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Biomedical subjects

F H Steffensen

Publications and source records attributed to F H Steffensen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

The association of indicators of fetal growth with visual acuity and hearing among conscripts.

Impaired fetal growth is associated with increased susceptibility to several chronic diseases. We studied the association between birth weight, indicators of disproportional fetal growth, and impaired visual acuity and hearing in 4,300 conscripts from a well-defined region in Denmark from August 1, 1993, to July 31, 1994. From the standard health examination for conscripts, we obtained data on sight based on the Snellen's chart and data on hearing acuity based on audiometry. By means of record linkage, we obtained data on outcomes for the conscripts at birth from the Medical Birth Registry. From this registry, we have data on birth weight, gestational age, and birth length that were recorded from existing computerized registers based on the records of midwives. A birth weight of less than 3,000 gm and a body mass index at birth of less than 3.4 were associated with reduced visual acuity and impaired hearing. The results could be due to fetal brain programming or due to confounding, by early birth trauma or other factors.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Cancer risk and mortality in users of calcium channel blockers. A cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Data regarding the association between the use of calcium channel blockers and cancer risk have been conflicting. In the current study, the authors examined the cancer risk and mortality in users of calcium channel blockers in North Jutland County, Denmark. METHODS: The authors conducted a cohort study using record linkage between a population-based prescription database, the Danish Cancer Registry, and the Danish Death Registry including 23, 167 users of calcium channel blockers who received >/=2 prescriptions between January 1, 1989 and December 31, 1995. The authors calculated the standardized incidence ratios and standard mortality ratios for cancer, along with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). RESULTS: Overall, 967 incident cases of cancer occurred, resulting in a standardized incidence ratio of 1.04 (95% CI, 0.98-1.11). There was a slightly elevated nonsignificant risk of tobacco-related cancer. No increased risk of breast or colon carcinoma was observed. The cancer mortality was close to that expected in the background population (standardized mortality ratio of 0.97; 95% CI, 0.89-1.04). CONCLUSIONS: This large-scale, population-based cohort study adds to the increasing evidence indicating no substantial association between the use of calcium channel blockers and the incidence rate of cancer or cancer mortality.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

[Antibiotic pre-hospital treatment and the course of meningococcal disease].

The aim of the study was to assess the effect of pre-hospital antibiotic treatment given by general practitioners to patients with meningococcal disease. It was carried out as a 16-year population-based historical follow-up study based on referral letters and hospital records in the County of North Jutland, Denmark, and included 320 patients with meningococcal disease, of whom 302 were examined by a general practitioner before admission to hospital. The main outcome measure was death. We found that 44 patients (14.6%) were given antibiotic treatment by the referring general practitioner. Nine of these (20.5%) died, compared with 16 (6.2%) patients who did not receive pre-hospital antibiotic treatment. The presence of skin bleeding, petechiae and impaired consciousness were strongly associated with case fatality. Even after adjustment for these variables the odds ratio for death in patients treated with antibiotics was high (3.2; 95% CI 0.9-10.6). In the 15 patients with skin bleeding (ecchymoses, suggillations) the case fatality rate was 100% in patients treated with antibiotics, and 50% in patients who did not receive antibiotics before hospitalization. It is concluded that pre-hospital treatment is mainly given to the most severe cases with expected high case fatality, and this confounding by indication was probably not fully adjusted for with the available data. The results contradict previous findings and provide reason to doubt the benefit of pre-hospital antibiotic treatment in patients with meningococcal disease.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

[Incidence of cancer after primary deep venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism].

We report a nationwide study based on a cohort of patients with a thromboembolic event (TE) defined as deep venous thrombosis and/or pulmonary embolism identified from the Danish National Registry of Patients from 1977 to 1993. Cancer occurrence in the cohort was determined by linkage to the Danish Cancer Registry. Expected number of cancer cases was estimated from age, sex and site-specific incidence rates. A total of 26,653 TE-cases were identified. We observed 1737 cases of cancer versus 1371 expected (SIR 1.3; 95% CI, 1.21 to 1.33). The risk was particularly high during the first months of follow-up, but declined rapidly hereafter to a constant level slightly above 1.0 one year after the TE. Forty percent of patients diagnosed with cancer within one year from the hospitalization for TE had distant metastases at the time of cancer diagnosis. The observed risk pattern provides evidence that most often a preclinical cancer gives rise to a subsequent TE. An aggressive search for hidden cancer in patients with TE is not warranted.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

