Biomedical subjects

E Dryson

Publications and source records attributed to E Dryson.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1993

Diabetes mellitus and employment: survey of a New Zealand workforce.

A cross-sectional survey of a 5670 multiracial New Zealand workforce aged > 40 years was used to determine the health status of people with diabetes mellitus in employment. One hundred and two workers (73 men, 29 women) had known diabetes mellitus (prevalence of 1.8%) of whom 91 individuals (89.2%) had Type 2 diabetes. Mean age of diabetic workers was 51.1 +/- 5.6 (SD) years and median duration of disease was 5.0 (range 0-51) years. Most subjects were asymptomatic, although only 31.4% of diabetic workers had fasting glucose concentrations and 35.5% had fructosamine concentrations within the mean +/- 2SD range of a matched control group. Moreover, 22.5% of diabetic participants had fasting hypertriglyceridaemia and 21.6% had microalbuminuria. Ethnicity (non-European vs European) and lack of insulin therapy were the most important predictors of poor glycaemic control. We advocate more aggressive therapy with insulin and with culturally sensitive education programmes to avert long-term macrovascular complications.

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PubMed1993

Diabetes mellitus and employment: is there discrimination in the workplace?

The employment record of 102 diabetic workers (73 men, 29 women), identified in a cross-sectional survey of 5670 middle-aged people in a New Zealand workforce, was studied for evidence of discrimination in the workplace. Compared with 403 matched controls (292 men, 111 women), diabetic workers showed no significant differences in socioeconomic status, educational attainment, or distribution between occupational groups. Similarly, mean duration of current employment (12.3 vs 12.4 years), mean number of jobs in the past 5 years (1.25 vs 1.34 jobs), frequency of sickness absence, and mean number of hours worked each week (43.5 vs 43.3h) did not differ significantly between diabetic and non-diabetic groups. We found no significant differences in work stress, even among those diabetic individuals with poor blood glucose control. There was no convincing evidence across a broad spectrum of industry that diabetic workers did suffer discrimination in the workplace.

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PubMed1993

Microalbuminuria in a middle-aged workforce. Effect of hyperglycemia and ethnicity.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of microalbuminuria in a mixed, ethnic population and to find the extent that ethnic variation in microalbuminuria can be explained by abnormal glucose metabolism, obesity, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, and life-style factors. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Urinary albumin concentrations were measured in 5467 middle-aged Maori, Pacific Islander, and European workers who participated in a health-screening survey of 46 New Zealand companies. Participants provided a first-voided, morning urine sample; had a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test; had weight, height, and blood pressure measured; and completed a self-administered questionnaire about past medical history and sociodemographic status. RESULTS: A significantly higher prevalence of microalbuminuria was found in individuals with new cases of diabetes mellitus (24.1%), in cases of diabetes mellitus previously diagnosed (20.6%), and in those with impaired glucose tolerance (16.1%) compared with nondiabetic individuals (4.0%). Moreover, in the general population, a piecewise linear relationship was detected between albuminuria and plasma glucose with significant changes of slope corresponding with 2 h plasma glucose concentrations (95% confidence interval) of 6.7 (6.4-7.0) and 9.2 (8.6-9.8) mM, respectively. After adjusting for sex, obesity, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, cigarette smoking, and heavy alcohol consumption in a multivariate model, glycemia was the most significant determinant of urinary albumin concentrations in all three ethnic groups. However, blood glucose concentrations did not completely explain the higher relative risk (95% confidence interval) of microalbuminuria in Maori (5.97; 4.48-7.78) and Pacific Islander (5.33; 4.13-6.87) workers compared with European workers. CONCLUSIONS: Of the variables investigated, hyperglycemia was the most important factor explaining the high prevalence of microalbuminuria in Maori and Pacific Islander workers compared with the European workers. However, only 14.9% of the variation in urinary albumin concentrations was found in our multivariate model, and we have speculated on the contribution of other factors such as diet and coexisting renal diseases.

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PubMed1993

Asymptomatic bacteriuria in a multiracial workforce.

Prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria was determined in the first morning urine specimens from 5669 people who participated in a health screening survey of a local workforce. Higher age-standardized prevalences were observed in Maori women (18.0%), compared with Pacific Island women (9.8%) and European women (8.7%). Similarly, higher prevalences were observed in Maori men (3.2%), compared with Pacific Island men (0.7%) and European men (1.3%). After controlling for age and gender, the relative risk for asymptomatic bacteriuria in Maori people was estimated to be 2.22 times that for non-Maori people (associated 95% CI: 1.54-3.18). Significant associations of bacteriuria included a past history of myocardial infarction, a past history of kidney disease, absence of tertiary education, and impaired glucose tolerance. The most common pathogens, isolated from a subsample of 1660 participants, were Escherichia coli, 27 cases (50.9%), and Streptococcal sp, 14 cases (26.4%).

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PubMed1993

Albuminuria in people at least 40 years old: effect of alcohol consumption, regular exercise, and cigarette smoking.

