11.6.2007

Changing environmental influences on substance use across development

Dick, D. M., Pagan, J. L., Viken, R., Purcell, S., Kaprio, J., Pulkkinen, L. and Rose, R. J.

Twin Research and Human Genetics. 2007; 10(2): 315-326. Journal Article.

Longitudinal study on pneumococcal carriage during the first year of life in Bangladesh

Granat, S. M., Mia, Z., Ollgren, J., Herva, E., Das, M., Piirainen, L., Auranen, K. and Makela, P. H.

Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2007; 26(4): 319-24. Journal Article. IF 3.047

BACKGROUND: The strong herd immunity effect and the serotype replacement associated with the use of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine have highlighted the importance of asymptomatic pneumococcal carriage. To describe the development of pneumoccoccal carriage in a developing country setting we carried out a longitudinal pneumococcal carriage study in Bangladesh.

METHODS: Ninety-nine children, born in Savar, Bangladesh between May 2000 and April 2001, were enrolled in the study with their families. Nasopharyngeal samples were collected at prescheduled 2-4 week intervals from the index children and from their family members. The nasopharyngeal swabs were cultured for pneumococcal growth and pneumococci were identified and serotyped by standard methods.

RESULTS: We collected 1459 samples (92% of those planned) from the 99 index children and 2865 samples from other family members. The data showed high point prevalences of pneumococcal carriage among newborns (40-50% from 8 weeks of age on), a rapid pneumococcal acquisition with age (50% of the children had been colonized by pneumococci at least once by the age of 8 weeks) and a wide range of different serogroups/types (SGT). SGT 6 and 19 accounted for 35% of the pneumococci isolated from children <1-year-old, followed by SGT 15, 23, and 10 for a total of 56%. The SGT distribution in children up to 9-year-old was similar to that among the <1 year olds, with SGT 6 and 19 predominating. Older children and adults differed from the younger children by not having clearly predominating SGTs.

CONCLUSIONS: The features found in our study are typical of pneumococcal carriage in developing countries. We believe that results from longitudinal modeling of carriage based on these extensive data can have wide geographic application.

Higher smoking prevalence in urban compared to non-urban areas: Time trends in six, European countries

Idris, B. I., Giskes, K., Borrell, C., Benach, J., Costa, G., Federico, B., Helakorpi, S., Helmert, U., Lahelma, E., Moussa, K. M., Ostergren, P. O., Prattala, R., Rasmussen, N. K., Mackenbach, J. P. and Kunst, A. E.

Health & Place. 2007; 13(3): 702-712. Journal Article. IF 1.492

Antimicrobial use in Finnish acute care hospitals: data from national prevalence survey, 2005

Kanerva, M., Ollgren, J. and Lyytikainen, O.

J Antimicrob Chemother. 2007. Journal Article. IF 3.886

Objectives: In Finland, use of antimicrobials in ambulatory care is moderate, but some reports suggest that hospital use is higher than in other European countries. We evaluated the amount and type of antimicrobials administered in Finnish acute care hospitals.

Patients and methods: We analysed data collected in the national prevalence survey of nosocomial infections (NIs) during February-March 2005 in all tertiary care, all secondary care and 25% of other acute care hospitals. All inpatients present on the study day in acute care wards for adults were included (n = 8234). The names and use-days of antimicrobials in Anatomical Therapeutic Class groups J01-J05 were collected on the study day and retrospectively for the previous 6 days.

Results: On the study day, 39% of patients had received at least one, 14% at least two and 3% at least three antimicrobials; patients with NI represented 21%, 29% and 45% of these groups, respectively. The prevalence of patients receiving any antimicrobial was 53% in intensive care patients and varied in other specialties from 0% in ophthalmology to 63% in dental and oral surgery. Within a 7 day period, the total use of antibacterial agents (J01) was 64 use-days per 100 patient-days. Cephalosporins were the most frequently used antimicrobials, followed by quinolones and metronidazole.

Conclusions: The prevalence and spectrum of antimicrobial use in Finnish acute care hospitals were high. NI patients contributed markedly to the total usage. The NI survey with a 7 day data collection period provided insights into the use-density of antimicrobials.

Lifestyle intervention to prevent diabetes in men and women with impaired glucose tolerance is cost-effective

Lindgren, P., Lindstrom, J., Tuomilehto, J., Uusitupa, M., Peltonen, M., Jonsson, B., de Faire, U. and Hellenius, M. L.

International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care. 2007; 23(2): 177-183. Journal Article. IF 0.725

Linkage of nicotine dependence and smoking behavior on 10q, 7q and 11p in twins with homogeneous genetic background

Loukola, A., Broms, U., Maunu, H., Widen, E., Heikkila, K., Siivola, M., Salo, A., Pergadia, M. L., Nyman, E., Sammalisto, S., Perola, M., Agrawal, A., Heath, A. C., Martin, N. G., Madden, P. A., Peltonen, L. and Kaprio, J.

