Journal of epidemiology and community health
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J Epidemiol Community Health · Aug 2015
Impact of changes in mode of travel to work on changes in body mass index: evidence from the British Household Panel Survey.
Active commuting is associated with various health benefits, but little is known about its causal relationship with body mass index (BMI). ⋯ Interventions to enable commuters to switch from private motor transport to more active modes of travel could contribute to reducing population mean BMI.
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J Epidemiol Community Health · Aug 2015
Folic acid in pregnancy and mortality from cancer and cardiovascular disease: further follow-up of the Aberdeen folic acid supplementation trial.
Supplemental periconceptional folic acid is recommended to reduce the risk of fetal neural tube defects. A previous report indicated an elevated risk of breast cancer and all cancer deaths in later life among women randomised by alternate allocation to high-dose (5 mg/day) folic acid in pregnancy compared with placebo; however, findings were based on small numbers of cases. Our aim was to extend the previous analysis by including data from an additional 10 years of follow-up. ⋯ Findings from this extended follow-up do not support our previous observation of an elevated risk of mortality from breast cancer or all cancers in later life among women who had taken 5 mg folic acid/day during pregnancy. Furthermore, there were no associations with risk of mortality from all-causes, all cancers or cardiovascular disease.
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J Epidemiol Community Health · Jun 2015
Meta AnalysisPulmonary function as a risk factor for dementia death: an individual participant meta-analysis of six UK general population cohort studies.
In addition to being associated with all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality, lung function has been linked with dementia. However, existing studies typically provide imprecise estimates due to small numbers of outcome events and are based on unrepresentative samples of the general population. ⋯ In these general population samples, the relation between three measures of lung function and dementia death followed a dose-response gradient. Being in the bottom quartile of lung function was associated with a doubling of the risk.
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J Epidemiol Community Health · May 2015
Health service use, out-of-pocket payments and catastrophic health expenditure among older people in India: the WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE).
Healthcare financing through out-of-pocket payments and inequities in healthcare utilisation are common in low and middle income countries (LMICs). Given the dearth of pertinent studies on these issues among older people in LMICs, we investigated the determinants of health service use, out-of-pocket and catastrophic health expenditures among older people in one LMIC, India. ⋯ Reducing out-of-pocket health expenditure among older people is an important public health issue, in which social as well as medical determinants should be prioritised. Enhanced public health sector performance and provision of publicly funded insurance may protect against catastrophic health expenses and healthcare inequities in India.
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J Epidemiol Community Health · May 2015
Smoking, sex, risk factors and abdominal aortic aneurysms: a prospective study of 18 782 persons aged above 65 years in the Southern Community Cohort Study.
Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a leading cause of death in the USA. We evaluated the incidence and predictors of AAA in a prospectively followed cohort. ⋯ Smoking is a major risk factor for incident AAA, with a strong and similar association between men and women. Further studies are needed to evaluate benefits of ultrasound screening for AAA among women smokers.