Sexual precocity: sex incidence and aetiology

The aetiology of 197 girls and 16 boys presenting with sexual precocity was reviewed. Ninety one girls and four boys had central precocious puberty (M:F 23:1); a cause was identified in all the boys but in only six girls. All boys with precocious puberty need detailed investigation; in girls investigation should be based on clinical findings, particularly the consonance of puberty.     

Personal and family predictors of children''s medically attended injuries that occurred in the home

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the independent contributions of demographic, behavioral, and environmental antecedents of pediatric medically attended injuries that occurred in the home. SETTING: Two household and thirty six American children aged 4-12 in 1988 were drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. METHOD: Multiple logistic regression was used to examine whether having a medically attended injury that occurred in the home in 1990 was related to environmental, behavioral, and demographic indicators measured in 1988. To account for individual differences in access to care, results were stratified within samples of children that had, and had not, demonstrated a prior ability to access the medical care system for injury treatment. RESULTS: Among children who did not access the medical care system for injury treatment in 1988, measures of home environmental risk factors did not distinguish those injured at home from those not injured at home in 1990. However, among children who did access the medical care system for injury treatment in 1988, indicators of "dark" (relative risk 4.68, p = 0.019) and "cluttered" (relative risk 4.31, p = 0.038) home environments became significantly and independently associated with home injuries in 1990. CONCLUSION: If not accounted for in data collection or analyses, individual differences in non-financial barriers to medical care may read to an underestimation of the influences of important home environmental risk factors for medically attended injuries.     

“I Would if I Could”: The Effect of Mobility Problems On The Activities of Older People

This study sought to determine the extent to which people aged 65 years and over reduce their levels of social interactions as they age. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with forty people from each of three distinct communities: a coastal community, an inner suburb and a retirement village. Participants were asked about their past activities, present pursuits and the activities, if any, in which they would like to be involved Problems with mobility were found to have the greatest impact on the abilify of the participants to do the activities of choice. This was not limited to the people who generally felt in poor health; those who perceived themselves to be very healthy also experienced a lack of mobility as a barrier to desired pursuits. In this study, it was apparent that those people with mobility problems off-set the threat of isolation by spending more time in contact with their families and friends than participants whose mobility was not problemoric. As a result of this extra contact, satisfaction with leisure was not decreased, nor were feelings of loneliness increased, by their lack of mobility.     

Thymic cysts in mediastinal Hodgkin disease

Three cases of proved thymic cysts associated with mediastinal Hodgkin disease are presented. Two illustrate regression of lymphoma with chemotherapy but persistence of thymic cysts. The third case demonstrates a thymic cyst in untreated Hodgkin disease. These cases suggest that such cysts are probably neither coincidental with nor a consequence of therapy but are probably related to initial thymic involvement by Hodgkin disease.