Oral contraceptive use and risk of vulvodynia: a population-based longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether the risk of vulvodynia is associated with previous use of oral contraceptives (OCs). DESIGN: Longitudinal population-based study. SETTING: Four counties in south-east Michigan, USA. POPULATION: A population-based sample of women, aged 18 years and older, enrolled using random-digit dialling. METHODS: Enrolled women completed surveys that included information on demographic characteristics, health status, current symptoms, past and present OC use, and a validated screen for vulvodynia. The temporal relationship between OC use and subsequent symptoms of vulvodynia was assessed using Cox regression, with OC exposure modelled as a time-varying covariate. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Vulvodynia, as determined by validated screen. RESULTS: Women aged <50 years who provided data on OC use, completed all questions required for the vulvodynia screen, and had first sexual intercourse prior to the onset of vulvodynia symptoms were eligible (n = 906). Of these, 71.2% (n = 645) had used OCs. The vulvodynia screen was positive in 8.2% (n = 74) for current vulvodynia and in 20.8% (n = 188) for past vulvodynia. Although crude cross-tabulation suggested that women with current or past vulvodynia were less likely to have been exposed to OCs prior to the onset of pain (60.7%), compared with those without this disorder (69.3%), the Cox regression analysis identified no association between vulvodynia and previous OC use (HR 1.08, 95% CI 0.81-1.43, P = 0.60). This null finding persisted after controlling for ethnicity, marital status, educational level, duration of use, and age at first OC use. CONCLUSION: For women aged <50 years of age, OC use did not increase the risk of subsequent vulvodynia.

A self-augmenting gene expression cassette for enhanced and sustained transgene expression in the presence of proinflammatory cytokines.

Viral promoters can yield high gene expression levels yet tend to be attenuated in vivo by host proinflammatory cytokines. Prolonged transgene expression can be obtained using constitutive cellular promoters. However, levels of transgene expression driven by cellular promoters are insufficient for effective therapy. We designed a novel self-augmenting gene expression cassette in which the transgene product can induce an endogenous transcription factor to enhance the activity of a weak cellular promoter driving its expression. Using the cellular major histocompatibility complex class I (H-2K(b)) promoter to drive the interferon (IFN-gamma) cytokine gene, we show that the H-2K(b) promoter, although exhibiting much lower basal activity, yields higher IFN-gamma production than the CMV promoter 2 days after transfection. IFN-gamma expression driven by the H-2K(b) promoter also lasts longer than that driven by the cytomegalovirus promoter. Our data demonstrate that the self-augmenting strategy provides a promising approach to achieve high and sustained transgene expression in vivo.

Diagnosis of group A beta-hemolytic Streptococcus using clinical scoring criteria, Directigen 1-2-3 group A streptococcal test, and culture.

Cultures for group A beta-hemolytic Streptococcus were performed on 806 patients presenting with a sore throat to five urgent care centers. The accuracies of a clinical scoring system and of a liposomal in-office direct test for Streptococcus were compared with culture results. The Directigen 1-2-3 group A streptococcal test had a sensitivity of 67%, a specificity of 85%, a positive predictive value of 61%, and a negative predictive value of 89% compared with culture. The scoring system had a sensitivity of 26%, a specificity of 94%, a positive predictive value of 58%, and a negative predictive value of 79%. Using a combination of the direct test results and the clinical score did not improve the accuracy significantly over the use of either alone. The rates of delayed treatment, unnecessary treatment, and increased costs were compared using different combinations of the clinical scoring system, the in-office streptococcal test, and culture. Neither the Directigen 1-2-3 group A streptococcal test nor the clinical score can replace culture in the diagnosis of group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis.

Physicians and exercise promotion.

Regular exercise has been associated with numerous health benefits. In response, the promotion of regular exercise for patients has become a recommended component of preventive health care. The extent to which primary care physicians encourage their patients to exercise and the factors associated with exercise promotion are not well elucidated. We surveyed the attitudes and practices of 63 family physicians and 63 internists regarding exercise promotion to patients. We evaluated the associations between demography, cognition, belief, and behavior with exercise promotion. Several factors were associated with physicians' recommending exercise to their patients. A logistic regression model suggests that physicians who have a follow-up plan, who have been in practice over 10 years, who exercise themselves, and who estimate that more than 10% of their patients exercise encourage exercise in greater than or equal to 50% of their patients.

Marital adjustment among housestaff and new attorneys.

