BACKGROUND: The "GHRAS" study is aimed at investigating the interactions among socioeconomic, lifestyle, dietary, psychological, and biochemical factors determining the health status of elderly Greeks. The design and baseline sociodemographic, clinical, and dietary characteristics of the participants are presented here. MATERIAL/ METHODS: A total of 782 elderly (>60 years of age) Greeks were randomly recruited in Athens. Standardized anthropometric, biochemical, and clinical procedures and extensive questionnaires were used to assess health parameters and lifestyle factors. RESULTS: A high prevalence of hypercholesterolemia was found in both men and women (78.7% vs. 90.1%, p<0.001) as well as hypertension (81.3% vs. 71.8, p=0.005). Obesity was found in 43.6% of all participants and 42.7% was overweight. Elderly women demonstrated higher mean BMI values than the men (30.2+/-5.0 vs. 28.7+/-4.0, p<0.001). Only 13.4% of all subjects reported current smoking. The majority of the women (77.5%) had never smoked, while most of the men (53.4%) were former smokers. The women appeared more physically active and less adherent to the Mediterranean diet than the men. 36.2% of the women and 21.0% of the men had mild to severe depressive symptoms (p<0.001), while 28.4% of the women and 25.4% of the men had cognitive decline (p=0.430). A history of cardiovascular disease was present in 19.9% and diabetes in 13.9% of all participants. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of morbidity risk factors in this population is high. Further investigation is required, including the interaction of compromising factors, to clarify their impact on the health status of the elderly.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: The "GHRAS" study is aimed at investigating the interactions among socioeconomic, lifestyle, dietary, psychological, and biochemical factors determining the health status of elderly Greeks. The design and baseline sociodemographic, clinical, and dietary characteristics of the participants are presented here. MATERIAL/ METHODS: A total of 782 elderly (>60 years of age) Greeks were randomly recruited in Athens. Standardized anthropometric, biochemical, and clinical procedures and extensive questionnaires were used to assess health parameters and lifestyle factors. RESULTS: A high prevalence of hypercholesterolemia was found in both men and women (78.7% vs. 90.1%, p<0.001) as well as hypertension (81.3% vs. 71.8, p=0.005). Obesity was found in 43.6% of all participants and 42.7% was overweight. Elderly women demonstrated higher mean BMI values than the men (30.2+/-5.0 vs. 28.7+/-4.0, p<0.001). Only 13.4% of all subjects reported current smoking. The majority of the women (77.5%) had never smoked, while most of the men (53.4%) were former smokers. The women appeared more physically active and less adherent to the Mediterranean diet than the men. 36.2% of the women and 21.0% of the men had mild to severe depressive symptoms (p<0.001), while 28.4% of the women and 25.4% of the men had cognitive decline (p=0.430). A history of cardiovascular disease was present in 19.9% and diabetes in 13.9% of all participants. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of morbidity risk factors in this population is high. Further investigation is required, including the interaction of compromising factors, to clarify their impact on the health status of the elderly.
Authors: Jennifer A Nettleton; Marie-France Hivert; Rozenn N Lemaitre; Nicola M McKeown; Dariush Mozaffarian; Toshiko Tanaka; Mary K Wojczynski; Adela Hruby; Luc Djoussé; Julius S Ngwa; Jack L Follis; Maria Dimitriou; Andrea Ganna; Denise K Houston; Stavroula Kanoni; Vera Mikkilä; Ani Manichaikul; Ioanna Ntalla; Frida Renström; Emily Sonestedt; Frank J A van Rooij; Stefania Bandinelli; Lawrence de Koning; Ulrika Ericson; Neelam Hassanali; Jessica C Kiefte-de Jong; Kurt K Lohman; Olli Raitakari; Constantina Papoutsakis; Per Sjogren; Kathleen Stirrups; Erika Ax; Panos Deloukas; Christopher J Groves; Paul F Jacques; Ingegerd Johansson; Yongmei Liu; Mark I McCarthy; Kari North; Jorma Viikari; M Carola Zillikens; Josée Dupuis; Albert Hofman; Genovefa Kolovou; Kenneth Mukamal; Inga Prokopenko; Olov Rolandsson; Ilkka Seppälä; L Adrienne Cupples; Frank B Hu; Mika Kähönen; André G Uitterlinden; Ingrid B Borecki; Luigi Ferrucci; David R Jacobs; Stephen B Kritchevsky; Marju Orho-Melander; James S Pankow; Terho Lehtimäki; Jacqueline C M Witteman; Erik Ingelsson; David S Siscovick; George Dedoussis; James B Meigs; Paul W Franks Journal: Am J Epidemiol Date: 2012-12-19 Impact factor: 4.897
Authors: Amanda M Fretts; Jack L Follis; Jennifer A Nettleton; Rozenn N Lemaitre; Julius S Ngwa; Mary K Wojczynski; Ioanna Panagiota Kalafati; Tibor V Varga; Alexis C Frazier-Wood; Denise K Houston; Jari Lahti; Ulrika Ericson; Edith H van den Hooven; Vera Mikkilä; Jessica C Kiefte-de Jong; Dariush Mozaffarian; Kenneth Rice; Frida Renström; Kari E North; Nicola M McKeown; Mary F Feitosa; Stavroula Kanoni; Caren E Smith; Melissa E Garcia; Anna-Maija Tiainen; Emily Sonestedt; Ani Manichaikul; Frank J A van Rooij; Maria Dimitriou; Olli Raitakari; James S Pankow; Luc Djoussé; Michael A Province; Frank B Hu; Chao-Qiang Lai; Margaux F Keller; Mia-Maria Perälä; Jerome I Rotter; Albert Hofman; Misa Graff; Mika Kähönen; Kenneth Mukamal; Ingegerd Johansson; Jose M Ordovas; Yongmei Liu; Satu Männistö; André G Uitterlinden; Panos Deloukas; Ilkka Seppälä; Bruce M Psaty; L Adrienne Cupples; Ingrid B Borecki; Paul W Franks; Donna K Arnett; Mike A Nalls; Johan G Eriksson; Marju Orho-Melander; Oscar H Franco; Terho Lehtimäki; George V Dedoussis; James B Meigs; David S Siscovick Journal: Am J Clin Nutr Date: 2015-09-09 Impact factor: 7.045
Authors: Georgia Ragia; Eleftherios Nikolaidis; Anna Tavridou; Kostas I Arvanitidis; Stavroula Kanoni; George V Dedoussis; George Bougioukas; Vangelis G Manolopoulos Journal: Hum Genomics Date: 2010-08 Impact factor: 4.639