Psychiatric (Axis I) and personality (Axis II) disorders and subjective psychiatric symptoms in chronic tinnitus.

OBJECTIVE: Chronic tinnitus has been associated with several psychiatric disorders. Only few studies have investigated these disorders using validated diagnostic interviews. The aims were to diagnose psychiatric and personality disorders with structured interviews, to assess self-rated psychiatric symptoms and elucidate temporal relations between psychiatric disorders and tinnitus. DESIGN: Current and lifetime DSM-IV diagnoses of axis-I (psychiatric disorders) and axis-II (personality disorders) were assessed using structured clinical interviews (SCID-I and -II). Current subjective psychiatric symptoms were evaluated via self-rating instruments: the Symptom Check List-90 (SCL-90), the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). STUDY SAMPLE: 83 patients (mean age 51.7, 59% men) with chronic, disturbing tinnitus and a median Tinnitus Handicap Inventory score of 32. RESULTS: The rates of lifetime and current major depression were 26.5% and 2.4%. The lifetime rate of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (type C) was 8.4%. None of the patients had cluster B personality disorder or psychotic symptoms. The SCL-90 subscales did not differ from the general population, and median DES score was low, 2.4. CONCLUSIONS: Tinnitus patients are prone to episodes of major depression and often also have obsessive-compulsive personality features. Psychiatric disorders seem to be comorbid or predisposing conditions rather than consequences of tinnitus. Clinical trial reference: ClinicalTrials.gov (ID NCT 01929837).

Electric field-navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation for chronic tinnitus: a randomized, placebo-controlled study.

OBJECTIVE: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may alleviate tinnitus. We evaluated effects of electric field (E-field) navigated rTMS targeted according to tinnitus pitch. No controlled studies have investigated anatomically accurate E-field-rTMS for tinnitus. DESIGN: Effects of E-field-rTMS were evaluated in a prospective randomised placebo-controlled 6-month follow-up study on parallel groups. Patients received 10 sessions of 1 Hz rTMS or placebo targeted to the left auditory cortex corresponding to tonotopic representation of tinnitus pitch. Effects were evaluated immediately after treatment and at 1, 3 and 6 months. Primary outcome measures were visual analogue scores (VAS 0-100) for tinnitus intensity, annoyance and distress, and the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI). STUDY SAMPLE: Thirty-nine patients (mean age 50.3 years). RESULTS: The mean tinnitus intensity (F3 = 15.7, p < 0.0001), annoyance (F3 = 8.8, p = 0.0002), distress (F3 = 9.1, p = 0.0002) and THI scores (F4 = 13.8, p < 0.0001) decreased in both groups over time with non-significant differences between the groups. After active rTMS, 42% and 37% of the patients showed excellent response at 1 and 3 months against 15% and 10% in the placebo group (p = 0.082 and p = 0.065). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the significant effects of rTMS on tinnitus, differences between active and placebo groups remained non-significant, due to large placebo-effect and wide inter-individual variation.

Optimism and pessimism as predictors of initiating and ending an antidepressant medication treatment.

BACKGROUND: The personality variables optimism and pessimism are potential risk factors for disorders commonly treated with antidepressants. AIMS: To evaluate optimism and pessimism as predictors of initiating and ending an antidepressant treatment. METHODS: Data consisted of 29,930 public sector employees with no record of diagnosed depression. Optimism and pessimism were measured using the Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R) at baseline. The data of purchases of antidepressants were from the national Drug Prescription Register. RESULTS: During the mean follow-up of 4.4 years, 1681 participants initiated and of them 1288 ended an antidepressant treatment lasting at least 100 days. In the adjusted model, high optimism was associated with a lower likelihood of starting antidepressant medication treatment (hazard ratios, HR, 0.67, 95% CI 0.62-0.73) and a higher likelihood of stopping the treatment (HR = 1.18, 95% CI 1.08-1.30). High pessimism was associated with a higher likelihood of starting antidepressant medication treatment (HR = 1.27, 95% CI 1.16-1.38) and a lower likelihood of stopping it (HR = 0.89, 95% CI 0.80-0.98). These associations remained after optimism score was adjusted for pessimism and vice versa or those with symptoms of mental health problems at baseline were removed from the analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Low optimism and high pessimism are independently associated with an increased likelihood of initiating antidepressant medication treatment, but with a decreased likelihood of ending it during the follow-up.

