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Results of surgical treatment of esophageal achalasia. Multicenter retrospective study of 1,856 cases. GEEMO (Groupe Européen Etude Maladies Oesophagéennes) Multicentric Retrospective Study.

A retrospective analysis of 1,856 patients treated by esophageal achalasia in 23 different surgical departments from seven countries is reported. The predominant symptom was dysphagia (100%), pain, vomiting and weight loss (76.1%). The most useful diagnostic methods were: barium meal (85%), manometry (100%), endoscopy (100%) and 99mTc (100%). Conservative treatment (5.45%) was useful in 5.8% only. Dilatation (16.9%) produced amelioration in 65.9%. Thoracotomy was used in 20.9% and middle line laparotomy in 79.2%. Heller esophagomyotomy was performed in 99.52% associated with anterior fundoplasty in 79.8% and postero-lateral (Mark IV) in 9.75%. Most of the patients were controlled through barium meal, esophagoscopy, esophageal manometry, pHmetry and 99mTc ingestion. Good results after Heller's myotomy with anterior fundoplication were 81.7% and poor 7.2%. Recurrence of achalasia was present in 184 patients. A new esophagomyotomy was performed on 58.6% and distal esophageal resection in 62 (35.3%). In total, 988 patients were reviewed once a year. Absence of gastroesophageal reflux was shown in 73.9% of the explored patients.

Adult

Evaluation of the sexual consequences of surgery: retrospective and prospective strategies.

To assess the impact of a stressor, it is desirable to evaluate affected individuals' status both prior to and following a stressful event. Because of the difficulties inherent in prospective designs, investigators often ask people who have experienced an aversive event to evaluate their prestressor adjustment retrospectively. Do such retrospective evaluations provide a reasonable alternative to prospective assessment? To answer this question we compared retrospective and prospective data gathering procedures in the evaluation of sexual adjustment after prostate surgery. One hundred fifty-two married males who had undergone prostatectomy for benign prostatic enlargement completed a battery of measures which evaluated pre- and postsurgical sexual adjustment either prospectively (i.e., before and after surgery) or retrospectively (i.e., ratings made after surgery of both pre- and postsurgical adjustment). Retrospective assessment indicated considerable sexual deterioration pre- to postsurgery. In subjects tested prospectively, however, the results showed that surgery had little impact on sexual adjustment. Moreover, direct comparisons of retrospective and prospective methodologies reveal that discrepancies are due to differences in evaluations of presurgery status, with retrospective evaluation yielding more favorable ratings than prospective assessment. The results highlight a variety of biases which may affect self-ratings of pre- and post-stressor adaptation and show that discrepancies associated with the two methodologies have important implications for understanding the impact of a stressor on adjustment.

Aged

Retrospective versus original information on cigarette smoking. Implications for epidemiologic studies.

This study was conducted to evaluate the agreement between retrospective information on cigarette smoking and original information obtained six years previously. A questionnaire on smoking habits was answered by 94% of a random sample of the adult Swedish population in 1963 (original information). Of the 10,356 subjects aged 40-59 years who reported that they had ever smoked regularly, 9,394 answered a second questionnaire in 1969. Information was obtained on present smoking habits as well as on smoking habits in 1963 (retrospective information). Cigarette consumption was divided into four categories: 0, 1-7, 8-15, and 16+ cigarettes per day. In relation to the original information on smoking, retrospective information showed a strong tendency to overestimate previous cigarette consumption among subjects who had increased their cigarette smoking (69%), and to underestimate previous cigarette consumption among subjects who had decreased their cigarette smoking (49%). Subjects with unchanged cigarette consumption showed a high level of agreement between original and retrospective information (89%). Age, sex, income, and occupational status also had some impact on the agreement between retrospective and original information on cigarette consumption. Consequences for epidemiologic studies based on retrospective smoking information are discussed. The use of retrospective information may introduce considerable differential misclassification when cases and noncases differ with regard to changes in smoking habits.

Adult

The psychophysics of retrospective and prospective timing.

