Scandinavian Journal of Public Health最新文献

Aims: There is substantial evidence that previous working conditions influence post-retirement health, yet little is known about previous working conditions' association with old-age dependency. We examined job strain, hazardous and physical demands across working life, in relation to the risk of entering old-age dependency of care.

Methods: Individually linked nationwide Swedish registers were used to identify people aged 70+ who were not receiving long-term care (residential care or homecare) at baseline (January 2014). Register information on job titles between the years 1970 and 2010 was linked with a job exposure matrix of working conditions. Random effects growth curve models were used to calculate intra-individual trajectories of working conditions. Cox regression models with age as the timescale (adjusted for living situation, educational attainment, country of birth, and sex) were conducted to estimate hazard ratios for entering old-age dependency during the 24 months of follow-up (n = 931,819).

Results: Having initial adverse working conditions followed by an accumulation throughout working life encompassed the highest risk of entering old-age dependency across the categories (job strain: HR 1.23, 95% CI 1.19-1.27; physical demands: HR 1.36, 95% CI 1.31-1.40, and hazardous work: HR 1.35, 95% CI 1.30-1.40). Initially high physical demands or hazardous work followed by a stable trajectory, or initially low-level physical demand or hazardous work followed by an accumulation throughout working life also encompassed a higher risk of dependency.

Conclusions: A history of adverse working conditions increased the risk of old-age dependency. Reducing the accumulation of adverse working conditions across the working life may contribute to postponing old-age dependency.

Aims: Life satisfaction is an important aspect of quality of life and plays an essential role in optimal developmental adaption in adolescence. This study investigated whether being active in organised leisure sports is associated with a higher level of life satisfaction among adolescents, both directly and indirectly, through increased body appreciation. Whether gender moderates the mentioned associations will also be examined.

Methods: The study was cross-sectional and based on a sample of 541 participants (44% females) between 16 and 19 years of age (M_age=16.89 years, SD=0.46). A moderated mediation model was examined using SPSS v27 and the PROCESS macro.

Results: Boys had higher life satisfaction and body appreciation levels than girls did. There was no direct effect of organised leisure sports participation on life satisfaction. However, there was a positive association between organised leisure sports participation and life satisfaction through increased body appreciation. No gender differences were observed for the direct association between sports participation and life satisfaction or the indirect associations between sports participation and life satisfaction through body appreciation.

Conclusions: Our findings support that body appreciation is a mediator for the association between organised leisure sports participation and life satisfaction for both boys and girls. Longitudinal studies should be conducted to further examine if causal relationships exist.

Aims: socNAMs provides a comprehensive and comparative dataset for researchers to identify how students' recent migration and their school setting relates to their social wellbeing, particularly regarding their feelings of loneliness. Results: This study design article delineates a quantitative cross-sectional research study (socNAMs) which successfully developed three questionnaires that were administered with unique and hard to reach populations, newly-arrived adolescent migrants (NAMs) and school staff offering reception education in Flanders, Belgium.

Methods: At the individual level, socNAMs collected information on: (1) socio-demographic variables of NAMs; (2) migration and family context; (3) social relationships; (4) school experiences; (5) self-perceived wellbeing (physical and social); and (6) experiences with discrimination. The questionnaire developed for NAMs is available in 16 languages. To gain a further understanding of the impact of the school environment on NAMs, socNAMs collected contextual information primarily concerning school social capital by including data collected from teachers and reception-class coordinators. The final sample included 1379 NAMs, 50 teachers and 26 reception-class coordinators, from 35 schools offering reception education.

Conclusions: In this article, we present the rationale for this study, the methodology of sampling and recruitment, the development and content of the questionnaires, some preliminary descriptive results and the strengths and limitations of the study. Future empirical studies will address the research aims outlined in this protocol paper. In addition, we highlight the opportunities that the dataset provides for advancing research regarding the social wellbeing of NAMs in varying school and national contexts.

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the cultural validity and reliability of a Finnish version of the nine-item Shared Decision-Making Questionnaire (SDM-Q-9) in a sample of patients with different sociodemographic characteristics.

Method: The original SDM-Q-9 was translated into Finnish with the agreement of the developers of the original scale. The standardised translation procedure was followed by a pilot test of the questionnaire. The data were collected from an online questionnaire. Reliability was estimated by Cronbach's alpha. Structural validity of the questionnaire was assessed by confirmatory factor analysis.

