Long-term Risk of Prostate Cancer Mortality Among Men with Baseline Prostate-specific Antigen Below 3 ng/ml: Evidence from the Finnish Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer.

Background And Objective: Despite the evidence for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening reducing prostate cancer (PCa) mortality, the optimal PSA cutoff and the clinical significance of low initial PSA levels in predicting long-term PCa mortality remain subjects of ongoing research. We assessed PCa mortality among men with initial PSA levels below 3 ng/ml during the first screening round of the Finnish Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (FinRSPC).

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted, including 20 268 men from the screening arm of the FinRSPC with an initial PSA level of <3 ng/ml, with follow-up spanning up to 20 yr.

Changes in Response Inhibition, Visual Anticipation and Verbal Fluency During Vagus Nerve Stimulation Therapy in Patients With Drug-Resistant Epilepsy.

Background: The effect of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) on cognitive domain of attention and executive functions (AEFs) has not been extensively researched. This study was set up to investigate performance variability on cognitive tests assessing AEFs in drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) patients receiving VNS therapy during a follow-up of up to 5 years.

Methods: Thirty-three DRE patients were assessed with the interference, maze, and written verbal fluency tests as a part of EpiTrack screening before and after VNS implantation through repeated follow-ups according to the clinical VNS protocol.

All-cause and cause-specific mortality among older migrant and non-migrant adults in Finland: a register study on all deaths, 2002-2020.

Migrant mortality advantage is established in various studies, but there is a lack of evidence on migrant mortality trends in old age. Previous studies have primarily concentrated on all-cause mortality, and few include older age groups. Discussions about the migrant mortality advantage continue due to concerns about data availability and accuracy.

Is device-measured physical activity associated with musculoskeletal disorders among young adult Finnish men?

Background: Musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders represent a significant burden to society and can be unpleasant for the affected individuals. Physical activity (PA) can prevent MSK disorders while conferring other health benefits. The present study aimed to investigate associations between device-measured PA and perceived MSK disorders among young adult men.

Prostate Cancer Screening With PSA, Kallikrein Panel, and MRI: The ProScreen Randomized Trial.

Importance: Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening has potential to reduce prostate cancer mortality but frequently detects prostate cancer that is not clinically important.

Objective: To describe rates of low-grade (grade group 1) and high-grade (grade groups 2-5) prostate cancer identified among men invited to participate in a prostate cancer screening protocol consisting of a PSA test, a 4-kallikrein panel, and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The ProScreen trial is a clinical trial conducted in Helsinki and Tampere, Finland, that randomized 61 193 men aged 50 through 63 years who were free of prostate cancer in a 1:3 ratio to either be invited or not be invited to undergo screening for prostate cancer between February 2018 and July 2020.

Incidence of vestibular schwannoma in Finland, 1990-2017.

Background: An increasing trend in incidence of vestibular schwannomas (VS) has been reported, though not consistently, across populations.  Materials and methods: We obtained data from the Finnish Cancer Registry on 1,149 VS cases diagnosed in 1990-2017 with tabular data up to 2022. We calculated age-standardised incidence rates (ASR) overall, by sex, and for 10-year age groups.

Long-term care use, hospitalizations and mortality during COVID-19 in Finland and Sweden: A nationwide register-based study in 2020.

Aim: To describe long-term care (LTC) use in Finland and Sweden in 2020, by reporting residential entry and exit patterns including hospital admissions and mortality, compared with the 2018-2019 period and community-living individuals.

Methods: From national registers in Finland and Sweden, all individuals 70+ were included. Using the Finnish and Swedish study populations in January 2018 as the standard population, we reported changes in sex- and age-standardized monthly rates of entry into and exit from LTC facilities, mortality and hospital admission among LTC residents and community-living individuals in 2020.

Complex executive functions assessed by the trail making test (TMT) part B improve more than those assessed by the TMT part A or digit span backward task during vagus nerve stimulation in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy.

