Older adults are at increased risk for adverse health outcomes when having an influenza, pneumococcal disease, pertussis, or herpes zoster infection. Despite the ability of vaccinations to prevent ...these adverse outcomes, vaccination coverage is low in the European Union. This study aimed to explore the sociodemographic, lifestyle, and health-related characteristics associated with vaccination willingness for these vaccine-preventable diseases.
Cross-sectional data from wave 6 (years 2013–2017) of the population-based Doetinchem Cohort Study was analysed, with 3063 participants aged 46–86 years included. The outcome was the self-reported willingness to get vaccinated against influenza, pneumococcal disease, pertussis, and herpes zoster (willing, neutral, not willing). Multinomial logistic regression was used to investigate the socio-demographic, lifestyle and health characteristics associated with vaccination willingness.
For influenza 36 % was willing to get vaccinated, 35 % was neutral and 28 % was not willing to get vaccinated. The willingness to get vaccinated for the relatively unfamiliar vaccine-preventable diseases was lower: 26 % for pneumococcal disease (neutral: 50 %, not willing: 23 %), 26 % for pertussis (neutral 53 %, not willing: 22 %), and 23 % for herpes zoster (neutral 54 %, not willing: 24 %). A relative lower willingness was found among those 46–64 years old (compared to those 65 years or older). Women, having a high SES, being employed and having a good health were all associated with lower willingness to get vaccinated, which was the case for all vaccine-preventable diseases.
Older adults were generally more willing to get vaccinated against influenza than for the three less familiar diseases. Characteristics of those less willing may be used to improve strategies to increase vaccination coverage. Additional studies are needed to investigate the willingness to get vaccinated during and after the COVID-19 pandemic that may have changed the feel of urgency for vaccination.
All blood cells (white blood cells WBC, red blood cells RBC and platelets) can play a role in atherosclerosis. Complete blood count (CBC) is widely available in clinical practice but utility as ...potential risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) is uncertain. Our aim was to assess the associations of pre-diagnostic CBC with incidence of CVD in 14,362 adults free of CVD and aged 47.8 (±11.7) years at baseline, followed-up for 11.4 years (992 incident cases). Cox proportional hazards regressions were used to estimate HRs and 95%CI. Comparing the top (T3) to bottom (T1) tertile, increased total WBC, lymphocyte, monocyte and neutrophil counts were associated with higher CVD risk: 1.31 (1.10; 1.55), 1.20 (1.02; 1.41), 1.21 (1.03; 1.41) and 1.24 (1.05; 1.47), as well as mean corpuscular volume (MCV: 1.23 1.04; 1.46) and red cell distribution width (RDW: 1.22 1.03; 1.44). Platelets displayed an association for count values above the clinically normal range: 1.49 (1.00; 2.22). To conclude, total and differential WBC count, MCV, RDW and platelet count likely play a role in the aetiology of CVD but only WBC provide a modest improvement for the prediction of 10-year CVD risk over traditional CVD risk factors in a general population.
•Good and changing mental health patterns are more common than poor mental health in a sample of Dutch adults followed over 20 years.•Changing and poor mental health patterns are associated with ...long-term unhealthy patterns of smoking and sleep.•Understanding the mechanisms and the directions of associations between long-term mental health and lifestyle patterns could help devise better interventions to improve mental health.
We explored the prevalence of individual mental health patterns and the role of lifestyle factors over 20 years.
We used data from the Doetinchem Cohort Study (1995–2019), a population-based study amongst adults (26–90 years) examined every five years in the Netherlands. Participants were classified in five pre-defined mental health patterns (persistent good, persistent poor, worsening, improving, varying) over 20 years (five rounds) using the MHI-5 questionnaire. BMI, sleep, smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity were dichotomised as healthy/unhealthy based on guidelines. The role of lifestyle at baseline (t1), 20 years later (t5), and longitudinally over 20 years (using pre-defined patterns) was explored using logistic regression.
