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PubMed1977

Secular trends of annual morbidities of animal infectious diseases.

Supposing two mathematical models, additive and multiplicative, the authors estimated the secular trends of annual morbidities (1949 approximately 1975) of twelve infectious diseases of domestic animals. For each diseases ten different trend curves were fitted. It was found that five regression equations, namely, those for bovine trichomoniasis, bovine tuberculosis, equine infectious anemia, pullorum disease in chickens, and foulbrood, gave the coefficient of determination of 97.9, 92.7, 91.0, 93.5, and 85.2%, respectively. Four of them were multiplicative, and the remaining one for equine infectious anemia was additive. From the viewpoint of practical utility, there was little doubt that even these secular trends might be used for predicting the relevant morbidities with fairly good preciseness.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Secular change in sitting height and lower limb height of children, youths, and young adults of Afro-black, European, and Japanese ancestry.

During a large part of the last 100 years many human populations in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America have increased in standing height. The amount of increase has risen with age from infancy to mid-adolescence, and diminished with age from mid-adolescence to early adulthood. In the present paper standing height is broken into two components and-for American black, American white, and Japanese groups-each component is found to (1) show substantial secular increase, and (2) yield a trend of quantitative difference similar to that of standing height. Average sitting height of Japanese males increased during the 33 years between 1937 and 1970 by 2.5 cm at age 8 years, 4.1 cm at age 14 years, and 2.9 cm at age 16 years; corresponding values for lower limb height were 3.7 cm, 5.3 cm, and 3.9 cm. During the 80 years following 1881, American white females ages 9 years and 13 years living in the Midwest increased in average sitting height by 4.6 cm and 5.4 cm, and in average lower limb height by 4.9 cm and 5.2 cm. For both dimensions of each racial group, secular change is greater at mid-adolescence than in early adulthood.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Inbreeding secular changes in the Riomaggiore and Silla Valleys, Italy, from 1565 to 1980.

Variations in the frequency of consanguineous marriages and inbreeding secular changes have been examined in an Italian mountain population from 1565 up to 1980. Wide microgeographic differences in inbreeding values related to the different altitude of the villages and their geographic location have been detected. A close parallelism between demographic variations and inbreeding secular changes has been pointed out. The dependence of the frequency increase in first cousin marriages observed in the second half of the XIX cent. On the increase in sibship size is suggested.

Altitude↗
PubMed1994

Secular and age trends in the height of adults among a Canadian Inuit community.

The height of adults living in the Inuit settlement of Igloolik (69 degrees 40'N, 81 degrees W) had been determined in three surveys, conducted in the winters of 1969/70, 1979/80 and 1989/90. The Inuit are shorter than the general Canadian population, as surveyed in 1981, the discrepancy amounting to about 11 cm for males, and 9-10 cm for females. The decrease in height over the course of adult life, as seen in cross-sectional data, occurs at approximately the same speed in Igloolik as in Southern Canada. However, the causes of this trend seem to be different. Until the seventh decade of life, the decrease observed in southern Canada is due to a substantial secular trend to an increase of stature. In contrast, the Inuit living in Igloolik have become about 2 cm shorter at any given age over the past 2 decades. The trend to loss of stature is strongest in continuing hunters. In the men, the trauma associated with the operation of high-speed snowmobiles over rough terrain may be an important factor. The women do not drive snowmobiles to any great extent; however, they now carry small children on their back less frequently than in previous decades because of a smaller average family size and the adoption of store-purchased clothing which lacks the traditional amauti. In consequence, they may now be less well protected against a low calcium and vitamin D intake. We conclude that because of this secular trend, cross-sectional surveys currently under-estimate the decrease in height that the Inuit will sustain over the adult lifespan.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

[Age of menarche. Secondary sex characteristics. Interrelation. Secular trend].

Our purpose was to determine the mean age of menarche in young females of our population. To relate menarche with maturation stages of secondary sex character. To observe if the secular trend persist after the first observation. Consistently two temporal observations spaciated for 10 years were performed. Two hundred and eighty three healthy women who belonged to a higher middle-level and attending a high school from Cordoba National University were studied. Such women were in an age range between 11.0 to 18.0 years. Anthropometric and biological maturation examination were undertaken (Tanner). The mean age of onset of secondary sex characters was determined in a longitudinal follow-up group (54 girls). The mean age of menarche in the overall sample was determined by the retrospective method and in the subsample of 54 girls longitudinally followed in the 70-80 decade was determined by the prospective method in which the menarche was correlated with stages of mamary development (B) an pubic hair (PH). The mean age of menarche in 146 young females with a follow-up from 1.981 through 1.990 was determined. In the overall sample the mean of age of menarche was of 12.59 years +/- 1.17; in the subsample (54 girls) of 12.75 years +/- 1.03. In this subsample 70.37% of them has the menses in the B3 stage, 22.22% in B4, 5,5% in B2 and 1.85% in B5. 74.07% PH3, 18.51% in PH4, 0.52% in PH2 and none in PH5. In the sample of 146 young females with a follow-up between 1981 and 1990 the mean age of menarche was 12.36 years. If this result is compared with that of the 54 girls longitudinally followed in the prior decade and with the overall sample, a difference of 0.39 years and 0.23 years respectively is proved. This difference favoring an earlier age of menarche would show: 1 degree) That in our environment the secular trend is maintained, the age advances 4 months every 10 years and 2 degree) That the longitudinal prospective method is more reliable than the retrospective one.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Is spirituality a critical ingredient of meditation? Comparing the effects of spiritual meditation, secular meditation, and relaxation on spiritual, psychological, cardiac, and pain outcomes.