Effect of depression onset on adherence to medication among hypertensive patients: a longitudinal modelling study.

OBJECTIVES: Although a link between depression and poor adherence to antihypertensive medication (AHM) has been found, it is not known whether depression actually leads to poorer adherence or whether poor adherence only is a marker of depression. In this study we aimed to determine the time order between hypertension, depression and changes in adherence to AHM. METHODS: The analyses were based on data gathered from a longitudinal cohort of Finnish employees (The Finnish Public Sector Study). A total of 852 chronically hypertensive men and women at baseline with a recorded onset of depression during the 9-year observation window and 2359 hypertensive control participants matched for age, sex, socio-economic status, time of study entry, employer and geographic area were included in the study. Individuals with any sign of depression during 4 years before the beginning of the study were excluded. To describe long-term trajectories (4 years before and 4 years after the recorded depression) of AHM adherence in relation to the onset of depression, annual data on reimbursed AHM prescriptions were gathered from the national Drug Prescription Register. Annual nonadherence rates (i.e. number of 'days-not-treated') were based on filled prescriptions. RESULTS: Among male cases, the rate of 'days-not-treated' was 1.52 times higher (95% confidence interval 1.08-2.14) in the years after the onset of depression compared to preonset levels. In women and in male controls, no change in adherence to AHM was observed between these time periods. CONCLUSION: In hypertensive men, the onset of recorded depression increases the risk of nonadherence to AHM.

Job strain and the risk of disability pension due to musculoskeletal disorders, depression or coronary heart disease: a prospective cohort study of 69,842 employees.

OBJECTIVES: Observational studies suggest that high job strain is a risk factor for retirement on health grounds, but few studies have analysed specific diagnoses. We examined job strain's association with all-cause and cause-specific disability pensions. METHODS: Survey responses to questions about job strain from 48,598 (response rate, 68%) public sector employees in Finland from 2000 to 2002 were used to determine work unit- and occupation-based scores. These job strain scores were assigned to all the 69,842 employees in the same work units or occupations. All participants were linked to the disability pension register of the Finnish Centre of Pensions with no loss to follow-up. Cox proportional hazard models were used to calculate HRs and their 95% CIs for disability pensions adjusted by demographic, work unit characteristics and baseline health in analyses stratified by sex and socioeconomic position. RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 4.6 years, 2572 participants (4%) were granted a disability pension. A one-unit increase in job strain was associated with a 1.3- to 2.4-fold risk of requiring a disability pension due to musculoskeletal diseases in men, women and manual workers, depending on the measure of job strain (work unit or occupation based). The risk of disability pension due to cardiovascular diseases was increased in men with high job strain but not in women nor in any socioeconomic group. No consistent pattern was found for disability pension due to depression. CONCLUSION: High job strain is a risk factor for disability pension due to musculoskeletal diseases.

Using repeated measures of sleep disturbances to predict future diagnosis-specific work disability: a cohort study.

CONTEXT: It is unknown whether or not measuring sleep disturbances repeatedly, rather than at only one point in time, improves prediction of work disability. STUDY OBJECTIVE: o examine sleep disturbance patterns over time as a risk marker for diagnosis-specific work disability. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study linking repeatedly measured self-reported sleep disturbances with records of physician-certified work disability (sickness absence) from a national register. Participants responded to surveys in 2000-2002, and 2004, and were followed up for 12 mo. SETTING: Public sector employees in Finland. PARTICIPANTS: 25,639 participants (mean age 45.6 yr, 82% female). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Incident diagnosis-specific sickness absence of > 9 days. RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 323 days, 4,975 employees (19%) had a new episode of sickness absence. In multivariable-adjusted models corrected for multiple testing, stable severe sleep disturbances, in comparison with no sleep disturbances, were associated with an increased risk of sickness absence due to diseases of the musculoskeletal system (hazard ratio (HR) 1.68, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.45-1.95), and injuries and poisonings (HR 1.64, 95% CI 1.23-2.18). Increases in sleep disturbances predicted subsequent sickness absence due to mental disorders (HR 1.59, 95% CI 1.32-1.91), and diseases of the musculoskeletal system (HR 1.44, 95% CI 1.27-1.64) According to net reclassification improvement analyses, measurement of sleep disturbance patterns rather than the level of sleep disturbances at one point in time improved prediction of all-cause sickness absence by 14%, and diagnosis-specific sickness absences up to 17% (P for improvement < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Increasing and severe chronic sleep disturbances mark an increased risk of diagnosis-specific work disability.

