Scholars@Duke
Carl F. Pieper

Carl F. Pieper

Professor Emeritus of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics
Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, Division of Biostatistics
carl.pieper@duke.edu
Duke Box 3003, Durham, NC 27710
1513 Busse Bldg, Durham, NC 27710

Featured Works

Potential mediators of the mortality reduction with zoledronic acid after hip fracture.

Journal article J Bone Miner Res · January 2010 Featured Publication Zoledronic acid reduces the risk of death by 28% after hip fracture, but the mechanisms are not known. This exploratory analysis sought to identify potential pathways for the reduction in mortality with zoledronic acid after hip fracture. This was a retros ... Full text Link to item Cite

Prevalence and patterns of comorbid cognitive impairment in low vision rehabilitation for macular disease.

Journal article Arch Gerontol Geriatr · 2010 Featured Publication The prevalence of comorbid cognitive impairment among older adults referred to low vision rehabilitation (LVR) for macular disease is unknown. We performed cognitive testing on 101 adults aged 65 years or older with macular disease who were referred to The ... Full text Link to item Cite

Trajectories of mobility and IADL function in older patients diagnosed with major depression.

Journal article Int J Geriatr Psychiatry · January 2010 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: Research has shown an association between depression and functional limitations in older adults. Our aim was to explore the latent traits of trajectories of limitations in mobility and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) tasks in a sa ... Full text Link to item Cite

The complex relationship between depressive symptoms and functional limitations in community-dwelling older adults: the impact of subthreshold depression.

Journal article Psychol Med · October 2009 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Depressive symptoms above screening thresholds have been shown to predict functional decline in older adults. Less is known about the impact of subthreshold depression, and whether more symptoms confer significantly greater risk compared to few ... Full text Link to item Cite

Epidemiology and geriatric psychiatry.

Journal article Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · August 2009 Featured Publication Full text Link to item Cite

Antifracture efficacy and reduction of mortality in relation to timing of the first dose of zoledronic acid after hip fracture.

Journal article J Bone Miner Res · July 2009 Featured Publication Annual infusions of zoledronic acid (5 mg) significantly reduced the risk of vertebral, hip, and nonvertebral fractures in a study of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and significantly reduced clinical fractures and all-cause mortality in another stu ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Veterans Learning to Improve Fitness and Function in Elders Study: a randomized trial of primary care-based physical activity counseling for older men.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · July 2009 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of primary care-based, multicomponent physical activity counseling (PAC) promoting physical activity (PA) guidelines on gait speed and related measures of PA and function in older veterans. DESIGN: Randomized controlled ... Full text Link to item Cite

Resolution and severity in decompression illness.

Journal article Aviat Space Environ Med · May 2009 Featured Publication omegaWe review the terminology of decompression illness (DCI), investigations of residual symptoms of decompression sickness (DCS), and application of survival analysis for investigating DCI severity and resolution. The Type 1 and Type 2 DCS classification ... Full text Link to item Cite

Profiles of depressive symptoms in older adults diagnosed with major depression: latent cluster analysis.

Journal article Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · May 2009 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To explore the underlying structure of symptom presentation in older adults with major depression by identifying homogeneous clusters of individuals based on symptom profiles. DESIGN: Secondary data analysis using latent class cluster analysis. ... Full text Link to item Cite

What can we learn from a decade of database audits? The Duke Clinical Research Institute experience, 1997--2006.

Journal article Clin Trials · April 2009 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Despite a pressing and well-documented need for better sharing of information on clinical trials data quality assurance methods, many research organizations remain reluctant to publish descriptions of and results from their internal auditing an ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cerebrovascular smooth muscle actin is increased in nondemented subjects with frequent senile plaques at autopsy: implications for the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease.

Journal article J Neuropathol Exp Neurol · April 2009 Featured Publication We previously found that vascular smooth muscle actin (SMA) is reduced in the brains of patients with late stage Alzheimer disease (AD) compared with brains of nondemented, neuropathologically normal subjects. To assess the pathogenetic significance and di ... Full text Link to item Cite

Correlation between symptoms and function in older adults with comorbidity.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · April 2009 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To describe the relationship between symptom scores and mobility function measures, assess whether symptom scores and disease scores are similarly associated with mobility function, and identify clusters of symptoms that are most strongly assoc ... Full text Link to item Cite

A centralized informatics infrastructure for the National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network.

Journal article Clin Trials · February 2009 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Clinical trial networks (CTNs) were created to provide a sustaining infrastructure for the conduct of multisite clinical trials. As such, they must withstand changes in membership. Centralization of infrastructure including knowledge management ... Full text Link to item Cite

Physical activity as a preventative factor for frailty: the health, aging, and body composition study.

Journal article J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci · January 2009 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: It is unclear if physical activity (PA) can prevent or reverse frailty. We examined different doses and types of PA and their association with the onset and severity of frailty. METHODS: Health, Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) study par ... Full text Link to item Cite

Neuropsychological performance in advanced age: influences of demographic factors and Apolipoprotein E: findings from the Cache County Memory Study.

Journal article Clin Neuropsychol · January 2009 Featured Publication The Cache County Study of Memory in Aging (CCMS) is an epidemiological study of Alzheimer's disease (AD), mild cognitive disorders, and aging in a population of exceptionally long-lived individuals (7th to 11th decade). Observation of population members wi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Depressive symptomatology and fracture risk in community-dwelling older men and women.

Journal article Aging Clin Exp Res · December 2008 Featured Publication BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Previous studies suggest that depression increases risk of falls, low bone mineral density, and fractures. Our aim was to evaluate whether depressive symptomatology alone predicts 5- year clinical fracture risk in older adults. METHODS ... Full text Link to item Cite

New light on an age-old issue.

Journal article Mech Ageing Dev · November 2008 Featured Publication In this issue, Varadhan and colleagues propose a methodologic framework that seeks to quantify impaired resiliency in dynamic systems underlying the frailty syndrome. We view this work, which is based on modeling stimulus-response data, as an exciting expa ... Full text Link to item Cite

Death or hospitalization of patients on chronic hemodialysis is associated with a physician-based diagnosis of depression.