Previous reports have suggested that physicians' marriages may be adversely affected by the stresses of the profession. Some social scientists, however, question the view that demanding careers are the primary cause of poor marital adjustment and suggest instead that such careers may actually invigorate a marriage. This study, involving 116 housestaff physicians, 106 new attorneys, and the spouses of both groups, identified the factors that significantly affected their marital adjustments. No difference in marital adjustments was found between housestaff and attorneys or between the two spouse groups. In general, the spouses had higher marital adjustment scores than did the professionals, and the women professionals had higher scores than did the men professionals. The two most important factors associated with adjustment were the perceived level of emotional support received from one's spouse for one's career and the level of such support given to one's spouse for his or her career. The results suggest that housestaff and new attorneys are as satisfied with their marriages as are the other populations in which the same marital inventory has been used.

Risk factors for Candida vulvovaginitis.

Although Candida vulvovaginitis occurs commonly, the reasons for its occurrence and recurrence are often unclear. Several potential risk factors have been described, including the recent use of antibiotics and oral contraceptives, the presence of diabetes mellitus, dietary practices, gastrointestinal colonization by the organism, clothing and sanitary protection practices, sexual communicability of the organism, and specific immunological defects. However, the data supporting each of these factors are conflicting, and to date none are predictive of infection. In this review, the data evaluating these potential risk factors are described. From this information, implications for clinical practice are discussed.

Evaluation of a peer education programme for female sex workers in Bali, Indonesia.

The objective of this paper is to evaluate a peer education programme for female sex workers in Bali, Indonesia. Sex workers participated in face-to-face interviews and STD exams in August-September 1998. In October 1998 one woman from each of 30 clusters was selected to be a peer educator and received a 2-day training on AIDS, STDs, condom use, and condom negotiation. After training, the peer educators were visited twice a week by field workers to answer questions and offer support. All sex workers received group education every 2 months. In January-February 1999, the sex workers again participated in face-to-face interviews and examinations. One month after peer education training, only 50% of the peer educators were still working in the clusters where they were trained. To evaluate the impact of the peer educators, sex workers in clusters where a peer educator continued to work were compared with sex workers in clusters where women did not continue to work (n=189). In clusters where women continued to work, there were higher levels of AIDS knowledge (P < 0.05), STD knowledge (P < 0.05) and condom use (82 vs 73%, P=0.15). The prevalence of Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection was also lower in clusters with a peer educator (39% vs 55%, P=0.05) than in clusters without a peer educator.

Household smoking exposure--association with middle ear effusions.

Middle ear effusions are associated with hearing impairments which may result in abnormalities or lags in children's hearing, speech, and cognition. Treatment rather than prevention of this problem has previously been emphasized in the medical literature. While the risks of passive smoking on various aspects of health are now becoming accepted, little is known about the effect of smoke exposure on the middle ears of children. We evaluated the association between middle ear effusions and household smoke exposure in children seen in an outpatient office. A dose-response relationship was found between increasing household smoke exposure and the prevalence of middle ear effusions as indicated by abnormal tympanograms. An attempt to minimize smoke exposure via patient education may be one of the few means health care professionals have to effect primary prevention of this potentially morbid disease.

Psychosocial and sexual functioning in women with vulvodynia and chronic pelvic pain. A comparative evaluation.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether women with vulvodynia differ from women with chronic pelvic pain and normal controls in their psychological functioning, somatic preoccupation, pain experience and sexual functioning. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional, self-report study of women presenting to University of Michigan specialty and general clinics for the treatment of vulvodynia or chronic pelvic pain or seeking a routine gynecologic examination. All subjects completed questionnaires assessing demographic characteristics, pain, depressive symptoms, general affective state, marital adjustment, functional activity, somatic complaints, exposures, and medical and sexual history. Univariate analyses, chi 2 tests, analyses of variance and logistic regression were used to assess associations between these variables and the diagnostic category. RESULTS: Women with vulvodynia (n = 31) were similar to asymptomatic control women (n = 23) in demographic characteristics, sexual relationship variables, sexual behaviors, current and past depression, somatic sensitivity, and history of sexual or physical abuse. Women with chronic pelvic pain (n = 18) were younger and less educated than the other two groups and were more likely to have a history of physical and sexual abuse, to report recent depression and to screen positive for current depression, to have more work absences and to have more somatic complaints. CONCLUSION: Women with vulvodynia are psychologically similar to control women but differ significantly from women with chronic pelvic pain. A primary psychological cause of vulvodynia is not supported.

