Trend In Odds Ratios Research Articles

A high linear growth is associated with an increased risk of childhood diabetes mellitus.

Insulin release and growth are intimately connected. The aim of the present study was to investigate height and weight in diabetic children from birth to onset of Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus compared to that in referent children. Data on height and weight were collected from mailed questionnaires and from growth records obtained from the child health clinics and schools in 337 recent-onset diabetic children, 0-14 years old, and from 517 age-, sex-, and geographically matched referent children. A total of 9002 paired height and weight observations were collected. The anthropometric development of the children was expressed as standard deviation scores using the National Center for Health Statistics/Centers for Disease Control (NCHS/CDC) growth reference material. On the average, the diabetic children were consistently taller than the referent children, a finding more pronounced among the boys. The diabetic boys were significantly taller from 7 to 1 years before the clinical onset of the disease, regardless of age at onset. A similar tendency was found for the girls. When mean height from 5 to 1 years before onset was used as a possible risk factor for diabetes, a linearly increasing trend in the odds ratio was found for diabetes in boys (odds ratio = 1.0; 1.57; 2.46 for height standard deviation score values less than 0; 0-1 and greater than 1, respectively; p = 0.002 for trend). A similar, but statistically not significant, tendency was found for girls (odds ratio = 1.0; 1.44; 1.43). As regards height increment from birth similar trends in odds ratios were found.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Relationship between lung asbestos fiber type and concentration and relative risk of mesothelioma. A case-control study

Lung tissue from 221 definite and probable cases of malignant mesothelioma reported to the Australian Mesothelioma Surveillance Program from January 1980 through December 1985 and from an age-sex frequency matched control series of 359 postmortem cases were examined by light microscopic (LM) and analytical transmission electron microscopic (TEM) analysis and energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDAX). Concentrations of total fibers (coated and uncoated) (LM), crocidolite, amosite, chrysotile, and unidentified amphibole (TEM) (fibers/g dry lung tissue) were measured. Fiber concentrations less than 10 microns in length and greater than or equal to 10 microns in length were separately quantified. By comparing cases (221) and controls (359 LM, 103 TEM), odds ratios for increasing fiber concentrations compared with less than 15,000 fibers/g (LM) and less than 200,000 fibers/g (TEM) (the respective detection limits) were calculated. Univariate analyses showed statistically significant dose-response relationships between odds ratio and fiber concentration for all fiber concentration measures. The relationship between log(odds ratio) and log(fiber concentration) was linear. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that a model containing crocidolite greater than or equal to 10 microns, amosite less than 10 microns, and chrysotile less than 10 microns as explanatory variables best described the data. The odds ratios for a X10 increase in fiber concentration (fibers/micrograms) were as follows: crocidolite greater than or equal to 10 microns, 29.4 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.6 to 241); chrysotile less than 10 microns, 15.7 (95% CI, 6.1 to 40); amosite less than 10 microns, 2.3 (95% CI, 1.0 to 5.3). An additive risk model gave similar results. In a subgroup of cases and controls with only chrysotile in the lungs, a significant trend in odds ratio with increasing fiber content was found.

Dietary factors and the risk of developing insulin dependent diabetes in childhood.

To study different nutrients and food additives as risk factors for insulin dependent diabetes mellitus in childhood. Prospective case-control study. Parents of the children being studied were asked to fill in a questionnaire regarding the children's frequency of consumption of various foods. Parents of children with diabetes were asked about the period before onset of the disease. Population based study throughout Sweden. 339 Children aged 0-14 who had recently developed insulin dependent diabetes mellitus and 528 control children matched for age, sex, and county of residence who were traced through the official Swedish population register. Foods were classified according to their content of protein, fat, carbohydrates, monosaccharides or disaccharides, nitrosamines, nitrates or nitrites, vitamin C, and fibres. The frequency of intake was categorised as high, medium, and low and the relative risk for developing insulin dependent diabetes was estimated for the three frequencies of intake and calculated as odds ratios. Significant linear trends for dose response in odds ratios by frequency of intake were shown for solid foods containing high amounts of protein (odds ratio for low frequency of intake 1.0; medium 2.3; and high 5.5), and nitrosamines (1.0; 1.7; 2.6) and significant but non-linear trends were found for carbohydrates (1.0; 1.3; 4.4) and nitrates or nitrites (1.0; 0.8; 2.4). The significant trends were not affected when the results were standardised for possible confounders. No significant increases in odds ratios were found for protein, monosaccharides and disaccharides, vitamin C, and fibres. Nutrients and food additives such as protein, carbohydrate, and nitrosamine compounds may influence the risk of developing insulin dependent diabetes in childhood and significant trends in odds ratios indicate a causal relation.