Factors predicting mortality in midlife adults with and without Down syndrome living with family

Background Little is known about the mortality of individuals with Down syndrome who have lived at home with their families throughout their lives. The current study evaluates the predictors, causes and patterns of mortality among co‐residing individuals in midlife with Down syndrome as compared with co‐residing individuals with ID owing to other causes. Method This paper examines mortality in 169 individuals with and 292 individuals without Down syndrome from 1988 to 2007. Dates and causes of death were obtained from maternal report, the Social Security Death Index and the National Death Index. Risk factors predicting mortality, including demographic variables, transition variables, and initial and change measures of health, functional abilities and behaviour problems, were obtained from maternal report. Results Having Down syndrome is a risk factor of mortality, net of other risk factors including older age, poorer functional abilities, worsening behaviour problems, residential relocation and parental death. The causes of death among individuals with and without Down syndrome who are in midlife and co‐residing with their families are similar, and are most commonly due to cardiovascular or respiratory problems. Conclusions The findings indicate that midlife adults with Down syndrome who co‐reside with their families generally exhibit similar causes of mortality as do midlife adults with intellectual disability owing to other causes, but show an elevated risk of mortality in midlife net of other variables, such as age and changes in functional abilities and behaviour problems.     

广州市越秀区居民人口类型及死因统计分析

本文整理分析了广州市越秀区1980—1986年居民的人口年龄类型及死亡情况,该区居民的年龄中位数30.3岁,65岁及以上人口百分比为7.39％,人口年龄类型已踏入老年型,而从该区的死亡情况来看,前六位死因依次为恶性肿瘤、心脏病、呼吸系统病、脑血管病、消化系统病及意外伤亡,死亡率分别为141.76/10万、119.03/10万、107.78/10万、97.15/10万、28.14/10万、和24.81/10万,除意外伤亡外,前五位死因都是50岁以上死亡率明显升高,说明该区今后的卫生保健工作,应重视人口老龄化的问题,实做好老年性疾病的防治工作。     

Fatal poisonings in Jutland (Denmark) during the 1980s

Summary During the period 1980 through 1989 a total of 1029 cases of fatal poisoning (638 men and 391 women) were examined at the Department of Forensic Medicine, Aarhus University, Denmark. In 68% of the cases death had been caused by drugs, whereas acute alcohol poisoning and carbon monoxide accounted for 15% and 14% of the cases, respectively. Alcohol was detected in more than half of the 1029 fatal poisoning cases, and in 42% of all cases the blood alcohol concentration was above 0.8 g/kg. In 57% of the cases death was categorized as accidental, only in 31% of the cases as suicide. Accidental deaths were especially predominant amongst drug and/or alcohol abusers. Propoxyphene was the drug found to have caused most fatal poisonings during the decade (30% of the drug-related deaths). Most of the propoxyphene-related deaths occurred during the early and mid-eighties. Barbiturate poisonings were quite frequent during the first half of the eighties. However, the number of deaths caused by barbiturates decreased significantly after 1986, when most barbiturates were withdrawn from the market. The number of deaths caused by narcotics and analgesics increased during the survey period, while no specific tendency was observed concerning antidepressants.     

胎盘早剥30例临床分析

本文回顾性分析我院自1983年1月至1993年10月分娩的18350例中，胎盘早剥30例，发生率为0．163％，其中剖宫产15例（占50．5％），产后出血7例（占23．33％），低体重儿7例（占23．33％），新生儿窒息6例（占20％），围产儿死亡率16．67％（5例）。分析认为，胎盘早剥为妊娠晚期的严重并发症，除典型的早剥症状外，无原因的胎心异常、腹痛、腰痛、阴道流血、高张性子宫收缩等均要考虑胎盘早剥的可能，B超可协助诊断，但应结合临床观察，及时处理，以降低母儿死亡率。     

中国八省市婴幼儿死亡率

根据1985及1987年在上海、北京、辽宁、山东、河北、陕西、甘肃及贵州进行深入的生育力调查中的婴幼儿死亡资料,对中国八省市30年来婴幼儿死亡率作了统计分析。100645名活产婴儿的死亡资料的统计结果表明,30年来婴幼儿死亡率显著下降,从60年代中期到1980～1984年,婴幼儿死亡率降低了62％,婴儿死亡率降低了56％,1～4岁幼儿死亡率降低了76％。1980～1984年八省市平均的婴幼儿死亡率为48‰,婴儿死亡率39‰,幼儿死亡率9‰,新生儿死亡率26‰。据此推算我国婴儿死亡率1975～1979年在50‰左右,1980～1984年在40‰左右。中国婴幼儿死亡率存在明显的地区差异,贵州省与上海市相比,婴幼儿死亡率高3倍,婴儿死亡率高2.4倍,幼儿死亡率高5.1倍。     