This study compared secular and spiritual forms of meditation to assess the benefits of a spiritual intervention. Participants were taught a meditation or relaxation technique to practice for 20 min a day for two weeks. After two weeks, participants returned to the lab, practiced their technique for 20 min, and placed their hand in a cold-water bath of 2 degrees C for as long as they could endure it. The length of time that individuals kept their hand in the water bath was measured. Pain, anxiety, mood, and the spiritual health were assessed following the two-week intervention. Significant interactions occurred (time x group); the Spiritual Meditation group had greater decreases in anxiety and more positive mood, spiritual health, and spiritual experiences than the other two groups. They also tolerated pain almost twice as long as the other two groups.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

The deChristianization of Christian hospital chaplaincy: some bioethics reflections on professionalization, ecumenization, and secularization.

The traditional roles of Christian chaplains in aiding patients, physicians, nurses, and hospital administrators in repentance, right belief, right worship, and right conduct are challenged by the contemporary professionalization of chaplaincy guided by post-Christian norms located in a public space structured by three defining postulates: the non-divinity of Christ, robust ecumenism, and the irrelevance of God's existence. The norms of this emerging post-Christian profession of chaplaincy make interventions with patients, physicians, nurses, and hospital administrators in defense of specifically Christian bioethical norms and goals unprofessional, because the chaplain is now directed as a professional to support health care services held to standards articulated within a secular morality. These changes are exemplar of the profound recasting of the dominant moral culture with wide-ranging implications for bioethics.

Bioethics↗
PubMed2003

Intermarriage and the demography of secularization.

One way of measuring religious affiliation is to look at rites of initiation such as baptism. English statistics show that for the first time since the Church of England was founded, less than half the nation is Anglican on this criterion. The pattern of formal religious transmission changed during the Second World War. Previously christening was quasi-universal, and the Church of England was the preferred provider. By the end of the war baptism was evidently optional, and chosen principally by parents whose religious identities matched. Further analysis suggests that affiliation now tends to be lost following marriage to someone from a different religious background, though the USA differs from Europe in this respect. A demographic theory of advanced secularization is outlined that specifies a proximal cause for declining religious affiliation, and provides tools for predicting the changes to be expected over future decades. The theory also helps to explain why affiliation may fall most quickly where there is most religious diversity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2014

Annual research review: Secular trends in child and adolescent mental health.

BACKGROUND: Child and adolescent mental health problems are common, associated with wide-ranging functional impairments, and show substantial continuities into adult life. It is therefore important to understand the extent to which the prevalence of mental health problems has changed over time, and to identify reasons behind any trends in mental health. SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY: This review evaluates evidence on whether the population prevalence of child and adolescent mental health problems has changed. The primary focus of the review is on epidemiological cross-cohort comparisons identified by a systematic search of the literature (using the Web of Knowledge database). FINDINGS: Clinical diagnosis and treatment of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders increased over recent decades. Epidemiological comparisons of unselected population cohorts using equivalent assessments of mental health have found little evidence of an increased rate of ADHD, but cross-cohort comparisons of rates of ASD are lacking at this time. Findings do suggest substantial secular change in emotional problems and antisocial behaviour in high-income countries, including periods of increase and decrease in symptom prevalence. Evidence from low- and middle-income countries is very limited. Possible explanations for trends in child and adolescent mental health are discussed. The review also addresses how cross-cohort comparisons can provide valuable complementary information on the aetiology of mental illness.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Faith-based and secular pathways to hope and optimism subconstructs in middle-aged and older cardiac patients.

This study was designed to fill gaps in the new field of positive psychology. Using data from two sequential interviews, this study examined the effect of faith-based and secular pathways to hope and optimism among 226 middle-aged and older patients facing a major medical crisis-cardiac surgery. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that religious faith factors contributed to the agency component of hope and dispositional optimism indirectly through the use of prayer as a coping strategy. Other sociodemographically resourcable factors affected both the agency and pathway components of hope as well as dispositional optimism and dispositional pessimism directly or indirectly through their effects on emotional distress.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2005

Family attitudes toward transgendered people in Turkey: experience from a secular Islamic country.

