Publications by authors named "Paul Knekt"

Article Synopsis
  • * The research showed that individuals with high polygenic risk scores have significantly higher blood pressure (almost 17 mmHg more) and over seven times the risk of developing hypertension compared to those with low scores.
  • * Incorporating these genetic risk scores into hypertension prediction models improved their accuracy, and excitingly, similar genetic associations were found in a large African-American sample, underscoring the potential of these findings for precision health initiatives.
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Purpose: Social support is important for maintaining and restoring psychological well-being but the effects of individual psychotherapies on perceived social support are not well known. In this analysis of secondary outcomes from a randomized clinical study, we compared the effects of long-term psychotherapy and two short-term psychotherapies on social support during a 5-year follow-up.

Materials And Methods: Altogether 326 adult outpatients suffering from depressive and/or anxiety disorders were randomly assigned to long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LPP,  = 126), short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (SPP,  = 101) and solution-focused therapy (SFT,  = 97).

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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.

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Aims/hypothesis: Type 2 diabetes is associated with a high risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD), but the risk of dying from another cause (non-SCD) is proportionally even higher. The aim of the study was to identify easily available ECG-derived features associated with SCD, while considering the competing risk of dying from non-SCD causes.

Methods: In the SURDIAGENE (Survie, Diabete de type 2 et Genetique) French prospective cohort of individuals with type 2 diabetes, 15 baseline ECG parameters were interpreted among 1362 participants (mean age 65 years; HbA 62±17 mmol/mol [7.

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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.

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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. We conducted a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of 100,204 CRC cases and 154,587 controls of European and east Asian ancestry, identifying 205 independent risk associations, of which 50 were unreported. We performed integrative genomic, transcriptomic and methylomic analyses across large bowel mucosa and other tissues.

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Background: Across different types of psychotherapy, one of the most robust predictors of better therapeutic outcomes is a good working alliance between patient and therapist. Yet there is little comparative research on whether particular patients more likely achieve a better alliance in certain treatments which represent particular therapeutic approaches or durations.

Methods: 326 patients suffering from depressive and/or anxiety disorder were randomized into two short-term (solution-focused or psychodynamic) and one long-term (psychodynamic) therapy models.

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Aims: To evaluate the prognostic significance of novel P-wave morphology descriptors in general population.

Methods And Results: Novel P-wave morphology variables were analyzed from orthogonal X-, Y-, Z-leads of the digitized electrocardiogram using a custom-made software in 6906 middle-aged subjects of the Mini-Finland Health Survey. A total of 3747 (54.

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Previous studies had limited power to assess the associations of testosterone with aggressive disease as a primary endpoint. Further, the association of genetically predicted testosterone with aggressive disease is not known. We investigated the associations of calculated free and measured total testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) with aggressive, overall and early-onset prostate cancer.

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Background: QRS duration and corrected QT (QTc) interval have been associated with sudden cardiac death (SCD), but no data are available on the significance of repolarization component (JTc interval) of the QTc interval as an independent risk marker in the general population.

Objective: In this study, we sought to quantify the risk of SCD associated with QRS, QTc, and JTc intervals.

Methods: This study was conducted using data from 3 population cohorts from different eras, comprising a total of 20,058 individuals.

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Background: Several lifestyle factors are associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). Although lifestyle factors co-occur, in most previous studies these factors have been studied focusing upon a single risk factor or assuming independent effects between risk factors.

Aim: To examine the pairwise effects and interactions of smoking, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, and body mass index (BMI) with risk of subsequent colorectal cancer (CRC).

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Objective: This study examined the predictive ability of the Rorschach-based Ego Impairment Index (EII-2) on outcome of psychotherapy in different types and durations of therapy.

Method: A total of 326 outpatients suffering from depressive or anxiety disorders were randomized into receiving solution-focused (n = 97), short-term psychodynamic (n = 101), or long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (n = 128). Psychotherapy outcome assessments during the 5-year follow-up period covered psychiatric symptoms, social functioning, and work ability.

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Background: Poor R-wave progression (PRWP) is a common clinical finding on the standard 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG), but its prognostic significance is unclear.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the prognosis associated with PRWP in terms of sudden cardiac death (SCD), cardiac death, and all-cause mortality in general population subjects with and without coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods: Data and 12-lead ECGs were collected from a Finnish general population health examination survey conducted during 1978-1980 with follow-up until 2011.

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Background: Negative T-waves are associated with sudden cardiac death (SCD) risk in the general population. Whether flat T-waves also predict SCD is not known. The aim of the study was to examine the clinical characteristics and risk of SCD in general population subjects with flat T-waves.

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Background: Patient suitability has been suggested to predict treatment non-attendance but information on its effect is limited.

Aim: To study the prediction of the Suitability for Psychotherapy Scale (SPS), on occurrence of treatment non-attendance.

Methods: Altogether 326 outpatients, with depressive or anxiety disorder, were randomized to short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (SPP), long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (LPP), and solution-focused therapy (SFT).

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There is limited evidence for any dietary factor, except alcohol, in breast cancer (BC) risk. Therefore, studies on a whole diet, using diet quality indices, can broaden our insight. We examined associations of the Nordic Diet (mNDI), Mediterranean diet (mMEDI) and Alternative Healthy Eating Index (mAHEI) with postmenopausal BC risk.

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The trends in incidence of lung cancer in never smokers are unclear as well as the significance of risk factors. We studied time trends in the incidence and risk factors of lung cancer in never smokers in Finland in a large, pooled cohort. We pooled data from seven Finnish health cohorts from the period between 1972 and 2015 with 106 193 never smokers.

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The association between fish consumption and new-onset type 2 diabetes is inconsistent and differs according to geographical location. We examined the association between the total and types of fish consumption and type 2 diabetes using individual participant data from 28 prospective cohort studies from the Americas (6), Europe (15), the Western Pacific (6), and the Eastern Mediterranean (1) comprising 956,122 participants and 48,084 cases of incident type 2 diabetes. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for associations of total fish, shellfish, fatty, lean, fried, freshwater, and saltwater fish intake and type 2 diabetes were derived for each study, adjusting for a consistent set of confounders and combined across studies using random-effects meta-analysis.

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Background: The consumption of legumes is promoted as part of a healthy diet in many countries but associations of total and types of legume consumption with type 2 diabetes (T2D) are not well established. Analyses across diverse populations are lacking despite the availability of unpublished legume consumption data in prospective cohort studies.

Objective: To examine the prospective associations of total and types of legume intake with the risk of incident T2D.

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Objectives: We investigated how patients' psychological capacities to engage in psychotherapy predict changes in work ability in short- and long-term psychotherapy.

Methods: A cohort study of 326 patients, aged 20-46 years and suffering from mood and anxiety disorders, treated by short-term solution-focused, short-term psychodynamic, or long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy, followed-up for 5 years. The Suitability for Psychotherapy Scale, assessed at baseline, was the predictor.

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Background: Cardiac death is one of the leading causes of death and sudden cardiac death (SCD) is estimated to cause approximately 50% of cardiac deaths. Men have a higher cardiac mortality than women. Consequently, the mechanisms and risk markers of cardiac mortality are not as well defined in women as they are in men.

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Repeated heat exposure like sauna bathing is suggested to beneficially affect against dementia development. The epidemiological evidence is, however, scarce. Therefore, we studied the association between heat exposure during sauna bathing (i.

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