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Biomedical subjects

Jari Jokelainen

Publications and source records attributed to Jari Jokelainen.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2004

Vitamin D supplementation during the first year of life and risk of schizophrenia: a Finnish birth cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: Based on clues from epidemiology and animal experiments, low vitamin D during early life has been proposed as a risk factor for schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to explore the association between the use of vitamin D supplements during the first year of life and risk of developing schizophrenia. METHOD: Subjects were drawn from the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort (n=9,114). During the first year of life, data were collected about the frequency and dose of vitamin D supplementation. Our primary outcome measures were schizophrenia, psychotic disorders other than schizophrenia, and nonpsychotic disorders as diagnosed by age 31 years. Males and females were examined separately. RESULTS: In males, the use of either irregular or regular vitamin D supplements was associated with a reduced risk of schizophrenia (Risk ratio (RR)=0.08, 95% CI 0.01-0.95; RR=0.12, 95% CI 0.02-0.90, respectively) compared with no supplementation. In males, the use of at least 2000 IU of vitamin D was associated with a reduced risk of schizophrenia (RR=0.23, 95% CI 0.06-0.95) compared to those on lower doses. There were no significant associations between either the frequency or dose of vitamin D supplements and (a) schizophrenia in females, nor with (b) nonpsychotic disorder or psychotic disorders other than schizophrenia in either males or females. CONCLUSION: Vitamin D supplementation during the first year of life is associated with a reduced risk of schizophrenia in males. Preventing hypovitaminosis D during early life may reduce the incidence of schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Childhood central nervous system infections and risk for schizophrenia.

Central nervous system (CNS) viral infections have been suggested to increase the risk of schizophrenia, although most of the evidence is indirect and comes from rather few studies on exposure to various infections in general. In the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort the association between schizophrenia and other psychoses and childhood CNS infections has been analysed, and in this paper we present the follow-up results up to the end of 1994 and 1997. Data regarding the infections were collected prospectively between 1966-1980 and data on psychoses from 1982. The registered psychiatric diagnoses were validated using the DSM-III-R classification. Out of the 11017 subjects (96% of all births in that year) 145 had suffered a CNS infection during childhood, which in 102 cases was a viral infection. In the follow-up to the end of 1994, 76 had schizophrenia, and their number increased to 100 to the end of 1997. In addition, up to the end of 1994, 52 patients had a non-schizophrenic psychosis. Four cases in the schizophrenia patient group and none of the patients with other psychosis had suffered a viral CNS infection. None of the schizophrenia cases and two of the patients with other psychosis had had a bacterial infection. The adjusted odds ratio for schizophrenia after a viral CNS infection was 4.8 (95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.6-14.0) in the follow-up to the end of 1994 and 2.5 (0.9-7.0) in the follow-up to the end of 1997. The clinical course variables did not differ between the schizophrenia patients with or without CNS infection. Our results suggest that viral CNS infections during childhood may have a role as a risk factor for schizophrenia. Their role may be modest at the population level due to their relative rareness.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Age at menarche and depression at the age of 31 years: findings from the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: Early age at menarche has been found to be associated with higher oestrogen levels among girls around the onset of puberty and in early adulthood. The role of oestrogen in depression is not clear, although it affects serotonergic functions in the central nervous system (CNS). We wanted to test the hypothesis that age at menarche is associated with depression in young adulthood. METHODS: The material consisted of 3952 women born in 1966 in Northern Finland. Depression was defined by the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25), the use of antidepressants and by self-reported lifetime depression diagnosed by physician. Menarcheal age was divided as 9-11, 12-15 and 16 years or over. RESULTS: The prevalence of depression was 1.8-fold in current depression, 2.8-fold in the use of antidepressants and 2.1-fold in self-reported physician-diagnosed depression in women with menarche at the age of 16 years or later. After adjusting for confounders, the significant positive association between current depression and late menarche remained, but the use of antidepressants and depression diagnosed by physician had not statistically significant association with the age of menarche. CONCLUSION: A possible explanation for the result may be oestrogen as a protective factor against depression.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Seasonal variation in postnatal depression.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the occurrence of postnatal depression in general and during different seasons as part of a larger longitudinal mother-child follow-up study. METHOD: One hundred and eighty-five mothers, from the maternity wards of University Hospital of Oulu, Finland, completed a self-rating depression scale, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) twice: first at hospital 2-7 days after delivery and the second time at home 4 months after the delivery. Different psychosocial variables were mapped out to avoid any confounding factors. The year was divided in two separate ways: first, three different time periods were selected by the amount of sunlight: dark (October-January), intermediate (February, March, August, September) and light (April-July), and second, the year was divided by seasons. The results were analysed by the chi(2)-test for multinomials. RESULTS: Sixteen percent (16.2) of mothers were scored as being depressed using 13 as a cut-off point immediately after the infant was born. Thirteen percent (13.0) were depressed measured 4 months postpartum. There was more mild depression in the autumn (ratio observed/expected 1,62; 95% confidence interval 1.05-2.19) immediately after delivery, using 10 as a cut-off, and less depression in the spring (0.27; 0.00-0.62) measured at home later, using 13 as a cut-off. When using classification by the amount of light there was more depression during the dark time (1.58; 1.05-2.11) immediately postpartum. LIMITATIONS: The group sizes and the amount of sample sizes collected within each month are quite small. CONCLUSIONS: It should be borne in mind that seasonal changes and alterations in the amount of light might influence the occurrence of postnatal depression.

