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Biomedical subjects

M Rimpelä

Publications and source records attributed to M Rimpelä.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Dental services utilization between 1977 and 1995 by Finnish adolescents of different socioeconomic levels.

Equal distribution of health care services has long been a major goal of health policy in the Nordic countries. According to these guidelines, every child is expected to have an examination and treatment at least every second year. The aim of this study was to analyze the trends and, in particular, the socioeconomic differences in dental visits between 1977 and 1995. The data were collected as part of a nationwide research program, the Adolescent Health and Lifestyle Survey, which began in 1977. Every second year a self-administered questionnaire was mailed to a representative sample of 14-, 16- and 18-year-old Finns. The sample sizes in the surveys varied from 2422 to 9556, making a total of 56,605 subjects in the whole study. The response rates in different years varied from 77% to 88%. The percentage of adolescents visiting a dentist increased between 1977 and 1981 and thereafter remained stable. Dental visits seemed to correlate with the occupational and educational status of the parents up to 1983, but not after that. The Finnish primary oral health care policy seems to have gained a major objective by eliminating social inequality in dental service utilization among adolescents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Trends in toothbrushing frequency among Finnish adolescents between 1977 and 1995.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse trends in development of the toothbrushing frequency of Finnish adolescents and the socio-economic factors associated with these trends between 1977 and 1995. DESIGN: The data were collected as part of a nation-wide research programme, the Adolescent Health and Lifestyle Survey, which started in 1977. Since then a 12-page questionnaire has been sent every other year. Dental health behaviour was studied from the outset. SUBJECTS: The sample represented 12-, 14-, 16- and 18-year-old children and adolescents in Finland. The sample size varied between 3,205-10,626, making a total of 66,687 participants. OUTCOME MEASURES: The recommended toothbrushing frequency, twice-a-day, was studied. The socio-economic factors included age, gender, self-assessed school performance, level of education, socio-economic status of the householder, and socio-economic category of the residential area. RESULTS: Among boys, daily toothbrushing increased from 1977 to 1995, but among girls it remained stable. Among boys, the prevalence of twice-a-day toothbrushing frequency varied from 13 per cent to 25 per cent between the ages of 12 and 18 years, and among girls from 32 per cent to 60 per cent, respectively. Among 12- to 14-year-old boys, the socio-economic differences almost disappeared. There were no changes among 12- to 14-year-old girls but there was an unexpected declining trend in toothbrushing among 16- to 18-year-old girls. Apparently further improvement in the toothbrushing frequency of girls had stopped. CONCLUSIONS: Although there was a clear trend towards improvement of toothbrushing frequency among boys, their toothbrushing frequency still lagged far behind that of girls.

Achievement↗
PubMed1996

Chewing of xylitol gum--a well adopted practice among finnish adolescents.

The adoption of xylitol chewing gum in Finland was studied using data from two comparable postal surveys for national samples of 12- to 18-year-olds in 1977 (response rate 79%, n = 2,528) and 1991 (77%, n = 7,672). In 1977 only 12% of this age group used xylitol chewing gum but, by 1991 it had become common (64% of boys, 81% of girls). Daily use increased from 1 to 15% among boys and from 1 to 32% among girls. Use of sucrose chewing gum decreased; in 1991 only 2% used it daily. Daily use of xylitol chewing gum did not vary according to socioeconomic status or level of urbanization. The increase in use of xylitol chewing gum is an example of the positive effect of health education given by a comprehensive, preventively oriented system of dental health care in association with commercial interests.

Abdominal Pain↗
PubMed1995

Teaching sociology of medicine: the group process.

As a part of any curriculum reorganization, new instructional methods are also tested. When the University of Turku sociology of medicine course was found to need renovation, its goals and objectives, content and instructional methods were closely examined and modified, in order to strengthen institutional and multiprofessional relations and reinforce sociocultural issues in doctors' competence with the patient. This paper discuss this change, emphasizing teaching and learning methodology.

Curriculum↗
PubMed1995

Health status: does it predict choice in further education?

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To study the significance of a young person's health to his or her choice of further education at age 16. DESIGN: A cross sectional population survey SETTING: The whole of Finland. PARTICIPANTS: A representative sample of 2977 Finnish 16 year olds. The response rate was 83%. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The three outcome variables reflected successive steps on the way to educational success: school attendance after the completion of compulsory schooling, the type of school, and school achievement for those at school. Continuing their education and choosing upper secondary school were most typical of young people from upper social classes. Female gender and living with both parents increased the probability of choosing to go on to upper secondary school. Over and above these background variables, some health factors had additional explanatory power. Continuing their education, attending upper secondary schools, and good achievement were typical of those who considered their health to be good. Chronically ill adolescents were more likely to continue their education than the healthy ones. CONCLUSIONS: School imposes great demands on young people, thus revealing differences in personal health resources. Adaptation to the norms of a society in which education is highly valued is related to satisfying health status. In a welfare state that offers equal educational opportunities for everyone, however, chronically ill adolescents can add to their resources for coping through schooling. Health related selection thus works differently for various indicators of health and in various kinds of societies. Social class differences in health in the future may be more dependent on personally experienced health problems than on medically diagnosed diseases.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Common genetic influences on BMI and age at menarche.