Introduction: There is a paucity of clinical studies examining the long-term effects of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) on cognition, although a recent study of patients with drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) treated with VNS therapy demonstrated significant improvement in executive functions as measured by the EpiTrack composite score. The present study aimed to investigate performance variability in three cognitive tests assessing executive functions and working memory in a cohort of DRE patients receiving VNS therapy during a follow-up duration of up to 5 years.

Methods: The study included 46 DRE patients who were assessed with the Trail Making Test (TMT) (Parts A and B) and Digit Span Backward (DB) task prior to VNS implantation, 6 months and 12 months after implantation, and yearly thereafter as a part of the clinical VNS protocol.

Hippocampal sclerosis is associated with celiac disease type immunity in patients with drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy.

Background: A prior small-scale single center study suggested an association between celiac disease (CD)-type immunity and refractory temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) with hippocampal sclerosis (HS). The present study addresses this putative association in a large, well-characterized group of drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) patients. These patients were grouped based on the spectrum of CD and gluten sensitivity-associated antibodies.

Early detection of clinically significant prostate cancer: protocol summary and statistical analysis plan for the ProScreen randomised trial.

Introduction: Evidence on the effectiveness of prostate cancer screening based on prostate-specific antigen is inconclusive and suggests a questionable balance between benefits and harms due to overdiagnosis, and complications from biopsies and overtreatment. However, diagnostic accuracy studies have shown that detection of clinically insignificant prostate cancer can be reduced by MRI combined with targeted biopsies.The aim of the paper is to describe the analysis of the ProScreen randomised trial to assess the performance of the novel screening algorithm in terms of the primary outcome, prostate cancer mortality and secondary outcomes as intermediate indicators of screening benefits and harms of screening.

Health-Related Costs of Intimate Partner Violence: Using Linked Police and Health Registers.

This study aims to estimate direct health-related costs for victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) using nationwide linked data based on police reports and two healthcare registers in Finland from 2015 to 2020 ( = 21,073). We used a unique register dataset to identify IPV victims from the data based on police reports and estimated the attributable costs by applying econometric models to individual-level data. We used exact matching to create a reference group who had not been exposed to IPV.

Longitudinal EpiTrack assessment of executive functions following vagus nerve stimulation therapy in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy.

Objective: To investigate executive functions and attention with repeated EpiTrack evaluations in a group of DR patients with drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) receiving vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) during a follow-up duration of up to 5 years.

Methods: The study involved 33 patients with DRE who were assessed with EpiTrack as a part of the clinical VNS protocol. Evaluations were scheduled prior to VNS implantation and then at 6 months, 12 months, and yearly thereafter.

Changes in incidence trends of meningioma in Finland, 1990-2017: analysis of Finnish Cancer Registry data.

Background: Meningiomas are the most common primary neoplasm of the central nervous system. Previous research on the incidence of meningioma in Finland showed an increase in the age-standardized incidence rate over three decades (1968-1997). In this study, we analysed meningioma incidence in Finland during 1990-2017.

Effect of clinical features on antiseizure medication doses in patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy.

Objective: We evaluate the effect of distinct clinical features on anti-seizure medication (ASM) doses in seizure-free and not seizure-free patients aged ≥16 years with new-onset epilepsy.

Materials And Methods: This study included 459 patients with a validated diagnosis of epilepsy. The most prescribed ASMs were oxcarbazepine (OXC; = 307), followed by valproic acid (VPA; = 115), carbamazepine (CBZ; = 81), and lamotrigine (LTG; = 67).

Neuromuscular exercise and counseling for treating recurrent low back pain in female healthcare workers-Findings from a 24-month follow-up study of a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Female healthcare workers have a high prevalence of low back pain (LBP)-related sickness absence. Here, we report findings of a 24-month follow-up of a previously published 6-month randomized controlled trial (RCT).

Methods: By adopting an RCT with 6 months of intervention and follow-up at 6, 12, and 24 months, we assessed the maintenance of changes in the effectiveness (LBP and fear of pain) of the interventions (neuromuscular exercise [NME], back-care counseling, both combined) using a generalized linear mixed model adjusted for baseline covariates.