Depression, Postpartum↗
PubMed2004

Comparison of hospital-treated personality disorders and personality disorders in a general population sample.

The distribution of personality disorders (PDs) was explored in hospital-treated subjects and in a population subsample. This study forms a part of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort study. Hospital case records of psychiatric treatment periods of all cohort members (n=11,017) were reviewed and re-checked against DSM-III-R criteria. A subsample of the cohort members living in Oulu (n=1609) were invited to a two-stage psychiatric field survey with Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID) as a diagnostic method. The most common PDs in hospital-treated sample were cluster B PDs (erratic). In the population subsample, cluster C PDs (anxious) formed the majority.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Hyperlipidemia in persons using antipsychotic medication: a general population-based birth cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Shortly after phenothiazines were introduced, they were found to elevate serum triglyceride and total cholesterol levels. During the past decade, an increasing body of literature has also documented this effect in atypical antipsychotics. Previous studies of antipsychotic-associated hyperlipidemias are based on clinical samples, mostly from case series. We studied the prevalence of hyperlipidemia in subjects who did and did not take antipsychotic medication in a prospective, general population-based birth cohort. METHOD: The study sample consisted of 5654 members of the unselected Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort who participated in the 1997-1998 clinical examination at 31 years of age. Blood samples were taken after an overnight fast, and serum total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and triglyceride levels were determined. Health habits and other possible correlates for hyperlipidemia were assessed using a questionnaire. The sample was analyzed in 4 categories according to use of antipsychotic medication: (1) atypical, (2) typical, (3) atypical and typical (for the 3 antipsychotic categories, total N = 45), and (4) no antipsychotic medication (N = 5609). Nonparametric tests and multiple logistic regression analysis were used to measure the effect of antipsychotics on serum lipids. RESULTS: High lipid levels were found in persons treated with both atypical and typical medication (mean total cholesterol = 233 mg/dL, mean triglycerides = 163 mg/dL). Mean total cholesterol and triglycerides were also high in subjects who used only typical medication (215 mg/dL and 148 mg/dL, respectively). The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia, high LDL cholesterol, and hypertriglyceridemia was high in persons using antipsychotic medication (31.1%, 20.0%, and 22.2%, respectively) compared with persons not using such medication (12.2%, 10.2%, and 7.0%, respectively). After we adjusted for risk factors for hyperlipidemia (sex, diet, waist circumference, physical exercise, smoking, and alcohol consumption), the results of logistic regression analysis showed that in persons treated with antipsychotic medication the risk of hypercholesterolemia was 2.8 (95% CI = 1.4 to 5.6); of hypertriglyceridemia, 2.3 (95% CI = 1.0 to 5.4); and of high LDL cholesterol, 1.6 (95% CI = 0.7 to 3.5). CONCLUSION: Lipid levels in subjects who used both atypical and typical medication and those who used only typical medication were high even in young age. As these persons are at special risk of hyperlipidemia, their lipid levels should be regularly monitored, and a cholesterol-lowering diet, as well as medication, should be considered. The results indicate an elevated risk of hyperlipidemia in persons using antipsychotic medication independent of the other risk factors assessed.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Ability to speak at the age of 1 year and alexithymia 30 years later.

OBJECTIVE: We studied the association between speech development in the first year of life and alexithymia in young adulthood. METHODS: The study forms a part of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort. The original material consisted of all liveborn children in the provinces of Lapland and Oulu in Finland with an expected delivery date during 1966. The comprehensive data collection began during the antenatal phase. In 1997, a 31-year follow-up study was made on a part of the initial sample. The 20-item version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) was given to 5983 subjects. Of them, 84% returned the questionnaire properly filled in. The ability to talk was classified according to whether the child spoke no words, one or two words, or three or more words at the age of 1 year. Statistical analyses on the association between the ability to speak at the age of 1 year and alexithymia at the age of 31 years were performed, adjusted for birth weight, mother's parity, place of residence and wantedness of pregnancy. RESULTS: The mean of the total TAS score was lowest among early speakers and for both genders separately. The differences were statistically significant. A parallel significant difference was found among males on TAS Factors 2 and 3 and in case of females on TAS Factors 1 and 3. CONCLUSIONS: We found evidence for an association between speaking development in early childhood and later alexithymia. Our results support the theory that alexithymia may be a developmental process starting in early childhood and reinforcing itself in a social context.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Criminality in the offspring of antenatally depressed mothers: a 33-year follow-up of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort.

