Stéphane Cullati

Université de Fribourg · Faculty of Science and Medicine

Background We aimed to determine whether living in a household with children is associated with SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity in adults and investigated interacting factors that may influence this association. Methods SARS-CoV-2 serology testing was performed in randomly selected individuals from the general population between end of October 2020 and...

Background: A higher level of academic education is associated with higher levels of physical activity across the life course. However, the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. Cognitive functioning is a potential mediator of this association, as higher levels of education are associated with better cognitive function, which is as...

Physical activity is unequally practiced across populations: relative to more privileged individuals, deprived people are less likely to be physically active. However, pathways underlying the association between deprivation and physical activity remain overlooked. Here, we examined whether the association between several indicators of deprivation (...

Background: Physical activity has been associated with better cognitive function and better sleep quality. Yet, whether the beneficial effect of physical activity on cognitive function can be explained by an indirect pathway involving better sleep quality is unclear. Objective: To investigate whether sleep quality mediates the association betwee...

Multimorbidity disproportionally affects individuals exposed to socioeconomic disadvantage. It is, however, unclear how adverse socioeconomic conditions (SEC) at different periods of the life course predict the occurrence of multimorbidity in later life. In this scoping review, we investigate the association between life course SEC and later-life m...

Background: Infection prevention and control (IPC) is a prioritised task for healthcare workers in emergency department (ED). Here, we examined compliance with admission screening (AS) and additional precautions (AP) measures for patients at risk of infection with multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) by using a two-stage, multifaceted educational...

Background: Neighbourhood socio-economic inequities have been shown to affect COVID-19 incidence and mortality, as well as access to tests. This article aimed to study how associations of inequities and COVID-19 outcomes varied between the first two pandemic waves from a gender perspective. Methods: We performed an ecological study based on the CO...

Poor sleep quality and physical inactivity are risk factors for depressive symptoms. Yet, whether these factors differently contribute to depressive symptoms and whether they interact with one another remains unclear. This study aimed to examine how sleep quality and physical activity influence depressive symptoms. 79,274 adults who were 50 years o...

Introduction: Access to the healthcare system when patients are vulnerable and living outside metropolitan areas can be challenging. Our objective was to explore healthcare system satisfaction of urban and rural inhabitants depending on financial and health vulnerabilities. Methods: Repeated cross-sectional data from 353,523 European citizens (2002...

Objectives: To describe the rationale, organization, and procedures of the Corona Immunitas Digital Follow-Up (CI-DFU) eCohort and to characterize participants at baseline. Methods: Participants of Corona Immunitas, a population-based nationwide SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence study in Switzerland, were invited to join the CI-DFU eCohort in 11 study cent...

This study revisits the effects of mammography screening programs on inequalities in breast screening uptake in Switzerland. The progressive introduction of regional mammography programs by 12 out of the 26 Swiss cantons (regions) since 1999 offers an opportunity to perform an ecological quasi-experimental study. We examine absolute income and mari...

Health in older age is shaped by early-life socioeconomic circumstances (SECs) and sex. However, whether and why these factors interact is unclear. We examined a cultural explanation of this interaction by distinguishing cultural and material aspects of SECs in the context of physical activity—a major determinant of health. We used data from 56,331...

Objectives Previous studies have shown the importance of individual markers of cognitive reserve, such as education and occupation, for cognitive health in old age. However, there has been only little investigation so far on how this relationship varies across contexts. Methods We analyzed data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in E...

Neighbourhood crime likely increases the risk of developing depression among older adults. However, little is known about the underlying behavioural and social pathways. We examined the association between perceived neighbourhood crime and depressive symptoms and whether this relationship was mediated by health behaviours (physical activity, smokin...

Aims To investigate the associations of physical-activity trajectories with the level of cognitive performance (CP) and its decline in adults 50 years of age or older. Methods We studied 38 729 individuals (63 ± 9 years; 57% women) enrolled in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Physical activity was self-reported and CP...

Background: Physical activity has been associated with better cognitive functions and sleep quality. Yet, whether the effect of physical activity on cognitive functions could be explained by better sleep quality in adults who are 50 year of age or older is unclear. Objective: To investigate whether sleep quality mediates the association between ph...

Background This study aims to examine whether higher social protection expenditure reduces the negative association of life-course socioeconomic disadvantages with subjective and objective health status and trajectories in later life. Methods We used SHARE data from participants living in 20 European countries aged 50 to 96. Seven waves allowed to...

Forgoing healthcare for economic reasons has been previously associated with adverse health outcomes, including a higher risk of hospitalization, a lower quality of life, and worse self-reported health. However, the exact cause-to-effect relation between forgoing healthcare and health-related outcomes has been insufficiently described. Here, we inv...

As compared with vaginal delivery (VD), caesarean section (CS) birth could be associated with increased risk of obesity in young adult offspring. We aimed to evaluate this association by updating data from a systematic review with meta-analysis of observational studies. From 3774 records identified in PubMed and Embase, we retained six studies and...