Use of the McGill Pain Questionnaire to compare women with vulvar pain, pelvic pain and headaches.

OBJECTIVE: To assess differences between women with three distinct types of chronic pain conditions using a modified McGill Pain Questionnaire. STUDY DESIGN: Data by self-administered questionnaire were collected on patients presenting to the University of Michigan Medical Center with chronic vulvar pain (144 patients), pelvic pain (198 patients) or headaches (130 patients). Data for analysis included: patient demographics, duration of pain and modified McGill Pain Questionnaire scores. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. RESULTS: Patients with vulvar pain had more formal education (P < .001), were more likely to be married (P < .001) and were less likely to be African American (P = .003) as compared to those with chronic pelvic pain and headaches. Chronic pelvic pain patients were younger than those in the other two groups (P = .002), and headache patients were likely to have had their chronic pain for a shorter duration than those with vulvar or pelvic pain (P < .001). Patients with vulvar pain had lower total scores on the McGill Pain Questionnaire as well as on the four subsets of variables: affective, sensory, cognitive and miscellaneous indexes (P < .001). They also chose fewer words to describe their symptoms from the 20-word lists (P < .001) and had lower average scores in each of the 20 categories as compared to the other two groups (P < .0001). Controlling for age, ethnicity and marital status did not alter this significance. CONCLUSION: Patients with vulvar pain were a unique groups when compared to other chronic pain populations. Evaluation of the demographics and McGill Pain Questionnaire scores confirmed the distinct qualities of women with vulvar pain.

Gestational diabetes mellitus.

Gestational diabetes is an asymptomatic disease of pregnant women, which results in significant morbidity and mortality. However, prompt diagnosis and treatment of this disorder have been found to be effective in decreasing complications. The increased risk for eventual diabetes in the patient and obesity or glucose intolerance in her off-spring suggests that long-term weight control and medical follow-up for both are important.

Screening for gestational diabetes--analysis by screening criteria.

A previously studied glucose screening test for gestational diabetes was evaluated by six screening test criteria for appropriateness and cost effectiveness as a widespread screening tool. The test consisted of a serum glucose level in a pregnant patient one hour after 50 g of a glucose solution was ingested. Determination was made of price per case detected and of the number of cases missed when using this test or the oral glucose tolerance test on all prenatal patients or on a selected subset of patients. Screening all pregnant patients aged over 25 years for gestational diabetes with the one-hour glucose screening test is recommended. The need for further evaluation of the sensitivity of this screening test is discussed.

Treatment of beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis with cefaclor or penicillin. Efficacy and interaction with beta-lactamase-producing organisms in the pharynx.

The recommended treatment for group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal pharyngitis has continued to be penicillin given in parenteral or oral form. Treatment failures, as determined by the continued presence of the streptococcal organism in the pharynx, however, do occur in 6% to 25% of patients treated with penicillin. Furthermore, beta-lactamase produced by other bacteria in the pharynx could potentially inactivate the penicillin, resulting in increased treatment failures or infection relapses. A study was undertaken to compare the efficacy of cefaclor, which is relatively resistant to inactivation by beta-lactamase, with penicillin for eradicating the group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal organism from the throats of 93 patients with pharyngitis. Additionally, extensive cultures for potential beta-lactamase-producing organisms were conducted on 37 patients; 27% of these had one or more pharyngeal organisms that were producing beta-lactamase. No statistically significant difference was found between the clinical responses or the bacteriological cure rates of those treated with cefaclor and those treated with penicillin when stratified by the presence or absence of beta-lactamase-producing organisms. The prevalence of beta-lactamase-producing organisms in the pharynx, however, was increased after treatment with penicillin, whereas no change was noted following treatment with cefaclor.

Differentiation of Gardnerella vaginalis, Candida albicans, and Trichomonas vaginalis infections of the vagina.

