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Background: Poisoning injuries is an increasing concern among older people, and so is the repetition of intentional poisonings. To date, few studies have documented the pattern and individual risk factors for repeated poisonings. This national study aims to shed light on the burden, pattern, and health-related risk factors of repeated intentional poisoning leading to hospitalization or death among older Swedish adults (50 years and older), with a focus on the year following a first event., Methods: We conducted a nationwide register-based cohort study of people aged 50-100, hospitalized for intentional poisoning (ICD10: X60-69) during 2006-2016 (n = 15,219) and re-hospitalized by poisoning of any intent within a year (n = 1710), i.e., up to the end of 2017. We considered in turn, the distribution of the second poisoning in 30-day intervals stratified by intent; poisoning lethality within a month and a year; and the sex-specific association between health conditions and being re-hospitalized for intentional poisoning within one year as compared to being hospitalized only once using logistic regression (odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI))., Results: Following an intentional poisoning, re-hospitalization within a year was predominantly for a new intentional poisoning (89.7%) and occurred most typically within a month (median 4 days). Death within 30 days occurred in similar proportion for the first and second poisoning (2.3% vs. 2.1% respectively). Among both men and women, comorbidity of psychiatric illness was strongly associated with re-hospitalization for intentional poisoning (adjusted ORs = 1.70; 95% CI = 1.45-2.01 and 1.89 (95% CI = 1.60-2.19) respectively)., Conclusion: Most re-hospitalizations within a year after intentional poisoning are also for intentional poisoning and occur most typically within days. Re-hospitalization is associated with several conditions that are characteristic of poor mental health and there are more similarities than differences between men and women in that respect., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Introduction: There is a substantial body of knowledge on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on injuries showing frequent but inconsistent reductions in both volume and pattern. Yet, studies specifically addressing children are less common, not least from low- and middle-income countries. This study investigated whether changes in the pattern and outcome of paediatric injury admissions to Mozambique's four regional referral hospitals during 2020., Methods: Clinical charts of paediatric patients presenting to the targeted hospitals with acute injuries were reviewed using a set of child, injury, and outcome characteristics during each of two consecutive restriction periods in 2020 using as a comparator the same periods in 2019, the year before the pandemic. Differences between 2020 and 2019 proportions for any characteristic were examined using the t-test (significance level 0.05)., Results: During both restriction periods, compared with the previous year, reductions in the number of injuries were noticed in nearly all aspects investigated, albeit more remarkably during the first restriction period, in particular, greater proportions of injuries in the home setting and from burns (7.2% and 11.5% respectively) and a reduced one of discharged patients (by 2.5%)., Conclusion: During the restrictions implemented to contend the pandemic in Mozambique in 2020, although each restriction period saw a drop in the volume of injury admissions at central hospitals, the pattern of child, injury and outcome characteristics did not change much, except for an excess of home and burn injuries in the first, more restrictive period. Whether this reflects the nature of the restrictions only or, rather, other mechanisms that came into play, individual or health systems related, remains to be determined., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Previous studies have already shown that decision aids are a suitable tool for patient decision-making. The aim of this work is to conduct an online search for freely available, German-language patient decision aids (PDAs) for cancer patients, followed by an assessment of their quality. For this purpose, a rating tool that is as manageable as possible was developed on the basis of already existing quality criteria., Methods: A simulated patient online search was conducted via the four most frequently used search engines in Germany. A quality assessment tool was created utilizing international and national guidelines, with a focus on practicality and manageability. Subsequently, the identified PDAs were rated by 4 raters based on the rating tool., Results: The number of German-language oncology PDAs is