Journal article Kidney Int · October 2008 Featured Publication Depressive symptoms, assessed using a self-report type of questionnaire, have been associated with poor outcomes in dialysis patients. Here we determined if depressive disorders diagnosed by physicians are also associated with such outcomes. Ninety-eight c ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effect of physical activity guidelines on physical function in older adults.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · October 2008 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To determine whether elderly people who meet national guidelines have higher physical function (PF) scores than those who do not and the effect on functional trajectory when physical activity (PA) levels change from above to below this threshol ... Full text Link to item Cite

Quantifying data quality for clinical trials using electronic data capture.

Journal article PLoS One · August 25, 2008 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Historically, only partial assessments of data quality have been performed in clinical trials, for which the most common method of measuring database error rates has been to compare the case report form (CRF) to database entries and count discr ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Quality of pharmacotherapy and outcomes for older veterans discharged from the emergency department.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · May 2008 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To determine whether suboptimal pharmacotherapy increases the risk of adverse outcomes in older adults discharged from the emergency department (ED). DESIGN: Retrospective, cohort study. SETTING: Academically affiliated Veterans Affairs Medical ... Full text Link to item Cite

The course of depressive symptoms in older adults with comorbid major depression and dysthymia.

Journal article Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · April 2008 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To examine the course of depressive symptoms in older patients with comorbid major depression and dysthymia. DESIGN: Secondary data analysis using both proportional hazards modeling and a repeated measures mixed model. SETTING: Clinical Research ... Full text Link to item Cite

Common causes of open-circuit recreational diving fatalities.

Journal article Undersea Hyperb Med · 2008 Featured Publication Diving fatalities causes were investigated in 947 recreational open-circuit scuba diving deaths from 1992-2003. Where possible, cases were classified at each step of a four step sequence: trigger, disabling agent, disabling injury, cause of death (COD). Th ... Link to item Cite

Project LIFE--Learning to Improve Fitness and Function in Elders: methods, design, and baseline characteristics of randomized trial.

Journal article J Rehabil Res Dev · 2008 Featured Publication Insufficient levels of physical activity have significant clinical consequences. Primary care settings typically do not emphasize physical activity counseling. We describe the design, methods, and baseline characteristics of "Learning to Improve Fitness an ... Full text Link to item Cite

Home or nursing home: does place of residence affect longevity in patients with Alzheimer's disease? The experience of CERAD patients.

Journal article Public Health Nurs · 2008 Featured Publication There is concern that life is curtailed when patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are institutionalized. To determine whether placement in a nursing home reduces their remaining years of life, we examined the experience of White patients with AD (n=890) ... Full text Link to item Cite

Distribution and correlates of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in a sample of patients with hip fracture.

Journal article Am J Geriatr Pharmacother · December 2007 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Vitamin D deficiency is common in older populations, particularly during the winter months due to low levels of ultraviolet light exposure, and in nursing home residents. OBJECTIVE: The main objective of the current study was to assess the dist ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effect of telephone exercise counseling on frailty in older veterans: project LIFE.

Journal article Am J Mens Health · December 2007 Featured Publication This study sought to determine if telephone exercise counseling attenuates frailty in older, male veterans through increased levels of physical activity. Eighty-one elderly, male veterans (age = 78.4 +/- 4.9 years) randomized to intervention (n = 39) or co ... Full text Link to item Cite

Does NSAID use modify cognitive trajectories in the elderly? The Cache County study.

Journal article Neurology · July 17, 2007 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic studies have suggested that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may be useful for the prevention of Alzheimer disease (AD). By contrast, clinical trials have not supported NSAID use to delay or treat AD. Few studies have ... Full text Link to item Cite

Association of AGTR1 with 18-month treatment outcome in late-life depression.

Journal article Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · July 2007 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: Converging lines of evidence implicate vascular factors in late-life depression, and argue that late-life depression is a distinct entity among the mood disorders. The A1166C polymorphism in the angiotensin II receptor, vascular type 1 (AGTR1) g ... Full text Link to item Cite

The combined effect of visual impairment and cognitive impairment on disability in older people.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · June 2007 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To determine the risk of disability in individuals with coexisting visual and cognitive impairment and to compare the magnitude of risk associated with visual impairment, cognitive impairment, or the multimorbidity. DESIGN: Prospective cohort. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Brief meditation training can improve perceived stress and negative mood.

Journal article Altern Ther Health Med · 2007 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To test a brief, non-sectarian program of meditation training for effects on perceived stress and negative emotion, and to determine effects of practice frequency and test the moderating effects of neuroticism (emotional lability) on treatment ... Link to item Cite

Influence of bottom time on preflight surface intervals before flying after diving.

Journal article Undersea Hyperb Med · 2007 Featured Publication Previous trials of flying at 8,000 ft after a single 60 fsw, 55 min no-stop air dive found low decompression sickness (DCS) risk for a 11:00 preflight surface interval (PFSI). Repetitive 60 fsw no-stop dives with 75 and 95 min total bottom times found 16:0 ... Link to item Cite

Zoledronic Acid in Reducing Clinical Fracture and Mortality after Hip Fracture.

Journal article N Engl J Med · 2007 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Mortality is increased after a hip fracture, and strategies that improve outcomes are needed. METHODS: In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 1065 patients were assigned to receive yearly intravenous zoledronic acid (at a d ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clinically important drug-disease interactions and their prevalence in older adults.

Journal article Clin Ther · August 2006 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Older adults may have decreased homeostatic reserve, have multiple chronic diseases, and take multiple medications. Therefore, they are at risk for adverse outcomes after receiving a drug that exacerbates a chronic disease. OBJECTIVES: The aims ... Full text Link to item Cite

Lifestyle intervention development study to improve physical function in older adults with cancer: outcomes from Project LEAD.