Genetic influences on variability of body weight and onset of menarche are well known. To investigate the genetic and environmental contributions to the association of body weight with onset of menarche, we studied Finnish twins from consecutive birth cohorts (the FinnTwin16 study) ascertained from the national population registry, which identifies nearly 100% of all living twins. Baseline questionnaires were mailed to the twins within 60 days of their sixteenth birthday and later to older sibs of the twins. Pairwise response rates (approximately 85% across gender and zygosity) and 30 months of data collection yielded results from 1283 twin pairs. The questionnaires included a survey of health habits and attitudes, a symptom checklist, MMPI personality scales, and a survey of relationships with parents, peers, and the co-twin. Age at menarche was reported by 468 monozygotic (MZ) girls, 378 girls from like-sex dizygotic (FDZ) pairs, 434 girls from opposite-sex (OSDZ) pairs, and 141 older female sibs of the twins. The one-month test-retest reliability of age at menarche in an independent sample (N = 136) of 16-year-olds from a national survey was 0.96. Girls from OSDZ pairs had a significantly higher mean age at menarche (13.33 yr) than FDZ girls (13.13 yr) (difference, 0.20 yr; 95% confidence interval, 0.05-0.35). The MZ correlation for age at menarche was 0.75, the DZ correlation was 0.31, and the sib-twin correlation was 0.32. A bivariate twin analysis of age at menarche and body mass index (wt/ht2) indicated that 37% of the variance in age at menarche can be attributed to additive genetic effects, 37% to dominance effects, and 26% to unique environmental effects. The correlation between additive genetic effects on age at menarche and body mass index was 0.57, indicating a substantial proportion of genetic effects in common.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Sexual knowledge, attitudes, fears and behaviors of adolescents in Finland (the KISS study).

In 1986 and 1988, a structured questionnaire on sexual knowledge, attitudes, fears and behaviors was administered to 13, 15 and 17 year olds in Finnish public schools; 5289 (88% response rate) responses were recorded. With the exception of a few small differences in attitudes, no significant regional differences were recorded--suggesting that the results are representative of all Finnish adolescents. Except for 13 year olds, knowledge level was satisfactory. With increasing age, most attitudes showed increasing tolerance towards sexual matters and liberalism. Although several fears increased, AIDS was not perceived as an exceptionally great personal danger. By comparison with data from surveys 20 years previously, the age of first experience of sexual intercourse was lower--especially among women. About a third of the adolescents surveyed used no birth control and about 60% used a condom. Implications for educational policy and planning are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Bar coding--a functional tool in survey research.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: The aim was to assess the value of bar coding, together with developed microcomputer programs, as a tool to speed up mailing and handling of return responses of a survey where over 4000 adolescents received a mailed questionnaire. DESIGN: Bar codes were used for displaying the identification number of a questionnaire, as well as each response alternative and number of the question. These bar codes were read by a wand, a handhold scanner, connected to a microcomputer and the data were automatically entered into a computer data file. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Compared with previous similar surveys, the use of bar codes did not seem to affect a manner of responding. Bar coding saved human steps in handling of return responses, reduced an error rate, and helped to control the process of work. Bar coding is recommended as a new technical tool for preparations of future large scale surveys.

Attitude to Computers↗
PubMed1989

Menstrual pain, health and behaviour in girls.

Prevalence of menstrual pain, use of medication and school absenteeism due to the pain were studied by means of a mailed questionnaire in a sample representing 12-18-year-old girls in Finland (n = 3370, response rate 87%). Prevalence of menstrual pain was 48% among 12-year-old post-menarcheal girls and 79% among 18-year-olds. Thirty percent of the 16-year-old girls had used medication and 21% had stayed at home due to menstrual pain in the last 6 months; 3% had both been absent and used medication several times. Three types of factors were associated with menstrual pain: (1) physiological (gynaecological age, duration of menstrual flow); (2) indicators of poor self-rated health (not feeling active in the morning, bad physical condition, number of common colds); (3) unhealthy practices (consumption of alcohol, low physical activity, smoking). The prevalence of menstrual pain did not correlate with the variables describing the place of residence or the socio-economic status of the family. The determinants of menstrual pain are supposed to lie more in the biological construct and micro-environment of the girls than in macro-level structures of the society. The experience of pain seems to be related to self-rated health as a whole and to lifestyle rather than to specific disorders and health practices.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed1988

Coffee drinking among Finnish youth.

The suggestion that coffee may have negative health effects has made coffee-drinking habits medically interesting. This paper reports upon coffee use among young people and describes how coffee-users differ from non-users. Data comes from questionnaires from representative nationwide samples of 12-18-year-old Finnish youth in 1977-1985. Their coffee use decreased from 1977 to 1985, and the decrease could be seen in all age and socio-demographic groups studied. In 1981, 35% of the girls and 45% of the 12-year-old boys drank coffee daily. For 18-year-olds the corresponding percentages were 67 and 75, and the mean number of cups consumed per day was 2.3 and 3.1. Compared to the non-users, the coffee-users were from lower social classes, lived more often in the countryside, and had poorer school achievement. Health-damaging habits such as smoking were more common among the coffee-users, their perceived health was somewhat poorer, and they seemed to mature earlier. The difference in regard to health disappeared after adjusting for differences in socio-demographic background and health habits. The heavy users (four cups or more a day) usually differed more from the non-users than did the moderate users (one to three cups daily).

Adolescent↗