Decoding the Psychiatric Space: Cross Country Comparison of Facilities for Mental Health Service Users.

Normalisation theory made perfect sense at the onset of de-institutionalisation. To map its influence on mental health facilities, research was conducted and began with ten facilities within England (UK) and France, followed by a further two in England and four in New Zealand. A checklist tailored to mental health facilities was used to measure the extent to which the facility looked domestic or institutional.

Changes in vitamin D levels and depressive symptoms in later life in England.

Inadequate vitamin D levels have been associated with increased risk of depression. However, most of these studies are cross-sectional and failed to investigate the effect of changes in vitamin D levels. This study aimed to investigate the longitudinal association of changes in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels with depressive symptoms in 3365 participants of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a large nationally-representative study of older adults.

Childhood experiences of parenting and cancer risk at older ages: findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).

Objectives: Despite the importance of childhood experiences for adult health and psychosocial factors for cancer development, parenting, a key childhood psychosocial exposure, has yet to be studied in relation to cancer risk at older ages. We examined whether childhood experiences of poor-quality parenting are associated with an increased risk of cancer at older ages.

Methods: We used a sample of 4471 community dwellers aged ≥ 55 years in 2007.

Subjective social status and mortality: the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Self-perceptions of own social position are potentially a key aspect of socioeconomic inequalities in health, but their association with mortality remains poorly understood. We examined whether subjective social status (SSS), a measure of the self-perceived element of social position, was associated with mortality and its role in the associations between objective socioeconomic position (SEP) measures and mortality. We used Cox regression to model the associations between SSS, objective SEP measures and mortality in a sample of 9972 people aged ≥ 50 years from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing over a 10-year follow-up (2002-2013).

Socioeconomic differences in hearing among middle-aged and older adults: cross-sectional analyses using the Health Survey for England.

Background: Hearing loss impacts on cognitive, social and physical functioning. Both hearing loss and hearing aid use vary across population subgroups. We examined whether hearing loss, and reported current hearing aid use among persons with hearing loss, were associated with different markers of socioeconomic status (SES) in a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults.

Associations Between Vitamin D Levels and Depressive Symptoms in Later Life: Evidence From the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).

Background: A possible role of vitamin D in depression has received considerable attention, especially given the significant disability, mortality, and healthcare costs associated to depression and the high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency.

Methods: We investigated the cross-sectional associations between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) levels and depressive symptoms (CES-D) in 5,607 older adults from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).

Results: Overall, there was a significant association between low 25OHD levels and elevated depressive symptoms (odds ratio [OR] = 1.

Vitamin D and inflammatory markers: cross-sectional analyses using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).

Recent evidence suggests that low vitamin D concentrations are associated with increased levels of inflammatory markers. However, there are limited studies investigating associations between vitamin D levels and inflammatory markers in the general population and much of this evidence in older adults is inconclusive. Therefore, this study investigates the cross-sectional association of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels with inflammatory markers in 5870 older English adults from wave 6 (2012-2013) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).

The association of ferritin with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in community-dwellers: The English longitudinal study of ageing.

Background: Ferritin constitutes a sensitive iron-storage index and multi-functional protein. Evidence on its association with mortality in general population is scarce and conflicting. We investigated the sex-specific associations of ferritin levels with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in a population-based cohort.

Duration of depressive symptoms and mortality risk: the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).

Background: The relationship between the duration of depressive symptoms and mortality remains poorly understood.

Aims: To examine whether the duration of depressive symptoms is associated with mortality risk.

Method: Data (n= 9560) came from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).

Wealth and mortality at older ages: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Despite the importance of socioeconomic position for survival, total wealth, which is a measure of accumulation of assets over the life course, has been underinvestigated as a predictor of mortality. We investigated the association between total wealth and mortality at older ages.

Methods: We estimated Cox proportional hazards models using a sample of 10,305 community-dwelling individuals aged ≥ 50 years from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

All cause mortality and the case for age specific alcohol consumption guidelines: pooled analyses of up to 10 population based cohorts.

Objectives: To examine the suitability of age specific limits for alcohol consumption and to explore the association between alcohol consumption and mortality in different age groups.

Design: Population based data from Health Survey for England 1998-2008, linked to national mortality registration data and pooled for analysis using proportional hazards regression. Analyses were stratified by sex and age group (50-64 and ≥ 65 years).

Validation of the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre Scoring System in a UK Adult Cardiac Surgery Population.

Objective: The Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNARC) scoring system was conceived in 2007, utilizing 12 physiologic variables taken from the first 24 hours of adult admissions to the general intensive care unit (ICU) to predict in-hospital mortality. The authors aimed to evaluate the ICNARC score in predicting mortality in cardiac surgical patients compared to established cardiac risk models such as logistic EuroSCORE as well as to the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II.

Design: Retrospective analysis of data collected prospectively.

English Longitudinal Study of Aging: can Internet/E-mail use reduce cognitive decline?

Background: Cognitive decline is a major risk factor for disability, dementia, and death. The use of Internet/E-mail, also known as digital literacy, might decrease dementia incidence among the older population. The aim was to investigate whether digital literacy might be associated with decreased cognitive decline in older adulthood.