Background While organized and opportunistic cervical cancer screening (CCS) programs implemented across the European Union have increased participation rates, barriers to socioeconomically deprived women remain substantial, implying high levels of inequality in CCS uptake. Aim This study assesses how the screening strategy (as a score based on th...

Background. Weak muscle strength has been associated with a wide range of adverse health outcomes. Yet, whether individuals with weaker muscle strength are more at risk for hospitalization due to severe COVID-19 is still unclear. The objective of this study was to investigate the independent association between muscle strength and COVID-19 hospital...

Objectives: Widowhood and adverse childhood socioeconomic circumstances (CSC) have both been linked to increased levels of depressive symptoms in old age. Beyond their independent impact on depressive symptoms, experiencing adverse CSC may also trigger a cascade of cumulative adversity and secondary stressors across the life course that shapes how...

Introduction Being physically active is associated with a wide range of health benefits in patients. However, many patients do not engage in the recommended levels of physical activity (PA). To date, interventions promoting PA in patients mainly rely on providing knowledge about the benefits associated with PA to develop their motivation to be acti...

Background. Despite the key role of physical activity in the management of diabetes, many individuals with diabetes do not engage in the recommended levels of physical activity. However, our knowledge on the mechanisms underlying the relationship between diabetes and physical inactivity is limited. Purpose. To investigate the associations between...

Physical activity has been proposed as a protective factor for COVID-19 hospitalization. However, the mechanisms underlying this association are unclear. We examined the association between physical activity and COVID-19 hospitalization and whether this relationship was explained by other risk factors (chronic conditions, weak muscle strength). We...

Supplementary Material

Background: Single patient- and context-related factors have been associated with admission decisions to intensive care. How physicians weigh various factors and integrate them into the decision-making process is not well known. Objectives: First, to determine which patient- and context-related factors influence admission decisions according to...

Comment le port du masque a-t-il évolué parmi les Fribourgeois ?

▪ Corona Immunitas Nestlé is a longitudinal study conducted among employees at two Swiss sites of the company Nestlé, i.e., Nestlé Research in the canton of Vaud and Nespresso factory Romont in the canton of Fribourg. This report describes the baseline results of the study aiming at estimating the proportion of employees who have been infected with...

Objective: The use of intensive care at the end of life can be high, leading to inappropriate healthcare utilisation, and prolonged suffering for patients and families. The objective of the study was to determine which factors influence physicians' admission decisions in situations of potentially non-beneficial intensive care. Design: This is a...

Depuis le début de la pandémie de COVID-19, les jeunes sont considérés comme peu vulnérables d'un point de vue des infections et de leurs conséquences biomédicales. Néanmoins, les impacts académiques, sociaux et psychologiques, directement en lien avec la pandémie ou secondaires aux mesures prises pour la contrer, ont été sous-évalués. Dans le cadr...

Objectives: To investigate the associations of physical-activity trajectories with the level of cognitive performance and its decline in adults 50 years of age or older. Methods: We studied 38729 individuals (63 years; 57% women) enrolled in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Physical activity was self-reported and cogni...

● Corona Immunitas Fribourg a pour objectif d’estimer le nombre et la proportion des personnes dans le canton de Fribourg ayant été infectées par le virus SARS-CoV-2 et ayant développé des anticorps. Elle est réalisée dans le cadre du programme national Corona Immunitas sous l’égide de l’École Suisse de Santé Publique (SSPH+) et est prévue en 5 pha...

La perspective dite des parcours de vie en épidémiologie (life course epidemiology) est une approche interdisciplinaire de la santé fruit de la convergence de l’épidémiologie sociale, des sciences naturelles (biologie, génétique) et des sciences sociales (psychologie, sociologie, histoire). Elle invite à considérer l’origine des maladies chroniques...

Physicians, pharmacists and caregivers, as well as public health officials and citizens, must sort through the enormous amount of information circulating about the pandemic. This crisis is accompanied by a real « infodemic » via multiple media, digital and otherwise. Is circulating a mixture of reliable information but also of misinformation, fed b...

Public health surveillance is the systematic and ongoing collection, analysis and interpretation of data to produce information useful for decision-making. With the development of data science, surveillance methods are evolving through access to big data. More data does not automatically mean more information. For example, the massive amounts of da...

Objectives. Physical activity has been proposed as a protective factor for COVID-19 hospitalization. However, the mechanisms underlying this association are unclear. Here, we examined the association between physical activity and COVID-19 hospitalization and whether this relationship was explained by other risk factors for severe COVID-19. Method....

Background. Muscle strength has been associated with a wide range of health outcomes. Yet, whether individuals with weaker strength are more at risk for severe COVID-19 is still unclear. The objective of this study was to investigate the independent association between muscle strength and COVID-19 hospitalization. Methods. Data from 3600 adults 50...

