Surveys cross-sectional

Retrospective studies involving a review of emergency department records [28], or a cross-sectional survey [29], indicate that 16-19% of people who require an initial dose of epinephrine in food-triggered anaphylaxis in community settings subsequently required a second dose. 

There is limited information on effects from occupational exposures. In a cross-sectional survey, there was no evidence of... 

Dondorp AM, Newton PN, Mayxay M, van Damme W, Smithuis FM, Yeung S et al. Fake antimalarials in Southeast Asia are a major impediment to malaria control cross sectional survey on the prevalence of fake antimalarials. Trop Med Int Health 2004 9( 12) 1241-6. 

Sorensen C.B., Jepsen E.B., Thomsen P.H., and Dalsgaard S. (2002) Indications for and use of antidepressants in a country s child and adolescent psychiatry—a cross-sectional survey in Denmark. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry (in press). 

Women s Health Initiative cross sectional survey of users. BMJ 2003 327 845-6. 

Bragd J, Adamson U, Lins PE, Wredling R, Oskarsson P. A repeated cross-sectional survey of severe hypoglycaemia in 178 Type 1 diabetes mellitus patients performed in 1984 and 1998. Diabet Med 2003 20(3) 216-9. 

Accidental exposure to 2,3,7,8-TCDD in a 1949 explosion in a trichlorophenol plant in Nitro, West Virginia, resulted in an outbreak of severe chloracne. Moses et al. (1984) conducted a cross-sectional survey of workers in this plant in 1979. In reviewing the impact of the accident, the authors indicated that 117 workers had severe chloracne as a result of the explosion however, 111 additional workers were found to have had chloracne prior to the explosion. A cross-sectional study of 226 workers in 1979 indicated that 52% had chloracne which persisted for 26 years, and in 29 subjects it was still present after 30 years. Blood levels were not measured, but the air dust in the plant was suspected to have contained 2,4,5-T contaminated with 6 ppm 2,3,7,8-TCDD compared to 0.1 ppm in later years. Similarly, high incidences of chloracne were also found in other facilities (Jirasek et al. 1976 May 1973 Poland et al. 1971 Vos et al. 1978). Appearance of chloracne after accidental occupational exposure may be immediate or delayed since workers may not always be removed from the work environment, the duration of exposure and total exposure is difficult to assess. 

The basic Nordic School approach, that of assessing satisfaction with a cross-section survey or appraisal raises one important dilemma. A criticism of the approach is that, when analysts and stakeholders obtain a set of scores, they may have difficulty in understanding their meaning and lack a context of interpretation. This issue is at the core of the charge made by Parasuraman and colleagues that the expectations approach is superior because it offers valuable contextual information (Parasuraman et al, 1985, 1994b). There are, however, three kinds of extensions to the basic Nordic School system that can augment the value of the post hoc only appraisals. 

Cross-Sectional Surveys. These are observational studies in which subjects are contacted at a fixed point in time without regard to either exposure or outcome. The exposure(s) and outcome(s) are then measured in the subjects, and the subjects are assigned to categories based on that information. Cases are a prevalent series of individuals with the disease or outcome, and controls are the remaining population. Cross-sectional studies often deal with exposures that cannot change, such as blood... 

The major advantages of cross-sectional surveys are that they are relatively inexpensive and easy to design and can evaluate multiple exposures and outcomes. The major disadvantages are that they provide limited information for establishing causality because they are looking at prevalence cases and do not establish a time sequence of events. They also are not useful for studying rare diseases, diseases of short duration, and rare exposures. 

An independent cross-sectional survey, not sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry, in schizophrenic outpatients clinically stabilized on a neuroleptic drug for a period of 6 months showed that quality-of-life measures and Global Assessment of Functioning did not differ significantly in patients taking typical neuroleptic drugs (n = 44) and novel ones (risperidone, n = 50 olanzapine, n = 48 quetia-pine, n = 42 clozapine, n = 46) (42). 

In a cross-sectional survey of Yemeni adults the self-reported frequency of khat use and psychological symptoms was assessed using face-to-face interviews with members from a random sample of urban and rural households (10). Of 800 adults surveyed, 82% of men and 43% of women had used khat at least once. There was no association between khat and negative adverse psychological symptoms, and khat users had less phobic anxiety (56%) than non-users (38%). The authors were surprised by these results and offered several explanations that the form of khat used in Yemen is less potent than in other locations that prior reports of khat-related psychosis occurred in users in unfamiliar environments that the sampling procedure may have under-represented heavier khat users and that their measurement tool was not sensitive enough to detect psychological symptoms. 

