Lena Lendahls

When do adolescents become smokers? Annual seven-year population-based follow-up of tobacco habits among 2000 Swedish pupils--an open cohort study.

Objective. To follow the development of a class of pupils’ tobacco habits for seven years, and to study differences in tobacco use between girls and boys. Setting. Kronoberg County in southern Sweden. Subjects. All the approximately 2000 pupils were followed from approximately age 12 to approximately age 18. Design. Yearly cross-sectional surveys from 1994 to 2000. Each year, the pupils filled in an established tobacco questionnaire. They did it anonymously in the classroom. Main outcome measures. Percentage of smokers, number of cigarettes smoked per day, and percentage of pupils using “snus”, the Swedish variety of oral moist snuff. Results. From grade 6 of compulsory school to grade 12 of upper secondary school, the proportion of daily smokers rose, from 0.2% to 22% for girls and from 0.5% to 14% for boys. Among both genders, the increase occurred mainly between grades 7 and 10, and from grade 10 onwards the daily smokers were the largest group of smokers. Starting from grade 9, boys had higher total tobacco consumption than girls, as a result of their increased use of “snus”, and at the end of the study 39% of the boys used tobacco compared with 34% of the girls. Conclusion. Studying young peoples tobacco habits over time gives an understanding of when preventive measures should be implemented. In order for these to influence attitudes, they should be put in place well before tobacco is introduced.

Using the Internet as a source of information during pregnancy — A descriptive cross-sectional study in Sweden

OBJECTIVE The Internet plays a major role for pregnant women in seeking knowledge and for getting in touch with like-minded women. The information is available at all hours and can be accessed anywhere. The information provides the women with a sense of control and confidence but the large amount of information available can also be overwhelming. The aim of this study was to identify how women use the Internet as a source of information during their pregnancy and how it affects them. DESIGN AND SETTING A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted.Data were collected through a questionnaire at antenatal clinics in the southern Sweden. The data were analyzed descriptively PARTICIPANTS A total of 193 Swedish women, pregnant at least 34 weeks, participated in the study. The response rate was 94%. FINDINGS Almost all (95%) of the women in the study used the Internet as a source of information. The main reason was to find information and read about people in the same situation. Reading pregnancy-related information on the Internet was seen as positive. However, a majority of the woman experienced feelings of worry due to something they read online. These feelings were most commonly coped with by talking to a partner, relatives, and friends or by asking the midwife at their next appointment. Eleven per cent of the women contacted the general healthcare services because of their feelings of worry. CONCLUSION Almost all women in this study searched the Internet to find pregnancy-related information, despite being satisfied with the information they received from the ANC. Using the Internet was seen as complementary to the information from professionals. It also caused feelings of worry, which could lead to the woman contacting healthcare services for support. ANC could help to reduce these feelings for some women by informing about the advantages and disadvantages with online information and recommending suitable web pages.

Tobacco cesssation - as we want it! An interview study with young people

Background: Smoking among teenagers and young people is still common and about every third young smoker states that they want to quit smoking. There are no obvious evidence-based methods for tobacc ...

The Health and Well-Being among Children with Diabetes and Low HbA1c—A Qualitative Study in Sweden

Aims and objectives: To examine health and well-being, as well as the need for support among children and parents where the child has T1DM with low HbA1c (<52 mmol/mole). The purpose was also to investigate the extent to which children’s and parents’ experiences match. Introduction: Studies have shown that children with diabetes type 1 (T1DM) rate their lives as worse than healthy peer ratings. In Sweden, views have been expressed that children, as well as their parents, feel pressurized by the diabetes teams to achieve low HbA1c values, which can lead to poorer mental health for the family. Design: A qualitative study. Methods: A consecutive sample of 11 children and their parents (one father, ten mothers) was interviewed together but individually guided by a semi structured interview guide. Interviews were analyzed using thematic content analysis. Results: Four main categories were consistent across children and their parents; 1) attitude to the illness, 2) sadness about diabetes, 3) the importance of the social network, and 4) the importance of the diabetes team. Worries about hyperglycemia were more prominent than worries about hypoglycemia in both children and parents. A distinguishing feature of the interviewed children was that they were responsible, strict and targeted. Many of them were competitive and took part in various sports, even at a very advanced level. Conclusions: This study shows that children with low HbA1c values experience good health and good well-being. Family support, good planning, and high acceptance of their illness contributed to this.