Transvestic fetishism in the general population: prevalence and correlates

We used a random sample of 2,450 18-60 year-olds in the general population of Sweden to study the prevalence as well as the social, sexual, and health correlates of transvestic fetishism (sexual arousal from cross-dressing). Almost three percent (2.8%) of men and 0.4% of women reported at least one episode of transvestic fetishism. Separation from parents, same-sex sexual experiences, being easily sexually aroused, pornography use, and higher masturbation frequency were significantly associated with transvestic fetishism. A positive attitude to this sexual practice and paraphilia indicators--sexual arousal from using pain, exposing genitals to a stranger, and spying on others having sex--were particularly strong correlates to the dependent variable.     

Anemia in young children of the Muynak District of Karakalpakistan, Uzbekistan: prevalence, type, and correlates.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined prevalence and correlates of anemia in the Muynak District of Uzbekistan, an area of rapidly changing social and economic conditions following the collapse of the Soviet Union. METHODS: Questionnaire data and blood samples were collected on a random sample of 433 children aged 1 through 4 years. RESULTS: The prevalence of anemia ranged from 89% in 1-year-olds to 48% in 4-year-olds. Correlates for anemia included younger age, a communal water source, and a history of pica. CONCLUSIONS: Anemia is a widespread problem in young children in this district. An aggressive attempt to reverse this problem is needed.     

Carpal tunnel syndrome: prevalence in the general population.

To study the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in the general population and the value of brachialgia paraesthetica nocturna (BPN) in diagnosing CTS, an age and sex stratified random sample of 715 subjects was taken from the population register of Maastricht (The Netherlands) and surrounding villages, between September 1983 and July 1985. The response rate was 70%. Of these, 12 CTS cases had already been diagnosed. Of the remaining subjects, 64 (13 men, 51 women) woke up because of BPN. Among these subjects 1 man and 23 women were found to have CTS. The prevalence rate of undetected CTS was 5.8% [95% confidence interval (CI): 3.5-8.1%] in adult women; 3.4 percent (95% CI: 1.5-5.3%) had already been diagnosed as CTS. The overall prevalence rate for men was 0.6% (95% CI 0.02-3.4%). These figures have to be regarded as minimal estimates. The overall diagnostic value of BPN for CTS was 38%, while for women only this was 45% (95% CI: 31-60%).     

Anemia in rural China's elementary schools: prevalence and correlates in Shaanxi province's poor counties

Despite growing wealth in China, a significant share of children across rural China still have no access to iron-rich foods, vitamins, and other micronutrients. Such poor diets may result in high incidences of nutritional problems, including anemia. The objective of the study was to increase understanding of the extent of anemia, and identify structural correlates of anemia in poor Shaanxi province's primary schools. The article shows that the overall anemia rate is 21.5 percent when using a blood hemoglobin cutoff of 115 g/L (39 percent with a cutoff of 120 g/L). We find that those students that are boarding at school and eat lunch away from home are more likely to be anemic. Children with anemia are found to have lower height for age (HAZ) scores. If this part of Shaanxi province is representative of all poor counties in China, these findings mean millions of children in poor rural China may be anemic.     

Social, demographic and attitudinal correlates of AIDS: Knowledge in the general population of Spain

The association between AIDS knowledge and various social, demographicand attitudinal variables was examined to elicit a better understandingof what makes some individuals more knowledgeable than othersabout HIV infection. A total of 1,800 individuals were surveyedin Madrid (Spain). Results show that having a low level of education(OR_adj = 4.3, 95% Cl 3.0, 6.2), being older than 45 years (OR_adj= 3.3, 95% Cl 2.4, 4.5) and being on the right of the politicalspectrum (OR_adj = 2.7, 95% Cl 1.8, 4.0) increases the odds ofhaving a low level of AIDS knowledge. Given the educationaland political characteristics of those less knowledgeable, healtheducation efforts need to convey simple and understandable messagesadapted to their way of thinking. Results also show that lackof knowledge is associated with fear. A catastrophic perceptionof the magnitude of the epidemic (OR_adj = 1.9, 95% Cl 1.4, 2.5)is strongly associated with low knowledge. However, lack ofknowledge is associated not only with fear but also with thesupport of coercive measures to prevent the spread of HIV Infection.Therefore, health education messages that incite fear of AIDSand feelings of vulnerability may increase coercion as wellas affecting AIDS knowledge.     