Results: The pilot study assessing the cultural validity of the scale was a success, as it did not find any expressions needing to be revised. The Finnish version of the SDM-Q-9 - the SDM-Q-9-FIN - was tested in the study where a total of 736 patients responded to the questionnaire. The questionnaire yielded high reliability with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.92. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the unidimensional factor structure with Item 1 excluded.

Conclusions: The SDM-Q-9-FIN was shown to be a reliable instrument for evaluating shared decision-making among Finnish patients. Further testing and research are recommended among a greater diversity of patient groups.

Aims: One half of Norwegians die in nursing homes, where death certificates (DCs) are completed by two types of physicians: in-house physicians or physicians on call. The aims of this study were to examine differences in the quality of DCs due to type of physician and to uncover possible implications of errors for the public statistics.

Methods: DCs from the year 2013 from nursing homes in the catchment area of Akershus University Hospital were examined with regard to logical deficiencies, garbage code diagnoses and type of certifying physician. In one third of cases, the registered causes of death were compared to information in the medical records.

Results: A total of 873 DCs from 24 nursing homes were evaluated. Physicians on call certified 46% of all deaths. Logical deficiencies were found in 34% of all DCs and were more common in DCs from physicians on call. Garbage code diagnoses were used in every third DC, with 'sudden death' or 'cause of death unknown' preferred by physicians on call and 'unspecified pneumonia' preferred by in-house physicians. Comparisons against medical records uncovered missing information in 49% and 35% of DCs from physicians on call and in-house physicians, respectively. A dementia diagnosis was frequently overlooked by both physician types. Garbage code diagnoses were more common in DCs with missing information from medical records.

Conclusions: Error rates in DCs in nursing homes in Norway are high. The results raise concerns about the validity of public cause of death statistics.

Aim: This study describes the study design, study participants, participation rate and underreporting in the Danish National Surveys of Diet and Physical Activity (DANSDA) from 1995 to 2011-2013.

Methods: DANSDA are government-funded surveys of food and nutrient intake, physical activity and lifestyle, undertaken to support nutritional policy, risk assessment and public health research. The surveys are cross-sectional based on primarily simple random samples (ages 1-80 years in 1995, 4-75 years in 2000-2013) drawn from the Danish Civil Registration System. Approximately 4800 individuals in 1995, 8200 in 2000-2002, 8400 in 2003-2008 and 7300 in 2011-2013 were invited to participate. Participants completed a seven-day food diary, a physical activity questionnaire (2000-2008), a step diary (2011-2013) and a face-to-face interview. Self-reported anthropometrics (1995-2013) were supplemented with device-based measures (2011-2013). Pedometers were included in 2011-2013.

Results: The number of participants included per survey round was 3100-4400. Participant rates decreased from 66% (1995) to 54% (2011-2013). Non-participation was primarily refusal. Ages 18-30 years, 61-75 years (2000-2013), 61-80 years (1995) and low educated and individuals living alone were underrepresented. Underreporting of energy intake among adults ranged from 14% (1995) to 26% (2008).

Conclusions: The methods in DANSDA have been developed to include device-based measures on physical activity and anthropometrics. This has improved the applicability of the results of the survey. The participation rate has fallen, which has affected sample representativity, and underreporting has increased. Future DANSDA surveys should explore and consider new initiatives to counteract non-response and underreporting, with the aim of enhancing data representativeness and applicability.

Aims: From 1 January 2018, the number of retail hours for the sale of alcohol was reduced from 14 to 5 hours on Sundays and from 14 to 10 hours on the other days of the week in Lithuania. The significant reduction of hours for the sale of alcohol on Sundays may have affected the distribution of alcohol-attributable deaths during the week. This study aimed to examine the change in the weekly pattern of alcohol-attributable male mortality before and after imposing limits on the hours when alcohol can be sold.

Methods: Age-standardised male death rates by days of the week were calculated for four groups according to cause of death: alcohol poisoning (X45), all external causes of death (V01-Y98), diseases of the circulatory system (I00-I99) and all other causes of death. We compared age-standardised death rates for two periods: before (2015-2017) and after (2018-2019) the intervention. Mortality and population data were obtained from the Lithuanian Institute of Hygiene and Human Mortality Database.

Results: We found that during 2018-2019, earlier observed peak in age-standardised death rates for external causes of death on Sunday diminished, and this day no longer differed from the weekly average. The same tendency was also observed for the Monday excess mortality due to circulatory diseases.

