Alcohol consumption among first-time mothers and the risk of preterm birth: a cohort study.

Purpose: Our aim was to explore the association between alcohol consumption, before and during pregnancy, and the risk of preterm birth among 46,252 primiparous mothers.

Methods: We obtained information on alcohol consumption from questionnaire responses at pregnancy week 15 from the prospective, observational Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. Data on preterm birth, categorized as delivery before gestation week 37, were retrieved from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway.

Low to Moderate Average Alcohol Consumption and Binge Drinking in Early Pregnancy: Effects on Choice Reaction Time and Information Processing Time in Five-Year-Old Children.

Background: Deficits in information processing may be a core deficit after fetal alcohol exposure. This study was designed to investigate the possible effects of weekly low to moderate maternal alcohol consumption and binge drinking episodes in early pregnancy on choice reaction time (CRT) and information processing time (IPT) in young children.

Method: Participants were sampled based on maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

Reduced risk of pre-eclampsia with organic vegetable consumption: results from the prospective Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study.

Objective: Little is known about the potential health effects of eating organic food either in the general population or during pregnancy. The aim of this study was to examine associations between organic food consumption during pregnancy and the risk of pre-eclampsia among nulliparous Norwegian women.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Estimating the proportion of all observed birth defects occurring in pregnancies terminated by a second-trimester abortion.

Background: Prenatal termination of pregnancy may underestimate risks or cause bias in epidemiological studies of birth defects if such studies measure only defects diagnosed postnatally. We aimed to estimate the proportion of all fetuses with birth defects terminated in the second trimester of pregnancy-overall and for specific defects.

Methods: The study comprised all pregnancies ending in a singleton birth, miscarriage, or termination of pregnancy for which health care services were sought, as recorded in Danish medical registries between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2011.

Maternal use of antibiotics, hospitalisation for infection during pregnancy, and risk of childhood epilepsy: a population-based cohort study.

Background: Maternal infection during pregnancy may be a risk factor for epilepsy in offspring. Use of antibiotics is a valid marker of infection.

Methodology/principal Findings: To examine the relationship between maternal infection during pregnancy and risk of childhood epilepsy we conducted a historical cohort study of singletons born in northern Denmark from 1998 through 2008 who survived ≥29 days.

Medical databases in studies of drug teratogenicity: methodological issues.

More than half of all pregnant women take prescription medications, raising concerns about fetal safety. Medical databases routinely collecting data from large populations are potentially valuable resources for cohort studies addressing teratogenicity of drugs. These include electronic medical records, administrative databases, population health registries, and teratogenicity information services.

Birth weight and childhood cancer.

Background: Leukemia incidence in childhood has been shown to increase with birth weight. The purpose of this paper is to study whether the incidence of other childhood cancers also increases with birth weight.

Methods: The Norwegian Medical Birth Registry was linked to the Norwegian Cancer Registry.

Suspected retinopathies in Norwegian optometric practice with emphasis on patients with diabetes: a cross-sectional study.

Background: The scope of optometry differs worldwide. In Norway the vast majority of optometrists perform ophthalmoscopy as part of their routine examinations. The aim of this study was to describe the frequency of suspected retinopathies in patients seen for routine optometric examination and to determine how optometrists deal with these patients.

Optometric practice in Norway: a cross-sectional nationwide study.

Purpose: To describe optometric practitioners and their encountering patients.

Methods: All members of the Norwegian Association of Optometrists working in the community (n = 761) were invited to participate in a questionnaire survey; questionnaire responders (n = 508) were asked to take part in a practice registration. Data collection was carried out between November 2004 and May 2005 using a questionnaire and a practice registration form.

Maternal smoking does not affect fetal size as measured in the mid-second trimester.

Background: Cigarette smoking during pregnancy is causally related to birthweight, but we do not know whether fetal growth restriction is a continuous process or, if not, at what stage of pregnancy it affects weight gain.

Material And Methods: A random sample of para 1 and 2 mothers, drawn from the population of pregnant women in Bergen and Trondheim, Norway, and Uppsala, Sweden, were examined by a detailed questionnaire concerning smoking habits, menstrual history and pregnancy dating, and subjected to morphometric sonography of their fetuses in or around week 17. Of the 547 study participants, 31.

The rare, unilateral headaches. Vågå study of headache epidemiology.

In the Vågå study of headache epidemiology, 1838 parishioners in the age group 18-65 years were included (88.6% of the relevant population). Each individual was questioned in a face-to-face situation.

Low birthweight and mortality: the tendency to repeat low birthweight and its association with early neonatal and infant morbidity and mortality.

