Tecumseh Community Research Articles

Susceptibility to rhinovirus infection in chronic bronchitis.

The role of rhinoviruses in chronic bronchitis was examined serologically in the community of Tecumseh, Michigan. Five different rhinovirus types had been identified by isolation to be present in the community during the time of the study. They were tested against serums obtained from persons with chronic bronchitis and matched control subjects. Both males and females with chronic bronchitis had more frequent infections than did the control subjects; for males, the differences were significant. The higher infection rate among the bronchitic subjects was not related to their being deficient in antibody at the start of the study. It was concluded that persons with chronic bronchitis appear to be more susceptible to rhinovirus infection, as they are to other viral pathogens.

Marital Pair Anger-Coping Types May Act as an Entity to Affect Mortality: Preliminary Findings from a Prospective Study (Tecumseh, Michigan, 1971–1988)

The relationship between four anger-coping marital pair types and all-cause mortality was examined with a representative random sample in the community of Tecumseh, Michigan, in a longitudinal analysis (1971–1988) using 192 married pairs. Each spouse (age 35–69) in a married pair was independently classified as an expressive (anger out) or suppressive (anger in) anger-coping type; then four anger-coping pair types were tested for mortality risk, adjusted for major health risk factors. When both spouses were anger suppressors (n = 26 pairs; 13 deaths), death was 2 times more likely than in all Other Types (p < .05); significantly more pairs of “Both Spouses Suppress” occurred where both died than in Other Types. A spouse interaction effect (p = .06) occurred among Both Spouses Suppress Type but not in Other Types.

Sources of variability in quantitative levels of alcohol use in a total community: sociodemographic and psychosocial correlates.

This article describes the transformation of reported alcohol consumption into a quantitative variable, Standardized Alcohol Intake (SAI), which is used to investigate various sociodemographic and psychosocial factors as correlates of alcohol use in a total community sample (N = 1672), in Tecumseh, Michigan. Statistically significant relations were obtained between alcohol usage and marital status, education, smoking status, and church attendance with the latter accounting for the 15% of the variability in drinking. On measures of personality, SAI was positively and significantly associated with level of activity, sociability, impulsivity, and extraversion. For drinkers, their attitudes toward drinking and changes in mood varied significantly in relation to the amount consumed. These findings are important and necessary for the appropriate control of these correlates in the future study of familial aggregation of SAI in the Tecumseh community.

Swine influenza vaccine program in the community: acceptability, reactions and responses.

The operation of the national swine influenza immunization program was observed in the community of Tecumseh, Michigan. The purpose was to determine acceptability of a parenteral vaccine intended for the general population. Participation of the residents was excellent. More than 64 per cent of eligibles were vaccinated; this figure resembled that of the rest of the local area, but not the national figures nor a suburban area of Michigan where a similar study was carried out. Sore arm after vaccination was reported most frequently in younger female participants; however, sore arm was accepted as part of the process of vaccination and not considered a reaction by most. Such perceived reactions were not as commonly reported as in the large suburban area. Antibody response to the vaccine was excellent, not only in terms of antibodies to the swine virus itself but also in terms of cross reactive antibodies to the emergent H1N1 (Russian) influenza strain. As a result of the program, many vaccine recipients in the 25 to 49 year age groups are protected against this new epidemic virus.

The Tecumseh study of respiratory illness. X. Relation of acute infections to smoking, lung function and chronic symptoms.

The relationship of acute respiratory illness and infection to chronic bronchitis was investigated in the community of Tecumseh, Michigan. Families were randomly selected for study from among all those in the community and they were followed for periods of one year. Occurrence of acute respiratory illnesses was identified on a weekly basis. Frequency of chronic symptoms of cough and sputum production was separately ascertained. Lung function studies were performed three times during the course of the surveillance year and blood specimens were collected at those times. The blood specimens were tested for rise in antibody titer with antigens of type A and B influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Adults with mild or intermittent chronic symptoms of cough and sputum production experienced more acute respiratory illness than those without these symptoms. This finding was present at different levels of smoking frequency. A similar relationship was present when serologic infection rates were used in the analysis instead of acute illness incidence. When the population was dichotomized on the basis of lung function data, the segment of the population with more depressed values was found to have experienced higher infection rates. The results suggest that acute infection may play an independent role in the pathogenesis of chronic respiratory disease.