Severe acute respiratory syndrome: clinical outcome and prognostic correlates

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) poses a major threat to the health of people worldwide. We performed a retrospective case series analysis to assess clinical outcome and identify pretreatment prognostic correlates of SARS, managed under a standardized treatment protocol. We studied 127 male and 196 female patients with a mean age of 41+14 (range 18-83). All patients, except two, received ribavirin and steroid combination therapy. In 115 (36%) patients, the course of disease was limited. Pneumonitis progressed rapidly in the remaining patients. Sixty-seven (21%) patients required intensive care, and 42 (13%) required ventilator support. Advanced age, high admission neutrophil count, and high initial lactate dehydrogenase level were independent correlates of an adverse clinical outcome. SARS-associated coronavirus caused severe illnesses in most patients, despite early treatment with ribavirin and steroid. This study has identified three independent pretreatment prognostic correlates.     

The differential blood pressure sign in general practice: prevalence and prognostic value

BACKGROUND: Patients sometimes have differences of > or =20/10 mmHg in their blood pressure depending on which arm is measured. The prevalence and prognostic value of this finding in general practice are unknown. If these differences are due to peripheral vascular disease, these patients may be at increased risk of cardiovascular or cerebrovascular events. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to establish the frequency and prognostic value of a blood pressure difference between arms in one rural general practice. METHODS: Paired blood pressure readings were collected from patients attending the surgery. The outcome measures of myocardial infarction, new diagnosis of angina, a cerebrovascular event or death were recorded prospectively. RESULTS: A total of 280 patients were examined, and of these 13.6% had a systolic blood pressure difference (SBPD) of > or =20 mmHg, and 23.2% a diastolic blood pressure difference (DBPD) of > or =10 mmHg. Eighty-three patients were followed-up for 5.6 years. Patients with a DBPD of > or =10 mmHg showed a mean event-free survival of 3.3 years [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.2-4.4] compared with 5.0 years (95% CI 4.7-5.3) for those with a DBPD of <10 mmHg (P < 0.0001). Patients with an SBPD of > or =20 mmHg showed a mean event-free survival of 3.5 years (95% CI 2.3-4.7) compared with 4.9 years (95% CI 4.5-5.2) for an SBPD of <20 mmHg (P = 0.043). CONCLUSIONS: During a single assessment of blood pressure, there will be a minority of patients with a difference of > or =20/10 mmHg between their right and left arms. Measurement of both arms is therefore necessary to diagnose and treat hypertension accurately. This study suggests an association between blood pressure difference and increased morbidity and mortality. Priority should be given to managing other risk factors aggressively in those patients with a reproducible blood pressure difference of > or =20/10 mmHg.     

Anemia in Cambodia: prevalence, etiology and research needs

Anemia is a severe global public health problem with serious consequences for both the human and socio-economic health. This paper presents a situation analysis of the burden of anemia in Cambodia, including a discussion of the country-specific etiologies and future research needs. All available literature on the prevalence and etiology of anemia in Cambodia was collected using standard search protocols. Prevalence data was readily identified for pre-school aged children and women of reproductive age, but there is a dearth of information for school-aged children, men and the elderly. Despite progress in nation-wide programming over the past decade, anemia remains a significant public health problem in Cambodia, especially for women and children. Anemia is a multifaceted disease and both nutritional and non-nutritional etiologies were identified, with iron deficiency accounting for the majority of the burden of disease. The current study highlights the need for a national nutrition survey, including collection of data on the iron status and prevalence of anemia in all population groups. It is impossible to develop effective intervention programs without a clear picture of the burden and cause of disease in the country.     

Symptom prevalence and severity in a general practice population

The prevalence of symptoms in the community is sometimes used as an index of untreated morbidity. However, such an index can be very misleading unless it makes allowance for differences in symptom severity between declared and undeclared patients. Recent attenders at one health centre were compared with controls who had not seen their GPs for at least three months. Comparisons of symptom severity were made between attenders who had reported one or more of seven selected symptoms and non-attenders who said they were troubled by the same symptoms. For the symptoms selected, it was found that a high proportion of sufferers in both groups were of at least two months' chronicity. Prevalence rates of up to 33% for backache and tiredness in older women were found in non-attending controls, but symptom severity was significantly less than in patients who had recently consulted their doctors with the same symptom. Symptoms were both more prevalent and more severe among women than among men. It seemed unlikely, however, that this difference could explain the higher consultation rates for women, because the same excess of women over men persisted among consulters. It seems that for these symptoms increasing severity is associated with an increasing probability of attending the surgery but that the symptoms functions more often as a background factor than as a precipitant.     