Journal article J Clin Oncol · July 20, 2006 Featured Publication PURPOSE: Declines in physical functioning (PF) among elderly cancer patients threaten quality of life and the ability to maintain independence. Adherence to healthy lifestyle behaviors may prevent functional decline. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Project Leading t ... Full text Link to item Cite

Adding injury to insult: fracture risk after stroke in veterans.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · July 2006 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To determine fracture risk in U.S. stroke patients and identify patient characteristics that predict highest fracture risk in two complementary cohorts. DESIGN: Secondary analyses of two prospective cohorts. SETTING: Veterans Affairs (VA) Medic ... Full text Link to item Cite

Provider characteristics related to antidepressant use in older people.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · June 2006 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To determine whether the characteristics of the usual medical care providers of older antidepressant users changed between 1986 and 1997 with the introduction of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. DESIGN: Longitudinal study. SETTING: Five ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sociodemographic characteristics of the neighborhood and depressive symptoms in older adults: using multilevel modeling in geriatric psychiatry.

Journal article Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · June 2006 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: Neighborhood sociodemographic characteristics may be important to the mental health of older adults who have decreased mobility and fewer resources. Our objective was to examine the association between neighborhood context and level of depressiv ... Full text Link to item Cite

Incidence and predictors of all and preventable adverse drug reactions in frail elderly persons after hospital stay.

Journal article J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci · May 2006 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Adverse drug reactions (ADR) negatively impact life quality and are sometimes fatal. This study examines the incidence and predictors of all and preventable ADRs in frail elderly persons after hospital discharge, a highly vulnerable but rarely ... Full text Link to item Cite

Number of children and risk of metabolic syndrome in women.

Journal article J Womens Health (Larchmt) · 2006 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: In the United States, there is a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome, as defined by The Third Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (ATP I ... Full text Link to item Cite

Vascular risk factors for incident Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia: the Cache County study.

Journal article Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord · 2006 Featured Publication Vascular risk factors for Alzheimer disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) have been evaluated; however, few studies have compared risks by dementia subtypes and sex. We evaluated relationships between cardiovascular risk factors (hypertension, high chol ... Full text Link to item Cite

Therapeutic failure-related hospitalisations in the frail elderly.

Journal article Drugs Aging · 2006 Featured Publication BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Although therapeutic failure may be a common cause of drug-related morbidity in older adults, few studies have focused on this problem. The study objective was to determine the frequency and types of, and the factors associated wi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Is the prevalence of dehydration among community-dwelling older adults really low? Informing current debate over the fluid recommendation for adults aged 70+years.

Journal article Public Health Nutr · December 2005 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: The fluid recommendation for adults aged 70+ years has been criticised on the basis of a low prevalence of dehydration in community-dwelling older adults. This study explores whether the low prevalence might reflect limitations of individual deh ... Full text Link to item Cite

Dementia and Alzheimer's disease in community-dwelling elders taking vitamin C and/or vitamin E.

Journal article Ann Pharmacother · December 2005 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Since increased oxidative stress may impair cognition and be a risk factor for dementia, there has been interest in determining whether use of antioxidants could protect against such events. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether supplement use of vit ... Full text Link to item Cite

Mild cognitive impairment and 10-year trajectories of disability in the Iowa Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly cohort.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · November 2005 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To apply diagnostic criteria for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to a geographically representative sample, to estimate the prevalence of MCI, and to estimate 10-year trajectories of incident disability for cognitively intact participants and s ... Full text Link to item Cite

Medication use and control of urination among community-dwelling older adults.

Journal article J Aging Health · October 2005 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the use of medications with urological activity (UA) is associated with self-reported difficulty in control of urination. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study using data from the Duke Establis ... Full text Link to item Cite

Variation of serum hyaluronan with activity in individuals with knee osteoarthritis.

Journal article Osteoarthritis Cartilage · September 2005 Featured Publication PURPOSE: Serum hyaluronan (HA) was evaluated for diurnal variation in participants with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. METHODS: Twenty participants with radiographic OA of at least one knee were admitted overnight to the General Clinical Research Center ... Full text Link to item Cite

Unnecessary drug use in frail older people at hospital discharge.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · September 2005 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence and predictors of unnecessary drug use at hospital discharge in frail elderly patients. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Eleven Veterans Affairs Medical Centers. PARTICIPANTS: Three hundred eighty-four frail older p ... Full text Link to item Cite

Identification of VaD and AD prodromes: the Cache County Study.

Journal article Alzheimers Dement · July 2005 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether vascular dementia (VaD) has a cognitive prodrome, akin to the mild cognitive impairment (MCI) prodrome to Alzheimer's dementia (AD). To evaluate whether VaD has a cognitive prodrome, and if it can be differentiated from pr ... Full text Link to item Cite

Apolipoprotein E genotype and mortality: findings from the Cache County Study.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · June 2005 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the association between apolipoprotein E (apo E) epsilon4 and mortality, the population attributable risk for mortality with epsilon4, and relative contributions of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). DESIGN: ... Full text Link to item Cite

Predictors of antidepressant use among older adults: have they changed over time?

Journal article Am J Psychiatry · April 2005 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: Antidepressant use increased substantially among older adults with the introduction of the new-generation medications such as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. The authors analyzed data from two follow-up intervals-1986-1987 to 1989-1 ... Full text Link to item Cite

Biological and social predictors of long-term geriatric depression outcome.

Journal article Int Psychogeriatr · March 2005 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: In this study, we examined 204 older depressed individuals for up to 64 months to determine factors related to depression outcome. We hypothesized that both presence of vascular brain lesions seen on baseline magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sca ... Full text Link to item Cite

Potential drug-disease interactions in frail, hospitalized elderly veterans.

Journal article Ann Pharmacother · March 2005 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Drugs can improve quality of life for many older people, but they may cause adverse health outcomes (eg, drug-disease interactions) if used inappropriately. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of potential drug-disease interactions as define ... Full text Link to item Cite

Statistical models of acute mountain sickness.

Journal article High Alt Med Biol · 2005 Featured Publication Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is caused by exposure to altitudes exceeding 2500 m and often resolves by acclimatization without further ascent. Statistical models of AMS score and the probability of an AMS diagnosis were developed to allow the combination ... Full text Link to item Cite

Walking speed predicts health status and hospital costs for frail elderly male veterans.

