Association between an inflammatory biomarker score and future dementia diagnosis in the population-based UK Biobank cohort of 500,000 people.

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between a systematic inflammatory biomarker measure, concurrent and later cognitive performance, and future dementia risk. The literature has reported the potential involvement of inflammation in cognitive performance as well as Alzheimer's Disease, but not consistently. We used a population-based cohort of 500,000 people in the UK and assessed the association between a composite inflammatory biomarker and cognitive performance measures across five domains measured concurrently and 4-13 years later, taking advantage of the large sample size.

Where next for understanding race/ethnic inequalities in severe mental illness? Structural, interpersonal and institutional racism.

In this article we use the example of race/ethnic inequalities in severe mental illness to demonstrate the utility of a novel integrative approach to theorising the role of racism in generating inequality. Ethnic minority people in the UK are at much greater risk than White British people of being diagnosed with a severe - psychosis related - mental illness, and this is particularly the case for those with Black Caribbean or Black African origins. There is entrenched dispute about how we might understand the drivers of this inequality.

Frailty Index associates with GRIN2B in two representative samples from the United States and the United Kingdom.

The concept of frailty has been used in the clinical and research field for more than two decades. It is usually described as a clinical state of heightened vulnerability to poor resolution of homeostasis after a stressor event, which thereby increases the risk of adverse outcomes, including falls, delirium, disability and mortality. Here we report the results of the first genome-wide association scan and comparative gene ontology analyses where we aimed to identify genes and pathways associated with the deficit model of frailty.

Genome-wide scan of depressive symptomatology in two representative cohorts in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Unlike the diagnosed Major Depressive Disorder, depressive symptomatology in the general population has received less attention in genome-wide association scan (GWAS) studies. Here we report a GWAS study on depressive symptomatology using a discovery-replication design and the following approaches: To improve the robustness of the phenotypic measure, we used longitudinal data and calculated mean scores for at least 3 observations for each individual. To maximize replicability, we used nearly identical genotyping platforms and identically constructed phenotypic measures in both the Discovery and Replication samples.

Pathways to Well-Being in Later Life: Socioeconomic and Health Determinants Across the Life Course of Australian Baby Boomers.

In many countries like Australia and the United States, baby boomers are referred to as the 'lucky cohort', yet there has been little research on the origins and extent of inequalities within this cohort. This study uses path analysis to investigate direct and indirect effects of childhood and adult socioeconomic status and health on two subjective well-being measures: quality of life and life satisfaction. Retrospective life course data were obtained for 1,261 people aged 60 to 64 in the 2011-12 Life Histories and Health survey, a sub-study of the Australian 45 and Up Study.

Ethnic differences in cognitive development in the first 7 years: does maternal generational status matter?

Background: Differences in cognitive development have been observed across a variety of ethnic minority groups but relatively little is known about the persistence of these developmental inequalities over time or generations.

Methods: A repeat cross-sectional analysis assessed cognitive ability scores of children aged 3, 5 and 7 years from the longitudinal UK Millennium Cohort Study (white UK born n=7630; Indian n=248; Pakistani n=328; Bangladeshi n=87; black Caribbean n=172; and black African n=136). Linear regression estimated ethnic differences in age normed scores at each time point.

Proinflammatory genotype is associated with the frailty phenotype in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Background: Frailty is a state of increased vulnerability to poor resolution of homeostasis after a stressor event, which increases the risk of adverse outcomes including falls, disability and death. The underlying pathophysiological pathways of frailty are not known but the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and heightened chronic systemic inflammation appear to be major contributors.

Methods: We used the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing dataset of 3160 individuals over the age of 50 and assessed their frailty status according to the Fried-criteria.

Patterns and causes of health inequalities in later life: a Bourdieusian approach.

This study explores the relationship between social class and health change in older people in a path analysis, using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (n = 6241) in a Bourdieusian theoretical framework. Bourdieu drew a distinction between the occupational characteristics by which people are classified and the secondary properties of class that relate to lifestyle (economic, cultural and social capitals). Our path model includes both occupational and secondary characteristics of objective social class as well as a measure of subjective social class.

Adapting data collection methods in the Australian Life Histories and Health Survey: a retrospective life course study.

Objective: Ideally, life course data are collected prospectively through an ongoing longitudinal study. We report adaptive multimethod fieldwork procedures that gathered life history data by mail survey and telephone interview, comparable with the face-to-face methods employed in the English Longitudinal Study on Ageing (ELSA).

Design: The Australian Life Histories and Health (LHH) Survey was a substudy of the Australian 45 and Up Study, with data collection methods modified from the ELSA Study.

Facilitators and barriers to help-seeking for breast and cervical cancer symptoms: a qualitative study with an ethnically diverse sample in London.

Objective: Earlier diagnosis of cancer has become a policy priority. There is evidence that minority ethnic groups are more likely to delay help-seeking for cancer symptoms, but few studies have explored reasons for delay in these groups. The present study explored facilitators and barriers to help-seeking for breast and cervical cancer in an ethnically diverse sample of women.

Impact of ethnic density on adult mental disorders: narrative review.

Background: The 'ethnic density hypothesis' is a proposition that members of ethnic minority groups may have better mental health when they live in areas with higher proportions of people of the same ethnicity. Investigations into this hypothesis have resulted in a complex and sometimes disparate literature.

Aims: To systematically identify relevant studies, summarise their findings and discuss potential explanations of the associations found between ethnic density and mental disorders.

The effects of acculturation on obesity rates in ethnic minorities in England: evidence from the Health Survey for England.

Objectives: To investigate the extent of generational differences in adult health-related lifestyles and socio-economic circumstances, and explore whether these differences might explain changing patterns of obesity in ethnic minorities in England.

