Juvenile and early adulthood smoking and adult educational achievements--a 31-year follow-up of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort

Association between psychosocial distress, sexual disorders, self-esteem and quality of life with male androgenetic alopecia: a population-based study with men at age 46

OBJECTIVES

To study the association between androgenetic alopecia (AGA) and its severity with psychosocial well-being in male subjects aged 46 years at the population level.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

The Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC1966).

PARTICIPANTS

Data were available for 892 male subjects aged 46 years.

INTERVENTIONS

Study subjects underwent comprehensive health examinations including a skin evaluation by dermatologists and determination of AGA according to the Norwood classification. They also filled in a questionnaire battery that included previously validated questionnaires: the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25, the Beck Depression Inventory-II; the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Screener; a 15-dimensional measure of health-related quality of life; a 12-Item General Health Questionnaire. The battery also included questions about self-esteem and sexual health.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS

The presence of AGA and its severity, psychosocial well-being.

RESULTS

AGA was found in 68.5% of subjects, 27.8% of the cases were severe, 33.2% moderate and 39.0% mild. There was no significant association between the presence of AGA or its severity with depression, anxiety, quality of life, self-esteem or sexual symptoms. Those with severe AGA reported lower sexual activity when compared with those without AGA; however, the difference was not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS

Middle-aged men with AGA did not differ from men without AGA in terms of psychosocial well-being.

Perceived Work Ability in the Light of Long-Term and Stress-Related Unhealthy Behaviors-a Prospective Cohort Study

BACKGROUND

Most of the few studies that exist on the longitudinal associations between health behaviors and work ability target to single health behaviors.

PURPOSE

To investigate how lifetime clusters of unhealthy behaviors associate with perceived work ability in early midlife.

METHODS

The study population consisted of 46-year-old men and women (n = 3107) born in Northern Finland in 1966. Their current perceived work ability compared to lifetime best, and their unhealthy behaviors (physical inactivity, smoking, and alcohol consumption) were assessed by questionnaires. We determined clusters of unhealthy behaviors at the ages of 14, 31, and 46 and created lifetime development trajectories of health behaviors. We also assessed stress-related eating and drinking at the ages of 31 and 46. Cross-tabulations and multivariate logistic regression models were used to investigate the associations between clusters of health behaviors, stress-related eating and drinking, and work ability at 46 years. The analyses were controlled for basic education and physical strenuousness of work, psychosocial job characteristics, perceived work ability, and BMI (kg/m(2)) at 31 years.

RESULTS

Four health behavior trajectories emerged: always healthy, moderate (reference group), deteriorated. and always unhealthy. Among men, always unhealthy behaviors [OR (95 % confidence interval) 2.81 (1.35, 5.86)], and among women, deteriorated health behaviors [1.67 (1.07, 2.58)] associated with poor perceived work ability at 46 years. In addition, stress-related eating and drinking associated independently with poor perceived work ability at 46 years [men 2.58 (1.62, 4.12) and women 2.48 (1.70, 3.61)].

CONCLUSION

Long-lasting and stress-related unhealthy behaviors increase the risk of poor work ability in midlife.

High prevalence of skin diseases and need for treatment in a middle-aged population. A Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 study

To determine the overall prevalence of skin diseases a whole-body skin examination was performed for 1,932 members (46-years of age) of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort (NFBC 1966), which is a comprehensive longitudinal research program (N = 12,058). A high prevalence of all skin diseases needing treatment was found (N = 1,158). Half of the cases of skin findings were evaluated to be serious enough to require diagnostic evaluation, treatment or follow-up either in a general health care, occupational health care or a secondary care setting. The remaining half were thought to be slight and self-treatment was advised. Males (70%) had more skin diseases needing treatment than females (52%) (P<0.001). The most common skin finding was a benign skin tumor, which was found in every cohort member. Skin infections (44%), eczemas (27%) and sebaceous gland diseases (27%) were the most common skin diseases in the cohort. Moreover, skin infections and eczemas were more commonly seen in the group with low education compared to those with high education (P<0.005). The results strengthen the postulate that skin diseases are common in an adult population.

TTC12-ANKK1-DRD2 and CHRNA5-CHRNA3-CHRNB4 influence different pathways leading to smoking behavior from adolescence to mid-adulthood

BACKGROUND

CHRNA5-CHRNA3-CHRNB4 and TTC12-ANKK1-DRD2 gene-clusters influence smoking behavior. Our aim was to test developmental changes in their effects as well as the interplays between them and with nongenetic factors.

METHODS

Participants included 4762 subjects from a general population-based, prospective Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort (NFBC 1966). Smoking behavior was collected at age 14 and 31 years. Information on maternal smoking, socioeconomic status, and novelty seeking were also collected. Structural equation modeling was used to construct an integrative etiologic model including genetic and nongenetic factors.