早泄病人慢性前列腺炎的发生率调查

目的 :调查早泄男性中慢性前列腺炎的发生率。　方法 :对 10 6例早泄病人和 38例正常人前列腺按摩前后尿液标本及前列腺按摩液 (EPS)进行显微镜和 /或细菌学检查 ,并评估 12 0例慢性前列腺炎病人中早泄的发生率。　结果 :在早泄病人中发现 49例 (46 .2 %)有慢性前列腺炎 ,其中 34 .7%存在慢性细菌性前列腺炎 ,与对照组相比均有统计学差异 (P <0 .0 5 )。 12 0例慢性前列腺炎病人中 5 7例 (47.5 %)存在不同程度的早泄。　结论 :本研究结果提示慢性前列腺炎症在某些早泄病人的发病机制中可能具有一定作用 ,在针对早泄治疗前进行前列腺仔细检查具有重要意义。     

10个钨矿职工死因分析

对中南地区10个钨矿1972—1974年入矿(工龄至少1年)的在册职工28453人进行了队列研究。队列成员追访至1989年,死亡2870人,比全国居民死亡率计算的期望值略高(SMR=1.15,95％CI=1.11—1.19);主要是非恶性呼吸道疾病,特别是尘肺(SMR=66.79,95％CI=59.65—73.68)以及与呼吸道疾病相关的肺心病明显超高(SMR=8.19,95％CI=7.42—9.02),比全国居民死亡率高5倍。癌症死亡数在全死因中虽占第一位,但仅鼻咽癌轻度超高(SMR=1.73,95％CI=1.23—2.37),而肺癌死亡率明显偏低(SMR=0.53)。研究结果不支持矽肺与肺癌病因学相关的假说。     

Community-based situation analysis of maternal and neonatal care in South Africa to explore factors that impact utilization of maternal health services

This community situational analysis determined factors impacting the utilization of maternal health services in South Africa. Quantitative and qualitative research methods were used, including semistructured household interviews, case studies of women with no antenatal care and/or home birth, and verbal/social autopsies of maternal and infant deaths, conducted in three diverse sites across the country. Data analysis used quantitative statistics for the semistructured interviews and a qualitative thematic content approach for the case studies and verbal/social autopsies. Each component was analyzed separately and then triangulated. The following themes emerged: 1) transport and distance to care were the biggest problems, particularly in rural areas; 2) providers' communication with families was very poor; 3) health-seeking behavior was better than anticipated; 4) treatment by health providers and quality of care showed mixed results; 5) HIV/AIDS is a major issue; however, basic maternity and neonatal service quality cannot be overlooked; and 6) families and communities are an untapped resource for improving maternal and neonatal health. Implications for maternal and infant health care in developing countries are discussed, with a particular focus on barriers to utilization and involvement of communities and families in maternity care.     

Update on medication abortion

This article provides an overview of medication abortion in the United States 6 years after the approval of mifepristone (RU486; Mifeprex; Danco Laboratories, LLC, New York, NY) by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The adoption of mifepristone is considered in the context of epidemiologic data on abortion, abortion access, and the safety of abortion. The risks of medication and aspiration abortion are discussed in the context of abortion-related mortality, recent experience with obstetric and gynecologic infection with Clostridium sordellii, and the limits of scientific knowledge on the incidence of this infection in women. Innovative protocols studied since FDA approval of mifepristone are presented, and implications for clinical practice are discussed.     

Higher perinatal mortality in National Public Health System hospitals in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 1999: a compositional or contextual effect?

Objective  In Brazil, it was previously reported that in hospital perinatal, neonatal and infant mortality rates are higher for hospitals contracted to the National Public Health System (SUS) compared with non-SUS hospitals. We analyse whether this reflects a compositional effect (selection of patients) or a contextual effect.
Design  Population-based cohort study.
Setting  Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 1999.
Population  A total of 36 469 births in 24 hospitals.
Methods  A multilevel analysis was carried out using information gathered at the individual level on maternal education (used as an indicator of socio-economic status), maternal age, type of pregnancy and delivery, birthweight and sex of the fetus.
Main outcome measure  Perinatal death.
Results  Risk factors for perinatal death included male sex (OR = 1.25; 95% CI 1.01–1.55), birthweight of 1500–2500 g (OR = 7.65; 95% CI 5.74–10.20), birthweight of 500–1500 g (OR = 187.54; 95% CI 141.31–248.39), less than 4 years of maternal education (OR = 2.93; 95% CI 1.68–5.10), as well as birth at private-SUS (OR = 2.92; 95% CI 1.87–4.54) or philanthropic-SUS hospitals (OR = 1.81; 95% CI 1.12–2.92). After controlling for individual characteristics, there was still a significant variation in perinatal deaths between hospitals categories.
Conclusion  Independent of compositional (or individual) characteristics, hospital factors exert an influence on the risk of perinatal death, primarily hospital category related to SUS. Considering the highest proportion of births in SUS hospitals in Brazil, especially private-SUS hospitals, improving hospital quality of care is an urgent priority for reducing the toll of perinatal and infant mortality, as well as inequalities in these outcomes.