| 11. |
- Oudin, Anna, et al.
(author)
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Impact of national holidays and weekends on incidence of acute type A aortic dissection repair
- 2022
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In: Scientific Reports. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2045-2322. ; 12:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Previous studies have demonstrated that environmental and temporal factors may affect the incidence of acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD). Here, we aimed to investigate the hypothesis that national holidays and weekends influence the incidence of surgery for ATAAD. For the period 1st of January 2005 until 31st of December 2019, we investigated a hypothesised effect of (country-specific) national holidays and weekends on the frequency of 2995 surgical repairs for ATAAD at 10 Nordic cities included in the Nordic Consortium for Acute Type A Aortic Dissection (NORCAAD) collaboration. Compared to other days, the number of ATAAD repairs were 29% (RR 0.71; 95% CI 0.54–0.94) lower on national holidays and 26% (RR 0.74; 95% CI 0.68–0.82) lower on weekends. As day of week patterns of symptom duration were assessed and the primary analyses were adjusted for period of year, our findings suggest that the reduced surgical incidence on national holidays and weekends does not seem to correspond to seasonal effects or surgery being delayed and performed on regular working days.
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| 12. |
- Oudin, Anna, et al.
(author)
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Is long-term exposure to air pollution associated with episodic memory? : a longitudinal study from northern Sweden
- 2017
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In: Scientific Reports. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2045-2322. ; 7
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Associations between long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and cognitive function have been observed in a few longitudinal studies. Our aim was to investigate the association between long-term exposure to air pollution and episodic memory, a marker of early cognitive decline. We used data from the Betula study in Northern Sweden, and included participants 60 to 85 of age at inclusion, 1,469 persons in total. The participants were followed for up to 22 years, five years apart between 1988 and 2010. A composite of five tasks was used as a measure of episodic memory measure (EMM), and the five-year change in EMM score (ΔEMM) was calculated such that a participant could contribute with up to four measurement pairs. A Land Use Regression Model was used to estimate cumulative annual mean of NOx at the residential address of the participants (a marker for long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution). There did not seem to be any association between exposure to traffic air pollution and episodic memory change, with a ΔEMM estimate of per 1 µg/m3 increase in NOx of 0.01 (95% Confidence Interval: -0.02,0.03). This is in contrast to a growing body of evidence suggesting associations between air pollution and cognitive function.
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| 13. |
- Oudin, Anna, et al.
(author)
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The association between daily concentrations of air pollution and visits to a psychiatric emergency unit: a case-crossover study
- 2018
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In: Environmental Health. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-069X. ; 17
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Air pollution is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Experimental studies, and a few epidemiological studies, suggest that air pollution may cause acute exacerbation of psychiatric disorders, and even increase the rate of suicide attempts, but epidemiological studies on air pollution in association with psychiatric disorders are still few. Our aim was to investigate associations between daily fluctuations in air pollution concentrations and the daily number of visits to a psychiatric emergency unit. Methods: Data from Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden, on the daily number of visits to the Psychiatric emergency unit were combined with daily data on monitored concentrations of respirable particulate matter(PM10), ozone(O-3), nitrogen dioxides(NO2) and temperature between 1st July 2012 and 31st December 2016. We used a case-crossover design to analyze data with conditional Poisson regression models allowing for over-dispersion. We stratified data on season. Results: Visits increased with increasing PM10 levels during the warmer season (April to September) in both single-pollutant and two-pollutant models. For example, an increase of 3.6% (95% Confidence Interval, CI, 0.4-7.0%) was observed with a 10 mu g/m(3) increase in PM10 adjusted for NO2. In the three-pollutant models (adjusting for NO2 and O-3 simultaneously) the increase was 3.3% (95% CI, -0.2-6.9). There were no clear associations between the outcome and NO2, O-3, or PM10 during the colder season (October to March). Conclusions: Ambient air particle concentrations were associated with the number of visits to the Psychiatric emergency unit in the warm season. The results were only borderline statistically significant in the fully adjusted (three-pollutant) models in this small study. The observation could be interpreted as indicative of air pollution as either exacerbating an underlying psychiatric disorder, or increasing mental distress, even in areas with comparatively low levels of air pollution. In combination with the severe impact of psychiatric disorders and mental distress on society and individuals, our results are a strong warrant for future research in this area.
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| 14. |
- Oudin, Anna, et al.