This study evaluated the positive predictive values of factors associated with Gardnerella vaginalis, Candida albicans, and Trichomonas vaginalis for diagnosing vaginitis in a community-based population. One hundred ninety-six women with and without vaginal complaints were evaluated for historical factors, physical examination findings, and office laboratory results that were potentially associated with each of the three vaginal organisms. Extensive microbiological tests were performed to detect pathogenic organisms in the vagina and cervix. Gardnerella vaginalis was associated with findings of clue cells, gray or creamy vaginal discharge, amine ordor on application of potassium hydroxide solution to the discharge, pH greater than 5, and a history of more than six sexual partners. Candida albicans was associated with the presence of pseudohyphae or budding yeast on microscopic examination and the lack of clue cells. Current use of oral contraceptives and the recent use of antibiotics were not predictive of a Candida albicans infection. Trichomonas vaginalis was more common in patients presenting with symptoms, but otherwise was not predicted by the factors tested.

Compliance with acute otitis media treatment.

A total of 295 patients at four offices were studied to determine whether the type of medical office or population serviced, written instructions given to the patient, or patient familiarity with the prescribing physician influenced compliance with a 10-day course of antibiotics prescribed for acute otitis media. The relationship between compliance with the recommended treatment and outcome was subsequently determined. The study population included all patients with a new case of acute otitis media who presented to any of four different types of family practice centers involved in the study. Results indicated that compliance, as measured by follow-up rates in less than 11 days and urine antibiotic assays, varied significantly between different office types and patient populations. Written instructions did not improve compliance. In the low socioeconomic group, compliance was improved when the patients were diagnosed and treated by their own physicians. Neither the study factors nor compliance was related to outcome.

Prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis and Mycoplasma pneumoniae in children with and without pharyngitis.

The prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus, and other treatable organisms was studied in children with and without pharyngitis. Children aged 2 to 12 years were evaluated between November 1985 and April 1986 in three family practice offices in the Salt Lake City area. Chlamydia trachomatis was not detected in the pharynx of any of the children studied. Mycoplasma pneumoniae was cultured from 5 percent of the 242 children studied, group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus from 30 percent, non-group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus from 5 percent, Hemophilus influenzae from 4 percent, and Staphylococcus aureus from 14 percent. The symptoms reported were not statistically associated with any organism isolated, and clinical signs of pharyngitis were associated only with the presence of group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus. Based on these results, management of pharyngitis in children should continue to be based on the detection and treatment of group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus.

The association between dietary intake and reported history of Candida vulvovaginitis.

The association between dietary intake and the history of Candida vulvovaginitis was evaluated in 166 women who had a history of Candida vulvovaginitis in the past 5 years (cases) and in 207 women without such a history (total population), as well as in 74 women with five or more episodes in the past 5 years and 125 women with no history of Candida vulvovaginitis. Women were interviewed about their demographic data, past medical and sexual history, and their history of vaginal or pelvic infections. An extensive dietary history was taken to determine each woman's usual adult dietary intake. Results indicate associations between total caloric intake, carbohydrates, and fiber and a history of Candida vulvovaginitis. The results were not altered by controlling for age, body mass index, smoking, use of oral contraceptives, and sexual activity variables. These results suggest several dietary constituents may influence susceptibility to Candida vulvovaginitis infections. A follow-up prospective study, using culture confirmation of Candida infection, is needed.

The psychosexual impact of human papillomavirus cervical infections.

BACKGROUND: Occult human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, present in approximately 20% of women in the United States, is usually sexually transmitted, associated with substantial health risks, and unpredictable in its resolution. The potential for adverse psychosexual alterations due to HPV infection in women considered at low risk for bacterial sexually transmitted diseases is substantial, but data is lacking. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted with sexually active women aged 18 to 60 years who had been enrolled at community-based offices in the University of Michigan Vaginitis Study. Women found to have occult HPV infection of the cervix were notified, received physician consultation, and were encouraged to have colposcopy performed to assess lesion status. Responses to a follow-up written questionnaire for differences in psychosexual functioning and attitudes following diagnosis were compared among these women and those without HPV infection. RESULTS: The women enrolled were primarily white and had a current sexual partner at the time of enrollment. They had few sexually transmitted infections and few risk factors, yet 20% had unsuspected HPV infection. Psychosexual characteristics at baseline and at follow-up, as well as perceived changes in these characteristics by the women, did not differ between women with HPV infection and those without. Stratification by potential confounders, including the presence of a vaginal infection at the time of study enrollment, household income level, ethnic background, age, marital status, and sexual history, did not alter these results. CONCLUSIONS: Women at low risk for sexually transmitted diseases, but who had a cervical HPV infection, were similar to those not infected in reported psychosexual characteristics and functioning. Adverse changes in these characteristics between the time of the diagnosis and subsequent follow-up were no more likely in those with the diagnosis than in those without.