The differential impact of job isostrain and home-work interference on indicators of physical and mental health in women and men.

Objectives: To evaluate (1) whether the physical and mental health of male workers differs from that of female workers, and, if so, whether (2) this is affected by the interplay between work and nonwork burden.

Methods: We pooled two large Belgian databases (BELSTRESS III, SOMSTRESS) comprising data on 4810 (2847 women). Gender-specific logistic regressions were performed using a four-level variable as predictor.

Electrocardiograms of menopausal women with coronary heart disease or at increased risk for its occurrence.

Little is known about electrocardiographic (ECG) characteristics of menopausal women with or at increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Data from 10,101 participants in the Raloxifene Use for The Heart (RUTH) trial were used to correlate baseline ECG abnormalities with clinical characteristics. Baseline characteristics that were statistically significantly associated (p ≤ 0.

The perception of work stressors is related to reduced parasympathetic activity.

Purpose: The aim was to examine the perception of work stressors in relation to ambulatory measures of heart rate variability (HRV).

Methods: Results are based on a sample of 653 healthy male workers aged 40-55 from the Belgian Physical Fitness Study conducted in 1976-1978. Data were collected by means of self-administered questionnaires and bio-clinical examinations.

Energy and macronutrient intakes in Belgium: results from the first National Food Consumption Survey.

Belgium until recently lacked a systematic survey of dietary habits of its inhabitants. The present study evaluated dietary composition in Belgium with respect to energy and macronutrient intakes. Information on food intake was collected using a repeated non-consecutive 24 h recall (2-8 weeks apart) with the validated software package EPIC-SOFT, in combination with a FFQ (self-administered) covering sixty food items.

Effects of the selective estrogen receptor modulator raloxifene on coronary outcomes in the Raloxifene Use for The Heart trial: results of subgroup analyses by age and other factors.

Background: The Raloxifene Use for The Heart (RUTH) trial showed that raloxifene, a selective estrogen receptor modulator, had no overall effect on the incidence of coronary events in women with established coronary heart disease or coronary heart disease risk factors. We provide detailed results of the effect of raloxifene on coronary outcomes over time and for 24 subgroups (17 predefined, 7 post hoc).

Methods And Results: Postmenopausal women (n=10 101; mean age, 67 years) were randomized to raloxifene 60 mg/d or placebo for a median of 5.

Gender specificity in the prediction of clinically diagnosed depression. Results of a large cohort of Belgian workers.

Background: The recent increase in the incidence of clinical depression represents a major public health and socio-economical burden. Depression has its roots in both professional and private domains but few epidemiological studies have looked at predictors of long term clinical depression as defined by a sick-leave of 28 days or more and a diagnosis by a general practitioner in both genders.

Objectives: To study baseline predictors of long term spells of clinical depression within the framework of a large prospective study, the Belstress Study, in 6,659 men and 2,737 women aged 35-59 years at baseline survey.

Effect of raloxifene on stroke and venous thromboembolism according to subgroups in postmenopausal women at increased risk of coronary heart disease.

Background And Purpose: Raloxifene, a selective estrogen receptor modulator, reduces risk of invasive breast cancer and osteoporosis, but the effect on risk for stroke and venous thromboembolism in different patient subgroups is not established. The purpose of this analysis was to evaluate the effect of raloxifene on the incidence of all strokes, stroke deaths, and venous thromboembolic events according to participant subgroups.

Methods: This was a secondary end point analysis of an international, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of 10 101 postmenopausal women with or at increased risk of coronary heart disease followed a median of 5.

Reduced incidence of invasive breast cancer with raloxifene among women at increased coronary risk.

Background: In the Raloxifene Use for The Heart trial, 10 101 postmenopausal women with coronary heart disease (CHD) or multiple CHD risk factors were randomly assigned to 60 mg/d raloxifene or to placebo and followed for a median of 5.6 years. Raloxifene, a selective estrogen receptor modulator, was found to reduce the risk of invasive breast cancer and vertebral fractures but not the risk of cardiovascular events.

The gap between food-based dietary guidelines and usual food consumption in Belgium, 2004.

Objective: To evaluate the gap between food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) and the usual food consumption in Belgium.

Design And Setting: Information on food intake was collected with two non-consecutive 24 h recalls, using the validated software package EPIC-SOFT in combination with a self-administered FFQ. Habitual food intake was estimated by the Nusser method.

Job stress and depression symptoms in middle-aged workers--prospective results from the Belstress study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the prospective relation between job stress and symptoms of depression within a cohort study.

Methods: Altogether 2821 workers were involved in the longitudinal Belstress study (Belgian job stress study); there were two measurements with a mean follow-up time of 6.6 years.

High job strain and ambulatory blood pressure in middle-aged men and women from the Belgian job stress study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess whether job strain is associated with 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure measurements within a subsample of the Belgian Job Stress Project (BELSTRESS) population.

Methods: A group of 89 middle-aged male and female workers perceiving high job strain and an equally large group of workers perceiving no high job strain wore an ambulatory blood pressure monitor for 24 hours on a regular working day.

Results: Mean ambulatory blood pressure at work, at home, and while asleep was significantly higher in workers with job strain as compared with others.

The impact of psychosocial factors on low back pain: longitudinal results from the Belstress study.

Study Design: An epidemiological cohort study.

Objective: To describe the impact of psychosocial factors, both work and nonwork-related, on the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) after 6.6 years on average.

Long-term changes in the perception of job characteristics: results from the Belstress II--study.