low (n = 22 of 200 URLs) with limited variability regarding rare cancers. Most originate from non-profit organizations. The overall quality is low, as indicated by an average of 57.52% of the maximum evaluation points of the developed quality assessment tool. Reference values used to assess quality were related to e.g. support/effectiveness, adaptation, layout, etc. No qualitative differences were found regarding different publishers. Quality differed between PDAs of different length, with longer PDAs achieving better results., Conclusion: Overall, the supply and quality of German-language PDAs is not satisfactory. The assessment tool created in this study provides a solid, but more manageable basis, for developing and identifying high-quality PDAs., Practice Implications: PDAs should be increasingly used by physicians in practice. For this, a quick qualitative assessment of PDAs in everyday life must be possible. Future research has to investigate especially the aspect of the length of a PDA in more detail., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Among older people intentional poisoning outnumber unintentional ones. While there are indications that time trends differ by poisoning intent, studies are scarce. We assessed how the annual prevalence of intentional and unintentional poisoning changed over time, overall and by demographic groups., Methods: We conducted a national open cohort study of individuals aged 50-100 years, resident in Sweden during 2005-2016. Individuals were followed up in population-based registers for their demographic and health attributes from 2006-2016. Annual prevalence of hospitalization and death by poisoning intent (unintentional vs. intentional or undetermined; ICD-10 definitions) were compiled for the categories of four demographic attributes (age, sex, marital status, and birth cohort "baby boomers"). The time trends were assessed by multinomial logistic regression with year as an independent variable., Results: The annual overall prevalence of hospitalization and death by intentional poisonings consistently exceeded that of unintentional poisonings. There was a significant downward trend in intentional poisonings but not in unintentional ones. This difference in trends also applied when considering men and women separately, married and unmarried people, the young-old individuals (but not the older- or oldest-old ones), and the baby boomers and non-baby boomers. The largest demographic differences within intent were found between married and unmarried people, and the smallest one between men and women., Conclusion: As expected, the annual prevalence of intentional poisonings considerably exceed that of unintentional ones among Swedish older people. The recent trends reveal a significant reduction of intentional poisonings, consistent across a range of demographic attributes. The scope for action regarding this preventable cause of mortality and morbidity remains considerable., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: As the population is ageing, the need for informal caregivers increases, and thus we need to know more about the effects on caregivers. This study aims to determine both cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between perceived limitation of informal caregiving and mental health of caregivers., Methods: This population-based cohort study was based on the Swedish Psykisk hälsa, Arbete och RelaTioner (PART) study, and 9346 individuals aged 18-65 were included. Data were collected through questionnaires, interviews and Swedish registers. Informal care was defined as care given to a family member. Self-reported and diagnosed depression and anxiety were included as outcomes. Covariates included sex, age, social support and socio-economic position. Ordinal logistic regression and Cox regression were performed to determine the associations between caregiving and anxiety or depression., Results: Self-reported depression and anxiety was only increased among those experiencing limitations (adjusted odds ratios [aOR] 2.00, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.63-2.47 for depression; aOR 2.07, 95% CI 1.57-2.74 for anxiety) compared to those not giving care, respectively. The adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) were increased for diagnosed depression (aHR 1.97, 95% CI 1.27-3.05) and for diagnosed anxiety (aHR 1.86, 95% CI 1.06-3.25) among those giving care and experiencing limitations, compared to those not giving care. No significant associations were found in caregivers without limitations., Conclusion: Caregivers experiencing limitations showed a significant association with short- and long-term anxiety and depression. This study implies the importance of exploring the degree to which informal caregiving can be provided without adding burden to caregivers.