Previous studies have demonstrated the tendency to repeat gestational age and birthweight in successive pregnancies and that this tendency is associated with infant survival. Thus, newborn outcome and survival is less favourable if the gestational age and size departs from this maternal tendency. This paper aims to study diseases or conditions that might be associated with this effect.

Does persistent involvement by the GP improve palliative care at home for end-stage cancer patients?

Objective: To analyse the effect of GP home visits on the granting of a terminal declaration (TD) and on place of death.

Participants And Design: A total of 2025 patients with cancer as the primary cause of death in the period 1997-1998, were investigated in a mortality follow-back design using the Danish Cancer Register and four administrative registers. The Danish TD can be issued by a physician for patients with an estimated prognosis of six months or less.

Migraine with aura: visual disturbances and interrelationship with the pain phase. Vågå study of headache epidemiology.

In the Vågå study of headache epidemiology, 1838 or 88.6% of the available 18-65-year-old inhabitants of the commune were included. Everyone was questioned and examined personally by the principal investigator (OS).

Whiplash in individuals with known pre-accident, clinical neck status.

In whiplash studies, there may be interpretation difficulties: are post-whiplash findings, when present, a consequence of the whiplash trauma, or did they exist prior to trauma? In the Vågå headache epidemiology study (1995-1997), there was a headache history and detailed physical/neurological findings from the face/head/neck in 1838 18-65-year-old parishioners. In September 2001, four years after the Vågå study, a search through the Health Centre files divulged six cases with whiplash trauma in the intervening period. These parishioners could thus be their own controls.

Head circumference at birth and risk of brain cancer in childhood: a population-based study.

Background: Studies have found only a weak or no association between birthweight and brain cancer in childhood. However, previous studies have not assessed the association between head circumference at birth and brain cancer. We aimed to assess the risk of brain cancer in childhood according to head circumference at birth.

Haemoglobin and serum ferritin in pregnancy--correlation with smoking and body mass index.

Background: Little is known about factors which may influence haemoglobin (Hb) and ferritin levels in pregnancy.

Aim: To analyse if haemoglobin and ferritin levels during pregnancy are influenced by maternal age, body mass index, cigarette smoking, and iron supplementation.

Methods: A random sample of 561 parous pregnant women were recruited from the catchment areas of three Scandinavian university hospitals.

Population-based study of place of death of patients with cancer: implications for GPs.

Background: A majority of patients with cancer who are seriously ill have a preference of dying at home. However, only a minority of patients actually die at home in most Western countries.

Aim: To explore factors associated with place of death in an unselected population of patients with cancer.

Birth defects in children conceived by ICSI compared with children conceived by other IVF-methods; a meta-analysis.

Background: Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a method of assisted reproductive technology that involves the selection of a single sperm cell and the manual injection of this cell into the egg. The lack of relevant experimental studies, the nature of the technology involving non-natural selection of the fertilizing sperm, and possible damage to the egg have caused concern that ICSI could increase the risk of birth defects. Data from available cohort studies comparing ICSI with standard in vitro fertilization (IVF) should be combined to evaluate the risks involved with ICSI.

[Parents' education and infant mortality 1967-1998].

Background: We have examined the association between socioeconomic status and risk of infant death in Norway between 1967 and 1998.

Methods: Information from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway on all live births and infant deaths was linked to information from Statistics Norway on parents' education. There were 1,777,364 eligible live births and 15,517 infant deaths.

Socioeconomic status and risk of infant death. A population-based study of trends in Norway, 1967-1998.

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the association between socioeconomic status and risk of infant death in Norway from 1967 to 1998.

Methods: Information from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway on all live births and infant deaths was linked to information from Statistics Norway on parents' education. There were 1777364 eligible live births and 15517 infant deaths.

Association of head circumference at birth among sibling pairs.

The objective of the study was to estimate and compare the correlation coefficients of head circumference and weight at birth among sibling pairs. Pairs of singleton siblings were ascertained among children born in Norway to the same mother between 1978 and 1997. Head circumference, birthweight and other perinatal factors were registered in the Medical Birth Registry of Norway.

High caffeine consumption in the third trimester of pregnancy: gender-specific effects on fetal growth.

It has been suggested that a high caffeine intake in pregnancy may be a risk factor for fetal growth retardation. We have tested this hypothesis in a population-based case-control study. Caffeine intake among 111 mothers of small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants (56 boys, 55 girls) was compared with the intake among 747 mothers of non-SGA infants (368 boys, 379 girls).