(author)
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Traffic-Related Air Pollution as a Risk Factor for Dementia : No Clear Modifying Effects of APOEɛ4 in the Betula Cohort
- 2019
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In: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. - : IOS Press. - 1387-2877 .- 1875-8908. ; 71:3, s. 733-740
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It is widely known that the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ɛ4 allele imposes a higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Recent evidence suggests that exposure to air pollution is also a risk factor for AD, and results from a few studies indicate that the effect of air pollution on cognitive function and dementia is stronger in APOE ɛ4 carriers than in non-carriers. Air pollution and interaction with APOE ɛ4 on AD risk thus merits further attention. We studied dementia incidence over a 15-year period from the longitudinal Betula study in Northern Sweden. As a marker for long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution, we used modelled annual mean nitrogen oxide levels at the residential address of the participants at start of follow-up. Nitrogen oxide correlate well with fine particulate air pollution levels in the study area. We had full data on air pollution, incidence of AD and vascular dementia (VaD), APOE ɛ4 carrier status, and relevant confounding factors for 1,567 participants. As expected, air pollution was rather clearly associated with dementia incidence. However, there was no evidence for a modifying effect by APOE ɛ4 on the association (p-value for interaction > 0.30 for both total dementia (AD+VaD) and AD). The results from this study do not imply that adverse effects of air pollution on dementia incidence is limited to, or stronger in, APOE ɛ4 carriers than in the total population.
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| 15. |
- Oudin, Anna, et al.
(author)
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Traffic-Related air pollution as a risk factor for dementia : no clear modifying effects of apoe ɛ4 in the betula cohort
- 2021
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In: Alzheimer's disease and air pollution. - Amsterdam : IOS Press. - 2210-5727. - 9781643681597 - 9781643681580 ; , s. 357-364
-
Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It is widely known that the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele imposes a higher risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recent evidence suggests that exposure to air pollution is also a risk factor for AD, and results from a few studies indicate that the effect of air pollution on cognitive function and dementia is stronger in APOE ε4 carriers than in non-carriers. Air pollution and interaction with APOE ε4 on AD risk thus merits further attention. We studied dementia incidence over a 15-year period from the longitudinal Betula study in Northern Sweden. As a marker for long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution, we used modelled annual mean nitrogen oxide levels at the residential address of the participants at start of follow-up. Nitrogen oxide correlate well with fine particulate air pollution levels in the study area. We had full data on air pollution, incidence of AD and vascular dementia (VaD), APOE ε4 carrier status, and relevant confounding factors for 1,567 participants. As expected, air pollution was rather clearly associated with dementia incidence. However, there was no evidence for a modifying effect by APOE ε4 on the association (p-value for interaction > 0.30 for both total dementia (AD+VaD) and AD). The results from this study do not imply that adverse effects of air pollution on dementia incidence is limited to, or stronger in, APOE ε4 carriers than in the total population.
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| 16. |
- Oudin Åström, Daniel, et al.
(author)
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High Summer Temperatures and Mortality in Estonia
- 2016
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In: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 11:5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: On-going climate change is predicted to result in a growing number of extreme weather events-such as heat waves-throughout Europe. The effect of high temperatures and heat waves are already having an important impact on public health in terms of increased mortality, but studies from an Estonian setting are almost entirely missing. We investigated mortality in relation to high summer temperatures and the time course of mortality in a coastal and inland region of Estonia.METHODS: We collected daily mortality data and daily maximum temperature for a coastal and an inland region of Estonia. We applied a distributed lag non-linear model to investigate heat related mortality and the time course of mortality in Estonia.RESULTS: We found an immediate increase in mortality associated with temperatures exceeding the 75th percentile of summer maximum temperatures, corresponding to approximately 23°C. This increase lasted for a couple of days in both regions. The total effect of elevated temperatures was not lessened by significant mortality displacement.DISCUSSION: We observed significantly increased mortality in Estonia, both on a country level as well as for a coastal region and an inland region with a more continental climate. Heat related mortality was higher in the inland region as compared to the coastal region, however, no statistically significant differences were observed. The lower risks in coastal areas could be due to lower maximum temperatures and cooling effects of the sea, but also better socioeconomic condition. Our results suggest that region specific estimates of the impacts of temperature extremes on mortality are needed.
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| 17. |
- Oudin Åström, Daniel, et al.
(author)
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Local Contrasts in Concentration of Ambient Particulate Air Pollution (PM2.5) and Incidence of Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia : Results from the Betula Cohort in Northern Sweden
- 2021
-
In: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. - : IOS Press. - 1387-2877 .- 1875-8908. ; 81:1, s. 83-85
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Exposure to fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) is emerging as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), but existing studies are still limited and heterogeneous. We have previously studied the association between dementia (AD and vascular dementia) and PM2.5 stemming from vehicle exhaust and wood-smoke in the Betula cohort in Northern Sweden. The aim of this commentary is to estimate the association between total PM2.5 and dementia in the Betula cohort, which is more relevant to include in future meta-estimates than the source-specific estimates. The hazard ratio for incident dementia associated with a 1μg/m3 increase in local PM2.5 was 1.38 (95% confidence interval: 0.99 -1.92). The interpretation of our results is that they indicate an association between local contrasts in concentration of PM2.5 at the residential address and incidence of dementia in a low-level setting.