In two experiments, different groups of subjects heard four musical selections and then estimated the duration of each selection. Some groups made retrospective time estimates while others made prospective estimates. In both experiments, analyses of the psychophysical relation between perceived and actual duration showed that the slopes of straight-line fits were flatter and accounted for a smaller proportion of the variance under retrospective as compared with prospective conditions. In addition, in experiment 1, retrospective subjects were less accurate in rank ordering the selections from longest to shortest. There was also a serial-order effect, with selections estimated longer when they occurred early in the sequence. In experiment 2 the slopes decreased as the selections in a series became longer. Both retrospective and prospective estimates also exhibited a context effect, in that estimates of a given selection were influenced by the relative durations of the other three selections in the series. The results on inaccurate retrospective judgments raise questions about prior research on stimulus factors and retrospective timing. However, similarities under retrospective and prospective conditions suggest that timing under these conditions, although different in some respects, reflects a similar process.

Adult

Treatment of proteinuric idiopathic glomerulonephritides in adults: a retrospective survey.

PURPOSE: A review of the worldwide medical literature was undertaken to determine whether treatment with currently available drugs has been beneficial in patients with glomerulonephritides. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-five articles, involving 1,653 adult patients with chronic primary glomerulonephritis with proteinuria and/or nephrotic syndrome, were analyzed. The criteria for inclusion of data were strict, and only complete and well-studied cases were included in the analysis. The papers were grouped into prospective controlled trials, retrospective comparisons of treated and untreated patients, and retrospective studies without an untreated group. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of the data shows that patients with minimal change disease clearly benefited from the administration of corticosteroids and/or cytotoxic drugs, since 89 percent and 79 percent of patients had a complete remission in controlled trials and in retrospective studies, respectively. A low incidence of complete and partial remissions was found in the group of patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, proteinuria disappeared in 19 percent, and only 36 percent of these patients had stable renal function after a mean follow-up period of 6.3 years. The incidence of uremia and the number of patients requiring dialysis were very high. In patients with membraneous glomerulonephritis, conflicting results were obtained in controlled trials, retrospective comparisons, and retrospective studies, since a high percentage of complete and partial remissions was present in treated patients from both controlled and retrospective comparisons, whereas the percentage of complete and partial remission in untreated patients increased as the length of the follow-up period increased. Long-term studies carried out on untreated patients confirmed the high percentage of remissions. These data suggest that it is necessary to await future long-term results from controlled trials in order to determine whether or not corticosteroids alone or associated with cytotoxic drugs have a beneficial effect. Finally, the data from patients with mesangiocapillary glomerulonephritis show that therapy appears to have no beneficial effect on renal function. Nephrologists need new drugs that interfere more decisively with the immune process in the pathogenesis of primary glomerulonephritis.

Azathioprine

Missing hospital records: a confounding variable in retrospective studies.

In retrospective chart reviews there are often a certain number of missing hospital records. To elucidate this variable we compared the outcomes of very low birth weight breech infants with respect to the method of collecting data. A prospective sampling, during the hospital stay, of data was performed in 1979 to 1980 and in 1983 to 1984, and the frequencies of very low birth weight were 1.89 and 1.90, respectively, per 1000 live births. For 1981 to 1982 a retrospective record search was performed with the use of the ordinary medical record search system at this institution. For this period 39 of 52 (75%) hospital records were recovered, giving an apparent frequency of 1.32/1000 live births, which differed significantly from either period studied prospectively. An analysis of demographic data of the three groups revealed that the mean gestational age and the mean birth weights were higher in the period studied retrospectively compared with both periods studied prospectively and that the neonatal mortality rates were higher in the periods studied prospectively (74.1% and 57.1%, respectively) than in the period studied retrospectively (28.2%). It is concluded that the more complicated a clinical case is, the more likely the record will not be found for retrospective chart review. This problem should be kept in mind, and it ought to be a requirement that the number of missing charts be stated in retrospective observational studies.

Adult

A comparison of prospective and retrospective diary methods of assessing alcohol use among university undergraduates.

