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Biomedical subjects

A J Søgaard

Publications and source records attributed to A J Søgaard.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Hormone replacement therapy: knowledge, attitudes, self-reported use - and sales figures in Nordic women.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate knowledge about, attitudes towards and use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in Norwegian women - and to compare self-reported use with sales statistics of HRT in the Nordic countries during recent years. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Random samples of Norwegian women age 16-79 were interviewed by the Central Bureau of Statistics in 1994 (n=737), in 1996 (n=665) and in 1998 (n=680). Statistics on the sale of estrogen were provided by the Norwegian Medical Depot and Nordic Council on Medicines. RESULTS: One in three women had received information about HRT during the last 2 years (1994), mainly through weekly magazines and physicians. The proportion answering in accordance with the prevailing view of HRT's effects ('correct knowledge') varied from 36.4 to 47.2%. Those informed by a physician possessed correct knowledge, had positive attitudes towards HRT and were willing to use HRT more often than women informed through other channels. Women with a high level of education had received information and had correct knowledge more often than others, but they were still less willing to use HRT and did not use HRT more often than the less educated. In the age group 45-69 years the use of HRT was 16.3% in 1994, 19.1% in 1996 and 19. 1% in 1998 (P=0.421, trend). In addition to received information, attitudes towards and knowledge about estrogen were the most important factors predicting use of HRT after adjusting for other variables. According to sales figures, the use of systemic estrogen in Norway has increased more than 360% since 1990. Although no other Nordic country has experienced a corresponding increase, Iceland had the highest sales figures in 1997. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the limited proportion of women receiving information on HRT and the ambivalence found in groups of educated women, we suggest that more and better information should be given middle-aged women to make them better able to make informed choices regarding use of HRT.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

The Finnmark study. Social support, social network and mental distress in a prospective population study.

BACKGROUND: Earlier studies on the direct effect of social support and social network upon mental health have mostly been done in cross-sectional studies and the results have been conflicting. METHODS: The direct effect of social network and social support upon mental distress was tested in population-based health surveys conducted in 1987, 1990 and 1993. The population consisted of all persons aged 40-62 years and a random sample of persons aged between 20 and 39 years living in five small municipalities in Finnmark, the northernmost county in Norway. The attendance rates were 77%, 74% and 70% for the three health surveys, respectively. All those who had attended the health surveys more than once and answered the key questions about mental distress, social support and social network were selected for analyses (966 persons who attended both the two first health surveys and 1425 persons attending both the two last surveys). A theoretical full cross-lagged panel model was used to search for the predictive effects of time 1 variables (mental distress, social network and social support) upon corresponding subsequent variables. RESULTS: Mental distress, social support and social network at time 1 strongly predicted the corresponding variable at the next time point. Emotional support at time 1 exerted a weak positive effect upon mental distress on the next time point, explaining approximately 1% of the variance. Neither the social network nor instrumental support at time 1 predicted degree of mental distress at the subsequent time point. CONCLUSION: We conclude that social network and social support have very little direct predictive effect upon mental distress 3 years later in this population.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

The Tromsø Study: artifacts in forearm bone densitometry--prevalence and effect.

Suboptimal performance of bone densitometer, operator and/or subject may cause artifacts of consequence both for individual patient management and research. The prevalence and effects of such artifacts are largely unknown in densitometry. A cross-sectional population-based study was carried out of artifacts in forearm bone densitometry with single X-ray Absorptiometry (SXA) of the nondominant hand (distal and ultradistal site). After the screening, all scans were reviewed for artifact detection and reanalysis. The effect on the bone mineral density (BMD) result was found by comparing artifactual scans with a reanalyzed version or with normal repeat scans. All women aged 50-74 years, all men aged 55-74 years and 5-10% samples of other age groups aged >/=25 years attending the fourth Tromso health study were invited to have bone densitometry. The response rate from the background population was 80% (n = 7948). Fourteen percent of subjects had a movement artifact at either the distal or ultradistal site. The individual BMD variation was twice as large in scans with a movement artifact (0.94%) compared with normal scans (0.58%) (p = 0.0027). The radial endplate was inaccurately detected in 74% of the scans. Reanalysis of these scans led to a mean 3.8% decrease in the BMD value and an increase in the prevalence of osteoporosis of 10%. Artifacts were thus common, and their effects were clinically relevant in forearm bone densitometry. Artifacts and their effects need to be characterized in other bone densitometry settings also.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed1999

Mental distress and risk of hip fracture. Do broken hearts lead to broken bones?

