Karina Friis

Food buying habits of people who buy wine or beer: cross sectional study

Abstract Objective To investigate whether people who buy wine buy healthier food items than those who buy beer. Design Cross sectional study. Setting Supermarkets in Denmark. Data Information on number, type of item, and total charge from 3.5 million transactions over a period of six months. Results Wine buyers bought more olives, fruit and vegetables, poultry, cooking oil, and low fat cheese, milk, and meat than beer buyers. Beer buyers bought more ready cooked dishes, sugar, cold cuts, chips, pork, butter or margarine, sausages, lamb, and soft drinks than wine buyers. Conclusions Wine buyers made more purchases of healthy food items than people who buy beer.

Influence of health, lifestyle, working conditions and sociodemography on early retirement among nurses. The Danish Nurse Cohort Study

Aims: The aim of the study was to analyze the relationship between health, lifestyle, work-related and sociodemographic factors, and older nurses exit from the labor market to Post-Employment Wage (PEW). PEW is an early retirement scheme to make it possible for workers to retire at the age of 60. Methods: The study was based on 5,538 nurses in the age of 51—59 who in 1993 completed a questionnaire on health, lifestyle, working environment, and sociodemographic factors. The survey information was combined with longitudinal data from the Danish Integrated Database for Labor Market Research compiled by Statistics Denmark. The follow-up period was from 1993 to 2002. Results: Nurses who had poor self-rated health were more likely to join PEW compared with nurses who considered their health as good (HR 1.28, 95% CI 1.16— 1.41). Low job influence, high workload, and physical job demands only marginally increased the probability of retiring. Nurses who have relatively low gross incomes had an increased probability of entering PEW compared with nurses with relatively high gross incomes (HR 1.60, CI 1.43—1.79). Having a spouse increased the probability of joining PEW, especially having a spouse who had retired or was unemployed. Conclusions: The retirement age among nurses is influenced by a number of sociodemographic, work-related, and health-related factors. Poor health, low income, living outside the Copenhagen area, being married, having a spouse who is outside the labor force, and working in the daytime are all predictors of early retirement among nurses. Poor working environment only marginally increased the probability of retiring early.

The relationship between lifestyle, working environment, socio‐demographic factors and expulsion from the labour market due to disability pension among nurses

BACKGROUNDnDenmark is facing a shortage of nurses and this trend is anticipated to worsen within the next decades. The major reason for this shortage is that only very few nurses remain employed until the general retirement age. Every year several nurses are expelled from the labour market prematurely which causes a problem not only for the disabled nurses but also because it can affect the morale and productivity among the remaining personnel while new staff members are hired and trained.nnnAIMnThe aim of the study was to analyse the relationship between lifestyle, working environment, socio-demographic factors and disability pension (DP) among nurses.nnnMETHODSnThe study was based on 12,028 nurses above the age of 44 who in 1993 completed a questionnaire. The survey information was combined with longitudinal data from a register compiled by Statistics Denmark. The follow-up period was from 1993 to 2002.nnnRESULTSnNurses with relatively low gross incomes were more likely to become disability pensioners compared to nurses with high incomes (hazard ratio, HR 1.33 and HR 2.17). Also, nurses who were singles had a higher probability of entering DP (HR 1.63). Nurses who worked fixed evening or night shifts had higher risks of DP than nurses who worked daytime exclusively (HR 1.51 and HR 1.45). Smoking, obesity and having a sedentary lifestyle were also risk indicators for DP (HR 1.42, HR 1.63 and HR 1.50). Furthermore, low influence and high physical demands at work increased the probability of entering DP (HR 1.39 and HR 1.22).nnnCONCLUSIONnDP among nurses is influenced by a number of factors. Nurses who have poor working environments and/or unhealthy lifestyles have higher risks of becoming disability pensioners. Also, nurses who are singles and/or have low gross incomes have higher probability of entering DP.

A Latent Class Analysis of multimorbidity and the relationship to socio-demographic factors and health-related quality of life: A national population-based study of 162,283 Danish adults