A population-based cohort study of birth and neonatal outcome in older primipara.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the risk of adverse birth outcome in older primiparous women. METHODS: We identified 14,676 primiparae of 20 years of age or more from 1991 to 1996 using the Birth Registry in the North Jutland County, Denmark. We evaluated the risk of adverse birth outcome in the primiparous women aged 30-34 years and above 35 years using the primiparae aged 20-29 years at time of birth as reference. RESULTS: The risks of induced labor, perineotomy, stimulating contraction and vacuum extraction were significantly higher (adjusted odds ratio: 1.3 to 1.7) in the primiparae of 35 years or more. The odds ratio for cesarean section delivery was 2.1 (95% confidence interval: 1.7-2.6) and the odds ratio for delivering a low birth weight child among the primiparae of 35 years or more was 2.2 (95% confidence interval: 1.4-3.3) compared with the primiparae of 20-29 years of age. These risk estimates were independent of women's infertility treatment history. CONCLUSIONS: A negative effect of maternal age on birth and neonatal outcome may be seen even after 30 years of age and is partly related to chronic diseases. However, it is impossible to rule out selection bias, but the actual risk must be taken into consideration in antenatal care.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Pregnancy outcome following prescription for sumatriptan.

BACKGROUND: Some 2.5% of fertile Danish women use sumatriptan, and the drug is also taken during pregnancy. Although sumatriptan reacts selectively in brain vessels, the possibility of reactions with placental blood flow and uterotonic activity cannot be ruled out. The aim of our study was to examine the association between sumatriptan exposure during pregnancy and the risk of preterm delivery and low birth weight. METHODS: Data from the Pharmaco-Epidemiological Prescription Database of North Jutland county regarding all women who had given birth in the county of North Jutland from 1991 to 1996 were linked to the Danish Medical Birth Registry. Women who were exposed to sumatriptan during pregnancy were identified (n = 34), and using logistic regression models their pregnancy outcome was compared with two groups of pregnant women: (1) healthy women (n = 15 955) and (2) migraine controls (n = 89), defined as migraine patients who did not redeem prescriptions for migraine treatment during pregnancy. RESULTS: The risk of preterm delivery was elevated among women exposed to sumatriptan compared with migraine controls (odds ratio [OR] 6.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-32.0) and healthy women (OR 3.3, 95% CI 1.3-8.5). The odds ratio for having a newborn with a low birth weight was increased (OR 3.0, 95% CI 1.3-7.0) for all migraine patients who delivered at term (n=115) compared with the outcome of healthy pregnancies. CONCLUSIONS: We found that sumatriptan exposure during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of preterm delivery and low birth weight. These findings may be due to drug exposure, but they may also reflect the impact of disease severity rather than the treatment itself, or confounding, or chance.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Low birth weight and preterm delivery as risk factors for asthma and atopic dermatitis in young adult males.

Gestational factors have been hypothesized to play a role in the susceptibility to asthma and atopic dermatitis. We examined whether fetal growth was associated with asthma and atopic dermatitis separately in a population of 4,795 male conscripts born between 1973 and 1975 in Denmark. The prevalence of asthma was 4.7%. The prevalence odds ratio of asthma in conscripts with a birth weight below 2,501 g was 1.5 (95% confidence interval = 0.7-3.1) compared with conscripts with a birth weight of 3,001-3,500 g, adjusted for gestational age and potential confounders. The adjusted prevalence odds ratio among conscripts born before 34 gestational weeks was 0.8 (95% confidence interval = 0.3-2.0) compared with conscripts born at term. The prevalence of atopic dermatitis was 1.0%. The prevalence odds ratio of atopic dermatitis among those with a birth weight below 2,501 g was 3.0 (95% confidence interval = 0.8-11.9) compared with those whose birth weight was between 3,001 and 3,500 g. Men whose gestational age had been below 34 weeks had an adjusted prevalence odds ratio of 0.3 (95% confidence interval = 0.0-3.1). These findings indicate that fetal growth retardation rather than preterm delivery of male infants is the main gestational factor underlying the associations but does not explain the apparent increase over time of asthma or atopic diseases.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Effect of home and hospital delivery on long-term cognitive function.

