Health-related quality of life among women diagnosed with in situ or invasive breast cancer and age-matched controls: a population-based study.

Purpose: A breast cancer (BC) diagnosis may negatively affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, there are few comparisons of HRQoL at several time points for women with BC, and particular when subdivided into invasive and in situ tumors. The purpose of this study was to investigate various aspects of HRQoL in women recently diagnosed with invasive BC or ductal carcinoma in situ (in situ) compared to age-matched BC free controls in a population-wide sample recruited through the Cancer Registry of Norway.

Adolescent mental health and cardiorespiratory fitness: A comparison of two cohorts 12 years apart.

The aim of the study was to compare the mental health and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) of adolescents in two cross-sectional cohorts, one measured in 2003 and the other in 2015, both at age 15 and across sexes. The study also sought to estimate the association between mental health and CRF in the two cohorts and examine the relationship between the level of CRF and mental health in each cohort overall and by sex. Data from 443 participants born in 1988 (228 males, 215 females) and 303 participants born in 1999 (126 males, 177 females) were analyzed.

How Did Breast Cancer Patients Fare during Different Phases of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Norway Compared to Age-Matched Controls?

Little is known about how health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in breast cancer cases differed from that of controls during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study used data from an ongoing, nationwide HRQoL survey of 4279 newly diagnosed breast cancer cases and 2911 controls to investigate how breast cancer patients fared during different phases of the pandemic compared to controls. Responders during 2020-2022 were categorized into three COVID-19-related phases: the social restrictions phase, the high infection rate phase, and the post-pandemic phase.

Changes in memory and attention during and after occupational rehabilitation: A longitudinal study.

Background: There is need for more knowledge about the relationship between work and cognitive functioning in sick-listed individuals.

Objective: This study investigated whether the degree of work participation is relevant for recovery of cognitive functioning in sick-listed individuals.

Methods: 177 occupational rehabilitation participants and 70 controls participated in a non-randomised, longitudinal study.

Digital Cognitive Behavioral- and Mindfulness-Based Stress-Management Interventions for Survivors of Breast Cancer: Development Study.

Background: Psychosocial stress-management interventions can reduce stress and distress and improve the quality of life for survivors of cancer. As these in-person interventions are not always offered or accessible, evidence-informed digital stress-management interventions may have the potential to improve outreach of psychosocial support for survivors of cancer. Few such digital interventions exist so far, few if any have been developed specifically for survivors of breast cancer, and few if any have attempted to explore more than 1 distinct type of intervention framework.

Coping After Breast Cancer: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial of Stress Management eHealth Interventions.

Background: One-third or more of breast cancer survivors report stress and other psychological and physical complaints that can negatively impact their quality of life. Psychosocial stress management interventions, shown to mitigate the negative impact of these complaints, can now be delivered as accessible and convenient (for the patient and provider) eHealth interventions. In this randomized controlled trial (RCT), Coping After Breast Cancer (CABC), 2 modified versions of the stress management eHealth intervention program StressProffen were created: one with predominantly cognitive behavioral stress management content (StressProffen-cognitive behavioral therapy intervention [StressProffen-CBI]) and another with predominantly mindfulness-based stress management content (StressProffen-mindfulness-based intervention [StressProffen-MBI]).

The relationship between online communication and adolescents' mental health: Long-term evaluation between genders.

Aims: In a relatively short time, online communication has become an important part of adolescents' lives, and concerns have been raised about its potential effects on mental health. The first aim was to compare mental health status and online communication in 15-year-old Icelanders born in 1988 and in 1994. The second aim was to assess whether the relationship between online communication and mental health has changed among 15-year-old Icelanders from 2003 to 2015 across genders.

Development of the workplace inclusion questionnaire (WIQ).

Aims: To develop a questionnaire to examine attitudes among employees and managers to include people with various health problems into their work group, and to test the questionnaire in one relevant population within the labour market.

Methods: A questionnaire was developed through a process involving discussions in a scientific forum and pilot testing with group discussions. The final questionnaire, which was tested in a survey study of managers and employees in 33 Norwegian kindergartens (=485), contained 10 short case stories followed by questions concerning workplace inclusion.

Sustained Attention and Working Memory Predict the Number of Days on Health-Related Benefits in the Year Following Occupational Rehabilitation.

Purpose The objective of this study was to investigate the association between cognitive and emotional functioning and the number of days on health-related benefits such as sick leave, work assessment allowance and disability pension. We investigated whether cognitive and emotional functioning at the start of rehabilitation and the change from the start to the end of rehabilitation predicted the number of days on health-related benefits in the year after occupational rehabilitation. Methods A sample of 317 individuals (age 19-67 years), mainly diagnosed with a musculoskeletal or mental and behavioural ICD-10 disorder, participated.

Physical exercise and chronic pain in university students.

Background: Physical inactivity and chronic pain are both major public health concerns worldwide. Although the health benefits of regular physical exercise are well-documented, few large epidemiological studies have investigated the association between specific domains of physical exercise and chronic pain in young adults. We sought to investigate the association between frequency, intensity and duration of physical exercise, and chronic pain.

Occupational Rehabilitation Is Associated With Improvements in Cognitive Functioning.

Introduction: Occupational rehabilitation may be offered to workers on long-term sick leave who often report problems with cognitive functioning, anxiety, depression, pain, and reduced work ability. The empirical knowledge is sparce on how occupational rehabilitation may influence cognitive and emotional functioning and patients have not previously been subjected to comprehensive objective testing. The main aim of this study was to assess possible changes in cognitive and emotional functioning such as memory, attention, executive function, and emotion recognition among patients in occupational rehabilitation.

