Postoperative splinting for isolated digital nerve injuries in the hand.

Digital nerve injuries in the hand are common and can result in significant impairment and functional restriction. Despite this, there is relatively little literature, particularly with respect to postoperative rehabilitation. Splinting after repair, purported to protect the repaired nerve from excessive stretch is still commonly used. Recent cadaveric studies indicate postoperative rehabilitation is not necessary with resection up to 2.5mm. A randomized controlled trial was therefore undertaken to determine whether splinting after isolated 5th degree digital nerve transection is in fact necessary. Twenty-six subjects were recruited over a two-year period and randomized to either three weeks of hand-based splinting or free active motion. ANCOVA indicated no differences in sensibility at six months between the two groups. Subjects also reported their greatest functional limitations were because of hyperesthesia. Although this study is underpowered, these limited results suggest splinting may not be required postoperatively.     

Predictors of non-spine fracture in elderly men: the MrOS study.

We examined determinants of nonvertebral fracture in elderly men from six U.S. communities followed an average of 4.1 years. Six clinical risk factors predicted fracture risk independent of hip BMD: tricyclic antidepressant use, previous fracture, inability to complete a narrow walk trial, falls in previous year, age > or =80 years, and depressed mood. INTRODUCTION: There are few prospective studies of fracture determinants in men. We examined the associations between a comprehensive set of clinical risk factors and risk of nonspine fracture in older men and whether determinants of fracture risk were independent of total hip BMD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 5995 men > or =65 years of age were recruited from six communities in the Unites States and followed prospectively for an average of 4.1 years. Baseline assessments of demographic, lifestyle, medical history, functional status, anthropometry, and cognitive, visual, and neuromuscular function were assessed by questionnaire or examination. Triannual mailed questionnaires ascertained incident fracture; reported fractures were adjudicated by physicians using medical records and X-ray reports. Proportional hazards models were used to develop multivariable models, selecting variables and controlling for BMD. RESULTS: Of 5876 men, 4.7% (N = 275) reported an incident nonspine fracture during follow-up (11.46/1000 person-years). Tricyclic antidepressant use (hazard ratio [HR], 2.36; 95% CI, 1.25-4.46), history of fracture at or after age 50 (HR, 2.07; 95% CI, 1.62-2.65), inability to complete a narrow walk trial (HR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.23-2.34), falls in previous year (HR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.23-2.05), age > or =80 years (HR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.01-1.76), depressed mood (HR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.00-2.95), and decreased total hip BMD (HR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.34-1.74) were independently related to increased risk. Compared with having none (48.0% of men), having three or more of the clinical risk factors (4.9% of men) increased fracture risk 5-fold, independent of BMD. Having three or more risk factors and being in the lowest tertile of BMD was associated with a 15-fold greater risk than having no risk factors and being in the highest BMD tertile. CONCLUSIONS: Several clinical risk factors were independently associated with nonspine fractures in elderly men. The combination of multiple risk factors and low BMD was a very powerful indicator of fracture risk.     

Hormone therapy use after the Women's Health Initiative.

OBJECTIVE: To continue surveillance of hormone therapy (HT) use in an Australian population and to assess the impact of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) and associated reports on HT use 16 months after the results of the WHI were first reported. METHODS: Data were obtained from the 2003 South Australian Health Omnibus Survey, which involves a representative, population face-to-face interview survey. Data were compared to five surveys undertaken between 1991 and 2000, which had consistent methods and quality-control procedures. A total of 907 interviews were conducted with women over 40 years in their own homes by trained health interviewers. RESULTS: In association with the timing of media reporting of the WHI, current HT use rates dropped from 28% in women over 50 years in 2000 to an estimated 10.2% in 2002. By October 2003, current use rates had returned to 18.8% in this age group. The media had been the main influence in the women's decision-making. Half of those who restarted therapy changed to another type of HT. Only 2.8% changed to an alternative/complementary therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Nearly two-thirds (64%) of those currently using HT in 2002 stopped therapy, mostly in response to the media reporting of the WHI. Nearly half of those who stopped HT in 2002 have since restarted. Media reporting greatly influences the use of hormonal therapies.     

