Biomedical subjects

X Hu

Publications and source records attributed to X Hu.

526 records · Page 30Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Home injuries to children.

To describe the circumstances around childhood injuries in the home, information on home injuries to children was collected in the emergency room of a pediatric trauma centre as part of an injury surveillance program. During a one-year period, data on 1,538 patients (age < or = 18 years) injured at home were recorded. An inverse s-shape association of home injuries with age was observed. Falls were the leading cause (51%); other children were struck by objects (18%) or sustained cutting/piercing injuries (9%). Age was positively associated with the likelihood of being struck by objects, cutting/piercing, and overexertion, but negatively associated with falls. Playing was the most common activity at time of injury. The peak time of injuries tended to be the early evening. Because most injuries occurred in an environment that seemed safe to parents, reduction in home injuries may require identification of potential hazards in the context of the stages of children's psychological and motor development.

Accidents, Home↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Parental attitudes toward legislation for helmet use by child cyclists.

A random-digit dialing telephone survey was conducted in the second half of 1991 to examine parental attitudes toward legislation of helmet use by child cyclists. The surveyed population were 703 parents of at least one child aged 5-17 years who owned a bicycle and lived within Metropolitan Toronto. Five hundred sixty-eight (80.8%) responding parents were in favour of the suggested legislation, 81 (11.5%) were against, and 54 (7.7%) had no opinion on the issue. The 95% confidence interval for the support rate was 78.9-83.7%. Although there was some variation in the level of support, at least two thirds of the respondents in every subgroup, except parents with teenaged children (aged 15-17 years), were in favour of the legislation. Legislation requiring bicycle helmet use by all children has strong support from the public. Additional surveys should be directed at public attitudes to legislation of helmet use by adults.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Pediatric injuries: parental knowledge, attitudes and needs.

OBJECTIVE: To understand current parental knowledge, attitudes and information needs about childhood injuries. METHOD: Telephone survey of 1,516 parents in Metropolitan Toronto and Barrie. RESULTS: Over half of the parents knew that injuries were the leading cause of death and about 70% believed that injuries were the most preventable of major health disorders. However, most parents were not particularly concerned, and most had limited understanding of the major causes of injury. Traditional modes of receiving safety information by obtaining pamphlets from doctors' offices or drug stores and through media coverage were preferred. CONCLUSIONS: Although parents were aware of the risk of general childhood injury, they need to be educated about specific injury risks and effective countermeasures. A concerted and thoughtful effort is needed to market safety information for parents in Ontario.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Sequential phase II trials of fluorouracil and interferon beta ser with or without sargramostim in patients with advanced colorectal carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Preclinical and early clinical trials suggested that the biologic agent interferon beta ser (IFN beta ser) may augment the anticancer activity of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). The current studies were undertaken to explore the optimal schedule of IFN beta ser and to determine whether the hematopoietic growth factor sargramostim (granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor) could reduce the hematologic and gastrointestinal toxicities of the chemotherapy. METHODS: Three sequential, single-institution phase II trials using different regimens were initiated. Patients were required to have advanced, histologically documented colorectal carcinoma with no prior chemotherapy; to have adequate bone marrow, renal, and hepatic function; to be fully ambulatory; and to give informed consent. All patients received 5-FU, 750 mg/m2 intravenously as an infusion daily for 5 days, followed by 5-FU, 750 mg/m2, as an intravenous bolus every week beginning day 15. Patients in arm A received IFN beta ser, 9 MU subcutaneously, three times a week. Patients in arm B received IFN beta ser, 9 MU subcutaneously every day. Patients in arm C were treated exactly as in arm B but also received sargramostim, 250 micrograms subcutaneously on days they did not receive 5-FU. Beginning day 15, all patients received IFN beta ser exactly 10 minutes before receiving the 5-FU bolus. RESULTS: There were 81 patients enrolled: 19 in arm A; 40 in arm B; and 22 in arm C. Myelosuppression and diarrhea were the most common toxicities. Increasing the frequency of IFN beta ser administration in arm B resulted in a doubling of the rate of diarrhea from 11% to 22%, and the addition of sargramostim in arm C failed to reduce this. Sargramostim did reduce the incidence of grade 3 to 4 leukopenia, but this did not allow intensification of dosing or result in improved response or survival among patients in arm C. IFN-mediated fatigue was also common, occurring in 37% to 43% of patients. Patients receiving IFN beta ser on the intermittent schedule tolerated full-dose therapy longer than those on the daily schedule (10 weeks versus 5 weeks, P < 0.01). The response rates in the three arms were 21%, 35%, and 27%; there was no difference in median survival (15 months for all three arms). CONCLUSIONS: The combination of 5-FU and IFN beta ser was active in patients with advanced colorectal carcinoma, and survival with this regimen was comparable to or better than that with other modulating regimens. The intermittent schedule of IFN beta ser was better tolerated than than the daily schedule.

Adult↗