Diagnostic stewardship aiming at expectorated or induced sputum promotes microbial diagnosis in community-acquired pneumonia.

Purpose: Studies on aetiology of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) vary in terms of microbial sampling methods, anatomical locations, and laboratory analyses, since no gold standard exists. In this large, multicentre, retrospective, regional study from Norway, our primary objective was to report the results of a strategic diagnostic stewardship intervention, targeting diagnostic yield from lower respiratory tract sampling. The secondary objective was to report hospitalized CAP aetiology and the diagnostic yield of various anatomical sampling locations.

The effectiveness of narrative enhancement and cognitive therapy: a randomized controlled study of a self-stigma intervention.

Purpose: Stigma has been proposed to be one of the most serious obstacles to successful treatment, rehabilitation and inclusion in society of people with severe mental illness. An aspect of stigma which has been increasingly discussed is self-stigma, which refers to the internalization of negative stereotypes among people with severe mental illness. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of a group-based anti self-stigma intervention, narrative enhancement and cognitive therapy (NECT) as an add-on to treatment as usual, with regard to changes in self-stigma, self-esteem, and subjective quality of life.

Blood pressure and renal cancer risk: the HUNT Study in Norway.

In a prospective study of 36,728 women and 35,688 men during 18 years of follow-up, compared to systolic pressure <130 mm Hg, levels of 130-149, 150-169 and >or=170 mm Hg in women were associated with relative risks of renal cell cancer of 1.7, 2.0 and 2.

Adiposity and physical activity as predictors of cardiovascular mortality.

Objective: To investigate whether cardiovascular mortality related to obesity could be modified by physical activity.

Design: Mortality follow-up.

Setting: Population study.

Combined effect of blood pressure and physical activity on cardiovascular mortality.

Background: High blood pressure increases cardiovascular mortality, but whether the effect is counteracted by physical activity is not clear.

Methods: The combined association of blood pressure and physical activity on cardiovascular mortality was assessed in a cohort of 30 597 women and 30 508 men, using standardized blood pressure measurements and information on usual frequency, duration, and intensity of physical exercise.

Results: During 16 years of follow-up, 1942 women and 2824 men with no history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes, who had never used blood pressure medication, died from cardiovascular causes.

Intrauterine exposure to preeclampsia and adolescent blood pressure, body size, and age at menarche in female offspring.

Objective: To investigate whether female offspring of preeclamptic pregnancies have higher blood pressure, lower height, higher body mass index (BMI), and later age at menarche compared with offspring of normotensive pregnancies.

Methods: Questionnaire information on age at menarche and measurements of blood pressure, height, and weight were collected among 4096 Norwegian girls 13-19 years old. Individual linkage to perinatal data registered at the national Medical Birth Registry allowed us to study the relationship of preeclampsia in the mother with adolescent blood pressure, body size, and age at menarche of daughters.