Health-related quality of life and mental health in the medium-term aftermath of the Prestige oil spill in Galiza (Spain): a cross-sectional study.

Background: In 2002 the oil-tanker Prestige sank off the Galician coast. This study analyzes the effect of this accident on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and mental health in the affected population.

Methods: Using random sampling stratified by age and sex, 2700 residents were selected from 7 coastal and 7 inland Galician towns.

Binge drinking in Madrid, Spain.

Background: In Mediterranean countries, the information on the prevalence of binge drinking and associated socio-demographic variables is very scarce. Moreover, there are no reported data on the amount of alcohol ingested and the type of beverage consumed during drinking episodes. This study describes the prevalence and characteristics of binge drinking in the adult population of Madrid, Spain.

Association of adiposity measures with blood lipids and blood pressure in children aged 8-11 years.

Aim: To examine the association of body mass index (BMI), triceps skinfold thickness (TST) and percentage body fat (%BF) from bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) with blood lipids, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in children.

Methods: Cross-sectional study was conducted on 1280 schoolchildren aged 8-11 years from the Cuenca province (Spain). Data collection was conducted under standardized conditions, taking several measurements of each variable to enhance accuracy.

Should hypertension guidelines be changed for hypertensive patients with the metabolic syndrome?

The authors analyzed the impact of present guidelines for hypertension management on cardiovascular (CV) risk factors in hypertensive patients with and without the metabolic syndrome (MS). Results in 549 nondiabetic hypertensive patients with a mean follow-up of 3.8+/-1.

Mortality from diseases other than cancer following low doses of ionizing radiation: results from the 15-Country Study of nuclear industry workers.

Background: Ionizing radiation at very high (radio-therapeutic) dose levels can cause diseases other than cancer, particularly heart diseases. There is increasing evidence that doses of the order of a few sievert (Sv) may also increase the risk of non-cancer diseases. It is not known, however, whether such effects also occur following the lower doses and dose rates of public health concern.

Gastroesophageal reflux symptoms during and after pregnancy: a longitudinal study.

Background And Aims: Prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux symptoms (GERS) increases during pregnancy, but there are no longitudinal studies on western populations examining their incidence in each trimester. Our aim was to describe the natural history of GERS in pregnancy and to ascertain whether pregnancy might be associated with a higher risk of developing GERS 1 yr postpartum.

Methods: Pregnant women (<12 wk gestation) and age-matched controls were included.

Intake of fried foods is associated with obesity in the cohort of Spanish adults from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

Background: Consumption of fried food has been suggested to promote obesity, but this association has seldom been studied.

Objective: We aimed to assess the association of energy intake from fried food with general and central obesity in Spain, a Mediterranean country where frying with oil is a traditional cooking procedure.

Design: This was a cross-sectional study of 33 542 Spanish persons aged 29-69 y who were participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition between 1992 and 1996.

Relationship between obesity, hypertension and diabetes, and health-related quality of life among the elderly.

Background: The purpose of this study was to study the cumulative effects of cardiovascular risk factors on all the health-related quality of life dimensions among the elderly in this era of epidemic obesity and diabetes.

Design And Methods: The population-based study covered 3567 participants, representative of the Spanish non-institutionalized population aged 60 years and above. Data were gathered from home-based interviews and from the measurements of blood pressure and other anthropometric variables.

[Life socioeconomic circumstances, physical inactivity and obesity influences on metabolic syndrome].

Background: Majority of the studies have evaluated the independent effect of each risk factor on several component of metabolic syndrome. This study investigates the influence of accumulation of risk factor through life course (socioeconomic circumstances, physical activity and obesity) on the risk of metabolic syndrome and their components in older population in Spain.

Method: We have studied 4009 subjects representative of the Spanish non-institutionalised population aged 60 years and older.

The 15-Country Collaborative Study of Cancer Risk Among Radiation Workers in the Nuclear Industry: design, epidemiological methods and descriptive results.

Radiation protection standards are based mainly on risk estimates from studies of atomic bomb survivors in Japan. The validity of extrapolations from the relatively high-dose acute exposures in this population to the low-dose, protracted or fractionated environmental and occupational exposures of primary public health concern has long been the subject of controversy. A collaborative retrospective cohort study was conducted to provide direct estimates of cancer risk after low-dose protracted exposures.

The 15-Country Collaborative Study of Cancer Risk among Radiation Workers in the Nuclear Industry: estimates of radiation-related cancer risks.

A 15-Country collaborative cohort study was conducted to provide direct estimates of cancer risk following protracted low doses of ionizing radiation. Analyses included 407,391 nuclear industry workers monitored individually for external radiation and 5.2 million person-years of follow-up.