Objectives: Corynebacterium ulcerans can colonize a wide variety of animals and also humans are infected, typically by zoonotic transmission. Symptoms range from skin ulcers or systemic infections to diphtheria-like illness. In contrast, Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis is widely distributed among herds of sheep, goats and other farm animals, where it causes high economic losses due to caseous lymphadenitis. Here we describe the genome sequence of an atypical C. ulcerans strain isolated from a wild boar with necrotizing lymphadenitis. This strain has similarities to C. pseudotuberculosis., Data Description: Genome sequence data of C. ulcerans isolate W25 were generated, analyzed and taxonomical relationship to other Corynebacterium species as well as growth properties of the isolate were characterized. The genome of C. ulcerans W25 comprises 2,550,924 bp with a G+C content of 54.41% and a total of 2376 genes.

Background: Older people with a low social position are at higher risk of poor health outcomes compared to those with a higher social position. Whether lower social position also increases the risk of geriatric syndromes (GSs) remains to be determined. This study investigates the association of social position with GSs among older community-dwellers., Methods: Three consecutive population-based health surveys in 2006, 2010 and 2014 among older community-dwellers (age 65-84 years) in Stockholm County were combined (n = 17,612) and linked with Swedish administrative registry information. Social position was assessed using registry information (i.e. education, country of origin and civil status) and by self-reports (i.e. type of housing and financial stress). GSs were assessed by self-reports of the following conditions: insomnia, urinary incontinence, functional decline, falls, depressive disorder, hearing or vision problems. Binomial logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the association between social position and GSs after adjusting for age, sex, health status, health behavior and social stress., Results: The prevalence of GSs was 70.0%, but varied across GSs and ranged from 1.9% for depression to 39.1% for insomnia. Living in rented accommodation, being born outside the Nordic countries, being widowed or divorced were associated with GS presence. Financial stress was most strongly associated with GSs (adjusted odds ratio, 2.59; 95% CI, 2.13-3.15)., Conclusion: GSs are highly prevalent among older Swedish community-dwellers with wide variations across syndromes and strong association with all measures of social position, most strikingly that of experiencing financial stress.

Background: Previous studies assessing the relationship between depression and diabetes mellitus did not consider the severity of depression. In the present study we assessed the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among people with various severity of depression., Methods: This prospective longitudinal cohort study included 9,936 individuals residing in Stockholm County, Sweden who responded to the baseline questionnaire in 1998-2000. The participants were followed from 1 year after the baseline up to 2015 for the occurrence of T2DM, using the National Patient Register, Swedish Prescribed Drug Registers, and Cause of Death Register. Depression and anxious distress were assessed using psychiatric rating scales and defined according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)., Results: Depression was associated with a statistically significant increased risk of T2DM after adjusting for potential confounders (OR 1.48, CI 1.10, 1.99). The strongest association was observed for severe depression (OR 1.72, CI 1.15, 2.59). Further, those with depression, regardless of severity, and with concurrent moderate/severe anxious distress had an increased risk of T2DM (OR 1.73, CI 1.13, 2.63) compared to those with neither depression nor anxious distress., Conclusions: The study adds evidence that depression is associated with a higher risk for developing T2DM, and the association is stronger among people with severe depression.

Objectives: Bordetella pertussis is the etiological agent of whooping cough, a bacterial infection of especially children, which may be fatal without treatment. In frame of studies to investigate putative effects of vaccination on host-pathogen interaction and clonal distribution of strains, in addition to Corynebacterium diphtheriae and Clostridium tetani toxoid vaccines, also whole-cell and acellular pertussis vaccines were analyzed by mass spectrometry., Data Description: LC-MS/MS spectra were generated and analyzed using B. pertussis genome data and proteins present in whole-cell and acellular pertussis vaccines were identified. Subcellular localization of proteins and presence of signal peptides was determined bioinformatically.

Background: Evidence is scarce on the trend in prevalence of geriatric syndromes (GS). This study assesses how GS prevalence changes over time in Swedish older community-dwellers by socio-demography, and attempts to highlight factors that may contribute to explain the trend., Methods: Data from Stockholm County Council Public Health Surveys in 2006, 2010 and 2014 were used. Old adults, aged 65-84 years, with measurements on GS items were identified. Thus, a total of 17,560 participants were selected in 2006 (n = 6295), 2010 (n = 6733) and 2014 (n = 4532). Data on socio-demographics, lifestyles and health status were collected through questionnaires. GS was defined as having at least one of the following: insomnia, urinary incontinence, severe hearing/vision problem, functional decline, fall and depressive disorder. Logistic regression was performed to assess the prevalence trend as well as the change in the associations of sociodemographic factors, health behaviors and chronic disease with GS., Results: From 2006 to 2014, the prevalence of GS remained stable (P trend  = 0.54). However, among old adults born outside Nordic countries, it increased significantly from 73.0% in 2006, 78.0% in 2010 to 83.0% in 2014 (P trend  < 0.001). Furthermore, the association with GS became stronger for born outside Nordic counties (P trend  < 0.001) and weaker for sedentary lifestyles (P trend  = 0.004), whereas the association did not change for other sociodemographic factors, health behaviors and chronic disease (all P trend  > 0.05)., Conclusions: At population level, GS prevalence remained stable at a high level among Swedish old community-dwellers. There are noteworthy differences in GS trend between population groups, in particular to the detriment of older adults born outside Nordic countries.