Change in physical activity and weight in relation to retirement: the French GAZEL Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the trajectories of physical activity from preretirement to postretirement and to further clarify whether the changes in physical activity are associated with changes in body weight. DESIGN: Prospective. SETTING: French national gas and electricity company (GAZEL cohort). PARTICIPANTS: From the original sample of 20 625 employees, only those retiring between 2001 and 2008 on a statutory basis were selected for the analyses (analysis 1: n=2711, 63% men; analysis 2: n=3812, 75% men). Persons with data on at least one preretirement and postretirement measurement of the outcome were selected. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: All outcome data were gathered by questionnaires. In analysis 1, the annual prevalence of higher physical activity (walking ≥5 km/week) 4 years before and after retirement was analysed. In analysis 2, changes in leisure-time sport activities (engagement, frequency and manner) from preretirement to postretirement were analysed with simultaneous changes in body weight (kilogram). RESULTS: In analysis 1 (n=2711), prevalence estimates for 4 years before and 4 years after retirement showed that higher leisure-time physical activity (walking at least 5 km/week) increased by 36% in men and 61% in women during the transition to retirement. This increase was also observed among people at a higher risk of physical inactivity, such as smokers and those with elevated depressive symptoms. In a separate sample (analysis 2, n=3812), change in weight as a function of preretirement and postretirement physical activity was analysed. Weight gain preretirement to postretirement was 0.85 (95% CI 0.48 to 1.21) to 1.35 (0.79 to 1.90) kg greater among physically inactive persons (decrease in activity or inactive) compared with those physically active (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Retirement transition may be associated with beneficial changes in lifestyle and may thus be a good starting point to preventive interventions in various groups of individuals in order to maintain long-term changes.

Insomnia symptoms as a predictor of incident treatment for depression: prospective cohort study of 40,791 men and women.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the quantity and quality of insomnia symptoms as predictors of treatment for depression in the largest cohort study to date. METHODS: Forty thousand seven hundred and ninety-one Finnish public sector employees (mean age 43.9 years, 81% female), free of depression at baseline, participated in this prospective observational cohort study. Participants responded to the survey in 2000-2002 or 2004 and the mean follow-up was 3.3 years. Self-reported sleep was linked to comprehensive individual-level health registers to assess treatment for depression (antidepressant medication, commencements of psychotherapy or hospitalization due to depression). RESULTS: One thousand seven hundred and three participants fulfilled any of our set criteria for depression-related treatment. After adjustments for baseline characteristics, insomnia symptoms five to seven nights/week were associated with an increased risk of incident treatment for depression, hazard ratio 1.64 (95% confidence interval 1.44-1.86). Hazard ratio for symptoms two to four nights/week was 1.46 (1.29-1.64). Difficulties initiating or maintaining sleep and non-refreshing sleep increased the risk when analyzed separately. Those reporting all four symptoms at least twice a week had 2.09-fold (1.75-2.49) risk. The findings did not materially change after excluding depression cases within the first two years of the follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest an association between insomnia symptoms and moderately increased risk of clinically significant depression outcomes. Insomnia should be considered as a component in prediction models for new-onset depression.

Workplace social capital and adherence to antihypertensive medication: a cohort study.

