OBJECTIVE To define the prevalence of overweight and obesity among school-aged children resident in mountain areas, rural areas and urban areas. DESIGN, SETTING AND SUBJECTS The sample (n = 12832; 50.7% boys) included 9- and 11-year-old children of the Veneto Region of north-east Italy. Overweight and obesity status were determined using the International Obesity Task Force cut-off points for...

In many epidemiological studies, disease occurrences and their rates are naturally modelled by counting processes and their intensities, allowing an analysis based on martingale methods. Applied to the Mantel–Haenszel estimator, these methods lend themselves to the analysis of general control selection sampling designs and the accommodation of time-varying exposures.

Dr A. Bener and colleagues have reported socio-demographic risk factors associated with low birthweight in United Arab Emirates by conducting a case-control study. In a case-control study, individuals selected as controls should not only be free of the study disease, but should also be similar to the cases in regard to past potential for exposure during the time period of risk under considerati...

AIM To analyze genetic alterations of p53 gene in Slovenian gastric cancer patients and to compare these alterations with clinicopathological parameters in order to assess the value of p53 as a prognostic factor. METHODS We analyzed the samples from 230 Slovenian patients with gastric cancer, collected between 1983 and 2001. p53 expression was evaluated immunohistochemically with DO-7 monoclo...

Surveys often contain qualitative variables for which respondents may select any number of the outcome categories. For instance, for the question "What type of contraception have you used?" with possible responses (oral, condom, lubricated condom, spermicide, and diaphragm), respondents would be instructed to select as many of the outcomes that apply. This situation is known as multiple respons...

This paper reviews approximate confidence intervals for some effect parameters common in cancer epidemiology. These methods have computational feasibility and give nearly nominal coverage rates. In the analysis of crude data, the simplest type of epidemiologic analysis, parameters of interest are the odds ratio in case-control studies and the rate ratio and difference in cohort studies. These p...