What low back pain is and why we need to pay attention.

Low back pain is a very common symptom. It occurs in high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries and all age groups from children to the elderly population. Globally, years lived with disability caused by low back pain increased by 54% between 1990 and 2015, mainly because of population increase and ageing, with the biggest increase seen in low-income and middle-income countries.

Long-term clinical and economic outcomes in previously untreated paediatric patients with severe haemophilia A: A nationwide real-world study with 700 person-years.

Aim: For previously untreated patients (PUPs) with severe haemophilia A in Finland for the past 2 decades, the standard practice has been to start early primary prophylaxis. We evaluated the long-term clinical outcomes and costs of treatment with high-dose prophylaxis in PUPs from birth to adolescence, including immune tolerance induction (ITI).

Methods: From the medical records of all PUPs born between June 1994 and May 2013 in Finland, we retrospectively extracted data on clinical outcomes and healthcare use.

Prognostic impact of tumour-stroma ratio in early-stage oral tongue cancers.

Aims: Oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) has a relatively poor outcome, and there is a need to identify better prognostic factors. Recently, tumour-stroma ratio (TSR) has been associated with prognosis in several cancers. The aim of this multi-institutional study was to evaluate the prognostic value of TSR from original haematoxylin and eosin (HE)-stained tumour-resection slides in a series of early-stage (cT1-2N0) OTSCC patients.

The role of metformin and statins in the incidence of epithelial ovarian cancer in type 2 diabetes: a cohort and nested case-control study.

Objective: To obtain evidence of the effects of metformin and statins on the incidence of ovarian cancer in women with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Design: A retrospective cohort study and nested case-control study.

Setting: The data were obtained from a diabetes database (FinDM) combining information from several nationwide registers.

Work-based learning in health care organisations experienced by nursing staff: A systematic review of qualitative studies.

The aim of this review is to systematically summarise qualitative evidence about work-based learning in health care organisations as experienced by nursing staff. Work-based learning is understood as informal learning that occurs inside the work community in the interaction between employees. Studies for this review were searched for in the CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus and ABI Inform ProQuest databases for the period 2000-2015.

Intravenous paracetamol was associated with closure of the ductus arteriosus in extremely premature infants.

Aim: Symptomatic patent ductus arteriosus may lead to serious complications in extremely preterm and extremely low birthweight infants and is often resistant to medication. We evaluated early intravenous paracetamol for pain prevention during respiratory therapy, in an attempt to understand the ductal treatment of such infants.

Methods: Our cohort were 295 extremely preterm or extremely low birthweight infants, born at less than 28 weeks or 1000 g, respectively, who were treated in the neonatal intensive care unit of Oulu University Hospital from 2002 to 2015, before and after intravenous paracetamol was introduced in June 2009.

TLR1-10, NF-κB and p53 expression is increased in oral lichenoid disease.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) in keratinocytes play an important role in dermatological autoimmune diseases. Tumour suppressor protein p53 regulates TLR expression. The aim of this study was to compare the expression of TLR1-TLR10, p53 and NF-κB in patients with oral lichenoid disease (OLD) with healthy mucosa.

Meta-analysis of health-related quality of life after minimally invasive versus open oesophagectomy for oesophageal cancer.

Background: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to compare health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes between minimally invasive and open oesophagectomy for cancer at different postoperative time points.

Methods: A search of PubMed (MEDLINE), Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, CINAHL and the Cochrane Library was performed for studies that compared open with minimally invasive oesophagectomy. A random-effects meta-analysis was conducted for studies that measured HRQoL scores using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30 and QLQ-OES18 questionnaires.

Pneumonic tularaemia: experience of 58 cases from 2000 to 2012 in Northern Finland.

Background: Pneumonic tularaemia is less common clinical form of tularaemia compared with the ulceroglandular form, with only a limited number of case reports and case series in Europe. In Finland, Northern Ostrobothnia is an endemic area of tularaemia with occasional seasonal outbreaks.

Methods: In our study, a consecutive series of 58 pneumonic tularaemia cases diagnosed and treated in Oulu University Hospital in 2000-2012 were retrospectively analysed in terms of epidemiology, clinical course, and prognosis.

Interactions of Insoluble Residue from Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Brewer's Spent Grain with Intestinal Microbiota in Mice.

Brewer's spent grain (BSG) is the major side-stream from brewing. As BSG is rich in dietary fiber and protein, it could be used in more valuable applications, such as nutritional additives for foods. Our aim was to elucidate whether an insoluble lignin-rich fraction (INS) from BSG is metabolized by mice gut microbiota and how it affects the microbiota.

The influence of general health on the need for dental general anaesthesia in children.

Aim: To analyse the occurrence and causes of dental general anaesthesia (DGA) in healthy and medically compromised children, and to investigate if there are differences between those groups considering factors associated with DGA and DGA procedures.

Methods: The data was collected from medical records of children under 7 years of age treated under DGA in the years 2009 and 2010 at the Oulu University Hospital, Finland. The children were divided into two groups: 0-35-month-olds and ≥36-month olds.

Clustering of cardio-metabolic risk factors in parents of adolescents with type 1 diabetes and microalbuminuria.

