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Aims: To determine the association between concurrent overall burden of disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, self-rated health, HbA1c levels, and attendance at clinical follow-up of the Danish arm of the ADDITION-study.Methods: Logistic regression models were used to study factors proposed being associated with attendance in clinical follow-up. We used data from clinical examinations, questionnaires and national registers at a time-point near the follow-up examination.Results: A total of 1119 participants were eligible for the follow-up conducted a median of 12.8 years (IQR 11.6; 13.4) after type 2 diabetes diagnosis by screening. Concurrent high burden of disease was associated with lower attendance (OR 0.6 (95% CI: 0.4; 0.9) for high-versus no burden of disease). Concurrent cardiovascular disease and cancer showed no statistically significant association with attendance (OR 1.0 (95% CI: 0.7; 1.4)) and (OR 0.8 (95% CI: 0.6; 1.1) for (disease versus no disease). Similarly, self-rated health (OR 0.7 (95% CI: 0.5; 1.0) poor-versus good self-rated health) and HbA1c levels (OR 1.0 (95% CI: 0.9; 1.2 unit=10mmol/mol)) were not statistically significant associated with attendance.Conclusions: This study showed a lower attendance in clinical follow-up after nearly 13years among individuals with concurrent high burden of disease. No associations were found between concurrent CVD, cancer, self-rated health and Hba1c levels and attendance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To systematically review reproductive outcomes of assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment in women transplanted with frozen-thawed ovarian tissue.Design: Systematic review in accordance with guidelines from Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA).Setting: Not applicable.Patient(s): Women undergoing ovarian tissue transplantation (OTT) and subsequent ART.Intervention(s): Literature search in PubMed and Scopus databases.Main Outcome Measure(s): Time from OTT to initiation of ART, stimulation protocol, and conventional ART outcome measures.Result(s): Twenty studies (including 15 case reports), specifying ART treatments and outcomes of 40 women undergoing OTT were identified. Multiple stimulation protocols were applied, with the modified natural cycle as the most frequently used. In total, 195 ART cycles were performed (4.0 cycles per patient) resulting in 1.5 follicles and 1.0 mature oocyte retrieved per cycle. Empty follicle rates ranged from 23% to 35% in the three largest cohort studies. Twenty-five women (62.5%) had one or more pregnancies, of which 28.6% were lost, resulting in a total of 20 live births (22 children). Overall the pregnancy rates varied from 3.9% to 19.3% and live-birth rates from 3.9% to 14.0% per cycle in the three cohort studies. Fertility treatment was initiated shortly after OTT in some centers, while others awaited natural conception before embarking on ART treatment.Conclusion(s): The reported pregnancy and live-birth rates for women undergoing OTT and ART were considerably lower than those of the general in vitro fertilization (IVF) population, corresponding to patients with poor ovarian reserve. In general, ART outcomes are underreported, and there is a lack of consensus regarding the timing of ART in relation to OTT and the type of ovarian stimulation protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most countries provide aftercare for foster care alumni either through specific targeted programs or by making foster care or related services available to the youth after they have aged out of foster care. Yet we have limited evidence of the effects of this type of care, especially from non-US contexts. My study tests whether an expansion of the Danish aftercare scheme in 2001 affects later outcomes of foster care alumni. This expansion raised the age limit for eligibility for aftercare from 20 years to 22 years, and created an increased focus on availability of this type of support. Using Danish administrative data and a difference-in-difference setup, I find that the expansion increased unemployment, but only in the short run, and reduced educational activities overall. It did, however improve wage outcomes, but only for those cohorts immediately impacted by the reform, and only in the medium run. • Evaluation of aftercare programs from a non-US context. • Incapacitation effects of aftercare programs. • No positive long-term effects of aftercare programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Aims In this cross-sectional study, we explored the utility of corneal confocal microscopy (CCM) measures for detecting diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN) and their association with clinical variables, in a cohort with type 2 diabetes. Methods CCM, nerve conduction studies, and assessment of symptoms and clinical deficits of DPN were undertaken in 144 participants with type 2 diabetes and 25 controls. DPN was defined according to the Toronto criteria for confirmed DPN. Results Corneal nerve fiber density (CNFD) was lower both in participants with confirmed DPN (n = 27) and in participants without confirmed DPN (n = 117) compared with controls (P = 0.04 and P = 0.01, respectively). No differences were observed for CNFD (P = 0.98) between participants with and without DPN. There were no differences in CNFL and CNBD between groups (P = 0.06 and P = 0.29, respectively). CNFD was associated with age, height, total- and LDL cholesterol. Conclusions CCM could not distinguish patients with and without neuropathy, but CNFD was lower in patients with type 2 diabetes compared to controls. Age may influence the level of CCM measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A blood-based biomarker for DPN could support diagnosis and follow-up of DPN. • NfL levels were higher in +DPN than in -DPN individuals. • NfL's potential as a biomarker for the presence of DPN is however unlikely. • NfL was associated with worse peripheral nerve function in type 2 diabetes. • NfL's relation to nerve function indicates value of NfL in evaluation of DPN severity. To investigate the relationship between neurofilament light chain (NfL) and the presence and severity of diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN). We performed cross-sectional analysis of data from 178 participants of the ADDITION-Denmark cohort of people with screen-detected type 2 diabetes and 32 healthy controls. Biobank serum samples were analyzed for NfL using single-molecule array. DPN was defined by Toronto criteria for confirmed DPN. Original and axonal nerve conduction study (NCS) sum z-scores were used as indicators of the severity of DPN and peripheral nerve damage. 39 (21.9%) participants had DPN. Serum NfL (s-NfL) was significantly higher in participants with DPN (18.8 ng/L [IQR 14.4; 27.9]) than in participants without DPN (15.4 ng/L [IQR 11.7; 20.1]). There were no unadjusted s-NfL differences between controls (17.6 ng/L [IQR 12.7; 19.8]) and participants with or without DPN. Higher original and axonal NCS sum z-scores were associated with 10% higher s-NfL (10.2 and 12.1% [95% CI's 4.0; 16.8 and 6.6; 17.9] per 1 SD). The AUC of s-NfL for DPN was 0.63 (95% CI 0.52; 0.73). S-NfL is unlikely to be a reliable biomarker for the presence of DPN. S-NfL is however associated to the severity of the nerve damage underlying DPN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with other types of out-of-home care, kinship care is cheap, and offers the child a more familiar environment. However, little is known about the causal effect of kinship care on important outcomes. This study is the first to estimate causal effects of kinship care on placement stability, using full-sample administrative data ( N = 13,157) and instrumental variables methods. Results show that, in a sample of children of age 0–17 years, kinship care is as stable as other types of care, and only when the kin caregiver is particularly empathic and dutiful does this type of care prove more stable. Thus, in terms of stability, most children do not benefit additionally from being placed with kin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: While a range of studies investigate how a child''s background characteristics affects his or her placement risk, only few have considered the possible stratified influence of these characteristics. This study contributes to this small literature by investigating if the influence from background characteristics varies by the child''s social class membership. The analysis shows that this is the case: background characteristics matter less for preschool children from higher classes compared to low class preschool children, however, they matter more for high class teenagers than for low class teenagers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Studies analysing the effect of the duration of sick leave on subsequent labour market outcomes do not consider the potential endogenous relationship between duration and labour market outcomes. This paper deals with this shortcoming by using a consistent estimator attained through Instrumental Variables methods for estimating the effect of the duration of a sick leave spell on post-sick leave earnings. I use Danish administrative data and a major 2001 reform of the sick leave system as the instrument for duration. I find that the duration of a sick leave spell has both short and long term effects on post-sick leave earnings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• To be submitted at a later stage. We analyse the effects of unemployment on the likelihood of having a first and second birth in Denmark. The existing studies on this topic have generated contradictory results, and have made a weak case for the exogeneity of unemployment to fertility. We suggest that firm closures constitute an exogenous source of unemployment, and adopt firm closures as an instrument for estimating individuals' fertility responses. Using a life-course approach, we exploit unique administrative data from Denmark that include all Danish residents born in 1966 and followed between 1982 and 2006. The data contain monthly information about each individual's employment status, type of employer, relationship status and partner's characteristics; as well as very detailed fertility information, including on stillbirths and registered miscarriages. We find that unemployment has a positive effect on motherhood transitions and a negative effect on fatherhood transitions, although the latter is not robust to the inclusion of controls. We find no significant effect of unemployment on second births. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]