BACKGROUND: While hypertension is a common and treatable health problem, adherence to antihypertensive medication remains a challenge. This study examines the hypothesis that workplace social capital may influence adherence to antihypertensive medication among hypertensive employees. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We linked survey responses to nationwide pharmacy records for a cohort of 3515 hypertensive employees (mean age 53.9 years, 76% women) who required continuous antihypertensive drug therapy (the Finnish Public Sector study). A standard scale was used to measure workplace social capital from co-workers' assessments and self-reports in 2000-2004. Non-adherence to antihypertensive medication was determined based on the number of days-not-treated at the year following the survey using comprehensive prescription records. Negative binomial regression models were conducted adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics, duration of hypertension, behaviour-related risk factors, and co-morbid conditions. The overall rate of days-not-treated was 20.7 per person-year (78% had no days-not-treated). Higher age, obesity, and presence of somatic co-morbidities were all associated with better adherence, but this was not the case for co-worker-assessed or self-reported workplace social capital. The rate of days-not-treated was 19.7 per person-year in the bottom fourth of co-worker-assessed workplace social capital, compared to 20.4 in the top fourth. The corresponding rate ratio from the fully-adjusted model was 0.95 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.58-1.56). In a subgroup of 907 new users of antihypertensive medication this rate ratio was 0.98 (95% CI 0.42-2.29). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We found no consistent evidence to support the hypothesized effect of workplace social capital on adherence to drug therapy among employees with chronic hypertension.

Temporal associations between daytime physical activity and sleep in children.

OBJECTIVES: We examined temporal associations between objectively-measured physical activity (PA) during the day and in the evening, and sleep quantity and quality. STUDY DESIGN: PA and sleep were measured by actigraphs for an average of one week in an epidemiological cohort study of 275 eight-year-old children. RESULTS: For each one standard deviation (SD) unit of increased PA during the day, sleep duration was decreased by 0.30, sleep efficiency by 0.16, and sleep fragmentation increased by 0.08 SD units that night. For each one SD unit increase in sleep duration and efficiency the preceding night, PA the following day decreased by 0.09 and 0.16 SD units, respectively. When we contrasted days with a high amount of moderate to vigorous activity during the day or in the evening to days with a more sedentary profile, the results were essentially similar. However, moderate to vigorous PA in the evening shortened sleep latency. CONCLUSIONS: The relationship between a higher level of PA and poorer sleep is bidirectional. These within-person findings challenge epidemiological findings showing that more active people report better sleep. Since only a few studies using objective measurements of both PA and sleep have been conducted in children, further studies are needed to confirm/refute these results.

Is retirement beneficial for mental health?: antidepressant use before and after retirement.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies based on self-reported data suggest that retirement may have beneficial effects on mental health, but studies using objective endpoints remain scarce. This study examines longitudinally the changes in antidepressant medication use across the 9 years spanning the transition to retirement. METHODS: Participants were Finnish public-sector employees: 7138 retired at statutory retirement age (76% women; mean age, 61.2 years), 1238 retired early due to mental health issues (78% women; mean age, 52.0 years), and 2643 retired due to physical health issues (72% women; mean age, 55.4 years). Information on purchase of antidepressant medication 4 years before and 4 years after retirement year was based on comprehensive national pharmacy records in 1994-2005. RESULTS: One year before retirement, the use of antidepressants was 4% among those who would retire at statutory age, 61% among those who would retire due to mental health issues, and 14% among those who would retire due to physical health issues. Retirement-related changes in antidepressant use depended on the reason for retirement. Among old-age retirees, antidepressant medication use decreased during the transition period (age- and calendar-year-adjusted prevalence ratio for antidepressant use 1 year after versus 1 year before retirement = 0.77 [95% confidence interval = 0.68 to 0.88]). Among those whose main reason for disability pension was mental health issues or physical health issues, there was an increasing trend in antidepressant use prior to retirement and, for mental health retirements, a decrease after retirement. CONCLUSIONS: Trajectories of recorded purchases of antidepressant medication are consistent with the hypothesis that retirement is beneficial for mental health.

Influence of retirement and work stress on headache prevalence: a longitudinal modelling study from the GAZEL Cohort Study.