Background: Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT Val 158 Met) has been implicated in both depression and cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this study was to assess if COMT Val 158 Met, which influences the COMT enzyme activity, has an effect on the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in individuals with a history of depression and also to determine if the risk differs depending on gender., Methods: Data from a longitudinal cohort study of mental health among Swedish adults was used. Depression was assessed twice 3 years apart for each participant, in 1998-2001 and 2001-2003. Saliva DNA was contributed by 4349 (41.7%) of the participants and 3525 was successfully genotyped for COMT Val 158 Met. Participants were followed up until December 2014 from the National Patient register with regard to cardiovascular outcomes (hypertensive or ischemic heart disease, and stroke)., Results: Those with depression and the high COMT enzyme activity genotype (Val/Val) had almost a three-fold increased risk of later CVD (OR 3.6; 95% CI: 2.0-6.6) compared to those non-depressed carrying the Val/Val allele. This effect on risk for CVD was higher in women compared to men (OR 7.0; 95% CI: 3.0-14.0 versus OR 2.1; 95% CI: 1.0-6.8). Both additive interaction (attributable proportion (AP) = 0.56; 95% CI: 0.24-0.90 and synergy index (SI) = 4.39; 1.0-18.7) and multiplicative interaction (log likelihood test p = 0.1) was present between depression and COMT Val 158 Met in predicting risk of later CVD., Conclusion: High COMT activity genotype Val 158 Met increased the risk of CVD in depressed persons. The risk was higher in women compared to men.

Background: Population based research regarding social differences in diagnosed depression in adolescence is sparse. In this study unique material containing in-and outpatient data was used to determine if low social position in childhood increases the risk of diagnosed depression in adolescence. To further examine this association, gender differences and interactions were explored., Methods: The study population was extracted from the Stockholm Youth Cohort (SYC), a register based cohort containing psychiatric care for all young people in Stockholm County and information about social position. For the purpose of this study, all in the SYC who turned 13 years old during 2001-2007, in total 169,262 adolescents, were followed up in 2005-2011 for diagnoses of depression until age 18. Associations were estimated with Cox regression models and presented as Hazard Ratios (HR)., Results: The risk of diagnosed depression was higher for adolescents with parents with low education (HR = 1.1, CI = 1.0-1.2) and medium education (HR = 1.1, CI = 1.1-1.2) compared to high as well as for those with lower household income (for example, medium low, HR = 1.2, CI = 1.1-1.3) and for those with parents who received an unemployment benefit (HR = 1.3, CI = 1.2-1.4). No differences were found for those with the lowest household income compared to those with the highest level. Adolescents with parents born outside the Nordic countries had a lower risk of diagnosed depression (HR = 0.7, CI = 0.6-0.7). An interaction effect was found between gender and parental education., Conclusions: Social differences were found but the magnitude was modest and gender differences small.

Background: Understanding the association between parental socioeconomic position and self-harm in adolescence is crucial due to its substantial magnitude and associated inequality. Most previous studies have been either of cross-sectional nature or based solely on self-reports or hospital treated self-harm. The aim of this study is to determine the association between parental socioeconomic position and self-harm among adolescents with a specific focus on gender and severity of self-harm., Methods: A total of 165,932 adolescents born 1988-1994 who lived in Stockholm at the age of 13 were followed in registers until they turned 18. Self-harm was defined as first time self-harm and severity of self-harm was defined as hospitalized or not. Socioeconomic position was defined by parental education and household income. Cox proportional hazards regression were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI)., Results: Analyses showed an association between parental socioeconomic position and self-harm. Among adolescents with parents with primary and secondary education compared to tertiary parental education the HR were 1.10 (95% CI 0.97-1.24) and 1.16 (95% CI 1.08-1.25) respectively. Compared to the highest income category, adolescents from the lower income categories were 1.08 (95% CI 0.97-1.22) to 1.19 (95% CI 1.07-1.33) times more likely to self-harm. In gender-stratified analyses, an association was found only among girls. Further, restriction to severe cases eliminated the association., Conclusions: This study suggested that low parental socioeconomic position is associated with self-harm in adolescence, predominantly among girls. The desertion of an association among severe cases may be explained by differences in suicidal intent and underlying psychiatric diagnosis. Efforts to prevent self-harm should consider children with low parental socioeconomic position as a potential target group.

