BackgroundData on the association between dietary patterns and depression are scarce. The objective of this study was to examine the longitudinal association between dietary patterns and depressive symptoms assessed repeatedly over 10 years in the French occupational GAZEL cohort.MethodsA total of 9,272 men and 3,132 women, aged 45–60 years in 1998, completed a 35-item Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) at baseline. Dietary patterns were derived by Principal Component Analysis. Depressive symptoms were assessed by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D) in 1999, 2002, 2005 and 2008. The main outcome measure was the repeated measures of CES-D. Longitudinal analyses were performed with logistic regression based on generalized estimating equations.Principal FindingsThe highest quartile of low-fat, western, high snack and high fat-sweet diets in men and low-fat and high snack diets in women were associated with higher likelihood of depressive symptoms at the start of the follow-up compared to the lowest quartile (OR between 1.16 and 1.50). Conversely, the highest quartile of traditional diet (characterized by fish and fruit consumption) was associated with a lower likelihood of depressive symptoms in women compared to the lowest quartile, with OR = 0.63 [95%CI, 0.50 to 0.80], as the healthy pattern (characterized by vegetables consumption) with OR = 0.72 [95%CI, 0.63 to 0.83] and OR = 0.75 [95%CI, 0.61 to 0.93] in men and women, respectively. However, there was probably a reverse causality effect for the healthy pattern.ConclusionThis longitudinal study shows that several dietary patterns are associated with depressive symptoms and these associations track over time.

Objective-To test whether psychosocial factors at work are predictors of rates of sickness absence. Methods-The study population consisted of middle aged men and women employed by the French national electricity and gas company (EDF-GDF) in various occupations and followed up since 1989 by annual self administered questionnaires and independent data obtained from the medical and personnel departments of EDF-GDF. The 1995 questionnaire provided information about three psychosocial work factors: psychological demands, decision latitude, and social support at work. Sickness absence data were provided by the company's social security department. The occurrence of spells and days of absence in the 12 months after completion of the 1995 questionnaire was studied. Potential confounding variables were age, smoking, alcohol, and marital status, assessed in the 1995 questionnaire, and educational level and occupation, assessed from data provided by the personnel department. This study was restricted to the 12 555 subjects of the initial cohort who were still working and answered the self administered questionnaire in 1995. Results-Low levels of decision latitude were associated with more frequent and longer sickness absences among men and women. Low levels of social support at work increased the numbers of spells and days of absence among men only. These associations weakened after adjustment for potential confounding factors, but remained significant. Conclusion-The study indicates that psychosocial factors at work, especially decision latitude, are predictive of sickness absence. (Occup Environ Med 1998;55:735-741) Keywords: absenteeism; workplace; psychosocial factors at work; social support at work; follow up studies Sickness absence is thought to have a multifactorial aetiology, in which illness and injury may be two of many causes. In the literature, several of the factors have proved to be associated with sickness absence, including societal conditions (social insurance and security, economic fluctuations, etc), conditions specific to a given workplace or organisation (policy towards the personnel, size, and type of industry), occupational conditions-such as physical, chemical, and psychosocial stressors, seniority, educational level, and occupation-and social and demographic characteristics-that is, sex, age, marital status, number of children, social network, commuting distance to work, smoking habits, type of personality, and health.

Objectives-To determine a cut off value for changes in radiological joint space width that allowed definition of radiological progression of hip osteoarthritis not related to measurement method errors and, thereafter, to determine factors predictive of radiological progression of hip osteoarthritis and to evaluate the correlations between clinical and radiological parameters. Methods-A prospective, longitudinal (one year duration), multicentre study was made of patients with osteoarthritis of the hip (American College of Rheumatology criteria). Data on clinical activity (pain, functional impairment), demographic data (age, gender, body mass index), and femoral head migration (superolateral, superomedial, concentric) were collected when the patient entered the study; radiological grade (joint space width in millimetres at the narrowest point using a 0 1 mm graduated magnifying glass, evaluated by a single observer unaware of the chronology of the films) was recorded at the patient's entry to the study and after one year.Results-Analysis of the means of the differences between two analyses performed by a single observer of 30 pairs of radiographs (one performed after an interval of one year) (0.06 (SD 0.23)) suggested that a change of more than 0-56 mm (2 SD) after a one year follow up could define progression of osteoarthritis ofthe hip. Of the 508 patients recruited, 461 (91%) completed the one year follow up and radiological progression was observed in 102 (22%). The factors predictive of radiological progression that were identified in the multivariate analysis were: radiological joint space width at entry <2 mm, superolateral migration of the femoral head, female gender, Lequesne's functional index >10, age at entry >65 years (odds ratios 2-11, 4-25, 2-51, 266, 1*90, respectively). The level of clinical parameters (pain, functional impairment) and the amount of symptomatic treatment required (non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs and analgesic intake) accounted for 20% (p < 0.0001) of the variability of the changes in radiological joint space width over the one year study period. Conclusion-These data suggest that radiological progression of hip osteoarthritis could be defined by a change in joint space width of at least 0-6 mm after a one year follow up period, is correlated with the changes in clinical status of the patients, and is related not only to demographic data (age, gender), but also to some specific characteristics of osteoarthritis (localisation, radiological severity, clinical activity).

SRH predicts mortality equally well in men and women. However, the covariates explained a much larger proportion of the SRH-mortality relationship in men compared with women. In this middle-aged cohort, SRH predicts mortality strongly in the short term but only weakly in the long term.

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OBJECTIVETo measure the impact of diabetes on work cessation, i.e., on the risks of work disability, early retirement, and death while in the labor force.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSWe used data from the GAZEL prospective cohort of 20,625 employees of the French national gas and electricity company “EDF-GDF.” We identified 506 employees with diabetes and randomly selected 2,530 nondiabetic employed control subjects matched for major sociodemographic and occupational characteristics. Using a multistate Cox model, we estimated hazard ratios (HRs) comparing the risks of transition from employment to disability, retirement, and death over time between participants with versus without diabetes.RESULTSEmployment rate decreased more rapidly in participants with diabetes (51.9 and 10.1% at 55 and 60 years, respectively) compared with nondiabetic participants (66.5 and 13.4%, respectively). Participants with diabetes had significantly increased risks of transition from employment to disability (HR 1.7 [95% CI 1.0–2.9]), retirement (HR 1.6 [1.5–1.8]), and death (HR 7.3 [3.6–14.6]) compared with participants without diabetes. Between 35 and 60 years, each participant with diabetes lost an estimated mean time of 1.1 year in the workforce (95% CI 0.99–1.14) compared with a nondiabetic participant.CONCLUSIONSOur results provide evidence for a profound negative impact of diabetes on workforce participation in France. Social and economic consequences are major for patients, employers, and society—a burden that is likely to increase as diabetes becomes more and more common in the working-aged population.

The PESS represents a valuable and accurate tool to screen for severe periodontitis at the population level.