Relation of arterial stiffness with postural control in older people.

Purpose: Arterial stiffness generates vascular alterations that may cause balance disorders and falls. This study aimed to investigate the possible link between arterial stiffness and postural control under different sensorial conditions in patients over 65 years.

Methods: Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) was measured in 47 participants aged over 65 years to evaluate their arterial stiffness (high PWV).

Comparison of high-frequency intensive balneotherapy with low-frequency balneotherapy combined with land-based exercise on postural control in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: a randomized clinical trial.

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) can generate postural control impairments which can increase fall risk. Land-based exercise (LBE) and balneotherapy are two modalities currently prescribed, but the impact of the latter on balance control has not been studied. This study aimed to compare two programs of balneotherapy with or without LBE to improve postural control, looking at frequency and duration of treatment.

Comparison of an Innovative Rehabilitation, Combining Reduced Conventional Rehabilitation with Balneotherapy, and a Conventional Rehabilitation after Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction in Athletes.

Background: Instability of the knee, related to anterior cruciate ligament injury, is treated by surgical reconstruction. During recovery, a loss of proprioceptive input can have a significant impact. Few studies have evaluated the benefits of rehabilitation of the knee in aquatic environment on functional outcomes.

Influence of meteorological elements on balance control and pain in patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis.

This study aimed to determine if pain and balance control are related to meteorological modifications in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). One hundred and thirteen patients with knee OA (mean age = 65 ± 9 years old, 78 women) participated in this study. Static posturography was performed, sway area covered and sway path traveled by the center of foot pressure being recorded under six standing postural conditions that combine three visual situations (eyes open, eyes closed, vision altered) with two platform situations (firm and foam supports).

The epidemiology of vertigo, dizziness, and unsteadiness and its links to co-morbidities.

Vertigo, dizziness, and unsteadiness (VDU) are common symptoms traditionally considered to result from different kinds of vestibular and non-vestibular dysfunctions. The epidemiology of each symptom and how they relate to each other and to migraine, agoraphobia, motion sickness susceptibility (MSS), vaso-vagal episodes (VVE), and anxiety-depression was the object of this population-based study in north-eastern France. A self-administered questionnaire was returned by 2987 adults (age span 18-86 years, 1471 women).

Relationship between the achievement of successive periodic health examinations and the risk of dying. Appraisal of a prevention scheme.

Background: In the field of Periodic Health Examination (PHE), few studies brought information on their efficiency, both on morbidity and mortality.

Objective: The association between the reduction of mortality and a regular participation in PHE has been estimated.

Methods: This study concerned 50,116 persons 40-59 years old, of European origin, examined at the Centre of Preventive Medicine, Nancy, France, between 1 January 1980 and 31 December 1985 with a maximum duration of follow-up reaching 25 years.

A simple clinical scale to stratify risk of recurrent falls in community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and older.

Background: Correct identification of people at risk for recurrent falls facilitates the establishment of preventive and rehabilitative strategies in older adults.

Objective: The purposes of this study were: (1) to develop and validate a simple clinical scale to stratify risk for recurrent falls in community-dwelling elderly people based on easily obtained social and clinical items and (2) to evaluate the added value of 3 clinical balance tests in predicting this risk.

Design: This was a prospective measurement study.

Prevalence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infections in France in 2004: social factors are important predictors after adjusting for known risk factors.

To monitor the prevalence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C a cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2004 among French metropolitan residents. A complex sampling design was used to enroll 14,416 adult participants aged 18-80 years. Data collected included demographic and social characteristics and risk factors.

Trends of the potentially inappropriate medication consumption over 10 years in older adults in the East of France.

Purpose: To describe the trends of potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use in older adults from 1995 to 2004 in the East of France, by using the 1997 Beers criteria and its French update, and to assess risk factors for this PIM use.

Methods: We carried out a repeated cross-sectional study using data collected among people aged >/=65 years, examined in the Center for Preventive Medicine. Studied variables were socio-demographic, clinical data, medication consumption and the self-health status.

Prevalence of factor V Leiden and prothrombin G20210A mutation in a large French population selected for nonthrombotic history: geographical and age distribution.

Among inherited risk factors for venous thrombosis, the most common are the FV-G1691A and FII-G20210A polymorphisms. The FV-G1691A polymorphism is preferentially observed in Europe, with differences between European countries. The FII-G20210A polymorphism is observed all over the world.

Standardization of gamma-glutamyltransferase assays by intermethod calibration. Effect on determining common reference limits.

Background: The improvement of the consistency of gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) activity results among different assays after calibration with a common material was estimated. We evaluated if this harmonization could lead to reference limits common to different routine methods.

Methods: Seven laboratories measured GGT activity using their own routine analytical system both according to the manufacturer's recommendation and after calibration with a multi-enzyme calibrator [value assigned by the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) reference procedure].

Clinical determinants of failure in balance tests in elderly subjects.

We assessed the role of clinical and biological parameters on performance in four balance tests in elderly subjects. An observational study was conducted in the Center for Preventive Medicine of Nancy (France) in 2368 community-living elderly subjects aged 60 and older. Body mass index (BMI), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), clock test, "Health score" and use of psychotropic drugs (UPD) were assessed.