Objective: To evaluate the association between a clustering of cardio-metabolic risk factors in parents and the development of microalbuminuria (MA) in their offspring with childhood-onset type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Methods: The study population comprised 53 parents (mean age [±SD]: 56.7±6.

Three-year mortality in 30-day survivors of critical care with acute kidney injury: data from the prospective observational FINNAKI study.

Background: The role of an episode of acute kidney injury (AKI) in long-term mortality among initial survivors of critical illness is controversial. We aimed to determine whether AKI is independently associated with decreased survival at 3 years among 30-day survivors of intensive care.

Results: We included 2336 30-day survivors of intensive care enrolled in the FINNAKI study conducted in seventeen medical-surgical ICUs in Finland during a 5-month period in 2011-2012.

Trends in long-term prognosis after acute coronary syndrome.

Background Coronary heart disease incidence, mortality and short-term case-fatality have improved substantially during the past decades. Recent changes in the long-term prognosis among survivors of acute coronary syndrome are less well known. Our aim was to investigate the long-term prognosis of acute coronary syndrome.

Arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury levels in blood of Finnish adults and their relation to diet, lifestyle habits and sociodemographic variables.

The Northern Finland Birth Cohort program (NFBC) is the epidemiological and longitudinal prospective general population research program, which was established to promote health and wellbeing of the population in northern Finland. The aim of present study, as a part of the NFBC program, was to analyze the blood levels of arsenic (B-As), cadmium (B-Cd), lead (B-Pb), total mercury (B-Hg) and selenium (B-Se); to compare these levels with threshold limits; to study sociodemographic factors; and to correlate these levels with calcium and haemoglobin. The study was comprised of 249 NFBC subjects, of which 123 were female and 126 were male (ages 31.

Comparison of two preventive interventions on dental caries among children in Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Objectives: The aim was to compare the change in dental caries status in two different intervention groups of the Children's Oral Health Promotion Programme (COHPP).

Methods: A longitudinal study among 500 children who had participated into the COHPP for 6 years was conducted in Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Children in Group I received intensified school-based intervention and were clinically examined at the age of 7 years in 2007 (n = 250), 10 years in 2010 (n = 250) and 13 years in 2013 (n = 242).

Soluble CD73 in Critically Ill Septic Patients - Data from the Prospective FINNAKI Study.

Background: CD73 dephosphorylates adenosine monophosphate to adenosine that is an anti-inflammatory molecule inhibiting immune activation and vascular leakage. Therefore, CD73 could be an interesting mediator both in sepsis and acute kidney injury (AKI). We aimed to explore the soluble CD73 (sCD73) levels and their evolution in critically ill patients with severe sepsis and, second, to scrutinize the potential association of sCD73 levels with AKI and 90-day mortality.

Effects of a healthy Nordic diet on gene expression changes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in response to an oral glucose tolerance test in subjects with metabolic syndrome: a SYSDIET sub-study.

Background: Diet has a great impact on the risk of developing features of metabolic syndrome (MetS), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). We evaluated whether a long-term healthy Nordic diet (ND) can modify the expression of inflammation and lipid metabolism-related genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) during a 2-h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in individuals with MetS.

Methods: A Nordic multicenter randomized dietary study included subjects (n = 213) with MetS, randomized to a ND group or a control diet (CD) group applying an isocaloric study protocol.

Childhood predictors of adult fatty liver. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

Background & Aims: Fatty liver is a potentially preventable cause of serious liver diseases. This longitudinal study aimed to identify childhood risk factors of fatty liver in adulthood in a population-based group of Finnish adults.

Methods: Study cohort included 2,042 individuals from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study aged 3-18years at baseline in 1980.

Association between oral health habits and dental caries among children in Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Aim: To evaluate the self-reported oral health habits and their association with the occurrence of dental caries among children in Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), after 6 years of activities under the auspices of the Children's Oral Health Promotion Programme (COHPP).

Methods: The data were collected in September 2013 in two of the most central districts of Pyongyang City, DPRK. The sample consisted of 492 children aged 10 and 13 years who had participated in the COHPP for 6 years.

Prevalence of malocclusion traits and orthodontic treatment in a Finnish adult population.

Objective The aim of the study was to examine the prevalence of malocclusion traits and the extent of orthodontic treatment in a Finnish adult population. Materials and methods The study population comprised subjects (n = 1964) from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 living in the city of Oulu and within 100 km of it. A clinical oral and dental examination with registration of occlusion was carried out in 2012 in connection with a 46-year follow-up survey.

Self-rated health in patients with rheumatoid arthritis is associated with health-related quality of life but not with clinical variables.

Objectives: Self-rated health (SRH) is a well-known overall health status measure used in the general population but it is rarely examined in a clinical setting. We assessed SRH-related factors in clinic-based patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Method: The study included 123 consecutive outpatients treated in 1998-1999.

A low cortisol response to stress is associated with musculoskeletal pain combined with increased pain sensitivity in young adults: a longitudinal cohort study.

Background: In this study, we investigated whether an abnormal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis response to psychosocial stress at 18 years of age is associated with musculoskeletal (MS) pain alone and MS pain combined with increased pain sensitivity at 22 years of age.

Methods: The study sample included 805 participants from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study who participated in the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) at age 18 years. Number of pain sites, pain duration, pain intensity and pain frequency were assessed at age 22 to measure severity of MS pain.