| 1. |
- Bentham, James, et al.
(författare)
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A century of trends in adult human height
- 2016
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Ingår i: eLIFE. - 2050-084X. ; 5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Being taller is associated with enhanced longevity, and higher education and earnings. We reanalysed 1472 population-based studies, with measurement of height on more than 18.6 million participants to estimate mean height for people born between 1896 and 1996 in 200 countries. The largest gain in adult height over the past century has occurred in South Korean women and Iranian men, who became 20.2 cm (95% credible interval 17.522.7) and 16.5 cm (13.319.7) taller, respectively. In contrast, there was little change in adult height in some sub-Saharan African countries and in South Asia over the century of analysis. The tallest people over these 100 years are men born in the Netherlands in the last quarter of 20th century, whose average heights surpassed 182.5 cm, and the shortest were women born in Guatemala in 1896 (140.3 cm; 135.8144.8). The height differential between the tallest and shortest populations was 19-20 cm a century ago, and has remained the same for women and increased for men a century later despite substantial changes in the ranking of countries.
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| 2. |
- Bentham, James, et al.
(författare)
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A century of trends in adult human height
- 2016
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Ingår i: eLIFE. - : eLife Sciences Publications Ltd. - 2050-084X. ; 5
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Being taller is associated with enhanced longevity, and higher education and earnings. We reanalysed 1472 population-based studies, with measurement of height on more than 18.6 million participants to estimate mean height for people born between 1896 and 1996 in 200 countries. The largest gain in adult height over the past century has occurred in South Korean women and Iranian men, who became 20.2 cm (95% credible interval 17.5–22.7) and 16.5 cm (13.3– 19.7) taller, respectively. In contrast, there was little change in adult height in some sub-Saharan African countries and in South Asia over the century of analysis. The tallest people over these 100 years are men born in the Netherlands in the last quarter of 20th century, whose average heights surpassed 182.5 cm, and the shortest were women born in Guatemala in 1896 (140.3 cm; 135.8– 144.8). The height differential between the tallest and shortest populations was 19-20 cm a century ago, and has remained the same for women and increased for men a century later despite substantial changes in the ranking of countries.
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| 3. |
- Leinsalu, Mall, 1958-, et al.
(författare)
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Macroeconomic changes and trends in dental care utilization in Estonia and Lithuania in 2004-2012 : a repeated cross-sectional study
- 2018
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Ingår i: BMC Oral Health. - : BioMed Central. - 1472-6831 .- 1472-6831. ; 18:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to assess trends and inequalities in dental care utilization in Estonia and Lithuania in relation to large-scale macroeconomic changes in 2004-2012.METHODS: Data on 22,784 individuals in the 20-64 age group were retrieved from nationally representative cross-sectional surveys in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012. Age- and sex-standardized prevalence estimates of past 12-month dental visits were calculated for each study year, stratified by gender, age group, ethnicity, educational level and economic activity. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to assess the independent effect of study year and socioeconomic status on dental visits.RESULTS: The age- and sex-standardized prevalence of dental visits in the past 12 months was 46-52% in Estonia and 61-67% in Lithuania. In 2004-2008, the prevalence of dental visits increased by 5.9 percentage points in both countries and fell in 2008-2010 by 3.8 percentage points in Estonia and 4.6 percentage points in Lithuania. In both countries the prevalence of dental care utilization had increased slightly by 2012, although the increase was statistically insignificant. Results from a logistic regression analysis showed that these differences between study years were not explained by differences in socioeconomic status or oral health conditions. Women, the main ethnic group (only in Estonia), and higher educated and employed persons had significantly higher odds of dental visits in both countries, but the odds were lower for 50-64 year olds in Lithuania.CONCLUSIONS: In European Union countries with lower national wealth, the use of dental services is sensitive to macroeconomic changes regardless of the extent of public coverage, at the same time, higher public coverage may not relate to lower inequalities in dental care use.
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| 4. |
- Rehm, Jürgen, et al.
(författare)
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Classifying alcohol control policies enacted between 2000 and 2020 in Poland and the Baltic countries to model potential impact
- 2023
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Ingår i: Addiction. - : Wiley. - 0965-2140 .- 1360-0443. ; 118:3, s. 449-458
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims: The study's aim is to identify and classify the most important alcohol control policies in the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and Poland between 2000 and 2020.Methods: Policy analysis of Baltic countries and Poland, predicting potential policy impact on alcohol consumption, all-cause mortality and alcohol-attributable hospitalizations was discussed.Results: All Baltic countries implemented stringent availability restrictions on off-premises trading hours and different degrees of taxation increases to reduce the affordability of alcoholic beverages, as well as various degrees of bans on alcohol marketing. In contrast, Poland implemented few excise taxation increases or availability restrictions and, in fact, reduced stipulations on prior marketing bans.Conclusions: This classification of alcohol control policies in the Baltic countries and Poland provides a basis for future modeling of the impact of implementing effective alcohol control policies (Baltic countries), as well as the effects of loosening such policies (Poland).
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| 5. |
- Rehm, Jürgen, et al.
(författare)
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Impact of the WHO "best buys" for alcohol policy on consumption and health in the Baltic countries and Poland 2000-2020
- 2023
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Ingår i: The Lancet Regional Health. - 2666-7762. ; 33
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Alcohol use is a major risk factor for burden of disease. This narrative review aims to document the effects of major alcohol control policies, in particular taxation increases and availability restrictions in the three Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) between 2000 and 2020. These measures have been successful in curbing alcohol sales, in general without increasing consumption of alcoholic beverages from unrecorded sources; although for more recent changes this may have been partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, findings from time -series analyses suggest improved health, measured as reductions in all -cause and alcohol -attributable mortality, as well as narrowing absolute mortality inequalities between lower and higher educated groups. For most outcomes, there were sex differences observed, with alcohol control policies more strongly affecting males. In contrast to this successful path, alcohol control policies were mostly dismantled in the neighbouring country of Poland, resulting in a rising death toll due to liver cirrhosis and other alcohol -attributable deaths. The natural experiment in this region of high -income European countries with high consumption levels highlights the importance of effective alcohol control policies for improving population health.
