Ronald A. Thisted

Bio: Ronald A. Thisted is an academic researcher from University of Chicago. The author has contributed to research in topics: Population & Computational statistics. The author has an hindex of 65, co-authored 161 publications receiving 17943 citations. Previous affiliations of Ronald A. Thisted include University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center & University of Illinois at Chicago.

Loneliness as a specific risk factor for depressive symptoms: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.

Abstract: The extent to which loneliness is a unique risk factor for depressive symptoms was determined in 2 population-based studies of middle-aged to older adults, and the possible causal influences between loneliness and depressive symptoms were examined longitudinally in the 2nd study. In Study 1, a nationally representative sample of persons aged 54 and older completed a telephone interview as part of a study of health and aging. Higher levels of loneliness were associated with more depressive symptoms, net of the effects of age, gender, ethnicity, education, income, marital status, social support, and perceived stress. In Study 2, detailed measures of loneliness, social support, perceived stress, hostility, and demographic characteristics were collected over a 3-year period from a population-based sample of adults ages 50-67 years from Cook County, Illinois. Loneliness was again associated with more depressive symptoms, net of demographic covariates, marital status, social support, hostility, and perceived stress. Latent variable growth models revealed reciprocal influences over time between loneliness and depressive symptomatology. These data suggest that loneliness and depressive symptomatology can act in a synergistic effect to diminish well-being in middle-aged and older adults.

Sleep and Psychiatric Disorders: A Meta-analysis

Abstract: We reviewed the literature on sleep in psychiatric disorders and evaluated the data by meta-analysis, a statistical method designed to combine data from different studies. A total of 177 studies with data from 7151 patients and controls were reviewed. Most psychiatric groups showed significantly reduced sleep efficiency and total sleep time, accounted for by decrements in non-rapid eye movement sleep. Rapid eye movement sleep time was relatively preserved in all groups, and percentage of rapid eye movement sleep was increased in affective disorders. Reduction in rapid eye movement sleep latency was seen in affective disorders but occurred in other categories as well. Although no single sleep variable appeared to have absolute specificity for any particular psychiatric disorder, patterns of sleep disturbances associated with categories of psychiatric illnesses were observed. Overall, findings for patients with affective disorders differed most frequently and significantly from those for normal controls.

Perceived social isolation makes me sad: 5-year cross-lagged analyses of loneliness and depressive symptomatology in the Chicago Health, Aging, and Social Relations Study.

Abstract: We present evidence from a 5-year longitudinal study for the prospective associations between loneliness and depressive symptoms in a population-based, ethnically diverse sample of 229 men and women who were 50-68 years old at study onset. Cross-lagged panel models were used in which the criterion variables were loneliness and depressive symptoms, considered simultaneously. We used variations on this model to evaluate the possible effects of gender, ethnicity, education, physical functioning, medications, social network size, neuroticism, stressful life events, perceived stress, and social support on the observed associations between loneliness and depressive symptoms. Cross-lagged analyses indicated that loneliness predicted subsequent changes in depressive symptomatology, but not vice versa, and that this temporal association was not attributable to demographic variables, objective social isolation, dispositional negativity, stress, or social support. The importance of distinguishing between loneliness and depressive symptoms and the implications for loneliness and depressive symptomatology in older adults are discussed.

Not all patients want to participate in decision making. A national study of public preferences.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The Institute of Medicine calls for physicians to engage patients in making clinical decisions, but not every patient may want the same level of participation. OBJECTIVES: 1) To assess public preferences for participation in decision making in a representative sample of the U.S. population. 2) To understand how demographic variables and health status influence people’s preferences for participation in decision making. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: A population-based survey of a fully representative sample of English-speaking adults was conducted in concert with the 2002 General Social Survey (N=2,765). Respondents expressed preferences ranging from patient-directed to physician-directed styles on each of 3 aspects of decision making (seeking information, discussing options, making the final decision). Logistic regression was used to assess the relationships of demographic variables and health status to preferences. MAIN RESULTS: Nearly all respondents (96%) preferred to be offered choices and to be asked their opinions. In contrast, half of the respondents (52%) preferred to leave final decisions to their physicians and 44% preferred to rely on physicians for medical knowledge rather than seeking out information themselves. Women, more educated, and healthier people were more likely to prefer an active role in decision making. African-American and Hispanic respondents were more likely to prefer that physicians make the decisions. Preferences for an active role increased with age up to 45 years, but then declined. CONCLUSION: This population-based study demonstrates that people vary substantially in their preferences for participation in decision making. Physicians and health care organizations should not assume that patients wish to participate in clinical decision making, but must assess individual patient preferences and tailor care accordingly.

