F Kittel

Psycho-socio-biological correlates of moderate overweight in an industrial population

Abstract This paper deals with the study of the relation between psycho-socio-biological factors and moderate overweight of subjects participating to the Belgian Heart Disease Prevention Project. The 8284 male subjects of the trial, working in 30 Belgian Flemish or French-speaking factories, aged 40–59 yr, were medically screened and asked to answer medical, social and psychological questionnaires. Base-line data are here analysed in regard to relative weight (mean relative weight and tertiles of relative weight). Stepwise discriminant analyses between tertile III and tertile I introducing psychological, social and bioclinical variables, showed that the ‘obese’ subjects (tertile III) are less frequently cigarette smokers, are less neurotic, are of a lower occupational class, are more frequently living in Wallonia (south of Belgium) and are more extravert compared to the ‘lean’ subjects (tertile I). Moreover, prospective studies are further needed to determine the causal or sequential effects on moderate overweight of the two psychological factors: neuroticism and extraversion.

The Belgian Heart Disease Prevention Project: type "A" behavior pattern and the prevalence of coronary heart disease.

&NA; A relation between the Type A behavior pattern and the prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD), independent of other coronary risk factors, was demonstrated in the Belgian Heart Disease Prevention Project. The association was strongest with angina pectoris or with electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities in subjects with known CHD; however, particular aspects of the Type A behavior pattern dealing with time urgency were also related to ECG abnormalities in patients with no angina pectoris and no history of CHD.

Behavioural and psychosocial correlates of nondipping blood pressure pattern among middle-aged men and women at work

The underlying pathogenetic mechanisms of nondipping blood pressure (BP) pattern are not completely understood. Especially the role of psychosocial correlates remains unclear. The aim was to assess the association between nondipping BP pattern, behavioural and psychosocial factors in a sample of working men and women. The study sample included 167 working men and women aged 40–64 years from the BELSTRESS cohort. Socio-demographic, behavioural and psychosocial factors were assessed by self-administered questionnaires. Participants were medically examined and underwent an ambulatory BP monitoring during 24 h. Nondipping was defined when the average nocturnal decline in BP was <10%. The prevalence of nondipping for both systolic and diastolic BP was 7.8%. Nondipping was not significantly related to smoking, alcohol consumption and leisure time physical activity. A crude significant association was observed between nondipping and sleep problems. After adjusting for gender, education and body mass index, the risk for nondipping was associated with job strain, living alone, being unsatisfied about the contact with ones children, depressive symptoms and vital exhaustion. Nondipping BP pattern was consistently related to psychosocial factors in this study: positive associations were observed with measures of job strain, poor private life support (living alone and being unsatisfied about the contact with ones children) and mental health problems (depressive symptoms and vital exhaustion).

Smoking habits and psycho-socio-biological factors

Abstract This paper is devoted to the study of the relation between smoking habits and psychosocio-biological variables among subjects participating to the Belgian Heart Disease Prevention Project. During a base-line examination, male subjects, aged 40–59 yr, answered to medical, social and psychological questionnaires. Stepwise discriminant analyses between cigarette smokers and non-smokers showed that the former are older, more obese, have a higher mean serum cholesterol, are more frequently located in the northern part of Belgium, have a lower study level, are less type “A” and more extravert and neurotic. Seven factors independently discriminate smokers from ex-smokers: the latter are older, more obese, more often married, located in the southern part of Belgium; they have a higher study level, are more type “A” but less extravert. Few factors differentiate ex-smokers from non-smokers: the former are older, more neurotic, have a higher mean serum cholesterol and a greater tendency to answer with social conformity (on the lie-score). The authors hypothesize that between the cigarette smokers there is a sub-group of subjects who are psycho-socially very close to non-smokers, giving them a greater opportunity to become ex- smokers. This hypothesis is tested on a prospective basis among the subjects of the Belgian Heart Disease Prevention Project.

Irregular Working Hours and Lipid Levels in Men

The literature on the overall health effects of irregular working hours is extensive. However, the relationship between work rhythm and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) has rarely been studied.

Work Load and Coronary Heart Disease

The concept of daily life stress, particularly stress due to work load or “job stress,” seems to be embedded in the socio-cultural setting of industrialized populations in such a way that it is self explanatory for all kinds of sustained illness, such as a myocardial infarction. The possible relationship between stress and coronary heart disease is regularly publized by the mass media. On the other hand, prospective studies of coronary heart disease were started more than 25 years ago, but little attention was paid to stress; the possible relationship between stress and coronary heart disease (CHD) has been flatly denied because of the difficulty in defining the term, and on account of two examples, which seemingly negate the relationship: the “stress-free” Finnish lumberjacks having a very high incidence of CHD opposed to the “stressful” Japanese with a rather low CHD incidence. The low epidemiologic interest in job stress as a risk factor for CHD is counterbalanced by the numerous animal and human experimental and clinical studies carried out since Selye developed his three-phased stress concept (58).

Social Differences in the Long-Term Effects of Health Education in Reducing Coronary Risk

In prospective epidemiological surveys the relation between certain factors and the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) has been well documented. The reversibility of the coronary risk by intervening on the risk factors is less well documented, and the feasibility of reducing risk factors in a middle-aged population has been demonstrated [1–4] as well as refuted [5, 6].