Association between area deprivation and major depressive disorder in British men and women: a cohort study.

Objective: Studies have shown area-level deprivation can increase the risk for mental disorders over and above individual-level circumstances, such as education and social class. The objective of this study is to determine whether area deprivation is associated with major depressive disorder (MDD) in British women and men separately while adjusting for individual-level factors.

Design: Large, population study.

Generalised anxiety disorder and hospital admissions: findings from a large, population cohort study.

Objective: Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) is the most common anxiety disorder in the general population and has been associated with high economic and human burden. However, it has been neglected in the health services literature. The objective of this study is to assess whether GAD leads to hospital admissions using data from the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer-Norfolk.

A strong sense of coherence associated with reduced risk of anxiety disorder among women in disadvantaged circumstances: British population study.

Objective: Many patients receiving medical treatment for anxiety relapse or do not improve. Research has therefore been turning to coping mechanisms as a way to decrease anxiety rates. Previously, we showed that living in a deprived area significantly increases the risk of anxiety in women, but not in men.

Sex differences in the association between area deprivation and generalised anxiety disorder: British population study.

Objective: Studies have shown that area-level deprivation measured by factors, such as non-home ownership, non-car ownership and household overcrowding, can increase the risk for mental disorders over and above individual-level circumstances, such as education and social class. Whether area-level deprivation is associated with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) independent of personal circumstances, and whether this association is different between British women and men is unknown.

Design: Large, population study.

Collaborative meta-analysis finds no evidence of a strong interaction between stress and 5-HTTLPR genotype contributing to the development of depression.

The hypothesis that the S allele of the 5-HTTLPR serotonin transporter promoter region is associated with increased risk of depression, but only in individuals exposed to stressful situations, has generated much interest, research and controversy since first proposed in 2003. Multiple meta-analyses combining results from heterogeneous analyses have not settled the issue. To determine the magnitude of the interaction and the conditions under which it might be observed, we performed new analyses on 31 data sets containing 38 802 European ancestry subjects genotyped for 5-HTTLPR and assessed for depression and childhood maltreatment or other stressful life events, and meta-analysed the results.

Daytime napping, sleep duration and increased 8-year risk of type 2 diabetes in a British population.

Background And Aims: Few studies have prospectively examined the relationship between daytime napping and risk of type 2 diabetes. We aimed to study the effects of daytime napping and the joint effects of napping and sleep duration in predicting type 2 diabetes risk in a middle- to older-aged British population.

Methods And Results: In 1998-2000, 13 465 individuals with no known diabetes participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk study reported daytime napping habit and 24-h sleep duration.

Daytime napping and increased risk of incident respiratory diseases: symptom, marker, or risk factor?

Background: We have identified a strong association between daytime napping and increased mortality risk from respiratory diseases, but little is known about the relationship between daytime napping and respiratory morbidity.

Methods: Data were drawn from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Norfolk cohort. Participants reported napping habits during 1998-2000 and were followed up for respiratory disease hospital admissions until March 2009.

Cumulative social risk exposure in childhood and smoking and excessive alcohol use in adulthood.

Background: Social inequalities in adult smoking and excessive alcohol intake may be associated with exposure to multiple childhood social risk factors across different domains of risk within the household.

Methods: We used data from a cross-sectional cohort study of adults (40-75 years) in 1993-97 living in England (N = 19466) to examine the association between clusters of childhood social risks across different domains with adult smoking and excessive alcohol use. Participants reported exposure to six childhood social risk factors, current smoking behaviour and alcohol intake.

Gender and the double burden of economic and social disadvantages on healthy eating: cross-sectional study of older adults in the EPIC-Norfolk cohort.

Background: Multiple economic factors and social relationships determine dietary behaviours, but the inter-relations between determinants is unknown. Whether women and men differ in the vulnerability to, and impact of, combined disadvantages is also unclear. We examined associations between diverse combinations of economic resources and social relationships, and healthy eating in British older women and men.

Sleep duration and risk of fatal and nonfatal stroke: a prospective study and meta-analysis.

Objective: To study the association between sleep duration and stroke incidence in a British population and to synthesize our findings with published results through a meta-analysis.

Methods: The prospective study included 9,692 stroke-free participants aged 42-81 years from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk cohort. Participants reported sleep duration in 1998-2000 and 2002-2004, and all stroke cases were recorded until March 31, 2009.

Daytime napping, sleep duration and serum C reactive protein: a population-based cohort study.

Objectives: To explore whether daytime napping and sleep duration are linked to serum C reactive protein (CRP), a pro-inflammatory marker, in an older aged British population.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Norfolk study.

Variety more than quantity of fruit and vegetable intake varies by socioeconomic status and financial hardship. Findings from older adults in the EPIC cohort.

Background: Beyond quantity, variety of fruit and vegetable (FV) intake prevents chronic conditions and is widely recommended as critical to healthful eating. FV consumption is socially patterned, especially for women, but little is known about multiple economic determinants of variety or whether they differ from those of quantity.

Objective: To examine socioeconomic status and financial hardships in relation to variety and quantity of FV intakes among older British women and men.