We investigated the relation between albuminuria and life-style factors in 5670 people, ages 40 years and over, who participated in a health screening survey of a local workforce. The degree of albuminuria showed piecewise log-linear relationships with alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking, with changes in slope (and 95% confidence interval) corresponding with 5 (2, 8) g of alcohol/day and 10 (6, 14) cigarettes/day. After adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, and other life-style variables, relative risks (95% confidence interval) of slight albuminuria for people consuming > 32 g of alcohol/day compared with nondrinkers, and for cigarette smokers compared with nonsmokers, were 1.74 (1.02, 2.98) and 1.37 (1.01, 1.88), respectively. However, there was no significant effect of exercise. We conclude that slight albuminuria is significantly associated with cigarette smoking and heavy alcohol consumption, consistent with its role as an index of risk of cardiovascular disease.

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PubMed1993

Dietary nutrient intakes and slight albuminuria in people at least 40 years old.

We studied the relation between diet and slight albuminuria in 5416 people, ages 40 years and over, who participated in a health screening survey of a local workforce. Degree of albuminuria showed log-linear univariate relations with dietary protein, cholesterol, and sodium intakes, and negative log-linear univariate relations with dietary fiber and polyunsaturated to saturated fat (P/S) ratio. After adjusting for age, gender, and ethnicity, the relative risk (95% confidence interval) for slight albuminuria was significantly increased in people reporting dietary cholesterol consumption > 226 mg/day compared with people reporting consumption < or = 226 mg/day [1.32 (1.02, 1.70)], and significantly reduced in people reporting dietary fiber consumption > 26 g/day compared with people reporting consumption < or = 26 g/day [0.74 (0.58, 0.95)]. There was no significant effect of dietary protein, P/S ratio, or salt intake. We conclude that risk of slight albuminuria is increased by consumption of dietary cholesterol and reduced by consumption of dietary fiber.

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PubMed1992

The relationship between body mass index and socioeconomic status in New Zealand: ethnic and occupational factors.

AIMS: the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and socioeconomic status (SES) was examined in a multiracial New Zealand workforce in order to investigate ethnic variations. METHODS: an employed population of 5673 people were measured for weight and height and BMI calculated. Socioeconomic status was assigned using the UK Registrar General's scale. RESULTS: both European women and men showed an inverse relationship of increasing BMI with decreasing SES which is typical of developed societies. Maori, Pacific Islanders and Asians did not, but neither did they show the direct relationship of developing societies. Examination of the components of SES showed that combined family income did not influence BMI in any ethnic group but that education was strongly associated with BMI in Europeans (p = 0.0001) and weakly associated in Maori (p = 0.0603), and occupation was strongly associated with BMI in Europeans (p = 0.0001) and weakly associated in Pacific Islanders (p = 0.0148) independently of education. CONCLUSIONS: ethnic variations are partly explained by educational levels and occupation, but not by income. Increased education may decrease prevalence of obesity. Some occupational factors are discussed.

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PubMed1992

Albuminuria in people at least 40 years old: effect of obesity, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia.

Concentrations of urinary albumin and the albumin:creatinine ratio were measured in early-morning urine specimens from 5670 people older than 40 years who participated in a health screening survey of a local workforce. Sex-specific reference intervals were determined in a subgroup of 3597 people after excluding 2073 individuals with Albustix-positive proteinuria; diabetes mellitus; bacteriuria; current hypertension; body mass index greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2; or serum triglyceride greater than or equal to 2.5 mmol/L. The 97.5 percentile concentration for urinary albumin was 28 mg/L in men and 29 mg/L in women; for the albumin:creatinine ratio this was 2.3 g/mol in men and 2.8 g/mol in women. In the study population, the degree of albuminuria showed piecewise log-linear relationships with diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.0001) and body mass index (P = 0.0001), log-linear relationships with hypertriglyceridemia (P = 0.0001) and hypercholesterolemia (P = 0.0001), and a negative piecewise linear relationship with high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (P = 0.0461).

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PubMed1991

Prevalence of diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance in a New Zealand multiracial workforce.

A cross sectional survey was carried out among a multiracial workforce of 5677 staff aged 40 to 64 years at worksites in Auckland and Tokoroa to determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). The prevalences of diabetes mellitus and IGT were both similar for men and women, but increased with age. The relative risks for diabetes mellitus and for IGT were both inversely associated with gross annual household income, independent of age and ethnicity, being 1.61 (95% Cl = 1.10, 2.37) and 1.80 (95% Cl = 1.21, 2.67) respectively, in the lowest income group (less than $30,000) compared with the highest (greater than $40,000). Compared with Europeans, the relative risk of diabetes mellitus was significantly increased among Maori (3.63; 95% Cl = 2.48, 5.32), Pacific Islanders (2.34; 95% Cl = 1.50, 3.66) and Asians (5.97; 95% Cl = 2.61, 13.65), after controlling for age, income and body mass index. The increased prevalence of diabetes mellitus among Maori and Pacific Islanders, but not in Asians, could be partly attributed to their increased levels of obesity compared with Europeans. However, other factors, in addition to obesity, explain the increased diabetes prevalence in nonEuropean groups.

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