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Worry about crime has been linked to several detrimental outcomes including worse mental health. However, there has been little research on the association between worry about crime and loneliness, even though loneliness is increasingly being recognised as a serious public health issue. To address this deficit, this study examined the association between worry about crime and loneliness in nine countries of the former Soviet Union (FSU - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine), using data from 18,000 respondents aged 18 and above that were collected during the Health in Times of Transition (HITT) survey in 2010/11. Results from a pooled logistic regression analysis showed that compared to those who reported no worry about crime, individuals with a high level of worry had significantly higher odds of loneliness (odds ratio [OR]: 1.43, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.17–1.75). Sex- and age-stratified analyses further showed that the association was observed in women with a mid (OR: 1.37, 95%CI: 1.10–1.71) and a high level (OR: 1.70, 95%CI: 1.33–2.17) of worry about crime but not in men, and that a high level of worry about crime was linked to loneliness in adults aged 35–59 (OR: 1.39, 95%CI: 1.02–1.91) and 60 and above (OR: 1.64, 95%CI: 1.12–2.40) but not in those aged 18–34. High levels of worry about crime are associated with loneliness in the FSU countries. Reducing crime and its associated worries may have important public health benefits in these countries.

Of the DNA-derived biomarkers of oxidative stress, urinary 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) is the most frequently measured. However, there is significant discrepancy between chromatographic and immunoassay approaches, and intratechnique agreement among all available chromatography-based assays and ELISAs is yet to be established. This is a significant obstacle to their use in large molecular epidemiological studies. To evaluate the accuracy of intra/intertechnique and interlaboratory measurements, samples of phosphate buffered saline and urine, spiked with different concentrations of 8-oxoG, together with a series of urine samples from healthy individuals were distributed to ESCULA members. All laboratories received identical samples, including 2 negative controls that contained no added 8-oxodG. Data were returned from 17 laboratories, representing 20 methods, broadly classified as mass spectrometric (MS), electrochemical detection (EC), or enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). Overall, there was good within-technique agreement, with the majority of laboratories' results lying within 1 SD of their consensus mean. However, ELISA showed more within-technique variation than did the chromatographic techniques and, for the urine samples, reported higher values. Bland-Altman plots revealed good agreement between MS and EC methods but concentration-dependent deviation for ELISA. All methods ranked urine samples according to concentration similarly. Creatinine levels are routinely used as a correction factor for urine concentration, and therefore we also conducted an interlaboratory comparison of methods for urinary creatinine determination, in which the vast majority of values lay within 1 SD of the consensus value, irrespective of the analysis procedure. This study reveals greater consensus than previously expected, although concern remains over ELISA. © FASEB.

Of the DNA-derived biomarkers of oxidative stress, urinary 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) is the most frequently measured. However, there is significant discrepancy between chromatographic and immunoassay approaches, and intratechnique agreement among all available chromatography-based assays and ELISAs is yet to be established. This is a significant obstacle to their use in large molecular epidemiological studies. To evaluate the accuracy of intra/intertechnique and interlaboratory measurements, samples of phosphate buffered saline and urine, spiked with different concentrations of 8-oxoG, together with a series of urine samples from healthy individuals were distributed to ESCULA members. All laboratories received identical samples, including 2 negative controls that contained no added 8-oxodG. Data were returned from 17 laboratories, representing 20 methods, broadly classified as mass spectrometric (MS), electrochemical detection (EC), or enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). Overall, there was good within-technique agreement, with the majority of laboratories' results lying within 1 SD of their consensus mean. However, ELISA showed more within-technique variation than did the chromatographic techniques and, for the urine samples, reported higher values. Bland-Altman plots revealed good agreement between MS and EC methods but concentration-dependent deviation for ELISA. All methods ranked urine samples according to concentration similarly. Creatinine levels are routinely used as a correction factor for urine concentration, and therefore we also conducted an interlaboratory comparison of methods for urinary creatinine determination, in which the vast majority of values lay within 1 SD of the consensus value, irrespective of the analysis procedure. This study reveals greater consensus than previously expected, although concern remains over ELISA. © FASEB.

Of the DNA-derived biomarkers of oxidative stress, urinary 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) is the most frequently measured. However, there is significant discrepancy between chromatographic and immunoassay approaches, and intratechnique agreement among all available chromatography-based assays and ELISAs is yet to be established. This is a significant obstacle to their use in large molecular epidemiological studies. To evaluate the accuracy of intra/intertechnique and interlaboratory measurements, samples of phosphate buffered saline and urine, spiked with different concentrations of 8-oxoG, together with a series of urine samples from healthy individuals were distributed to ESCULA members. All laboratories received identical samples, including 2 negative controls that contained no added 8-oxodG. Data were returned from 17 laboratories, representing 20 methods, broadly classified as mass spectrometric (MS), electrochemical detection (EC), or enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). Overall, there was good within-technique agreement, with the majority of laboratories' results lying within 1 SD of their consensus mean. However, ELISA showed more within-technique variation than did the chromatographic techniques and, for the urine samples, reported higher values. Bland-Altman plots revealed good agreement between MS and EC methods but concentration-dependent deviation for ELISA. All methods ranked urine samples according to concentration similarly. Creatinine levels are routinely used as a correction factor for urine concentration, and therefore we also conducted an interlaboratory comparison of methods for urinary creatinine determination, in which the vast majority of values lay within 1 SD of the consensus value, irrespective of the analysis procedure. This study reveals greater consensus than previously expected, although concern remains over ELISA. © FASEB.

Of the DNA-derived biomarkers of oxidative stress, urinary 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) is the most frequently measured. However, there is significant discrepancy between chromatographic and immunoassay approaches, and intratechnique agreement among all available chromatography-based assays and ELISAs is yet to be established. This is a significant obstacle to their use in large molecular epidemiological studies. To evaluate the accuracy of intra/intertechnique and interlaboratory measurements, samples of phosphate buffered saline and urine, spiked with different concentrations of 8-oxoG, together with a series of urine samples from healthy individuals were distributed to ESCULA members. All laboratories received identical samples, including 2 negative controls that contained no added 8-oxodG. Data were returned from 17 laboratories, representing 20 methods, broadly classified as mass spectrometric (MS), electrochemical detection (EC), or enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). Overall, there was good within-technique agreement, with the majority of laboratories' results lying within 1 SD of their consensus mean. However, ELISA showed more within-technique variation than did the chromatographic techniques and, for the urine samples, reported higher values. Bland-Altman plots revealed good agreement between MS and EC methods but concentration-dependent deviation for ELISA. All methods ranked urine samples according to concentration similarly. Creatinine levels are routinely used as a correction factor for urine concentration, and therefore we also conducted an interlaboratory comparison of methods for urinary creatinine determination, in which the vast majority of values lay within 1 SD of the consensus value, irrespective of the analysis procedure. This study reveals greater consensus than previously expected, although concern remains over ELISA. © FASEB.