Constitutional Factors and Irradiation as Risk Factors for Thymoma: A European Case-Control Study.

Little is known about the aetiology of thymoma. This study aims to identify medical risk factors for thymoma as a systematic approach to new hypotheses on the aetiology of this disease. A European multi-centre case-control study was conducted from 1995 to 1997, including incident cases aged 35-69 years with thymoma.

Safety of Nicotine Replacement Therapy during Pregnancy: A Narrative Review.

Background: Smoking during pregnancy is a public health problem worldwide and the leading preventable cause of fetal morbidity and mortality and obstetric disease. Although the risk of tobacco-related harm can be substantially reduced if mothers stop smoking in the first trimester, the proportion of women who do so remains modest; therefore, the treatment of smoking in pregnant women will be the first therapeutic measure that health professionals should adopt when providing care to pregnant women. The recommendation of nicotine replacement therapy during pregnancy remains controversial due to the potential effects on the health of the fetus.

Lifetime Exposure to Welding Fumes and Risk of Some Rare Cancers.

We investigated the association between exposure to welding fumes and the risk of biliary tract, male breast, bone, and thymus cancer, as well as cancer of the small intestine, eye melanoma, and mycosis fungoides, among men in a European, multicenter case-control study. From 1995-1997, 644 cases and 1,959 control subjects from 7 countries were studied with respect to information on welding and potential confounders. We linked the welding histories of the participants with a measurement-based exposure matrix to calculate lifetime exposure to welding fumes.

Labour market affiliation among non-bullied colleagues at work units with reported bullying.

Aim: This study investigates if non-bullied employees in Work units (WUs) where bullying occur, are more prone to leave the WUs than employees in WUs with no bullying, and if the prevalence of workplace bullying had an impact on leaving the WUs. Leaving the workplace was defined by unemployment or change of workplace at follow-up.

Methods: We had data from 8326 Danish public health invited employees from 302 WUs.

The Effect of Psychosocial Work Factors on Headache: Results From the PRISME Cohort Study.

Objective: To investigate the cross-sectional and longitudinal association between psychosocial work factors, assessed as work-unit averages, and headache. For comparison, we also applied individual exposure measures.

Methods: We used questionnaire-data on headache and psychosocial work factors (PWF).

Rare cancers of unknown etiology: lessons learned from a European multi-center case-control study.

Rare cancers together constitute one fourth of cancers. As some rare cancers are caused by occupational exposures, a systematic search for further associations might contribute to future prevention. We undertook a European, multi-center case-control study of occupational risks for cancers of small intestine, bone sarcoma, uveal melanoma, mycosis fungoides, thymus, male biliary tract and breast.

Turning the tide: reducing mortality among Danish merchant seafarers.

Objectives: While life at sea traditionally has presented a variety of potential hazards, rigorous measures have been taken in the past decades to ensure the safety and health of all aboard merchant ships. The aim of this study was to examine overall and cause-specific mortality among Danish seafarers in light of these changes.

Methods: A cohort of 44 555 male (75%) and female (25%) seafarers employed on Danish ships during 1986-1999 was established through records from the Danish Seafarer Registry.

The longitudinal association between shift work and headache: results from the Danish PRISME cohort.

Purpose: We investigated the effect of shift work on headache. Furthermore, we investigated whether the association between shift work and headache was explained by potential mediators in terms of perceived stress, poor sleep and health behaviors.

Methods: In this longitudinal study, we used questionnaire data (collected in 2007 and 2009) from civil servants and hospital employees from the PRISME study.

Tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption as risk factors for thymoma - A European case-control study.

Purpose: Hardly anything is known about the aetiology of thymoma. This paper presents data regarding tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption in relation to thymoma from the first case-control study performed on this rare tumour.

Methods: A European multi-centre case-control study including incident cases aged 35-69 years with thymoma between 1995 and 1997, was conducted in seven countries.

Emotional demands and exhaustion: cross-sectional and longitudinal associations in a cohort of Danish public sector employees.