Journal article J Rehabil Res Dev · 2005 Featured Publication This study evaluated the use of walking speed as an indicator of function and health status in acutely ill, hospitalized, older male veterans. Hospital inpatients in a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) study of Geriatric Evaluation and Management (GEM) ( ... Full text Link to item Cite

Consensus factors used by experts in the diagnosis of decompression illness.

Journal article Aviat Space Environ Med · December 2004 Featured Publication INTRODUCTION: The diagnosis of decompression illness (DCI) is entirely based on clinical findings and DCI experts are rare. Of all the chambers reporting to Diver's Alert Network (DAN), 86% see less than 10 cases per year. Simulated diving injury cases (vi ... Link to item Cite

Effects of cancer history and comorbid conditions on mortality and healthcare use among older cancer survivors.

Journal article Cancer · November 15, 2004 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Older cancer survivors use healthcare services to an increased extent relative to their counterparts who have no history of malignant disease. In the current study, the authors set out to assess the effects of cancer history and comorbid condit ... Full text Link to item Cite

Results of a randomized controlled trial of intervention to implement smoking guidelines in Veterans Affairs medical centers: increased use of medications without cessation benefit.

Journal article Med Care · November 2004 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: The AHRQ Clinical Practice Guideline for Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence recommends screening and treatment of all tobacco users. Effective methods to implement recommendations are needed because simple guideline dissemination does not nece ... Full text Link to item Cite

Physical function and associations with diet and exercise: Results of a cross-sectional survey among elders with breast or prostate cancer.

Journal article Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act · October 29, 2004 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Functional decline threatens independent living and is common among individuals diagnosed with cancer, especially those who are elderly. The purpose of this study was to explore whether dietary and exercise practices are associated with physica ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Group treatment improves trunk strength and psychological status in older women with vertebral fractures: results of a randomized, clinical trial.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · September 2004 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To assess whether group exercise and coping classes reduce physical and psychological impairments and functional disability in older women with prevalent vertebral fractures (VFs). DESIGN: Randomized, controlled trial (modified cross-over) with ... Full text Link to item Cite

Plasma hypertonicity: another marker of frailty?

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · August 2004 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To determine whether plasma hypertonicity might be a marker of early frailty, this study tested the associations between plasma hypertonicity, incident disability, and mortality in nondisabled older adults. DESIGN: Longitudinal, observational s ... Full text Link to item Cite

Assessment of hand osteoarthritis: correlation between thermographic and radiographic methods.

Journal article Rheumatology (Oxford) · July 2004 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: Anatomical stages of digital osteoarthritis (OA) have been characterized radiographically as progressing through sequential phases from normal to osteophyte formation, progressive loss of joint space, joint erosion and joint remodelling. Our stu ... Full text Link to item Cite

The HORIZON Recurrent Fracture Trial: design of a clinical trial in the prevention of subsequent fractures after low trauma hip fracture repair.

Journal article Curr Med Res Opin · June 2004 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To present the novel design of a trial testing the safety and efficacy of a yearly bisphosponate, zoledronic acid, in preventing new clinical fractures in patients with recent low trauma hip fracture repair. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Randomiz ... Full text Link to item Cite

Self- or proxy-reported stroke and the risk of Alzheimer disease.

Journal article Arch Neurol · June 2004 Featured Publication Full text Link to item Cite

Effects of geriatric evaluation and management on adverse drug reactions and suboptimal prescribing in the frail elderly.

Journal article Am J Med · March 15, 2004 Featured Publication PURPOSE: To determine if inpatient or outpatient geriatric evaluation and management, as compared with usual care, reduces adverse drug reactions and suboptimal prescribing in frail elderly patients. METHODS: The study employed a randomized 2 x 2 factorial ... Full text Link to item Cite

Experimental trials to assess the risks of decompression sickness in flying after diving.

Journal article Undersea Hyperb Med · 2004 Featured Publication We conducted experimental trials of flying after diving using profiles near the no-decompression exposure limits for recreational diving. The objective was to determine the dependence of DCS occurrence during or after flight on the length of the preflight ... Link to item Cite

Hypertonic hyperglycemia progresses to diabetes faster than normotonic hyperglycemia.

Journal article Eur J Epidemiol · 2004 Featured Publication To explore whether elevated plasma glucose might progress to diabetes via a mechanism that involves plasma hypertonicity, we evaluated the independent and joint effects of these variables on diabetes risk. Community-dwelling older adults (70+years), who re ... Full text Link to item Cite

Inappropriate medication use among frail elderly inpatients.

Journal article Ann Pharmacother · January 2004 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Inappropriate prescribing in frail elderly inpatients has not received as much investigation as in frail elderly nursing home patients. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and predictors of inappropriate prescribing for hospitalized frail el ... Full text Link to item Cite

Trajectories of leg strength and gait speed among sedentary older adults: longitudinal pattern of dose response.

Journal article J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci · December 2003 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Current theory about how an older adult's leg strength influences walking speed is based primarily on nonlinear patterns of association observed in cross-sectional data. Compared with adults with normal or high levels of leg muscle strength, we ... Full text Link to item Cite

Function in elderly cancer survivors depends on comorbidities.

Journal article J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci · December 2003 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Factors associated with functional status in elderly cancer survivors, in particular, comorbidity, have been inadequately studied. METHODS: Of 4162 participants aged 65 and older enrolled in the Duke Established Populations for Epidemiologic St ... Full text Link to item Cite

Adverse drug reaction risk factors in older outpatients.

Journal article Am J Geriatr Pharmacother · December 2003 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are common in older (age >or=65 years) outpatients (prevalence, 5%-35%), but there is no consensus on factors that put these patients at high risk for ADRs. Identifying a uniform set of risk factors would be helpfu ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cross-linked fibrin degradation products (D-dimer), plasma cytokines, and cognitive decline in community-dwelling elderly persons.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · October 2003 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of coagulation and inflammatory pathway activation on future cognitive decline in older persons. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Rural and urban communities in North Carolina. PARTICIPANTS: Community-dwellin ... Full text Link to item Cite

Leading the Way in Exercise and Diet (Project LEAD): intervening to improve function among older breast and prostate cancer survivors.