RESULTS

Several single nucleotide polymorphisms in both gene-clusters were significantly associated with smoking. The most significant were in CHRNA3 (rs1051730, p = 1.1 × 10(-5)) and in TTC12 (rs10502172, p = 9.1 × 10(-6)). CHRNA3-rs1051730[A] was more common among heavy/regular smokers than nonsmokers with similar effect-sizes at age 14 years (odds ratio [95% CI]: 1.27 [1.06-1.52]) and 31 years (1.28 [1.13-1.44]). TTC12-rs10502172[G] was more common among smokers than nonsmokers with stronger association at 14 years (1.33 [1.11-1.60]) than 31 years (1.14 [1.02-1.28]). In adolescence, carriers of three-four risk alleles at either CHRNA3-rs1051730 or TTC12-rs10502172 had almost threefold odds of smoking regularly than subjects with no risk alleles. TTC12-rs10502172 effect on smoking in adulthood was mediated by its effect on smoking in adolescence and via novelty seeking. Effect of CHRNA3-rs1051730 on smoking in adulthood was direct.

CONCLUSIONS

TTC12-ANKK1-DRD2s seemed to influence smoking behavior mainly in adolescence, and its effect is partially mediated by personality characteristics promoting drug-seeking behavior. In contrast, CHRNA5-CHRNA3-CHRNB4 is involved in the transition toward heavy smoking in mid-adulthood and in smoking persistence. Factors related to familial and social disadvantages were strong independent predictors of smoking.

Life-course analysis of a fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene variant and body mass index in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 using structural equation modeling

The association between variation in the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene and adulthood body mass index (BMI; weight (kg)/height (m)²) is well-replicated. More thorough analyses utilizing phenotypic data over the life course may deepen our understanding of the development of BMI and thus help in the prevention of obesity. The authors used a structural equation modeling approach to explore the network of variables associated with BMI from the prenatal period to age 31 years (1965–1997) in 4,435 subjects from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. The use of structural equation modeling permitted the easy inclusion of variables with missing values in the analyses without separate imputation steps, as well as differentiation between direct and indirect effects. There was an association between the FTO single nucleotide polymorphism rs9939609 and BMI at age 31 years that persisted after controlling for several relevant factors during the life course. The total effect of the FTO variant on adult BMI was mostly composed of the direct effect, but a notable part was also arising indirectly via its effects on earlier BMI development. In addition to well-established genetic determinants, many life-course factors such as physical activity, in spite of not showing mediation or interaction, had a strong independent effect on BMI.

Health behaviours and health in adolescence as predictors of educational level in adulthood: a follow-up study from Finland

A longitudinal study design is used to find out whether health and health behaviours at age 12-16 predict educational level in early adulthood. The purpose is to study direct (based on health) and indirect (based on health behaviours) health-related selection mechanisms in adolescence. These mechanisms contribute to the allocation of people into various educational positions and thus to the creation of socio-economic health differences in adulthood. Baseline data at age 12-16 from the Adolescent Health and Lifestyle Survey (Finland) in 1981, 1983 and 1985 were linked with data on highest attained education at age 27-33, obtained from the Register of Completed Education in 1998. In the baseline surveys, all 12-, 14- and 16-year-olds born within a specified range of birth dates in July 1964, 1966, 1968, or 1970 were included in the samples (N=11149). The response rate in the mailed surveys varied between 74% and 88% in boys and between 85% and 92% in girls. Associations between baseline variables and attained educational level were assessed by polychotomous logistic regression analysis.Health-compromising behaviours and poor perceived health in adolescence predicted low educational level in adulthood. Several behaviours had independent associations with attained educational level, while associations between health and educational level were mostly accounted for by school achievement and sociodemographic background, which were strong and independent predictors of educational level. The study indicates that in adolescence, indirect selection based on health behaviours, rather than direct selection by perceived health, contributes to the production of socio-economic health differences.

Presence of atopy in first-degree relatives as a predictor of a female proband's depression: results from the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort

BACKGROUND

Recent investigations suggest a common genetic rather than environmental cause to explain the association between IgE-mediated atopic allergies and depression.

OBJECTIVE

Taking into account psychosocial confounding factors, we investigated separately and at the epidemiologic level the effects of maternal, paternal, and sibling atopy on the cumulative incidence of a child's depression.

METHODS

We used an unselected, genetically homogenous, general population birth cohort of 12,058 live-born children in Finland. The 31-year prospective follow-up included questionnaire information on atopic disorders of the cohort members' parents and siblings. The probands' own atopic conditions were evaluated by means of skin prick tests, and information on lifetime depression diagnoses was gleaned from postal questionnaires and national hospital discharge registers. Potential confounders were mother's parity, father's social class, maternal smoking during pregnancy, proband's regular daily smoking, and proband's dwelling place. Total variable information was available from 4068 cohort members.

RESULTS

Among female probands, the presence of atopy in parents was the strongest predictor for lifetime depression (P <.001), and sibling atopy and parental atopy were the strongest predictors for hospital-treated depression (P =.018 and P =.036, respectively). After controlling for confounders, it was noticed that maternal atopy increased a female proband's risk of lifetime depression up to 1.9-fold (odds ratio, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.1-3.0). The corresponding risk increased over 4-fold if parental-maternal atopy was combined with proband's own atopy.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that maternal inheritance could be a significant causative factor in the association between atopy and depression of female probands.