OBJECTIVE: In Turkey, an individual with gender identity disorder is stigmatized and isolated from society. The family largely reflects and reinforces these negative views because gender crossing poses a threat to the normatively sanctioned gender classification. METHODS: We examined the acceptance of gender identity differences by the families in 47 relatives of 39 transgendered individuals who applied to a psychiatry clinic for sex reassignment. RESULTS: Half of the relatives who came to the interview were mothers. While 85.1% of the families considered themselves as secular muslims, 14.9% were very religious. They first noticed the gender identity disorder during puberty (70.2%) or prepuberty (17%). In 63.8% it was remarked that it was a shocking experience. One-third of them felt responsible for it. While 65.9% tried to change the situation by coercion, only 27.7% adopted a supportive attitude. The majority of families tried to conceal the situation from their immediate environment and one-third did not even inform their closest relatives. For half of relatives the mass media was their only source of information whereas one-third received information from doctors. Most of the families were satisfied with the treatment. Family members also reported that the conformity of the transgendered relative within the family improved. Of the family members, 40.4% accepted the transgendered identity and approved the sex reassignment surgery as a final step. CONCLUSION: Involvement of family members in the process of change for the transgendered individual is important for both the family as well as the individual concerned.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

The terminally ill--secular and Jewish ethical aspects.

Many ethical, religious, social and legal dilemmas are involved in the care of dying patients. Major changes and developments in recent years have greatly intensified these moral problems. In this article a comprehensive analysis of the relevant principles and practical approaches is offered in order to enhance the ability of health care providers to attain morally sound decisions concerning the dying patient. The relevant ethical principles include the following: value of life, quality of life, nonmaleficence, beneficence, autonomy, paternalism, justice, and the physician's integrity. In practical terms, there are three major categories: the patient, the treatment and the decision maker. A comparative analysis between secular and Jewish attitudes towards the terminally ill patient has revealed significant differences both in the fundamental underlying principles as well as in the practical solutions to the diverse and difficult ethical problems.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1995

Nosocomial bloodstream infections. Secular trends in rates, mortality, and contribution to total hospital deaths.

BACKGROUND: Nosocomial bloodstream infections occur at a rate of 1.3 to 14.5 per 1000 hospital admissions and are believed to lead directly to 62,500 deaths per year in the United States. Measures of the incidence and the proportion of all hospital deaths related to deaths from these infections provide estimates of their impact. The objectives of the study were to characterize the secular trends in nosocomial bloodstream infection at a single institution and to estimate the population-attributable risk for death among patients experiencing the infection. METHODS: A 12-year retrospective study using prospectively collected data from a hospital-wide surveillance system for nosocomial infections in a 900-bed tertiary care institution. All patients (N = 260,834) admitted to the institution between 1980 and 1992 were included in the study. Bloodstream infection rates were calculated for the 10 leading groups of pathogens, and trends were analyzed using simple linear regression. In-hospital mortality rates from patients who did or did not develop nosocomial blood stream infections were compared. RESULTS: Between 1980 and 1992, a total of 3077 patients developed 3464 episodes of nosocomial bloodstream infection. The crude infection rates increased linearly from 6.7 to 18.4 per 1000 discharges (0.83 to 1.72 episodes per 1000 patient-days) during the 12-year study period (r = .87). Increases in the infection rates were due to gram-positive cocci (r = .96) and yeasts (r = .95) and essentially explained by infections caused by coagulase-negative staphylococci, Staphylococcus aureus, enterococci, and Candida species, respectively. Although the crude mortality in patients with nosocomial bloodstream infections decreased from 51% in 1981 to 29% in 1992, the in-hospital population-attributable mortality among infected patients increased from 3.55 deaths per 1000 discharges in 1981 to 6.22 per 1000 discharges in 1992 (r = .67). The etiologic fraction or the proportion of deaths in patients with bloodstream infection to all deaths occurring in the hospital increased from 11.4% in 1981 to 20.4% in 1992 (r = .59). CONCLUSIONS: The incidence, the etiologic fraction, and the population-attributable risk for death among patients experiencing nosocomial bloodstream infections increased progressively during the last decade.

Bacteremia↗
PubMed1998

Climatic influences on human body size and proportions: ecological adaptations and secular trends.