We examined the relation between place of birth and cognitive function in young adult life in a historical cohort study based upon birth data from the computerized Danish Medical Birth Registry and cognitive function as measured at time of drafting for military service in two Danish counties. The cohort included 4,296 Danish conscripts born between 1973 and 1976, 123 born at home and 4,173 born in hospital or at a birth clinic. Cognitive function was measured by the Boerge Prien test in men, 18 to 20 years of age. The highest possible score is 78. The mean Boerge Prien test score was 43.1 for conscripts born in specialized hospital departments, 2.4 higher for conscripts born in a birth clinic (95% confidence interval = 0.9-4.0), and 2.1 lower for conscripts born at home (95% confidence limits = -3.8 to -0.4) after adjusting for birth weight, length at birth, birth order, gestational age, maternal age, and marital and occupational status. Our findings raise the possibility that home birth can lead to lower cognitive function in adulthood; however, from our data we could not distinguish between planned and unplanned births at home.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding associated with use of low-dose aspirin.

OBJECTIVE: Aspirin products are known to cause irritation and injury to the gastric mucosa. We examined the risk of hospitalization for upper gastrointestinal bleeding with use of low-dose aspirin. METHODS: This was a cohort study based on record linkage between a population-based prescription database and a hospital discharge registry in North Jutland County, Denmark, from January 1, 1991, to December 31, 1995. Incidence rates of upper gastrointestinal bleeding in 27,694 users of low-dose aspirin were compared with the incidence rates in the general population in the county. RESULTS: A total of 207 exclusive users of low-dose aspirin experienced a first episode of upper gastrointestinal bleeding with admission to the hospital during the study period. The standardized incidence rate ratio was 2.6 (95% confidence interval, 2.2-2.9), 2.3 in women and 2.8 in men. The standardized incidence rate ratio for combined use of low-dose aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs was 5.6 (95% confidence interval, 4.4-7.0). The risk was similar among users of noncoated low-dose aspirin (standardized incidence rate ratio, 2.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.8-3.5) and coated low-dose aspirin (standardized incidence rate ratio, 2.6; 95% confidence interval, 2.2-3.0). CONCLUSIONS: Use of low-dose aspirin was associated with an increased risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding, with still higher risks when combined with other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Enteric coating did not seem to reduce the risk. The findings from this observational study raise the possibility that prophylactic use of low-dose aspirin may convey an increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, which may offset some of its benefits.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1999

Birth weight and length as predictors for adult height.

Adult height has been found to be inversely associated with mortality. Recently, it has been suggested that growth in utero is linked with adult risk of several chronic diseases. The authors examined possible associations between birth weight, birth length, and adult height in young Danish men. They conducted the study in the fifth conscription district of Denmark including all the men born after January 1, 1973 who were residents in the study area during the period August 1, 1993 to July 31, 1994. The Danish Medical Birth Register contains information on all births in Denmark since January 1, 1973. Data on height from the Conscription Register were linked to the Danish Medical Birth Register in 4,300 conscripts examined. Nearly all Danish men have to register with the draft board around age 18 years of age where they undergo a physical examination. There was a strong positive association between birth weight and adult height; for subjects with birth weight < or = 2,500 g, mean height was 175.7 cm, while for those with birth weight > or = 4,501 g, mean height was 184.1 cm. A positive association was also found between birth length and adult height. For subjects with birth length < 47 cm, mean adult height was 175.2 cm, increasing to 184.3 cm at birth length > 56 cm. The associations between birth length and adult height persisted after adjustment for birth weight, gestational age, and other confounders, while the associations between birth weight and adult height almost disappeared when adjusting for birth length and the same confounders. Genetic and/or environmental factors operating both during the pre- and postnatal period may be responsible for the association between birth length and adult height.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Drug use in first pregnancy and lactation: a population-based survey among Danish women. The EUROMAP group.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the drug prescription pattern in Danish women from 12 weeks prior to conception until 12 weeks post-partum. METHOD: A drug utilization study based on The North Jutland Prescription Database. The Danish pharmacies use a computerized accounting system for all subsidized drugs and this was linked to the Danish Medical Birth Registry concerning prescription patterns for all women who had given birth in the county of North Jutland from 1991 to 1996. RESULTS: The analysis included 16,001 primiparous women, who had redeemed 34,834 prescriptions prior to, during and after pregnancy. During pregnancy 44.2% of the women received prescriptions for at least one drug. Users received 2.6 prescriptions on average during pregnancy: 5% of the users redeemed 24.2% of all prescriptions. The proportion of women who redeemed prescriptions for more than three different drugs was 2.7%. The majority of prescriptions were for antibiotics (28.7%), gynaecological drugs (13.3%) and anti-asthma drugs (7.6%). The post-partum prescription proportion was 34.0% and the majority of the prescriptions during this period were for penicillins (20.1%), ophthalmologicals (15.5%) and corticosteroids for dermatological use (5.7%). CONCLUSION: A high proportion of the women received drugs during pregnancy. The pattern of drug use within the Anatomical Therapeutical Chemical (ATC) groups changed, i.e. the amount of broad spectrum antibiotics decreased and the proportion of prescriptions for local use increased. A small proportion of women redeemed prescriptions for more than three different drugs during pregnancy.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Lipid-lowering medication and risk of cancer.