Objectives To identify patterns of multimorbidity in the general population and examine how these patterns are related to socio-demographic factors and health-related quality of life. Study design and setting We used latent class analysis to identify subgroups with statistically distinct and clinically meaningful disease patterns in a nationally representative sample of Danish adults (N = 162,283) aged 16+ years. The analysis was based on 15 chronic diseases. Results Seven classes with different disease patterns were identified: a class with no or only a single chronic condition (59% of the population) labeled “1) Relatively Healthy” and six classes with a very high prevalence of multimorbidity labeled; “2) Hypertension” (14%); “3) Musculoskeletal Disorders” (10%); “4) Headache-Mental Disorders” (7%); “5) Asthma-Allergy” (6%); “6) Complex Cardiometabolic Disorders” (3%); and “7) Complex Respiratory Disorders” (2%). Female gender was associated with an increased likelihood of belonging to any of the six multimorbidity classes except for class 2 (Hypertension). Low educational attainment predicted membership of all of the multimorbidity classes except for class 5 (Asthma-Allergy). Marked differences in health-related quality of life between the seven latent classes were found. Poor health-related quality of life was highly associated with membership of class 6 (Complex Cardiometabolic Disorders) and class 7 (Complex Respiratory Disorders). Despite different disease patterns, these two classes had nearly identical profiles in relation to health-related quality of life. Conclusion The results clearly support that diseases tend to compound and interact, which suggests that a differentiated public health and treatment approach towards multimorbidity is needed.

Social marginalization reduces use of ENT physicians in primary care

OBJECTIVEnThe aim of this study was to explore the association between social marginalization of the mothers and their childrens use of the healthcare system and ear-nose-throat (ENT) physicians in the year 2009 in a region of Denmark.nnnMETHODSnA regional register-based cross-sectional study of use of healthcare services among children (n=10,232) of marginalized mothers and children (n=101,582) of non-marginalized mothers in the North Denmark Region. Social marginalization was defined as having received public social benefits for more than 80% of the year.nnnRESULTSnChildren with a marginalized mother had more chronic medical diagnoses (OR=1.22, 95% confidence interval 1.17-1.28), they had more frequently been in contact with their general practitioner during the year, and they used the healthcare system more often than children of non-marginalized mothers, except in the case of ENT specialists (OR=0.90, 0.85-0.95), and they had more seldom tympanostomy tubes inserted (OR=0.75, 0.66-0.87). The distance between ENT-clinic and place of residence of the patients had only a small effect on the use of ENT-physician, and only significant in the non-marginalized.nnnCONCLUSIONSnChildren of marginalized mothers used the healthcare system more than other children, except in case of ENT-physicians. They had fewer ENT-consultations and had less frequently inserted tympanostomy tubes when they attended the surgery.

Physical violence at work predicts health-related absence from the labor market: A 10-year population-based follow-up study

Objective: Exposure to physical workplace violence is one of the most serious threats to employee safety. The aim of the present study was to examine whether physical violence at work increases the risk of health-related absence from work and is associated with a greater risk of health-related absence from work in certain subgroups defined by gender, age, and educational level. Method: The study draws on data from a health and morbidity survey from 2006 merged with register data for each year in the period from 2006 to 2015 (n = 14,250). Rare event logistic regression models were used to examine physical violence at work as a predictor of health-related absence from work. Results: Physical violence at work predicted health-related absence from work several years after being exposed. In the 10-year follow-up period, individuals who had been exposed to physical workplace violence had 1.67 times higher odds of health-related absence than nonexposed individuals. The study also showed that exposed women, persons above 40 years of age, and individuals with a higher educational level had higher odds of health-related absence from work than their nonexposed counterparts. Conclusion: Employers and workers’ organizations should take action to support and help victims of physical workplace violence so that they may avoid future absence from the labor market. Victims of physical workplace violence are not affected by the incident only in the exposure year; they remain affected up to 8 years after.

Young people's attitudes towards illicit drugs: A population-based study

Aims: Previous studies indicate that young people who have positive attitudes towards illicit drugs are more inclined to experiment with them. The first aim of our study was to identify the sociodemographic and risk behaviour characteristics of young people (16–24 years) with positive attitudes towards illicit drug use. The second aim was to identify the characteristics of young people with positive attitudes towards illicit drugs among those who had never tried drugs, those who had tried cannabis but no other illicit drugs, and those who regularly used cannabis and/or had tried other illicit drugs. Methods: The analysis was based on a population-based survey from 2013 (N = 3812). Multiple logistic regression was used to analyse the association between sociodemographic and risk behaviour characteristics and positive attitudes towards illicit drugs. Results: Young men had twice the odds of having positive attitudes towards illicit drug use compared with young women (AORu2009=u20092.1). Also, young age, being single, being employed, smoking tobacco, practising unprotected sex, and experimental cannabis use were associated with positive attitudes towards illicit drug use. Finally, use of cannabis at least 10 times during the previous year and/or use of other illicit drugs had the strongest association with positive attitudes to illicit drug use (AORu2009=u20096.0). Conclusions: Young people who have positive attitudes towards illicit drug use are characterized by a broad range of risky behaviours. These findings may help to identify young people at risk of initiating illicit drug use and thereby support the development and implementation of prevention programmes.