Stroke prevalence is the total number of people with stroke in a population at a given time and is usually measured by cross-sectional surveys (Box 1.2). It is a function of stroke incidence and survival and, therefore, varies over time and between populations with differing age and sex structures. In the UK, stroke prevalence is approximately 5/1000 population and in 65 to 74 year olds is approximately 50/1000 in men and 25/1000 in... 

Cullinan, P., Acquilla, S.D., Dhara, V.R. (1997). Respiratory morbidity 10 years after the Union Carbide gas leak at Bhopal a cross sectional survey. Br. Med. J. 314 338 2. 

There has been a cross-sectional survey of 238 patients in New South Wales who died during a methadone maintenance program in a 5-year period (21). There were 50 deaths (21%) in the first week of methadone maintenance... 

Viau C, Bernard A, Lauwerys R, Buchet JP, Quaeghebeur L, Cornu L, Cornu M, Phillips SC, Mutti A Lucertini S, Francini i. A cross-sectional survey of kidney function in refinery employees. Am J Ind Med 1987 11 177-187. 

Approximately 30 cross-sectional surveys have been published and were reviewed by Mendell in 1993. Many of these have included primarily nonproblem buildings, selected at random. These consistently demonstrate an association between mechanical ventilation and increasing levels of symptoms. Additional risk factors have been defined in several case-control studies. Table 2 presents a grouping of widely recognized factors. 

Low-nitrogen (protein) diets have been advocated from the early years of treatment of severe chronic uremia. The very-low-protein diets tested in the MDRD Study were of marginal benefit in these well-supervised patients with very low renal function, but are not well adhered to in practice, may lead to negative nitrogen balance, and are not recommended. Protein intake is restricted spontaneously to approximately 0.6 to 0.8g/kg/day by uremic patients not receiving dietary advice. To prevent malnutrition, patients receive professional dietary advice, with diets containing an increased proportion of first class protein and increased calorie content of up to 35 kcal/kg/day. The NHANES III has confirmed an association with reduced GFR and malnutrition in noninstitutionalized individuals studied in a cross-sectional survey of more than 5000 participants stratified according to GFR. ... 

Susce MT, Villanueva N, Diaz FJ, et al. Obesity and associated complications in patients with severe mental illnesses a cross-sectional survey. J Clin Psychiatry 2005 66 167-73. 

Riedler J, Brarm-Fahrlander C, Eder W, et al Exposrrre to farming in early life and development of asthma and allergy A cross-sectional survey (see corrrment). Lancet 2001 358 l 129-1133. Remes ST, Pekkanen J, Soininen L, et al Does heredity modify the association between farming and allergy in children (see comment) Acta Paediatr 2002 91 l 163-1169. 

Riedler J, Bratm-Eahrlander C, Eder W, et al. Exposure to farming early in hfe and development of asthma and allergy A cross-sectional survey. Lancet 2001 358 1129-1133. 

Many cross-sectional surveys report no or weak exposure-response relationships or even an inverse relationship for which survivor bias is the most probable explanation. For example, in a survey of a workforce exposed to tetrachlorophthalic anhydride (TCPA) carried out by the authors, all the cases affected in an epidemic of occupational asthma had left the factory before it was possible to carry out a survey (Venables et al., 1985a). In this survey, conclusions could be drawn by studying specific IgE against TCPA. However, reliable tests for specific IgE antibody are not available for all chemical respiratory allergens. 

Colvin M, Myers J, Nell V, et al A cross-sectional survey of neurobehavioral effects of chronic solvent exposure on workers in a paint manufacturing plant. Environ Res 63 122-132, 1993... 

Nijem K, Kristensen P, Al-Khatib A, et al Prevalence of self-reported health complaints among shoe workers of small workshop exposed to organic solvents in Hehron City, West Bank a cross-sectional survey. Med Lav 91 206-216, 2000 Noraherg J, Arlien-Soborg P Neurotoxic interactions of industrially used ketones. Neurotoxicology 21 409-418, 2000... 

One report included a cross-sectional survey on the prevalence of pyrethroid poisoning in 3113 Chinese cotton farmers [5]. Adverse effects of pyrethroid exposure were found in 834 of them (26.8%), including abnormal facial sensations, central nervous system and systemic effects. Ten subjects were diagnosed as having mild occupational acute... 

The monitoring systems for IDD defined and recommended by the WHO (2001) include external monitoring by governments, internal monitoring by producers and distributors, and monitoring at the household level. Basic steps to assess iodine intake at the household level are cross-sectional surveys and community-based monitoring (e.g., qualitative rapid test kits used by nutrition officers and others). 

Evaluation of iodine status in a clearly described (age, gender, smoking, medical history, concomitant medication), large sample size population (n > 800) in a cross-sectional survey. 

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