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- Lønnebotn, Marianne, et al.
(författare)
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Body silhouettes as a tool to reflect obesity in the past
- 2018
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 13:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Life course data on obesity may enrich the quality of epidemiologic studies analysing health consequences of obesity. However, achieving such data may require substantial resources. We investigated the use of body silhouettes in adults as a tool to reflect obesity in the past. We used large population-based samples to analyse to what extent self-reported body silhouettes correlated with the previously measured (9-23 years) body mass index (BMI) from both measured (European Community Respiratory Health Survey, N = 3 041) and selfreported (Respiratory Health In Northern Europe study, N = 3 410) height and weight. We calculated Spearman correlation between BMI and body silhouettes and ROC-curve analyses for identifying obesity (BMI >= 30) at ages 30 and 45 years. Spearman correlations between measured BMI age 30 (+/- 2y) or 45 (+/- 2y) and body silhouettes in women and men were between 0.62-0.66 and correlations for self-reported BMI were between 0.58-0.70. The area under the curve for identification of obesity at age 30 using body silhouettes vs previously measured BMI at age 30 (+/- 2y) was 0.92 (95% CI 0.87, 0.97) and 0.85 (95% CI 0.75, 0.95) in women and men, respectively; for previously self-reported BMI, 0.92 (95% CI 0.88, 0.95) and 0.90 (95% CI 0.85, 0.96). Our study suggests that body silhouettes are a useful epidemiological tool, enabling retrospective differentiation of obesity and non-obesity in adult women and men.
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| 2. |
- Pesce, Giancarlo, et al.
(författare)
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Time and age trends in smoking cessation in Europe
- 2019
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE. - 1932-6203. ; 14:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Smoking is the main risk factor for most of the leading causes of death. Cessation is the single most important step that smokers can take to improve their health. With the aim of informing policy makers about decisions on future tobacco control strategies, we estimated time and age trends in smoking cessation in Europe between 1980 and 2010. Methods Data on the smoking history of 50,228 lifetime smokers from 17 European countries were obtained from six large population-based studies included in the Ageing Lungs in European Cohorts (ALEC) consortium. Smoking cessation rates were assessed retrospectively, and age trends were estimated for three decades (1980-1989, 1990-1999, 2000-2010). The analyses were stratified by sex and region (North, East, South, West Europe). Results Overall, 21,735 subjects (43.3%) quit smoking over a total time-at-risk of 803,031 years. Cessation rates increased between 1980 and 2010 in young adults (16-40 years), especially females, from all the regions, and in older adults (41-60 years) from North Europe, while they were stable in older adults from East, South and West Europe. In the 2000s, the cessation rates for men and women combined were highest in North Europe (49.9 per 1,000/ year) compared to the other regions (range: 26.5-32.7 per 1,000/ year). A sharp peak in rates was observed for women around the age of 30, possibly as a consequence of pregnancy-related smoking cessation. In most regions, subjects who started smoking before the age of 16 were less likely to quit than those who started later. Conclusions Our findings suggest an increasing awareness on the detrimental effects of smoking across Europe. However, East, South and West European countries are lagging behind North Europe, suggesting the need to intensify tobacco control strategies in these regions. Additional efforts should be made to keep young adolescents away from taking up smoking, as early initiation could make quitting more challenging during later life.
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| 3. |
- Real, Francisco Gomez, et al.
(författare)
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The Association of Gum Bleeding with Respiratory Health in a Population Based Study from Northern Europe
- 2016
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 11:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background There is little knowledge about how oral and respiratory health is interrelated even though the mucosa of the oral cavity and airways constitutes a continuum and the exposures to these are partly similar. Aims To investigate whether gum bleeding is related to asthma, respiratory symptoms and self-reported COPD. Methods A postal questionnaire including questions about respiratory and oral health was sent to general population samples in seven Northern European centres. In 13,409 responders, gum bleeding when brushing teeth was reported always/often by 4% and sometimes by 20%. Logistic regressions accounted for age, smoking, educational level, centre and gender. Effects of BMI, cardio-metabolic diseases, early life factors, gastro-oesophageal reflux, dental hygiene, nasal congestion, and asthma medication were addressed. Results Gum bleeding always/often was significantly associated with >= 3 asthma symptoms (OR 2.58, 95% CI 2.10-3.18), asthma (1.62 [1.23-2.14]) and self-reported COPD (2.02 [1.283.18]). There was a dose-response relationship between respiratory outcomes and gum bleeding frequency (>= 3 symptoms: gum bleeding sometimes 1.42 [1.25-1.60], often/always 2.58 [2.10-3.18]), and there was no heterogeneity between centres (p(heterogeneity) = 0.49). None of the investigated risk factors explained the associations. The observed associations were significantly stronger among current smokers (p(interaction) = 0.004). Conclusions A consistent link between gum bleeding and obstructive airways disease was observed, not explained by common risk factors or metabolic factors. We speculate that oral pathogens might have unfavourable impact on the airways, and that the direct continuity of the mucosa of the oral cavity and the airways reflects a pathway that might provide novel opportunities for interventions.
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