Burnout among women: associations with demographic/socio-economic, work, life-style and health factors.

This study examined the occurrence of low/high burnout among women and the demographic/socio-economic, work, life-style, and health "correlates" of high burnout. The sample consisted of 6.000 randomly selected women from the general population, of which 3.

Well-being of 12-year-old children related to interpersonal relations, health habits and mental distress.

Aim: The main purpose was to examine if interpersonal relations, mental distress, somatic symptoms and health behaviours could be protective or risk factors for the subjective well-being of 12-year-old school children.

Methods: After ethical and parental permission a questionnaire was completed by 807 pupils in the sixth grade of 18 randomised schools in seven rural and urban districts in the north-west area of Stockholm. The questionnaire was a modified version of the WHO Health Behaviour in School-Ages Children Study and the Youth Self-Report Questionnaire.

Growing social inequalities in the occurrence of overweight and obesity among young men in Sweden.

Aims: The aims of the present study are to investigate time trends and social inequalities in mean body mass index (BMI), overweight, and obesity among 18-year-old men in Sweden from 1970 to 2000 and to explore whether social inequalities in these conditions have increased.

Methods: A record linkage was made between the Military Service Conscription Register, Population and Housing Censuses, the Register of Education and the Register of the Total Population. All 1,748,800 males born in 1952-82 who were living in Sweden at the age of 17 years in 1969-99 were eligible for this nationwide study.

A psychometric assessment of a Swedish translation of Spreitzer's empowerment scale.

The psychometric properties of a Swedish translation of Spreitzer's (1995a) empowerment scale were assessed. Three parallel assessments were made of data from 1,107 female registered nurses, 758 female assistant nurses, and 107 male registered and assistant nurses. The analyses indicated that the psychometric properties of the scale can be considered satisfactory.

Neighborhood social composition and injury risks among pre-adolescent and adolescent boys and girls. A study in Stockholm metropolitan.

The study investigates the extent to which social and socioeconomic characteristics of a population within a particular living area influence injury risks among young people. The study group comprised pre-adolescent and adolescent boys and girls aged 10-19 living in the Stockholm metropolitan area in Sweden over the three-year period 2000--2002 (about 185,000 subjects each year). Area comparisons were made at parish level (96 parishes) based on three compositional indexes derived from a factor analysis of sixteen population attributes.

Time trends in the incidence of myocardial infarction among professional drivers in Stockholm 1977-96.

Aims: To investigate time trends in the incidence of first myocardial infarction (MI) among bus, taxi, and lorry drivers in Stockholm.

Methods: In this population based case-control study, all first events of acute MI among men aged 40-69 in Stockholm County 1977-96 were identified using registers of hospital discharges and deaths. Controls were selected randomly from the general population.

The significance of addressing trauma in outpatient psychiatry.

Establishing post-traumatic stress disorder as a psychiatric diagnosis has only marginally increased awareness of traumatic experiences. Traumas are inconsistently recorded in initial psychiatric histories and, when observed, rarely reflected in the primary diagnosis and treatment. The present study aimed to investigate if there is an association between sufficiently addressing trauma and long-term outcome and what factors affect whether trauma, according to the patient's view, is sufficiently addressed or not.

Patient power and control: a study of women with uncertain illness trajectories.

The authors interviewed 12 women diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and 13 with fibromyalgia with the aim of determining the strategies they perceive themselves as using to gain control over their situation during the health care process. The results highlight various strategies that the women report applying to find a way of managing the illness and to influence caregivers. They describe, for example, how they try to gain control over their situation by acquiring knowledge about the illness.

Tobacco prevention in Swedish dental care.

Objective: To assess tobacco prevention in Swedish dental care and to identify barriers. Also, to investigate whether dentists and dental hygienists were familiar with recently published review of smoking cessation methods.

Methods: A questionnaire was mailed to all 353 dental hygienists and 528 dentists in Stockholm County.

Cancer incidence in airline cabin crew: experience from Sweden.

Aims: To determine the cancer incidence in Swedish cabin crew.

Methods: Cancer incidence of cabin crew at the Swedish Scandinavian Airline System (SAS) (2324 women and 632 men) employed from 1957 to 1994 was determined during 1961-96 from the Swedish National Cancer Register. The cancer incidence in cabin crew was compared with that of the general Swedish population by comparing observed and expected number of cases through standardised incidence ratios (SIR).

Risk factors for anorexia nervosa: a national cohort study.

Objective: To identify possible risk factors for anorexia nervosa through national registers.

Method: The study includes the entire Swedish population of 989,871 individuals born between 1973 and 1982. Patients with anorexia nervosa were identified through the Swedish Hospital Discharge Register from November 1990 to December 1999.

Knowledge, attitudes and smoking behavior among Lao doctors.

The aim of this study was to describe the knowledge, attitudes and smoking behavior among doctors at Mahosot University Hospital in Lao PDR. A cross-sectional, descriptive study used a self-administered anonymous questionnaire. The study population comprised 164 doctors.

Myocardial infarction among professional drivers.

Background: Professional drivers are at an increased risk of myocardial infarction but the underlying causes for this increased risk are uncertain.

Methods: We identified all first events of myocardial infarction among men age 45-70 years in Stockholm County for 1992 and 1993. We selected controls randomly from the population.

Stressful life events preceding the first onset of psychosis. An explorative study.

The aim of the study was to investigate the frequency and types of psychologically stressful life events preceding first episode psychoses. In a defined urban area, all first-episode psychosis patients aged 18-45, without signs of organic brain disorder or heavy abuse, were investigated and followed-up during 2-3 years. In the majority of cases, significant releasing factors could be depicted.

'You and your skin': a short-duration presentation of skin cancer prevention for teenagers.

The effectiveness of a short-duration presentation of the educational material 'You and Your Skin' was tested on 184 adolescents (age 13-15) at the Year 7 and 8 levels. A non-equivalent control group design was used with pre-testing and post-testing 3 months after the intervention. The intervention increased the students' knowledge of known risks factors for skin cancers.

Mortality amongst participants in Vasaloppet: a classical long-distance ski race in Sweden.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess mortality amongst participants in long-distance ski races during the Vasaloppet week. We considered the 90 km races for men and 90 or 30 km for women. The vast majority of the participants in these races are not competing on the elite level.

Long-term consequences of unrecognised PTSD in general outpatient psychiatry.

Background: Although a number of studies have shown a high prevalence of PTSD in the population, the diagnosis has hardly been recognised in general psychiatric practice. This raises two important questions. How widespread is extreme trauma and PTSD in the general psychiatry population? How does the long-term outcome among patients with PTSD differ from that of other psychiatric patients? The present study examines a psychiatry outpatient population in which none of the patients have received the primary diagnosis of PTSD.

Stability of questionnaire items measuring behaviours, attitudes and stages of change related to sun exposure.

The use of questionnaires in epidemiological studies needs more methodological research. The time and effort spent on questionnaire design is often limited. Studies on the construction of questionnaires could lead to a higher quality of data, enhanced comparability and improved credibility of epidemiological findings.

One-year outcome in first episode psychosis patients in the Swedish Parachute project.

Objective: Implementing a system designed to treat first episode psychotic (FEP) patients.

Method: Every FEP patient (n=253) from a catchment area of 1.5 million inhabitants were asked to participate in this 5-year project.

Laypersons' perceptual discrimination of pigmented skin lesions.

Background: Most cutaneous malignant melanomas of the skin are visible and should, at least in theory, be possible to detect with the naked eye.

Objective: This study was conducted to learn more about laypersons' ability to discriminate between benign pigmented lesions and malignant ones.

Methods: Four groups of laypersons (n = 120) were asked to evaluate pictures of different types of pigmented skin lesions, before and after they received information about the ABCD (asymmetry, border irregularity, color variegation, and diameter greater than 6 mm) criteria, with respect to the necessity of action.

Environmental tobacco smoke exposure of young children--attitudes and health-risk awareness in the Nordic countries.

Aims: To assess attitudes towards environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and health-risk awareness regarding the potential hazards of ETS for children among parents of young children in the Nordic countries. Also to investigate to what extent these factors are related to ETS exposure of the children.

Design: A cross-sectional community-based survey using an anonymous mailed questionnaire.

Beliefs, knowledge and attitudes as predictors of sunbathing habits and use of sun protection among Swedish adolescents.

In 1996, a random population sample of 2615 adolescents completed a questionnaire concerning habitual sun-related behaviours, attitudes towards sunbathing, and knowledge about skin cancer. Females, older adolescents, those with less sun-sensitive skin, those with higher knowledge and those with a positive attitude towards sunbathing were more likely to be frequent sunbathers. Younger adolescents, those who today sunbathe moderately, and those with sensitive skin were more likely to believe that they would sunbathe more often in the future.

Readiness to change sun-protective behaviour.

The incidence of malignant melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers has increased rapidly in Sweden during the last 20 years. The best-known way to revert this trend is primary prevention. Matching health messages to readiness to change in the population may enhance the effect of community-based prevention.