Background: Fall injuries are stressful and painful and they have a range of serious consequences for older people. While there is some clinical evidence of unintentional poisoning by medication following a severe fall injuries, population-based studies on that association are lacking. This is investigated in the current study, in which attention is also paid to different clinical conditions of the injured patients., Methods: We conducted a matched case-control study of Swedish residents 60 years and older from various Swedish population-based registers. Cases defined as adverse drug events (ADE) by unintentional poisoning leading to hospitalization or death were extracted from the National Patient Register (NPR) and the Cause of Death Register from January 2006 to December 2009 (n = 4418). To each case, four controls were matched by sex, age and residential area. Information on injurious falls leading to hospitalization six months prior to the date of hospital admission or death from ADE by unintentional poisoning, and corresponding date for the controls, was extracted from the NPR. Data on clinical conditions, such as dispensed medications, comorbidity and previous fall injuries were also extracted from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register (SPDR) and NPR. Effect estimates were calculated using conditional logistic regression and presented as odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI)., Results: We found a three-fold increased risk of unintentional poisoning by medication in the six-month period after an injurious fall (OR 3.03; 95% CI, 2.54-3.74), with the most pronounced increase 1-3 weeks immediately after (OR, 7.66; 95% CI, 4.86-12.1). In that time window, from among those hospitalized for a fall (n = 92), those who sustained an unintentional poisoning (n = 60) tended to be in poorer health condition and receive more prescribed medications than those who did not, although this was not statistically significant. Age stratified analyses revealed a higher risk of poisoning among the younger (aged 60-79 years) than older elderly (80+ years)., Conclusion: Medication-related poisoning leading to hospitalization or death can be an ADE subsequent to an episode of hospitalization for a fall-related injury. Poisoning is more likely to occur closer to the injurious event and among the younger elderly. It cannot be ruled out that some of those falls are themselves ADE and early signs of greater vulnerability among certain patients.

Background: Long-term complications and a case mortality rate of 7.5% make meningitis caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae a serious clinical threat. In 2006, a general pneumococcal conjugate vaccination (PCV) recommendation was issued for all children under 2 years in Germany. Here, we investigate serotype changes in meningitis cases after this vaccine recommendation., Methods: The German National Reference Center for Streptococci (NRCS) has conducted surveillance for invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in Germany since 1992. Pneumococcal isolates were serotyped by the Neufeld's Quellung reaction and antibiotic susceptibility was tested using the broth microdilution method., Results: Of 22,204 IPD isolates sent to the NRCS from July 1992 to June 2013, 3,086 were meningitis cases. Microbiological and statistical investigations were performed to characterize and quantify all meningitis cases, focusing on changes reflecting implementation of the national PCV recommendation. 1,766 isolates (57.2% of meningitis cases) were from adults (≥16 years) and 1,320 isolates (42.8%) originated from children (<16 years). Overall, the leading serotypes were 14 (9.7%), 7F (7.8%), 3 (6.9%), 19F (5.7%) and 23F (5.0%). Among children, serotypes 14 (16.2%), 7F (8.9%) and 19F (7.1%) were most common, whereas among adults, serotypes 3 (9.6%), 7F (6.9%), 22F (5.0%), 23F (4.9%) and 14 (4.8%) were most prevalent. After the introduction of general PCV7/10/13 vaccination a significant decrease for most vaccine serotypes was observed. Generally, the differences in antibiotic nonsusceptibility between children <16 years and adults ≥16 were low. For macrolides in the pre-PCV7 period, a significantly higher proportion of resistant isolates was found in children (25.1%), compared to the post-vaccination period (9.7%; p<0.0001)., Conclusions: Implementation of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccines broadly reduced vaccine-type meningitis cases. Changes in serotype prevalence must be continuously monitored to observe future trends concerning pneumococcal meningitis.