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| 18. |
- Oudin Åström, Daniel, et al.
(author)
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Mortality Related to Cold Temperatures in Two Capitals of the Baltics : Tallinn and Riga
- 2019
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In: Medicina. - : MDPI. - 1010-660X .- 1648-9144. ; 55:8
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and objectives: Despite global warming, the climate in Northern Europe is generally cold, and the large number of deaths due to non-optimal temperatures is likely due to cold temperatures. The aim of the current study is to investigate the association between cold temperatures and all-cause mortality, as well as cause-specific mortality, in Tallinn and Riga in North-Eastern Europe.Materials and Methods: We used daily information on deaths from state death registries and minimum temperatures from November to March over the period 1997-2015 in Tallinn and 2009-2015 in Riga. The relationship between the daily minimum temperature and mortality was investigated using the Poisson regression, combined with a distributed lag non-linear model considering lag times of up to 21 days.Results: We found significantly higher all-cause mortality owing to cold temperatures both in Tallinn (Relative Risk (RR) = 1.28, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.01-1.62) and in Riga (RR = 1.41, 95% CI 1.11-1.79). In addition, significantly increased mortality due to cold temperatures was observed in the 75+ age group (RR = 1.64, 95% CI 1.17-2.31) and in cardiovascular mortality (RR = 1.83, 95% CI 1.31-2.55) in Tallinn and in the under 75 age group in Riga (RR = 1.58, 95% CI 1.12-2.22). In this study, we found no statistically significant relationship between mortality due to respiratory or external causes and cold days. The cold-related attributable fraction (AF) was 7.4% (95% CI -3.7-17.5) in Tallinn and 8.3% (95% CI -0.5-16.3) in Riga. This indicates that a relatively large proportion of deaths in cold periods can be related to cold in North-Eastern Europe, where winters are relatively harsh.
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| 19. |
- Oudin Åström, Daniel, et al.
(author)
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Temperature effects on incidence of surgery for acute type A aortic dissection in the Nordics
- 2022
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In: Global health action. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1654-9880 .- 1654-9880 .- 1654-9716. ; 15:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We aimed to investigate a hypothesised association between daily mean temperature and the risk of surgery for acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD). For the period of 1 January 2005 until 31 December 2019, we collected daily data on mean temperatures and date of 2995 operations for ATAAD at 10 Nordic cities included in the Nordic Consortium for Acute Type A Aortic Dissection (NORCAAD) collaboration. Using a two-stage time-series approach, we investigated the association between hot and cold temperatures relative to the optimal temperature and the rate of ATAAD repair in the selected cities. The relative risks (RRs) of cold temperatures (<=-5 degrees C) and hot temperatures (>= 21 degrees C) compared to optimal temperature were 1.47 (95% CI: 0.72-2.99) and 1.43 (95% CI: 0.67-3.08), respectively. In line with previous studies, we observed increased risk at cold and hot temperatures. However, the observed associations were not statistically significant, thus only providing weak evidence of an association.
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| 20. |
- Pfeifer, Kerstin, et al.
(author)
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Evaluating Mortality Response Associated with Two Different Nordic Heat Warning Systems in Riga, Latvia
- 2020
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In: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - : MDPI. - 1661-7827 .- 1660-4601. ; 17:21
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and objectives: Progressing climate change is accompanied by a worldwide increase in the intensity, frequency, and duration of heat wave events. Research has shown that heat waves are an emerging public health problem, as they have a significant impact on mortality. As studies exploring this relationship are scarce for Latvia, this study aims to investigate the short-term associations between heat waves and all-cause mortality as well as cause-specific mortality, during the summer months (May-September) in Riga. Materials and Methods: An ecological time series study using daily reported mortality and temperature data from Riga between 2009 and 2015 was employed. Heat waves were defined based on the categories of the Latvian and Swedish heat warning system. Using a Quasi-Poisson regression, the relationships between heat waves and all-cause as well as cause-specific mortality were investigated. Results: Heat waves in Riga were associated with a 10% to 20% increase in the risk of all-cause mortality, depending on the applied heat wave definition, compared to days with normal temperature. In addition, heat-related mortality was found to increase significantly in the ≥65 age group between 12% and 22% during heat waves. In terms of cause-specific mortality, a significant increase of approximately 15% to 26% was observed for cardiovascular mortality. No significant associations were found between heat waves and respiratory or external causes of mortality. Conclusion: These results indicate that there are short-term associations between heat waves and all-cause as well as cardiovascular mortality in Riga and that heat waves therefore represent a public health problem in this Baltic city.
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