Association between depressive symptoms and all-cause mortality in Chilean adult population: prospective results from two national health surveys.

Purpose: Depression is a prevalent disorder with effects beyond mental health. A positive association with mortality has been mostly reported, however, evidence comes from a few high-income countries. This study aims to assess the association between depressive symptoms and all-cause mortality in the Chilean population and assess a potential secular effect in this association.

Work stress, overcommitment personality and alcohol consumption based on the Effort-Reward Imbalance model: A population-based cohort study.

Work stress has been extensively supported to predict health outcomes like health behaviors. Evidence has linked work stress and personality independently to health, but the interrelationships between work stress and personality and their joint effects on health might deserve more attention in research. This study attempts to integrate recent developments in psychological research (diverse roles of personality in stress processes) into the well-established Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) model for work stress.

Longitudinal trajectories of blood lipid levels in an ageing population sample of Russian Western-Siberian urban population.

This study investigated 12-year blood lipid trajectories and whether these trajectories are modified by smoking and lipid lowering treatment in older Russians. To do so, we analysed data on 9,218 Russian West-Siberian Caucasians aged 45-69 years at baseline participating in the international HAPIEE cohort study. Mixed-effect multilevel models were used to estimate individual level lipid trajectories across the baseline and two follow-up examinations (16,445 separate measurements over 12 years).

Development and validation of two SCORE-based cardiovascular risk prediction models for Eastern Europe: a multicohort study.

Aims: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk prediction models are used in Western European countries, but less so in Eastern European countries where rates of CVD can be two to four times higher. We recalibrated the SCORE prediction model for three Eastern European countries and evaluated the impact of adding seven behavioural and psychosocial risk factors to the model.

Methods And Results: We developed and validated models using data from the prospective HAPIEE cohort study with 14 598 participants from Russia, Poland, and the Czech Republic (derivation cohort, median follow-up 7.

Risk of depressive symptoms before and after the first hospitalisation for cancer: Evidence from a 16-year cohort study in the Czech Republic.

Background: Whether depression risk starts increasing before cancer diagnosis, and whether cancer is an independent risk factor for depression, remain unclear. We aimed to quantify the risk of depressive symptoms before and after the first hospitalisation for cancer (as a proxy for cancer diagnosis) amongst patients with cancer.

Methods: We linked cohort data with national hospitalisation records in the Czech Republic.

Traditional Eastern European diet and mortality: prospective evidence from the HAPIEE study.

Purpose: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer mortality rates in Eastern Europe are among the highest in the world. Although diet is an important risk factor, traditional eating habits in this region have not yet been explored. This analysis assessed the relationship between traditional dietary pattern and mortality from all-causes, CVD and cancer in Eastern European cohorts.

The association between the FTO gene variant and alcohol consumption and binge and problem drinking in different gene-environment background: The HAPIEE study.

Background: Alcohol intake and tobacco smoking have significant negative health consequences and both are influenced by genetic predispositions. Some studies suggest that the FTO gene is associated with alcohol consumption. We investigated whether a tagging variant (rs17817449) within the FTO gene is associated with alcohol intake, problem drinking and smoking behaviour.

Fruit, vegetable intake and blood pressure trajectories in older age.

Diet rich in fruits and vegetables (F&V) is an established protective factor for hypertension, but the available evidence regarding the impact of F&V consumption on age-related blood pressure change is limited. We examined whether systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure trajectories are influenced by F&V intakes in an ageing Russian cohort. Dietary data was available for 8997 men and women in the Health, Alcohol and Psychosocial Factors in Eastern Europe prospective cohort study.

Psychological well-being and mortality: longitudinal findings from Lithuanian middle-aged and older adults study.

Background: The study aimed to examine whether after confounding by possible socio-demographic and other risk factors, psychological well-being is independently associated with reduced all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.

Methods: Initial data were collected within the framework of the international project HAPIEE in 2006-2008. A random sample of 7115 individuals aged 45-72 years was screened.

The prospective relationship between social cohesion and depressive symptoms among older adults from Central and Eastern Europe.

Background: Social cohesion has a potential protective effect against depression, but evidence for Central and Eastern Europe is lacking. We investigated the prospective association between social cohesion and elevated depressive symptoms in the Czech Republic, Russia and Poland, and assessed whether alcohol drinking and smoking mediated this association.

Methods: Cohort data from 15 438 older urban participants from the Health, Alcohol and Psychosocial factors In Eastern Europe project were analysed.

Mediterranean diet and physical functioning trajectories in Eastern Europe: Findings from the HAPIEE study.

Background: Unhealthy diet may increase the risk of impaired physical functioning in older age. Although poor diet and limited physical functioning both seem to be particularly common in Eastern Europe, no previous study has assessed the relationship between these two factors in this region. The current analysis examined the association between overall diet quality and physical functioning in Eastern European populations.

Psychosocial and socioeconomic determinants of cardiovascular mortality in Eastern Europe: A multicentre prospective cohort study.

Background: Eastern European countries have some of the highest rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, much of which cannot be adequately accounted for by conventional CVD risk factors. Psychosocial and socioeconomic factors may affect risk of CVD, but relatively few studies on this issue have been undertaken in Eastern Europe. We investigated whether various psychosocial factors are associated with CVD mortality independently from each other and whether they can help explain differences in CVD mortality between Eastern European populations.

