December 13, 1999 (2)

Call For Volunteers To Participate In A Respiratory Health

Medical Evaluation For The Southeast Kansas Health Study

Study needs more people from Chanute, Coffeyville, Fredonia, Independence,

and Sedan to participate in the respiratory health evaluation.

KANSAS CITY, KAN. — Researchers at The University of Kansas Medical Center  are asking for volunteers from Chanute, Coffeyville, Fredonia, Independence, and Sedan, Kansas, to participate in a one-year respiratory health medical evaluations as part of the Southeast Kansas Health Study.  Commissioned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and being carried out by KU Medical Center, the study is directed at investigating possible health effects related to the operation of four commercial hazardous waste burners and other emission sources located in Chanute, Coffeyville, Fredonia, and Independence.  Sedan has agreed to serve as the study’s control community.

KU Medical Center’s mobile medical unit will be in Independence, Kansas, on Thursday and Friday, December 16 and 17, to carry out the respiratory evaluations.  Independence is the last of the five study communities that the unit has visited during November and December for this purpose. 

 
“The study’s design calls for 250 individuals (50 from each of the five communities), who have a history of asthma, emphysema, or wheezing, to participate in the evaluation,” explains H. William Barkman, M.D., principal investigator of the study and director of the

Center for Environmental and Occupational Health at KU Medical Center.  “We did not reach that goal in any of the communities,” he notes, “so, we’re asking residents who meet the criteria to volunteer for the evaluation.”

Criteria for volunteers include adults living within the zip codes of Chanute (66720), Coffeyville (67337), Fredonia (66736), Independence (67301), and Sedan (67361), who have a history of asthma or emphysema, as diagnosed by a doctor, or a history of wheezing.  Volunteers will be asked to fill out a health questionnaire if they have not already done so, read and sign two consent forms, and complete a brief health history.  The respiratory health medical evaluation consists of a pulmonary function test and a brief physical examination by a doctor who will check the volunteer’s blood pressure, heart, and lungs.  The evaluation will take place once at the beginning of the data collection year (November/December 1999) and again at the end of the year (October/November 2000).

Volunteers who are interested in participating the evaluation may contact the project team at its toll-free number, 877/511-2167.

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