Gender-specific correlates of perceived life stress: a population-based study, Montreal, Canada, 2012.

Objectives: To identify the gender-specific correlates of perceived life stress in a representative sample of the Montreal population.

Method: Data were extracted from the Local Health Survey Program (called "TOPO") collected in 2012. TOPO-2012 provided information on chronic diseases, their determinants and risk factors, as well as lifestyle and health services utilization.

Postpartum complications in new mothers with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: a population-based cohort study.

Objective: The aim was to evaluate the prevalence of postpartum complications, including depression, in new mothers who had juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and to assess whether these differ from mothers who never had JIA.

Methods: Our cohort study used data from physician billing and hospitalizations covering Quebec, Canada. We identified females with JIA with a first-time birth between 1 January 1983 and 31 December 2010 and assembled a control cohort of first-time mothers without JIA from the same administrative data, matching 4:1 for date of first birth, maternal age and area of residence.

Association of Material Deprivation Status, Access to Health Care Services, and Lifestyle With Screening and Prevention of Disease, Montreal, Canada, 2012.

Introduction: The objective of this study was to provide information on the effect of disparities in material deprivation, access to health care services, and lifestyle on the likelihood of undergoing screening for disease prevention.

Methods: We used data from a probability sample (N = 10,726) of the Montreal population aged 15 years or older and assessed 6 dependent variables (screening for breast cancer, cervical cancer, colon cancer, blood glucose, and high blood pressure and receipt of the seasonal influenza vaccination), and 3 independent variables (disparities in material deprivation, access to health care services, and personal lifestyle habits). We used logistic regression to analyze data and determine associations.

Heart Disease, Hypertension, Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, and Preeclampsia/Eclampsia in Mothers With Juvenile Arthritis: A Nested Case-Control Study.

Objective: To determine whether women with a history of juvenile arthritis are at higher risk for heart disease and hypertension and for developing adverse maternal outcomes: gestational diabetes mellitus, maternal hypertension, and preeclampsia/eclampsia.

Methods: We designed a nested case-control study from a cohort of first-time mothers with prior physician billing codes suggesting juvenile arthritis, and a matched comparison group without juvenile arthritis. For the nested case-control design, we selected 3 controls for each case for the outcomes of heart disease (n = 403), prepregnancy hypertension (n = 66), gestational diabetes mellitus (n = 285), maternal hypertension (n = 561), and preeclampsia/eclampsia (n = 236).

Birth Outcomes in Women with a History of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.

Objective: To determine whether children born to women who had juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) had more adverse birth outcomes than children born to mothers who never had JIA.

Methods: Our cohort study used data from physician billing and hospitalizations covering the province of Quebec, Canada. We identified all women with JIA with a first-time birth between January 1, 1983, and December 31, 2010, and assembled a control cohort of first-time mothers without JIA from the same administrative data, matching 4:1 for date of first birth, maternal age, and area of residence.

Disparities in lifestyle habits and health related factors of Montreal immigrants: is immigration an important exposure variable in public health?

Study disparities in lifestyle habits and health characteristics of Canadian born population and immigrants with different duration of residence. Data are extracted from 2009 to 2010 public use micro-data files of Canadian Community Health Survey representing about 1.5 million people.

Physician smoking status may influence cessation counseling practices.

Objective: Smoking cessation counseling practices may differ between physicians who smoke and those who have quit or never smoked.

Method: Of 917 general practitioners (GP) in Montreal mailed self-report questionnaires in 2000 and 2004, 610 provided data on their smoking status and counseling practices.

Results: Seven percent were current smokers, 32% were former smokers, and 61% were never-smokers.

Is parental coping associated with quality of life in juvenile idiopathic arthritis?

Parents of children with a chronic condition such as juvenile arthritis must cope with greater demands than those living with a healthy child. They must adopt different behaviours in order to lessen the impact on the family structure. Parental coping refers to the parent's specific cognitive and behavioural efforts to reduce or manage a demand on the family system.

Is waiting for rehabilitation services associated with changes in function and quality of life in children with physical disabilities?

Objectives: To determine whether longer waiting times for rehabilitation were associated with deterioration in child functional status and/or quality of life.

Methods: Parents of 124 children (mean age 45 months) with physical disabilities (e.g.

Milestones in the process of cessation among novice adolescent smokers.

Objectives: We sought to document the sequence and timing of milestones in the process of smoking cessation by prospectively studied cessation milestones among novice adolescent smokers.

Methods: Participants, aged 12 to 13 years in 1999 (n = 1293), completed self-report questionnaires every 3 months during the school year over 5 years. We ascertained time after first puff to attain 5 cessation milestones among 319 participants who initiated cigarette smoking during follow-up.

Effects of adherence to treatment on short-term outcomes in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Objective: To determine the impact of adherence to treatment (medication and prescribed exercise) on outcomes in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).

Methods: In this longitudinal study, we studied parents of patients with JIA at the Montreal Children's Hospital and British Columbia Children's Hospital in Vancouver. Adherence was evaluated on a visual analog scale in the Parent Adherence Report Questionnaire.

Perceived adherence to prescribed treatment in juvenile idiopathic arthritis over a one-year period.

Objective: To document perceived adherence to treatment (taking medications and performing exercises) in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) over a 1-year period and to identify related factors.

Methods: We surveyed parents of patients with JIA at the Montreal Children's Hospital and British Columbia's Children's Hospital in Vancouver. Parents were asked to respond to a series of questionnaires every 3 months over a 12-month period.

Caregiver recall of treatment recommendations in juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Objective: Health care providers in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) might refer to caregivers' self-report of children's treatment-related behaviors to assist in clinical decisions. However, caregivers may believe that they are adhering to treatment even though they have a different understanding of recommendations than that intended by the medical team. We examined whether caregiver recall of children's JIA treatment matched actual recommendations at baseline and 3, 6, 9, and 12 months.

Patient-reported quality of life after abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery: a prospective comparison of endovascular and open repair.

Purpose: This study evaluated and compared changes over time in health-related quality of life reported by patients with infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) undergoing elective endovascular (EVAR) and open aneurysm (OR) repair.

Methods: A prospective, nonrandomized cohort of 76 patients (62 men, 14 women; age range, 42 to 89 years) undergoing elective, infrarenal AAA repair (EVAR, n = 43; OR, n = 33) at two university teaching hospitals during a 15-month period were administered the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36-item (SF-36) health survey preoperatively and then 1 week, 1 month, and 6 months postoperatively. Patient demographics, procedural details, postoperative follow-up data, and SF-36 scores were compared between groups.

Milestones in the natural course of onset of cigarette use among adolescents.

Background: The natural course of onset of cigarette use has been conceptualized as progressing sequentially through 5 stages (preparation, trying, irregular use, regular use, nicotine-dependent smoking). However, recent studies suggest that symptoms of nicotine dependence can occur early in the onset process, raising questions about the validity of this model. The objective of our study was to describe the sequence and timing of 12 milestones (6 related to cigarette use and 6 to symptoms of nicotine dependence) during onset of cigarette use.

Lifestyle risk factors for chronic disease by family origin among children in multiethnic, low-income, urban neighborhoods.

Objectives: To describe the prevalence of lifestyle risk factors (LRF) for chronic disease by family origin (FO) among children in multiethnic, low-income, urban neighborhoods.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis.

Setting: 16 elementary schools located in disadvantaged, multiethnic neighborhoods in Montreal, Canada.

Nicotine-dependence symptoms are associated with smoking frequency in adolescents.

Background: Although many sociodemographic and psychosocial factors have been identified as related to adolescent smoking, few studies have examined the role of nicotine-dependence (ND) symptoms. The objective was to study the association between ND symptoms and smoking status among adolescents in the early stages of the smoking onset process.

Methods: The McGill University Study on the Natural History of Nicotine Dependence is an ongoing 6-year prospective investigation of the natural history of ND among 1267 grade 7 students in ten Montreal high schools.