Socio-demographic correlates of alcohol consumption in the Danish general population

AIMS: Little is known about specific Danish drinking patterns. This paper investigates how various socio-demographic factors are related to Danish alcohol consumption with special focus on age and sex. METHODS: Data come from a national telephone survey of the Danish general population conducted in 2003 with a final sample size of 2,030 cases. Measures of beverage specific current drinking, overall drinking, daily drinking, heavy episodic drinking, mean consumption, volume per drinking occasion and frequency of drinking were analysed. RESULTS: A little over 5% of the population are abstainers. Fourteen per cent of men and 9% of women are heavy drinkers; 38% of men and 18% of women are heavy episodic drinkers. Youth of both sexes drink heavily, and especially in a binge drinking style. Regular, more temperate drinking is associated with increasing age. Multivariate analyses suggest that other than age and sex, classical socioeconomic factors do not play a great a role in determining drinking patterns. Social integrative factors in particular influence women's drinking. CONCLUSIONS: With respect to the rest of Europe and North America, Danes consume high levels of alcohol with a large percentage of youth drinking in a binge pattern. Classical socioeconomic factors play a lesser role in determining drinking patterns compared to other Western countries. Longitudinal studies and studies of alcohol-related consequences in the Danish general population should be conducted to better formulate alcohol and public health policy.     

Estimation of the metabolic syndrome prevalence in the general population in Germany

Aim  The purpose of this study was to estimate the order of magnitude of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) prevalence in Germany despite a lack of sufficient fasting participants in representative national studies. Subjects and methods  This analysis was based on 6,666 participants of the National Health Examination Survey (NHIES) 1998 aged 18–79, using the criteria of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP), hemoglobin A_1c (HbA_1c), non-fasting triglycerides and fasting time. Results  Among 6,666 participants, 26.3% were fasting for at least 8 h and an additional 60.4% could be classified according to the NCEP criteria based on their waist circumference, HDL cholesterol and blood pressure alone (if all three parameters were above or all below the NCEP thresholds). MetS determination in the remaining 13.3% of the sample according to the NCEP criteria would have required fasting glucose and triglyceride values that were not available (inconclusive cases). The metabolic syndrome prevalence in the overall sample was therefore estimated to be at least 13.6%, if all inconclusive cases did not have the MetS, and at most 26.9%, if all inconclusive cases had the MetS. We narrowed down this range by classifying the inconclusive cases stepwise, first by adding information on HbA_1c with cutoffs >6.1% and >6.0% and then by including information on non-fasting triglycerides with three different cutoffs (≥250 mg/dl, ≥200 mg/dl and ≥75th percentile of the population distribution stratified by fasting time). Based on these different cutoffs, the prevalence of the MetS in adults aged 18–79 in Germany was estimated to lie between 20.0 to 22.5%. Using one of the more conservative scenarios (HbA1c >6.1% and triglycerides ≥75th population percentile), the presence of the MetS was associated with living in East compared to West Germany (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.2–1.6), with lower education (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.4–2.0 compared to higher education) and with male sex (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.3–1.7) in an analysis additionally adjusting for age, current daily smoking and non-HDL cholesterol. Conclusions  Despite imperfect data for prevalence estimation, a high prevalence and an uneven East-West and socioeconomic distribution of the MetS phenotype in Germany can be shown and should be used in order to improve national preventive strategies.     

Sociodemographic and psychological correlates of actual and desired weight insufficiency in the general population

A secondary analysis of data from a survey of physical and mental health in the general population was conducted in order to identify sociodemographic and psychological correlates of actual and desired weight insufficiency. In multiple logistic regression analyses, characteristics of respondents whose actual weight, desired weight, or both was insufficient according to Body Mass Index categories were compared to characteristics of respondents whose actual or desired weight was sufficient. Results showed a strong resemblance between weight insufficiency and pre-clinical eating disorders: those of insufficient actual and/or desired weight tended to be younger, female, and to manifest considerable psychological distress, as measured by the Psychiatric Symptom Index and a General Well-Being Schedule. Desired weight insufficiency was more important in this pattern than was actual weight, as those whose current weight was sufficient but who desired an insufficient weight had greater distress and suicidal ideation and attempts. These results, along with the high prevalence of both desired and actual weight insufficiency, underscore the importance of underweight as a public health problem.     