Low or declining levels of serum cholesterol have been associated with increased mortality from cancer. We conducted a population-based cohort study of 1882 patients from one Danish county who received lipid-lowering drugs between January 1, 1991 and December 31, 1994. During the follow-up period of up to 4 years, 41 cancers were observed among users of lipid-lowering drugs, with 42.9 expected, to yield an age- and sex-standardized incidence ratio of 1.0 (95% confidence interval, 0.7-1.3). Although limited by small numbers and short follow-up period, examination by site of cancer and type of drug provided no evidence of an association. Further research is needed, however, with longer follow-up to assess more fully any potential cancer risk with these medications.

Denmark↗
PubMed1999

Prescribing during pregnancy and lactation with reference to the Swedish classification system. A population-based study among Danish women.

AIM: To assess the current prescribing pattern for 15,756 primiparae before, during, and after their pregnancies with reference to fetal and neonatal risk. METHOD: A prescription database study with linkage to The Danish Medical Birth Registry from 1991 to 1996. The drug subsidy system in Danish retail pharmacies, made it possible to identify prescriptions by individual use. All 34,334 prescriptions were set against the Swedish classification of risk of drug use in pregnancy and lactation. RESULTS: During pregnancy, safe (group A), potentially harmful (group B3, C, and D), and non-classifiable drugs accounted for 40.9%, 26.6% and 28.7% respectively. The proportion of women who redeemed drugs was 29.2%, 8.6%, 18.7% and 0.9% from drug groups A, B, C and D respectively. The proportion of prescriptions from high risk groups declined during the course of pregnancy. Postpartum, safe drugs (group I and II), drugs with possible harmful neonatal effects (group III), and non-classifiable drugs accounted for 43.5%, 4.8%, and 35.8% of the prescriptions, respectively. CONCLUSION: According to the Swedish classification system, we found that during pregnancy and lactation a high proportion of Danish women were exposed to one or more drugs in high risk groups; furthermore, knowledge regarding their safety for the fetus and neonate was limited for a large proportion of the prescriptions. Current evidence about long-term effects of prenatal exposure stresses the need for long-term follow-up of health and development among exposed children.

Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Systems↗
PubMed1999

Low use of long-term hormone replacement therapy in Denmark.

AIMS: To examine individual use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in a defined population of Danish women during a 5-year period. HRT may reduce osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women, but may also have side-effects. Little is known about the use of HRT in most populations. METHODS: A Pharmacoepidemiological Prescription Database was used to identify all reimbursed prescriptions for HRT in the county during the period 1991 to 1995. The Danish retail pharmacies' drug subsidy system made it possible to identify prescriptions by individual use. RESULTS: We examined 255797 HRT prescriptions issued during the period in the County of North Jutland. Total sales reached 16.5 million defined daily doses (DDDs), purchased by 31653 women, which corresponds to 26.9% of the female population above the age of 39 years. The annual prevalence proportion of current users rose from 10.4% to 14.8% during the study period, and the therapeutic intensity (DDD/1000 women/day) increased from 20.6 to 32.0. The mean DDD sum of systemic HRT per user was 73.4 in 1991; it and the proportion of users who received less than 90 DDD per year (83.4% in 1991) remained almost constant during the study period. The amount of oestrogen unopposed by progestin was high, 28.1% of all prescriptions. CONCLUSIONS: Less than one-fifth of the study population used HRT for more than 3 months per year, and only 32.8% of the women who were new users of HRT in 1992 continued this therapy throughout the study period.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Risk of malformations and other outcomes in children exposed to fluconazole in utero.

