Incentives, Health, and Retirement: Evidence From a Finnish Pension Reform.

This paper examines, using exogenous variation generated by a Finnish pension reform implemented in 2005, the interplay between health and financial incentives to postpone retirement. Based on detailed administrative data on individual health and retirement behavior, we focus on whether individual reactions to incentives vary according to health status and analyze whether individuals with ill health are also able to take advantage of the potential monetary benefits of delayed retirement created by the reform. We find that on average, individuals react to the financial incentives created by the reform as expected.

Heterogeneity in the association between social support and mental distress in old-age retirees - a computational approach using longitudinal cohort data.

Background: Mental distress among retirees and older people is a severe public health challenge, and information on new risk groups is needed. This study aims to identify subgroups of old-age retirees with varying associations between low social support and mental distress by applying model-based recursive partitioning (MOB).

Methods: We used the Helsinki Health Study follow-up survey data of old-age retired former municipal sector employees of the City of Helsinki, Finland.

Effect of Exercise Intensity on Biathlon Standing Shooting Performance and Rifle Movement during Outdoor Roller Skiing.

Purpose: The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of exercise intensity on standing shooting performance and related technical variables in elite biathletes performing roller skiing and live shooting outdoors.

Methods: Nineteen male biathletes performed two 5-shot series in the following order of exercise intensity: rest, low (percentage of maximum heart rate, 73 ± 4; blood lactate, 1.5 ± 0.

Cost-effectiveness of protein-rich meals and snacks for increasing protein intake in older adults.

Objectives: To investigate the cost-effectiveness of protein-rich meals and snacks for increasing protein intake in home-dwelling older adults.

Design: Cost effectiveness analysis from a randomized controlled trial, the Power Meals study.

Setting: Participants were randomized into one of three groups for eight weeks: a protein-rich meal, snack and bread (Protein), a regular meal (Normal) and a control group without meal service (Control).

Developing leadership competencies for genomics integration through globally networked learning and education.

Aim: To describe the implementation and evaluation of an education strategy called the globally networked learning-genomics (GNL-G) used in Master's courses in Canada and Finland. The study focused on the feasibility and effectiveness of GNL-G in developing leadership competencies for integrating genomics into practice.

Methods: Interpretive description qualitative methodology was used to explore how GNL-G, global exchanges and assignments standardized with the Assessment of Strategies to Integrate Genomics in Nursing (ASIGN) tool influenced competency development.

Stroke Care in South Asia - Identifying Gaps for Future Action.

Stroke causes around 730,000 deaths in South Asia, nearly half of stroke-related deaths in developing countries. This highlights the need to address health system responses, considering poverty, service quality, and availability. The article identifies four key challenges in stroke management and rehabilitation in South Asia, emphasizing long-term monitoring, risk factor control, and community surveillance, drawing on experiences from Nepal.

Physical Fitness as a Predictor of Disability Retirement: A 9-Year Register Linked Follow-Up Study.

Background: To prospectively examine the association between physical fitness and risk of disability retirement in a large population-based cohort.

Methods: This study utilized data from Health 2011 survey Physical Activity subsample (n = 4898), combined with information on disability retirement derived from 2 national registers. In total, 2455 individuals aged 18-74 years underwent the physical fitness test protocol concerning measures of cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength, and balance.

Municipality-level differences in disability retirement in Finland: The contribution of local social characteristics.

Aims: Large differences exist in the risk of disability retirement between Finnish municipalities. This study examined whether individual-level and municipality-level characteristics explain these differences and which municipality-level characteristics are particularly important for the risk of disability retirement.

Methods: Individual-level register data were supplemented with 10 municipality-level characteristics from various databases.

Work ability trends 2000-2020 and birth-cohort projections until 2040 in Finland.

To examine age-group and birth-cohort trends in perceived work ability in Finland in 2000-2020 and make projections of perceived work ability up to 2040 based on the observed birth-cohort development. Ten population-representative cross-sectional surveys conducted in Finland between 2000 and 2020 were used (overall = 61,087, range 817-18,956). Self-reported estimates of current work ability in relation to the person's lifetime best on a scale from zero to ten (0-10) were classified into three groups: limited (0-5), intermediate (6-7), and good (8-10).

Histopathology reveals concealed aortic valve inflammation.

Background: The extent of aortic valve inflammation in patients undergoing aortic valve replacement (AVR) is unsettled. The significance of aortic valve histopathology in patients undergoing AVR is undetermined.

Methods: A total of 145 resected aortic valves of consecutive patients undergoing surgery for a local aortic valve disease with or without ascending aorta were investigated for histopathology.

Pairwise association of key lifestyle factors and risk of solid cancers - A prospective pooled multi-cohort register study.

Smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, and physical inactivity are key lifestyle risk factors for cancer. Previously these have been mostly examined singly or combined as an index, assuming independent and equivalent effects to cancer risk. The aim of our study was to systematically examine the joint pairwise and interactive effects of these lifestyle factors on the risk of a first solid primary cancer in a multi-cohort prospective setting.

