Distributional Properties and Criterion Validity of a Shortened Version of the Social Responsiveness Scale: Results from the ECHO Program and Implications for Social Communication Research

Prior work proposed a shortened version of the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), a commonly used quantitative measure of social communication traits. We used data from 3031 participants (including 190 ASD cases) from the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program to compare distributional properties and criterion validity of 16-item “short” to 65-item “full” SRS scores. Results demonstrated highly overlapping distributions of short and full scores. Both scores separated case from non-case individuals by approximately two standard deviations. ASD prediction was nearly identical for short and full scores (area under the curve values of 0.87, 0.86 respectively). Findings support comparability of shortened and full scores, suggesting opportunities to increase efficiency. Future work should confirm additional psychometric properties of short scores.

     

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin d concentration and mortality from heart failure and cardiovascular disease, and premature mortality from all-cause in United States adults

We aimed to examine associations between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) concentration and mortality from heart failure (HF) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and premature death from all causes using data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which included 13,131 participants (6,130 men, 7,001 women) ≥35 years old at baseline (1988 to 1994) and followed through December 2000. Premature death was defined all-cause death at <75 years of age. Results indicated that during an average 8-year follow-up, there were 3,266 deaths (24.9%) including 101 deaths from HF, 1,451 from CVD, and 1,066 premature all-cause deaths. Among HF deaths, 37% of decedents had serum 25(OH)D levels <20 ng/ml, whereas only 26% of those with non-HF deaths had such levels (p <0.001). Multivariate-adjusted Cox model indicated that subjects with serum 25(OH)D levels <20 ng/ml had 2.06 times higher risk (95% confidence interval 1.01 to 4.25) of HF death than those with serum 25(OH)D levels ≥30 ng/ml (p <0.001). In addition, hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for premature death from all causes were 1.40 (1.17 to 1.68) in subjects with serum 25(OH)D levels <20 ng/ml and 1.11 (0.93 to 1.33) in those with serum 25(OH)D levels of 20 to 29 ng/ml compared to those with serum 25(OH)D levels ≥30 ng/ml (p <0.001, test for trend). In conclusion, adults with inadequate serum 25(OH)D levels have significantly higher risk of death from HF and all CVDs and all-cause premature death.     

Predictors of mammography utilization in Missouri, 1993-1994.

Mammography utilization data were studied for 915 women from a combined sample of 1994 Missouri Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and a Special Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Project Evaluation Survey, as well as similar data from 6,784 new participants in Missouri's Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Project during 1993-1994. Among women aged 40 and over, having some college education and having health insurance coverage were associated with a higher likelihood of ever having a mammogram. Education, age, health care, Pap testing, and smoking were identified as important predictors of compliance with recommended schedule of yearly mammography among women aged 50 and over.     

Polymorphisms in Inflammation-related Genes and Risk of Gastric Cancer (Finland)

Helicobacter pylori infection is an important risk factor for gastric cancer, but <3% of carriers of this organism will ever develop gastric cancer. Since inflammation plays a significant role in gastric carcinogenesis, it has been suggested that polymorphisms in genes involved in inflammatory response may partly explain why only a subgroup of patients infected with H. pylori develop gastric cancer. We compared relative frequencies of 17 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in eight inflammation-related genes between 112 gastric cancer patients and 208 controls. Cases and controls were selected from a large cohort of Finnish male smokers who were recruited into the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study. The studied SNPs were IL-1A (−889 C/T), IL-1B (−511 C/T and −31 T/C), IL-6 (−174 G/C and −597 G/A), IL-8 (−251 T/A, +396 T/G and +781 C/T), IL-8RA (Ex2 +860 G/C), IL-8RB (Exon 3 +1235 T/C, Exon 3 +811 C/T, and Exon 3 +1010 G/A), IL-10 (−819 C/T, −592 C/A, −1082 A/G), and TNF A (−308 G/A, −238 G/A). We found no statistically significant association between any of these SNPs, or the number of pro-inflammatory polymorphisms, with risk of gastric cancer. Our results do not support the hypothesis that polymorphisms in genes involved in the inflammatory response confer differences in gastric cancer risk among different individuals.     

Prenatal exposure to ��2-adrenergic receptor agonists and risk of autism spectrum disorders

This study aims to investigate the association between prenatal exposure to terbutaline and other β2 adrenergic receptor (B2AR) agonists and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The methodology used is a case–control study among children born from 1995 to 1999 at Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals. Cases (n = 291) were children with an ASD diagnosis; controls (n = 284) were children without ASDs, randomly sampled and frequency-matched to cases on sex, birth year, and delivery hospital. Exposure to B2AR agonists during 30 days prior to conception and each trimester of pregnancy was ascertained from prenatal medical records and health plan databases. The frequency of exposure to any B2AR agonist during pregnancy was similar for mothers of children with ASD and mothers of controls (18.9% vs. 14.8%, P = 0.19). Exposure to B2AR agonists other than terbutaline was not associated with an increased risk for ASDs. However, terbutaline exposure for >2 days during the third trimester was associated with more than a fourfold increased risk for ASDs independent of indication although the limited sample size resulted in an imprecise and nonsignificant effect estimate (OR_adj = 4.4; 95% confidence interval, 0.8–24.6). This analysis does not offer evidence linking B2AR exposure in pregnancy with autism risk. However, exposure to terbutaline during the third trimester for >2 days may be associated with an increased risk of autism. Should this result be confirmed in larger samples, it would point to late pregnancy as an etiologic window of interest in autism risk factor research.     

Color doppler imaging in predicting the biologic behavior of prostate cancer: Correlation with disease-free survival

Objectives

We investigated the association of transrectal color Doppler imaging (CDI) signal detection in localized prostate cancer with biologic behavior as assessed by tumor Gleason grade, seminal vesicle invasion, capsular and margin status, and actuarial biochemical freedom from relapse.

Methods

From 1991 to 1996, transrectal ultrasound with CDI and biopsy was performed in 2718 men using a 7.0-MHz probe optimized to detect color-coded blood flow within the gland and along the capsular margin. Color flow was graded on a scale from 0 to 2 + , with 0 and 1 + representing no detectable flow and normal flow, and 2+ indicating increased flow. Color flow maps were constructed in 47 men with clinically localized prostate cancer treated by radical prostatectomy (RP) and compared to their whole mount RP specimen step sections.

Results

Color flow detected within the index tumor was graded as 2+ in 22 of 47 patients and 0 or 1 + in the remaining 25. Tumors graded 2+ correlated with higher Gleason grade, higher incidence of seminal vesicle invasion, and higher relapse rate, with only 11 of 22 patients disease free based on undetectable prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. In contrast, 24 of 25 patients with tumors graded 0 or 1 + are free of biochemical relapse with a median follow-up of 30.9 months. Patients with increased flow were 10.2 times more likely to relapse even after correction for other prognostic variables. In addition, tumors with 2 + capsular flow correlated with a higher incidence of non-organ-confined disease.

Conclusions

Color-coded Doppler flow within the tumor and overlying capsule appears to correlate with both tumor grade and stage, respectively. Detection and grading of color-coded flow within biopsy-proven cancers may identify patients with a high likelihood of biochemical relapse.