Associations of Sleep Duration and Disturbances With Hypertension in Metropolitan Cities of Delhi, Chennai, and Karachi in South Asia: Cross-Sectional Analysis of the CARRS Study.

Objectives: Sleep duration and disturbances may be risk factors for hypertension. Despite the high burden of hypertension in South Asia, little is known about this relationship in this region.

Methods: We analyzed population-level cross-sectional data from the Centre for Cardiometabolic Risk Reduction in South Asia (CARRS) study that recruited representative samples of adults ≥ 20 years from three cities-Delhi, Chennai (India), and Karachi (Pakistan) during 2010-2011.

Education and coronary heart disease: mendelian randomisation study.

 To determine whether educational attainment is a causal risk factor in the development of coronary heart disease. Mendelian randomisation study, using genetic data as proxies for education to minimise confounding. The main analysis used genetic data from two large consortia (CARDIoGRAMplusC4D and SSGAC), comprising 112 studies from predominantly high income countries.

Prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of dyslipidemia in older persons in urban and rural population in the Astana region, Kazakhstan.

Background: Despite high cardiovascular mortality in Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union, there is limited information about major risk factors, including blood lipids. We investigated the prevalence of impaired concentrations of blood lipids, the awareness, treatment and control of hypercholesterolemia, and factors associated with these indicators in urban and rural populations in Kazakhstan.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of random urban and rural population samples (the state capital Astana and Akmol village).

Impact of perceived control on all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality in three urban populations of Central and Eastern Europe: the HAPIEE study.

Background: Inverse associations between perceived control and cardiovascular disease (CVD) have been reported in studies from Western Europe and the USA. To assess this relationship across different populations, we investigated the association between perceived control and all-cause and CVD mortality in three population-based cohorts of Eastern European countries.

Methods: We analysed data from a prospective cohort study in random population samples in Krakow (Poland), Novosibirsk (Russia) and six Czech towns.

Leukocyte Telomere Length and All-Cause, Cardiovascular Disease, and Cancer Mortality: Results From Individual-Participant-Data Meta-Analysis of 2 Large Prospective Cohort Studies.

We studied the associations of leukocyte telomere length (LTL) with all-cause, cardiovascular disease, and cancer mortality in 12,199 adults participating in 2 population-based prospective cohort studies from Europe (ESTHER) and the United States (Nurses' Health Study). Blood samples were collected in 1989-1990 (Nurses' Health Study) and 2000-2002 (ESTHER). LTL was measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

Blood-Based Oxidative Stress Markers and Cognitive Performance in Early Old Age: The HAPIEE Study.

Background/aims: Oxidative stress is involved in Alzheimer disease pathology, but its impact on cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults remains unknown. We estimated associations between serum oxidative stress markers and cognitive function in early old age.

Methods: Subjects aged 45-69 years recruited in urban centers in Central and Eastern Europe had memory, verbal fluency, and processing speed assessed at baseline (2002-2005) and 3 years later.

The association of depressive symptoms with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in Central and Eastern Europe: Prospective results of the HAPIEE study.

Background: Studies in western populations have shown a positive association between depression and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality. The association with depressive symptoms seems to be graded, rather than limited to the presence versus the absence of depression. Evidence from populations with potentially different patterns of confounders helps to address the consistency of these findings.

A faecal exposure assessment of farm workers in Accra, Ghana: a cross sectional study.

Background: Wastewater use in urban agriculture is common as a result of rapid urbanisation, and increasing competition for good quality water. In order to minimize risks to farmers and consumers of wastewater irrigated produce the World Health Organization (WHO) has developed guidelines for the safe use of wastewater in agriculture. These guidelines are based on a Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) model, though the reliability of this model has been questioned due to a lack of primary data.

Lack of Association between NYD-SP18 Variant and Obesity. The Health Alcohol and Psychosocial Factors in Eastern Europe Study.

Aim: To replicate the finding that the polymorphism rs6971091 within the NYD-SP18 gene is associated with body mass index (BMI).

Method: We analysed data of 29,284 adults (46.2% of males, mean age 58.

Education, material condition and physical functioning trajectories in middle-aged and older adults in Central and Eastern Europe: a cross-country comparison.

Background: Two competing hypotheses, cumulative advantage/disadvantage and age-as-leveller, have been proposed to explain the contradictory findings on socioeconomic differences in health over the lifespan. To test these hypotheses, this investigation examined the influence of educational attainment and material condition on individual trajectories of physical functioning (PF) in unexplored ageing populations in Central and Eastern Europe.

Methods: 28 783 men and women aged 45-69 years selected from populations in seven Czech towns, Krakow (Poland) and Novosibirsk (Russia).

Risk Perceptions of Wastewater Use for Urban Agriculture in Accra, Ghana.

Poor food hygiene is a significant risk to public health globally, but especially in low and middle-income countries where access to sanitation, and general hygiene remain poor. Food hygiene becomes even more pertinent when untreated, or poorly treated wastewater is used in agriculture. In such circumstances the WHO recommends the adoption of a multiple-barrier approach that prescribes health protective measures at different entry points along the food chain.

Effort-reward imbalance at work, over-commitment personality and diet quality in Central and Eastern European populations.

The aims of this study were to investigate the associations between work stress defined by the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model and diet quality and to examine the potential role of over-commitment (OC) personality in ERI-diet relationships. A cross-sectional study was conducted in random population samples of 6340 men and 5792 women (age 45-69 years) from the Czech Republic, Russia and Poland. Dietary data were collected using FFQ.