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| 6. |
- Stelemekas, Štelemėkas, et al.
(författare)
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Alcohol control policy measures and all-cause mortality in Lithuania : an interrupted time-series analysis
- 2021
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Ingår i: Addiction. - : Wiley. - 0965-2140 .- 1360-0443. ; 116:10, s. 2673-2684
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background and aims Alcohol use has been identified as a major risk factor for burden of mortality and disease, particularly for countries in eastern Europe. During the past two decades, several countries in this region have implemented effective alcohol policy measures to combat this burden. The aim of the current study was to measure the association between Lithuania's alcohol control policies and adult all-cause mortality.Design Interrupted time-series methodology by means of general additive models.Setting Lithuania.Participants Adult population of Lithuania, aged 20 years and older.Measurements Alcohol control policies were ascertained via a document review of relevant legislation materials. Policy effects were evaluated as follows: (1) slope changes in periods of legislative (non-)activity with regard to alcohol control policy (analysis 1); (2) level changes of three interventions following recommendations of the World Health Organization (analysis 2); and (3) level changes of seven interventions judged a priori by an international panel of experts (analysis 3). Mortality was measured by sex-stratified and total monthly age-standardized rates of all-cause mortality for the adult population.Findings During the period 2001-18, effective alcohol control policy measures were implemented on several occasions, and in those years the all-cause mortality rate declined by approximately 3.2% more than in years without such policies. In particular, the implementation of increased taxation in 2017 was associated with reduced mortality over and above the general trend for men and in total for all analyses, which amounted to 1452 deaths avoided (95% confidence interval = -166 to -2739) in the year following the implementation of the policy.Conclusions Alcohol control policies in Lithuania appear to have reduced the overall adult all-cause mortality over and above secular trends.
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| 7. |
- Tran, Alexander, et al.
(författare)
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Can alcohol control policies reduce cirrhosis mortality? An interrupted time-series analysis in Lithuania
- 2022
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Ingår i: Liver international (Print). - : Wiley. - 1478-3223 .- 1478-3231. ; 42:4, s. 765-774
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background and Aims: The relationship between alcohol consumption and cirrhosis is well established. Policies that can influence population-level use of alcohol should, in turn, impact cirrhosis. We examined the effect of population-level alcohol control policies on cirrhosis mortality rates in Lithuania - a high-income European Union country with high levels of alcohol consumption.Methods: Age-standardized, monthly liver mortality data (deaths per 100,000 adults, aged 15+) from Lithuania were analysed from 2001 to 2018 (n = 216 months) while controlling for economic confounders (gross domestic product and inflation). An interrupted time-series analysis was conducted to estimate the effect of three alcohol control policies implemented in 2008, 2017 and 2018 and the number of cirrhosis deaths averted.Results: There was a significant effect of the 2008 (P < .0001) and 2017 (P = .0003) alcohol control policies but a null effect of the 2018 policy (P = .40). Following the 2008 policy, the cirrhosis mortality rate dropped from 4.93 to 3.41 (95% CI: 3.02-3.80) deaths per 100,000 adults, which equated to 493 deaths averted. Further, we found that following the 2017 policy, the mortality rate dropped from 2.85 to 2.01 (95% CI: 1.50-2.52) deaths per 100,000 adults, corresponding to 245 deaths averted.Conclusions: Our findings support the hypothesis that alcohol control policies can have a significant, immediate effect on cirrhosis mortality. These policy measures are cost-effective and aid in reducing the burden of liver disease.
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| 8. |
- Tran, Alexander, et al.
(författare)
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The Impact of Increasing the Minimum Legal Drinking Age from 18 to 20 Years in Lithuania on All-Cause Mortality in Young Adults - An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis
- 2021
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Ingår i: Alcohol and Alcoholism. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0735-0414 .- 1464-3502. ; 57:4, s. 513-519
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Short Summary: We investigated the effect of an increase in minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) on all-cause mortality in young adults (aged 18-19). MLDA had a negative effect on all-cause mortality (even when controlling for general trends using other age groups), however when confounding factors were included, these effects were attenuated.Aims: To determine the effect of an alcohol policy change, which increased the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) from 18 years of age to 20 years of age on all-cause mortality rates in young adults (18-19 years old) in Lithuania.Methods: An interrupted time series analysis was conducted on a dataset from 2001 to 2019 (n = 228 months). The model tested the effects of the MLDA on all-cause mortality rates (deaths per 100,000 individuals) in three age categories (15-17 years old, 18-19 years old, 20-22 years old) in order to control for general mortality trends in young adults, and to isolate the effects of the MLDA from other alcohol control policies. Additional models that included GDP as a covariate and a taxation policy were tested as well. Results There was a significant effect of the MLDA on all-cause mortality rates in those 18-19 years old, when modelled alone. Additional analyses controlling for the mortality rate of other age groups showed similar findings. Inclusion of confounding factors (policies on alcohol taxation, GDP) eliminated the effects of MLDA.Conclusions: Although there was a notable decline in all-cause mortality rates among young adults in Lithuania, a direct causal impact of MLDA on all-cause mortality rates in young adults was not definitively found.
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