Journal article Control Clin Trials · April 2003 Featured Publication The U.S. population is aging, bringing with it an increased prevalence of chronic disease and concomitant declines in physical function. The risk of developing cancer increases significantly with age, and functional decline is much more likely once a cance ... Full text Link to item Cite

Coagulation and activation of inflammatory pathways in the development of functional decline and mortality in the elderly.

Journal article Am J Med · February 15, 2003 Featured Publication PURPOSE: This study was performed to determine the effects of markers of inflammation (interleukin 6) and coagulation (D-dimer) on mortality and functional status in older persons. METHODS: Subjects were selected for the Duke Established Populations for Ep ... Full text Link to item Cite

Competing risk of household expansion or institutionalization in late life.

Journal article J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci · January 2003 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate predictors of change in household size and institutionalization in late life. METHODS: The Duke Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly cohort (n = 3730) was assessed annually ( ... Full text Link to item Cite

A three-factor analytic model of the MADRS in geriatric depression.

Journal article Int J Geriatr Psychiatry · January 2003 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: Major depression is a heterogeneous disorder, perhaps comprising several clinical subtypes or subgroups of symptoms. This study examined whether items on the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) form distinct symptom subgroups among ... Full text Link to item Cite

Accuracy of VO2(max) prediction equations in older adults.

Journal article Med Sci Sports Exerc · January 2003 Featured Publication PURPOSE: We explored the accuracy and bias of prediction equations (ACSM and Foster) in older, deconditioned men and women. We also examined the predictors of VO2(max) to further understand which variables affect respiratory fitness in the elderly. METHODS ... Full text Link to item Cite

Natural history of change in physical function among long-stay nursing home residents.

Journal article Nurs Res · 2003 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Few longitudinal studies exist to guide clinicians or administrators on what functional outcomes can be expected among nursing home residents with different levels of cognitive impairment. Extrapolating from cross-sectional studies or from long ... Full text Link to item Cite

Can historical and functional risk factors be used to predict fractures in community-dwelling older adults? development and validation of a clinical tool.

Journal article Osteoporos Int · December 2002 Featured Publication The objectives of the study were: (1) to evaluate the contribution of impaired functional status, cognition and medication to fracture risk; (2) to determine whether risk factor profiles differ between regionally and socially diverse populations; and (3) t ... Full text Link to item Cite

Exercise adherence and 10-year mortality in chronically ill older adults.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · December 2002 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To compare mortality of adherents and nonadherents of an exercise program. DESIGN: Prospective intervention study. SETTING: Supervised geriatric fitness program called Gerofit. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred thirty-five adults aged 65 and older who ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effects of cognitive performance on change in physical function in long-stay nursing home residents.

Journal article J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci · December 2002 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Determining the nature and rate of change in physical function among long-stay nursing home (NH) residents classified by cognitive performance is needed to inform judgments about prognosis and design of clinical trials to minimize functional de ... Full text Link to item Cite

The relative risk of decompression sickness during and after air travel following diving.

Journal article Aviat Space Environ Med · October 2002 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Decompression sickness (DCS) can be provoked by post-dive flying but few data exist to quantify the risk of different post-dive, preflight surface intervals (PFSI). METHODS: We conducted a case-control study using field data from the Divers Ale ... Link to item Cite

The effect of comorbid illness on receipt of cancer screening by older people.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · October 2002 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To identify associations between the type and number of diagnoses and receipt of screening for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer by older people. DESIGN: Sixth annual follow-up of a community-based survey with 4,162 participants aged 65 a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Relationship of race/ethnicity and blood pressure to change in cognitive function.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · March 2002 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To determine whether there are racial/ethnic differences regarding the relationship of level of blood pressure to change in cognitive function in older people. DESIGN: Longitudinal data 1986 to 1989 on representative, older, community-residing ... Full text Link to item Cite

Relationship between all-cause mortality and cumulative working life course psychosocial and physical exposures in the United States labor market from 1968 to 1992.

Journal article Psychosom Med · 2002 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between cumulative exposures to psychosocial and physical work conditions and mortality in a nationally representative sample. METHODS: A working cohort was created using the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Infor ... Full text Link to item Cite

The incidence of venous gas emboli in recreational diving.

Journal article Undersea Hyperb Med · 2002 Featured Publication From 1989-91, the Divers Alert Network monitored recreational divers for Doppler-detected venous gas emboli (VGE) and depth-time profiles following multi-day, repetitive, multi-level exposures. A Spencer score >0 occurred in 61 of 67 subjects (91%) and 205 ... Link to item Cite

Caffeine affects cardiovascular and neuroendocrine activation at work and home.

Journal article Psychosom Med · 2002 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effects of moderate doses of caffeine on ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate, urinary excretion of epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol, and subjective measures of stress during normal activities at work and ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sex differences in the relationship between subthreshold depression and mortality in a community sample of older adults.

Journal article Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · 2002 Featured Publication The authors investigated the increased risk of mortality from subthreshold depression and examined differences in risk by gender. Data from the Duke University Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (EPESE) longitudinal study of 4 ... Link to item Cite

Subtypes of mania determined by grade of membership analysis.

Journal article Neuropsychopharmacology · September 2001 Featured Publication Classical descriptions of mania subtypes extend back to Kraepelin; however, in marked contrast to the study of depression subtypes, validation of mania subtypes by multivariate statistical methods has seldom been attempted. We applied Grade of Membership ( ... Full text Link to item Cite

The association of depression and mortality in elderly persons: a case for multiple, independent pathways.

Journal article J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci · August 2001 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: The evidence for an association between depression and mortality among community-dwelling elderly persons remains inconclusive, although it is well established for younger individuals. Extant studies suggest that this association weakens when a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Use and cost of outpatient visits of AD patients: CERAD XXII.

Journal article Neurology · June 26, 2001 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To determine the probability, frequency, and cost of outpatient visits of patients with AD in the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) as a function of stage of dementia and institutional status. METHODS: Clinical i ... Full text Link to item Cite

Toward a threshold for subthreshold depression: an analysis of correlates of depression by severity of symptoms using data from an elderly community sample.

