Changes in vitamin D levels and depressive symptoms in later life in England.

Inadequate vitamin D levels have been associated with increased risk of depression. However, most of these studies are cross-sectional and failed to investigate the effect of changes in vitamin D levels. This study aimed to investigate the longitudinal association of changes in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels with depressive symptoms in 3365 participants of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a large nationally-representative study of older adults. Based on their vitamin D levels at baseline and follow-up (sufficient ≥ 50 nmol/L; insufficient < 50 nmol/L), participants were classified as follows: with sufficient levels at both waves; with sufficient levels at baseline but not at follow-up; with insufficient levels at baseline but ≥ 50 nmol/L at follow-up; and with levels < 50 nmol/L at each time point. Depressive symptoms were measured using the 8-point CES-D scale. Data were analysed using logistic regression models. Compared with those with sufficient levels of vitamin D at both waves, only those with insufficient levels throughout were more likely to report elevated depressive symptoms (OR = 1.39, 95% CI = 1.00-1.93). Becoming or no longer being vitamin D deficient was, in the short term, not associated with elevated depressive symptoms. Further evidence is required on whether vitamin D supplementation might contribute to the prevention or treatment of depression as well as on the duration of time for changes in vitamin D levels to lead to detectable changes in depressive symptoms.

Childhood experiences of parenting and cancer risk at older ages: findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).

OBJECTIVES: Despite the importance of childhood experiences for adult health and psychosocial factors for cancer development, parenting, a key childhood psychosocial exposure, has yet to be studied in relation to cancer risk at older ages. We examined whether childhood experiences of poor-quality parenting are associated with an increased risk of cancer at older ages. METHODS: We used a sample of 4471 community dwellers aged ≥ 55 years in 2007. Poor-quality parenting was defined as low levels of parental care and high levels of parental overprotection. RESULTS: Overall poorer experiences of parenting, decreasing parental care and increasing parental overprotection were associated with increased risk of incident all-site and skin cancer in men, but not in women. Increasing paternal overprotection was also associated with increased risk of incident colorectal cancer in men. Overall poorer experiences of parenting and increasing paternal overprotection were associated with increased risk of prevalent all-site and colorectal cancer in women. Adjustment for covariates explained a small part of these associations. CONCLUSIONS: Older adults who reported childhood experiences of poorer quality parenting appear to have an increased risk of cancer. These findings improve our understanding of the role of psychosocial factors in cancer over the life course.

Subjective social status and mortality: the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Self-perceptions of own social position are potentially a key aspect of socioeconomic inequalities in health, but their association with mortality remains poorly understood. We examined whether subjective social status (SSS), a measure of the self-perceived element of social position, was associated with mortality and its role in the associations between objective socioeconomic position (SEP) measures and mortality. We used Cox regression to model the associations between SSS, objective SEP measures and mortality in a sample of 9972 people aged ≥ 50 years from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing over a 10-year follow-up (2002-2013). Our findings indicate that SSS was associated with all-cause, cardiovascular, cancer and other mortality. A unit decrease in the 10-point continuous SSS measure increased by 24 and 8% the mortality risk of people aged 50-64 and ≥ 65 years, respectively, after adjustment for age, sex and marital status. The respective estimates for cardiovascular mortality were 36 and 11%. Adjustment for all covariates fully explained the association between SSS and cancer mortality, and partially the remaining associations. In people aged 50-64 years, SSS mediated to a varying extent the associations between objective SEP measures and all-cause mortality. In people aged ≥ 65 years, SSS mediated to a lesser extent these associations, and to some extent was associated with mortality independent of objective SEP measures. Nevertheless, in both age groups, wealth partially explained the association between SSS and mortality. In conclusion, SSS is a strong predictor of mortality at older ages, but its role in socioeconomic inequalities in mortality appears to be complex.

Associations Between Vitamin D Levels and Depressive Symptoms in Later Life: Evidence From the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).