Waist circumference as a predictor of disability among older adults.

Objective: Few studies have addressed the association between abdominal obesity, as measured by waist circumference (WC), and disability in the elderly. Moreover, those studies were cross-sectional and yielded inconsistent results. The objective of this study was to examine longitudinally the association between WC and self-reported disability among older adults.

Use of antisecretory drugs among consumers of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the general population.

Background: Overall success of prophylactic strategies against non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) complications depends on the use of gastroprotective drugs.

Aim: We examined the use of antisecretory drugs in NSAID users in the general population of Spain.

Participants And Methods: In 2002, a phone interview was conducted with 2500 persons representative of the general population of Spain.

Effectiveness of blood pressure control outside the medical setting.

We studied the effectiveness of blood pressure (BP) control outside the clinic by using ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) among a large number of hypertensive subjects treated in primary care centers across Spain. The sample consisted of 12 897 treated hypertensive subjects who had indications for ABPM. Office-based BP was calculated as the average of 2 readings.

Social network as a predictor of hospital readmission and mortality among older patients with heart failure.

Background: This study examines the relationship between social network and hospital readmission and mortality in older patients with heart failure.

Methods And Results: Prospective study conducted with 371 patients, age 65 and older, admitted for heart failure-related emergencies at 4 Spanish hospitals. Social network was measured at baseline with a 4-item questionnaire that ascertained whether subjects were married, lived with another person(s), saw or had telephone contact with family members daily or almost daily, and were at home alone for less than 2 hours per day.

Impact of gastroesophageal reflux symptoms on health resource usage and work absenteeism in Spain.

Objectives: To estimate the impact of gastroesophageal reflux (GER) symptoms on the utilization of healthcare services and work absenteeism in Spain.

Methods: A cross-sectional study on 2,500 subjects representative of the Spanish population from 40 to 79 years of age. Data were collected via a telephone interview in January 2002 using Locke s questionnaire after its cross-cultural adaptation and validation for telephone use in Spain.

[Prevalence of depression and associated medical and psychosocial factors in elderly hospitalized patients with heart failure in Spain].

Introduction And Objectives: This study provides an estimate of the prevalence of depression, and identifies associated medical and psychosocial factors, in elderly hospitalized patients with heart failure (HF) in Spain.

Methods: The study included 433 patients aged 65 years or more who underwent emergency admission at four Spanish hospitals between January 2000 and June 2001 and who had a primary or secondary diagnosis of HF. Depression was defined as the presence of three or more symptoms on the 10-item Geriatric Depression Scale.

Prevalence of atypical symptoms and their association with typical symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux in Spain.

Background: The association between typical and atypical symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux (GER) has received little attention in population-based studies. This study therefore sought to examine the prevalence of atypical symptoms, and their association with typical GER symptoms in Spain.

Methods: A telephone survey using a validated questionnaire was conducted in 2002 on 2500 subjects aged 40-79 years, randomly selected from the general population of Spain.

Saturated fat in the diet of Spanish children: relationship with anthropometric, alimentary, nutritional and lipid profiles.

Objective: To compare the anthropometric, alimentary, nutritional and lipid profiles and global diet quality of Spanish children according to saturated fat intake.

Design: This was a cross-sectional study. Food data were collected using a food-frequency questionnaire.

Association between awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension, and quality of life among older adults in Spain.

Background: This study examines the relationship between awareness, treatment and control of hypertension, and health-related quality of life (HRQL) among older adults in Spain.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study that included 3368 subjects representative of the Spanish population > or = 60 years of age. We assessed HRQL using the MOS 36-Item Short Form (SF-36) questionnaire, and blood pressure (BP) was measured under standardized conditions.

Gender differences in the utilization of health-care services among the older adult population of Spain.

Background: Compared to men, women report greater morbidity and make greater use of health-care services. This study examines potential determinants of gender differences in the utilization of health-care services among the elderly.

Methods: Cross-sectional study covering 3030 subjects, representative of the non-institutionalized Spanish population aged 60 years and over.

[Prevalence of obesity and trends in cardiovascular risk factors among Spanish school children, 1992-2004: the Cuenca (Spain) study].

Background And Objective: The assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity in school children from the province of Cuenca in 2004, and to examine changes in the main cardiovascular risk factors in school children from the city of Cuenca from 1992 through 2004.

Subjects And Method: Cross sectional survey of 1166 schoolchildren 9-10 years old from 22 public schools of the province of Cuenca. We also analyzed data from 3 earlier, methodologically similar, cross-sectional surveys of school children from the city of Cuenca carried out in 1992, 1996 and 1998.