BACKGROUND: No epidemiological studies have been reported on the association between mothers' antenatal depression and criminality in their offspring. METHODS: The material consists of a general population cohort of 12059 children born in 1966 in Northern Finland and followed to the end of 1998. Mothers were asked at midgestation by a nurse at the antenatal clinic if they felt themselves to be depressed. The Finnish Ministry of Justice provided information for all descendants on criminal offences. The associations between maternal depression and subgroups of violent and non-violent, violent recidive and non-recidive criminality in male and female offspring were analysed. RESULTS: Of the mothers 14% had depressed mood during pregnancy. A total of 607 (10.9%) male and 72 (1.3%) female criminal offenders were included in the cohort. When adjusted for mother's marital status, smoking, wantedness of the pregnancy, place of residence, socioeconomic status and perinatal complications, the odds ratio (OR) for males was 1.4 (95% CI 1.0-1.9) in the association between maternal depression and non-violent offenders, 1.6 (1.1-2.4) between maternal depression and violent offenders and 1.7 (1.0-3.0) between maternal depression and violent recidivists. The adjusted OR for females involved in non-violent crimes was 1.7 (0.9-3.3) and 0.6 (0.1-6.0) for violent crimes. LIMITATIONS: Maternal depression was not checked using a standardized assessment. CONCLUSIONS: For male offspring of antenatally depressed mothers there was a significant but slight increase in criminality. The emotional state of a pregnant mother may have some, but limited, influence on later criminality in the offspring.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

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.

Cohort Studies↗
PubMed2003

The Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 in screening DSM-III-R axis-I disorders.

Simple screening questionnaires for major psychiatric disorders are needed for epidemiological research and clinical work. We describe the characteristics of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25) as a screening instrument in a two-phase epidemiological survey using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID) as a diagnostic tool. The material consisted of 1609 subjects aged 31 years who were asked to participate in a health survey. The invitation included the HSCL-25 questionnaire. All "screen-positive" (HSCL-25 mean>/=1.55) subjects and every tenth "screen-negative" subject were invited to participate in the SCID interview. The sensitivity of the HSCL-25 for any present DSM-III-R axis-I psychiatric disorder was 48%. The specificity was 87%. The sensitivity of cases with comorbid psychiatric disorders was 100%. The HSCL-25 is a moderate instrument for screening with present axis-I DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in a young adult population. It can be recommended for screening of psychiatric disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Association between skin test diagnosed atopy and professionally diagnosed depression: a Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have suggested an association between IgE-mediated atopic allergies and depression, although thus far no epidemiologic evidence involving a large, unselected, general-population sample and valid methods in diagnosing atopy support this putative association. METHODS: We used the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort, which was followed prospectively to age 31. Of the total cohort, 5428 individuals underwent skin tests for three of the most common allergens (i.e., cat, birch, and timothy grass) and for dust mites (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus). Data on doctor-diagnosed lifetime depression were obtained from questionnaires. RESULTS: After adjusting for social class, mothers' parity, place of residence, and psychiatric morbidity, the logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of developing depression when compared with nonatopic subjects increased up to 1.8-fold in atopic women (adjusted odds ratio 1.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-2.6) and, when compared with skin-test-negative female subjects without allergic symptoms, reached 2.7-fold increases (95% CI 1.6-4.6) in those suffering from clinically manifest atopic disorders. Corresponding associations were not found among male subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that women suffering from atopic diseases may possess an elevated risk for developing depression during early adulthood. Possible background theories (i.e., genetic abnormalities in serotonin metabolism, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction, and histamine theory) are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Seasonal variation in specific methods of suicide: a national register study of 20,234 Finnish people.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have suggested differences in seasonal variation of violent and non-violent suicides, but seasonal distribution of the specific methods of suicide is less clear. METHOD: We investigated the seasonal distribution of the specific suicide methods for both genders during a 16-year period. The seasonal effect was explored by monthly ratio statistics from the large population-based data including all suicides in Finland during years 1980-1995 (n=20,234). RESULTS: Hanging peaked in spring among both genders. In summer, the significant peaks were occurred in suicides by drowning, jumping and gassing among males. The bimodality in female suicides with autumn peaks was explained by poisoning and drowning. Traffic suicides showed substantial winter-troughs for both genders. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that specific violent and nonviolent methods of suicides grouped into their traditional clusters on the basis of their seasonality, except suicides by gassing and shooting. The seasonal distribution in specific suicide methods should take into account in suicide prevention at clinical work and also it should be considered while determining which methods of suicides are regarded as violent or non-violent methods in research.

