Patient-Reported Experience Measures for In- and Outpatients in Mental Health and Substance Use Services: Psychometric Properties and Results From a Nationwide Survey in Finland.

Objectives: We implemented the first national patient experience survey, with novel patient-reported experience measures (PREMs), in out- and inpatient mental health and substance use services in Finland.

Methods: The Outpatient Experience Scale (OPES) and the Inpatient Experience Scale (IPES) were co-designed with experts by experience and professionals. The survey was carried out in 2021 in 435 treatment facilities.

Development of Real-Time Surveillance for Serious Adverse Events in a Pragmatic Clinical Trial Using National Registers in Finland.

Purpose: We developed a hybrid safety surveillance approach for a large, pragmatic clinical trial of a high-dose quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIV-HD), using both active and passive data collection methods. Here, we present the methods and results for the passive register-based surveillance of serious adverse events (SAEs), which replaced conventional SAE reporting during the trial.

Patients And Methods: The trial recruited over 33,000 older adults of whom 50% received the QIV-HD while the rest received a standard-dose vaccine (QIV-SD) as a control vaccine.

Cognition, Depression, Pain, and Exercise Motives as Predictors of Longitudinal Profiles of Physical Activity During a Seven-Year Follow-Up Among Older Adults.

This study investigated longitudinal physical activity (PA) profiles over 7 years in the Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER). Cognition, depression, pain, and PA motives were included as determinants of the PA profiles. The 1259 participants, aged 60-77 years at baseline, were randomized into either a control group receiving general health advice, or an intervention group offered a comprehensive 2-year multidomain intervention including physical exercise, diet advice, cognitive training, and vascular risk factor management.

Bias in control selection associated with the use of rapid tests in influenza vaccine effectiveness studies.

In test-negative design studies that use rapid tests to estimate influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) a common concern is case/control misclassification due to imperfect test sensitivity and specificity. However, an imperfect test can also fail to exclude from the control group people that do not represent the source population, including people infected with other influenza types or other vaccine-preventable respiratory viruses for which vaccination status is correlated. We investigated these biases by comparing the effectiveness of seasonal 2023/24 influenza vaccination against influenza A and B based on PCR versus rapid test results, excluding controls who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 or the other type of influenza.

Divergent trends in the incidence and mortality of acute myocardial ischaemic syndrome, especially in women. Evidence from Finland in 1996-2021.

Objective: Although the incidence and case fatality (CF) of acute myocardial ischaemic syndrome (AMIS) have declined in recent decades, some studies have suggested a potential stagnation in this decline. We examined if a similar development in AMIS trends can be observed in Finland from 1996 to 2021 among persons aged 35-74 years.

Methods: We linked Finnish country-wide Hospital Discharge- and Causes of Death- Registers covering the first non-fatal and fatal myocardial ischaemic events (total 69 906 442 person-years at risk).

Associations of language barriers with very preterm children's behavioural and socio-emotional problems across Europe.

Background: Very preterm birth (<32 weeks gestation, VP), immigrant background, and language barriers are all independently associated with a high risk for mental health problems in childhood, but research has neglected the long-term development of immigrant children born VP. We assessed whether behavioural and socio-emotional problems of 5-year-old children born VP growing up across different language contexts in the European Union are associated with an immigrant background and linguistic distance of families' mother tongue (L1) to the host countries' official languages.

Methods: Data are from a population-based cohort including all VP births in 2011/12 in 11 European countries; a total of 3,067 children were followed up at 2 and 5 years of age.

How far are we? Assessing progress in hepatitis C response towards the WHO 2030 elimination goals by the civil society monitoring in 25 European countries, period 2020 to 2023.

Background: With the advent of direct acting antivirals (DAAs) the World Health Organisation (WHO) adopted global strategy to eliminate hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection by 2030. In Europe, people who inject drugs (PWID) account for the majority of new cases, however testing and treatment remain suboptimal. The aim was to monitor progress in HCV policy and cascade-of-care for PWID, led by the civil society organisations (CSO) that provide harm reduction services for PWID across Europe.

Findings of synthetic cathinones in post-mortem toxicology.

Synthetic cathinones (SCs) are a group of new psychoactive substances with amphetamine-like effects but generally higher potency. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence and significance of SCs in post-mortem (PM) investigations in Finland, focusing on the three most prevalent substances: α-PVP, α-PHP, and α-PiHP. All PM cases positive for SCs during 2018-2023 were investigated with respect to cause and manner of death, PM blood and urine concentrations, and concomitant use of other drugs of abuse.