Journal article Gerontologist · June 2001 Featured Publication PURPOSE: The prevalence of depressive symptoms in elderly adults is high, yet the criteria to identify clinically significant depression may leave many elders undiagnosed and untreated. We explored the demographic and risk factor profiles of two groups, on ... Full text Link to item Cite

Use and cost of hospitalization of patients with AD by stage and living arrangement: CERAD XXI.

Journal article Neurology · January 23, 2001 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To determine the probability, frequency, length of stay, and Medicare costs of hospitalization of institutionalized and noninstitutionalized patients with AD at various stages of dementia. METHODS: The authors analyzed the 1991 to 1995 Medicare ... Full text Link to item Cite

Age, functional status, and racial differences in plasma D-dimer levels in community-dwelling elderly persons.

Journal article J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci · November 2000 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Dysregulation of immunologic and coagulation systems is common in elderly persons and is associated with many diseases of aging. Thrombotic events are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly population. This study assesses wheth ... Full text Link to item Cite

Expert physician recommendations and current practice patterns for evaluating and treating men with osteoporotic hip fracture.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · October 2000 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To develop recommendations for the evaluation and the treatment of men with osteoporotic hip fracture from expert publications in the field of male osteoporosis, and to define the current practice patterns in a tertiary care VA Medical Center i ... Full text Link to item Cite

Lower extremity function and subsequent disability: consistency across studies, predictive models, and value of gait speed alone compared with the short physical performance battery.

Journal article J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci · April 2000 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Although it has been demonstrated that physical performance measures predict incident disability in previously nondisabled older persons, the available data have not been fully developed to create usable methods for determining risk profiles in ... Full text Link to item Cite

Calcium channel blockers and cancer.

Journal article Am J Med · February 15, 2000 Featured Publication PURPOSE: We sought to explore the relation that has been previously reported between calcium channel blockers and an increased risk of cancer. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We followed 3,511 participants, age 65 years or older, in the Duke Established Populations ... Full text Link to item Cite

Comorbidity of five chronic health conditions in elderly community residents: determinants and impact on mortality.

Journal article J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci · February 2000 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Comorbidity is common in elderly persons. Its extent, correlates, and life-threatening impact in representative community residents are unclear. METHODS: Self-reported information of physician-diagnosed coronary artery disease (CAD), cerebrovas ... Full text Link to item Cite

Factors associated with self-rated health in patients with Paget's disease of bone.

Journal article J Bone Miner Res · October 1999 Featured Publication Multiple studies show that poor self-rated health (SRH) increases the risk of mortality up to 5-fold when compared to excellent SRH. This powerful association remains even with objective health status and risk factors controlled. However, few studies have ... Full text Link to item Cite

Spinal deformity and mobility self-confidence among women with osteoporosis and vertebral fractures.

Journal article Aging (Milano) · August 1999 Featured Publication This study evaluated the direct and indirect effects of spinal deformity on confidence in mobility among 185 older women with osteoporosis and vertebral fractures. We administered multidimensional tests of physical and psychosocial impairment and function ... Full text Link to item Cite

Spinal-flexibility-plus-aerobic versus aerobic-only training: effect of a randomized clinical trial on function in at-risk older adults.

Journal article J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci · July 1999 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: As exercise is associated with favorable health outcomes, impaired older adults may benefit from specialized exercise interventions to achieve gains in function. The purpose of this study was to determine the added benefit of a spinal flexibili ... Full text Link to item Cite

Reliability of physical performance tests in four different randomized clinical trials.

Journal article Arch Phys Med Rehabil · May 1999 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: (1) To assess the test-retest reliability of physical performance tests in subject groups with different levels of impairment and disability, and (2) to assess the stability of these tests over different time intervals. DESIGN: Test-retest, rep ... Full text Link to item Cite

The effect of major depression on functional status in patients with coronary artery disease.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · March 1999 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of major depression on reported functional status in a group of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). SETTING: An inpatient cardiology service. PARTICIPANTS: Three hundred thirty-five inpatients with coronary artery ... Full text Link to item Cite

Association of interleukin-6 and other biologic variables with depression in older people living in the community.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · January 1999 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of depression increases with age, as does the prevalence of higher levels of the cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6). This analysis was performed to determine the association between increased levels of this cytokine and depression in ... Full text Link to item Cite

Benzodiazepine use and cognitive function among community-dwelling elderly.

Journal article Clin Pharmacol Ther · December 1998 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relation between benzodiazepine use and cognitive function among community-dwelling elderly. METHODS: This prospective cohort study included 2765 self-reporting subjects from the Duke Established Populations for Epidemiologic Stu ... Full text Link to item Cite

Racial and psychosocial risk factors for herpes zoster in the elderly.

Journal article J Infect Dis · November 1998 Featured Publication The effects of black race and psychologic stress on the risk of acquiring herpes zoster in late life were examined. Subjects were participants of a stratified probability sample of community-dwelling persons > or = 65 years old. A comprehensive health surv ... Full text Link to item Cite

Predictors of short-term changes in serum intact parathyroid hormone levels in hemodialysis patients: role of phosphorus, calcium, and gender.

Journal article J Clin Endocrinol Metab · November 1998 Featured Publication Several factors have been identified as important in the pathogenesis of secondary hyperparathyroidism in end-stage renal disease, including serum calcium, phosphorus, and calcitriol. To examine the independent effects of key factors, we prospectively stud ... Full text Link to item Cite

Exercise to improve spinal flexibility and function for people with Parkinson's disease: a randomized, controlled trial.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · October 1998 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: The effectiveness of an exercise intervention for people in early and midstage Parkinson's disease (stages 2 and 3 of Hoehn and Yahr) in improving spinal flexibility and physical performance in a sample of community-dwelling older people is des ... Full text Link to item Cite

Developing a summary measure of medical status.

Journal article Aging (Milano) · October 1998 Featured Publication Health status surveys and assessments typically obtain detailed information on specific physical health conditions. While such specific details are important, it is frequently also valuable to have a summarized evaluation of medical conditions which can be ... Full text Link to item Cite

Taste and smell complaints in HIV-infected patients.

