Drinking in Longitudinal Perspective: Career and Natural History

Longitudinal studies of drinking are now of great importance. Two concepts need to be distinguished. Career is the evolution of the individual's role, while Natural History pertains to the sequential development in tissue or body-system reactivity to alcohol. The richness of ideas and research opportunities relating seperately to each of these dimensions is discussed, and also the need for synthesis.     

Drinking in Longitudinal Perspective: Career and Natural History

Longitudinal studies of drinking are now of great importance. Two concepts need to be distinguished. Career is the evolution of the individual's role, while Natural History pertains to the sequential development in tissue or body-system reactivity to alcohol. The richness of ideas and research opportunities relating seperately to each of these dimensions is discussed, and also the need for synthesis.     

Longitudinal angulation in coronary arteriography: Apparatus and evaluation

When good visualization of the left coronary artery and proximal branches is difficult, the longitudinally angulated projection has proved useful. An accessory for achieving this angulation with a conventional angiographic table and without sacrificing the advantages of video monitoring and the protection of lead vinyl shielding is described.     

Needle-Sharing: A Longitudinal Study of Psychosocial Risk and Protective Factors

The authors examined the psychosocial correlates of needle-sharing behavior at two points in time (T₁ and T₂) by use of a prospective longitudinal design. Subjects were 278 male intravenous drug users, 111 of whom were HIV-positive. All subjects were given structured questionnaires by trained, ethnically matched interviewers. Pearson correlation coefficients (rs) and hierarchical regression analyses were done to examine interrelationships among T₁ psychosocial domains, T₁ needle-sharing, and T₂ needle-sharing. T₁ psychosocial/personality factors predicting T₂ needle-sharing included unconventionality, poor emotional control, and poor intrapsychic functioning. The relationship of T₁ needle-sharing to T₂ needle-sharing was buffered by the T₁ psychosocial protective factors. The findings supported a mediational model, in which personality and peer factors predicted T₁ needle-sharing, which served as the mediator for T₂ needle-sharing. (American Journal on Addictions 1996; 5:209–219)     

Abdominal obesity and mortality: The Pennington Center Longitudinal Study

The purpose of this study was to determine the association between visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and all-cause mortality. The sample included 1089 white men and women 18–84 years of age from the Pennington Center Longitudinal Study, a prospective cohort of participants assessed between 1995 and 2008, and followed for mortality until 31 December 2009. Abdominal VAT was measured at the L4–L5 vertebral level using computed tomography. There were 27 deaths during an average of 9.1 years of follow-up. Abdominal VAT was significantly associated with mortality after adjustment for age, sex and year of examination (hazards ratio (HR) 1.46; 95% confidence interval 1.05–2.05). The association was stronger after the inclusion of abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), smoking status, alcohol consumption and leisure-time physical activity as additional covariates (HR 1.74; 1.17–2.59). Limiting the sample to participants who were free of stroke, heart disease and cancer at baseline reduced the strength of the relationship slightly (HR 1.62; 1.07–2.47). Abdominal SAT was not associated with mortality, either alone or in combination with VAT and other covariates. The results support the assertion that abdominal VAT is an important therapeutic target for obesity reduction efforts.     

Contributions of Longitudinal Studies to Epidemiology and Disease Prevention: an Overview

Abstract. Longitudinal studies characterise changes with respect to initial levels and rates of changes. They help to identify transitions between normal ageing and disease; to identify persons at risk for age associated diseases and to plan interventions. The future usefulness of longitudinal studies will depend increasingly on the preservation of biological specimens.