UHPLC-QTOFMS Urine Drug Screening With Dilute-and-Shoot Sample Preparation and Vacuum-Insulated Probe-Heated Electrospray Ionization.

We developed a method for comprehensive urine drug screening by applying dilute-and-shoot extraction and vacuum-insulated probe-heated electrospray ionization with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography high-resolution quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (DS-UHPLC-VIP-HESI-QTOFMS). The method involved five-fold post-hydrolysis dilution of urine samples and chromatography on a C18 UHPLC column prior to QTOFMS analysis. The recently introduced VIP-HESI ion source was chosen due to its enhanced ionization efficiency and compatibility with UHPLC-QTOFMS.

Risk factors for shoulder pain and stiffness in adults aged 44 and older: an 11-year longitudinal population-based study.

Objective: We conducted a longitudinal observational study over 11 years to identify the risk factors for developing shoulder pain, stiffness, or both.

Method: The study population (n = 1645) was identified from Health 2000 Survey, a nationally representative sample of Finns aged ≥ 44 years, without shoulder pain and stiffness at the start of the study based on a questionnaire. The independent variables included age, sex, body mass index (BMI), education level, diabetes, physical work exposures, and Beck's depression score.

Post-disappearance scenarios: policy implications following the potential disappearance of B/Yamagata lineage influenza viruses.

The COVID-19 pandemic and related preventive measures reduced influenza virus circulation, notably causing the disappearance of the B/Yamagata lineage of influenza viruses. In this Perspective, we discuss the implications that this development may have for global influenza epidemiology, and the adjustments that may need to be implemented concerning surveillance strategies and practices, laboratory safety protocols, and influenza vaccine formulations. The disappearance of the B/Yamagata lineage might indeed alter the dynamics of the influenza disease burden (although in a way that is difficult to predict at the moment), and associated diagnostic practices, and may also necessitate updated biosafety levels and revised influenza surveillance strategies.

Traumatic life events as predictors for depression in middle-aged men and women: A Finnish twin study.

Background: We examined exposure to adulthood traumatic life events (TLEs) and their associations with depression in women and men. Then we examined whether those associations are independent of exposure loading and vulnerability including familial confounding.

Methods: The fourth survey in 2011 of the population-based Finnish Twin Cohort had 8410 participants (45 % men, mean age 60 years).

Caesarean section and operative vaginal delivery in Estonia and Finland from 1992 to 2016: registry-based study.

Proportion of normal deliveries is decreasing worldwide. This study analysed operative vaginal deliveries (OVD) and Caesarean sections (CS) with some background factors in Estonia and Finland from 1992 to 2016. Data on all deliveries from 1992 to 2016 were obtained from the Finnish Medical Birth Registry (1 481 160 births) and the Estonian Medical Birth Registry (356 063 births).

Sources of PM exposure misclassification in three Finnish register-based study populations and the impact on attenuation of health effect estimates.

Air pollution is a leading environmental health risk factor. The risk estimates, primarily based on air pollution epidemiology, are sensitive to exposure misclassification, which can result in underestimation. To address some of these challenges, our aim is to investigate how the length of the period over which the exposure is averaged, trends in long-term PM concentrations, and the seasonal variability are associated with each other.

Risk Variants Associated With Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus: Genome-Wide Association Study in the FinnGen Cohort.

Background And Objectives: Large-scale genome-wide studies of chronic hydrocephalus have been lacking. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH).

Methods: We used a case-control study design implementing FinnGen data containing 473,691 Finns with genotypes and nationwide health records.

How is political trust associated with economic and environmental policy prioritization? A longitudinal analysis between 2017 and 2022.

In this article, we examine the longitudinal development of economy-over-environment policy priorities in Finland during a period marked by several significant adverse societal events. In addition, we explore the influence of political trust on these priorities over time. We utilize a five-round panel dataset comprising 2155 observations (N = 431) to examine both within-individual and between-individual variations from late 2017 to early 2023.

Predictors of non-completion of upper secondary education in Finland based on register data.

Aims: School non-completion is a public health and educational concern in most countries. This study sought to identify the strongest predictors of the non-completion of upper secondary education based on register data.

Methods: A cross-validated elastic net regression analysis was used to predict school non-completion in a population of 2696 students in the city of Jyväskylä, Finland.

Association between air temperature and self-perceived health status in Southern Germany: Results from KORA FIT study.

Background: Short-term exposure to low and high air temperatures can cause serious harmful effects on human health. Existing literature has mostly focused on associations of ambient air temperature with mortality and the need for health care in population-level studies. Studies that have considered self-perceived health status as an outcome when examining the effects of air temperature on health are scarce.