Objectives To investigate 1) whether care-related regrets (regret intensity, number of recent regrets) are associated with sick leave, independently of personality traits, perceived safety climate, and physical activity; and 2) whether these associations were mediated or moderated by coping strategies. Methods Using a longitudinal international ob...

The cognitive reserve hypothesis postulates that lifelong cognitive stimulation establishes a buffer that is instrumental in maintaining cognitive health. To examine this conceptual proposition in detail, we applied a novel, more general conceptual view that included recent models of vulnerability and examined whether the longitudinal association b...

▪ Corona Immunitas Fribourg a pour objectif d’estimer le nombre et la proportion des personnes dans le canton de Fribourg ayant été infectées par le virus SARS-CoV-2 et ayant développé des anticorps. Elle est réalisée dans le cadre du programme national Corona Immunitas sous l’égide de l’École Suisse de Santé Publique (SSPH+). ▪ Sur 2701 adultes âg...

Objectives Seroprevalence studies to assess the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the general population and subgroups are key for evaluating mitigation and vaccination policies and for understanding the spread of the disease both on the national level and for comparison with the international community. Methods Corona Immunitas is a research prog...

Physical activity and cognitive functioning are strongly intertwined. However, the causal relationships underlying this association are still unclear. Physical activity can enhance brain functions, but healthy cognition may also promote engagement in physical activity. Here, we used Latent Heritable Confounder Mendelian Randomization (LHC-MR) to as...

Background Long-term survival and functional outcomes should influence admission decisions to intensive care, especially for patients with advanced disease. Aim To determine whether physicians’ predictions of long-term prognosis influenced admission decisions for patients with and without advanced disease. Design A prospective study was conducted...

Background Research on inequalities in cervical cancer screening (CCS) participation has overlooked the distinction between ‘never-’ and ‘under-screeners’ while different socioeconomic and demographic determinants may underlie ‘non-’ and ‘under-’ screening participation. This study examines socioeconomic and demographic inequalities in never and u...

Both self-reported morbidity (SRM) and self-rated health (SRH) have been questioned on the grounds of reliability and validity, particularly in the context of developing countries such as India. It has been argued that indicators of self-perceived health often do not move in tandem with objective indicators of health and are not reflective of socio...

PurposeThe self-rated health (SRH) item is frequently used in health surveys but variations of its form (wording, response options) may hinder comparisons between versions over time or across surveys. The objectives were to determine (a) whether three SRH forms are equivalent, (b) the form with the best construct validity and (c) the best coding sc...

Many older adults have multiple chronic conditions (multimorbidity). With multimorbidity often comes the concurrent intake of multiple medications (polypharmacy). Our aims were to assess if childhood socioeconomic conditions (CSC) are associated with multimorbidity and polypharmacy in older adults, and how these associations change when adjusting f...

En Suisse, le système de santé semble, en comparaison internationale, avoir fait face de manière satisfaisante à cette crise, en s'adaptant en permanence pour assurer les soins nécessaires. Décentré, proche des besoins de la population, il a démontré sa souplesse et sa résilience; les professionnels de santé et les administrations impli-quées dans...

Background: Adverse childhood experiences, depressive symptoms, and functional dependence are interrelated. However, the mechanisms underlying these associations remain unclear. The authors investigated the potential of depressive symptoms to mediate the effect of adverse childhood experiences on functional dependence in older age and whether phys...

The current study examines whether the extent of macrolevel gender inequality affects the association between women’s educational attainment and their participation in cervical and breast cancer screening and how this relationship is moderated by a country’s cancer screening strategy (organized vs. opportunistic). A multilevel design with women (N...

This article proposes a dynamical system modeling approach for the analysis of longitudinal data of self-regulated homeostatic systems experiencing multiple excitations. It focuses on the evolution of a signal (e.g., heart rate) before, during, and after excitations taking the system out of its equilibrium (e.g., physical effort during cardiac stre...

Purpose: To assess the association of back pain and treatment-seeking behavior for such pain with work-related emotional burden (regret about care), regret coping strategies, and physical burden among newly practicing nurses. Methods: We used data from the Impact of Care-related Regret Upon Sleep (ICARUS) cohort collected between 05.2017 and 07....

Aims: We investigated whether the longitudinal relationship between history of stroke and subsequent decline in executive functioning over 6 years differed by cognitive reserve. Methods: We analyzed longitudinal data from 897 older adults (mean age, 74.33 years) tested on the Trail Making Test (TMT) in two waves 6 years apart. Participants repor...

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the cumulative disadvantage of different forms of childhood misfortune and adult-life socioeconomic conditions with regard to trajectories and levels of self-rated health in old age and whether these associations differed between welfare regimes (Scandinavian, Bismarckian, Southern European, and Eastern Euro...

Background: Cervical cancer screening (CCS) by means of Pap smears has led to a decrease in cervical cancer incidence and mortality. In the absence of organized programmes, CCS is opportunistic in Belgium and Switzerland. This might result in a high level of CCS overuse, as screening practices do not conform to the recommended 3-yearly screening i...