Effect of a multicomponent school-based intervention with parental involvement on socioeconomic inequalities in smoking initiation: equity impact analysis of the TOPAS study.

Background: As prevalence of tobacco use falls, socioeconomic inequalities in tobacco use are increasing in many high-income countries. Evidence is lacking on the effect of preventive interventions on socioeconomic inequalities in smoking initiation among adolescents. We evaluated whether a multicomponent school-based prevention programme with parental involvement has differential effects on smoking initiation across socioeconomic groups and affects the magnitude of socioeconomic inequalities in smoking initiation.

The association between tobacco use and COVID-19 diagnoses in three Nordic countries: a pooled analysis.

Previous research has suggested an unexpected negative association between smoking and susceptibility to COVID-19. This study, drawing on population-based data from three Nordic countries-Sweden, Norway, and Finland-aims to investigate this association further, capitalizing on diversity introduced by different containment measures. The objective of this research was to examine the association between cigarette smoking and snus (smokeless tobacco) use and the risk of confirmed COVID-19 infection.

Iodineminho Study: Iodine Supplementation and Prevalence of Iodine Deficiency In Pregnant Women.

Context: Iodine is necessary for proper brain development. The prevalence of iodine deficiency in Portuguese pregnant women led the health authorities, in 2013, to recommend iodine supplementation for women in preconception, throughout pregnancy, and during lactation.

Objective: This work aimed to assess the effect of iodine supplementation initiated in the preconception or the first trimester of pregnancy on the prevalence of iodine deficiency and maternal thyroid status.

Tobacco Use and Uptake of COVID-19 Vaccinations in Finland: A Population-Based Study.

Introduction: People who smoke are at higher risk of Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) hospitalizations and deaths and might benefit greatly from high COVID-19 vaccination coverage. Studies on tobacco use and COVID-19 vaccine uptake in the general population are lacking.

Aims And Methods: We conducted a cohort study utilizing linked data from 42 935 participants from two national surveys in Finland (FinSote 2018 and 2020).

Are the estimated needs for mental health care among adolescents from different socioeconomic backgrounds met equally in Sweden? A longitudinal survey-registry linkage study.

Evidence of inequality in the utilisation of mental health care (MHC) by adolescents in Nordic countries is mixed. This study aims to investigate if there are socioeconomic differences in the utilisation of MHC, while accounting for adolescents' mental health status. We analysed a cohort of 3517 adolescents, followed from 7 to 9th grade (ages 13-16), to examine the association between parental socioeconomic position (SEP: education and disposable income), adolescents' estimated needs, and the utilisation of MHC (defined as visits to secondary psychiatric care or receipt of psychotropic medication).

Predictors of One-Year Persistence of Harm From a Known Person's Drinking: Findings From a Longitudinal Population-Based Study in Sweden.

Objective: Few studies have investigated the persistence over time of experiences of harm from a known person's drinking. The aim of this study was to describe 1-year persistence and investigate its predictors at baseline. Potential predictors included the harmed person's sociodemographic factors, their own drinking habits, their relationship to the person causing harm, and the type of negative experience.

"It's nice to just be": A qualitative study on the meaning-imbued reality of waterpipe smoking among young adults in Sweden.

Waterpipe smoking is regarded as a burgeoning public health problem due to its popularity among young adults. This study aims to understand the meaning-imbued reality of waterpipe smoking for young adults in Sweden. Data from 18 individual interviews with ethnically diverse Swedish young adults were analysed using inductive latent-level qualitative content analysis.

Child-Adult Contract for Prevention of Tobacco Use: "As-Treated" Analysis of a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial (the TOPAS Study) at 3-Year Follow-Up.

To estimate the effect of a 3-year commitment to remain tobacco free on tobacco uptake among high school students in Sweden. The commitment is developed in the form of a contract between a child and a significant adult, constituting the core component of Tobacco-free Duo (T-Duo), a Swedish school-based tobacco prevention program. Secondary analysis of data from a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Should Nicotine Replacement Therapy be Provided Free of Charge? A Cost-Utility Analysis in Sweden.

