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Graphic novel on older adults with ethnic minority background experiences of COVID-19 lockdown in a disadvantaged neighbourhood

Aims: To investigate the effects of objectively measured smartphone interactions on indicators of mental well-being among men and women in a population of young adults. Methods: A total of 816 young adults (mean±SD age 21.6±2.6 years; 77% men) from the Copenhagen Network Study were followed with objective recordings of smartphone interactions from calls, texts and social media. Participants self-reported on loneliness, depressive symptoms and disturbed sleep at baseline and in a four-month (interquartile range 75–163 days) follow-up survey. Multiple linear regression was used to analyse the association between smartphone interactions and mental well-being separately for men and women. Results: A higher number of smartphone interactions was associated with lower levels of loneliness at baseline and the same pattern appeared for depressive symptoms, although this was less pronounced. A high level of smartphone interaction was associated with lower levels of disturbed sleep for men, but not for women. In follow-up analyses, a high versus low level of smartphone interaction was associated with an increase in loneliness and depressive symptoms over time for women, but not for men. Conclusions: Smartphone interactions are related to better mental well-being, which may be attributed to the beneficial effects of an underlying social network. Over time, accommodating a large network via smartphone communication might, however, have negative effects on mental well-being for women.

Background The potential association between level of education and age-related cognitive decline remains an open question, partly because of a lack of studies including large subsamples with low education and follow-up intervals covering a substantial part of the adult lifespan. Objectives To examine cognitive decline assessed by a comprehensive clinical test of intelligence over a 35-year period of follow-up from ages 50 to 85 and to analyze the effect of education on trajectories of cognitive decline, including the effects of selective attrition. Methods A longitudinal cohort study with a 35-year follow-up of community dwelling members of the Glostrup 1914 cohort. The study sample comprised 697 men and women at the 50-year baseline assessment and additional participants recruited at later follow-ups. Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs were assessed using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale at ages 50, 60, 70, 80, and 85. To be able to track cognitive changes between successive WAIS assessments, all IQs were based on the Danish 50-year norms. Information on school education was self-reported. The association between education and cognitive decline over time was examined in growth curve models. Selective attrition was investigated in subsamples of participants who dropped out at early or later follow-ups. Results The trajectories for Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQ showed higher initial cognitive performance, but also revealed steeper decline among participants with a formal school exam compared to participants without a formal exam. Verbal IQ showed the largest difference in level between the two educational groups, whereas the interaction between education and age was stronger for Performance IQ than for Verbal IQ. In spite of the difference in trajectories, higher mean IQ was observed among participants with a formal school exam compared to those without across all ages, including the 85-year follow-up. Further analyses revealed that early dropo

Background An association between education and dementia is well-established but it is unclear whether education is associated with dementia after accounting for early life cognitive ability and whether there is a joint effect, such that the risk associated with one of the exposures depends on the value of the other. We examined separate and joint associations of adolescent cognitive ability and educational attainment with risk of dementia among Danish men born between 1939 and 1959. Methods Men (N = 477,421) from the Danish Conscription Database were followed for dementia from the age 60 for up to 17 years via patient and prescription registry linkages. Exposure measures included cognitive ability assessed at the conscript board examination around age 18 and highest educational level (low: 0-10 year, medium: 10-13 years, high: >= 13 years) at age 30 from registry records. Associations with dementia diagnosis were estimated in Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for birth year and age at conscript board examination. Interaction was assessed on the multiplicative scale by including a product term between the two exposure measures and on the additive scale by calculating relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI) between different levels of the exposure measures. Results Compared to men in the high education group hazard ratio [HR] for men in the medium and low group were 1.21 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.13, 1.30) and 1.34 (95% CI: 1.24, 1.45), respectively when not adjusting for cognitive ability. Additional adjustment for cognitive ability attenuated the magnitude of the associations, but they remained significant (education medium: HR = 1.10, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.19 and education low: HR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.22). A 10% higher cognitive ability score was associated with a 3.8% lower hazard of dementia (HR = 0.962; 95% CI: 0.957, 0.967), and the magnitude of the association only changed marginally after adjustment for education. Men in the low educa

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to describe changes in height during childhood and to investigate potential changes in the proportion of children attaining final height in childhood and in correlations between child and adult height across birth cohorts.METHODS: We included 363 059 children (179 906 girls) from the Copenhagen School Health Records Register, who were born between 1930 and 1989, with height measurements at ages 7, 10, or 13 years. Linkages to data resources containing adult height values between ages 18 and 69 years were possible for a subpopulation of 96 133 individuals (23 051 women). Birth years were categorized as 1930 to 1939, 1940 to 1949, and 1950 to 1989. Descriptive height statistics were estimated by birth years and birth cohorts. Height correlations were examined using sex- and age-specific partial Pearson correlation analyses and meta-regression techniques.RESULTS: Across 60 birth years, mean child heights at age 7 increased by 2.9 cm in girls and 3.0 cm in boys, and adult heights increased as well. The proportions of children attaining final height by age 13 remained low across the birth cohorts; nonetheless, there was a significant increase from 0.7% to 1.5% in girls only (P < .0001). Both child-child and child-adult height correlations were strong and remained relatively stable across birth cohorts.CONCLUSIONS: Mean child and adult height increased during the study period, but the proportion of children attaining final height at age 13 remained low. Child-child and child-adult height correlations were largely unchanged across birth cohorts.

OBJECTIVE: How are trajectories of mobility limitations (MLs) among older adults associated with mortality? Do social factors modify these associations?METHOD: Group-based trajectory modeling was used to identify four trajectories of MLs over a period of 4.5 years among 3,055 older Danes. Mortality analyses were conducted using additive hazard regression models.RESULTS: Compared to older adults without MLs, older adults with high level of MLs who experienced further increase in MLs were associated with the most additional deaths followed by older adults with no MLs at baseline who later experienced limitations and older adults with a medium ML level at baseline who later experienced further increase in limitations. Men and 80-year olds experienced more additional deaths following adverse ML trajectories than women and 75-year olds.DISCUSSION: Trajectories that led to higher ML levels were associated with most additional deaths especially among men and in the oldest age group.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated whether midlife forgetfulness was prospectively associated with changes in social relations at work (SRW) among occupationally active individuals in Denmark.METHODS: We analyzed data of 2,339 men and women participating in the first (1990) and second (1995) survey of the Danish Work Environment Cohort Study, responding to questions on working environment, SRW and forgetfulness. We used multiple linear regression analysis while adjusting for potential confounders.RESULTS: At baseline (1990), 517 (22.1%) study participants were categorized as forgetful. Forgetfulness was prospectively associated with a decline in one of the investigated items reflecting a negative aspect of SRW (experiencing teasing, regression coefficient = 0.07, 95% CI: 0.03-0.11), while no association was observed with positive aspects of SRW.CONCLUSIONS: Our findings did not support the hypothesis that memory problems such as midlife forgetfulness negatively affect SRW.