<p><i>Background</i>: Cigarette smoking is associated with earlier menopause, but the impact of being a former smoker and any dose-response relationships on the degree of smoking and age at menopause have been less clear. If the toxic impact of cigarette smoking on ovarian function is irreversible, we hypothesized that even former smokers might experience earlier menopause, and variations in intensity, ...

Little is known about the process from experiencing indeterminate bodily sensations to perceiving them as possible symptoms of cancer relapse. We explore how such processes are related to local values and to clinical practice in rural Northern Norway. One-year ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in a coastal village involving ten key participants residing in the village who had undergone cancer ...

<p><i>Background</i>: Generalists such as general practitioners and district nurses have been the main actors in community palliative care in Norway. Specialised oncology nurses with postgraduate palliative training are increasingly becoming involved. There is little research on their contribution. This study explores how general practitioners (GPs) and oncology nurses (ONs) experience their ...

<p><i>Background</i>: The GRADE-CERQual (Confidence in Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research) approach has been developed by the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) Working Group. The approach has been developed to support the use of findings from qualitative evidence syntheses in decision-making, including guideline development and policy formulation. ...

<i>Introduction</i>: HIV and tuberculosis (TB) remain leading causes of preventable death in low- and middle-income countries(LMICs). The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends HIV testing for all individuals with TB symptoms, but implementation has been suboptimal. We conducted a systematic literature review and meta-analyses to estimate HIV and TB prevalence, and short-term (two to six months) ...

High intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) has been associated with weight gain and chronic disease. The objective of this paper was to study the intake of SSB and characteristics associated with SSB intake in adolescents from Troms, Norway. We present results from a cross-sectional analysis from the Tromsø Study: <i>Fit Futures</i>, with 426 female and 444 male students aged 15–17 years (93% ...

Objective: The purpose of this thesis is to identify and investigate risk factors associated with childhood leukemia, formulated by the research question: Which risk factors are associated with parental exposure and childhood leukemia in the offspring? Methods: A systematic literature search was performed in three databases Embase, Medline and Cochrane. The articles found were selected and included ...

<p><i>Background - </i>Although choline metabolism has been associated with atherosclerotic heart disease, less research attention has been paid to the associations of choline and its oxidative metabolite betaine with cardiac arrhythmias. <p><i>Methods and Results - </i>We evaluated associations of plasma concentrations and dietary intakes of choline and betaine with long-term atrial fibrillation ...

<p><i>Background</i>: Telemedicine consultations using real-time videoconferencing has the potential to improve access and quality of care, avoid patient travels, and reduce health care costs.</p> <p><i>Objective</i>: The aim of this study was to examine the cost-effectiveness of an orthopedic videoconferencing service between the University Hospital of North Norway and a regional medical center ...

<p><i>Background:</i> Dental caries and periodontal diseases are the most common oral diseases, affecting millions of people worldwide. These diseases are highly preventable; therefore any measures that promote oral health (OH) should be implemented at the community and individual level. Although programmes designed to prevent OH problems often focus on children, young adults aged 18-25 years are ...