| 1. |
- Barber, R. M., et al.
(författare)
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Healthcare access and quality index based on mortality from causes amenable to personal health care in 195 countries and territories, 1990-2015 : A novel analysis from the global burden of disease study 2015
- 2017
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Ingår i: The Lancet. - : Lancet Publishing Group. - 0140-6736 .- 1474-547X. ; 390:10091, s. 231-266
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background National levels of personal health-care access and quality can be approximated by measuring mortality rates from causes that should not be fatal in the presence of effective medical care (ie, amenable mortality). Previous analyses of mortality amenable to health care only focused on high-income countries and faced several methodological challenges. In the present analysis, we use the highly standardised cause of death and risk factor estimates generated through the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) to improve and expand the quantification of personal health-care access and quality for 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2015. Methods We mapped the most widely used list of causes amenable to personal health care developed by Nolte and McKee to 32 GBD causes. We accounted for variations in cause of death certification and misclassifications through the extensive data standardisation processes and redistribution algorithms developed for GBD. To isolate the effects of personal health-care access and quality, we risk-standardised cause-specific mortality rates for each geography-year by removing the joint effects of local environmental and behavioural risks, and adding back the global levels of risk exposure as estimated for GBD 2015. We employed principal component analysis to create a single, interpretable summary measure-the Healthcare Quality and Access (HAQ) Index-on a scale of 0 to 100. The HAQ Index showed strong convergence validity as compared with other health-system indicators, including health expenditure per capita (r=0·88), an index of 11 universal health coverage interventions (r=0·83), and human resources for health per 1000 (r=0·77). We used free disposal hull analysis with bootstrapping to produce a frontier based on the relationship between the HAQ Index and the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a measure of overall development consisting of income per capita, average years of education, and total fertility rates. This frontier allowed us to better quantify the maximum levels of personal health-care access and quality achieved across the development spectrum, and pinpoint geographies where gaps between observed and potential levels have narrowed or widened over time. Findings Between 1990 and 2015, nearly all countries and territories saw their HAQ Index values improve; nonetheless, the difference between the highest and lowest observed HAQ Index was larger in 2015 than in 1990, ranging from 28·6 to 94·6. Of 195 geographies, 167 had statistically significant increases in HAQ Index levels since 1990, with South Korea, Turkey, Peru, China, and the Maldives recording among the largest gains by 2015. Performance on the HAQ Index and individual causes showed distinct patterns by region and level of development, yet substantial heterogeneities emerged for several causes, including cancers in highest-SDI countries; chronic kidney disease, diabetes, diarrhoeal diseases, and lower respiratory infections among middle-SDI countries; and measles and tetanus among lowest-SDI countries. While the global HAQ Index average rose from 40·7 (95% uncertainty interval, 39·0-42·8) in 1990 to 53·7 (52·2-55·4) in 2015, far less progress occurred in narrowing the gap between observed HAQ Index values and maximum levels achieved; at the global level, the difference between the observed and frontier HAQ Index only decreased from 21·2 in 1990 to 20·1 in 2015. If every country and territory had achieved the highest observed HAQ Index by their corresponding level of SDI, the global average would have been 73·8 in 2015. Several countries, particularly in eastern and western sub-Saharan Africa, reached HAQ Index values similar to or beyond their development levels, whereas others, namely in southern sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and south Asia, lagged behind what geographies of similar development attained between 1990 and 2015. Interpretation This novel extension of the GBD Study shows the untapped potential for personal health-care access and quality improvement across the development spectrum. Amid substantive advances in personal health care at the national level, heterogeneous patterns for individual causes in given countries or territories suggest that few places have consistently achieved optimal health-care access and quality across health-system functions and therapeutic areas. This is especially evident in middle-SDI countries, many of which have recently undergone or are currently experiencing epidemiological transitions. The HAQ Index, if paired with other measures of health-system characteristics such as intervention coverage, could provide a robust avenue for tracking progress on universal health coverage and identifying local priorities for strengthening personal health-care quality and access throughout the world. Copyright © The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Bergman, Åke, et al.
