<i>Background</i> - Health anxiety (HA) is associated with increased risk of disability, increased health care utilization and reduced quality of life. However, there is no consensus on which factors are important for the level of HA. The aim of this study was to explore the distribution of HA in a general adult population and to investigate whether demographic and social factors were associated ...

The majority of lung cancer is caused by tobacco smoking, and lung cancer-relevant epigenetic markers have been identified in relation to smoking exposure. Still, smoking-related markers appear to mediate little of the effect of smoking on lung cancer. Thus in order to identify disease-relevant markers and enhance our understanding of pathways, a wide search is warranted. Through an epigenome-wide ...

Aim of the study: A vast majority of human malignancies are associated with ageing, and age is a strong predictor of cancer risk. Recently, DNA methylation-based marker of ageing, known as ‘epigenetic clock’, has been linked with cancer risk factors. This study aimed to evaluate whether the epigenetic clock is associated with breast cancer risk susceptibility and to identify potential epigenetics-based ...

<p><i>Purpose</i>: To develop mapping algorithms that transform Diabetes-39 (D-39) scores onto EQ-5D-5L utility values for each of eight recently published country-specific EQ-5D-5L value sets, and to compare mapping functions across the EQ-5D-5L value sets.</p> <p><i>Methods</i>: Data include 924 individuals with self-reported diabetes from six countries. The D-39 dimensions, age and gender ...

<i>Objectives</i> - To assess whether changes in patterns of combined oral contraceptive (COC) prescriptions to starters between 2008 and 2016 were in line with changes in national recommendations for use.<p> <p><i>Design</i> - Historical prospective cohort study.<p> <p><i>Setting</i> - The national Norwegian Prescription Database.<p> <p><i>Participants</i> - Women aged 10–49 years who ...

<p><i>Background</i>: Low back pain is the most common affliction of the musculoskeletal system. Patients with chronic low back pain cost the society great expenses in treatments and other social benefits; however, the effects of interventions are discussed. The purpose of this study was to determine whether patients with chronic low back pain experience pain reduction and functional improvement ...

<p><i>Objectives - </i>To investigate the impact of increasing sample of records reviewed bi-weekly with the Global Trigger Tool method to identify adverse events in hospitalised patients. <p><i>Design - </i>Retrospective observational study. <p><i>Setting - </i>A Norwegian 524-bed general hospital trust. <p><i>Participants - </i>1920 medical records selected from 1 January to 31 December ...

Following a “visual turn” in qualitative methods, photographs and other forms of visual expression are increasingly used in conjunction with verbal data in social science research. According equal status to visual and verbal artifacts, however, poses significant methodological challenges. “Photo elicitation” methods, which typically privilege participants’ interpretations of photographs over the ...

Background - New‐generation drug‐eluting stents (DES) reduce target‐vessel revascularization compared with bare‐metal stents (BMS), and recent data suggest that DES have the potential to decrease the risk of myocardial infarction and cardiovascular mortality. We evaluated the treatment effect of DES versus BMS according to the target artery (left anterior descending [LAD] and/or left main [LM] versus ...

There is conflicting evidence as to whether duration of lactation may decrease the risk of subsequent development of an unfavorable maternal metabolic profile, including overweight and obesity. We hypothesized that duration of lactation is associated with a more favorable metabolic profile and healthier anthropometric measurements. Ninety-eight parous women were studied from the Norwegian EBBAI-study ...