[Management of wheezing disorders in infants participating in the PARIS birth cohort]

BACKGROUND

While wheezing disorders are common in preschool children, their management is not well defined. The aim of this study was to assess the use of medical health care resources due to wheezing disorders in infants aged 18 months followed up in the Pollution and Asthma Risk: an Infant Study (PARIS) birth cohort.

METHODS

Data on wheezing disorders, medical visits and medication on account of respiratory disorders during the previous 12 months were collected with a standardized questionnaire, administered by a paediatrician, during the health check offered to every child aged 18 months included in the PARIS birth cohort.

RESULTS

The prevalence of wheezing disorders during the past 12 months amounted to 560/1974 (28.4%). Among wheezers, 493 (89.3%) required a medical visit because of difficult breathing; 61 (11.0%) went to the emergency room, 35 (6.4%) were admitted to the hospital and 375 (67.2%) received an inhaled anti-asthmatic medication. Recourse to chest physiotherapy was reported in 472 of them (85.1%).

CONCLUSION

This study confirms the high use of healthcare resources because of wheezing disorders in infants and suggests a higher use of anti-asthmatic medications in France compared to other European countries.

Comparaison du score individuel de précarité des Centres d'examens de santé, EPICES, à la définition socio-administrative de la précarité

In French Health Examination Centres, populations in deprived situation were usually defined by administrative criteria The aim of the study was to investigate whether EPICES, a new individual index of deprivation, was more strongly related to health status than an administrative classification. The EPICES score was calculated on the basis of 11 weighted questions related to material and social deprivation. Participants were 197, 389 men and women, aged over 18, encountered in 2002 in French Health Examination Centres. Relationships between health status, health-related behaviours, access to health care, EPICES and the administrative classification of deprivation were analyzed by logistic regression. The associations between EPICES and the study variables were stronger than those observed for the administrative definition. The comparison also showed socially disadvantaged people with poor health identified by the EPICES score who were not by the administrative classification. These results showed that the EPICES score can be a useful tool to improve the identification of deprived people having health problems associated to deprivation.

Cancer prone persons. A randomized screening trial based on colonoscopy: background, design and recruitment

OBJECTIVE

Evidence-based counseling and prevention are not available so far for hereditary cancer prone persons, since we lack data based on clinical trials. There are very few high-risk persons in the population as a whole. Based on a familial history analysis, only 1.2% of all healthy volunteers attending screening centers reached the arbitrary high-risk level defined as a Relative Risk of more than 4. We describe a randomized trial based on colonoscopic screening for colorectal cancer on a sub-group of high-risk group persons.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Among the 77 members of the French Institutional Preventive Center Network, 37 took part in this protocol. During the first 3 years, 850,000 persons were interviewed at these 37 Health centers. The enrollment process was particularly time-consuming, since a large amount of information had to be delivered to the participants.

RESULTS

The mean rate of recruitment of eligible candidates was far lower than predicted, averaging only 1.4 per 1,000 persons interviewed instead of the 9/1,000 expected. This mean figure was based, however, on inclusion rates ranging from 0.06/1,000 to 7/1,000 among the different centers. The low rates of recruitment were mainly due to the inter-center heterogeneity (differences in commitment and in the resources), and to the fact that the acceptability of undergoing a colonoscopy turned out to be lower than predicted.

CONCLUSION

Population trials on cancer prone persons are feasible, but vast numbers have to be pre- screened to identify the few people with a high hereditary risk and willing to accept screening within a controlled trial.

Evolution of blood lead levels in urban French population (1979-1995)

BACKGROUND

The aim of the Council Directive of 29 March 1977 of the European Union was to measure non-occupational lead exposure levels in the general adult populations of European countries through biological monitoring. In France, such measurements were carried out during 1979 and 1982 in eight metropolitan areas (having more than 500 000 inhabitants), a period during which the lead content of petrol was decreased. The aim of this study conduct in 1995 was to evaluate the exposure trend to lead.

METHODS

In 1995 this measurement was repeated, only in the three largest urban areas (Paris, Marseilles and Lyons). The same sampling method used in the first two campaigns was retained to ensure that the results of 1995 could be compared with those from 1979 and 1982.

RESULTS

In these three metropolitan areas, the average blood lead levels decreased by the order of 60 microg/l between the beginning of the 1980's and 1995. This represents a fall of more than 50%.

CONCLUSIONS

Certainly car pollution is not the only vector of dissemination of lead in the centre of urban zones, but it is there that the most sustained efforts at eradication have been made. The improvement we have observed is probably due to the policy of eliminating lead from petrol. In conclusion, the blood lead levels in French urban populations seem to have greatly decreased from those of the early 1980s.

[Screening for colorectal cancer. Study of a population attending a public health clinic]

OBJECTIVES

Screening for colorectal cancer with fecal occult-blood test has been performed in health centers for several years. The aim of this study was to describe participation rate and results in a population attending the Center for preventive medicine at Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France in 1996 and 1997.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Among 19,325 people aged 50-75 years, the screening test was proposed to 17,917 and performed in 15,527.

RESULTS

Participation rate was 86.7%. Overall positivity was 3.6% higher in men than in women (4.1% versus 3.0%). In the 440 colonoscopies performed, 22 cancers and 84 adenoma polyps were identified (PPV = 24%).

DISCUSSION

These results show good participation rates in a screening program for colorectal cancer during periodic health check-ups. Follow-up for positive subjects was satisfactory but requires good cooperation between specialists and general practitioners to obtain complete information to evaluate the program.

