Muscle strength and bone density in patients with different rheumatic conditions: cross-sectional study.

Aim: To explore the relationship between muscle strength and bone density in patients with different rheumatic diseases and to examine whether inflammatory arthritis was more harmful for muscle strength and bone loss than degenerative joint diseases.

Methods: The study included 361 men and women with a mean±standard deviation age of 60.5±11.

Association of neuroticism with sick building syndrome, quality of life and psychomotor performance.

In a group of 221 healthy employees of both sexes the relationship between neuroticism, and perceived quality of life (WHOQOL), inadequate work organization (IWO), Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) and speed and accuracy of simple reaction time was studied. The level of neuroticism was assessed by Cornell Index (C.I.

Differences in peak bone density between male and female students.

As an important determinant of osteoporotic fracture risk, peak bone density tends to be higher in men than in women. The aim of this study was to see whether young men and women differed in the time and skeletal region of peak bone density. We also investigated the influence of diet and physical activity on bone mass.

Sick building syndrome: psychological, somatic, and environmental determinants.

The authors aimed to examine potential relationships between work-related symptoms attributed to sick building syndrome (SBS) and certain psychological, somatic, and environmental factors. The multidisciplinary, cross-sectional study comprised 171 female subjects working in air-conditioned and naturally ventilated nonindustrial office buildings. The authors collected information concerning symptoms related to SBS and made assessments of quality of life by using appropriate questionnaires.

[Environmental tobacco smoke and children: assessment of exposure and health effects].

Aims: To assess prospectively 1) concentrations of metals and progesterone in placental tissue related to cigarette smoking; 2) the effect of parental smoking on the susceptibility to colds in preadolescent children during winter months.

Methods: The first study comprised healthy parturients with median age 28 years, 29 non-smokers and 27 women who smoked during pregnancy and/or within one year before last pregnancy. Placentas were collected after delivery at term and metals (by atomic absorption spectrometry) and placental progesterone (by specific radioimmunoassay) were analysed.

Smoking habits, signs of chronic diseases and survival in inland and coastal regions of Croatia: a follow-up study.

Aim of the study was to estimate, the relationship between survival, smoking habits, and the results of medical examinations in inland and coastal regions of Croatia. Age and sex stratified sample of general population (1,571 men and 1,793 women, 37-56 years old in 1972; followed in 1982: N = 1,090 men; 1,325 women and/or 1972-1999 controlling vital status). Relative risks and 95% confidence limits were estimated using Cox regression in the model with time dependent covariates, separately by sex.