Mood and anxiety disorders across the adult lifespan: a European perspective

BACKGROUND: The World Mental Health Survey Initiative (WMHSI) has advanced our understanding of mental disorders by providing data suitable for analysis across many countries. However, these data have not yet been fully explored from a cross-national lifespan perspective. In particular, there is a shortage of research on the relationship between mood and anxiety disorders and age across countries. In this study we used multigroup methods to model the distribution of 12-month DSM-IV/CIDI mood and anxiety disorders across the adult lifespan in relation to determinants of mental health in 10 European Union (EU) countries. METHOD: Logistic regression was used to model the odds of any mood or any anxiety disorder as a function of age, gender, marital status, urbanicity and employment using a multigroup approach (n = 35500). This allowed for the testing of specific lifespan hypotheses across participating countries. RESULTS: No simple geographical pattern exists with which to describe the relationship between 12-month prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders and age. Of the adults sampled, very few aged ≥ 80 years met DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for these disorders. The associations between these disorders and key sociodemographic variables were relatively homogeneous across countries after adjusting for age. CONCLUSIONS: Further research is required to confirm that there are indeed stages in the lifespan where the reported prevalence of mental disorders is low, such as among younger adults in the East and older adults in the West. This project illustrates the difficulties in conducting research among different age groups simultaneously.

The association between obesity and back pain in nine countries: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: The association between obesity and back pain has mainly been studied in high-income settings with inconclusive results, and data from older populations and developing countries are scarce. The aim of this study was to assess this association in nine countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America among older adults using nationally-representative data. METHODS: Data on 42116 individuals ≥50 years who participated in the Collaborative Research on Ageing in Europe (COURAGE) study conducted in Finland, Poland, and Spain in 2011-2012, and the World Health Organization's Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) conducted in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa in 2007-2010 were analysed. Information on measured height and weight available in the two datasets was used to calculate Body Mass Index (BMI). Self-reported back pain occurring in the past 30 days was the outcome. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between BMI and back pain. RESULTS: The prevalence of back pain ranged from 21.5% (China) to 57.5% (Poland). In the multivariable analysis, compared to BMI 18.5-24.9 kg/m(2), significantly higher odds for back pain were observed for BMI ≥35 kg/m(2) in Finland (OR 3.33), Russia (OR 2.20), Poland (OR 2.03), Spain (OR 1.56), and South Africa (OR 1.48); BMI 30.0-34.0 kg/m(2) in Russia (OR 2.76), South Africa (OR 1.51), and Poland (OR 1.47); and BMI 25.0-29.9 kg/m(2) in Russia (OR 1.51) and Poland (OR 1.40). No significant associations were found in the other countries. CONCLUSIONS: The strength of the association between obesity and back pain may vary by country. Future studies are needed to determine the factors contributing to differences in the associations observed.

Condiciones de trabajo psicosociales y desgaste psíquico en trabajadores de diversos sectores empresariales de centro-oriente, suroccidente y región Caribe en Colombia

Objetivo: Determinar la percepción de trabajadores de distintos sectores empresariales de Colombia sobre los factores psicosociales presentes en su entorno laboral y la relación entre los factores psicosociales nocivos y los síntomas subjetivos y alteraciones de la salud. Materiales y métodos: Estudio no experimental, transversal y cuantitativo. Participaron 370 trabajadores, de diferentes sectores empresariales de Colombia (Centro-Oriente, Suroccidente y región Caribe). Instrumento: batería para el estudio de las condiciones de trabajo de carácter psicosocial (CTCPS-MAC), validada para población iberoamericana, permite evaluar cuatro dimensiones: Contexto de trabajo, Contenido de trabajo, Factores individuales y Desgaste psíquico e incluye catorce factores psicosociales. Los datos se analizaron con IBM SPSS statistics 21. Se realizó análisis bivariado y regresión logística multivariante de factores psicosociales nocivos y desgaste psíquico. Resultados: Los factores formación, baja médica, contexto de trabajo, contenido de trabajo y factores individuales están asociados en este estudio con desgaste psíquico. El contexto de trabajo es la variable que infiere mayor riesgo (p=0.000; Exp (B)= 5.355) para provocar desgaste psíquico, seguida de la formación técnica o superior y del contenido del trabajo. Conclusiones: Si bien aquellos trabajadores cuya percepción nociva del contexto de trabajo (interrelación trabajo-vida familiar/personal, cultura de la organización, gestión de la empresa, etc.), del contenido de trabajo (concepción tareas, carga y ritmo de trabajo, etc.) y los que tienen formación técnica o superior tienen mayor probabilidad de padecer desgaste psíquico, se observan aspectos positivos de las condiciones de trabajo psicosocial y su influencia en los trabajadores y en las organizaciones.