Untreated Syphilis in the Male Negro: A Prospective Study of the Effect on Life Expectancy
- 1 January 1954
- journal article
- research article
- Published by JSTOR in Public Health Reports®
- Vol. 69 (7) , 684-690
- https://doi.org/10.2307/4588863
Abstract
Questions relating to the lethal effects of chronic disease must be answered on the basis of retrospective rather than of prospective data. The Tuskegee, Ala., study (Macon County), started in 1932, was intended to measure, prospectively, results of untreated syphilis in male Negroes. The present study consists of 408 untreated syphilitic patients and 192 nonsyphilitic patients, all of whom have maintained their original status relative to presence or absence of syphilitic infection since 1932. The general trend of mortality was found to be higher among syphilitic individuals between ages 25 and 75 years. Life expectancy of an individual 25-50 years of age with syphilis, for which he has received no appreciable amount of therapy, is approximately 17% less on the average than that of an individual in the same age-interval of a nonsyphilitic population.This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- Environmental Factors in the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis: Untreated Syphilis in the Male NegroPublic Health Reports®, 1954