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Purpose: The lifespan of people with severe mental illness (SMI) is shorter compared to the general population. There might be common familial pathway leading to a high co-occurrence of somatic disorders and SMI. To study this we explored the long-term mortality for natural causes in the offspring of people with SMI.Methods: Participants were members of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC1966; N = 11,325). The data on cause of deaths of the members were obtained from the Population Register Center until year 2015. The data on hospital-treated psychiatric disorders of parents were obtained from nationwide Care Register for Health Care. Cumulative incidences by age were calculated in the NFBC1966 members having a parent with SMI and those who did not have. We were able to take into account multiple confounders.Results: Of the total sample of 11,325 offspring, 853 (7.4%) died during the follow-up period, 74 (8.7%) from the study cohort and 779 (91.3%) from the comparison group. These numbers included 160 stillborn children. There were 557 cases of deaths from diseases and medical conditions and 296 deaths from external causes. The adjusted risk ratio for offspring of mothers with SMI was 1.08 (0.72-1.64), and for offspring of fathers with SMI 0.58 (0.36-0.93).Conclusions: This was the first long-term follow-up study (up to age 49) of all-cause mortality in offspring of parents with SMI. Our findings were contrary to expectations. Offspring of parents with SMI had no increased risk for dying. In fact, the risk for dying in the group of offspring of fathers with SMI was lower than in the comparison group. This study does not support the assumption of common familial pathway leading to a high co-occurrence of somatic disorders and SMI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Psychiatric disorders tend to be developmental, and longitudinal settings are required to examine predictors of psychiatric phenomena. Replicating and combining data and results from different birth cohorts, which are a source of reliable data, can make research even more valuable. The Finnish Psychiatric Birth Cohort Consortium (PSYCOHORTS) project combines birth cohorts in Finland. Aim: The aim of this paper is to introduce content, plans and perspectives of the PSYCOHORTS project that brings together researchers from Finland. In addition, we illustrate an example of data harmonization using available data on causes of death. Content: PSYCOHORTS includes eight Finnish birth cohorts. The project has several plans: to harmonize different data from birth cohorts, to incorporate biobanks into psychiatric birth cohort research, to apply multigenerational perspectives, to integrate longitudinal patterns of marginalization and inequality in mental health, and to utilize data in health economics research. Data on causes of death, originally obtained from Finnish Cause of Death register, were harmonized across the six birth cohorts using SAS macro facility. Results: Harmonization of the cause of death data resulted in a total of 21,993 observations from 1965 to 2015. For example, the percentage of deaths due to suicide and the sequelae of intentional self-harm was 14% and alcohol-related diseases, including accidental poisoning by alcohol, was 13%. Conclusions: PSYCOHORTS lays the foundation for complex examinations of psychiatric disorders that is based on compatible datasets, use of biobanks and multigenerational approach to risk factors, and extensive data on marginalization and inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Memory and learning deficits are central among cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. However, to a varying proportion ca. 20-25% of patients could not be considered deficit. Objectives: Description of sociodemographic, lifestyle and clinical factors related to good performance in PAL-test in schizophrenia patients. Methods: Participants (N=4500) were members of the Finnish SUPER study on the genetic mechanisms of psychotic disorders (SUPER). The database of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC 1966) was utilized as a reference data. Visual memory and new learning were assessed using Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) Paired Associates Learning (PAL) test. The 50th percentile scores (10 error score or less) for outcome measure total errors adjusted (TEA) of NFBC 1966 was used as a cut-off for good performance in PAL test. Results: The sociodemographic and lifestyle factors related good performance for both sexes were: younger age (p<.001), higher basic education (p <.001), independent form of dwelling (p<.001), hazardous drinking (p <.001), cannabis use (p <.001) and being married (females p = 0.009, males p = 0.049). The clinical factors related to good performance for both sexes were not using antipsychotic medication regularly (p <.001), not using all psychotropic medication (females p=0.05, males p <.001), less hospitalization times due to psychosis (p <.001), younger age at first hospitalization due to psychosis (p <.001), lower number of hospitalization days (p <.001) and lower percentage of time in hospital after first psychosis episode (p <.001). Conclusions: Several factors related to good performance in the PAL-test in the crude analysis without any confounders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of site fertility, spacing and mode of regeneration on the survival and stand development of lodgepole pine, Scots pine and Norway spruce was studied in a series of experiments comprising 22 study areas in Finland. After 13-14 yrs, lodgepole pine had a mean survival of 68% in planted and 61% in seeded plots, while Norway spruce had the highest (92%) and Scots pine the second highest survival (82%). The survival of planted lodgepole pine was better the wider the spacing. Best survival was achieved on subdry and dry sites, both with planting and with direct seeding. Dominant height was not affected by spacing, but both basal area and volume at the age of 13-14 yrs were significantly higher the denser the spacing. The average difference in the value of the estimated site index H[sup 50] was slightly under 3 m for the superiority of lodgepole compared with Scots pine. Seeding resulted in site indices almost as high as those of lodgepole planting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]