Background: A possible role of vitamin D in depression has received considerable attention, especially given the significant disability, mortality, and healthcare costs associated to depression and the high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency. Methods: We investigated the cross-sectional associations between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) levels and depressive symptoms (CES-D) in 5,607 older adults from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). Results: Overall, there was a significant association between low 25OHD levels and elevated depressive symptoms (odds ratio [OR] = 1.58, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.20-2.07 for the lowest quartile; OR = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.15-1.83 for <30 nmol/L cut-off and OR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.10-1.62 for the ≤50 nmol/L cut-off) after adjustment for a wide range of covariates of clinical significance. Fully adjusted models showed that women in the lowest (OR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.20-2.34) and second lowest (OR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.20-2.35) quartiles of 25OHD as well as those with 25OHD levels <30 nmol/L (OR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.06-1.86) and ≤50 nmol/L (OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.07-1.72) were more likely to report elevated depressive symptoms. For men, however, this association only remained significant for those with 25OHD levels of <30 nmol/L (OR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.06-2.42) in the fully adjusted models. Conclusions: The independent and inverse association found between low 25OHD levels and elevated depressive symptoms suggests that vitamin D deficiency may be a risk factor for late-life depression, particularly among women. Whether our findings have any clinical meaning or not, additional data are needed from well-designed randomized controlled trials of vitamin D for the prevention and treatment of late-life depression.

Vitamin D and inflammatory markers: cross-sectional analyses using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).

Recent evidence suggests that low vitamin D concentrations are associated with increased levels of inflammatory markers. However, there are limited studies investigating associations between vitamin D levels and inflammatory markers in the general population and much of this evidence in older adults is inconclusive. Therefore, this study investigates the cross-sectional association of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels with inflammatory markers in 5870 older English adults from wave 6 (2012-2013) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). ELSA is a large prospective observational study of community-dwelling people aged 50 years and over in England. Serum 25(OH)D levels, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, plasma fibrinogen levels, white blood cell count (WBC), age, season of blood collection, waist circumference, total non-pension household wealth, measures of health and health behaviours that included depression, number of cardiovascular, non-cardiovascular conditions and difficulties in activities of daily living, smoking, and physical activity were measured. There was a significant negative association between low 25(OH)D levels (≤30 nmol/l) and CRP (OR 1·23, 95 % CI 1·00, 1·51) and WBC (OR 1·35, 95 % CI 1·13, 1·60) that remained after adjustment for a wide range of covariates of clinical significance. However, for fibrinogen, the association did not remain significant when waist circumference was entered in the final model. Our findings showed that 25(OH)D levels were associated with two out the three inflammatory markers investigated. The independent and inverse association between serum 25(OH)D levels and inflammation suggests a potential anti-inflammatory role for vitamin D in older English individuals from the general population.

The association of ferritin with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in community-dwellers: The English longitudinal study of ageing.

BACKGROUND: Ferritin constitutes a sensitive iron-storage index and multi-functional protein. Evidence on its association with mortality in general population is scarce and conflicting. We investigated the sex-specific associations of ferritin levels with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in a population-based cohort. METHODS: Data came from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and the national mortality registry. The sample comprised 5,471 participants aged ≥52 years. Blood concentration of ferritin was measured at baseline in 2004-05. Sex-specific Cox proportional hazards models were estimated with adjustment for age, major chronic diseases, marital status, educational attainment, total net household wealth, anemia, inflammatory markers, body mass index, smoking, and physical activity. Stratified analyses by chronic disease status were also performed. RESULTS: We categorized ferritin in sex-specific quartiles. In men, we used, the following categorization: lowest (2-69ng/ml), second lowest (70-118ng/ml), second highest (reference category) (119-193ng/ml) and highest (194-598ng/ml) ferritin quartiles. In women, ferritin was categorized as follows: lowest (2-44ng/ml), second lowest (45-73ng/ml), second highest (reference category) (74-115ng/ml) and highest (116-341ng/ml) ferritin quartiles. 841 deaths of which 262 cardiovascular disease-related were recorded over a mean follow-up time of 7.7 years. Risk for all-cause mortality was found increased in men with hyperferritinemia (194-598ng/ml) and no history of major chronic diseases compared with the reference group [fully-adjusted HR: 1.49 (95%CI 1.03-2.16)]. Among women, those in the lowest ferritin quartile (2-44ng/ml) had increased risk for all-cause mortality [fully-adjusted HR: 1.59 (95%CI 1.18-2.13)] compared with the reference group after adjustment for all covariates. Regarding cardiovascular mortality, we observed a positive association with ferritin levels in men, which was blunted after adjustment for inflammatory markers and lifestyle parameters. Men with no major chronic diseases who were in the highest ferritin quartile had a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular mortality. No association between ferritin levels and cardiovascular mortality was detected in women. CONCLUSION: Circulating ferritin levels showed sex-specific prognostic patterns. High ferritin levels in men with no major chronic disease and low ferritin levels in all women were associated with increased all-cause mortality after adjusting for covariates. High ferritin levels in men with no major chronic diseases were also independently associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality. Future research is needed to clarify the prognostic role of ferritin.

