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Showing papers by "Frank E. Speizer published in 1980"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In a study of early-life risk factors for the development of adult obstructive airway disease, respiratory symptoms, disease and smoking histories, and spirometry were obtained for 650 children and their families in East Boston, Massachusetts, the mother's current smoking status and current persistent wheeze were significant predictors of the children's mean FEF-Z score.
Abstract: In a study of early-life risk factors for the development of adult obstructive airway disease, respiratory symptoms, disease and smoking histories, and spirometry were obtained for 650 children 5 to 9 yr of age and their families in East Boston, Massachusetts Persistent wheezing was the most frequently reported chronic symptom, occurring in 92% (60/650) of the population Children with persistent wheezing were more likely to report cough and phlegm (p < 0001), a history of asthma (p < 0001), hay fever (p < 002), or past hospitalization with a respiratory illness (p < 0001) than their asymptomatic peers Prospective evaluation of a subsample of the 650 children confirmed a greater occurrence of acute lower respiratory illness in those children with persistent wheeze Parental cigarette smoking was linearly related to the occurrence of persistent wheezing (p = 0012) and lower degrees of mean normalized forced expiratory flow during the middle half of the forced vital capacity (FEF-Z score) A multiple linear regression identified the mother's current smoking status and current persistent wheeze as significant predictors of the children's mean FEF-Z score Other variables, such as the father's smoking, children's personal smoking, a doctor's diagnosis of asthma, and a past history of lower respiratory illness were not significant predictors of the FEF-Z score

172 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Together with the reasonable response rate in a homogeneous population, this suggests that estimation of exposure-disease associations is unlikely to be affected by major bias due to non-response.
Abstract: In establishing a cohort of U.S. nurses, an assessment of response bias was made comparing respondents and non-respondents with regard to age, education, state of residence, employment status, field of employment, and major specialty. Overall, the 122,328 respondents (69.7 per cent) and 43,222 non-respondents were quite similar. Together with the reasonable response rate in a homogeneous population, this suggests that estimation of exposure-disease associations is unlikely to be affected by major bias due to non-response.

121 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Family history of breast cancer was examined among 1159 women who themselves had breast cancer and among 11,590 control subjects in a retrospective case-control study conducted in 1976 among a sample of female nurses in the United States.
Abstract: Family history of breast cancer was examined among 1159 women who themselves had breast cancer and among 11,590 control subjects in a retrospective case-control study conducted in 1976 among a sample of female nurses in the United States. Having a mother with breast cancer increased a woman's risk of developing the disease by 80%, while having a sister with such a history increased the risk by 150%. Adjustment for potential confounding variables by logistic regression analysis did not alter these estimates appreciably. Both these associations were stronger at younger ages of onset of cancer, and in a positive maternal history was correlated with a larger increase in risk in women who menstruated for more than 35 years.

105 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The increase in risk attributable to the combined effect of current OC use, cigarette smoking and hypertension was considerably greater than what would be predicted from the sum of the separate effects of these factors.
Abstract: The relation of oral contraceptive (OC) use to the risk of hospitalization for myocardial infarction (MI) was evaluated among 121,964 US nurses who responded to a mail questionnaire. There were 156 women who reported having been hospitalized for MI before the menopause, and 23 (15%) were OC users at the time of the MI. Of 3120 controls matched to the cases for menopausal status at the time of the MI and for age, 304 (10%) were using OCs at the time of the MI. The apparent increase in the risk of MI for current OC users was not explained by cigarette smoking, hypertension, elevated cholesterol or other identified risk factors for MI. We estimated that OC use increased MI risk 1.8-fold overall and 2.8-fold among nonsmokers without other risk factors. The increase in risk attributable to the combined effect of current OC use, cigarette smoking and hypertension was considerably greater than what would be predicted from the sum of the separate effects of these factors.

86 citations



Journal Article
TL;DR: The findings show that increase in risk associated with OC use is greater among those initially at higher risk, and the combined effect of current OC use cigarette smoking and hypertension had an increased risk considerably greater than predicted from the sum of the separate effects of these factors.
Abstract: Women using oral contraceptives (OCs) have been reported to have a 3- to 4-fold increase in risk of myocardial infarction (MI) compared with nonusers. This paper evaluates the effect of OCs in the presence and absence of risk factors for MI. The study population consisted of a final sample of 121964 married female registered nurses born between 1921 and 1946 who responded to mail questionnaires containing questions on the occurrence of 11 conditions and illnesses including MI and on OC use. 156 women reported hospitalization for MI before menopause with 23 being OC users at time of MI. 3120 controls were matched with cases for menopausal status at time of MI and for age. Of these 304 (10%) were OC users at time of MI. Cigarette smoking hypertension elevated cholesterol and other identified risk factors (overweight history of parental MI before age 50 diabetes and angina pectoris) did not explain the apparent increase in the risk of MI for current OC users. OC use was calculated to increase MI risk 1.8-fold overall and 2.8-fold among nonsmokers without other risk factors. The combined effect of current OC use cigarette smoking and hypertension had an increased risk considerably greater than predicted from the sum of the separate effects of these factors. The findings show that increase in risk associated with OC use is greater among those initially at higher risk. OC package labels reflect this by stating the effects of pill use on MI risk in older women in heavy smokers and in women with other predisposing factors.

15 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A method for compiling a registry of adult twins is developed that allows for an assessment of genetic and environmental components of variation of quantitative traits in chronic disease epidemiology and may be of use to others.
Abstract: This paper discusses some issues in chronic disease epidemiology of interest to the genetic epidemiologist and presents a useful technique available to address these problems. This technique employs information from families of adult twins. It allows for an assessment of genetic and environmental components of variation of quantitative traits. We have developed a method for compiling a registry of adult twins, and this may be of use to others. Major problems that must be considered in any research with this technique are the representativeness of the cohort and the generalizability of results.

2 citations