Background: In schizophrenia, medication adherence is critical to achieve better patient outcomes and to avoid relapses, which are responsible for a significant proportion of total healthcare costs for this chronic illness. The aim of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of olanzapine long-acting injection (OLAI) compared with risperidone long-acting injection (RLAI) in patients with schizophrenia in Spain., Methods: A discrete event simulation (DES) model was developed from a Spanish healthcare system perspective to estimate clinical and economic outcomes for patients with schizophrenia over a five-year period. Patients who had earlier responded to oral medication and have a history of relapse due to adherence problems were considered. Identical model populations were treated with either OLAI or RLAI. In the absence of a head-to-head clinical trial, discontinuation and relapse rates were obtained from open-label studies. The model accounted for age, gender, risks of relapse and discontinuation, relapse management, hospitalization, treatment switching and adverse events. Direct medical costs for the year 2011 and outcomes including relapse avoided, life years (LYs), and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) were discounted at a rate of 3%., Results: When comparing RLAI and OLAI, the model predicts that OLAI would decrease 5-year costs by €2,940 (Standard Deviation between replications 300.83), and result in a QALY and LY gains of 0.07 (SD 0.019) and 0.04 (SD 0.025), respectively. Patients on OLAI had fewer relapses compared to RLAI (1.392 [SD 0.035] vs. 1.815 [SD 0.035]) and fewer discontinuations (1.222 [SD 0.031] vs. 1.710 [SD 0.039]). Sensitivity analysis indicated that the study was robust and conclusions were largely unaffected by changes in a wide range of parameters., Conclusions: The present evaluation results in OLAI being dominant over RLAI, meaning that OLAI represents a more effective and less costly alternative compared to RLAI in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia in the Spanish setting.

Background: In Sweden, self-reported depressive symptoms have increased among young people of both genders, but little is known about social differences in the risk of depressive symptoms among adolescents in welfare states, where such differences can be less pronounced. Therefore, the aim was to investigate whether multiple measures of low social status in childhood affect depressive symptoms in adolescence. A secondary aim was to explore potential gender effect modification., Methods: Participants were recruited in 1998 for a longitudinal study named BROMS. The study population at baseline consisted of 3020 children, 11-12 years-old, from 118 schools in Stockholm County, followed up through adolescence. This study is based on 1880 adolescents answering the follow-up survey in 2004, at age 17-18 (62% of the initial cohort). Parental education, occupation, country of birth, employment status and living arrangements were reported at baseline, by parents and adolescents. Depressive symptoms were self-reported by the adolescents in 2004, using a 12-item inventory. The associations between childhood social status and depressive symptoms in adolescence are presented as Odds Ratios (OR), estimated through logistic regression. Gender interaction with social factors was estimated through Synergy Index (SI)., Results: Increased risk of depressive symptoms was found among adolescents whose parents had low education (OR 1.8, CI = 1.1-3.1), were unskilled workers (OR 2.1, CI = 1.2-3.7), intermediate non-manual workers (OR 1.8, CI = 1.0-3.0), or self-employed (OR 2.2, CI = 1.2-3.7), compared to parents with high education and high non-manual work. In addition, adolescents living exclusively with one adult had an increased risk compared to those living with two (OR 2.8, CI = 1.1-7.5), while having foreign-born parents was not associated with depressive symptoms. An interaction effect was seen between gender and social factors, with an increased risk for girls of low-educated parents (SI = 3.4, CI = 1.3-8.9) or living exclusively with one adult (SI = 4.9, CI = 1.4-6.8)., Conclusions: The low social position in childhood may increase the risk of depressive symptoms among adolescents even in countries with small social differences and a highly developed welfare system, such as Sweden. Girls with low educated parents or living exclusively with one adult may be particularly vulnerable. This knowledge is of importance when planning preventive interventions or treatment.

Background: The simultaneous use of several medications is an important risk factor for injurious falls in older people. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the number of medications dispensed to elderly persons on fall injuries and to assess whether this relationship is explained by individual demographics, health habits and health status., Methods: A population-based, nested, case-control study on people 65 years and older (N = 20.906) was conducted using data from the Stockholm Public Health Cohort (SPHC) derived from self-administered surveys and linked at the individual level with various Swedish health registers. Fall injuries leading to hospitalization recorded in the Swedish National Patient Register (NPR) were considered as the outcome. The main exposure, obtained from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register (SPDR), was the number of medications dispensed within 90 days prior to the injurious fall. The injury risk was estimated using adjusted odds ratios (ORs) from logistic regression. Results were adjusted by selected demographic, social circumstances, lifestyle and health status data extracted from the SPHC., Results: After adjusting for common risk factors within demographics, lifestyle, social circumstances and health status, using more than one medication increased the risk of fall injury but no clear dose-response relationship was observed, with point estimates ranging from 1.5-1.7 for the use of two, three, four or five or more medications as compared to using none. An increased risk remained, and was even elevated, after adjusting for the use of fall-risk-increasing drugs (FRIDs)., Conclusions: Using more than one medication affects the risk of injurious falls among older people. The effect of any given number of medications studied remains and is even strengthened after adjusting for individual demographics, health habits, health conditions and the use of FRIDs.