Wealth and mortality at older ages: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Despite the importance of socioeconomic position for survival, total wealth, which is a measure of accumulation of assets over the life course, has been underinvestigated as a predictor of mortality. We investigated the association between total wealth and mortality at older ages. METHODS: We estimated Cox proportional hazards models using a sample of 10,305 community-dwelling individuals aged ≥ 50 years from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. RESULTS: 2401 deaths were observed over a mean follow-up of 9.4 years. Among participants aged 50-64 years, the fully adjusted HRs for mortality were 1.21 (95% CI 0.92 to 1.59) and 1.77 (1.35 to 2.33) for those in the intermediate and lowest wealth tertiles, respectively, compared with those in the highest wealth tertile. The respective HRs were 2.54 (1.27 to 5.09) and 3.73 (1.86 to 7.45) for cardiovascular mortality and 1.36 (0.76 to 2.42) and 2.53 (1.45 to 4.41) for other non-cancer mortality. Wealth was not associated with cancer mortality in the fully adjusted model. Similar but less strong associations were observed among participants aged ≥ 65 years. The use of repeated measurements of wealth and covariates brought about only minor changes, except for the association between wealth and cardiovascular mortality, which became less strong in the younger participants. Wealth explained the associations between paternal occupation at age 14 years, education, occupational class, and income and mortality. CONCLUSIONS: There are persisting wealth inequalities in mortality at older ages, which only partially are explained by established risk factors. Wealth appears to be more strongly associated with mortality than other socioeconomic position measures.

All cause mortality and the case for age specific alcohol consumption guidelines: pooled analyses of up to 10 population based cohorts.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the suitability of age specific limits for alcohol consumption and to explore the association between alcohol consumption and mortality in different age groups. DESIGN: Population based data from Health Survey for England 1998-2008, linked to national mortality registration data and pooled for analysis using proportional hazards regression. Analyses were stratified by sex and age group (50-64 and ≥ 65 years). SETTING: Up to 10 waves of the Health Survey for England, which samples the non-institutionalised general population resident in England. PARTICIPANTS: The derivation of two analytical samples was based on the availability of comparable alcohol consumption data, covariate data, and linked mortality data among adults aged 50 years or more. Two samples were used, each utilising a different variable for alcohol usage: self reported average weekly consumption over the past year and self reported consumption on the heaviest day in the past week. In fully adjusted analyses, the former sample comprised Health Survey for England years 1998-2002, 18,368 participants, and 4102 deaths over a median follow-up of 9.7 years, whereas the latter comprised Health Survey for England years 1999-2008, 34,523 participants, and 4220 deaths over a median follow-up of 6.5 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: All cause mortality, defined as any death recorded between the date of interview and the end of data linkage on 31 March 2011. RESULTS: In unadjusted models, protective effects were identified across a broad range of alcohol usage in all age-sex groups. These effects were attenuated across most use categories on adjustment for a range of personal, socioeconomic, and lifestyle factors. After the exclusion of former drinkers, these effects were further attenuated. Compared with self reported never drinkers, significant protective associations were limited to younger men (50-64 years) and older women (≥ 65 years). Among younger men, the range of protective effects was minimal, with a significant reduction in hazards present only among those who reported consuming 15.1-20.0 units/average week (hazard ratio 0.49, 95% confidence interval 0.26 to 0.91) or 0.1-1.5 units on the heaviest day (0.43, 0.21 to 0.87). The range of protective effects was broader but lower among older women, with significant reductions in hazards present ≤ 10.0 units/average week and across all levels of heaviest day use. Supplementary analyses found that most protective effects disappeared where calculated in comparison with various definitions of occasional drinkers. CONCLUSIONS: Beneficial associations between low intensity alcohol consumption and all cause mortality may in part be attributable to inappropriate selection of a referent group and weak adjustment for confounders. Compared with never drinkers, age stratified analyses suggest that beneficial dose-response relations between alcohol consumption and all cause mortality may be largely specific to women drinkers aged 65 years or more, with little to no protection present in other age-sex groups. These protective associations may, however, be explained by the effect of selection biases across age-sex strata.

English Longitudinal Study of Aging: can Internet/E-mail use reduce cognitive decline?

