Partner Bereavement and Risk of Herpes Zoster: Results from Two Population-Based Case-Control Studies in Denmark and the United Kingdom.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Psychological stress is commonly thought to increase the risk of herpes zoster by causing immunosuppression. However, epidemiological studies on the topic are sparse and inconsistent. We conducted 2 parallel case-control studies of the association between partner bereavement and risk of zoster using electronic healthcare data covering the entire Danish population and general practices in the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink.

Methods

We included patients with a zoster diagnosis from the primary care or hospital-based setting in 1997-2013 in Denmark (n = 190671) and 2000-2013 in the United Kingdom (n = 150207). We matched up to 4 controls to each case patient by age, sex, and general practice (United Kingdom only) using risk-set sampling. The date of diagnosis

SUBMITTER: Schmidt SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5850543 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature