for assessment of brain function after solvent exposure.

Psychometric testing is a key issue in neuropsychological toxicology assessment. Evaluation of methods for assessing general intellectual impairment is necessary as conventional neurology has been shown to be insensitive to the neurotoxic effects of solvents and metals. This study presents an analysis of a psychometric test battery from an investigation of psycho-organic syndrome in a historical cohort of 96 metal degreasers with long-term exposure to solvents, particularly trichloroethylene. The neuropsychological test battery was a combination of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), Luria, and tests developed in Scandinavia. Linear regression analysis showed a significant dose-response relation between increasing cumulative solvent exposure and impaired psychometric test performance in 9 out of 15 tests. Multivariate analysis, however, suggests that much of the variance was due to confounding variables, especially age, and to a lesser degree, primary intellectual function and word blindness. After control for confounding factors the strongest association with solvent exposure occurred for the following three tests: acoustic-motor function, Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT), and the visual gestalt test.

Brain Diseases↗
PubMed1993

Subclinical affection of liver and kidney function and solvent exposure.

The role of solvents as hepato- and nephrotoxic agents under present-day exposure levels is still unclear. The purpose of this study involving 99 metal degreasers was to examine dose-response relationships between long-term exposure of mainly trichloroethylene and a battery of liver function tests and one nephrotubular enzyme test. Serum gamma-glutamyltransferase and urinary N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase were elevated by increasing solvent exposure at bivariate level. The significance of this relationship, however, was not able to withstand a multiple regression analysis, with age and alcohol abuse as confounding variables. The conclusion is that of a nonsignificant association between solvent exposure and tests screening for early liver and kidney dysfunction.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Clinical neurological findings among metal degreasers exposed to chlorinated solvents.

Among industrial solvents in present use trichloroethylene belongs to those which have been the concern of most neurological and occupational investigations since the beginning of this century. Reports on a broad spectrum of neurotoxicity are however mostly based on case-studies and accidental circumstances. The object of this study was to examine clinical neurological manifestations after long-term exposure to degreasing solvents, mainly trichloroethylene. The population was 99 metal degreasers, the design a historical cohort study. The most marked finding was a highly significant dose-response relation between solvent exposure and motor dyscoordination--a finding that was retained after multivariate control of relevant confounders. Vibration thresholds increased by solvent exposure at bivariate level, but the multivariate analysis showed that age was explaining most of the increase. No significant cranial nerve dysfunction was found.

Cohort Studies↗
PubMed1991

Irritative symptoms and exposure to mineral wool.

In a cross-sectional study undertaken in 1981 using a postal questionnaire, the prevalence of irritative symptoms was investigated among 2,654 Danish construction workers working with mineral wool. An evaluation was undertaken in a multivariate logit analysis of the relationship between exposure level (measured by hours of exposure to mineral wool per month) and prevalence of symptoms. The analysis controlled for the confounders of age, smoking habits, and exposure to organic solvents. With greater exposure to mineral wool, there was a statistically significant increase in the frequency of irritative symptoms from the eyes, the skin, and the upper respiratory tract. Among construction workers working with mineral wool 160-180 hours per month, two-thirds had these symptoms once a week or oftener. The occurrence was 2-3 times higher compared with the construction workers not working with mineral wool. The relationship between exposure to mineral wool and skin and mucous membrane symptoms may be explained by the irritative action of the fibers that are given off during insulation work.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Age and the operationalization of social support.

In most studies social network is operationalized without any consideration of age. But it is to be expected that both the prevalence and the impact on health of the various sources of social support change through life. If this is true, then the use of a global index may lead to distorted results regarding age changes of the social network. In a cross-sectional study of 1500 occupationally active, Danish men aged 16-74, the hypothesized age dependencies were studied with health operationalized as psychological well-being and social support divided into support from wife, children, family and friends. The prevalence of support from the wife increased with age, whereas her impact on health was only significantly positive in the age range 30-49. Support from family and friends was most prevalent among the youngest, but it had a positive impact on health both among the young and the old. The results regarding impact on health are corroborated by two other studies on mortality. These findings point to methodological errors that may distort results when global network measures are used irrespective of the ages of the participants studied.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Hospital admissions before and after shipyard closure.