(författare)
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Science and policy on endocrine disrupters must not be mixed : a reply to a "common sense" intervention by toxicology journal editors
- 2013
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Ingår i: Environmental Health. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1476-069X. ; 12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The "common sense" intervention by toxicology journal editors regarding proposed European Union endocrine disrupter regulations ignores scientific evidence and well-established principles of chemical risk assessment. In this commentary, endocrine disrupter experts express their concerns about a recently published, and is in our considered opinion inaccurate and factually incorrect, editorial that has appeared in several journals in toxicology. Some of the shortcomings of the editorial are discussed in detail. We call for a better founded scientific debate which may help to overcome a polarisation of views detrimental to reaching a consensus about scientific foundations for endocrine disrupter regulation in the EU.
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| 4. |
- Muncke, Jane, et al.
(författare)
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Impacts of food contact chemicals on human health : a consensus statement
- 2020
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Ingår i: Environmental Health. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1476-069X. ; 19:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Food packaging is of high societal value because it conserves and protects food, makes food transportable and conveys information to consumers. It is also relevant for marketing, which is of economic significance. Other types of food contact articles, such as storage containers, processing equipment and filling lines, are also important for food production and food supply. Food contact articles are made up of one or multiple different food contact materials and consist of food contact chemicals. However, food contact chemicals transfer from all types of food contact materials and articles into food and, consequently, are taken up by humans. Here we highlight topics of concern based on scientific findings showing that food contact materials and articles are a relevant exposure pathway for known hazardous substances as well as for a plethora of toxicologically uncharacterized chemicals, both intentionally and non-intentionally added. We describe areas of certainty, like the fact that chemicals migrate from food contact articles into food, and uncertainty, for example unidentified chemicals migrating into food. Current safety assessment of food contact chemicals is ineffective at protecting human health. In addition, society is striving for waste reduction with a focus on food packaging. As a result, solutions are being developed toward reuse, recycling or alternative (non-plastic) materials. However, the critical aspect of chemical safety is often ignored. Developing solutions for improving the safety of food contact chemicals and for tackling the circular economy must include current scientific knowledge. This cannot be done in isolation but must include all relevant experts and stakeholders. Therefore, we provide an overview of areas of concern and related activities that will improve the safety of food contact articles and support a circular economy. Our aim is to initiate a broader discussion involving scientists with relevant expertise but not currently working on food contact materials, and decision makers and influencers addressing single-use food packaging due to environmental concerns. Ultimately, we aim to support science-based decision making in the interest of improving public health. Notably, reducing exposure to hazardous food contact chemicals contributes to the prevention of associated chronic diseases in the human population.
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| 5. |
- Silventoinen, K., et al.
(författare)
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The CODATwins Project : The current status and recent findings of COllaborative Project of Development of Anthropometrical Measures in Twins
- 2019
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Ingår i: Twin Research and Human Genetics. - : Cambridge University Press. - 1832-4274 .- 1839-2628. ; 22:6, s. 800-808
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The COllaborative project of Development of Anthropometrical measures in Twins (CODATwins) project is a large international collaborative effort to analyze individual-level phenotype data from twins in multiple cohorts from different environments. The main objective is to study factors that modify genetic and environmental variation of height, body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) and size at birth, and additionally to address other research questions such as long-term consequences of birth size. The project started in 2013 and is open to all twin projects in the world having height and weight measures on twins with information on zygosity. Thus far, 54 twin projects from 24 countries have provided individual-level data. The CODATwins database includes 489,981 twin individuals (228,635 complete twin pairs). Since many twin cohorts have collected longitudinal data, there is a total of 1,049,785 height and weight observations. For many cohorts, we also have information on birth weight and length, own smoking behavior and own or parental education. We found that the heritability estimates of height and BMI systematically changed from infancy to old age. Remarkably, only minor differences in the heritability estimates were found across cultural-geographic regions, measurement time and birth cohort for height and BMI. In addition to genetic epidemiological studies, we looked at associations of height and BMI with education, birth weight and smoking status. Within-family analyses examined differences within same-sex and opposite-sex dizygotic twins in birth size and later development. The CODATwins project demonstrates the feasibility and value of international collaboration to address gene-by-exposure interactions that require large sample sizes and address the effects of different exposures across time, geographical regions and socioeconomic status.