Introduction: Treatment with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) during an attempt to quit smoking increases the likelihood of success by about 55%. However, out-of-pocket payment for NRT can hinder its use.

Aims And Methods: This study aims therefore to assess the cost-effectiveness of subsidizing NRT in Sweden.

Does misclassification of former tobacco smokers explain the 'smoker's paradox' in the risk of COVID-19? Insights from the Stockholm Public Health Cohort.

Background: The association between tobacco smoking and the risk of COVID-19 and its adverse outcomes is controversial, as studies reported contrasting findings. Bias due to misclassification of the exposure in the analyses of current versus non-current smoking could be a possible explanation because former smokers may have higher background risks of the disease due to co-morbidity. The aim of the study was to investigate the extent of this potential bias by separating non-, former, and current smokers when assessing the risk or prognosis of diseases.

Current tobacco use and SARS-CoV-2 infection in two Norwegian population-based cohorts.

Background: Clear evidence of an increased risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection among smokers has not been established. We aimed to investigate associations between cigarette smoking or use of snus (snuff) and other nicotine-containing products and a positive SARS-CoV-2 test, taking test behavior into account.

Methods: Current tobacco use and testing behavior during the pandemic were recorded by adult participants from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study and The Norwegian Influenza Pregnancy Cohort.

Prevalence of cannabis use among young adults in Sweden comparing randomized response technique with a traditional survey.

Background And Aims: The prevalence of cannabis use based on self-reports is likely to be underestimated in population surveys, especially in contexts where its use is a criminal offence. Indirect survey methods ask sensitive questions ensuring that answers cannot be identified with an individual respondent, therefore potentially resulting in more reliable estimates. We aimed to measure whether the indirect survey method 'randomized response technique' (RRT) increased response rate and/or increased disclosure of cannabis use among young adults compared with a traditional survey.

Tobacco use and risk of COVID-19 infection in the Finnish general population.

Empirical evidence, primarily based on hospital-based or voluntary samples, suggests that current smokers have a lower risk of COVID-19 infection than never smokers. In this study, we used nationally representative data to examine the association between tobacco use and the risk of having a confirmed COVID-19 case. We explored several forms of tobacco use, contributing to separate the role of nicotine from smoking.

Country differences in the cross-sectional associations between smoking and depressive symptoms in adolescence.

Background: The aim of the present study was to compare the cross-sectional association between smoking and depressive symptoms among adolescents between Sweden and Italy, two countries historically characterized by different norms about tobacco use and different tobacco control efforts.

Methods: A cross-sectional study including 3283 adolescents 15-16 years of age participating in the Swedish KUPOL study and 1947 same-age adolescents from the Italian BE-TEEN study. Current smoking was defined as any smoking in the past 30 days.

Compositional characteristics of neighbourhoods and of schools as correlates of youths' mental health: A cross-sectional study among Swedish adolescents.

Aims: The study aimed to analyse the association between neighbourhood- and school-level socio-demographic factors and self-reported mental health among adolescents.

Methods: The study population consisted of 3959 adolescents in southern and central Sweden (the KUPOL study), surveyed in the seventh grade (13 years old) and again in the ninth grade (15 years old). Cross-sectional associations were studied between socio-demographic indicators at neighbourhood level (proportion of adults with high education, without employment, of foreign-born residents) and at school level (proportion of students with at least one parent with high education, of students with a foreign background, mean qualification points in ninth grade) and mental health problems.

Randomised controlled study of two counselling models at the Swedish alcohol helpline: Effectiveness and sustainability outcomes at 12-month follow-up.

This two-arm parallel randomised controlled trial explored the effectiveness of a brief counselling model compared with the usual multi-session counselling at an alcohol telephone helpline. A total of 320 callers who contacted the Swedish Alcohol Helpline (SAH) because of hazardous or harmful alcohol use were randomised to either brief structured intervention (self-help booklet plus one proactive call) or usual care (multi-session telephone counselling). The primary outcome was a downward shift in risk level at 12-month follow-up compared with baseline, based on self-reports.