The objective of this study is to compare data about the quantity of alcohol consumed by university undergraduates using a prospective diary with those data collected using a retrospective diary. Five hundred and ninety-eight subjects were randomly selected and divided into two groups matched for age, sex, year of study and subject group; one group received a prospective and one a retrospective questionnaire-301 students received prospective and 297 retrospective questionnaires. Sixty-eight per cent responded to the prospective and 75 per cent to the retrospective survey. There was no significant difference in the median alcohol consumption detected for men or women in this study (p = 0.13; p = 0.47). However, the prospective diary recorded a greater proportion of heavy drinkers, this difference being significant for men and women (p less than 0.05). The quantitative results of the retrospective diary are similar to those obtained by a similar method in a previous survey. The conclusion is that a prospective diary detects a greater proportion of heavy drinkers than a retrospective diary. The prospective survey may be the most appropriate method for assessing alcohol use in certain situations.

Adult

The course of schizophrenia: some remarks on a yet unsolved problem of retrospective data collection.

The retrospective assessment of symptoms and syndromes is a basic measure in research of the longitudinal course of schizophrenia. In spite of its importance there have been few studies evaluating the standard of quality of instruments for retrospective data collection. Combining retrospectively and cross-sectionally collected data on schizophrenic symptomatology in a cohort study over a period of 5 years revealed a significant underestimation of symptoms when assessed in retrospect. The need for studies on the validity of instruments for the retrospective assessment of symptoms is stressed.

Delusions

The relative validity of retrospectively assessed energy intake data in cases with myocardial infarction and controls (the Zutphen Study).

The relative validity of energy intake data, retrospectively collected after a 15-year period, was investigated. In 1970 dietary data were obtained by the cross-check dietary history method among 615 men aged 50-69. Between 1970 and 1985, 43 of these men had a non-fatal myocardial infarction. As controls 86 healthy men were selected. Of these 129 men, 112 were interviewed about their usual food intake in 1985 and in 1970. The retrospectively collected food intake data were compared with the data obtained in 1970. Retrospectively the average energy intake was overestimated by approximately 300 kcal/day. The amount of overestimation was statistically associated with change in energy intake, education and interviewer. The data collected in 1970 showed a significantly lower energy intake in cases compared with controls. However, the retrospectively assessed energy intake data showed no significant difference. A difference in energy intake between cases and controls may not be found when dietary intake data are assessed retrospectively.

Aged

Comparison of 7-day retrospective and prospective alcohol consumption diaries in a female population in Perth, Western Australia--methodological issues.

The summer alcohol consumption of women living in metropolitan Perth was measured using both a retrospective and prospective diary. Overall, 1356 women fully completed both the retrospective and prospective alcohol consumption diaries. The prospective diary yielded a significantly higher level (9%) of consumption (p less than 0.00001) compared with the retrospective diary. Although there was no significant difference in the percentage of women drinking at harmful levels (greater than 280 g absolute alcohol per week) between the two diary methods, there did appear to be an important percentage difference (1.9% versus 2.8%) suggesting that the prospective diary did detect a larger percentage of women at risk. This would be both practically and statistically significant in large populations. The heavier the drinker the greater the variability in reported consumption between the two diary weeks. However, it is interesting to note that the direction of the variation depended on which diary was used as the base for classifying women as different types of drinkers. Women who drank at hazardous (140-280 g per week) or harmful (greater than 280 g) levels during the retrospective diary week reported a lower level of consumption during the prospective diary week. Conversely women who drank at hazardous or harmful levels during the prospective diary week reported a lower level of consumption during the retrospective diary week. Possible explanations for these findings are explored and methodological considerations for future studies are discussed.

Adolescent

Retrospective and prospective coding of information: dissociation of parietal cortex and hippocampal formation.