Impact of Timing of Surgery and Adjuvant Treatment on Survival of Adult IDH-wild-type Glioblastoma: A Single-center Study of 392 Patients.

Background: The purpose of our study was to analyze the impact of time interval from referral to surgery and from surgery to adjuvant treatment on survival of adult isocitrate dehydrogenase-wild-type (IDH-wt) glioblastomas.

Methods: Data on 392 IDH-wt glioblastomas diagnosed at the Tampere University Hospital in 2004-2016 were obtained from the electronic patient record system. Piecewise Cox regression was used to calculate hazard ratios for different time intervals between referral and surgery, as well as between surgery and adjuvant treatments.

Dementia-related disability in the population aged 90 years and over: differences over time and the role of comorbidity in the vitality 90 + study.

Background: The burden of dementia, multimorbidity, and disability is high in the oldest old. However, the contribution of dementia and comorbidities to functional ability in this age group remains unclear. We examined the combined effects of dementia and comorbidities on ADL and mobility disability and differences between dementia-related disability between 2001, 2010, and 2018.

Elevated IL-6 plasma levels are associated with GAD antibodies-associated autoimmune epilepsy.

Background: Antibodies against glutamic acid decarboxylase (GADA) are present in multiple neurological manifestations, such as stiff-person syndrome, cerebellar ataxia, limbic encephalitis, and epilepsy. Increasing data support the clinical significance of GADA as an autoimmune etiology of epilepsy, however, there is not yet definitive evidence to confirm the pathogenic link between GADA and epilepsy.

Objective: Interleukin-6 (IL-6), a pro-convulsive and neurotoxic cytokine, and interleukin-10 (IL-10), an anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective cytokine, are crucial inflammatory mediators in the brain.

Prescribed antiseizure medication doses and their relation to defined daily doses for achieving seizure freedom in newly diagnosed patients with epilepsy.

Objectives: To investigate the antiseizure medication (ASM) doses required to achieve seizure freedom and their correlation with the World Health Organization's defined daily doses (DDDs) in patients aged 16 years or older with newly diagnosed epilepsy.

Methods: The study included 459 patients with a validated diagnosis of new-onset epilepsy. Patient records were retrospectively analyzed to determine the ASM doses in patients with or without seizure freedom during follow-up.

Residential mobility and childhood inflammatory bowel disease: a nationwide case-control study.

Purpose: To examine the association of residential mobility, as a proxy for environmental influences, with childhood inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) risk.

Methods: Using nationwide register-based dataset, all 2038 IBD cases in Finland diagnosed at ages less than 15 years in 1992-2016 were individually matched by sex and age with five controls employing risk set sampling. Complete residential histories of the subjects were constructed from birth until the index date (diagnosis date of the case).

Cohort profile: The Vitality 90+ Study-a cohort study on health and living conditions of the oldest old in Tampere, Finland.

Purpose: Vitality 90+ is an ongoing population-based study with repeated cross-sectional data collections. The study was designed to examine trends in health, functioning, living conditions, quality of life and care needs among the oldest old in Finland.

Participants: Nine mailed surveys have been conducted in the city of Tampere between 1995 and 2018.

Who live longer than their age peers: individual predictors of longevity among older individuals.

Background: There are a very few studies focusing on the individual-based survival with a long follow-up time.

Aim: To identify predictors and determine their joint predictive value for longevity using individual-based outcome measures.

Methods: Data were drawn from Tampere Longitudinal Study on Aging (TamELSA), a study of individuals' age 60-89 years (N = 1450) with a mortality follow-up of up to 35 years.

Response to subsequent antiseizure medications after first antiseizure medication failure in newly diagnosed epilepsy.

Objective: There is a lack of studies using the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) recommendation to define drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE). This study evaluated the seizure freedom rates of substitution or add-on and subsequent antiseizure medication (ASM) therapies using different proposed definitions of DRE or ASM trials in patients with a failed first ASM. We also identified prognostic factors for 1-year seizure freedom.