Background: In previous studies the authors have found sick leave to be a predictor of future sick leave, unemployment and disability pension. Although sick leave reflects underlying health problems, some studies have suggested that sick leave may have consequences beyond the consequences of the underlying illness. However, few studies have aimed at studying consequences of sick leave while adjusting for ill health. This study aims to explore whether short-term sick leave increases the risk of future long-term sick leave, disability pension, and unemployment. Furthermore, we aim to control for the potentially confounding effects of physical and mental health status., Methods: Data were gathered from the Stockholm Public Health Cohort (SPHC), restricted to 11,156 employed individuals (48.6% men) aged 18-59, without long-term sick leave, disability pension or in-patient care the year before inclusion (2002). These were followed-up with regard to unemployment, long-term sick leave, and disability pension in 2006 and 2007.Odds ratios (OR) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated by logistic regression, controlling for six different measures of health status (limiting long-standing illness, self-rated health, mental health, somatic disease, musculoskeletal pain and in-patient care) and socio-demographic factors., Results: Results from the unadjusted analyses indicated increased risks of long-term sick leave (OR 2.00; CI 1.62-2.46) and short-term unemployment (OR 1.76; CI 1.35-2.29) for individuals exposed to more than one short-term sick-leave spell. There were no increased odds of long-term unemployment (OR 0.54; CI 0.28-1.04) or disability pension (OR 0.72; CI 0.42-1.24). After adjusting for the different measures of health status the odds ratio for short-term unemployment was not statistically significant (OR 1.29; CI 0.97-1.74). The odds ratios for the other outcomes slightly increased after adjustment for the used measures of health status., Conclusions: The results support the assumption that short-term sick leave may have consequences for future sick leave beyond the effect of ill health. The results point to the importance of paying attention to short-term sick leave in order to prevent subsequent sickness absence.

Background: Although illness is an important cause of sick leave, it has also been suggested that non-medical risk factors may influence this association. If such factors impact on the period of decision making, they should be considered as triggers. Yet, there is no empirical support available.The aim was to investigate whether recent exposure to work-related psychosocial events can trigger the decision to report sick when ill., Methods: A case-crossover design was applied to 546 sick-leave spells, extracted from a Swedish cohort of 1430 employees with a 3-12 month follow-up of new sick-leave spells. Exposure in a case period corresponding to an induction period of one or two days was compared with exposure during control periods sampled from workdays during a two-week period prior to sick leave for the same individual. This was done according to the matched-pair interval and the usual frequency approaches. Results are presented as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI)., Results: Most sick-leave spells happened in relation to acute, minor illnesses that substantially reduced work ability. The risk of taking sick leave was increased when individuals had recently been exposed to problems in their relationship with a superior (OR 3.63; CI 1.44-9.14) or colleagues (OR 4.68; CI 1.43-15.29). Individuals were also more inclined to report sick on days when they expected a very stressful work situation than on a day when they were not under such stress (OR 2.27; CI 1.40-3.70)., Conclusions: Exposure to problems in workplace relationships or a stressful work situation seems to be able to trigger reporting sick. Psychosocial work-environmental factors appear to have a short-term effect on individuals when deciding to report sick.

