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Background Psychological stress can affect airway inflammatory response to irritants and allergens, but the importance of stress in the etiology of adult-onset respiratory and dermatologic allergic disorders remains unclear. We aim to address the relationship between perceived stress and the risk of adult-onset asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, and asthma/bronchitis medication. Methods Participants ( n = 9785) from the Copenhagen City Heart Study, Denmark, free of atopic disorders at baseline in 1981-1983 were asked questions on stress intensity and frequency. They were followed for first-time asthma hospitalization in nationwide registers until 2010, with < 0.1% loss to follow-up. Objective measures of lung function allowed for thorough adjustment for confounding and prevented ambiguity between diagnosis of asthma and chronic obstructive lung disease. Daily intake of asthma/bronchitis medication and incidence of asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis were assessed by self-report after 10 years of follow-up in 5648 persons. Results Perceived stress was associated with atopic disorders in a dose-dependent manner ( Ptrend < 0.001). High vs low stress was associated with higher risk of self-reported asthma incidence ( OR = 2.32; 95% CI: 1.47-3.65), daily intake of asthma/bronchitis medication ( OR = 2.26; 95% CI: 1.42-3.58), first-time asthma hospitalization ( HR = 2.01; 95% CI: 1.41-2.86), allergic rhinitis ( OR = 1.64; 95% CI: 0.99-2.72), and atopic dermatitis ( OR = 1.75; 95% CI: 1.11-2.77). The associations were similar for smokers and nonsmokers. Conclusions Stress is strongly associated with asthma incidence and hospitalization, use of asthma medication as well as with allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis in adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To study the degree to which depression indicators based on register data on hospital and antidepressant treatment suffer from differential misclassification with respect to gender, age and social group. Method: Data on 7378 persons were obtained by linking a cross-sectional survey of Danish adults aged 40 and 50 years with population-based registers. Misclassification was analysed by comparing survey data to register data on major depression using the method proposed by Rothman and Greenland. Results: Differential misclassification was found. Adjustment for misclassification reduced women’s odds ratios from 2.18 to 1.00 for hospital treatment and from 1.70 to 1.10 for antidepressants. For the lower social group, the corresponding odds ratios increased from 1.18 to 3.52, and from 1.35 to 2.32 respectively, whereas odds ratios with respect to age remained almost unchanged. Conclusion: Differential misclassification should be considered when register-based information about hospital and antidepressant treatment are used as depression indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Middle-aged men have often been the subjects of multifactorial studies of myocardial infarction (MI) risk factors. One major objective of the SHEEP study was to compare the effects of different MI risk factors in women and men.Design: SHEEP (Stockholm Heart Epidemiology Program) is a population-based case-referent study of causes of MI (first event) in Swedish women and men aged 45-70 years. During the period 1992-94, 2246 cases of MI were identified; 34% of the cases were women and 27% of the cases were fatal. One referent per case was chosen randomly from the Stockholm County population after stratification for the case's sex and age. Logistic regression was used to estimate the relative risks associated with risk factors of primary interest (diabetes, hypercholesterolaemia, hypertriglyceridaemia, hypertension, overweight, physical inactivity, smoking and job strain).Results: The relative risk estimates ranged from 1.5 to 4.4 in women and from 1.3 to 2.9 in men (results for nonfatal cases and their referents). None of the 95% confidence intervals included 1.0. The relative risks were higher in the women than in the men (101-180%). The absolute risks, however, were all lower in the women than in the men. Estimates of Rothman's synergy index for gender ranged from 1.0 (hypertension) to 1.8 (current smoking).Conclusions: The indications of some effect modification due to sex (stronger risks in men for certain exposures) invoke the question of possible mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: (1) To compare alcohol-attributed disease burden in four Nordic countries 1990-2013, by overall disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and separated by premature mortality [years of life lost (YLL)] and health loss to non-fatal conditions [years lived with disability (YLD)]; (2) to examine whether changes in alcohol consumption informs alcohol-attributed disease burden; and (3) to compare the distribution of disease burden separated by causes., Design: A comparative risk assessment approach., Setting: Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland., Participants: Male and female populations of each country., Measurements: Age-standardized DALYs, YLLs and YLDs per 100 000 with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs)., Findings: In Finland, with the highest burden over the study period, overall alcohol-attributed DALYs were 1616 per 100 000 in 2013, while in Norway, with the lowest burden, corresponding estimates were 634. DALYs in Denmark were 1246 and in Sweden 788. In Denmark and Finland, changes in consumption generally corresponded to changes in disease burden, but not to the same extent in Sweden and Norway. All countries had a similar disease pattern and the majority of DALYs were due to YLLs (62-76%), mainly from alcohol use disorder, cirrhosis, transport injuries, self-harm and violence. YLDs from alcohol use disorder accounted for 41% and 49% of DALYs in Denmark and Finland compared to 63 and 64% in Norway and Sweden 2013, respectively., Conclusions: Finland and Denmark has a higher alcohol-attributed disease burden than Sweden and Norway in the period 1990-2013. Changes in consumption levels in general corresponded to changes in harm in Finland and Denmark, but not in Sweden and Norway for some years. All countries followed a similar pattern. The majority of disability-adjusted life years were due to premature mortality. Alcohol use disorder by non-fatal conditions accounted for a higher proportion of disability-adjusted life years in Norway and Sweden, compared with Finland and Denmark., (© 2016 The Authors. Addiction published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for the Study of Addiction.)

Aims: This study seeks to examine whether contextual factors influence adolescents' daily smoking. A focus was placed on three modifiable policies operating at a national level, non-smoking policy at educational facilities, price and minimum age for buying tobacco., Design: This study is based on a merged data set consisting of the 2001/02 Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) study and national-level data collected from the 2003 WHO European Tobacco Control Database and the World Development Indicators Database. HBSC is an international study including adolescents from 32 countries in Europe, Israel and North America. Data were analysed with multi-level hierarchical regression models., Findings: The study found large differences in the prevalence of daily smoking among adolescents, and also large differences between boys and girls within some countries. The study found that smoking bans in schools were associated with lower odds ratios of daily smoking, which was the one positive association in the study. The study found no association between cigarette prices and adolescent daily smoking prevalence, and also the somewhat unexpected finding that having an age limit for allowing adolescents to purchase tobacco was associated with an increased risk of daily smoking., Conclusions: There was an association between mandatory national bans on smoking and lower smoking prevalence. This should be confirmed by studies that examine whether mandatory bans are more rigorously implemented than voluntary bans. If this association is causal, introducing mandatory bans may reduce adolescent smoking prevalence. The findings that price was unrelated to smoking prevalence undermine findings elsewhere that adolescent smokers are more price-sensitive than adult smokers, but longitudinal studies are needed.