BACKGROUND: Cognitive decline is a major risk factor for disability, dementia, and death. The use of Internet/E-mail, also known as digital literacy, might decrease dementia incidence among the older population. The aim was to investigate whether digital literacy might be associated with decreased cognitive decline in older adulthood. METHODS: Data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging cohort with 6,442 participants aged 50-89 years, followed for 8 years, with baseline cognitive testing and four additional time points. The main outcome variable was the relative percentage change in delayed recall from a 10-word-list learning task across five separate measurement points. In addition to digital literacy, socioeconomic variables, including wealth and education, comorbidities, and baseline cognitive function were included in predictive models. The analysis used Generalized Estimating Equations. RESULTS: Higher education, no functional impairment, fewer depressive symptoms, no diabetes, and Internet/E-mail use predicted better performance in delayed recall. CONCLUSIONS: Digital literacy may help reduce cognitive decline among persons aged between 50 and 89 years.

Is gonorrhea becoming untreatable?

An estimated 498 million new cases of curable sexually transmitted infections occur worldwide annually. Of these, 106 million are gonococcal infections, rendering gonorrhea the second most prevalent bacterial sexually transmitted infection after chlamydia. A decline in susceptibility to extended-spectrum cephalosporins, as well as treatment failures, have been identified worldwide. This, together with the associated epidemiological and socioeconomic burden, is of increasing concern. Currently, the effectiveness of antibiotic resistance control measures is limited. Barriers include the lack of therapeutic options, the difficulties of reducing high-risk sexual behavior and Neisseria gonorrhoeae's propensity to rapidly acquire resistance determinants. While the disease remains treatable for the moment, we need to anticipate and be prepared for the arrival and spread of untreatable gonorrhea by using a multifaceted approach and search for other, perhaps novel control strategies.

Risk factors for depressed mood amongst a community dwelling older age population in England: cross-sectional survey data from the PRO-AGE study.

BACKGROUND: The Quality and Outcomes Framework in the United Kingdom (UK) National Health Service previously highlighted case finding of depression amongst patients with diabetes or coronary heart disease. However, depression in older people remains under-recognized. Comprehensive data for analyses of the association of depression in older age with other health and functional measures, and demographic factors from community populations within England, are lacking. METHODS: Secondary analyses of cross-sectional baseline survey data from the England arm of a randomised controlled trial of health risk appraisal for older people in Europe; PRO-AGE study. Data from 1085 community-dwelling non-disabled people aged 65 years or more from three group practices in suburban London contributed to this study. Depressed mood was ascertained from the 5-item Mental Health Inventory Screening test. Exploratory multivariable logistic regression was used to identify the strongest associations of depressed mood with a previous diagnosis of a specified physical/mental health condition, health and functional measures, and demographic factors. RESULTS: Depressed mood occurred in 14% (155/1085) of participants. A previous diagnoses of depression (OR 3.39; P < 0.001) and poor vision as determined from a Visual Function Questionnaire (OR 2.37; P = 0.001) were amongst the strongest factors associated with depressed mood that were independent of functional impairment, other co-morbidities, and demographic factors. A subgroup analyses on those without a previous diagnosis of depression also indicated that within this group, poor vision (OR 2.51; P = 0.002) was amongst the strongest independent factors associated with depressed mood. CONCLUSIONS: Previous case-finding strategies in primary care focussed on heart disease and diabetes but health-related conditions other than coronary heart disease and diabetes are also associated with an increased risk for depression. Complex issues of multi-morbidity occur within aging populations. 'Risk' factors that appeared stronger than those, such as, diabetes and coronary heart disease that until recently prompted for screening in the UK due to the QOF, were identified, and independent of other morbidities associated with depressed mood. From the health and functional factors investigated, amongst the strongest factors associated with depressed mood was poor vision. Consideration to case finding for depressed mood among older people with visual impairment might be justified.

Cohort profile: the health survey for England.

To monitor the health of the public in England, UK, the Central Health Monitoring Unit within the UK Department of Health commissioned an annual health examination survey, which became known as the Health Survey for England (HSE). The first survey was completed in 1991. The HSE covers all of England and is a nationally representative sample of those residing at private residential addresses. Each survey year consists of a new sample of private residential addresses and people. The HSE collects detailed information on mental and physical health, health-related behaviour, and objective physical and biological measures in relation to demographic and socio-economic characteristics of people aged 16 years and over at private residential addresses. There are two parts to the HSE; an interviewer visit, to conduct an interview and measure height and weight, then a nurse visit, to carry out further measurements and take biological samples. Since 1994, survey participants aged 16 years and over have been asked for consent to follow-up through linkage to mortality and cancer registration data, and from 2003, to the Hospital Episode Statistics database, thus converting annual cross-sectional survey data into a longitudinal study. Annual survey data (1994-2009) are available through the UK Data Archive.