Journal article AIDS · September 10, 1998 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To define the scope of taste and smell (chemosensory) complaints amongst HIV-infected persons in the study population; to evaluate the clinical factors associated with chemosensory complaints; and to determine the impact of chemosensory complai ... Full text Link to item Cite

Depression and social support in elderly patients with cardiac disease.

Journal article Am Heart J · September 1998 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Depression is common among patients with cardiac disease. A number of psychosocial factors may affect the relationship between physical health and depression. There is evidence from the psychiatric literature suggesting that negative life event ... Full text Link to item Cite

Private health insurance coverage and disability among older Americans.

Journal article J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci · September 1998 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: This study examines the relationship between the lack of private supplemental health insurance coverage and the development of disability among adults aged 65 and older. METHODS: Data are from the baseline and six follow-up waves of the Duke Es ... Full text Link to item Cite

Race and stress in the incidence of herpes zoster in older adults.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · August 1998 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: To examine the effect of black race and acute (negative life events) and chronic (lack of social support) psychological stress on the risk of herpes zoster in late life. DESIGN: A population-based, prospective cohort study. SETTING: Central Nor ... Full text Link to item Cite

Is there a threshold between peak oxygen uptake and self-reported physical functioning in older adults?

Journal article Med Sci Sports Exerc · August 1998 Featured Publication PURPOSE: Few studies have examined the relationship between directly measured oxygen uptake (VO2) and self-reported physical function (PF). The purpose of this study was: 1) to examine the relationship between peak V02 and PF and 2) to determine whether a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Cerebral infarcts in patients with autopsy-proven Alzheimer's disease: CERAD, part XVIII. Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease.

Journal article Neurology · July 1998 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To study the relation between cerebral infarction and clinical and neuropsychologic manifestations in patients with autopsy-proven Alzheimer's disease (AD) enrolled in the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD). BACKG ... Full text Link to item Cite

Racial differences in the prevalence of monoclonal gammopathy in a community-based sample of the elderly.

Journal article Am J Med · May 1998 Featured Publication PURPOSE: To determine if there is an increased prevalence of monoclonal gammopathy in elderly blacks compared with whites, analogous to the difference in incidence of multiple myeloma reported for the two racial groups and to confirm age and gender relatio ... Full text Link to item Cite

Physical fitness and functional limitations in community-dwelling older adults.

Journal article Med Sci Sports Exerc · May 1998 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Conceptual models of disability have focused on disease-specific factors as the primary cause of disability. Functional limitations in the performance of basic tasks are considered primary mediators on the causal pathway from disease to disabil ... Full text Link to item Cite

Caffeine raises blood pressure at work.

Journal article Psychosom Med · 1998 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: The study investigated the effects of moderate doses of caffeine on ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate during workday activities. METHODS: Healthy, nonsmoking, habitual coffee drinkers (N = 21) received daily doses of 100 mg and 500 mg of ... Full text Link to item Cite

Relationship of body mass index to subsequent mortality among seriously ill hospitalized patients. SUPPORT Investigators. The Study to Understand Prognoses and Preferences for Outcome and Risks of Treatments.

Journal article Crit Care Med · December 1997 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To determine if body mass Index (BMI = weight [kg]/height [m]2), predictive of mortality in longitudinal epidemiologic studies, was also predictive of mortality in a sample of seriously ill hospitalized subjects. DESIGN: Prospective, multicenter ... Full text Link to item Cite

Adverse events after discontinuing medications in elderly outpatients.

Journal article Arch Intern Med · October 27, 1997 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Discontinuation of drug therapy is an important intervention in elderly outpatients receiving multiple medications, but it may be associated with adverse drug withdrawal events (ADWEs). OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency, types, timing, seve ... Link to item Cite

Psychosocial and physical correlates of chronic depression.

Journal article Psychiatry Res · October 10, 1997 Featured Publication This study used a case-control design to address differences in psychosocial, physical and clinical profiles between subjects who presented with a chronic index episode of major depression and those who presented with a non-chronic index episode. Subjects ... Full text Link to item Cite

Depression in medically ill hospitalized older adults: prevalence, characteristics, and course of symptoms according to six diagnostic schemes.

Journal article Am J Psychiatry · October 1997 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine and compare rates of depression, correlates, and course of symptoms in medically ill hospitalized elders through use of six diagnostic schemes (inclusive, etiologic, exclusive-inclusive, exclusive-etiolog ... Full text Link to item Cite

The association of plasma IL-6 levels with functional disability in community-dwelling elderly.

Journal article J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci · July 1997 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: IL-6 is a multifunctional cytokine that has been shown to increase with age. METHODS: Plasma IL-6 was measured by ELISA in 1,727 community-dwelling elderly subjects whose blood was drawn during the third in-person survey of the Duke Established ... Full text Link to item Cite

Peyronie's disease is associated with Paget's disease of bone.

Journal article J Bone Miner Res · June 1997 Featured Publication Peyronie's disease is an idiopathic disorder in which an inflammatory fibrosis occurs in the tunica albuginea of the corpora cavernosa which causes the erect penis to become deformed. Peyronie's disease has a prevalence of 1% in men over age 50 years. Page ... Full text Link to item Cite

Psychosocial correlates of job strain in a sample of working women.

Journal article Arch Gen Psychiatry · June 1997 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: This study identifies potential mediators of job strain effects on health by determining whether psychosocial factors known to predict an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality are higher among women who report high le ... Full text Link to item Cite

Relation of prescription nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug use to cognitive function among community-dwelling elderly.

Journal article Ann Epidemiol · February 1997 Featured Publication PURPOSE: To evaluate the relationship of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID) use to level of cognitive function in community-dwelling elderly persons. METHODS: The prospective cohort study included 2765 nonproxy subjects from the Duke University Est ... Full text Link to item Cite

Paget's disease of bone and quality of life.

Journal article J Bone Miner Res · December 1996 Featured Publication Little is known about how Paget's disease of bone affects quality of life. To better understand the relative impact of factors on quality of life, we mailed a brief survey to 2000 people randomly selected from the Paget's Foundation mailing list. The sampl ... Full text Link to item Cite

Five-year performance trends for older exercisers: a hierarchical model of endurance, strength, and flexibility.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · October 1996 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To examine 5-year trends in measures of physical performance, and the impact of disease upon performance, in three domains: cardiovascular fitness, musculo-skeletal strength, and flexibility among older adults participating in a medically superv ... Full text Link to item Cite

Job stress and preeclampsia.