OBJECTIVE: Mental distress may entail increased risk of hip fracture, but it is uncertain whether the effect consists solely of an indirect effect through use of medication, or whether it is also mediated through other mechanism. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between mental distress and risk of hip fracture in women, adjusted for medication (that is, use of tranquillisers/sedatives or hypnotics). DESIGN: A three year follow up of hip fracture was conducted on 18,612 women, consisting of 92.5% of all women aged 50 years or older in a Norwegian county. Three hundred and twenty nine suffered a hip fracture. A mental distress index was based on questions about life dissatisfaction, nervousness, loneliness, sleep disorders, troubled and uneasy feelings, depression and impairment attributable to psychological complaints. Relative risk with 95% confidence intervals (CI) of hip fracture with respect to mental distress were controlled for medication, age, body mass index (BMI), smoking, physical inactivity, and physical illness by means of Cox regression. RESULTS: The 10% of women with the highest mental distress had more than twofold increased risk of hip fracture compared with the 10% of women with the lowest mental distress, after adjustment for age and medication. The relative risk was 1.95 (95% CI 1.2, 3.3) after additional control for BMI, smoking, physical inactivity, and physical illness. The relative risk of hip fracture for daily users of medication compared with never users was 2.1 (95% CI 1.6, 2.9). After adjusting for mental distress it was 1.5 (95% CI 1.0, 2.2). CONCLUSIONS: Risk of hip fracture was positively related to mental distress, also after adjustment for medication use. The effect of tranquillisers/sedatives or hypnotics on hip fracture risk may be overestimated in studies with no adjustments for mental distress.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

[Who gives up smoking? Results from the health surveys in Finnmark in 1977/78 and 1987/88].

In order to develop effective smoking cessation programmes, it is important to understand why people stop smoking. This study is based on data from two population-based health surveys carried out in the northernmost county of Norway in 1977-78 and 1987-88. 6,254 men and 6,404 women smokers participated in the survey. For both surveys questionnaires were used to collect information on smoking habits, sociodemographic variables, various diseases, symptoms, health related behaviours, and social network. Ten years later 19.3% of the men and 16.0% of the women had stopped smoking. The primary factors for giving up were: a short history of smoking, older age, having non-smoking family and friends, and acquiring a smoking related disease during the period. Health promoting behaviours, such as low consumption of coffee, alcohol, butter and margarine, also increased the chances of giving up smoking. Developing smoking related symptoms, such as a morning cough, or coughing up mucus in the mornings, predicted continuous smoking. Future health promotion programmes should be targeted at young smokers and persons with smoking related diseases; and efforts should probably be directed towards lifestyle with the aim of modifying general attitudes to health.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

[Mental health in costal areas of Finnmark 1987-93].

Over 70% of the adult population of five rural communities in Northern Norway participated in a three-part epidemiological study that included identical questions on mental health. Data were collected in 1987/88, 1990 and 1993. Both repeated cross-sectional analyses and individual growth curve analyses on the 2,486 individuals who participated in either two or three surveys were carried out in order to reveal the changes in mental health over time. The proportion of the population using sleeping pills or psychotropic drugs decreased significantly as time progressed. There were also a significant decrease in the proportion of people who reported being depressed or dissatisfied with life, or who had insomnia or problems in coping. A similar improvement in mental health was noted for both sexes and it remained statistically significant even after adjusting for age and level of education. There was no decrease in the proportion of individuals who reported loneliness. The time effect remained significant, even after adjusting for multiple factors in the growth curve analyses. Improvement in mental health has occurred despite the crisis in the region's fishing industry.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

[Estrogen replacement].

