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Abstract: There are few studies comparing those who have had and have not had a stroke among those aged 80 years and over, the very old. The aim of this paper was to investigate the prevalence of stroke and the association between stroke and depression in a very old population. This paper is based on cross-sectional data from a population-based study performed between 2005 and 2007. Half of those aged 85 years, all 90-, and 95-year-olds and older in eight urban and rural municipalities in northern Sweden and Finland were invited to participate. A sample of 601 individuals who participated fully in the study was selected. Data were collected through assessments, structured interviews and investigation of medical charts. A specialist in geriatric medicine determined disease status for depression based on medical records and results from the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)-15, the Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and the Organic Brain Syndrome (OBS) scale, and for stroke based on medical records and reported disease. The prevalence of stroke was 21.5%. The prevalence of depression was 50.4% among those with stroke compared to 34.3% among those without stroke (OR 1.944, p <0.001). In a logistic regression model adjusted for several demographic variables, diseases and functional level, stroke was independently associated with depression (OR 1.644, p =0.038). A large proportion of those with depression, both with and without stroke, were not receiving antidepressant medication. In conclusion, the stroke prevalence was high and stroke showed a strong association with depression among very old people. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: The Covid-19 restrictions - as they made young people's practices in their everyday life visible for reflection and reformation - provide a productive opportunity to study how changing conditions affected young people's well-being and drinking practices.Methods: The data is based on qualitative interviews with 18- to 24-year-old Swedes (n=33) collected in the Autumn 2021. By drawing on the socio-material approach, the paper traces actants, assemblages and trajectories that moved the participants towards increased or decreased well-being during the lockdown.Results: The Covid-19 restrictions made the participants reorganize their everyday life practices emphatically around the home and communication technologies. The restrictions gave rise to both worsened and improved well-being trajectories. In the worsened well-being trajectories, the pandemic restrictions moved the participants towards loneliness, loss of routines, passivity, physical barriers, self-centered thoughts, negative effects of digital technology, sleep deficit, identity crisis, anxiety, depression, and stress. In the improved well-being trajectories, the Covid-19 restrictions brought about freedom to study from a distance, more time for significant others, oneself and for one's own hobbies, new productive practices at home and a better understanding of what kind of person one is. Both worsened and improved well-being trajectories were related to the aim to perform well, and in them drinking practices either diminished or increased the participants' capacities and competencies for well-being.Conclusions: The results suggest that material domestic spaces, communication technologies and performance are important actants both for alcohol consumption and well-being among young people. These actants may increase or decrease young people's drinking and well-being depending on what kinds of relations become assembled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives The paper presents a national level Swedish project aimed at examining adolescent student-athletes' dual career experiences (including sport, studies, and private life) during their first year at national elite sport schools (Swedish abbreviation RIGs will be used) with a particular focus on development of their athletic and student identities. The developmental model of transitions faced by athletes (Wylleman & Lavallee, 2004) and the athletic career transition model (Stambulova, 2003) served as underlying frameworks. Design A longitudinal mixed-method research design was used with autumn-to-spring quantitative and qualitative parts. Method Sixteen year old student-athletes, representing 27 sports and 33 RIGs ( n = 261 in the first and n = 250 in the second measurement), completed three quantitative instruments. Additionally, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 participants. Results Results revealed (a) significant changes in the participants' transition/adaptation variables from the first to the second measurement accompanied by rather high perceived quality of adjustment at RIG both at the beginning and at the end of the educational year; (b) significant contributions of the transition variables to the perceived quality of adjustment with personal resources as a key predictor; (c) significantly higher athletic than student identity in both quantitative measurements, but with inter- and intra-individual differences with regard to balancing the two shown by the qualitative data. Conclusions The study contributes to deeper understanding of dual career experiences of Swedish adolescent athletes; the authors provide recommendations for psychological dual career support services at RIGs and outline future research in the Swedish dual career model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are people with ill health more prone to unemployment during the ongoing economic crisis? Is this health selection more visible among people with low education, women, or the young? The current paper investigates these questions in the Scandinavian context using the longitudinal part of the EU-SILC data material. Generalized least squares analysis indicates that people with ill health are laid off to a higher degree than their healthy counterparts in Denmark, but not in Norway and Sweden. Additionally, young individuals (<30 years) with ill health have a higher probability of unemployment in both Norway and Sweden, but not in Denmark. Neither women with ill health, nor individuals with low educational qualifications and ill health, are more likely to lose their jobs in Scandinavia. Individual level (and calendar year) fixed effects analysis confirms the existence of health selection out of employment in Denmark, whereas there is no suggestion of health selection in Sweden and Norway, except among young individuals. This finding could be related to the differing labor market demand the three Scandinavian countries have experienced during and preceding the study period (2007–2010). Another possible explanation for the cross-national differences is connected to the Danish “flexicurity” model, where the employment protection is rather weak. People with ill health, and hence more unstable labor market attachment, could be more vulnerable in such an arrangement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The present shortage of registered nurses (RNs) in many European countries is expected to continue and worsen, which poses a substantial threat to the maintenance of healthcare in this region. Work-family conflict is a known risk factor for turnover and sickness absence. Objective: This paper empirically examines whether the nurse practice environment is associated with experienced work-family conflict. Design: A multilevel model was fit with the individual RN at the 1st, and the hospital department at the 2nd level using cross-sectional RN survey data from the Swedish part of RN4CAST, an EU 7th framework project. The data analyzed here is based on a national sample of 8356 female and 592 male RNs from 369 hospital departments. Results: We found that 6% of the variability in work-family conflict experienced by RNs was at the department level. Organizational level factors significantly accounted for most of the variability at this level with two of the work practice environment factors examined, staffing adequacy and nurse involvement in hospital affairs, significantly related to work- family conflict. Due to the design of the study, factors on ward and work group levels could not be analyzed, but are likely to account for additional variance which in the present analysis appears to be on the individual level, with private life factors likely explaining another major part. Conclusion: These results suggest that higher level organizational factors in health care have a significant impact on the risk of work-family conflict among RNs through their impact on the nurse practice environment. Lower level organizational factors should be investigated in future studies using hierarchical multilevel sampling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Social structures and socioeconomic patterns are the major determinants of population health. However, very few previous studies have simultaneously analysed the “social” and the “economic” indicators when addressing social determinants of health. We focus on the relevance of economic and social capital as health determinants by analysing various indicators. The aim of this paper was to analyse independent associations, and interactions, of lack of economic capital (economic hardships) and social capital (social participation, interpersonal and political/institutional trust) on various health outcomes. Data was derived from the 2009 Swedish National Survey of Public Health, based on a randomly selected representative sample of 23,153 men and 28,261 women aged 16–84 year, with a participation rate of 53.8%. Economic hardships were measured by a combined economic hardships measure including low household income, inability to meet expenses and lacking cash reserves. Social capital was measured by social participation, interpersonal (horizontal) trust and political (vertical/institutional trust) trust in parliament. Health outcomes included; (i) self-rated health, (i) psychological distress (GHQ-12) and (iii) musculoskeletal disorders. Results from multivariate logistic regression show that both measures of economic capital and low social capital were significantly associated with poor health status, with only a few exceptions. Significant interactive effects measured as synergy index were observed between economic hardships and all various types of social capital. The synergy indices ranged from 1.4 to 2.3. The present study adds to the evidence that both economic hardships and social capital contribute to a range of different health outcomes. Furthermore, when combined they potentiate the risk of poor health. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Inverse Care Law states that the availability of good medical care tends to vary inversely with the need of the population served, with previous research indicating that migrant populations might be particularly at risk of this phenomenon. However, the degree to which the law applies to long-term care services (LTCS) in diverse ageing societies, where sizable older migrant populations need to be accounted for, has not been well investigated. To ensure equitable service provision, and to achieve European goals promoting a social right to care, it is critical to assess the extent to which such diverse populations are being neglected. This paper investigates the relationship between income and utilization of LTCS in Sweden amongst older native-born residents and older migrants born in low-, middle-, and high-income countries. The universality of its welfare system and the documented income differentials between foreign- and Swedish-born persons makes Sweden a particularly interesting case for assessing whether the most disadvantaged are the most underserved. The analysis uses register data on a total population of all older residents in Sweden, encompassing approximately two million persons. The results indicate that the Inverse Care Law does not apply to the utilization of LTCS by Swedish-born older people, nor by the majority of older migrants. However, the Inverse Care Law does appear to operate for older persons born in low-income countries who do not have a partner. • The Inverse Care Law (ICL) does not apply to Swedish-born older persons. • The ICL is not applicable to many of older migrants in LMICs. • Older persons with no partner, from low-income countries experience aspects of ICL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic (e−) invoices potentially enhance environmental sustainability in several stages from production of paper to its usage. This study investigates empirically to what extent a set of firm characteristics and external factors associate with the probability to send e-invoices and with the intensity of usage, based on a representative survey of approximately 1500 Swedish firms. An invoice is considered electronic when it is exchanged in an automated system between the buyer and the seller. The analysis includes firms with one employee or larger across all industries except, agriculture, fishery, forestry, public administration and defence. Descriptive statistics show that 42 per cent of the firms in 2016 send e-invoices. By use of a two-part model, estimation results reveal that both internal and external factors are associated with the e-invoice behaviour. The probability of adoption is significantly higher for firms with government sector clients and a large number of invoices. The intensity estimation exhibits a reverse pattern, where the number of e-invoices is most strongly associated with the invoice pattern. Another internal factor of importance for the extent of e-invoices is the level of labour productivity. Construction firms have the highest probability to adopt e-invoices and manufacturing firms scale-up the usage. Besides this, neither industry affiliation nor size-class is crucial. When size-class is estimated separately, it appears that medium-sized and large firms strongly associate their invoice adoption with type of client, while the extent of the activity is solely related to internal factors. For micro enterprises and small firms, kind of client is the most important aspect at all. • Electronic (e−) invoices potentially enhance environmental sustainability. • Still only two out of five firms e-invoice their clients to some extent. • Two-part model estimations employed. • Probability to send e-invoices mainly relates to external factors (government sector clients). • Intensity of e-invoicing primarily associated with internal factors. • Policy measures to increase e-invoicing possibly more effective on the demand side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]