This study reevaluates the long-standing observation that human morphology varies with climate. Data on body mass, the body mass index [BMI; mass (kg)/stature (m)2], the surface area/body mass ratio, and relative sitting height (RSH; sitting height/stature) were obtained for 223 male samples and 195 female samples derived from studies published since D.F. Roberts' landmark paper "Body weight, race, and climate" in 1953 (Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 11:533-558). Current analyses indicate that body mass varies inversely with mean annual temperature in males (r=-0.27, P < 0.001) and females (r=-0.28, P < 0.001), as does the BMI (males: r=-0.22, P=0.001; females: r=-0.30, P < 0.001). The surface area/body mass ratio is positively correlated with temperature in both sexes (males: r=0.29, P < 0.001; females: r=0.34, P < 0.001), whereas the relationship between RSH and temperature is negative (males: r=-0.37, P < 0.001; females: r=-0.46, P < 0.001). These results are consistent with previous work showing that humans follow the ecological rules of Bergmann and Allen. However, the slope of the best-fit regressions between measures of body mass (i.e., mass, BMI, and surface area/mass) and temperature are more modest than those presented by Roberts. These differences appear to be attributable to secular trends in mass, particularly among tropical populations. Body mass and the BMI have increased over the last 40 years, whereas the surface area/body mass ratio has decreased. These findings indicate that, although climatic factors continue to be significant correlates of world-wide variation in human body size and morphology, differential changes in nutrition among tropical, developing world populations have moderated their influence.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Secular changes in relative leg length in post-war Japan.

Longitudinal secular changes of height and estimated leg length (ELL) or subischial leg length of Japanese boys and girls were investigated using data published in "The Statistical Report of the School Health Survey" of the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Japan. A significant trend towards greater relative leg length (long-leggedness) among Japanese children and youth has occurred during the period of about four decades covered by this study. After showing a strikingly consistent trend at all age levels between 6 and 17 years and a dramatic trend during the birth-year age period 1943-1963, the relative growth in leg length has been rapidly slowing or has stopped in both sexes. The relative growth of ELL seemed to be fixed after 11 years in boys and 9 years in girls. Maximum increment ages (MIA), both in height and ELL, were used as estimates of the timing of maximum growth during the adolescent spurt. Regression analysis was used to demonstrate the overall trend patterns of MIA in height and ELL. After removing autocorrelation effects, MIA for height is accelerated by 0.03 year in both sexes, while the MIA in ELL is accelerated by 0.03 year in boys and 0.01 year in girls. Thus, MIA in ELL in girls is occurring earlier but to a smaller extent than in boys. The average maturity difference between boys and girls is 2.07 years in height, but 2.83 years in lower extremity length. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 12:405-416, 2000. Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Secular trends for takeoff and maximum adolescent growth for eight decades of Japanese cohort data.

The presence of secular trends in the onset or takeoff of the adolescent growth spurt and subsequent adolescent growth of Japanese boys and girls were investigated using data published in "The Statistical Report of the School Health Survey" by the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Japan. An optimum kernel regression method was used to derive the biological parameters of the adolescent growth curve. An increasing trend in height at takeoff (i.e., height at the onset of the adolescent growth spurt) and height at peak height velocity (PHV) among Japanese children was evident during the 8 decades covered in this study. Age at PHV (i.e., the timing of the maximum adolescent growth) for each sex has decreased. Age at takeoff (i.e., the timing of the onset of the adolescent growth spurt) has decreased in boys during this century, but was almost constant in girls at about 7.8 years of age. Moreover, the interval between age at takeoff and age at PHV in girls has gradually decreased over this century. Since the birth year 1915, velocity at takeoff for girls was markedly greater than that for boys, whereas peak height velocity for girls was significantly less than that for boys (P < 0.05). Am. J. Hum. Biol. 12:702-712, 2000. Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Secular trend in peak oxygen consumption among United States youth in the 20th century.

The purpose of this study was to examine secular change in peak oxygen consumption (Vo(2)) in U.S. boys and girls using available data from the 20th century. Studies were primarily identified from review articles and a Medline search. To be included in the analysis, studies must have included direct measurement of peak Vo(2) on healthy (free from overt disease) United States children and youth from the general population separated by sex. Data (mean values) were divided by decade and separated into three age groups: 6-12, 13-15, and 16-18 years for boys, and 6-11, 12-14, and 15-18 years for girls. Peak Vo(2) values were expressed as related to bipedal locomotion; therefore, cycle ergometry values were corrected by a factor of 1.075. Mean values were fit by least squares, goodness-of-fit regression lines. Results indicate that absolute (L x min(-1)) and relative (ml x kg(-1) x min(-1)) peak Vo(2) have remained relatively stable among boys and young girls. In adolescent girls, particularly those 15 years of age and older, peak Vo(2) has decreased by approximately 20% over the past few decades. The available data indicate that aerobic fitness has not decreased in United States youth except in adolescent girls over the past few decades.

Adolescent↗