Impact on routine psychiatric diagnostic practice from implementing the DSM-5 cultural formulation interview: a pragmatic RCT in Sweden.

Background: Culture and social context affect the expression and interpretation of symptoms of distress, raising challenges for transcultural psychiatric diagnostics. This increases the risk that mental disorders among migrants and ethnic minorities are undetected, diagnosed late or misdiagnosed. We investigated whether adding a culturally sensitive tool, the DSM-5 core Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI), to routine diagnostic procedures impacts the psychiatric diagnostic process.

Changes in cannabis policy and prevalence of recreational cannabis use among adolescents and young adults in Europe-An interrupted time-series analysis.

Background: Cannabis policy varies greatly across European countries, but evidence of how such policy impacts on recreational cannabis use among young people is conflicting. This study aimed to clarify this association by investigating how changes in cannabis legislation influenced cannabis use.

Methods: Available data on self-reports of recreational cannabis use among individuals aged 15-34 years was retrieved from EMCDDA.

Evaluation of the Swedish school-based program "tobacco-free DUO" in a cluster randomized controlled trial (TOPAS study). Results at 2-year follow-up.

Friends' and parents' tobacco use are strong predictors of tobacco uptake among adolescents, however the effectiveness of interventions based on public commitments and agreements to remain tobacco-free are not established. Here, we evaluated the effectiveness of the school-based Swedish program Tobacco-Free Duo (T-Duo) in preventing adolescents from initiating tobacco use (TOPAS study). T-Duo is a multi-component intervention witha formal agreement between a student and an adult partner to remain tobacco-free during the entire 3-year study period as core component.

Country-Level Heavy Episodic Drinking and Individual-Level Experiences of Harm from Others' Drinking-Related Aggression in 19 European Countries.

Introduction: There is limited knowledge about how individual experiences of harm from others' drinking are influenced by heavy episodic drinking (HED) at the country level. The present study aimed to assess (1) the association between the country-level prevalence of HED and the risk of experiencing harm from others' drinking-related aggression and (2) if HED at the country level modifies the association between consumption of alcohol per capita (APC) and such harm.

Methods: Outcome data from 32,576 participants from 19 European countries stem from the RARHA SEAS study.

Effect of a maternal counselling intervention delivered by community health workers on child nutrition: secondary analysis of a cluster randomised controlled trial in India.

Background: India suffers from a double burden of malnutrition and anaemia. The Karnataka anaemia project indicated that a counselling intervention delivered by community health workers improved anaemia cure rates.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of maternal counselling on nutritional aspects of anaemia prevention.

Electronic cigarette use and smoking cessation in cohort studies and randomized trials: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the association between e-cigarette use and subsequent smoking cessation in cohort studies and randomized controlled trials (RCT).

Methods: A systematic literature search was finalized 11 November 2019 using EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Scopus, PubMed Health, NICE evidence search, PROSPERO, CRD, PsycInfo, and PubMed including Medline. Inclusion criteria were: reporting empirical results; longitudinal observational design with a minimum of 3 months of follow-up; including general population samples; and allowing for comparison between users and non-users of e-cigarettes.

DNA methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene predicts substance use in adolescence: longitudinal data from over 1000 young individuals.

Early life stress has been linked to increased methylation of the Nuclear Receptor Subfamily 3 Group C Member 1 (NR3C1) gene, which codes for the glucocorticoid receptor. Moreover, early life stress has been associated with substance use initiation at a younger age, a risk factor for developing substance use disorders. However, no studies to date have investigated whether NR3C1 methylation can predict substance use in young individuals.

Protocol for the evaluation of cost-effectiveness and health equity impact of a school-based tobacco prevention programme in a cluster randomised controlled trial (the TOPAS study).

Introduction: Despite a long-term downward trend in smoking prevalence, tobacco remains the number one risk factor for death and disability in Sweden. Globally, tobacco use generates a substantial economic burden for health systems and is also a major driver of socioeconomic inequalities in health. This article describes the planned cost-effectiveness and health equity impact evaluation of a multicomponent school-based programme to prevent the onset of tobacco use in adolescents.