AIM: Fluconazole is an active drug systematically used in the oral treatment of vaginal candidiasis and other fungal diseases. We examined the risk of malformations and other birth outcomes following pregnancy related exposures. METHOD: From 1 January 1991 to 31 December 1996 we identified 165 women who had taken fluconazole just before or during pregnancy in the Pregnancy Outcome Section of the North Jutland Pharmacoepidemiological Prescription Database, Denmark, which is linked to the Danish Medical Birth Registry. We compared their birth outcomes (malformation, low birth weight and preterm delivery) with the outcomes among 13 327 women who did not receive any prescriptions during their pregnancies. RESULTS: The prevalence of malformation was 3.3% (four cases) among the 121 women, who had used fluconazole in the first trimester, and 5.2% (697 cases) in offspring to controls (odds ratio: 0.65, 95% confidence limits: 0.24-1.77). Furthermore, we did not find any significantly elevated risk of preterm delivery (odds ratio: 1.17, 95% confidence limits: 0.63-2.17) and low birth weight (odds ratio: 1.19, 95% confidence limits: 0.37-3.79). CONCLUSION: The study showed no increased risk of congenital malformations, low birth weight or preterm birth in offspring to women who had used single dose fluconazole before conception or during pregnancy.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗
PubMed1999

Changes in liver-derived enzymes and self-reported alcohol consumption. A 1-year follow-up study in Denmark.

BACKGROUND: The association between alcohol intake and liver disease is well known, but little is known about alcohol consumption and changes in liver-derived enzymes within 1 year. In a 1-year follow-up study we examined changes in liver-derived enzymes and their association with self-reported alcohol consumption. METHODS: We recorded liver-derived enzyme values, self-reported alcohol consumption, and potential confounder variables at base line and at a 1-year follow-up in a representative sample of 822 persons (aged 30-50 years) from the survey of The Ebeltoft Health Promotion Project in Denmark, by using questionnaires, health examinations, and blood samples. RESULTS: The prevalence of increased liver-derived enzyme values was 11.1% at base line and 11.8% at the 1-year follow-up. The incidence rate of increased liver-derived enzyme values was 5.1 per 100 person-years, and 34% of the cases of increased liver-derived enzyme values returned to normal within I year. We found an odds ratio of 4.0 for men and 8.0 for women of developing increased liver-derived enzyme values if alcohol consumption was more than 21 units a week. The risk seemed to be dose-dependent. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of increased liver-derived enzyme values in the population was high and increased slightly during the study period. There was a strong association between the incidence rate of increased liver-derived enzyme values and self-reported alcohol consumption in a dose-dependent relationship, also when adjusted for confounding by smoking and obesity. The persons with persistently increased enzyme values had a higher weekly alcohol consumption than the rest of the study population.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Risk of acute pancreatitis in patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease. A Danish 16-year nationwide follow-up study.

BACKGROUND: There are few epidemiologic data about the risk of acute pancreatitis in chronic inflammatory bowel diseases; we therefore wanted to estimate the risk of a first episode of acute pancreatitis in patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis in the total Danish population. METHODS: The study included all patients discharged from Danish hospitals with a diagnosis of Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis registered in the Danish National Registry of Patients in the period from 1977 to 1992. The first episode of acute pancreatitis was identified in the cohort. The observed number of patients with acute pancreatitis was compared with expected numbers on the basis of age, sex, and calendar-specific incidence rates in the general population. RESULTS: Overall, 15,526 patients were discharged and followed up for 112,824 person-years. The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) for acute pancreatitis was increased both in patients with Crohn's disease (SIR = 4.3; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.9-6.1) and in those with ulcerative colitis (SIR= 2.1; 95% CI, 1.6-2.8). CONCLUSION: Patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease seem to be at increased risk of acute pancreatitis. Further validation and refinement of this registration-based study are needed.

Acute Disease↗