Recent research on long-term postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT) indicates a positive effect on both total mortality and morbidity. This has raised the question of widespread preventive long-term use of HRT. Possible side-effects and ideological issues related to preventive HRT have led to debate and uncertainty among health professionals, in the media, and in the population at large. In order to evaluate the level of knowledge about and attitudes towards HRT, a randomly selected group of 737 Norwegian women aged 16-79 was interviewed by the Central Bureau of Statistics. One in three women had received information about HRT in the last two years, mainly through weekly magazines and physicians. The proportion who answered the questions on knowledge correctly varied from 36% to 47%. Those who had been given information by a physician possessed accurate knowledge, had more positive attitudes towards HRT and were more willing to use HRT than women who had reviewed information through other channels. Women with a higher level of education were better informed and more knowledgeable than others, but were nevertheless more reluctant to use HRT than those who were less educated. The limited number of women who actually receive information on HRT, the low level of knowledge and the ambivalent attitudes toward HRT are a major challenge to the public health service.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

[Hormone replacement therapy among Norwegian women. Self-reported use and sales of estrogen preparations].

In order to analyse the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and the predicting factors for its use, two random samples of Norwegian women (30-79 years) were interviewed by the Central Bureau of Statistics in 1994 (n = 565) and in 1996 (n = 470). The extent of use of HRT was compared with statistics for sales of oestrogen in Norway and the Nordic countries. In the age group 45-69 years the use of hormone replacement therapy increased from 16.3% in 1994 to 19.1% in 1996. The proportion of users did not increase with a higher level of education. In addition to information received, and after adjusting for other variables, attitudes towards oestrogen and knowledge about it were the most important contributing factors for using HRT. Sales figures show that the use of systemic oestrogen in Norway has increased more than 280% since 1990. None of the Nordic countries have had a corresponding increase, but the Norwegian figures are still low compared to most other Nordic countries. In 1996 14.5% of Norwegian women (50-79 years) used oestrogen for urogenital disorders. Norwegian women need to be better informed and more knowledgeable to enable them to make conscious choice regarding use of hormone replacement therapy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

The Tromsø Study: body height, body mass index and fractures.

Tall persons suffer more hip fractures than shorter persons, and high body mass index is associated with fewer hip and forearm fractures. We have studied the association between body height, body mass index and all non-vertebral fractures in a large, prospective, population-based study. The middle-aged population of Tromsø, Norway, was invited to surveys in 1979/80, 1986/87 and 1994/95 (The Tromsø Study). Of 16,676 invited to the first two surveys, 12,270 attended both times (74%). Height and weight were measured without shoes at the surveys, and all non-vertebral fractures in the period 1988-1995 were registered (922 persons with fractures) and verified by radiography. The risk of a low-energy fracture was found to be positively associated with increasing body height and with decreasing body mass index. Furthermore, men who had gained weight had a lower risk of hip fractures, and women who had gained weight had a lower risk of fractures in the lower extremities. High body height is thus a risk factor for fractures, and 1 in 4 low-energy fractures among women today might be ascribed to the increase in average stature since the turn of the century. Low body mass index is associated with a higher risk of fractures, but the association is probably too weak to have any clinical relevance in this age category.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

The Tromsø Study: physical activity and the incidence of fractures in a middle-aged population.

We have studied the relation of occupational and recreational physical activity to fractures at different locations. All men born between 1925 and 1959 and all women born between 1930 and 1959 in the city of Tromsø were invited to participate in surveys in 1979-1980 and 1986-1987 (The Tromsø Study). Of 16,676 invited persons, 12,270 (73.6%) attended both surveys. All nonvertebral fractures (n = 1435) sustained from 1988 to 1995 were registered in the only hospital in the area. Average age in the middle of the follow-up period (December 31, 1991) was 47.3 years among men and 4501 years among women, ranging from 32 to 66 years. Fracture incidence increased with age at all locations among women, but it decreased with or was independent of age among men. Low-energetic fractures constituted 74.4% of all fractures among women and 55.2% among men. When stratifying by fracture location, the most physically active persons among those 45 years or older suffered fewer fractures in the weight-bearing skeleton (relative risk [RR] 0.6, confidence interval [CI] 0.4-0.9, age-adjusted), but not in the non-weight-bearing skeleton (RR 1.0, CI 0.7-1.2, age-adjusted) compared with sedentary persons. The relative-risk of a low-energetic fracture in the weight-bearing skeleton among the most physically active middle-aged was 0.3 (CI 0.1-0.7) among men and 0.9 (CI 0.4-1.8) among women compared with the sedentary when adjusted for age, body mass index, body height, tobacco smoking, and alcohol and milk consumption. It seems that the beneficial effect on the skeleton of weight-bearing activity is reflected also in the incidence of fractures at different sites.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

[Effects of a TV mental health campaign 1992].