Pharmacogenomics J. 2007. Journal Article. IF 3.623

The significant worldwide health burden introduced by tobacco smoking highlights the importance of studying the genetic determinants of smoking behavior and the key factor sustaining compulsive smoking, that is, nicotine dependence (ND). We have here addressed the genetic background of smoking in a special study sample of twins, harmonized for early life events and specifically ascertained for smoking from the nationwide twin cohort of the genetically unique population of Finland. The twins and their families were carefully examined for extensive phenotype profiles and a genome-wide scan was performed to identify loci behind the smoking status, ND and the comorbid phenotype of ND and alcohol use in 505 individuals from 153 families. We replicated previous linkage findings on 10q (max logarithm of the odds (LOD) 3.12) for a smoker phenotype, and on 7q and 11p (max LOD 2.50, and 2.25, respectively) for the ND phenotype. The loci linked for ND also showed evidence for linkage for the comorbid phenotype. Our study provides confirmatory evidence for the involvement of these genome regions in the genetic etiology of smoking behavior and ND and for the first time associates drinking and smoking to a shared locus on 10q.The Pharmacogenomics Journal advance online publication, 5 June 2007; doi:10.1038/sj.tpj.6500464.

Material and social deprivation and health and social services utilisation in Quebec: a local-scale evaluation system

Philibert, M. D., Pampalon, R., Hamel, D., Thouez, J. P. and Loiselle, C. G.

Soc Sci Med. 2007; 64(8): 1651-64. Journal Article.

Very few studies have employed local-scale analyses to evaluate how well primary health care and social services reach the most socially and economically deprived individuals. This paper describes a project, conducted in close partnership with decision-makers and practitioners at selected local community service centres (in French, CLSCs) in Quebec, Canada, that developed a system for assessing primary care and social services utilisation by applying deprivation levels defined at the local scale (i.e., according to the distribution of deprivation in individual CLSC service areas). More than 25 years ago, Quebec started setting up a province-wide network of publicly financed CLSCs whose mission was to offer first-line health and social services at the local level. Now approximately one Quebecer in four receives at least one service a year from a CLSC. The evaluation system presented in this article is built on deprivation profiles for each CLSC service area and comprises maps, relative indices of service utilisation, and an interpretation framework that facilitates the integration of new data into the decision-making and services planning processes. Study results show that deprivation levels, when defined using local perspectives, correspond more closely to decision-makers' perceptions, that relative indices are sensitive to key determinants of services provision and utilisation, and that the interpretation framework is useful for reassessing intervention strategies.

Health in all policies

Puska, P.

Eur J Public Health. 2007. Journal Article. IF 1.118

Endotoxemia, immune response to periodontal pathogens, and systemic inflammation associate with incident cardiovascular disease events

Pussinen, P. J., Tuomisto, K., Jousilahti, P., Havulinna, A. S., Sundvall, J. and Salomaa, V.

Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. 2007; 27(6): 1433-1439. IF 7.053

National type 2 diabetes prevention programme in Finland: FIN-D2D

Saaristo, T., Peltonen, M., Keinanen-Kiukoonniemi, S., Vanhola, M., Saltevo, J., Niskanen, L., Oksa, H., Korpi-Hyovalti, E. and Tuomilehto, J.

International Journal of Circumpolar Health. 2007; 66(2): 101-112. Journal Article.

A genome-wide association study of type 2 diabetes in Finns detects multiple susceptibility variants

Scott, L. J., Mohlke, K. L., Bonnycastle, L. L., Willer, C. J., Li, Y., Duren, W. L., Erdos, M. R., Stringham, H. M., Chines, P. S., Jackson, A. U., Prokunina-Olsson, L., Ding, C. J., Swift, A. J., Narisu, N., Hu, T., Pruim, R., Xiao, R., Li, X. Y., Conneely, K. N., Riebow, N. L., Sprau, A. G., Tong, M., White, P. P., Hetrick, K. N., Barnhart, M. W., Bark, C. W., Goldstein, J. L., Watkins, L., Xiang, F., Saramies, J., Buchanan, T. A., Watanabe, R. M., Valle, T. T., Kinnunen, L., Abecasis, G. R., Pugh, E. W., Doheny, K. F., Bergman, R. N., Tuomilehto, J., Collins, F. S. and Boehnke, M.

Science. 2007; 316(5829): 1341-1345. Journal Article. IF 30.927

Effect of prophylactic human papillomavirus L1 virus-like-particle vaccine on risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2, grade 3, and adenocarcinoma in situ: a combined analysis of four randomised clinical trials

Villa, L., Perez, G., Kjaer, S., Lehtinen, M., Paavonen, J., Munoz, N., Sigurdsson, K., Hernandez-Avila, M., Iversen, O. E., Thoresen, S., Garcia, P., Majewski, S., Tay, E. H., Bosch, F. X., Dillner, J., Olsson, S. E., Ault, K., Brown, D., Ferris, D., Giuliano, A., Koutsky, L., Kurman, R., Myers, E., Barr, E., Boslego, J., Bryan, J., Esser, M., Hesley, T., Lupinacci, L., Railkar, R., Sings, H., Taddeo, F. and Thornton, A.

Lancet. 2007; 369(9576): 1861-1868. Journal Article. IF 23.878