Background: Young car drivers run a higher risk of road traffic crash and injury not only because of their lack of experience but also because of their young age and their greater propensity for adopting unsafe driving practices. Also, low family socioeconomic position increases the risk of crash and of severe crash in particular. Whether this holds true for young unlicensed drivers as well is not known. Increasing attention is being drawn to the prevalence and practice of unlicensed driving among young people as an important contributor to road traffic fatalities., Methods: This is a population-based cohort study linking Swedish national register data for a cohort of 1 616 621 individuals born between 1977 and 1991. Crash circumstances for first-time road traffic crash (RTC) were compared considering licensed and unlicensed drivers. The socioeconomic distribution of injury was assessed considering household socioeconomic position, social welfare benefits, and level of urbanicity of the living area. The main outcome measure is relative risk of RTC., Results: RTCs involving unlicensed drivers were over-represented among male drivers, suspected impaired drivers, severe injuries, crashes occurring in higher speed limit areas, and in fair road conditions. Unlicensed drivers from families in a lower socioeconomic position showed increased relative risks for RTC in the range of 1.75 to 3.25. Those living in rural areas had an increased relative risk for a severe RTC of 3.29 (95% CI 2.47 - 4.39) compared to those living in metropolitan areas., Conclusions: At the time of the crash, young unlicensed drivers display more risky driving practices than their licensed counterparts. Just as licensed drivers, unlicensed young people from low socioeconomic positions are over-represented in the most severe injury crashes. Whether the mechanisms lying behind those similarities compare between these groups remains to be determined.

Background: Sudden emotions may interfere with mechanisms for keeping balance among the elderly. The aim of this study is to analyse if emotional stress and specifically feelings of anger, sadness, worries, anxiety or stress, can trigger falls leading to hip or pelvic fracture among autonomous older people., Methods: The study applied the case-crossover design and was based on data gathered by face to face interviews carried out in Stockholm between November 2004 and January 2006 at the emergency wards of two hospitals. Cases (n = 137) were defined as persons aged 65 and older admitted for at least one night due to a fall-related hip or pelvic fracture (ICD10: S72 or S32) and meeting a series of selection criteria. Results are presented as relative risks with 95% confidence intervals., Results: There was an increased risk for fall and subsequent hip or pelvic fracture for up to one hour after emotional stress. For anger there was an increased relative risk of 12.2 (95% CI 2.7-54.7), for sadness of 5.7 (95% CI 1.1-28.7), and for stress 20.6 (95% CI 4.5-93.5) compared to periods with no such feelings., Conclusion: Emotional stress seems to have the potential to trigger falls and subsequent hip or pelvic fracture among autonomous older people. Further studies are needed to clarify how robust the findings are - as the number of exposed cases is small - and the mechanisms behind them - presumably balance and vision impairment in stress situation.

Background: Meningococcal disease can have devastating consequences. As new vaccines emerge, it is necessary to assess their impact on public health. In the absence of long-term real world data, modeling the effects of different vaccination strategies is required. Discrete event simulation provides a flexible platform with which to conduct such evaluations., Methods: A discrete event simulation of the epidemiology of invasive meningococcal disease was developed to quantify the potential impact of implementing routine vaccination of adolescents in the United States with a quadrivalent conjugate vaccine protecting against serogroups A, C, Y, and W-135. The impact of vaccination is assessed including both the direct effects on individuals vaccinated and the indirect effects resulting from herd immunity. The simulation integrates a variety of epidemiologic and demographic data, with core information on the incidence of invasive meningococcal disease and outbreak frequency derived from data available through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Simulation of the potential indirect benefits of vaccination resulting from herd immunity draw on data from the United Kingdom, where routine vaccination with a conjugate vaccine has been in place for a number of years. Cases of disease are modeled along with their health consequences, as are the occurrence of disease outbreaks., Results: When run without a strategy of routine immunization, the simulation accurately predicts the age-specific incidence of invasive meningococcal disease and the site-specific frequency of outbreaks in the Unite States. 2,807 cases are predicted annually, resulting in over 14,000 potential life years lost due to invasive disease. In base case analyses of routine vaccination, life years lost due to infection are reduced by over 45% (to 7,600) when routinely vaccinating adolescents 12 years of age at 70% coverage. Sensitivity analyses indicate that herd immunity plays an important role when this population is targeted for vaccination. While 1,100 cases are avoided annually when herd immunity effects are included, in the absence of any herd immunity, the number of cases avoided with routine vaccination falls to 380 annually. The duration of vaccine protection also strongly influences results., Conclusion: In the absence of appropriate real world data on outcomes associated with large-scale vaccination programs, decisions on optimal immunization strategies can be aided by discrete events simulations such as the one described here. Given the importance of herd immunity on outcomes associated with routine vaccination, published estimates of the economic efficiency of routine vaccination with a quadrivalent conjugate vaccine in the United States may have considerably underestimated the benefits associated with a policy of routine immunization of adolescents.