Most participants had good mental health at t1 (85 %) and t5 (88 %). Over 20 years, 67 % followed a persistent good mental health pattern, 30 % a changing pattern, and 3 % a persistent poor pattern. Persistent poor and changing patterns were associated with unhealthy sleep and smoking at t1, t5, and with the 20-year unhealthy patterns. Persistent poor mental health was associated with stable unhealthy and changing sleep (OR=5.58(2.48–12.54) and OR=2.07(1.14–3.74), respectively), and with stable unhealthy and changing smoking (OR=3.35(1.58–7.11) and OR=2.53(1.40–4.57), respectively). Changing mental health was associated with changing (OR=1.54(1.26–1.88) and OR=1.64(1.30–2.07), respectively) and stable unhealthy (OR=1.80(1.23–2.64) and OR=2.24(1.60–3.14), respectively) sleep and smoking, respectively.
Persistent good and changing mental health patterns were more common than poor mental health in adults and were associated with smoking and sleep. Clarifying the underlying mechanisms and directionality between mental health and lifestyle could improve interventions.
Migraine, particularly with aura, is a risk factor for early-onset ischemic stroke. The underlying mechanisms are unknown, but may in part be due to migraineurs having an increased risk profile for ...cardiovascular disease. In this study, the authors compare the cardiovascular risk profile of adult migraineurs to that of nonmigraineurs.
Participants (n = 5,755, 48% men, age 20 to 65 years) are from the Genetic Epidemiology of Migraine (GEM) study, a population-based study in the Netherlands. A total of 620 current migraineurs were identified: 31% with aura (MA), 64% without aura (MO), and 5% unclassified. Controls were 5,135 individuals without lifetime migraine. Measured cardiovascular risk factors included blood pressure (BP), serum total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TC, HDL), smoking, oral contraceptive use, and the Framingham risk score for myocardial infarction or coronary heart disease (CHD) death.
Compared to controls, migraineurs were more likely to smoke (OR = 1.43 1.1 to 1.8), less likely to consume alcohol (OR = 0.58 0.5 to 0.7), and more likely to report a parental history of early myocardial infarction. Migraineurs with aura were more likely to have an unfavorable cholesterol profile (TC > or = 240 mg/dL OR = 1.43 (0.97 to 2.1), TC:HDL ratio > 5.0 OR = 1.64 (1.1 to 2.4)), have elevated BP (systolic BP > 140 mm Hg or diastolic BP > 90 mm Hg OR = 1.76 (1.04 to 3.0)), and report a history of early onset CHD or stroke (OR = 3.96 1.1 to 14.3); female migraineurs with aura were more likely to be using oral contraceptives (OR = 2.06 1.05 to 4.0). The odds of having an elevated Framingham risk score for CHD were approximately doubled for the migraineurs with aura.
Migraineurs, particularly with aura, have a higher cardiovascular risk profile than individuals without migraine.
To examine the associations of fatty acid and fish intake with cognitive function.
Data are from a cross-sectional population-based study among 1,613 subjects ranging from 45 to 70 years old. From ...1995 until 2000, an extensive cognitive battery was administered and compound scores were constructed for memory, psychomotor speed, cognitive flexibility (i.e., higher order information processing), and overall cognition. A self-administered food-frequency questionnaire was used to assess habitual food consumption. The risk of impaired cognitive function (lowest 10% of the compound score) according to the energy adjusted intake of fatty acids was assessed with logistic regression, adjusting for age, sex, education, smoking, alcohol consumption, and energy intake.
Marine omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) (eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid) were inversely related to the risk of impaired overall cognitive function and speed (per SD increase: OR = 0.81, 95% CI 0.66 to 1.00 and OR = 0.72, 95% CI 0.57 to 0.90). Results for fatty fish consumption were similarly inverse. Higher dietary cholesterol intake was significantly associated with an increased risk of impaired memory and flexibility (per SD increase: OR = 1.27, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.57 and OR = 1.26, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.57). Per SD increase in saturated fat intake, the risk of impaired memory, speed, and flexibility was also increased, although not significantly.
Fatty fish and marine omega-3 PUFA consumption was associated with a reduced risk and intake of cholesterol and saturated fat with an increased risk of impaired cognitive function in this middle-aged population.
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