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| 6. |
- Brunkwall, J., et al.
(författare)
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Endovascular Repair of Acute Uncomplicated Aortic Type B Dissection Promotes Aortic Remodelling: 1 Year Results of the ADSORB Trial
- 2014
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Ingår i: European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery. - : Elsevier BV. - 1532-2165 .- 1078-5884. ; 48:3, s. 285-291
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: Uncomplicated acute type B aortic dissection (AD) treated conservatively has a 10% 30-day mortality and up to 25% need intervention within 4 years. In complicated AD, stent grafts have been encouraging. The aim of the present prospective randomised trial was to compare best medical treatment (BMT) with BMT and Gore TAG stent graft in patients with uncomplicated AD. The primary endpoint was a combination of incomplete/no false lumen thrombosis, aortic dilatation, or aortic rupture at 1 year. Methods: The AD history had to be less than 14 days, and exclusion criteria were rupture, impending rupture, malperfusion. Of the 61 patients randomised, 80% were DeBakey type IIIB. Results: Thirty-one patients were randomised to the BMT group and 30 to the BMT+TAG group. Mean age was 63 years for both groups. The left subclavian artery was completely covered in 47% and in part in 17% of the cases. During the first 30 days, no deaths occurred in either group, but there were three crossovers from the BMT to the BMT TAG group, all due to progression of disease within 1 week. There were two withdrawals from the BMT+TAG group. At the 1-year follow up there had been another two failures in the BMT group: one malperfusion and one aneurysm formation (p = .056 for all). One death occurred in the BMT TAG group. For the overall endpoint BMT+TAG was significantly different from BMT only (p < .001). Incomplete false lumen thrombosis, was found in 13 (43%) of the TAG+BMT group and 30 (97%) of the BMT group (p < .001). The false lumen reduced in size in the BMT+TAG group (p < .001) whereas in the BMT group it increased. The true lumen increased in the BMT TAG (p < .001) whereas in the BMT group it remained unchanged. The overall transverse diameter was the same at the beginning and after 1 year in the BMT group (42.1 mm), but in the BMT+TAG it decreased (38.8 mm; p = .062). Conclusions: Uncomplicated AD can be safely treated with the Gore TAG device. Remodelling with thrombosis of the false lumen and reduction of its diameter is induced by the stent graft, but long term results are needed. (C) 2014 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 7. |
- Ekström, E., et al.
(författare)
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A Swedish nationwide pharmaco-epidemiological study of the long-term safety and effectiveness of alemtuzumab (IMSE 3)
- 2021
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Ingår i: Multiple Sclerosis Journal. - : Sage Publications. - 1352-4585 .- 1477-0970. ; 27:Suppl. 2, s. 616-617
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Alemtuzumab (ALZ) is a modulatory drug for patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Post-marketing surveillance is important to assess the long-term safety and effectiveness in a real-world setting where ALZ was included into the Swedish post-market surveillance study “Immunomodulation and Multiple Sclerosis Epidemiology Study 3” (IMSE 3) upon launch in Sweden (March 2014).Objective: To follow up the effectiveness and long-term safety of ALZ in a real-world setting.Methods: Swedish MS patients are registered in the nationwide Swedish Neuro Registry (NeuroReg).IMSE 3 includes patients starting ALZ treatment with annual clinical measures obtained from NeuroReg; Extended Disability Status Scale (EDSS), Multiple Sclerosis Severity Scale (MSSS), Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale (MSIS-29), European Quality of Life – 5 Dimension Test (EQ-5D) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to assess changes in effectiveness.Results: 118 patients (59% female; 95% RRMS) have been included in IMSE 3 between March 2014 and April 2021. Mean age at treatment start was 34 years. At cut-off date 85 patients had been treated with ALZ with at least 48 months of follow-up. Mean values at baseline compared to 48 months showed significant improvements for MSSS and SDMT while EQ-5D, EDSS, MSIS-29 and VAS scores showed tendencies of improvement.The largest proportion of the entire cohort switched from natalizumab (39%) or were treatment naïve (14%) prior ALZ. The number of relapses per 1,000 patient years decreased from 441 before ALZ initiation to 84 during ALZ treatment (16% missing data). 36 adverse events (AEs) were reported to the Swedish Medical Products Agency. 23 were classified as serious and the most common AEs categories were infections and infestations and blood and lymphatic system disorders (23% respectively). For non-serious events endocrine disorders (43%) was the most common category. Two patients died during ALZ treatment, one of which was associated to ALZ treatment, and died in association with the first ALZ treatment cycle due to fulminant viral hepatitis.Conclusions: Patients treated with ALZ for at least 48 months improved or remained stable across all effectiveness measures. Continued follow-up is needed to evaluate the real-world effectiveness and safety of ALZ.