Physical exercise and body-mass index in young adults: a national survey of Norwegian university students.

Background: Physical inactivity and obesity pose a major public health challenge. The aim of this study was to describe the level of physical exercise and body-mass index in college and university students, as well as to examine potential changes from 2010 to 2018.

Methods: Data stem from the SHoT study, a national student health survey for higher education in Norway, conducted at 4-year intervals.

Individual placement and support for young adults at risk of early work disability (the SEED trial). A randomized controlled trial.

Objectives Individual placement and support (IPS) is an effective approach for helping people with severe mental illness gain employment. This study aimed to investigate if IPS can be effectively repurposed to support young adults at risk of early work disability due to various social and health related problems. Methods A randomized controlled trial including 96 young adults (18‒29 years; 68% men) was conducted in Norway.

Young adults at risk of early work disability: who are they?

Background: Young adults that are not in education, training or employment represent a problem across European countries. While some are cases of temporary transitions or short-term inactivity, others represent a more vulnerable group at risk of early work disability. Early exclusion from the labor market represents long lives exposed to detrimental effects of unemployment on health and well-being, and constitutes an economic burden for society.

Effect of Reassuring Information About Musculoskeletal and Mental Health Complaints at the Workplace: A Cluster Randomized Trial of the atWork Intervention.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible difference between the Modified atWork intervention (MAW) and the Original atWork intervention (OAW) on sick leave and other health related outcomes. atWork is a group intervention using the workplace as an arena for distribution of evidence-based knowledge about musculoskeletal and mental health complaints. Methods A cluster randomized controlled trial with 93 kindergartens, comprising a total of 1011 employees, was conducted.

Directive and nondirective social support in the workplace - is this social support distinction important for subjective health complaints, job satisfaction, and perception of job demands and job control?

Aims: Social support is associated with well-being and positive health outcomes. However, positive outcomes of social support might be more dependent on the way support is provided than the amount of support received. A distinction can be made between directive social support, where the provider resumes responsibility, and nondirective social support, where the receiver has the control.

IQ and mental health are vital predictors of work drop out and early mortality. Multi-state analyses of Norwegian male conscripts.

Background: Disability benefits and sick leave benefits represents huge costs in western countries. The pathways and prognostic factors for receiving these benefits seen in recent years are complex and manifold. We postulate that mental health and IQ, both alone and concurrent, influence subsequent employment status, disability benefits and mortality.

Do expectancies of return to work and Job satisfaction predict actual return to work in workers with long lasting LBP?

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders including low back pain have major individual and socioeconomic consequences as it often leads to disability and long-term sick leave and exclusion from working life. Predictors of disability and return to work often differ, and the dominant knowledge is on predictors for prolonged sick leave and disability. Therefore it is also important to identify key predictors for return to work.

Cognitive Interventions and Nutritional Supplements (The CINS Trial): A Randomized Controlled, Multicenter Trial Comparing a Brief Intervention With Additional Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Seal Oil, and Soy Oil for Sick-Listed Low Back Pain Patients.

Study Design: A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a tailored and manualized cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) or nutritional supplements of seal oil and soy oil had any additional benefits over a brief cognitive intervention (BI) on return to work (RTW).

Summary Of Background Data: Brief intervention programs are clinically beneficial and cost-effective for patients with low back pain (LBP).

Protocol for the atWork trial: a randomised controlled trial of a workplace intervention targeting subjective health complaints.

Background: Subjective health complaints, such as musculoskeletal and mental health complaints, have a high prevalence in the general population, and account for a large proportion of sick leave in Norway. It may be difficult to prevent the occurrence of subjective health complaints, but it may be possible to influence employees' perception and management of these complaints, which in turn may have impact on sick leave and return to work after sick leave. Long term sick leave has many negative health and social consequences, and it is important to gain knowledge about effective interventions to prevent and reduce long term sick leave.

Work and Mental Complaints: Are Response Outcome Expectancies More Important Than Work Conditions and Number of Subjective Health Complaints?

Purpose Investigate the relative effect of response outcome expectancies, work conditions, and number of subjective health complaints (SHC) on anxiety and depression in Norwegian employees. Learned response outcome expectancies are important contributors to health. Individual differences in the expectancy to cope with workplace and general life demands may be important for how work conditions influence health.

Reduction in sick leave by a workplace educational low back pain intervention: A cluster randomized controlled trial.

Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate whether a workplace educational low back pain intervention had an effect on sick leave at the individual level and to identify possible predictors of the effect of intervention.

Methods: Work units in two municipalities were cluster randomized to (a) educational meetings and peer support (45 units), (b) educational meetings, peer support and access to an outpatient clinic if needed (48 units) or (c) a control group (42 units). Both intervention groups attended educational meetings with information about back pain based on a non-injury model.

Fatigue, anxiety and depression overrule the role of oncological treatment in predicting self-reported health complaints in women with breast cancer compared to healthy controls.

Background: Women with breast cancer often attribute their health problems as side effects caused by oncological treatments. The aim of the study was to examine and compare self-reported health complaints (SHC) in postmenopausal patients with breast cancer to healthy controls.

Method: Women with breast cancer (N = 196) filled in 5 questionnaires 1-2 years after surgery; SHC Inventory, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Endocrine Subscale (FACT-ES), Fatigue - Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Fatigue subscale (FACIT-F), Fatigue Visual Analog Scale (Fatigue VAS), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).