To determine the effect of job loss on health an investigation was made of admissions to hospitals in 887 men five years before and three years after the closure of a Danish shipyard. The control group comprised 441 men from another shipyard. The information on hospital admissions was obtained from the Danish national register of patients. The relative risk of admission in the control group dropped significantly in terms of the number of men admitted from the study group from 1.29 four to five years before closure to 0.74 in the three years after closure. This was especially true of admissions due to accidents (1.33 to 0.46) and diseases of the digestive system (4.53 to 1.03). For diseases of the circulatory system, particularly cardiovascular diseases, the relative risk increased from 0.8 to 1.60, and from 1.0 to 2.6 respectively. These changes in risk of illness after redundancy are probably a consequence of a change from the effects of a high risk work environment to the effects of psychosocial stresses such as job insecurity and unemployment.

Accidents↗
PubMed1988

A genotoxic study of metal workers exposed to trichloroethylene. Sperm parameters and chromosome aberrations in lymphocytes.

Metal workers exposed to trichloroethylene for the degreasing of metals were studied to evaluate the genotoxicity of this exposure. For 15 workers presently exposed to high doses of trichloroethylene there was no difference from unexposed persons with respect to sperm count and morphology, and a small increase of two fluorescent bodies (YFF%) in spermatozoa. In contrast, there was a highly significant increase in frequency of structural aberrations (breaks, gaps, translocation, deletions, inversions) and hyperdiploid cells in cultured lymphocytes from trichloroethylene degreasers. As control groups, physicians from chemically non-exposed surroundings and a concurrently sampled reference from cytogenetic investigations were used. This study indicates positive correlations between exposure to trichloroethylene and somatic chromosome aberrations, whereas no effect on male germ cells could be demonstrated.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Participation in a follow up study of health among unemployed and employed people after a company closedown: drop outs and selection bias.

This article presents an analysis of study loss in a three year longitudinal study of 1816 employees at two Danish shipyards, one of which closed just before the start of the study. The aim of the study was to elucidate the health consequences of a company closedown and the subsequent job loss. The study population responded to an identical questionnaire in 1983, 1984 and 1985. The participation rate in 1983 was 73%. The percentage of drop outs in 1984 and 1985 was 15-20% of the total numbers responding in the first year. We examined this study loss in relation to the characteristics of the respondents, using the first round of data collection as a baseline. In a multivariate analysis, age and seniority at the shipyard were the only variables that were significantly associated with non-participation in 1984 and 1985. It is concluded that the drop outs did not appear to introduce a serious risk of selection bias in 1984 and 1985. A comparison between drop outs and late respondents in 1984 and 1985 did not support the supposition that information about late respondents can be extrapolated to drop outs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Neuropsychological symptoms among metal workers exposed to halogenated hydrocarbons.

A cross-sectional study was designed as a questionnaire investigation with the aim of mapping the load of symptoms, especially signs of neuropsychological dysfunction in relation to degreasing with halogenated hydrocarbons. The primary study group, 240 metal workers, comprised all identifiable persons engaged in degreasing with halogenated hydrocarbons in the county of Aarhus, the control group were 350 randomly selected semi-skilled metal workers. The final number of participants were 462 metal workers, corresponding to a rate of participation of 78.3%. The main findings were highly significant associations between exposure to halogenated hydrocarbons and symptoms of psychological dysfunction both at bivariate and multivariate analyses after adjustment for 4 potential confounder variables, age, alcohol consumption, neurological events and exposure to other organic solvents. Furthermore a dose-response-like relation could be demonstrated.

Adolescent↗