Edinburgh Artery Study: prevalence of asymptomatic and symptomatic peripheral arterial disease in the general population

Intermittent claudication has been studied in cardiovascular surveys but limited information is available on asymptomatic peripheral arterial disease. The purpose of this paper is to describe the prevalence of both asymptomatic and symptomatic disease and relation to ischaemic heart disease in the Edinburgh Artery Study. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on an age-stratified sample of men and women aged 55 to 74 years selected from age-sex registers in ten general practices in the city. Arterial disease was assessed in 1592 participants by means of the WHO questionnaire on intermittent claudication and measurement of the ankle brachial systolic pressure index (ABPI) and change in ankle systolic pressure during reactive hyperaemia. The prevalence of intermittent claudication was 4.5% (95% confidence interval (CI): 3.5%-5.5%). Major asymptomatic disease causing a significant impairment of blood flow occurred in 8.0% (95% CI: 6.6%-9.4%). A further 16.6% (95% CI: 14.6%-18.5%) had criteria considered abnormal in clinical practice: 9.0% had ABPI less than 0.9 and 7.6% had reactive hyperaemia pressure reduction greater than 20%. Intermittent claudication was equally common in both sexes. The ABPI and reactive hyperaemia results suggested a slight preponderance of asymptomatic disease in males and were consistent with an increasing prevalence with age and lower social class. Mean ABPI was higher in normal men than women, and was lower in the left leg than the right suggesting a unilateral predisposition to disease. Subjects with major asymptomatic disease had more evidence of ischaemic heart disease than in the normal population (relative risk (RR) 1.6; 95% CI: 1.3-1.9).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Failure to thrive: the prevalence and concurrence of anthropometric criteria in a general infant population

Failure to thrive: the prevalence and concurrence of anthropometric criteria in a general infant population . Olsen , E. M. , Petersen , J. , Skovgaard , A. M. , Weile , B. , Jørgensen , T. & Wright , C. M. ( 2007 ) Archives of Disease in Childhood , 92 , 109 – 114 . DOI: 10.1136/adc.2005.080333.     

Sexual problems: a study of the prevalence and need for health care in the general population

BACKGROUND: There has been little research carried out on the prevalence and types of sexual dysfunction in the general population, although the indications are that such problems are relatively common. Most common sexual problems are potentially treatable. However GPs have estimated the prevalence of sexual problems to be far lower than survey estimates. OBJECTIVE: To provide an estimate of the prevalence of sexual problems in the general population, and assess the use of and need for professional help for such problems. METHODS: We used an anonymous postal questionnaire survey. The study was set in four general practices in England*, and the study population was a stratified random sample of the adult general population (n = 4000). The subjects were 789 men and 979 women who responded to the questionnaire. The main outcome measures were the presence and type of current sexual problems in men and women, and the provision and use of treatments for sexual problems. RESULTS: A response rate of 44% was obtained. The median age of the responders was 50 years. A third of men (34%) and two-fifths of women (41 %) reported having a current sexual problem. The most common problems were erectile dysfunction (n = 170) and premature ejaculation (n = 88) in men; in women the most widely reported problems were vaginal dryness (n = 186) and infrequent orgasm (n = 166). In men, the proportion of responders reporting sexual problems increased with age, but there was no similar trend in women. Of those responders who reported a sexual problem, 52% said that they would like to receive professional help for this problem, but only one in ten of these people (n = 50) had received such help. CONCLUSION: Among responders there was a high level of reported sexual problems. The most frequently reported problems (vaginal dryness, erectile problems) may be amenable to physical treatment in practice, and yet few had sought or received help. However, many said that they would like to receive help. These figures suggest that there may be an important burden of potentially reversible sexual problems in the general population.     

The prevalence of sexually stressful events among females in the general population

Five hundred sixteen adult females were administered a questionnaire inquiring into the nature of sexually stressful events in their lives. There were 500 responses, and, of those, 298 (59.9%) had experienced an event of this type. A total of 416 different incidents were reported. They were categorized by the authors as either noninvasive (harassment, obscene calls, exposures, peepers) or invasive (fondling, attempted rape, rape). The invasive incidents were most often initiated by a friend, acquaintance, or relative. The noninvasive events were almost always perpetrated by strangers. The subjects were asked to report the emotional impact of the events. All were reported to be stressful, with rape being the most stressful event. Regardless of whether formal therapy was sought, all victims reported lowered stress levels over time. There were 98 incidents reported when the subjects were 13 years of age or younger. There were 45 invasive events, including 9 rapes. All the rapes were committed by acquaintances or relatives. Only one victim of childhood rape received professional attention. Of the 41 women who were raped, nearly 75% were raped by acquaintances or relatives. This does not parallel existing emergency room data, suggesting that the group of patients who report to medical authorities may be a skewed sample of rape victims. Only four victims reported their rapes to either legal or medical authorities.