Biomedical subjects

Rannveig Nordhagen

Publications and source records attributed to Rannveig Nordhagen.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

The biobank of the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study: a resource for the next 100 years.

INTRODUCTION: Long-term storage of biological materials is a critical component of any epidemiological study. In designing specimen repositories, efforts need to balance future needs for samples with logistical constraints necessary to process and store samples in a timely fashion. OBJECTIVES: In the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), the Biobank was charged with long-term storage of more than 380,000 biological samples from pregnant women, their partners and their children for up to 100 years. METHODS: Biological specimens include whole blood, plasma, DNA and urine; samples are collected at 50 hospitals in Norway. All samples are sent via ordinary mail to the Biobank in Oslo where the samples are registered, aliquoted and DNA extracted. DNA is stored at -20 degrees C while whole blood, urine and plasma are stored at -80 degrees C. RESULTS: As of July 2006, over 227,000 sample sets have been collected, processed and stored at the Biobank. Currently 250-300 sets are received daily. An important part of the Biobank is the quality control program. CONCLUSION: With the unique combination of biological specimens and questionnaire data, the MoBa Study will constitute a resource for many future investigations of the separate and combined effects of genetic, environmental factors on pregnancy outcome and on human morbidity, mortality and health in general.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

[Revisiting the Forsdahl-Barker hypothesis].

The hypothesis about the influence of the environment in early life for later health and development has been the basis for several hundred studies over the last two decades. Despite some diverging results in different studies and methodological shortcomings, including selection and confounding from socio-economic and other factors, there seems to be substantial evidence to the effect that the environment in early life is essential for later health and development. The association of low birthweight and risk of cardiovascular disease later in life is the most consistent finding, though the causal pathways for this connection have not been traced. Permanent damage caused by inadequate nutrition in critical periods of early life expressed as chronic disease later in life is a favoured hypothesis. To further elucidate potential mechanisms, there is a need for refining the measurement parameters for early experience. Placenta function, quality of nutrition, infections, hormonal and genetic factors may also play a role. The course-of-life approach claims that early life is an important period in human life, but not the only one. Continuous life events and socio-economic circumstances may modify early life experiences. Such an approach may be useful in order to see early life events in the right perspective.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

[Occasional smoking--an increasing problem].

Little attention is given to occasional smoking compared with daily smoking. However, there are indications that there is a continuous increase in occasional smoking throughout the western world. In Norway, 33% of smokers do not smoke daily. Little is known about these smokers' background, how often they smoke, and how many cigarettes they consume when they do smoke. Studies indicate that occasional smokers seem to differ from regular smokers in their socio-demographic characteristics. In this article we show that a proportion of the occasional smokers smoke more than previously assumed. Therefore this smoking pattern may have greater implications for health than previously assumed and can no longer be ignored.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

[Postnatal care in a cross-cultural and historical perspective].

BACKGROUND: In most societies, birth and the immediate postpartum period are considered a time of vulnerability for mother and child. Rituals for major changes in the life cycle are common in most societies. The aim of this study was to present some examples of postpartum customs in a cross-cultural and historical perspective. We also present research on associations between postnatal care and mental health. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A systematic search was performed in Medline and the Science Citation Index Expanded (ISI) from 1966 until March 2003. Reference lists in books about pregnancy and birth from the library of the University of Oslo were used to get additional information. RESULTS: The postnatal period is defined as approximately 40 days in most cultures; most societies have special postnatal customs that include special diet, isolation, rest and help in the household. The resemblance between different cultures is striking. Many postnatal customs from rural societies that were common before 1950 have disappeared. The focus on rest and help in the household for the mother after delivery has been reduced. INTERPRETATION: We need more knowledge about the impact of different kinds of postnatal care on the mother's wellbeing.

Anthropology↗

PubMed2003

Recurrent pain in children, socio-economic factors and accumulation in families.