Acute respiratory illness in the community: effect of family composition, smoking, and chronic symptoms.

Respiratory illness and infection was studied in the community of Tecumseh, Michigan, USA, during a six-year period. Acute illness was ascertained by making weekly telephone calls, and prevalent agents were identified by microbial isolation. Infection rates were determined serologically using blood specimens collected routinely at six monthly intervals from those reported to be ill. Illness rates were higher in the youngest children of families up to the age of three years than for the oldest children of the same ages. Above the age of three, the pattern was reversed. Among the adults, rates of illness were shown to relate not only to the presence, but also to the age of children in the home. Throughout this comparison, women were more likely to be ill than men in the same groups. Smoking in itself was not related to increased acute respiratory illnesses, but persons with symptoms of chronic bronchitis were found to have higher illness rates independently of whether they smoked.

Daily nutritional intake and serum lipid levels. The Tecumseh study

To determine the influence of diet on serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels among adults, 24-hr dietary recall interviews were conducted among 957 men and 1,082 women resident in the community of Tecumseh, Michigan. Trained interviewers obtained detailed description of all foods consumed during 24 hr before venipuncture for lipid determination. Using a list of nutritional composition of 2,706 foods prepared from standard references, nutritionists determined quantities of all nutrients common to the American diet which were consumed by each participant according to a 24-hr diet record. For analysis, men and women were grouped into lower middle, and upper tertiles according to serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The mean daily consumption of each dietary component was virtually identical in all tertiles for men and women but differed between sexes. Cholesterol and triglyceride levels were unrelated to quality, quantity, or proportions of fat, carbohydrate, or protein consumed in the 24-hr recall period.

Diabetes among men in a general population. Prevalence and associated physiological findings

A random sample of 281 men, aged 30 through 69, resident in the community of Tecumseh, Mich, was studied with the use of standard glucose tolerance tests, including serum insulin assays and fasting serum lipid concentrations. Diagnoses of diabetes and probable diabetes were made according to a modification of the criteria of Fajans and Conn. Prevalence of diabetes and probable diabetes was considerably higher among men aged 40 through 49 than among those aged 30 through 39, but it increased little in the 50-through-59 and 60-through-69 age groups. Lean nondiabetics and probable diabetics had similar mean systolic blood pressures and similar mean levels of serum cholesterol, serum triglycerides, and serum insulin, but fat probable diabetics had much higher mean serum lipid and serum insulin concentrations that fat nondiabetics. Adiposity grouping discriminated by variable levels less well between diabetics and nondiabetics.

Diabetes Among Men in a General Population

A random sample of 281 men, aged 30 through 69, resident in the community of Tecumseh, Mich, was studied with the use of standard glucose tolerance tests, including serum insulin assays and fasting serum lipid concentrations. Diagnoses of diabetes and probable diabetes were made according to a modification of the criteria of Fajans and Conn. Prevalence of diabetes and probable diabetes was considerably higher among men aged 40 through 49 than among those aged 30 through 39, but it increased little in the 50-through-59 and 60-through-69 age groups. Lean nondiabetics and probable diabetics had similar mean systolic blood pressures and similar mean levels of serum cholesterol, serum triglycerides, and serum insulin, but fat probable diabetics had much higher mean serum lipid and serum insulin concentrations that fat nondiabetics. Adiposity grouping discriminated by variable levels less well between diabetics and nondiabetics.

EFFECT OF NEURAMINIDASE ANTIBODY ON HONG KONG INFLUENZA

The relation between antineuraminidase antibody (A.N.) and natural influenza infection in 1968 was investigated in the community of Tecumseh, Michigan. The outbreak was caused by Hong Kong influenza virus, which contained a new hæmagglutinin antigen (H3), while the neuraminidase antigen (N2) was more closely related to that of Asian viruses circulating since 1957. In the study group of two hundred and seventy-four randomly selected adults (aged 20-45), titres of N2 neuraminidase antibody were detected in a hundred and fifteen (42%) serum samples collected before the outbreak. Influenza infection during the course of the outbreak was identified serologically. The frequency of infection decreased significantly at increasing levels of pre-existing A.N. antibody. In those subjects who were not protected from infection, A.N. antibody significantly suppressed the clinical expression of infection. It is concluded that antibody against the neuraminidase of the influenza virus prevented or modified infection in a situation in which hæmagglutinin antibody had no effect.