Journal article Epidemiology · May 1996 Featured Publication We conducted a case-control study to determine whether job strain (or stress) during pregnancy resulted in an increased risk of preeclampsia. We compared 110 nulliparous Caucasian and African-American women who had preeclampsia with 115 healthy nulliparous ... Full text Link to item Cite

Do racial differences in hypertension persist in successful agers? Findings from the MacArthur Study of Successful Aging.

Journal article J Aging Health · May 1996 Featured Publication The objective of this study was to determine whether racial differences in hypertension in a random sample of community-dwelling older adults also remained significant in a sample of successful agers. Data for the random sample of community-dwelling older ... Full text Link to item Cite

The perceived racism scale: a multidimensional assessment of the experience of white racism among African Americans.

Journal article Ethn Dis · 1996 Featured Publication The experience of racism is a complex, multidimensional phenomenon. At present, there are few instruments that attempt to capture the experience of racism in all of its complexity. For this study, a new instrument, the Perceived Racism Scale, has been cons ... Link to item Cite

Functional and mobility impairments associated with Paget's disease of bone.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · May 1995 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To determine if patients with Paget's disease of bone involving the tibia, femur, and/or acetabular portion of the ilium had more impairments in function and mobility than age- and sex-matched control subjects. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A case contr ... Full text Link to item Cite

Racial differences in the occurrence of herpes zoster.

Journal article J Infect Dis · March 1995 Featured Publication The purpose of this study was to determine if there are racial differences in the occurrence of herpes zoster (shingles). The study population was the Duke Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly, a probability sample of community- ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effects of racist provocation and social support on cardiovascular reactivity in African American women.

Journal article Int J Behav Med · 1995 Featured Publication It has been speculated that exposure to the chronic stress of racism contributes to the high rates of hypertension among African Americans. Social support may buffer the effects of stress on cardiovascular (CV) health by attenuating stress-induced CV respo ... Full text Link to item Cite

Multivariable analysis of DNA ploidy, p53, and HER-2/neu as prognostic factors in endometrial cancer.

Journal article Cancer · May 1, 1994 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Several molecular-genetic alterations in endometrial cancers, including aneuploidy and aberrant expression of p53 and HER-2/neu, have been associated with poor prognosis. To determine the importance of molecular-genetic factors relative to more ... Full text Link to item Cite

Nutrition and function: is there a relationship between body mass index and the functional capabilities of community-dwelling elderly?

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · April 1994 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To determine if there is a relationship between body mass index and the ability to perform the usual activities of living in a sample of community-dwelling elderly. DESIGN: Secondary data analysis of The National Health and Nutrition Examination ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sociodemographic correlates of health beliefs among black and white community dwelling elderly individuals.

Journal article Int J Aging Hum Dev · 1994 Featured Publication This study examined the hypothesis that sociodemographic characteristics such as age, education, race, and gender would be predictive of Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Subscale scores in a population-based sample of 342 community dwelling elderly ... Full text Link to item Cite

Caffeine and cholesterol: interactions with hostility.

Journal article Psychosom Med · 1994 Featured Publication The consumption of caffeinated beverages has been linked to elevated serum cholesterol and an increased risk of coronary disease, although the relationships are inconsistent across studies and remain controversial. The effect of caffeine on cholesterol and ... Full text Link to item Cite

Measured versus estimated creatinine clearance in a high-functioning elderly sample: MacArthur Foundation Study of Successful Aging.

Journal article J Am Geriatr Soc · July 1993 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To assess the validity of several equations for estimating creatinine clearance in a large sample of high-functioning, community-dwelling elderly. DESIGN: Serum and 12-hour urine samples were collected and assayed for creatinine using the Jaffe ... Full text Link to item Cite

Association of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures with impaired functional status.

Journal article Am J Med · June 1993 Featured Publication PURPOSE: To determine if vertebral compression fractures in elderly women were associated with impairments in physical, functional, and psychosocial performance. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Ten white women with confirmed vertebral compression fractures were age- ... Full text Link to item Cite

The impact of anticipation of job loss on psychological distress and worksite blood pressure.

Journal article Am J Ind Med · 1992 Featured Publication The impact of occupational stressful life events on psychological distress and blood pressure was examined among employees of a major New York City brokerage firm undergoing massive layoffs. One hundred thirty-nine employees of the firm, who had participat ... Full text Link to item Cite

The effect of legal drinking age on fatal injuries of adolescents and young adults.

Journal article Am J Public Health · January 1992 Featured Publication This study examined the effect of legal drinking age (LDA) on fatal injuries in persons aged 15 to 24 years in the United States between 1979 and 1984. Effects on pre-LDA teens, adolescents targeted by LDA, initiation at LDA, and post-LDA drinking experien ... Full text Link to item Cite

Can behavioural factors produce a sustained elevation of blood pressure? Some observations and a hypothesis.

Journal article J Hypertens Suppl · December 1991 Featured Publication A major problem confronting behavioural theories of hypertension, such as the reactivity hypothesis, is that stress is likely to be intermittent, whereas the early stages of hypertension appear to be characterized by an increase in the tonic level of blood ... Link to item Cite

A procedure for linking psychosocial job characteristics data to health surveys.

Journal article Am J Public Health · August 1988 Featured Publication A system is presented for linking information about psychosocial characteristics of job situations to national health surveys. Job information can be imputed to individuals on surveys that contain three-digit US Census occupation codes. Occupational mean s ... Full text Link to item Cite

Job characteristics in relation to the prevalence of myocardial infarction in the US Health Examination Survey (HES) and the Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HANES).

Journal article Am J Public Health · August 1988 Featured Publication Associations between psychosocial job characteristics and past myocardial infarction (MI) prevalence for employed males were tested with the Health Examination Survey (HES) 1960-61, N = 2,409, and the Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HANES) 1971-75 ... Full text Link to item Cite