AIMS: The aims of this study were to examine trajectories of headache in relation to retirement and to clarify the role of work stress and stress-prone personality. METHODS: Headache prevalence during the 7 years before and after retirement was measured by annual questionnaires from GAZEL cohort comprising French national gas and electricity company employees (n = 12,913). Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for headache during pre- peri- and post-retirement were calculated. The role of effect modifiers (work stress, type A or hostile personality) was tested by multiplicative interactions and synergy indices. RESULTS: An 11-13% reduction in headache prevalence was found during pre- and post-retirement, whereas decline was much steeper (46%) during the retirement transition. In absolute terms, the decline was greater among persons with high work stress or stress-prone personality than among other participants. CONCLUSIONS: Retirement is associated with a decrease in headache prevalence, particularly among persons with a high amount of work stress or proneness to over-react to stress.

Optimism and pessimism as predictors of work disability with a diagnosis of depression: a prospective cohort study of onset and recovery.

BACKGROUND: Personality characteristics are assumed to affect to the vulnerability to depression and its outcomes. The aim of this study was to examine optimism and pessimism as predictors of depression-related work disability and subsequent return to work. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study of 38,214 public sector employees with no record of diagnosed depression. Optimism and pessimism were measured using the Revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R). Records of long-term (>90 days) work disability with a diagnosis of depression and subsequent return to work until the end of 2005 were obtained from the national health registers. RESULTS: During the mean follow-up of 4.0 (SD=2.3) years, 287 employees encountered work disability with a diagnosis of depression. Of them, 164 (57%) returned to work during the follow-up. One unit increase in the optimism mean score (range 1-4) was associated with a 25% lower risk of work disability due to depression and a 37% higher probability of returning to work after a work disability period when adjusted for age and sex. In the fully-adjusted model hazard ratios per one unit increase in optimism were 0.79 (95% CI 0.66-0.96) for work disability and 1.30 (95% CI 1.01-1.66) for return to work. The pessimism mean score (range 1-4) was only associated with a lower probability of returning to work (fully-adjusted HR per one unit increase 0.66, 95% Cl 0.49-0.88). CONCLUSION: The level of optimism was a stronger predictor of work disability with a diagnosis of depression than the level of pessimism, while both optimism and pessimism predicted returning to work.

Lost work days in the 6 years leading to premature death from cardiovascular disease in men and women.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether individuals experience specific patterns of morbidity prior to premature death from cardiovascular disease (CVD). METHODS: We examined morbidity levels in the 6 years leading up to death from CVD in 37,397 men and 113,198 women under 65 years of age from the Finnish Public Sector study, with a particular focus on gender differences. Morbidity was assessed using lost days from work, extracted from register data on sickness leave and disability pension. Data on cause-specific mortality were obtained from national health registers. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 8.5 years, there were 361 CVD deaths (174 from ischaemic heart disease (ICD9 410-414, 427.5; ICD10 I21-I25, I46), 91 from stroke (ICD9 430, 431, 434; ICD10 I60-I60, I61, I63), and 96 from other diseases of circulatory system (ICD9 390-459; ICD10 I00-I99)). Women had lower morbidity than men over the 6 years preceding stroke deaths (RR for mean annual days=0.33 (95% CI 0.14-0.78)). For other causes of CVD mortality, there were no gender differences in morbidity rates prior to death. In men, those who died from CVD had substantially greater morbidity levels than matched controls through the entire 6-year period preceding death (rate ratio=3.59; 95% confidence interval 2.62-4.93). Among women, morbidity days were greater particularly in the year preceding death from stroke. CONCLUSION: Our results on working age men and women suggest no gender differences in morbidity prior to death from heart disease and lower morbidity in women prior to death from stroke. These findings challenge the widespread belief that women experience more morbidity symptoms than men.