Insulin, glucose, insulin resistance, and incident colorectal cancer in male smokers.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Hyperinsulinemia is a putative colorectal cancer (CRC) risk factor. Insulin resistance (IR) commonly precedes hyperinsulinemia and can be quantitatively measured by using the homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index. To date, few studies have directly examined serum insulin as an indicator of CRC risk, and none have reported associations on the basis of HOMA-IR. METHODS: We performed a case-cohort study within the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study (n=29,133). Baseline exposure and fasting serum biomarker data were available for 134 incident CRC case and 399 non-case subjects. HOMA-IR was derived as fasting insulin x fasting glucose/22.5. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by using age-adjusted and multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression models. RESULTS: Median (interquartile range) values for serum insulin, glucose, and HOMA-IR were 4.1 (2.9-7.2) mIU/L, 101 (94-108) mg/dL, and 0.99 (0.69-1.98) for case subjects and 4.1 (2.7-6.1) mIU/L, 99 (93-107) mg/dL, and 1.02 (0.69-1.53) for non-case subjects, respectively. On the basis of comparison of the highest versus lowest quartiles for each biomarker, insulin (HR, 1.84; 95% CI, 1.03-3.30) and HOMA-IR (HR, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.06-3.24) were significantly associated with incident CRC, whereas glucose was marginally associated with incident CRC (HR, 1.70; 95% CI, 0.92-3.13) in age-adjusted risk models. However, trends across biomarker quartiles were somewhat inconsistent (P trend=.12, .04, and .12, respectively), and multivariable adjustment generally attenuated the observed risk estimates. CONCLUSIONS: Data from this prospective study of male smokers provide limited support for hyperinsulinemia, hyperglycemia, and/or insulin resistance as CRC risk factors.     

Relationship of early life stress and psychological functioning to adult C-reactive protein in the coronary artery risk development in young adults study.

BACKGROUND: Low socioeconomic status (SES) and a harsh family environment in childhood have been linked to mental and physical health disorders in adulthood. The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate a developmental model of pathways that may help explain these links and to relate them to C-reactive protein (CRP) in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) dataset. METHODS: Participants (n = 3248) in the CARDIA study, age 32 to 47 years, completed measures of childhood SES (CSES), early family environment (risky families [RF]), adult psychosocial functioning (PsyF, a latent factor measured by depression, mastery, and positive and negative social contacts), body mass index (BMI), and C-reactive protein. RESULTS: Structural equation modeling indicated that CSES and RF are associated with C-reactive protein via their association with PsyF (standardized path coefficients: CSES to RF, RF to PsyF, PsyF to CRP, CSES to CRP, all p < .05), with good overall model fit. The association between PsyF and CRP was partially mediated by BMI (PsyF to BMI, BMI to CRP, both p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Low childhood SES and a harsh early family environment appear to be related to elevated C-reactive protein in adulthood through pathways involving psychosocial dysfunction and high body mass index.     

Recurrent tonsillitis. The role of Chlamydia and Mycoplasma.

The core tissue microflora of 40 patients who underwent tonsillectomies were examined with cultures, DNA probe tests, enzyme immunoassays, and direct immunofluorescence antibody tests for Chlamydia and Mycoplasma. We believe this is the largest and most accurate prospective study that has examined the role of Chlamydia and Mycoplasma in the core tonsil tissue of patients with recurrent or chronic tonsillitis. The data strongly indicate that, unlike acute tonsillopharyngitis, Chlamydia and Mycoplasma are not involved in recurrent or chronic tonsillitis.     

Implementation of Evidence-Based Tobacco Use Cessation Guidelines in Managed Care Organizations

Background: Although managed care organizations (MCOs) may be optimal settings for implementing tobacco use cessation clinical guidelines, such guidelines remain poorly implemented in many MCO settings.Purpose: We examined issues related to the implementation of guidelines in MCOs, to provide examples of studies that have addressed issues related to guideline implementation and to suggest ways behavioral medicine researchers can play a role in examining issues of how guidelines can be better implemented.Methods: Surveys of clinical guideline implementation, studies from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation addressing tobacco use cessation in a managed care database, selected to illustrate issues related to system-wide implementation.Results: Surveys show that effective tobacco use cessation interventions remain underutilized in MCOs. A few studies have evaluated and shown the benefit of insurance coverage for tobacco use and dependence treatments, clinician reimbursement and leadership incentives, practice feedback, and leveraging administrative data to create tobacco use tracking systems. The studies also point to the need for large-scale, multidisciplinary, methodologically rigorous studies that allow one to isolate the effects of promising strategies as well as to explore synergistic effects as different system changes are combined.Conclusions: Tobacco use cessation guidelines need to be better implemented in MCOs. Behavioral medicine research needs to move beyond treatment efficacy and effectiveness studies to focus on rigorous evaluations of these and other strategies to enhance guideline implementation and dissemination. This research was supported by grants from the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (Taylor) and from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Taylor and Curry).     

Orbital volume measured by a low-dose CT scanning technique.

A method for measuring orbital volume using low-dose CT with contiguous 3 mm transaxial sections is described. The accuracy of the method is 1.6%, as demonstrated by comparing CT volume measurements with those derived directly from alginate impressions and on repeat scanning the precision of the measurement was judged as 1.3%. Within the same individual, the right and left orbital volumes were observed to be within 0.6 cm3 (s.d. +/- 0.33 cm3) of each other. This study demonstrates that low-dose CT scanning is a practical method of determining orbital volume and could be used to advantage in the management of traumatic enophthalmos and blow-out fractures of the orbit.