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Biomedical subjects

W Cates

Publications and source records attributed to W Cates.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMed1975

Hepatitis B in Nuremberg, Germany. Epidemiology of a drug-associated epidemic. Among US Army soldiers.

Beginning in 1971, acute viral hepatitis was epidemic among US soldiers stationed in Europe, with a total of over 8,700 cases reported between 1971 and 1974. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) determinations suggest a predominance of hepatitis B. In the Nuremberg area, primary association was with the illicit use of drugs. This association was demonstrated by a chronologic relationship between measurable community drug use and the number of hepatitis admissions three to six months later and by a case-control study. Parenteral drug use and, to a lesser degree, cannabis smoking appeared to be factors in disease transmission. Sharing of illicit drugs with a hepatitis contact, whether parenterally or orally, was associated with increased risk of contracting the disease.

Acute Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Reducing classification errors in cohort studies: the approach and a practical application.

Classification errors of dependent variables can distort the results of observational studies. To reduce misclassification from our multicentre observational study of abortion complications, we extended the methodology of Lawrence and Greenwald for use in situations of unequal sample sizes and implemented both an office review and a field review. We reabstracted 424 reported complications and a random sample of 364 reported non-serious cases from 12 institutions participating in our study. In total, 30 per cent of the reported serious complications turned out to be misclassified: the office review detected 74 per cent of the total number of misclassifications with the remainder found in the field review. Because, with our particular data base, we estimated expending only 15 per cent of the total resources with our office effort, this represented the most cost-efficient approach to reducing classification errors. By eliminating the false positives from our study, we forced the specificity to 1.00 which produced both an unbiased estimate of the relative risk and an increase of 4 per cent to 63 per cent in the power of our study.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The multiple dimensions of sexual behavior as risk factor for sexually transmitted disease: the sexually experienced are not necessarily sexually active.

Sexual behavior is a crucial risk factor for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), but no national data exist to define a true population at risk. Instead, limited information describes sexual behavior in specific population groups (adolescents, women in their twenties) only in terms of a single dimension: sexual experience. To address the multiple dimensions of sexual behavior, we analyzed data collected from a nationally representative sample of reproductive age women in the 1982 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). We found 86% of women aged 15-44 to be sexually experienced. Teenagers are the least experienced (45% and 56% of whites and others, respectively) and the least sexually active of all reproductive women. While sexual experience increases with age, sexual activity shows a curvilinear age pattern: it increases up to age 35 and decreases slightly from age 35 to 44. Teenagers report the least consistent sexual activity (less than 25%) and the highest level of abstention (38% and 31% for whites and others, respectively) following sexual experience. These findings indicate sexual experience as a measure of sexual behavior should be further refined to provide a more accurate estimate of the population at risk for STD.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Syphilis control. The historic context and epidemiologic basis for interrupting sexual transmission of Treponema pallidum.

Syphilis control has been the prototypic sexually transmitted disease (STD) public health program of the 20th century. However, the disease remains nearly as much an epidemiologic enigma as it did in the early 1900s. This article examines the historic and epidemiologic bases for syphilis control, using unpublished data to supplement a recent model of STD transmission. The authors recommend building on such traditional individually oriented strategies as case finding, partner notification, and presumptive treatment as a basis for future community-oriented, population-based strategies including (but not limited to) selective mass treatment in high-prevalence populations. Using epidemiologic information to target population-level interventions will be the paradigm for syphilis control in the 20th century.

Communicable Disease Control↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Family planning, sexually transmitted diseases and contraceptive choice: a literature update--Part I.

Couples who use contraceptives not only protect themselves against unwanted pregnancies, but also may reduce their risk of becoming infected with a sexually transmitted disease (STD). No currently available method, however, is highly effective in protecting simultaneously against pregnancy and infection. Thus, couples who place high priority on minimizing both risks may have to use two methods. The need for contraceptive methods that provide effective protection against both pregnancy and STDs has been intensified by the HIV epidemic, but progress has been slowed by the lack of integration between the STD and family planning fields. The first part of this two-part article discusses the similarities and differences between the two fields, examines the impact of STDs on contraceptive use and services, and reviews the scientific literature dealing with the effects of condoms, spermicides and barrier-and-spermicide methods on the risk of STD transmission. Part II (which will appear in the next issue) examines what is known about the effects of oral contraceptives, the IUD, tubal sterilization and abortion on reproductive tract infections. The second part also includes a discussion of the trade-offs involved in choosing a contraceptive and presents estimates of the first-year rates of unplanned pregnancy and gonorrhea infection (given an infected partner) that would occur among women using various contraceptive methods.

Contraceptive Devices, Female↗