Conclusions: The reduction of the hours when alcohol can be sold from the beginning of 2018 was associated with a change in a weekly pattern of alcohol-attributable male mortality. However, more studies are needed to examine the causes of the change in mortality pattern.

Aim: Every year, about 5% of children in Norway experience severe child maltreatment and need support from the child welfare services. However, research-supported interventions for this group are lacking. The current study piloted an intensive home-visitation intervention, Family Partner, which aims to reduce child maltreatment among at-risk parents by improving parental skills, agency and trust in the welfare services, and children's well-being. The randomised controlled trial piloted in this study examines the acceptability of the Family Partner intervention for staff and families and evaluates its feasibility for a full-scale randomised controlled trial.

Methods: This protocol outlines a prospective, parallel, pilot randomised trial of the Family Partner intervention in three Norwegian municipal child welfare services. The participants are families with children under 12 years of age, where the parents are identified as having challenges. Families in the treatment group receive the Family Partner intervention, while families in the control group receive ordinary child welfare services. Data are collected at baseline, and at 3, 6, 12 and 18 months after recruitment. The pilot study monitor retention and adherence to inform the feasibility of a future full-scale randomised study. To assess the acceptability of the trial and intervention, a subsample of the participating families, as well as the family partners and representatives of the child welfare services in each municipality, are invited to complete qualitative interviews.

Conclusions: The results will guide the design of a fully powered randomised controlled trial of the Family Partner intervention compared with ordinary child welfare services.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04957394; Pilot Trial of Family Partner: a Child Maltreatment Prevention Intervention (FAMPART); registered on 12 July 2021.

Aims: Various concepts are used to study the impact of stress on childhood development. These concepts are often used inconsistently or interchangeably. Our main objectives were to determine how selected stress concepts (chronic stress, toxic stress, allostatic load, early life stress, childhood adversity, childhood trauma and adverse childhood experiences; ACEs) are defined, operationalized and described, and to provide a theoretical context to aid the choice for a preferred concept in public health research.

Methods: For this descriptive review, we systematically searched for literature published before 4 August 2021, on PubMed, Embase and PsycInfo. Two independent reviewers included studies. Exclusion criteria were: no systematic review, not peer reviewed, not published in English, selected stress concepts were no predetermined variable or a substantial topic in the discussion, full text was unobtainable or study described non-human or non-childhood populations. Data extraction forms were used. Descriptives were gathered, publication fields were identified through Journal Citation Reports categories, and verbatim descriptions were ordered in text and Venn diagrams.

Results: Of 264 screened studies, 124 were included. ACEs, childhood adversity and childhood trauma were used most. ACEs were the main concept used most frequently (47.6%). A total of 11 of 14 public and environmental health journals used ACEs. All concepts refer to prolonged, repeated, interpersonal stress from 0 to 18 years, that can alter physiological systems. Four concepts were stressor oriented, two concepts focused on stress response and effect and one on the state of challenged homeostasis.

Conclusions: ACEs seem most fitting for public health setting, due to their operationalizability, large set of core experiences and widespread use.

Aims: This study aimed to examine the association between gender composition in the workplace and sickness absence days during a one-year period.

Methods: The study population was drawn from the Northern Swedish Cohort (wave 3; 2007) by Statistics Sweden and consisted of all participants belonging to a specific workplace (n=837) as well as all co-workers at the workplace of the participants (n=132,464; 67,839 women and 64,625 men). Exposure was the gender composition of the workplace, and outcome was cumulative sickness absence days (⩾90 days or not) during 2007, provided through a link to the Database for Health Insurance and Labour Marked Studies of Statistics Sweden. Covariates were gender, age, educational level and branch of industry from the same data source. We performed descriptive analyses and multivariable regression analyses.

Results: Workers in extremely female-dominated workplaces had a significantly higher risk of cumulative sickness absence days (⩾90 days) compared with gender-equal workplaces (fully adjusted odds ratio (OR)=1.27; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09-1.48), whereas those working in extremely and moderately male-dominated workplaces had a significantly lower sickness absence risk (OR=0.62 and 0.66, respectively). Stratified by gender, the higher absence risk at female-dominated workplaces was fully explained by variation in branches of industry. Women working in extremely male-dominated workplaces had a significantly lower absence risk (OR=0.75), as did men working in moderately male-dominated workplaces (OR=0.78).

Conclusions: Workplaces dominated by women had a significantly higher risk of days lost to sickness absence compared to gender-equal workplaces. Stratified by gender, this higher risk was explained by branch of industry.