Animals with sham operations, hippocampal formation, or small and large parietal cortex lesions were trained in a task that required memory for short or long lists of items (spatial locations). More specifically, on any one trial, a rat is presented with 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 items (spatial locations) on a 12-arm radial maze followed 15 min later by a win-shift test that required the animal to choose between a place previously visited and a novel place. Sham-operated animals showed an increase in errors as a function of set size (2 to 8 items) followed by a decrease in errors with a set size of 10 items, suggesting the use of both retrospective and prospective memory codes. In contrast, animals with hippocampal formation lesions made errors for all set sizes, reflecting an inability to use a retrospective and prospective memory code. The failure to use a prospective code is probably a function of the inability to use a retrospective code (i.e., the animal needs to remember first what has occurred before it can determine what information lies ahead). Animals with small or large parietal cortex lesions made most of their errors for the longest list length, reflecting an inability to shift from a retrospective to prospective memory code. This dissociation between the hippocampal formation and parietal cortex might reflect mediation of different memory operations. The hippocampal formation might mediate new incoming information (data-based memory processing) and thus accentuate the importance of a retrospective memory code. The parietal cortex might mediate existing knowledge (expectancy-based memory processing) and thus facilitate the utilization of a prospective memory code.

Animals

Neuroticism and selective encoding and recall of symptoms: evidence from a combined concurrent-retrospective study.

The association between Neuroticism (N) and elevated symptom reporting has been attributed to differences in the encoding but not in the recall of illness episodes. If high-N persons are selective only at the encoding of illness information, then retrospective reports should be no more exaggerated than concurrent reports. This study uses a concurrent-retrospective design to examine selectivity in concurrent and retrospective reports of symptoms. Concurrent daily reports gathered over 2 months were only moderately correlated with retrospective symptom reports covering the same time period. The direct path from N to recalled symptoms was larger than the indirect path from N through concurrent to recalled symptoms for 3 out of 4 symptoms. Discussion concerns implications of using recollection-based measures, suggestions for reducing selective memory effects, and explanations regarding how and why N relates to selective information processing about the self.

Adult

Retrospective versus original information on diet: implications for epidemiological studies.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of retrospective information on diet in relation to the information originally reported. Hospital controls (n = 131) who participated in a case-control study on diet and pancreatic cancer in Stockholm, Sweden, answered a second postal questionnaire four years later about their current and previous food consumption. The food consumption was dichotomized for the purpose of the analysis. In relation to the original information, the use of retrospective information overestimated previous food consumption among subjects with increased intake, while retrospective information underestimated previous food consumption among subjects with decreased intake. These tendencies were slightly more pronounced in the age group 60-79 years than in the age group 40-59 years. For subjects with unchanged food consumption, there was a high agreement between original and retrospective information. Considerable differential misclassification could be introduced in an epidemiological study if cases and non-cases differ with regard to changes in food consumption.

Adult

Retrospective versus original information on diet among cases of colorectal cancer and controls.

A cohort of subjects born 1908 to 1925 answered a questionnaire on dietary habits in 1967 (original information). Of the cases of colorectal cancer that were diagnosed in this cohort 1968-1983, 50 were still alive in 1987. A total of 150 controls were selected as a stratified (age, sex) random sample of those who did not have a colorectal cancer. In 1987, the cases and controls were asked to fill in a questionnaire on dietary habits in 1967 (retrospective information) as well as on their current dietary habits. The questions were identical and used to compare retrospective and original information on diet among cases and controls, taking into account any changes in dietary habits during the intervening period. Cases and controls usually had a similar tendency to overestimate or underestimate their previous food intake. For both cases and controls, the tendency to overestimate previous intake was closely related to an increase in consumption during the intervening period and vice versa. Among those subjects who had not altered their consumption during the intervening period, there was usually a rather good agreement between the retrospective and original information. This was true for the cases as well as for the controls. For certain food items, the results suggest that the use of retrospective information would introduce a differential misclassification. In order to avoid or reduce a differential misclassification introduced by differences between cases and controls in changes in consumption due to the disease under study, it may be advisable to interview the cases as soon as possible after diagnosis or even at the time of preliminary diagnosis.

Aged

Comparison of contemporaneous and retrospective estimates of food consumption made by a dietary history method.

In 1983 the relative validity of a retrospective dietary history method was assessed against a current dietary history taken seven years previously in 1976 and a second current dietary history taken in 1983. In total, 44 men and 58 women, aged 38 to 62 years, participated in the study. For energy intake and for most nutrients, the relative difference between the results obtained with the retrospective dietary history and the current dietary history in 1976 was below 15% and for six of the 11 nutrients below 10%. When the three macronutrients (protein, fat, and carbohydrate) were expressed as a proportion of energy intake, the relative difference was also below 10%. Similar results were found for food groups. The data obtained retrospectively correlate rather well with the results of the current dietary history taken in 1983, suggesting an effect of contemporaneous food habits on retrospective reporting.

Adult

Incidence of hypothyroidism after irradiation of the neck with special reference to lymphoma patients. A retrospective and prospective analysis.

Twenty-eight patients were studied prospectively in order to determine the incidence of hypothyroidism after mantle irradiation for malignant lymphoma. This group was compared with a historical group of 65 patients, among them 36 patients with malignant lymphoma. The mean follow-up was 30 months for the prospective group and 46 months for the retrospective group. The mean thyroid dose for irradiated malignant lymphomas in the prospective and the retrospective group was 45 Gy and 43 Gy respectively. For other tumors with neck irradiation (retrospective group) the mean thyroid dose was 53 Gy. There were no cases of clinical hypothyroidism in our study. As for subclinical hypothyroidism which is characterised by elevated TSH, the incidence was 22% in the prospective group and 3% in the retrospective group, i.e. 8/93 patients showed a hypothyroid dysfunction. Three of the 8 patients with subclinical hypothyroidism had undergone lymphangiography before radiotherapy. Due to the elevated iodine pool a lymphangiogram is considered as a risk factor for hypothyroidism as well as for hyperthyroidism, which we observed twice in the prospective group. Evaluation of the thyroid function before lymphangiography and irradiation as well as regular thyroid function studies during the follow-up are recommended in order to detect hypothyroidism in time.

Adolescent

Reliability and validity of retrospective self-reports of the age of pubertal onset using twin, sibling, and college student data.

This study presents a methodology, derived from behavioral genetic research, designed to evaluate the validity of retrospective self-report inventories. The application of this technique to college student, twin, and sibling data demonstrated the reliability and validity of a retrospective self-report questionnaire on the timing of pubertal onset. Support was provided by four main findings: (1) substantial test-retest reliability coefficients for individual items (r ranged from .73 to .97) were obtained for a sample of college students; (2) nearly all of the monozygotic twin (MZ) intraclass correlations exceeded those for dizygotic twins (DZ); (3) the magnitude of the test-retest and intraclass correlations for recall of the timing of pubertal onset followed theoretical expectations for a trait demonstrating significant genetic influence (i.e., r for the same individual tested twice greater than r for MZs greater than r for DZs greater than r for siblings); (4) the expected secular trend of a cross-generational decrease in the age of sexual maturation was demonstrated for retrospective self-reports of family members representing three different generations. Moreover, the size of the mean differences across generations mirrored those reported for nonretrospective assessments of the actual age of pubertal onset. Finally, the value of retrospective self-report surveys in psychological research is discussed, and the relative merits of these instruments as indices of individual differences in pubertal development, as opposed to indices of the actual age of sexual maturation, are emphasized.

Adolescent

Preterm breech delivery: another retrospective study.

To evaluate the significance of the route of delivery for preterm breech deliveries, a retrospective study was performed on 136 infants in breech presentation, weighing less than 1500 g. Thirty-seven (27%) were delivered vaginally, and the remaining 99 (73%) by cesarean section. Although perinatal mortality was higher in the vaginally delivered infants than in those born by cesarean section (54 versus 37%), statistical significance was not shown. One-fourth of the deaths in the vaginal delivery group occurred intrapartum. Although most previous studies have suggested improved outcome with delivery by cesarean section, the present study fails to demonstrate any statistically significant difference. Whether there is, in fact, no difference in outcome attributable to the route of delivery or a difference exists that is not demonstrable by a retrospective study is an open question. It is concluded that the design of the present retrospective study, as in all published studies on this subject, confounds the results and thereby makes conclusions precarious. The limited value of nonrandomized retrospective studies for the evaluation of a certain obstetric procedure is discussed.

Birth Weight