[Alcohol, tobacco and colorectal adenomas and cancer. Case-control study in a population with positive fecal occult blood tests].

Objective: To analyze the associations between lifestyle factors and colorectal adenomas or cancers in a population 50-74 years old.

Method: The study population underwent colonoscopy after positive fecal occult blood test in Health examination centers of the French general health insurance. The two sets of cases (n= 674 cancers, n=2618 adenomas) were compared with controls (n=5456).

Posturography and risk of recurrent falls in healthy non-institutionalized persons aged over 65.

Background: A poor postural stability in older people is associated with an increased risk of falling. The posturographic tool has widely been used to assess balance control; however, its value in predicting falls remains unclear.

Objective: The purpose of this prospective study was to determine the predictive value of posturography in the estimation of the risk of recurrent falls, including a comparison with standard clinical balance tests, in healthy non-institutionalized persons aged over 65.

Colorectal cancer screening in Health Examination Centers.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the results of colorectal cancer screening performed in the Health Examination Centers of the French general health insurance system.

Methods: The population consisted of 1,262,833 subjects (52.6% men) aged 50 to 74 years old who attended periodic health consultations from 1998 to 2003 in 89 Health Examination Centers in France.

Stepwise strategies in analysing haematuria and leukocyturia in screening.

The aim of the present work was to compare in a supposed healthy population of 680 subjects several algorithms for positive selection of urine samples requiring microscopic examination for erythrocytes and leukocytes after screening by automated test-strip measurement and particle counting on a Sysmex UF-50 flow cytometer. Four strategies have been formulated and the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, false positive rate, false negative rate, and microscopic review rate were measured. The strategy combining test strip analysis and automated counting on all samples, followed by microscopic examination of only discordant samples gave the best results.

Genetic and environmental contributions to serum retinol and alpha-tocopherol concentrations: the Stanislas Family Study.

Background: Although numerous environmental factors are documented to influence serum retinol and alpha-tocopherol concentrations, little is known about the genetic versus the environmental contributions to variations in these traits.

Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate additive genetic heritability and household effects for serum retinol and alpha-tocopherol concentrations in a variance component analysis.

Design: In a sample of 387 French families, information on serum retinol and alpha-tocopherol concentrations, usual dietary intake, lifestyle, and serum lipid profiles and related polymorphisms (apolipoprotein E, apolipoprotein C-III, apolipoprotein B, cholesteryl ester transfer protein, and lipoprotein lipase) was obtained.

Age- and sex-related reference values for serum insulin concentration and its biological determinants in a French healthy population. The STANISLAS cohort.

Insulin is involved in coronary heart disease through diabetes and metabolic syndrome. A great deal is known about insulin and its correlates, as well as factors related to changes in insulin. However, few studies consider the broad variety of correlates simultaneously.

Alcohol and mortality from all causes.

A large number of prospective studies have observed an inverse relationship between a moderate intake of alcohol and coronary heart disease morbidity and mortality. Concerning death from all-causes, results are not unanimous. Alcohol intake was associated with a protection of all-cause mortality in England and USA physicians and the large study of the American Cancer Society.

Moderate wine drinkers have lower hypertension-related mortality: a prospective cohort study in French men.

Background: For a given blood pressure, the risk of death from coronary artery disease is much higher in northern Europe and the United States than in Mediterranean countries.

Objective: In this prospective cohort study, we tested the hypothesis that regular wine drinking reduces the hypertension-related risk of death.

Design: We used data from 36 583 healthy middle-aged men who had normal results on an electrocardiogram and were not taking drugs for cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Phenotypic sensitivity to activated protein C in healthy families: importance of genetic components and environmental factors.

The relative importance of environmental factors and genetic components other than factor V Leiden on the sensitivity to activated protein C (APC) in healthy nuclear families was determined. We studied 149 European families (298 parents and 278 biological offspring aged more than 6 years). APC response was measured and expressed as normalized APC-sensitivity ratio (n-APC-SR).

Effect of six candidate genes on early aging in a French population.

Background And Aims: The objective of this study was to examine the association between an aging indicator previously defined from a nationwide population study, and lipids and apolipoproteins, angiotensin converting enzyme, paraoxonase activities, and six candidate genes related to the aging process.

Methods: Two hundred and fifty-six healthy Caucasian men (69.8 +/- 4.

Reliability of the Wisconsin Sleep Questionnaire: a French contribution to international validation.

We evaluated the reliability of a French version of the Wisconsin Sleep Questionnaire designed to investigate snoring, obstructive apnoeas, and sleeping problems. The assessment of reliability included the study of internal consistency and the 3 months repeatability of the questionnaire. The questionnaire was first completed at a Center of Preventive Medicine by a random sample of 122 subjects from the community.

Lifestyle patterns concerning sports and physical activity, and perceptions of health.

Objectives: To explore the perceptions of health and physical activity, and the associations between these two areas from a theoretical lifestyle perspective.

Methods: Data was collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire, among 3019 adults attending centres for preventive medicine in France. Correspondence analysis examined the significance of the relationships between perceptions of health and perceptions of sports and physical activity.