| 1. |
- Beckley, Amber L., et al.
(författare)
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Association of height and violent criminality : results from a Swedish total population study
- 2014
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Ingår i: International Journal of Epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0300-5771 .- 1464-3685. ; 43:3, s. 835-842
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Violent criminality is at least moderately heritable, but the mechanisms behind this remain largely unexplained. Height, a highly heritable trait, may be involved but no study has estimated the effect of height on crime while simultaneously accounting for important demographic, biological and other heritable confounders. Methods: We linked nationwide, longitudinal registers for 760 000 men who underwent mandatory military conscription from 1980 through 1992 in Sweden, to assess the association between height and being convicted of a violent crime. We used Cox proportional hazard modelling and controlled for three types of potential confounders: physical characteristics, childhood demographics and general cognitive ability (intelligence). Results: In unadjusted analyses, height had a moderate negative relationship to violent crime; the shortest of men were twice as likely to be convicted of a violent crime as the tallest. However, when simultaneously controlling for all measured confounders, height was weakly and positively related to violent crime. Intelligence had the individually strongest mitigating effect on the height-crime relationship. Conclusions: Although shorter stature was associated with increased risk of violent offending, our analyses strongly suggested that this relationship was explained by intelligence and other confounding factors. Hence, it is unlikely that height, a highly heritable physical characteristic, accounts for much of the unexplained heritability of violent criminality.
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| 2. |
- Falk, Örjan, et al.
(författare)
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The 1 % of the population accountable for 63 % of all violent crime convictions
- 2014
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Ingår i: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0933-7954 .- 1433-9285. ; 49:4, s. 559-571
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose Population-based studies on violent crime and background factors may provide an understanding of the relationships between susceptibility factors and crime. We aimed to determine the distribution of violent crime convictions in the Swedish population 1973-2004 and to identify criminal, academic, parental, and psychiatric risk factors for persistence in violent crime. Method The nationwide multi-generation register was used with many other linked nationwide registers to select participants. All individuals born in 1958-1980 (2,393,765 individuals) were included. Persistent violent offenders (those with a lifetime history of three or more violent crime convictions) were compared with individuals having one or two such convictions, and to matched non-offenders. Independent variables were gender, age of first conviction for a violent crime, nonviolent crime convictions, and diagnoses for major mental disorders, personality disorders, and substance use disorders. Results A total of 93,642 individuals (3.9 %) had at least one violent conviction. The distribution of convictions was highly skewed; 24,342 persistent violent offenders (1.0 % of the total population) accounted for 63.2 % of all convictions. Persistence in violence was associated with male sex (OR 2.5), personality disorder (OR 2.3), violent crime conviction before age 19 (OR 2.0), drug-related offenses (OR 1.9), nonviolent criminality (OR 1.9), substance use disorder (OR 1.9), and major mental disorder (OR 1.3). Conclusions The majority of violent crimes are perpetrated by a small number of persistent violent offenders, typically males, characterized by early onset of violent criminality, substance abuse, personality disorders, and nonviolent criminality.
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| 3. |
- Frisell, Thomas
(författare)
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Violent crime : addressing causation with family-based methods
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Violent crime is an important public health problem, and incurs major costs for society. The effect of interventions has so far been modest, often attributed to a research focus on risk factors for crime, but a relative lack of understanding of the causal mechanisms behind these factors. The four studies in this thesis attempt to address different aspects of the etiology of violent crime by using family-based epidemiologic methods. It has long been known that antisocial behavior runs in families. In Paper I, a nested case-control was used to quantify the familial clustering of violent crime using a linkage of several Swedish total population registers. We were able to provide precise estimates of the familial aggregation among 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree relatives, and also adoptive relations and spouses. Familial risks were moderate to strong, and were modified by gender, socioeconomic status, type of violent crime, and age at first conviction. Familial clustering suggests that genes and/or family environment influence the propensity for violent offending. In Paper II we attempted to estimate the relative importance of these factors by calculating the heritability in mixed probit regression. Comparing results from twin, adoptee-parent, adoptee-sibling, and sibling designs, and attempting to adjust for non-random mating, we found that about half the variation in violent offending could be attributed to genetic factors. We also found significant gender differences in the etiology of violent crime. In Paper III, we discussed the interpretation of sibling comparison designs. Sibling comparisons have been hailed for their ability to adjust for family-shared confounders, but have received little attention from a methodological standpoint. In line with previous research in economy, we showed that these models are subject to several caveats, and that they may in some situations increase rather than decrease bias. The implications of this were acknowledged in Paper IV, where we analysed the association of general cognitive ability and violent crime, and adjusted for shared family characteristics through sibling comparison analysis. Taking measurement error and non-shared confounding into account, the results indicated that the association was partly confounded by factors shared by siblings, but that most of the association could not be explained by such factors. Together, Papers I and II suggested that violent crime runs in families due to both genetic and environmental factors, and Paper IV offered some support for the hypothesis that intelligence may be one of the factors explaining this familial aggregation. The caveats of sibling comparisons pointed out in Paper III should be taken into account when using co-twin control and other sibling designs to address issues of causality.
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| 4. |
- Lundberg, Jonas, et al.
(författare)
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When Is the Deep Inferior Epigastric Artery Flap Indicated for Breast Reconstruction in Patients not Treated With Radiotherapy?
- 2014
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Ingår i: Annals of Plastic Surgery. - 1536-3708. ; 73:1, s. 105-113
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: It is controversial whether breast reconstruction with a microvascular free flap should be done without restrictions in patients who have not had radiotherapy. Many regard it as too expensive, but some consider it better and more economically advantageous than an implant reconstruction. METHODS: Databases of publications were searched to find out under what conditions is it suitable to offer a deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) or a transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap to normalize the body's appearance in a woman whose breast(s) had been removed for cancer or to prevent the development of breast cancer. The effect of breast reconstruction with DIEP flaps was analyzed, taking account of the following factors: general satisfaction (quality of life), aesthetic satisfaction (cosmesis), and morbidity. To find out which factors were of potential importance, we recorded age, hypertension, whether scars from previous abdominal surgery were present, microcirculation, whether the patient was overweight or obese, and costs of the procedure. RESULTS: Patients planning to have DIEP flaps should be willing to stop smoking at least 4 weeks before and after the procedure and have a body mass index of less than 30 kg/m to avoid a higher risk of complications. Because of the paucity of papers, it is difficult to recommend one approach over the other when considering general satisfaction, aesthetic satisfaction, and health economics. However, economical long-term outcome is highly dependent on the initial costs of each procedure and the cumulative costs of complications for each reconstruction method. CONCLUSIONS: The scientific foundation of assessment of methods of techniques of breast reconstruction is weak. Therefore, it is important that future studies should present more comparable series, highlight the long-term effects in high-quality studies, to provide the patients with optimal results without undue risks and to avoid financial burdens on society.
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