Cause of Death↗
PubMed2002

Predictors of female criminality: findings from the Northern Finland 1966 birth cohort.

OBJECTIVE: Females still commit fewer criminal offenses than males, but the percentage of female offending has been increasing during the past few decades. Thus there is a need for original studies into the perinatal contribution to the etiology of female offending. METHOD: A large, prospectively collected birth cohort database of female members (N = 5,056) was available. Information on perinatal biological and psychosocial risks as well as data from the National Crime Registers up to 32 years of age were collected and analyzed by logistic regression and a chi2 automatic interaction detection (CHAID) analysis. RESULTS: The absence of the father during childhood was the strongest risk factor in predicting female criminality (odds ratio 2.5; 95% confidence interval 1.4-4.3). Furthermore, in the families in which the father was present, maternal smoking during pregnancy together with being born unwanted correlated with an increased prevalence of criminal offending significantly up to 7.2%. CONCLUSIONS: CHAID analysis proved to be a useful statistical method in predicting female adult criminality after preceding perinatal risks. It revealed that the risk factors were mainly familial, the paternal factor being the most important one in determining the probability of daughters committing criminal offenses.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Family type and criminal behaviour of male offspring: the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Unstable family environment during childhood is known to predispose to juvenile delinquency. AIMS: This study explored whether childhood family structure is associated with violent behaviour of adult offspring. METHODS: We used a large, unselected general population birth cohort (n = 5589 males) linked with the national crime registers (up to the age of 32 years). The Ministry of Justice provided information on registered offences for all subjects. A logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association between family type and criminality (violent and non-violent crimes). RESULTS: We found that single-parent family "at birth" (adj. OR 3.6, 95% CI 1.8-7.0) and "all time" (up to the age of 14 years) (adj. OR 5.2, 95% CI 2.5-10.6) were risk factors for violent offences of an adult offspring. Also parental death (adj. OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.3-3.6) and divorce (adj. OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.6-3.7) doubled the risk for violence. Non-violent offences were associated only with parental death and, divorce. CONCLUSIONS: A single-parent family of origin is strongly associated with later violent criminality of male offspring. Further studies are needed to explore the psychosocial aspects of single-parent family environment which may promote the vulnerability to violent offending in adulthood.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Somatization disorder in young adult population.

Somatization is a widespread problem in health care. We estimated the occurrence of Somatization Disorder (SD) using three different case-finding methods in a general population cohort. The sample consists of 1,598 subjects born in 1966. The case-finding methods according to the DSM-III-R criteria for SD were: 1) Finnish Hospital Discharge Register (FHDR) data, 2) analysis of the patient records in public outpatient care 1982-1997, and 3) Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID) for 321 selected cases. The prevalence of SD was 1.1% (N = 18), giving a female-to-male ratio of 5:1. All cases were found among the public outpatient care records. No cases appeared in the FHDR or were recognized in the psychiatric interview. The lifetime prevalence of SD was comparable with previous western population studies. Methodologically, information from outpatient records may be more sensitive in detecting SD than hospital diagnosis or even psychiatric interview. Clinically we stress the importance of recognizing these cases by liaison psychiatrists especially because SD has been recognized as being difficult to treat among somatic and primary health service providers and because some promising treatment alternatives such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and antidepressants have emerged for SD patients.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Low educational performance is associated with drunk driving: a 31-year follow-up of the northern Finland 1966 birth cohort.

AIMS: We studied the relationship between drunk driving offences, school performance and adult educational achievements. METHODS: Data from the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort were linked with official criminality files and National Education registers. The cohort members were studied prospectively covering the period from pregnancy to 31 years of age. Drunk driving (one to two arrests) and recidivist drunk driving (three or more arrests) were treated as outcome variables and their relation to school performance was studied by cross-tabulation and to adult educational achievements (two levels of education) by logistic regression analysis, adjusting for parental social class and psychiatric morbidity. RESULTS: Drunk drivers had a statistically significantly worse school performance compared with controls. Male cohort members who had remained at the basic educational level had an elevated risk for drunk driving [odds ratio (OR) 3.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.3-3.8]. The corresponding adjusted ORs for recidivist drunk driving and female drunk driving were 8.6 (95% CI 5.1-14.4) and 7.0 (95% CI 3.3-14.8), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: These results are unlikely to be directly causal; however, educational failures seem to be part of the complex causal pathway to drunk driving and even to alcohol-related disorders.

Achievement↗