Purpose: To examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between content-related emotional demands at work and exhaustion, and to investigate if these associations were modified by other psychosocial work characteristics.

Methods: In 2007, 4489 Danish public service employees participated in the PRISME study by completing postal questionnaires, and 3224 participated in the follow-up in 2009. Content-related emotional demands were measured by a scale (scored 1 to 5) based on five work-content-related items, and exhaustion was measured with the general exhaustion scale from the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) (scored 1 to 5).

Latent toxoplasmosis and psychiatric symptoms - A role of tryptophan metabolism?

Toxoplasma gondii (TOX) is a common parasite which infects approximately one third of the human population. In recent years, it has been suggested that latent toxoplasmosis may be a risk factor for the development of mental disorders, particularly schizophrenia and anxiety. With regards to depression the results have been varied.

Influence of Prior Psychiatric Disorders on the Treatment Course of Gynaecological Cancer - A Nationwide Cohort Study.

Aims: To examine the influence of pre-existing psychiatric disorder on the choice of treatment in patients with gynaecological cancer.

Materials And Methods: The analyses were based on all patients who underwent surgical treatment for endometrial, ovarian or cervical cancer who were registered in the Danish Gynecological Cancer Database in the years 2007-2014 (3059 patients with ovarian cancer, 5100 patients with endometrial cancer and 1150 with cervical cancer). Logistic regression model and Cox regression model, adjusted for relevant confounders, were used to estimate the effect of pre-existing psychiatric disorder on the course of cancer treatment.

Colon cancer patients with a serious psychiatric disorder present with a more advanced cancer stage and receive less adjuvant chemotherapy - A Nationwide Danish Cohort Study.

Background: Psychiatric patients with colorectal cancer may have delayed diagnosis and be oncologically undertreated.

Methods: The Danish Colorectal Cancer Group database comprised 25,194 colorectal cancer patients (CRC), (colon cancer (CC, n = 16,641), rectal cancer (RC, n = 8553)), having an operation in 2007-2013, were alive at least 30 days after operation, of which 422 have had at least one hospital contact for a serious psychiatric disorder; ICD-10: DF20-29: primary psychotic disorders, or DF30-39: affective disorders (exposed) in a period of 3650-120 days before the operation date. Pearson chi-squared test for cancer stage was calculated.

Cancer incidence among merchant seafarers: an extended follow-up of a Danish cohort.

Objectives: While maritime safety generally has improved dramatically over the last century, modern seafarers are still faced with numerous occupational hazards potentially affecting their risk of chronic diseases such as cancer. The aim of this study is to offer updated information on the incidence of specific cancers among both male and female seafarers.

Methods: Using records from the Danish Seafarer Registry, all seafarers employed on Danish ships during 1986-1999 were identified, resulting in a cohort of 33 084 men and 11 209 women.

Occupational exposure to organic solvents and risk of male breast cancer: a European multicenter case-control study.

Objectives The etiology of male breast cancer (MBC) is largely unknown but a causal role of exposure to organic solvents has been suggested. Previous studies on occupational risk factors of breast cancer were often restricted to women who are frequently exposed to lower levels and at a lower frequency than men. We investigated the association between MBC and occupational exposure to petroleum and oxygenated and chlorinated solvents in a multicenter case-control study of rare cancers in Europe.

Does Workplace Bullying Affect Long-Term Sickness Absence Among Coworkers?

Aim: To examine if non-bullied employees at work units (WUs) with workplace bullying have more long-term sickness absence (LTSA) than employees in non-bullying WUs.

Methods: We included 7229 public health employees from 302 WUs and 3158 responders to a questionnaire on working conditions and health in 2007. WUs were classified into three categories of WUs; (1) no bullying (0% bullied); (2) moderate prevalence of bullying (less than 10% bullied); and (3) high prevalence of bullying (more than or equal to 10% bullied).