Is gonorrhea becoming untreatable?

An estimated 498 million new cases of curable sexually transmitted infections occur worldwide annually. Of these, 106 million are gonococcal infections, rendering gonorrhea the second most prevalent bacterial sexually transmitted infection after chlamydia. A decline in susceptibility to extended-spectrum cephalosporins, as well as treatment failures, have been identified worldwide.

Risk factors for depressed mood amongst a community dwelling older age population in England: cross-sectional survey data from the PRO-AGE study.

Background: The Quality and Outcomes Framework in the United Kingdom (UK) National Health Service previously highlighted case finding of depression amongst patients with diabetes or coronary heart disease. However, depression in older people remains under-recognized. Comprehensive data for analyses of the association of depression in older age with other health and functional measures, and demographic factors from community populations within England, are lacking.

Cohort profile: the health survey for England.

To monitor the health of the public in England, UK, the Central Health Monitoring Unit within the UK Department of Health commissioned an annual health examination survey, which became known as the Health Survey for England (HSE). The first survey was completed in 1991. The HSE covers all of England and is a nationally representative sample of those residing at private residential addresses.

Improving the use of evidence in health impact assessment.

Objective: Health impact assessment (HIA) has been proposed as one mechanism that can inform decision-making by public policy-makers. However, HIA methodology has been criticized for a lack of rigour in its use of evidence. The aim of this work was to formulate, develop and test a practical guide to reviewing publicly available evidence for use in HIA.

Reporting of diabetes on death certificates using data from the UK Prospective Diabetes Study.

Aims: To study the effect of age at death, sex, ethnic group, date of death, underlying cause of death and social class on the frequency of reporting diabetes on death certificates in known cases of diabetes.

Methods: Data were extracted from certificates recording 981 deaths which occurred between 1985 and 1999 in people aged 45 years or more who participated in the UK Prospective Diabetes Study, to which 23 English, Scottish and Northern Ireland centres contributed. Diabetes (9th revision of the International Classification of Diseases; ICD-9 250) entered on parts 1A-1C or 2A-2C of the death certificate was considered as reporting diabetes.

ARMADA--a computer model of the impact of environmental factors on health.

Environmental impact assessments are conducted on many developments as part of the planning process. There is currently wide interest in developing tools for assessing the impact on the health of the local population of proposed developments that will cause environmental changes. A computer model called ARMADA (Age Related Morbidity And Death Analysis) is described that provides a framework for investigating such health impacts.

The effect of Epstein-Barr virus status on outcome in age- and sex-defined subgroups of patients with advanced Hodgkin's disease.

Background: Conflicting data on the effect of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) on outcome in Hodgkin's disease (HD) might be due to the heterogeneous nature of this disease. In this study we have investigated whether the effect of EBV status on outcome is different between aetiologically defined age groups (15-34, 35-44, 45+ years) and also between males and females.

Patients And Methods: Paraffin-embedded sections from 273 patients with advanced HD from two related clinical trials were analysed for the presence of EBV using in situ hybridisation.

A health impact assessment model for environmental changes attributable to development projects.

Study Objective: European Union legislation requires large industrial and civil development projects to undergo environmental impact assessment. The study objective was to identify environmental health risk estimates for these developments from the epidemiological literature and to develop, and apply these within, a mathematical health impact assessment model.

Design And Results: In the UK, good practice guidelines have set out environmental issues to be considered in development projects, but little attention is given to direct health effects.

Low prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus in incident gastric adenocarcinomas from the United Kingdom.

Epstein-Barr virus has been associated with a proportion of typical gastric adenocarcinomas. Here we report that the prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus in gastric adenocarcinomas from the United Kingdom is one of the lowest in the World. Gastric adenocarcinoma is another tumour whose association with Epstein-Barr virus varies with the population studied.

South Asian ethnicity and material deprivation increase the risk of Epstein-Barr virus infection in childhood Hodgkin's disease.

In order to further define the factors associated with the observed variations in the Epstein-Barr virus-positive rate in childhood Hodgkin's disease, we have studied the effect of material deprivation (measured by the Townsend score) and ethnic origin on the frequency of Epstein-Barr virus-positivity in 55 cases of childhood Hodgkin's disease, diagnosed between 1981 and 1999, from a multi-ethnic region of the United Kingdom. Epstein-Barr virus status was determined by immunohistochemistry for the Epstein-Barr virus-encoded latent membrane protein-1. 62% of cases were Epstein-Barr virus-positive.

Variation in the frequency of Epstein-Barr virus-associated Hodgkin's disease with age.

A number of studies in developed countries have reported variation in the frequency of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated Hodgkin's disease (HD) with age. A 'three disease' model for HD that incorporates the EBV association, histological subtype of HD and age has recently been proposed. In this model, Hodgkin's disease of childhood and older adults is commonly EBV-associated and of mixed cellularity type, whereas young adult HD is generally not EBV-associated and is usually characterised by nodular sclerosis disease.