Results of Conservative Management of Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer

Abstract: Background The selection of treatment for patients with localized prostate cancer requires reliable information about the outcome of conservative management. Previous studies of this question are generally considered unreliable because they were uncontrolled and nonrandomized. Methods We performed a pooled analysis of 828 case records from six nonrandomized studies, published since 1985, of men treated conservatively (with observation and delayed hormone therapy but no radical surgery or irradiation) for clinically localized prostate cancer. A Cox regression analysis was performed to determine which factors influenced survival among patients who did not die of causes other than prostate cancer (disease-specific survival). Kaplan-Meier curves for overall and metastasis-free survival among such patients were compared with use of the log-rank method and the Mantel-Haenszel test. Results Factors that had a significant effect on disease-specific survival were grade 3 tumors (risk ratio, 10.04), residence in Is...

Human biochemical genetics

Abstract: So far in this course we have dealt entirely with the evolution of characters that are controlled by simple Mendelian inheritance at a single locus. There are notes on the course website about gametic disequilibrium and how allele frequencies change at two loci simultaneously, but we didn’t discuss them. In every example we’ve considered we’ve imagined that we could understand something about evolution by examining the evolution of a single gene. That’s the domain of classical population genetics. For the next few weeks we’re going to be exploring a field that’s actually older than classical population genetics, although the approach we’ll be taking to it involves the use of population genetic machinery. If you know a little about the history of evolutionary biology, you may know that after the rediscovery of Mendel’s work in 1900 there was a heated debate between the “biometricians” (e.g., Galton and Pearson) and the “Mendelians” (e.g., de Vries, Correns, Bateson, and Morgan). Biometricians asserted that the really important variation in evolution didn’t follow Mendelian rules. Height, weight, skin color, and similar traits seemed to

Quantity and Quality of Exercise for Developing and Maintaining Cardiorespiratory, Musculoskeletal, and Neuromotor Fitness in Apparently Healthy Adults: Guidance for Prescribing Exercise

Abstract: The purpose of this Position Stand is to provide guidance to professionals who counsel and prescribe individualized exercise to apparently healthy adults of all ages. These recommendations also may apply to adults with certain chronic diseases or disabilities, when appropriately evaluated and advised by a health professional. This document supersedes the 1998 American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Position Stand, "The Recommended Quantity and Quality of Exercise for Developing and Maintaining Cardiorespiratory and Muscular Fitness, and Flexibility in Healthy Adults." The scientific evidence demonstrating the beneficial effects of exercise is indisputable, and the benefits of exercise far outweigh the risks in most adults. A program of regular exercise that includes cardiorespiratory, resistance, flexibility, and neuromotor exercise training beyond activities of daily living to improve and maintain physical fitness and health is essential for most adults. The ACSM recommends that most adults engage in moderate-intensity cardiorespiratory exercise training for ≥30 min·d on ≥5 d·wk for a total of ≥150 min·wk, vigorous-intensity cardiorespiratory exercise training for ≥20 min·d on ≥3 d·wk (≥75 min·wk), or a combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity exercise to achieve a total energy expenditure of ≥500-1000 MET·min·wk. On 2-3 d·wk, adults should also perform resistance exercises for each of the major muscle groups, and neuromotor exercise involving balance, agility, and coordination. Crucial to maintaining joint range of movement, completing a series of flexibility exercises for each the major muscle-tendon groups (a total of 60 s per exercise) on ≥2 d·wk is recommended. The exercise program should be modified according to an individual's habitual physical activity, physical function, health status, exercise responses, and stated goals. Adults who are unable or unwilling to meet the exercise targets outlined here still can benefit from engaging in amounts of exercise less than recommended. In addition to exercising regularly, there are health benefits in concurrently reducing total time engaged in sedentary pursuits and also by interspersing frequent, short bouts of standing and physical activity between periods of sedentary activity, even in physically active adults. Behaviorally based exercise interventions, the use of behavior change strategies, supervision by an experienced fitness instructor, and exercise that is pleasant and enjoyable can improve adoption and adherence to prescribed exercise programs. Educating adults about and screening for signs and symptoms of CHD and gradual progression of exercise intensity and volume may reduce the risks of exercise. Consultations with a medical professional and diagnostic exercise testing for CHD are useful when clinically indicated but are not recommended for universal screening to enhance the safety of exercise.

Medscape

Abstract: Secret History: Return of the Black Death Channel 4, 7-8pm In 1348 the Black Death swept through London, killing people within days of the appearance of their first symptoms. Exactly how many died, and why, has long been a mystery. This Secret History documentary follows experts as they pick through the evidence and reveal why the plague killed on such a scale. And they ask, what might be coming next?