Factors of variation and reference values for TSH in 45-70 year old women

Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) was measured in a sample of 4,403 women, aged 45-70 years in 11 Centers for health screening, to define the interest of this biological indicator for screening subclinical hypothyroidism. The aim of this work was to describe clinical signs, symptoms and medical history linked to TSH variations, to estimate the distribution of this hormone in a general population and reference limits in a selected subgroup. All the participating laboratories used the same third-generation immunoassay on fresh samples. In the general sample population (age mean: 55.2 6.9 yrs), 1.1% presented hyperthyroidism (TSH<0.3 mU/l) and 0.4% had hypothyroidism (TSH>12 mU/l). In the sub-sample of 151 women (3.4%) with TSH between 4-12 mU/l, 131 had subclinical hypothyroidism (FT4>8 ng/l). The TSH mean was significantly lower (- 10 to - 23%) in women presenting a nodular goiter. Inversely, TSH was higher in women with muscle cramps, asthenia, recent weight gain, morning eyelid edema and abnormal electrocardiogram. The reference limits for percentiles 2.5 and 97.5 were 0.43 and 3.71 mU/l on 1 348 subjects after excluding women having one of these symptoms or taking any drug treatment.

[Iron deficiency in patients over 60 years. Descriptive study in the consultant population of health screening centers]

AIM

The aim of the study was to evaluate the frequency of iron deficiency with serum ferritin in elderly population, and to appreciate the opportunity of early screening according to digestive diseases.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Data were collected from 3524 men and 3120 women aged 60 to 75 years during a health screening examination. Evaluation of diagnosis and treatment were obtained through questionnaire completed by treating physician.

RESULTS

The frequency of hypoferritinemia was about 2.3% in our population (hypoferritinemia was defined by serum ferritin<20 microg/L or between 20-40 microg/L if C reactive protein was > 12 mg/L). Anemia was found in 3.3% of patients. Logistic regression model adjusting for multiple variables was used to examine factors associated with hypoferritinemia. The probability was greater among non-anemic patients with chronic digestive bleeding (odds-ratio: 2.3), or with positive occult blood testing (odds-ratio: 2.3). Information about the medical follow-up was obtained in 81% of patients with hypoferritinemia. A digestive exploration was made in 38 cases. Digestive disease was found among 24.3% patients with hypoferritinemia, and three colorectal cancers were observed.

CONCLUSION

The screening of hypoferritinemia in elderly population examined in health screening centres could not be recommended as its frequency was low in this population, despite a strong correlation between hypoferritinemia and digestive diseases.

[Strategy for serum ferritin measurement in 16 to 45 year old women in health screening centers]

Even in industrialized countries, the iron-deficiency anemia is frequent in menstruating women. However, the systematic measurement of serum ferritin is not justified. In this study, a strategy for ferritin measurement has been determined from data of centers for health screening, obtained in 6,098 menstruating women. This strategy is based on biological results (hemoglobin, MCV, RDW, GGT, ALAT) and on responses to the questions about blood donation, birth country and contraceptive habits. The measurement of serum ferritin is realized in 64% menstruating women and 23% have an hypoferritinemia (< 20 mg/l).

[Mammography use among 35-50-year-old women. Descriptive study of a population seeking services at the centers of health tests]

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study was to evaluate mammography rates and indications (diagnosis or screening) among women from 35 to 50 of age, and to search the main factors associated to mammographic screening.

DESIGN AND SETTING

The data were collected from 6409 women through a specific questionnaire completed by a nurse.

RESULTS

Among women from 35 to 50 years of age, 61% have undergone at least one mammography during their life; 25.6% had undergone a screening mammogram within the last three years. Whatever women's age or indications, the gynecologist was the first physician to prescribe mammography. Logistic regression model adjusting for multiple variables was used to examine factors associated with women who underwent a screening mammography within the last three years. Women more likely to be screened were 45 to 50 years of age (vs 35-40 years of age: adjusted OR 8.9, 95% CI: 7.2 to 11.2), had higher educational level (adjusted OR 1.3, 95% CI: 1.1 to 1.5), had family history of breast cancer (adjusted OR 2.7, 95% CI: 2.1 to 3.4), and used routine gynecologic care (adjusted OR 1.9, 95% CI: 1.6 to 2.4).

CONCLUSION

Individual screening by mammography very often occurs after 40 years, Such behaviors may lead public health professionals to question current recommendations for breast cancer mass screening in women 50 years of age and older.

[Lipid indicators of vascular risk. A cross-sectional study of a group of coronary patients, a group of subjects with normal coronary angiography and a control group]

During a transverse survey, 3 groups of men with the same weight and age were compared. Group I included 42 patients with coronary disease documented by coronarography, group 2 included 19 subjects with normal coronary angiograms, and group 3 included 27 healthy controls who had not undergone coronarography. Subjects presenting diabetes or any factor associated with secondary dyslipidemia or able to modify lipid levels were excluded from study. The following parameters were measured: total cholesterol (Chol), triglycerides (TG), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), apoprotein A1 (apoA1), apoprotein B (apoB), lipoprotein (a) or Lp(a), fibrinogen, insulinemia and plasminogen activator inhibitor activity (PAI). The levels of chol, LDL-C and ApoB were the same in the 3 groups. The levels of TG, HDL-C, apoA1 and the ApoA-1/APoB ratio were significantly different between groups 1 and 2, on the one hand, and groups 1 and 3, on the other hand. The levels of Lp(a) and insulin were similar in the 3 groups. Fibrinogen levels were slightly higher in group 1 than in group 3. There was no significant difference between groups 1 and 2 with regard to any of the parameters. Subjects with angiographically normal coronary arteries and subjects with documented coronary disease exhibited similar lipid abnormalities. In this study, TG, HDL-chol, apoA1 and the apoB ratio were better predictors of cardiovascular risk than Chol, LDL-C or apoB.