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•Robberies as well as mental distress have increased among adolescents in Sweden.•This study on school students in southern Sweden was population-based with a high response rate.•Half of the robbed adolescents abstained from police reporting.•Non-reporters had poorer mental health than victims who reported the robbery.•Non-reporters were also an overall more disadvantaged group.

The aim was to investigate associations between economic stress in childhood and adulthood, and low leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) in adulthood from two life course perspectives. The public health survey in Scania in the southernmost part of Sweden in 2012 is a cross-sectional study based on a stratified random sample with 28,029 respondents aged 18–80 (51.7% response rate). Associations between childhood and adult economic stress, and low LTPA were analyzed with logistic regressions. A 14.8% prevalence of men and 13.5% of women had low LTPA (sedentary lifestyle). Low LTPA was associated with higher age, being born abroad, low socioeconomic status, low trust, smoking, poor self-rated health, and economic stress in childhood and adulthood. The odds ratios of low LTPA increased with more accumulated economic stress across the life course in a dose-response relationship. There was no specific critical period (childhood or adulthood), because economic stress in childhood and adulthood were both associated with low LTPA but the associations were attenuated after the introduction of smoking and self-rated health. The accumulation hypothesis was supported because the odds ratios of low LTPA indicated a graded response to life course economic stress. The critical period hypothesis was thus not supported. Economic stress across the life course seems to be associated with low LTPA in adulthood.

Because of a low prevalence of severe carotid stenosis in the general population, screening for presence of asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis (ACAS) is not warranted. Possibly, for certain subgroups, screening is worthwhile. The present study aims to develop prediction rules for the presence of ACAS (>50 and >70).

In the discussion on the cost-effectiveness of screening, precise estimates of severe asymptomatic carotid stenosis are vital. Accordingly, we assessed the prevalence of moderate and severe asymptomatic carotid stenosis by age and sex using pooled cohort data.

To investigate associations between social capital, miniaturization of community and traditionalism and all-cause, cardiovascular (CVD), cancer and other causes mortality.

Low socioeconomic status is associated with increased incidence of stroke. This study investigated stroke incidence, recurrence, and case-fatality after stroke among middle-aged Swedish men and women and whether this association differs by gender or stroke subtype.

Job strain (high demands and low decision latitude) has been associated with hypertension and cardiovascular disease, especially in men. Most studies on job strain and hypertension have been cross-sectional, and prospective data are inconsistent.

Previous literature has shown that neighborhood socioeconomic position influences the risk of ischemic heart disease, but little is known about the mechanisms linking the residential context to ischemic heart disease incidence and mortality. We examined whether neighborhood socioeconomic position and neighborhood residential stability (as a determinant of social interaction patterns) have an influence on ischemic heart disease risk. Moreover, we investigated whether dissimilar contextual influences operate at different stages of the disease process, ie, on incidence, 1-day case-fatality, and long-term survival after acute myocardial infarction (MI).

To investigate associations between sexual orientation and all-cause mortality.

Discrimination has is an important social determinant of health and though some research has been carried out on this it is mostly from the United States, which may not be generalisable to Europe and Sweden. This study investigated the association between self-reported experiences of repeated discrimination and all-cause mortality in Scania, Sweden. The Scania Public Health survey was sent out in 2008 with a follow-up in 2013 through the Swedish national cause of death register (N=28,062). The exposure variable under investigation was self-reported discrimination and the outcome variable was all-cause mortality. Additional variables included demographics (age, sex, marital status, immigrant status), health behaviours (smoking, alcohol consumption, physical exercise), BMI, social participation, economic stress, and mental health. Time was measured as total number of days. Statistical analysis included association of the different variables to discrimination (ORs) and to all-cause mortality (HRs) adjusting for different covariates. Effect modification was tested for social participation, economic stress and mental health. The odds of discrimination was higher among the most vulnerable groups in society. All-cause mortality was strongly associated to age and sex, with a much higher risk among men than women. The association of repeated discrimination to all-cause mortality remained significant after adjusting for demographic variables, health behaviours and either social participation or economic stress, but not both. The association was non-significant after adjusting for demographic variables and mental health. Social participation was found to be an effect modifier with low participation strengthening the effect of the association of repeated discrimination to all-cause mortality. Repeated discrimination clearly has a strong impact on mental health but also on economic stress and social participation which in turn have a strong impact on mortality.

The aim is to prospectively investigate both the “cohesion” and “network” perspectives of social capital in relation to total, cardiovascular (CVD), cancer and all other causes mortality. The 2008 public health survey in Scania was a postal questionnaire with three letters of reminder, and it was answered in the Autumn by 28,198 respondents (55% participation) aged 18–80 from a stratified random sample of the population register. This baseline was connected with the national causes of death registry (Dödsorsaksregistret) with a more than five-year follow-up August 27- November 14 (depending on individual response) to December 31, 2013 (946 deaths). The analyses were performed in multiple adjusted survival (Cox-) regression models. Results show that low social participation, common to both theoretical perspectives, had consistently high hazard rate ratios (HRRs) of total, CVD, cancer and other morality, and that HRRs of total and CVD mortality remained statistically significant even after adjustments for all covariates including health behaviors, BMI, unmet healthcare needs and self-rated health, HRR 1.28 (1.08–1.52) and HRR 1.79 (1.28–2.50), respectively. In contrast, low social support, specific to the “network” perspective, showed no significant associations with mortality, except for low emotional and instrumental support and other causes mortality for which HRRs remained significant adjusted for demographics and socioeconomic status (SES). Generalized trust in other people, specific to the “cohesion” perspective, showed statistically significant HRRs for total and other causes mortality until adjustments for health-related behaviours and BMI, although not after complete adjustments, and significant HRRs for CVD and cancer mortality before adjustment for health behaviours. In conclusion, low social participation is consistently associated with all forms of mortality, and particularly total and CVD mortality. Social participation represents a strong core of social capital theory, and items should measure both variety of social contact surfaces and intensity.

Background Various studies have investigated urban/rural differences in cause-specific mortality. A separate body of literature has analysed effects of socioeconomic environment on mortality. Almost no studies have attempted to disentangle effects of population density and socioeconomic environment on mortality, beyond the effects of individual characteristics. Methods Considering all individuals living in the region of Scania, Sweden, from 1970–93, we performed 10 year mortality follow-ups on (i) individuals aged 55, (ii) individuals aged 65, and (iii) individuals aged 75 years at baseline. Cox multilevel models adjusted for individual factors allowed us to investigate the independent effects of population density and median income in the parish of residence on mortality from ischaemic heart disease (IHD), lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among individuals who had lived in the same parish for at least 10 years prior to mortality follow-up. Results In females, as in males, after adjustment for individual and contextual socioeconomic status, we found a dose–response association between population density and mortality from lung cancer and COPD in all age groups investigated, and from IHD especially in the youngest age group. Overall, the population density effect was the strongest on lung cancer mortality. Median income had an additional impact only in 2 out of 16 subgroups of age × gender × cause of death. Conclusions In our region-wide study conducted at the parish level, contextual disparities in mortality were dominated by the population density effect. However, it may be unwise to conclude that truly contextual effects exist on mortality, before identification of plausible mediating processes through which urbanicity may influence mortality risk.