Methods: Seven ethnic minority groups were selected from the ethnically boosted 1999 and 2004 Health Survey for England (Indian n = 1580; Pakistani n = 1858; Bangladeshi n = 1549; Black Caribbean n = 1472; Black African n = 587; Chinese n = 1559; and Irish n = 889). Age and sex adjusted odds of being obese in the second generation when compared with the first were estimated before and after adjusting for generational differences in health-related behaviours (snacking, eating cakes and fried foods, low levels of physical exercise, any drinking, current smoker, etc.

Subgroup differences in psychosocial factors relating to coronary heart disease in the UK South Asian population.

Objectives: To explore the differences in psychosocial risk factors related to coronary heart disease (CHD) between South Asian subgroups in the UK. South Asian people suffer significantly higher rates of CHD than other ethnic groups, but vulnerability varies between South Asian subgroups, in terms of both CHD rates and risk profiles. Psychosocial factors may contribute to the excess CHD propensity that is observed; however, subgroup heterogeneity in psychosocial disadvantage has not previously been systematically explored.

Religious and ethnic differences in health: evidence from the Health Surveys for England 1999 and 2004.

Objectives: To examine the role of religion in the patterning of health inequities, and how this is related to ethnicity and socioeconomic status.

Design: Multivariate analyses using nationally representative data on self-assessed fair or poor health, longstanding limiting illness, diagnosed diabetes, diagnosed hypertension, waist-hip ratio, body mass index, current tobacco use and participating in no regular physical activity from 14,924 Christians, 4337 Muslims, 656 Sikhs, 1197 Hindus and 2682 people reporting not identifying with any religion with different ethnic backgrounds, who were interviewed as part of the Health Survey for England in either 1999 or 2004, adjusted for age, gender and socioeconomic status and periodicity.

Results: Odds ratios for general health, hypertension, diabetes, waist-hip ratio, tobacco use and physical activity speak to the importance of ethnicity in the patterning of health inequalities.

Ethnic variation in childhood asthma and wheezing illnesses: findings from the Millennium Cohort Study.

Background: It is not clear how respiratory morbidity during early childhood varies across ethnic groups in the UK. This article seeks to determine whether asthma and wheeze illnesses during early childhood differ across ethnic groups and what factors explain observed differences.

Methods: Data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study on 14,630 children were analyzed from the second sweep of interviews.

Racial/ethnic differences in breastfeeding initiation and continuation in the United kingdom and comparison with findings in the United States.

Objective: Patterns of breastfeeding vary considerably across different racial/ethnic groups; however, little is known about factors that might explain differences across and within different racial/ethnic groups. Here we examine patterns of breastfeeding initiation and continuation among a racially/ethnically diverse sample of new mothers and compare this with patterns seen in the United States. The effects of demographic, social, economic, and cultural factors on racial/ethnic differences in breastfeeding practices are assessed.

Racism, psychosis and common mental disorder among ethnic minority groups in England.

Background: The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between risk of psychosis, common mental disorder (CMD) and indicators of racism among ethnic minority groups in England and how this relationship may vary by particular ethnic groups.

Method: A multivariate analysis was carried out of quantitative, cross-sectional data from a nationally representative community sample of people aged between 16 and 74 years from the largest ethnic minority groups in England: those of Caribbean, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Irish origin.

Results: Experience of interpersonal racism and perceiving racism in the wider society each have independent effects on the risk of CMD and psychosis, after controlling for the effects of gender, age and socio-economic status.

The structuring of ethnic inequalities in health: economic position, racial discrimination, and racism.

Differences in health across ethnic groups have been documented in the United States and the United Kingdom. The extent to which socioeconomic inequalities underlie such differences remains contested, with many instead focusing on cultural or genetic explanations. In both the United States and the United Kingdom, data limitations have greatly hampered investigations of ethnic inequalities in health.

Social and demographic predictors of parental consultation for child psychological difficulties.

Background: Results from previous studies examining determinants of parental consultation for child mental health provide inconsistent evidence concerning socio-demographic predictors. The aim of this study is to identify the sociodemographic predictors of parental consultation for child psychological difficulties.

Method: An epidemiological cross-sectional analysis was carried out using a sample of 5,913 children aged between 4 and 15 years from the Health Survey for England.

Ethnicity, environment and health: putting ethnic inequalities in health in their place.

We set out to explore the influence of environment on ethnic inequalities in health. Studies exploring the relationship between environment and health have tended to ignore the role of ethnicity, and the health impact of the residential concentration of ethnic minority groups in disadvantaged areas. Those that have explored the role of ethnicity tend to focus on the way in which residential concentration may promote a sense of community among ethnic minority groups, and, consequently, may be protective of health (the 'ethnic density effect').

Relation between racial discrimination, social class, and health among ethnic minority groups.

Objectives: This study explored associations between racism, social class, and health among ethnic minority people in England and Wales.

Methods: We conducted a series of regression analyses on cross-sectional data from the Fourth National Survey of Ethnic Minorities to explore the relation between different indicators of racism and health and household occupational class.

Results: Marked independent associations existed between reported experience of racism and perceptions of Britain as a "racist society," household social class, age, sex, and various mental and physical health indicators.

Occurrence of hallucinatory experiences in a community sample and ethnic variations.

Background: Hallucinations typically are associated with severe psychiatric illness but also are reported by individuals with no psychiatric history.

Aims: To examine the prevalence of hallucinations in White and ethnic minority samples using data from the Fourth National Survey of Ethnic Minorities.

Method: Interviews of 5196 ethnic minority and 2867 White respondents were carried out.