The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of parent-reported pain among children in the Nordic countries in 1996, and to describe the association between recurrent pain in children and parental socio-economic factors. We also wanted to estimate the association between parental pain and childhood pain and co-occurrence of different pain patterns in the same child. Data were obtained from a cross-sectional survey on children's health and well-being in the Nordic countries in 1996. About 10,000 children aged 2-17 years of age were selected from population registries. Mean response rate was 68%. We selected the cases > or = 7 years where the respondent was the child's biological mother or father, yielding a total of 6230 subjects. The adjusted analyses were performed using logistic regression in SPSS. The total prevalence of headache, abdominal pain and back pain among children 7-17 years of age was 14.9, 8.3 and 4.7%, respectively. The most common pain combination was headache and abdominal pain. Pain was most frequent among girls. The prevalence was slightly higher in low educated or low-income families compared to those of high status. Children living in low educated, low-income, worker families had approximately a 1.4-fold odds of having pain. There was a strong association between the different pain conditions, and between pain and other forms of distress in the same child. A site-specific association between parental and child pain was also shown, but we assume that this might have been mediated through subjective (information) bias.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Health service utilization in the Nordic countries in 1996: Influence of socio-economic factors among children with and without chronic health conditions.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown social, economic and psychological factors that influence consulting behaviour, but the health service use of children is seldom studied. METHOD: Data from a cross-sectional study conducted in 1996 including approximately 10,000 children aged 2-17 years in the Nordic countries were analysed according to health service use, measured as consulting a general practitioner (GP) or a specialist during the last three months prior to the survey. RESULTS: Approximately one-fifth of the children in the survey had visited a GP and about one-seventh had visited a specialist. Highest consulting behaviour was found among children with chronic health conditions. Visiting a GP or a specialist varied across the Nordic countries, the pattern depending on disease status. Specialist utilization was higher in towns than in rural areas. Social inequality in the use of specialist, but not GP health services, was present, mainly among children with chronic health conditions. And further, compared to white-collar parents, a higher proportion of working class parents judged specialist health services as important when consulting a doctor because of the child's health problem. CONCLUSION: In all the Nordic countries GP use did not depend on social class, and utilization of specialist health services was mainly unrelated to social class among children without chronic health conditions. Specialist use was associated with high socio-economic status among children with chronic health conditions, despite the observation that a higher proportion of parents in the lower social classes judged specialist health services as important when consulting a doctor.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Is parental sense of coherence associated with child health?

Antonowsky's concept of sense of coherence (SOC) has, during recent years, gained increased attention as a salutogenic model on the relationship between health and disease. However, only sparse information connecting child chronic health conditions to parental SOC is yet available. This article presents results from a cross-sectional study of about 10,000 children aged 2-17 years in the five Nordic countries in 1996. Factors associated with parental SOC were analysed, with focus on child chronic health conditions. Sense of coherence was measured according to a short and condensed three-item instrument based on Antonovsky's original 29-item instrument. Overall, about 23% of parents in Nordic countries had a poor sense of coherence, the lowest proportion found among Icelandic parents. Compared to the higher social classes, poor SOC was more common in the lower social classes. The association of child chronic health conditions with parental poor SOC was found to be disability specific. Parents of children with diabetes, epilepsy or psychiatric/nervous problems had approximately 2-5 higher odds of having poor SOC compared to parents of children without a specific diagnosis. The overall effect of having a child with chronic health conditions was, however, low, lower than the effect of the parents' own health complaints.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2002

[Recurrent pain in children and parents--no factual evidence of familial pain clustering].

Recurrent pain in children is a universal phenomenon, which occurs in about 50 percent of all children. The most prevalent pain areas are the stomach, head, back and neck/shoulders. A somatic cause of the symptoms is seldom found, but the pain is often related to other discomforts, problems or lack of family functioning. There has been a common belief that "pain runs in families". In our investigation of 358 mother-father-child trios, where the members reported on their own symptoms, we found little support for this hypothesis. There is a need for further research on these problems, where the study design and measure instruments should be carefully validated.

Adult↗