The aim was to explore long-term changes in the perception of job characteristics--based on the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ)--in view of the changing labor market in Western societies. A total number of 2,821 workers from nine companies were involved in the longitudinal Belstress-project. Data were gathered on two occasions with a mean time interval of 6.

Job stress and major coronary events: results from the Job Stress, Absenteeism and Coronary Heart Disease in Europe study.

Aims: The intention of this study is to investigate the relationship of the demands/control/strain model with hard coronary events in an epidemiological, prospective, multicenter, European study.

Methods And Results: Six cohorts (Brussels, Ghent, Lille, Barcelona, Göteborg and Malmö) from four European countries (Belgium, France, Spain and Sweden) consisting of 21 111 middle-aged male subjects participated between 1993 and 1996 in the baseline survey of the Job Stress, Absenteeism and Coronary Heart Disease in Europe (JACE) study. The Karasek strain model of psychological demands (five items)/control (nine items) was used.

Effects of raloxifene on cardiovascular events and breast cancer in postmenopausal women.

Background: The effect of raloxifene, a selective estrogen-receptor modulator, on coronary heart disease (CHD) and breast cancer is not established.

Methods: We randomly assigned 10,101 postmenopausal women (mean age, 67.5 years) with CHD or multiple risk factors for CHD to 60 mg of raloxifene daily or placebo and followed them for a median of 5.

Increased absenteeism from work among aware and treated hypertensive and hypercholesterolaemic patients.

Aim: The 'labelling hypothesis' was introduced on the basis of the observation that labelling subjects with blood pressure elevation as hypertensive was associated with an increase in sickness absence. In the Belstress I study this hypothesis was analysed in the same way for the possible influence on sick leave of labelling persons with elevated cholesterol as hypercholesterolaemic.

Methods And Results: The Belstress I cohort concerns a sample of more than 16,000 men and 5,000 women at work in 24 Belgian industries in various sectors.

Diabetes mellitus in middle-aged people is associated with increased sick leave: the BELSTRESS study.

In a prospective study of the association between self-reported diabetes mellitus and sick leave from work, 21,149 men and women, aged 35-59 years, participated. Prevalence of diabetes was obtained by questionnaire. Sick leave was prospectively obtained from departments of human resources in the year after the baseline survey.

Healthy food and nutrient index and all cause mortality.

Objectives: To develop a Healthy Food and Nutrient Index (HFNI) and to relate this index to the all cause mortality observed in two Belgian communities.

Design: Using the 10-years follow-up mortality data from the 'Belgian Inter-university Research on Nutrition and Health' (BIRNH) study, the association of a Healthy Food and Nutrient Index (HFNI) and all cause mortality was investigated in 5,887 men and 5,306 women aged 25-74 years. The HFNI was developed on the basis of the national dietary guidelines.

Plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide concentration predicts coronary events in men at work: a report from the BELSTRESS study.

Aims: Increased levels of neurohormonal markers, including the N-terminal fragment of pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP), have been shown to be of prognostic significance in patients with heart failure or coronary heart disease (CHD). The aim of this study was to study the predictive value of NT-pro-BNP for coronary events in a middle-aged population of men at work.

Methods And Results: A nested case-control study was performed in a large cohort of over 10 000 men at work (aged 35-59) after a median follow-up of 2.

Use of benzodiazepine drugs and perceived job stress in a cohort of working men and women in Belgium. Results from the BELSTRESS-study.

The aim of the Belstress Study was to see whether use of benzodiazepines is associated with perceived job stress as measured by Karasek's job-strain model. This model has as its central tenet that the most adverse health outcomes are to be expected in high strain jobs characterized by high job demands and low job control. An extension of the model states that the most noxious combination is high job demands, low control and low social support at work.

Relationship of perceived job stress to total coronary risk in a cohort of working men and women in Belgium.

Objective: To examine the relationships of job strain and iso-strain psychosocial work environment exposures to 'total coronary risk' (TCR) in a cohort of male and female workers in Belgium.

Methods: The sample consists of 15,079 men and 4639 women aged 35-59 years employed in a wide range of occupations and free of any self-reported personal history of CHD. Karasek's job strain model was used to define high strain (high demands and low control), low strain, active and passive jobs.

Baseline characteristics of participants in the Raloxifene Use for The Heart (RUTH) trial.

The Raloxifene Use for The Heart (RUTH) trial is a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial designed to determine whether raloxifene 60 mg/day compared with placebo lowers the risk of coronary events (coronary death, nonfatal myocardial infarction [MI], or hospitalized acute coronary syndromes other than MI) and reduces the risk of invasive breast cancer in women at risk for a major coronary event. Raloxifene is a selective estrogen receptor modulator that improves cardiovascular risk factors, reduces the risk of vertebral fracture, and is associated with a reduced incidence of invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. Between June 1998 and August 2000, 10,101 women were enrolled at 187 sites in 26 countries.

Prevalence and correlates of erectile dysfunction in a population-based study in Belgium.

Objectives: This study aims to estimate the prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) in the male population of Belgium, and to study its correlation with education, the international prostate symptom scale (IPSS), sexual activity, depression, body mass index, alcohol, smoking, easiness to discuss ED with a doctor, current health index, physical activity, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, professional status, residence and whether or not the respondent lives alone.

Methods: An age-stratified random sample of the male population aged 40-70 years of Ghent and Charleroi was interviewed in the home by a trained, experienced male nurse, using a structured interview that included the international index of erectile function (IIEF) and the IPSS. ED was classified by the subjects' self-reported confidence to achieve and maintain an erection.