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| 8. |
- Ekström, E., et al.
(författare)
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Real-world longitudinal data of peginterferon beta-1a from the Swedish national post-marketing surveillance study (IMSE 6) - effectiveness and safety profile
- 2021
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Ingår i: Multiple Sclerosis Journal. - : Sage Publications. - 1352-4585 .- 1477-0970. ; 27:Suppl. 2, s. 626-627
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Subcutaneous peginterferon beta-1a (PegIFN) was approved for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) in Europe 2014. Phase II and III studies have shown that PegIFN reduces relapse rate and disability progression. PegIFN were included in the Swedish “Immunomodulation and Multiple Sclerosis Epidemiology Study” (IMSE 6) due to the importance of studying the long-term safety and effectiveness.Objectives: To follow-up the long-term safety and effectiveness of PegIFN in a real-world setting.Methods: Data was obtained from the Swedish Neuro Registry (NeuroReg). All clinical measures; Extended Disability Status Scale (EDSS), Multiple Sclerosis Severity Scale (MSSS), Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale (MSIS-29), European Quality of Life - 5 Dimensions Test (EQ-5D), Visual Analog Scale (VAS) were assessed using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test and drug survival using the Kaplan-Meier curve.Results: 393 patients (78% female; 86% RRMS) were included in IMSE 6 between June 2015 and April 2021. Mean age at treatment start was 42 years, mean treatment duration was 23 months. 25% were treatment naïve and 47% switched from other injectables prior PegIFN. The one- and two-year drug survival rate was 58% and 41% respectively, and 31% overall. In total, 271 patients discontinued their PegIFN treatment at some time point, mainly due to adverse events (51%) and lack of effect (26%). Most patients switched to rituximab (37%). During the entire treatment period 54% were relapse-free and 8% had only one relapse (36% missing data). In patients treated at least 24 months tendencies of improve-ments were seen for SDMT and EQ-5D. MSIS-PSYCH showed significantly worsened results (21.2 ± 18.6 to 24.3 ± 19.3, n=46). EDSS, MSSS, MSIS-PHYS and VAS scores remained stable. 25 adverse events (AEs) have been reported to Swedish Medical Product Agency (MPA). 6 of these were classified as serious where general disorders and administration site, and skin (33% respectively) were the most common categories. General disorders and administration site were also the most common for non-serious AEs (68%).Conclusions: NeuroReg proves to function well as a post-marketing drug surveillance platform. All clinical effectiveness measures, except MSIS-PHYS, remained stable in patients treated for at least 24 months in this nationwide population-based real-world study. Longer follow up is needed to address the long-term effectiveness.
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| 9. |
- Ekström, E., et al.