Partial substitution of red meat or processed meat with plant-based foods and the risk of colorectal cancer.

Objectives: Shifting from animal-based to plant-based diets could reduce colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence. Currently, the impacts of these dietary shifts on CRC risk are ill-defined. Therefore, we examined partial substitutions of red or processed meat with whole grains, vegetables, fruits or a combination of these in relation to CRC risk in Finnish adults.

Every tenth malignant solid tumor attributed to overweight and alcohol consumption: A population-based cohort study.

Background: Recent studies have shown that some four in ten cancers are attributable to a few key risk factors. The aim of this study was to estimate cohort-based population attributable fractions (PAFs) in Finland for potentially modifiable cancer risk factors.

Methods: Data from eight health studies including 253,953 subjects with 29,802 incident malignant solid tumors were analysed using Bayesian multivariate regression model with multiplicative risk factor effects.

Perception of inherited risk in type 2 diabetes: a systematic review.

Introduction: A family history is impacting the individual's risk perception. The objective of this systematic review was to describe inherited risk perceptions of type 2 diabetes from the citizen's viewpoint. The aim was to summarize and increase understanding so that the increased knowledge could be used effectively in type 2 diabetes risk communication in health care.

Impact of a Finnish reform adding new sickness absence checkpoints on rehabilitation and labor market outcomes: an interrupted time series analysis.

Objectives: In 2012, new checkpoints were introduced in the Finnish sickness absence system to improve early detection of long-term work disability and hasten return to work after illness. We examined whether the reform affected participation in rehabilitation and labor market outcomes over a one-year period.

Methods: We used interrupted time series analysis among persons who started receiving sickness allowance up to three years before and up to two years after the reform.

School's out for summer-Differences in training characteristics between adolescent biathletes of different performance levels.

The purpose of this study was to retrospectively describe the longitudinal changes of training variables in adolescent biathletes based on performance level. Thirty biathletes (15 men and 15 women) were included in the study and categorized as either national level biathletes (NLB, n = 21) or national team biathletes (NTB, n = 9). Retrospective training data was collected from training diary covering the biathletes' four years (Y1-Y4) as student-athletes at upper secondary school.

Self-rated work ability as a risk factor for disability retirement.

Background: Simple and efficient survey measures to predict staying in or leaving work are needed. We examined the association of single-item self-rated work ability (SRWA) with disability retirement in two large population-based samples and compared the association of SRWA to two other scales, work ability score (WAS) and self-rated health (SRH), used earlier in studies.

Methods: The study population comprised 6034 participants aged 35-58 from the population-based Health 2000 and FinHealth 2017 cohort studies, pooled together.

Effect of xenon on brain injury, neurological outcome, and survival in patients after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage-study protocol for a randomized clinical trial.

Background: Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is a neurological emergency, affecting a younger population than individuals experiencing an ischemic stroke; aSAH is associated with a high risk of mortality and permanent disability. The noble gas xenon has been shown to possess neuroprotective properties as demonstrated in numerous preclinical animal studies. In addition, a recent study demonstrated that xenon could attenuate a white matter injury after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Using Multivariate Data Analysis to Project Performance in Biathletes and Cross-Country Skiers.

Purpose: To determine whether competitive performance, as defined by International Biathlon Union (IBU) and International Ski Federation (FIS) points in biathlon and cross-country (XC) skiing, respectively, can be projected using a combination of anthropometric and physiological metrics. Shooting accuracy was also included in the biathlon models.

Methods: Data were analyzed using multivariate methods from 45 (23 female and 22 male) biathletes and 202 (86 female and 116 male) XC skiers who were all members of senior national teams, national development teams, or ski-university or high school invite-only programs (age range: 16-36 y).

A Scoping Review: Do instruments measuring genomic competence in nursing incorporate ethics?

Aim: To explore the instruments used in measuring genomic competence in nursing. The objective was to understand how ethical issues are reflected in the instruments.

Design: A scoping review.

Heart Rate-Blood Lactate Profiling in World-Class Biathletes During Cross-Country Skiing: The Difference Between Laboratory and Field Tests.

Purpose: To identify differences in heart rate (HR) and concentration of blood lactate ([La]) relationships between laboratory- and field-based skate-roller-skiing tests.

Methods: Fourteen world-class biathletes (8 women, 6 men) completed a laboratory- and field-based roller-skiing test using the skate technique. The laboratory-based test comprised 5 to 7 submaximal steps at a fixed incline and speed on a roller-skiing treadmill.

Neurocan expression associates with better survival and viral positivity in Merkel cell carcinoma.

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare cutaneous neuroendocrine carcinoma that is frequently divided into Merkel cell polyomavirus negative and positive tumors due their distinct genomic and transcriptomic profiles, and disease outcomes. Although some prognostic factors in MCC are known, tumorigenic pathways, which that explain outcome differences in MCC are not fully understood. We investigated transcriptomes of 110 tissue samples of a formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded MCC series by RNA sequencing to identify genes showing a bimodal expression pattern and predicting outcome in cancer and that potentially could play a role in tumorigenesis.