The relationship between plasma cholesterol concentration and minor psychiatric disturbance in the Department of the Environment Study.
We examined the hypothesis that low plasma cholesterol concentration was associated with minor psychiatric disturbance in a cross-sectional study of 410 male and 138 female civil servants. Psychiatric disturbance was measured using the 30-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Mean GHQ score did not vary significantly with quartile of total cholesterol concentration. After adjustment for confounding variables a significant trend of increasing mean GHQ with increasing cholesterol concentration emerged. In a logistic regression analysis subjects in the highest quartile of cholesterol concentration had an adjusted odds ratio for being a "psychiatric case" of 2.0 (95% confidence interval, 1.1-2.5) compared with those in the lowest quartile. This relationship reversed when using a higher cutoff point to define more severe cases, although the trend was not statistically significant.
Harwood
R H
RH
Department of Epidemiology and Population Science, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, England.
Fletcher
A E
AE
Bulpitt
C J
CJ
Shipley
M J
MJ
Marmot
M G
MG
Markowe
H L
HL
D000328:Adult; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D002784:Cholesterol