A questionnaire to measure melanoma risk, knowledge and protective behaviour: Assessing content validity in a convenience sample of Scots and Australians

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Vaccinia Scars Associated with Improved Survival among Adults in Rural Guinea-Bissau

BACKGROUND: In urban Guinea-Bissau, adults with a vaccinia scar had better survival but also a higher prevalence of HIV-2 infection. We therefore investigated the association between vaccinia scar and survival and HIV infection in a rural area of Guinea-Bissau. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In connection with a study of HIV in rural Guinea-Bissau, we assessed vaccinia and BCG scars in 193 HIV-1 or HIV-2 infected and 174 uninfected participants. Mortality was assessed after 2½–3 years of follow-up. The analyses were adjusted for age, sex, village, and HIV status. The prevalence of vaccinia scar was associated with age, village, and HIV-2 status but not with sex and schooling. Compared with individuals without any scar, individuals with a vaccinia scar had better survival (mortality rate ratio (MR) = 0.22 (95% CI 0.08–0.61)), the MR being 0.19 (95% CI 0.06–0.57) for women and 0.40 (95% CI 0.04–3.74) for men. Estimates were similar for HIV-2 infected and HIV-1 and HIV-2 uninfected individuals. The HIV-2 prevalence was higher among individuals with a vaccinia scar compared to individuals without a vaccinia scar (RR = 1.57 (95% CI 1.02–2.36)). CONCLUSION: The present study supports the hypothesis that vaccinia vaccination may have a non-specific beneficial effect on adult survival

Systematic review of methods used in meta-analyses where a primary outcome is an adverse or unintended event

addresses: Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, St Luke's Campus, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK. [email protected]: PMCID: PMC3528446types: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't© 2012 Warren et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Adverse consequences of medical interventions are a source of concern, but clinical trials may lack power to detect elevated rates of such events, while observational studies have inherent limitations. Meta-analysis allows the combination of individual studies, which can increase power and provide stronger evidence relating to adverse events. However, meta-analysis of adverse events has associated methodological challenges. The aim of this study was to systematically identify and review the methodology used in meta-analyses where a primary outcome is an adverse or unintended event, following a therapeutic intervention

Respiratory symptoms and diseases among workers in the soft tissue producing industry

Aims: To correlate the prevalence of respiratory tract symptoms and diseases with dust and fibre exposure in the soft tissue industry in Germany. Methods: Ambient monitoring was performed for inhalable, respirable dust and fibres in seven soft tissue producing factories. In 441 workers (72 controls, 90 moderate, 279 high exposure) a standardised questionnaire on respiratory symptoms, diseases, occupational history, and smoking habits was used. Crude differences in the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and diseases were assessed. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the relation between the respiratory symptoms/diseases and the cumulative dust and fibre exposure, respectively, while adjusting for age, gender, smoking habits, and factory. The effects of exposure intensity and duration were differentiated by categorising dust/fibre concentrations and years of exposure separately and setting up logistic regression models. Results: The mean concentrations for inhalable, respirable, and fibrous dusts were 10.3 mg/m(3), 0.22 mg/m(3), and 415 000 fibres/m(3). Adjusted odds ratios (OR) with relation to cumulative dust exposure intensity were significantly raised for blocked nose (18.2), mucosal irritation (6.5), dry nose (8.9), cough (3.5), phlegm (7.5), exercise induced dyspnoea (2.6), hoarseness (11.3), and sneezing attacks (7.9) (ORs for highest exposure categories). Cumulative dust or fibre exposure had no significant effects on the prevalence of respiratory diseases. For all symptoms with significantly raised ORs, combined effects of intensity and duration of exposure were found. Conclusions: Because of the high prevalence of respiratory symptoms a reduction of dust exposures is recommended. Chronic exposure effects could not be found in this study, however, a healthy worker effect has to be considered

Association between occupation and contact allergy to the fragrance mix: a multifactorial analysis of national surveillance data

OBJECTIVES—To assess the role of potential (occupational) risk factors for fragrance contact allergy (FCA). Most studies assessing the range of contact sensitisation in various clinical populations found the fragrance mix, a good screening tool for the detection of FCA in general, to be one of the leading allergens. The role of occupational exposure to fragrances is, however, yet unclear.
METHODS—Firstly, crude analyses of the prevalence of FCA in various occupational fields including all 57 779 patients patch tested in the participating centres of the Information Network of Departments of Dermatology (IVDK) between January 1992 and December 1998.( )Secondly, a multifactorial Poisson regression analysis of these patients, including several potential risk factors.
RESULTS—(a) The proportion of patients with FCA varied greatly between different occupational groups from 2.5% to 17.4%, (b) the highest occupational risk of FCA was associated with work as a masseur or physiotherapist, metal furnace operator, potter or glass maker etc, or geriatric nurse, (c) non-occupational factors that influenced risk of FCA included atopy, female sex, several sites, in particular the axillae, and increasing age.
CONCLUSIONS—Occupations with a high risk of FCA were identified as targets of preventive action—that is, the substitution of scented products with fragrance free materials with which to work (skin disinfectants, cleaning solutions, personal care products) wherever possible.


Keywords: contact allergy; occupational risk factors; fragrance

The spectrum of contact allergy in elderly patients with and without lower leg dermatitis

Uter W, Geier J, Pfahlberg A, Effendy I. The spectrum of contact allergy in elderly patients with and without lower leg dermatitis. Dermatology. 2002;204(4):266-272.Background. There is a strong influence of lower leg dermatitis on the spectrum of allergic contact sensitivity in elderly patients. Objective: To quantitatively assess the impact of this factor which confounds the age-related pattern of allergic contact sensitivity. Methods: Stratified analysis of allergic contact sensitivity data collected between 1996 and 1999 in the 32 centres of the Information Network of Departments of Dermatology (three age groups: less than or equal to 60, 61-75, greater than or equal to 76 years), both as crude and as directly standardised (for sex and leg dermatitis) proportions. Results: Among the 36,070 patients tested with the German standard series, allergic contact sensitivity to neomycin, lanolin, cetostearylic alcohols, colophony, fragrance mix and balsam of Peru, among others, was (much) more common in the elderly, with proportions more or less affected by standardisation. Conclusion: The comparison of crude and standardised proportions provides evidence that allergic contact sensitivity to several allergens strongly depends not only on age itself, but on age-related and thus confounding co-morbidity. Copyright (C) 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel