Search

Aims: There are substantial differences in remaining life expectancy at higher ages between occupational groups. These differences may be the effect of work-related exposures, lifestyle factors of workers in specific occupations, socioeconomic position or a combination of this. The scope of this paper is the extent to which occupational differences in remaining life expectancy persist after retirement, which would suggest that occupational exposures alone are not likely to explain all the difference. Methods: All individuals born between 1925 and 1939 who reported occupational information in the Census 1985 and were residents in Sweden to the end of 2020 or who died were included and followed for death until 2020. The Nordic Classification of Occupations was used to create nine occupational groups. Partial life expectancy and age-specific death rates were applied to examine mortality differentials. Results: This study showed substantial differences in partial life expectancy across the occupational cohorts with the biggest difference being about 2 years. The mortality differences persisted with increasing age, both when measured as absolute numbers as well as relative numbers. Conclusions: The lack of convergence in mortality at high ages suggests that factors associated with lifestyle may play a larger role than occupational factors for the mortality differences between occupational groups at high ages. However, it cannot be ruled out that long-lasting effects of earlier occupational exposures also contribute. Regardless of the exact mechanism, we conclude that there is room for further reduction in mortality at high ages and, thus, for further improvement in life expectancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although violence among youth remains an important, global issue, little research has been conducted regarding how young people themselves define violence and what practices in relation to violence that are evident in their everyday lives. Using an intersectional gender perspective, specifically exploring the intersection of gender, age, and class, this paper therefore aims to explore how young people define violence, as well as to explore what practices in relation to violence that are evident in young people's everyday lives. By using a photovoice methodology, 11 focus groups of young boys and girls (17–19 years old) living in two municipalities in northern Sweden were interviewed and asked to take photographs representing themes that were discussed. Overall, three main themes in the young peoples' stories were identified: Violence as ubiquitous, Easy prey and dangerous predators, and The way forward. The findings demonstrated that violence is pervasive, all-encompassing and normalized in young people's everyday lives, and that this violence is moderated by intersecting power orders of gender, age, and class. Any future theoretical frameworks or prevention strategies should therefore aim to include an intersectional perspective as well as including the voices of the youths themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the epidemiology and public health response of novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in the Nordic region. The data on cases and deaths due to COVID-19 were drawn from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The data on age- and sex-wise cases, deaths and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and public health interventions in the Nordic region through November 10, 2020, were obtained from respective countries' health ministries. Sweden accounted for 60.59% of cases (162 240 of 267 768 cases) and 81% of deaths (6057 of 7477 cases) in the Nordic region. The incidence rate for the Nordic region was 989.59 per 100 000, varying from 327.30 per 100 000 in Finland to 1616.51 per 100 000 in Sweden, and the mortality rate for the region was 27.63 per 100 000, ranging from 5.3 per 100 000 in Norway to 60.35 per 100 000 in Sweden. The case–fatality ratio of the Nordic region was 2.79%. Females were more susceptible to COVID-19 infection than males (52.30% vs 47.66%), while males had a greater proportion of deaths (54.7%) and ICU need (71.99%) than females. It is imperative to continue with social distancing, mandatory masks, testing, prohibition of mass gatherings, isolation of confirmed cases, and preventing the importation of cases from other countries to avoid the further resurgence of cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore meanings of adulthood and youthfulness in relation to notions of life course, good motherhood, and girlhood among young mothers in Sweden. Our analysis was informed by a discursive psychological approach and was based on interview conversations with 17 mothers who were 13–25 years old at the birth of their first child. In our analysis, we identified two repertoires – the ‘social age’ repertoire and the ‘chronological age’ repertoire. The interviewees invoked the two repertoires to position themselves and others as either responsible adult mothers or as responsible youthful mothers. Meanings of adulthood are central within the idea of motherhood, and by deviating from their expected life course young mothers are often understood as non-adults who are incapable of fulfilling the developmental task of motherhood. Our work suggests that the maternal identity work of young mothers takes place within discourses of both adulthood and youthfulness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: One in ten children have a parent diagnosed with a mental illness by specialised psychiatric services. Severe parental mental illness is a well-established risk factor for children's mental health problems, making the identification and support of these children a public health concern. This study investigated the mental health and family context of children of parents diagnosed with depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder in this clinical setting. Methods: Parental reports on 87 children aged 8–17 years were analysed. The children's mental health was compared with that of a Swedish population-based sample. Multiple linear regression was used to investigate associations between child mental health and child gender, child age, parent symptoms and social status, family functioning, and perceived parental control. Furthermore, a cumulative risk index explored the effect of multiple risk factors on child mental health. Results: The children reportedly had significantly more mental health problems than did the population-based sample and about one-third had scores above the clinical cut-off. A significant multiple linear regression explained 49% of the variance in child mental health, with lower perceived parental control and younger child age being associated with more child mental health problems. With more reported risk factors, children reportedly had more mental health problems. Conclusions: The results underline the importance of identifying a patient's children and assessing multiple relevant risk factors in the child's life. Furthermore, the results indicate that the needs of younger children and of patients in their parenting role are important to address. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recommendations to routinely question patients about violence victimization have been around for many years; nonetheless, many patients suffering in the aftermath of violence go unnoticed in health care. The main aim of this study was to explore characteristics associated with being asked about experiences of violence in health care and thereby making visible victims that go unnoticed. In this study, we used cross-sectional survey data from 754 men (response rate 35%) and 749 women (response rate 38%) collected at random from the Swedish population, age 25–85. Questions were asked about experiences of emotional, physical, and sexual violence from both family, partner, and other perpetrators. Only 13.1% of those reporting some form of victimization reported ever being asked about experiences of violence in health care. Low subjective social status was associated with being asked questions (adj OR 2.23) but not with victimization, possibly indicating prejudice believes among providers concerning who can be a victim of violence. Other factors associated with increased odds of being asked questions were: being a woman (adj OR 2.09), young age (24–44 years, adj OR 6.90), having been treated for depression (adj OR 2.45) or depression and anxiety (adj OR 2.19) as well as reporting physical violence (adj OR 2.74) or polyvictimization (adj OR 2.85). The main finding of the study was that only few victims had been asked questions. For example, among those reporting ≥4 visits to a primary care physician during the past 12 months, 43% reported some form of victimization but only 6% had been asked questions. Our findings underline the importance of continuing to improve the health care response offered to victims of violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: We aimed to understand the interplay between retirement pathways and healthcare use in the postponed and structurally changing context of retirement. Methods: Based on Swedish register data on income and healthcare use, we applied combined sequence and cluster analysis to identify typical pathways into retirement and analysed their relation to healthcare use developments. Results: We detected five distinct pathways into retirement. Level of healthcare use was significantly higher for the pathway via disability pensions. We saw an overall increase in healthcare use across the retirement process that was related to age rather than to the different pathways. Conclusions: Level of healthcare use at the beginning of the retirement process may be related to selection into different pathways of retirement. We did not find clear evidence across several healthcare measures that different pathways lead to different developments in healthcare use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The study purpose was to describe the Swedish HealthPhys cohort. Using data from the HealthPhys study, we aimed to describe the prevalence of clinical burnout and major depression in a representative sample of Swedish physicians across gender, age, worksite, hierarchical position, and speciality in spring of 2021, during the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Method: The HealthPhys questionnaire was sent to a representative sample of practising physicians (n=6699) in Sweden in February to May of 2021 with a 41.3% response rate. The questionnaire included validated instruments measuring psychosocial work environment and health including measurements for major depression and clinical burnout. Results: Data from the HealthPhys study showed that among practising physicians in Sweden the prevalence of major depression was 4.8% and clinical burnout was 4.7%. However, the variations across sub-groups of physicians regarding major depression ranged from 0% to 10.1%. For clinical burnout estimates ranged from 1.3% to 14.5%. Emergency physicians had the highest levels of clinical burnout while they had 0% prevalence of major depression. Prevalence of exhaustion was high across all groups of physicians with physicians working in emergency departments, at the highest (28.6%) and anaesthesiologist at the lowest (5.6%). Junior physicians had high levels across all measurements. Conclusions: In conclusion, the first data collection from the HealthPhys study showed that the prevalence of major depression and clinical burnout varies across genders, age, hierarchical position, worksite, and specialty. Moreover, many practising physicians in Sweden experienced exhaustion and were at high risk of burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This study aimed to describe the demographic and geographic patterns of campylobacteriosis in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden during 2000–2015. Methods: All Campylobacter infections notified to national authorities in the four countries during the study period were included. Background data for each notification consisted of patient age, sex, geographical location, presumed origin of infection and date of sample taken or date of sample received in the laboratory. These data were analysed in order to investigate annual trends, age group and sex patterns, as well as variations in the geographical and seasonal distribution of infections. Results: During the study period, a total of 164,001 Campylobacter infections, excluding travel-related cases, were registered, representing a mean annual incidence of 42.3 cases/100,000 population (ranging from 28.5 in Norway to 60.4 in Denmark). The incidence increased significantly from 2004 onwards in all countries, apart from Denmark. Males had higher infection rates in general. The highest incidences were observed in 0–4 year olds and those aged 20–29 years, apart from in Finland where there was no peak of infections in children aged 0–4 years. Seasonality of disease was distinct in all four countries, showing peaks of infection between July and August. In Sweden and Norway, incidences of campylobacteriosis were significantly higher in municipalities with high degrees of coastline or inland water. Conclusions: Campylobacter in the Nordic countries mostly follows known patterns with respect to demography and seasonality. Our study demonstrates new insights concerning geographical patterns of disease, highlighting possible future vulnerable population groups and locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Research on the effect of unmet health-care needs on mortality at follow-up is scarce. This study investigated whether unmet health-care needs in 2008 were associated with a higher risk of mortality during a five-year follow-up period in a population in southern Sweden, and whether the association was stronger for particular subgroups of cause of death. Methods: The 2008 public-health survey in Skåne was used as baseline. The survey included variables such as unmet health-care needs, risk behaviours and social and socio-economic variables, and had 28,198 respondents aged 18–80 years. The study was longitudinal. Mortality data for the period 27 August 2008 (start of the survey) to 31 December 2013 were provided by the National Board on Health and Welfare. Analyses were run using Cox proportional hazard models. Mortality was analysed as the total and in subgroups: cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer and other causes. Results: In the time period studied, 946 (3.4%) people had died. Unmet health-care needs increased the hazard ratios (HRs) of total mortality after adjusting for age, particularly for people aged 65–80 years (HR=1.53; confidence interval 1.24–1.88). Unmet health-care needs were associated with death due to cancer and other causes but not with CVD. Adjusting for self-rated health attenuated the HRs. For the age group 18–64 years, there was no significant association between unmet health-care needs and mortality. Conclusions: Having unmet health-care needs at baseline was significantly associated with increased mortality for all causes, except CVD, in the following five year-period, particularly for people aged 65–80 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate hearing thresholds in children born with cleft palate and in children with otitis media with effusion but no cleft palate. Design: Prospective longitudinal group comparison study. Setting: University hospital. Participants: Sixteen children born with nonsyndromic cleft palate with or without cleft lip (CP±L) and 15 age-matched children with otitis media with effusion (OME) but without cleft. Main Outcome Measures: Hearing was tested at repeated occasions beginning with neonatal auditory brainstem response (ABR) at 1-4 months of age, and age-appropriate hearing tests from 9 to 36 months of age. Results: The median ABR thresholds in both groups were elevated but did not differ significantly. At 12 months of age, the median 4 frequency averages at 500-1000-2000-4000 Hz (4FA) were indicative of mild hearing loss but significantly better in the CP±L-group than in the group without cleft (P <.01). There were no significant group-wise differences regarding the median 4FA at 24 and 36 months of age, and at 36 months, the median 4FA were normal in both groups. Both groups exhibited a significant improvement over time from the neonatal ABR thresholds to the 4FA at 36 months (CP±L-group P <.05; without CP±L-group P <.01). Conclusion: The hearing loss in children with CP±L was not more severe than among children with OME but without cleft palate; rather, at 12 months of age, the thresholds were significantly better in the CP±L-group than those in the group without cleft. The air conduction thresholds improved with age in both groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the links between seven specific mechanisms of moral disengagement and indirect bullying, direct bullying, and pro-aggressive bystander behavior. In addition, the moderating role of gender on these associations was examined. Participants were 317 Swedish students in Grades 4 to 8 ( X ¯ age = 12. 6 , SD = 1.35; 62% girls). Multivariate multiple regression analyses showed that indirect bullying was predicted by gender and victim attribution. Direct bullying was predicted by moral justification, and for girls, by victim attribution. Pro-aggressive bystander behavior was predicted by diffusion of responsibility, victim attribution, gender, and age. That is, boys and younger students were more prone to take the aggressor's side compared with girls and older students. Furthermore, the relation between pro-aggressive bystander behavior and distortion of consequences appeared stronger in boys than in girls. These results highlight the relative importance of specific moral disengagement mechanisms and may have implications for interventions targeting bullying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of the current study was to assess voice quality among adults treated for unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP), after one- or two-stage palate closure, and compare it to a noncleft control group. Study Design: Cross-sectional study of patients with UCLP with long-term follow-up and noncleft controls. Participants: Patients with UCLP born between 1960 and 1987, treated at Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden, were examined (n = 73) at a mean of 35 years after primary surgery. Forty-seven (64%) patients had been treated with 1-stage palate closure and 26 with 2-stage closure (36%). The noncleft control group consisted of 63 age-matched volunteers. Main Outcome Measures: Ratings of perceptual voice characteristics from blinded voice recordings with Swedish Voice Evaluation Approach method. Acoustic voice analysis including pitch and spectral measures. Results: Among the patients, the mean values for the 12 evaluated variables on a visual analog scale (0 = no abnormality, 100 = maximal abnormality) ranged between 0.1 and 17, and the mean for all was 6 mm. Voice variables were similar between patients and controls, except the total mean of all the perceptual voice variables, as well as “vocal fry”; both slightly lower among patients (P = .018 and P = .009). There was no difference in any variable between patients treated with 1-stage and 2-stage palate closure. No clear relationship was found between velopharyngeal insufficiency and dysphonia. Conclusions: The voice characteristics among adults treated for UCLP in childhood are not different from those of individuals without cleft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the awareness of palliative care (PC) in a general Swedish population. Design: We developed an e-survey based on a similar study conducted in Northern Ireland, consisting of 10 questions. Closed questions were primarily analyzed using descriptive statistics. Open questions were subject to inductive qualitative analysis. Subjects: The study utilized a population sample of 7684 persons aged 18–66, of which 2020 responded, stratified by gender, age and region. Results: Most participants reported ‘no’ (n = 827, 41%) or ‘some’ (n = 863, 43%) awareness of PC. Being female or older were associated with higher levels of awareness, as was a university-level education, working in a healthcare setting and having a friend or family member receiving PC. Most common sources of knowledge were the media, close friends and relatives receiving PC, as well as working in a healthcare setting. Aims of PC were most frequently identified as ‘care before death’, ‘pain relief’, ‘dignity’ and a ‘peaceful death’. The preferred place of care and death was one’s own home. The main barriers to raising awareness about PC were fear, shame and taboo, along with perceived lack of information and/or personal relevance. The term ‘palliative care’ was said to be unfamiliar by many. A number of strategies to enhance awareness and access to PC were suggested, largely reflecting the previously identified barriers. Conclusions: This survey found limited awareness of palliative care in an adult sample of the Swedish general public ≤ 66 years, and points to a more widespread disempowerment surrounding end-of-life issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population aging is expected to increase long-term care (LTC) costs in both Japan and Sweden. This study projected LTC costs for 2010 through 2040 for different assumptions of population change, LTC need by age group and gender, and LTC provided per level of need and cost in Japan and Sweden. Population data were taken from the official national forecasts. Needs projections were based on epidemiological data from the Nihon University Japanese Longitudinal Study of Aging and the Swedish Survey of Living Conditions. Data on LTC provision by need and cost were taken from nine Japanese municipalities collected by assessments in the LTC insurance system and from surveys in eight Swedish municipalities. Total initial costs were calibrated to official national figures. Two projections based on two different scenarios were made for each country from 2010 to 2040. The first scenario assumed a constant level of need for LTC by age group and gender, and the other assumed a continuation of the present LTC need trends until 2025. For Japan, this resulted in a projected cost increase of 93% for the one and 80% for the other; for Sweden it was 52% and 24%, respectively. The results reflected differences in population aging and health development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This study explores the association between the psychosocial work environment in school and students' somatic health complaints. With its point of departure from the Demand-Control-Support (DCS) model, the aim was to examine how aspects of decision control and social support can moderate stress-related health implications of high psychological demands. Methods: Data come from two cross-sectional waves of the Swedish version of Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC 2005/2006 and 2009/2010), which consists of a total of 9427 11-, 13- and 15-year-old students. A two-level random intercept model was applied, with school class as the level 2 unit. Results: Findings showed significant associations between school demands and somatic health complaints for all studied age groups, with a slight increase in strength with age. Decision control as well as social support from teachers, parents and peers consistently predicted a favorable association with health. An age pattern emerged in the analyses of stress-moderating resources. For 11 year olds parental support was the only resource that displayed a significant interaction with demands in relation to somatic health complaints, whereas for 13 year olds, decision control and support from teachers and parents all demonstrated moderating effects on student health. For 15 year olds, however, it was peer support that acted as a buffering resource in the studied relationship. Conclusions: The psychosocial work environment is an important predictor of students' health complaints. Overall, social support was a better stress-moderating resource than decision control, but some "buffers" were more important at certain ages than others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The aim of the study was to identify youth at high risk of chlamydia including variables related to sexual health and negative experiences of sexuality. Methods: In late 2009, a questionnaire on sexuality was answered by Swedish youth. The study sample was self-selected from different Internet communities. Data from 6544 sexually active participants, aged 15–24 years, were analyzed in a multivariable logistic regression model. Discriminative power was measured by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Results: In the univariate analysis, self-reported chlamydia was associated with most risk behavior variables, experience of coerced sex, and reimbursement for sex, with slight gender variation. The factors that best predicted self-reported chlamydia among females were number of partners, age, and having been reimbursed for sex. Among males, the number of partners and alcohol consumption were the strongest predictors. Increasing number of partners up to 10 during the past 12 months was the most important predictor for both genders. A skewed distribution of chlamydia was demonstrated, in that 37.6% of cases in females and 38.6% in males were estimated to occur among a tenth of the population. Conclusions: Testing, prevention, and care for chlamydia should be directed toward those most at risk, as they account for a large proportion of the total number of chlamydia cases. The special needs of the high-risk group need to be acknowledged and chlamydia regarded as a possible marker for risk behavior and negative sexuality experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents a study which aims to estimate the effectiveness of the Sweden's Contact Family/Person Program (CFPP) for older children. Longitudinal register data on more than 1,000,000 individuals born between 1973 and 1984 of which 6,386 individuals entered CFPP was analyzed. CFPP effectiveness did not find support in reducing risks of compromised long-term development in older children based on the estimation by means of propensity score matching.

This study examined the effects of age of onset (AO) of L2 acquisition on the categorical perception of the voicing contrast in Swedish word-initial stops varying in voice onset time (VOT). Three voicing continua created on the basis of natural Swedish word pairs with /p-b/, /t-d/, /k-/ in initial position were presented to 41 Spanish early (AO < 12) and late (AO > 12) near-native speakers of L2 Swedish. Fifteen native speakers of Swedish served as controls. Categorizations were influenced by AO and listener status as L1/L2 speaker, in that the late learners deviated the most from native-speaker perception. In addition, only a small minority of the late learners perceived the voicing contrast in a way comparable to native-speaker categorization, while most early L2 learners demonstrated nativelike categorization patterns. However, when the results were combined with the L2 learners’ production of Swedish voiceless stops (Stölten, 2005; Stölten, Abrahamsson & Hyltenstam, in press), nativelike production and perception was never found among the late learners, while a majority of the early learners still exhibited nativelike production and perception. It is concluded that, despite their being perceived as mother-tongue speakers of Swedish by native listeners, the late learners do not, after detailed phonetic scrutiny, exhibit a fully nativelike command of Swedish VOT. Consequently, being near-native rather than nativelike speakers of their second language, these individuals do not constitute the evidence necessary to reject the hypothesis of one or several critical (or sensitive) periods for language acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Aim: To investigate validity of widely recommended anthropometric and total fat percentage cut-off points in screening for cardiovascular risk factors in women of different ages. Methods: A population-based sample of 1002 Swedish women aged 38, 50, 75 (younger, middle-aged and elderly, respectively) underwent anthropometry, health examinations and blood tests. Total fat was estimated (bioimpedance) in 670 women. Sensitivity, specificity of body mass index (BMI; ≥25 and ≥30), waist circumference (WC; ≥80 cm and ≥88 cm) and total fat percentage (TF; ≥35%) cut-off points for cardiovascular risk factors (dyslipidaemias, hypertension and hyperglycaemia) were calculated for each age. Cut-off points yielding high sensitivity together with modest specificity were considered valid. Women reporting hospital admission for cardiovascular disease were excluded. Results: The sensitivity of WC ≥80 cm for one or more risk factors was ~60% in younger and middle-aged women, and 80% in elderly women. The specificity of WC ≥80 cm for one or more risk factors was 69%, 57% and 40% at the three ages (p < .05 for age trends). WC ≥80 cm yielded ~80% sensitivity for two or more risk factors across all ages. However, specificity decreased with increasing age (p < .0001), being 33% in elderly. WC ≥88 cm provided better specificity in elderly women. BMI and TF % cut-off points were not better than WC. Conclusions:Validity of recommended anthropometric cut-off points in screening asymptomatic women varies with age. In younger and middle-age, WC ≥80 cm yielded high sensitivity and modest specificity for two or more risk factors, however, sensitivity for one or more risk factor was less than optimal. WC ≥88 cm showed better validity than WC ≥80 cm in elderly. Our results support age-specific screening cut-off points for women. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on a study which evaluated compliance by age, gender and screening round in the population based Stockholm/Gotland colorectal cancer screening programme in Sweden. In the study, individuals aged between 60 and 69 living in the counties of Stockholm and Gotland were included in a colorectal cancer screening programme using biennial faecal occult blood tests, and the study concluded that strong organization of the programme contributed to a high compliance rate.

The article presents a pilot study that investigates the psychometric attributes of the Home Observations for Measurement of the Environment Inventory (HOME) utilizing the sample from the social service in Sweden. It mentions the methods conducted by researchers to determine the psychometric properties of 22 child protection agencies. Moreover, results of the study are also stated.

Aim: To investigate the connection between social capital indicators and immunisation. Method: The national Society Opinion & Media (SOM) survey is an annual cross-sectional postal survey. In 2009, a random sample of persons aged 16–85 was drawn from the Swedish national register and yielded a 59% participation rate. The number of respondents analysed was 2130. A multiple logistic regression model was used to investigate the connection between the explanatory variables institutional trust and generalised trust and the outcome variable immunisation intent. The analyses included sex, age, education, self-rated health, and personal and societal concern about the 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic. Results: For institutional trust in health care, the odds ratios for intention to vaccinate against the A(H1N1) pandemic were significantly higher in the Medium trust and High trust categories as compared to the Low trust reference category. For generalised trust, the odds ratio for vaccination intention was significantly higher in the High trust category as compared to the Low trust reference category. Conclusions: Two important social capital indicators – institutional trust in health care and generalised trust – seem to be independently associated with intention to accept vaccination against the 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic. The effect holds also when controlling for plausible confounders, such as education, self-rated health, and personal and societal concern about the 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Aims: Tobacco-smoking behaviours of young people between the age of 18 and 25 years are less understood than those of middle-aged people. The aim of this study is to contribute to improved knowledge of some of the factors that are associated with smoking and cessation among young people. Methods: We use the most recently available public health survey data from the southern region of Skåne in Sweden to analyze these factors. The survey is a cross-sectional study with a total sample size of 28,198 individuals with 2801 in the age category of interest. We apply statistical measures of association between smoking and gender and also model the relationship between smoking and smoking cessation and the role of a set of sociodemographic determinants by means of logistic regression to estimate odds ratios. Results: The findings include significant differences between the younger age group and the older group with respect to the odds of smoking and method of cessation. We also find differences between young women and men with regard to smoking prevalence, intensity and cessation methods. In particular, young women attempt to quit smoking by means of unassisted methods to a significantly higher extent than do young men. Conclusions: There are significant differences between young people and older individuals with respect to a range of smoking behaviours. There are also strong gender effects within the group of young people. Policy development and anti-smoking interventions need to take such differences into consideration for improved effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Low socioeconomic position (SEP) in adulthood has been associated with overweight and obesity in high-income countries. However, little is known about the contribution of childhood SEP to weight change. Using a Swedish general population sample, this study aimed to examine the association between five-year weight gain among adults and socioeconomic position in childhood and adulthood. Methods: The data was drawn from the Scania Public Health Cohort and included 4244 individuals (1816 males and 2428 females) between the ages of 29 and 60 years, stratified by sex and age (29–39 and 40–60 years). General linear and logistic regression models were used to analyse the data. Results: Adult SEP was inversely correlated to BMI at baseline in males and older females. Childhood SEP showed no clear pattern regarding current BMI or the risk of being overweight at baseline, either in males or females. However, BMI increase between baseline and follow-up was greater in the highest adult SEP groups than in lowest ones for both males and females, although with a weaker trend among females. High childhood SEP was associated with a greater BMI increase in older males, but the pattern was the opposite in older females. Conclusions: Adult as well as childhood SEP influences weight gains, but differently among males and females and in different age groups. The findings suggest two waves of socioeconomic weight gain patterns in the Swedish population: one across generations and another contemporary one. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]