Effect of retirement on sleep disturbances: the GAZEL prospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: Changes in health following retirement are poorly understood. We used serial measurements to assess the effect of retirement on sleep disturbances. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: The French national gas and electricity company. PARTICIPANTS: Fourteen thousand seven hundred fourteen retired employees (79% men). MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Annual survey measurements of sleep disturbances ranging from 7 years before to 7 years after retirement (a mean of 12 measurements). Before retirement 22.2% to 24.6% of participants reported having disturbed sleep. According to repeated-measures logistic-regression analysis with generalized estimating equations estimation, the odds ratio (OR) for having a sleep disturbance in the postretirement period was 0.74 (95% confidence interval 0.71-0.77), compared with having a sleep disturbance in the preretirement period. The postretirement improvement in sleep was more pronounced in men (OR 0.66 [0.63-0.69]) than in women (OR 0.89 [0.84-0.95]) and in higher-grade workers than lower-grade workers. Postretirement sleep improvement was explained by the combination of preretirement risk factors suggesting removal of work-related exposures as a mechanism. The only exception to the general improvement in sleep after retirement was related to retirement on health grounds. In this group of participants, there was an increase in sleep disturbances following retirement. CONCLUSIONS: Repeated measurements provide strong evidence for a substantial and sustained decrease in sleep disturbances following retirement. The possibility that the health and well-being of individuals are significantly worse when in employment than following retirement presents a great challenge to improve the quality of work life in Western societies in which the cost of the aging population can only be met through an increase in average retirement age.

Increased risk of lost workdays prior to the diagnosis of sleep apnea.

BACKGROUND: The impact of sleep apnea on work disability, in terms of sickness absence and disability pension, is unclear. We sought to estimate the total number of lost workdays caused by sleep apnea either due to medically certified sickness absences or disability pensions during the 5 years prior to the year of a sleep apnea diagnosis. METHODS: This is a register-linkage case-control study of Finnish public sector employees who had received a diagnosis of sleep apnea between 1995 and 2005 (n = 957) and randomly selected control subjects who had not received a diagnosis of sleep apnea (n = 4,785), matched for age, gender, socioeconomic position, type of employment, and organization. The annual sum of lost workdays, due to either medically certified sickness absences or disability pensions prior to diagnosis, was calculated for each participant (mean follow-up time, 5 years). RESULTS: After adjustment for comorbid conditions (eg, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, diabetes, asthma/other chronic lung disease, and depression), an increased risk of lost workdays was found in employees in whom sleep apnea developed compared to control subjects (rate ratio [RR], 1.61; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.24 to 2.09 in men; and RR, 1.80; 95% CI, 1.43 to 2.28 in women). In women, the excess risk was already pronounced 5 years prior to the year of diagnosis, whereas in men the highest risk was noticed 1 year before the year of diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Sleep apnea may severely threaten work ability years before diagnosis. These results emphasize the importance of the early identification and treatment of employees with sleep apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome as a predictor of work disability.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: This study examined whether obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is associated with increased risk of work disability during six years following the diagnosis. DESIGN: Prospective follow-up study. SETTING: Ten municipalities and six hospital districts in Finland. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 766 employees with OSAS (cases), and their control subjects (n=3,827) matched for age, gender, socioeconomic position, type of employment contract and type of organization. INTERVENTIONS: N/A. MEASUREMENTS: Data on all (>9 days) or very long-term (>90 days) sickness absences and for disability pensions were obtained from national registers. Diagnosis of OSAS was determined according to the Hospital Discharge Register, which includes data on all hospital admissions. RESULTS: According to the Cox proportional hazards models the hazard of the first sickness absence period (all sickness absences) during the follow-up was 1.7-fold (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.5-2.0) in male and 2.1-fold (95% CI: 1.8-2.4) in female sleep apnoea cases compared to controls after adjustments for sociodemographic factors. Both men and women with OSAS had a 2-fold increase in the risk for disability pension compared to controls. With regard to cause-specific work disability, employees with OSAS had a particularly pronounced risk of long-term work disability caused by injuries (HR 3.1 95% CI: 1.8-5.2) and mental disorders (HR: 2.8, CI 95%: 2.1-3.7). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that OSAS is associated with an increased risk of both sickness absence and disability pension. They emphasize the need to identify the employees with this disorder and to improve general practitioners' knowledge about screening of sleep apnoea symptoms and indicators.