A 1992 one-Sunday fund-raising TV-show was broadcasted by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. The six-hour TV-show included information on mental health intermingled with entertainment and money-counting results. The mass media had covered the forthcoming TV-show extensively. The campaign has been evaluated through a stratified random sample of the population who were questioned before (n = 1,191) and after (n = 644) the campaign. Almost 94% were aware of the campaign and more than 60% watched the campaign day TV-show. Nearly 70% had read about psychiatric disorders and 45% had discussed the campaign topic with others. The proportion who were aware that suicide takes more lives than traffic accidents, and the proportion with an open attitude to mental illness had increased significantly after the campaign (p < 0.001). After the campaign, a higher proportion would recommend a person with a minor mental disorder to visit a general practitioner (p < 0.001). Through its penetrating effect the Norwegian Mental Health Campaign put mental health issues on the cultural agenda, and succeeded in changing people's knowledge and attitudes.

Female↗
PubMed1996

[Osteoporosis. Knowledge and attitudes of the Norwegian population].

In March 1994, a random sample of 1,514 Norwegians aged 16-79 years were interviewed about their knowledge of osteoporosis and their attitudes towards prevention of this disease. About 85% answered correctly that osteoporosis can be prevented, but only 57% knew that it cannot be cured. Women had better knowledge of osteoporosis than men had. Two thirds of the women were positive to the use of long-term hormone replacement therapy to prevent osteoporosis. The majority of women aged 60 years or more preferred walking to other physical activities to prevent the disease. Although the data demonstrated fairly good general knowledge of osteoporosis in the population, the oldest women, those at the highest risk of developing the disease, knew less about osteoporosis than the younger women did.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

The Harstad Injury Prevention Study: prevention of burns in small children by a community-based intervention.

Burns are known to cause considerable morbidity and mortality, and scalding is the most common type of burn injury in small children. A community-based injury prevention programme was initiated in the Norwegian city of Harstad (22,000 inhabitants) in 1987 and evaluated by means of data from a hospital-based injury recording system. One part of the programme aimed at reducing burns in children below 5 years of age. Accident analyses based on the local database revealed coffee to be the most frequent liquid causing scalds, which mostly occurred in the kitchen. Sixty-six per cent of the injured were boys and two-thirds were below 2 years of age. The prevention study was divided in a baseline period (19.5 months) with no local intervention-and a succeeding 7-year period containing a wide range of active and passive prevention strategies. From the first to the second period the mean burn injury rate decreased 52.9 per cent, from 52.4 to 24.7 per 10,000 person years (P < 0.05). In a reference city located 1,000 km away, the rates increased from 61.9 to 68.0 per 10,000 person years (NS). The burn injury rate reduction was considered mainly attributable to the strengthening of public participation and the enhancement of community empowerment achieved by recording and actively using the local burn injury data.

Burns↗
PubMed1994

Finnmark Heart Study: employment status and parenthood as predictors of psychological health in women, 20-49 years.

This study examined the influence of employment status and presence of young children in the household on psychological health in a population-based sample of 3103 women aged 20-49 years. Women were classified by employment status and parental status, thus creating four groups for comparison. After excluding women reporting chronic diseases and women receiving sickness, rehabilitation, unemployment or disability benefits, analyses indicated that problems of coping, dissatisfaction with life, depression and loneliness were greatest among homemakers, particularly among those with young children. Analyses adjusted for age, education, marital status and place of residence yielded similar results. Stratification by marital status and place of residence revealed two exceptions to this general pattern: unmarried employed women with young children had the highest rate of coping problems--and parenthood, not employment status, was the most important factor for psychological health problems in rural areas. Discrepancies between an individual's behaviour and the norm in society regarding women's employment, may partly explain the findings.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1992

[Knowledge about the attitude to mental disorders. An interview study prior to last autumn's TV-action].

In June 1992 a random sample of 1,191 Norwegians were interviewed about their knowledge concerning mental disorders and psychiatric research, and their attitudes in this connection. The study shows that people tend to underestimate the prevalence of mental illness, and they are less willing to talk freely about a mental disorder in the family than about cancer. People have a relatively good understanding of the aetiology of mental disorders. They are less willing, however, to support psychiatric research financially compared with cancer research.

Attitude to Health↗