(författare)
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The long-term safety and effectiveness of natalizumab (IMSE 1) - Real-world data from a Swedish nationwide pharmaco-epidemiological study
- 2021
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Ingår i: Multiple Sclerosis Journal. - : Sage Publications. - 1352-4585 .- 1477-0970. ; 27:Suppl. 2, s. 618-619
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Natalizumab (NTZ) is a highly effective disease modulatory treatment for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Post-marketing surveillance is important for evaluation of long-term safety and effectiveness in a real-world setting. The “Immunomodulation and Multiple Sclerosis Epidemiology Study” (IMSE 1) was initiated upon NTZ launch in Sweden (August 2006).Objective: To follow-up the long-term effectiveness and safety of NTZ in a real-world setting.Methods: IMSE 1 includes patients starting NTZ treatment. Data is collected from the nationwide Swedish Neuroregistry. Adverse events (AEs), JC-virus status (JCV) and clinical effectiveness measures Extended Disability Status Scale (EDSS), Multiple Sclerosis Severity Scale (MSSS), Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale (MSIS-29) and Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) are registered prospectively.Results: 3476 patients (75% female; 81% RRMS) were included from August 2006 until April 2021. Mean age at treatment start was 36 years and mean treatment duration was 51.3 months. 1190 patients were currently treated with NTZ at cut-off and 13% of these were JCV positive (JCV+) with a mean JCV index at 1.07 ± 0.97. 2470 patients (71%) discontinued their NTZ treatment at some time point where the main reason was JCV+ (40%). Most of these patients switched to rituximab (39%). The number of relapses per 1,000 patient years were reduced from 380 before treatment start to 73 during treatment (25% missing data). 61% were relapse-free and 12% had only one relapse during the entire treatment period. All clinical measures showed improvement in mean between baseline and 132 months. Improvements on MSSS, MSIS-29 and SDMT were statistically significant. 117 Serious AEs had been reported to the Swedish Medical Product Agency and included nine cases (2 fatal) of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Eight of these nine cases had been reported between year 2008 and 2012, and one in 2018. 17 patients died within 6 months of last NTZ infusion. The most common category for non-serious AEs was infections and infestations (21%). For serious AEs neoplasms benign, malignant and unspecified were the most common (16%).Conclusions: NTZ is generally well tolerated with sustained effectiveness regarding clinical cognitive, physical and psychological measures.
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| 10. |
- Ip, H. F., et al.
(författare)
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Genetic association study of childhood aggression across raters, instruments, and age
- 2021
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Ingår i: Translational Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2158-3188. ; 11:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Childhood aggressive behavior (AGG) has a substantial heritability of around 50%. Here we present a genome-wide association metaanalysis (GWAMA) of childhood AGG, in which all phenotype measures across childhood ages from multiple assessors were included. We analyzed phenotype assessments for a total of 328 935 observations from 87 485 children aged between 1.5 and 18 years, while accounting for sample overlap. We also meta-analyzed within subsets of the data, i.e., within rater, instrument and age. SNP-heritability for the overall meta-analysis (AGGoverall) was 3.31% (SE= 0.0038). We found no genome-wide significant SNPs for AGG(overall). The gene-based analysis returned three significant genes: ST3GAL3 (P= 1.6E-06), PCDH7 (P= 2.0E-06), and IPO13 (P= 2.5E-06). All three genes have previously been associated with educational traits. Polygenic scores based on our GWAMA significantly predicted aggression in a holdout sample of children (variance explained = 0.44%) and in retrospectively assessed childhood aggression (variance explained = 0.20%). Genetic correlations (rg) among rater-specific assessment of AGG ranged from r(g)= 0.46 between self- and teacher-assessment to r(g)d= 0.81 between mother- and teacher-assessment. We obtained moderate-to-strong rgs with selected phenotypes from multiple domains, but hardly with any of the classical biomarkers thought to be associated with AGG. Significant genetic correlations were observed with most psychiatric and psychological traits (range r(g): 0.19-1.00), except for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Aggression had a negative genetic correlation (r(g)=-0.5) with cognitive traits and age at first birth. Aggression was strongly genetically correlated with smoking phenotypes (range |r(g)| : 0.46-0.60). The genetic correlations between aggression and psychiatric disorders were weaker for teacher-reported AGG than for mother- and self-reported AGG. The current GWAMA of childhood aggression provides a powerful tool to interrogate the rater-specific genetic etiology of AGG.
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