Effects of risk-based multifactorial fall prevention on postural balance in the community-dwelling aged: a randomized controlled trial.

The purpose of the study was to assess the effects of 12-month risk-based multifactorial fall prevention program on postural control of the aged. Five hundred and ninety-one (97%) eligible subjects were randomized into an intervention group (IG) (n=293) and a control group (CG) (n=298). The effects of the program were measured on standing, dynamic, and functional balance. In standing balance, the velocity moment of semi-tandem standing decreased in IG (median change -0.54 mm(2)/s) but increased in CG (+3.84 mm(2)/s) among all women (p=0.011) and among the women aged 65-74 years (-1.65 mm(2)/s and +2.80 mm(2)/s, correspondingly) (p=0.008). In a dynamic test, performance distance tended to decrease in IG (-26.54 mm) and increase in CG (+34.10mm) among all women (p=0.060). The women aged 75 years or over, showed marginally significant differences between the groups as regards changes in performance time (-2.66 s and -0.90 s) (p=0.068) and distance (-92.32 mm and +76.46 mm) (p=0.062) of the dynamic balance test in favor of IG. Men showed no significant differences in the changes between the groups in any balance measures.

The effects of multifactorial fall prevention on depressive symptoms among the aged at increased risk of falling.

OBJECTIVES: The aim was to determine the effects of multifactorial fall prevention on depressive symptoms among aged Finns at increased risk of falling. METHODS: This study is part of a multifactorial fall prevention trial with a randomised controlled design implemented in the town of Pori, western Finland. The study population consisted of ambulatory, 65-year-old or older Finns, with moderate or high cognitive and physical abilities who had fallen at least once during the previous 12 months. The participants (n=591) were randomised into a risk-based multifactorial fall prevention programme (intervention group, IG) or into a one-time counselling group (control group, CG). The 1-year intervention included individual geriatric assessment followed by treatment recommendations, individual guidance regarding fall prevention, physical exercise in small groups twice a month, psychosocial group activities and lectures once a month, home-exercises and home hazard assessment. The outcome, depressive symptoms, was measured by the 30-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). RESULTS: The full GDS data with no missing items were available for 464 persons. A significant decrease in depressive symptoms during the 12-month intervention was found both in IG and in CG, but the difference in change was not significant (p=0.110). However, a significant difference in change between the groups was found among men and older subjects (>or=75) in favour of the IG. CONCLUSION: Multifactorial fall prevention had no effects on depressive symptoms among the community-dwelling aged. However, men and older participants benefited from the intervention.

Effects of risk-based multifactorial fall prevention on health-related quality of life among the community-dwelling aged: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to assess the effects of a risk-based, multifactorial fall prevention programme on health-related quality of life among the community-dwelling aged who had fallen at least once during the previous 12 months. METHODS: The study is a part of a single-centre, risk-based, multifactorial randomised controlled trial. The intervention lasted for 12 months and consisted of a geriatric assessment, guidance and treatment, individual instruction in fall prevention, group exercise, lectures on themes related to falling, psychosocial group activities and home exercise. Of the total study population (n = 591, 97% of eligible subjects), 513(251 in the intervention group and 262 in the control group) participated in this study. The effect of the intervention on quality of life was measured using the 15D health-related quality of life instrument consisting of 15 dimensions. The data were analysed using the chi-square test or Fisher's exact test, the Mann-Whitney U-test and logistic regression. RESULTS: In men, the results showed significant differences in the changes between the intervention and control groups in depression (p = 0.017) and distress (p = 0.029) and marginally significant differences in usual activities (p = 0.058) and sexual activity (p = 0.051). In women, significant differences in the changes between the groups were found in usual activities (p = 0.005) and discomfort/symptoms (p = 0.047). For the subjects aged 65 to 74 years, significant differences in the changes between the groups were seen in distress (p = 0.037) among men and in usual activities (p = 0.011) among women. All improvements were in favour of the intervention group. CONCLUSION: Fall prevention produced positive effects on some dimensions of health-related quality of life in the community-dwelling aged. Men benefited more than women.