The associations between workplace bullying, salivary cortisol, and long-term sickness absence: a longitudinal study.

Background: Workplace stressors, such as bullying, are strongly related to subsequent long-term sickness absence, but little is known of the possible physiological mechanisms linking workplace stressors and sickness absence. The primary aim of this study was to investigate to what extent cortisol levels were associated with subsequent sickness absence and if cortisol mediated the association between workplace bullying and sickness absence. We additionally investigated possible bidirectional associations between bullying, cortisol, and long-term sickness absence.

Prolonged perceived stress and saliva cortisol in a large cohort of Danish public service employees: cross-sectional and longitudinal associations.

Purpose: It is well known that acute stress can lead to a transient increase in cortisol secretion, but the effects of prolonged stress on cortisol secretion are uncertain. This study examines the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between prolonged perceived stress and salivary cortisol.

Methods: In 2007, 4467 Danish public service employees participated in a study of stress and mental health, and 3217 participated in a follow-up in 2009.

The Role of Psychological Stress Reactions in the Longitudinal Relation Between Workplace Bullying and Turnover.

Objectives: To investigate the association between workplace bullying and change of job/unemployment, and to investigate whether psychological stress reactions constitute a potential pathway linking workplace bullying and change of job/unemployment.

Methods: We used questionnaire data on workplace bullying and psychological stress reactions and register data on change of job/unemployment. We applied a multiple pathway approach to estimate the proportion of the association between workplace bullying and subsequent change of job/unemployment that was potentially mediated by psychological stress reactions.

Potential exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals and selected adverse pregnancy outcomes: a follow-up study of pregnant women referred for occupational counselling.

Background: Experimental evidence indicates that fetal exposure to xenobiotics with the potential to interfere with the endogenous steroid hormone regulation of fetal development may reduce birth weight. However, epidemiological studies are limited. The aim of the study was to investigate whether potential occupational exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) of the mother during pregnancy is associated with preterm birth and low birth weight.

Emotional Demands at Work and the Risk of Clinical Depression: A Longitudinal Study in the Danish Public Sector.

Objective: This study is a 2-year follow-up study of different dimensions of work-related emotional demands as a predictor for clinical depression.

Methods: In a two-wave study, 3224 (72%) public employees from 474 work-units participated twice by filling in questionnaires. Sixty-two cases of clinical depression were diagnosed.

Relationship Between Changes in Workplace Bullying Status and the Reporting of Personality Characteristics.

Objective: To examine whether a shift in work-related bullying status, from being non-bullied to being bullied or vice versa, was associated with changes in reporting of personality characteristics.

Methods: Data on bullying and personality (neuroticism, extraversion, and sense of coherence) were collected in three waves approximately 2 years apart (N = 4947). Using a within-subjects design, personality change scores that followed altered bullying status were evaluated with one-sample t tests.

Association analyses of depression and genes in the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis.

Objective: Dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been reported in depression. The aim was to investigate the potential association between depression and seven genes regulating or interfering with the HPA axis, including the gene encoding angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE).

Methods: In total, 78 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and one insertion/deletion polymorphism were genotyped.

The role of poor sleep in the relation between workplace bullying/unwanted sexual attention and long-term sickness absence.

Purpose: While exposure to bullying and unwanted sexual attention was previously found to increase the risk of sickness absence, the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. Poor sleep can be a consequence of stressful exposures and a cause of poor health, and poor sleep is also a determinant of insufficient recovery. Therefore, the present study investigated whether poor sleep mediates and/or moderates the association between bullying and unwanted sexual attention, on the one hand, and long-term sickness absence (LTSA), on the other hand.

Does Perceived Stress Mediate the Association Between Workplace Bullying and Long-Term Sickness Absence?

Objective: To examine if perceived stress mediated the association between workplace bullying and subsequent long-term sickness absence.

Methods: The PRISME cohort was established in 2007 and re-examined in 2009. Questionnaire data about workplace bullying and perceived stress were obtained from 4114 individuals.