Daytime napping and the risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality: a 13-year follow-up of a British population.

Epidemiologic studies have reported conflicting results on the relationship between daytime napping and mortality risk, and there are few data on the potential association in the British population. We investigated the associations between daytime napping and all-cause or cause-specific mortality in the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer-Norfolk study, a British population-based cohort study. Among the 16,374 men and women who answered questions on napping habits between 1998 and 2000, a total of 3,251 died during the 13-year follow-up.

Self-reported sleep patterns in a British population cohort.

Objectives: Sleep patterns have been linked to various health outcomes, but sleep patterns in the British population have not been extensively reported. We aimed to describe the sleep characteristics reported by the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC)-Norfolk participants, with a particular emphasis on the comparison of measures of sleep quantity.

Methods: From 2006 to 2007, a total of 8480 participants aged 45-90 years reported sleep timing, nighttime sleep duration, and sleep difficulties.

Socioeconomic status, financial hardship and measured obesity in older adults: a cross-sectional study of the EPIC-Norfolk cohort.

Background: Socioeconomic status is strongly associated with obesity. Current economic circumstances are also independently associated with self-reported weight status in Finnish civil servants. We aimed to examine three types of financial hardship in relation to measured general and central obesity in a general population of older adults, while considering conventional socioeconomic indicators.

Social relationships and healthful dietary behaviour: evidence from over-50s in the EPIC cohort, UK.

Social relationships are an important aspect of a person's social environment that can protect against a wide range of chronic conditions and facilitate recovery from disease. Social relationships have also been linked to dietary behaviour which may be an important pathway through which social circumstances exert their influence on health. Yet, questions remain about which structural aspects of social relationships most affect healthful dietary behaviours and whether different structural components interact to produce a combined effect.

Social adversity experience and blood pressure control following antihypertensive medication use in a community sample of older adults.

Background: Psychosocial stress is a risk factor for hypertension and has been shown to affect response to treatment for psychiatric illnesses.

Purpose: We investigate the relationship between a history of social adversity experience and blood pressure control following antihypertensive medication use.

Methods: A total of 1,186 participants selected from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk study (531 men and 655 women, aged 42 to 80 years) had attended two health checks at which blood pressure measurements were taken; were taking antihypertensive medication at the second, but not the first health check; and had completed a questionnaire assessment of their social and psychological circumstances which included details of traumatic experiences in childhood and of adverse life events, long-term difficulties, and perceived stress in adulthood.

The association between social stress and global cognitive function in a population-based study: the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC)-Norfolk study.

Background: Stress is thought to exert both positive and negative effects on cognition, but the precise cognitive effects of social stress and individuals' response to stress remain unclear. We aimed to investigate the association between different measures of social stress and cognitive function in a middle- to older-aged population using data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC)-Norfolk study.

Method: Participants completed a comprehensive assessment of lifetime social adversity between 1993 and 1997 and the short form of the Mini Mental State Examination (SF-MMSE), an assessment of global cognitive function, during the third health check between 2004 and 2011 (a median of 10.

Educational attainment and mean leukocyte telomere length in women in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC)-Norfolk population study.

Background: Telomere length has been postulated as a marker of biological aging. Recent evidence has suggested that educational attainment but not social class is associated with telemore length.

Methods: We investigated the associations between educational attainment, social class and relative mean telomere length in an ethnically homogeneous population of 4441 women, aged 41-80 years.

Life stress, emotional health, and mean telomere length in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC)-Norfolk population study.

We investigated the association between psychological stress, emotional health, and relative mean telomere length in an ethnically homogeneous population of 4,441 women, aged 41-80 years. Mean telomere length was measured using high-throughput quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Social adversity exposure and emotional health were assessed through questionnaire and covariates through direct measurement and questionnaire.

Lifestyle behaviours and quality-adjusted life years in middle and older age.

Objective: to examine the relationship between combined lifestyle behaviours and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) in a general population.

Methods: a population-based study was conducted in 13,358 men and women who participated in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC)-Norfolk (baseline 1993-97). A score of 1 was given to each of non-smoking, physically not inactive, moderate alcohol consumption (1-14 units) and consumption of at least five portions of fruit and vegetables (vitamin C level ≥50 µmol/l).

Mastery is associated with cardiovascular disease mortality in men and women at apparently low risk.

Objective: We examine the prospective relationship between mastery, where limited mastery is defined as the inability to control negative emotions (and perceiving stressful experiences as beyond personal control), and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality particularly among individuals at apparently low CVD risk.

Design: Prospective population-based study of 19,067 men and women, aged 41-80 years with no previous heart disease or stroke at baseline assessment.

Main Outcome Measures: Primary outcome measure CVD mortality.

What determines Self-Rated Health (SRH)? A cross-sectional study of SF-36 health domains in the EPIC-Norfolk cohort.

Background: Self-Rated Health (SRH) as assessed by a single-item measure is an independent predictor of health outcomes. However, it remains uncertain which elements of the subjective health experience it most strongly captures. In view of its ability to predict outcomes, elucidation of what determines SRH is potentially important in the provision of services.