PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

K Louhivuori

Publications and source records attributed to K Louhivuori.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

Incidence and mortality from breast cancer in the Mama Program for Breast Screening in Finland, 1973-1986.

BACKGROUND: A cohort of women enrolled in the Mama breast self-examination-(BSE) containing breast screening program in Finland from 1973 through 1975 (with BSE used for screening and mammography for diagnosis) was studied. METHODS: Twenty-eight thousand seven hundred eighty-five women who returned calendars recording their practice of BSE over a 2-year period have been followed by linkage with the records of the Finnish Cancer Registry through 1986. The incidence of and mortality from breast cancer was compared with that expected in the Finnish population based on a model incorporating Finnish national data for breast cancer incidence and case fatality. RESULTS: Breast cancer incidence was higher than expected (a rate ratio of 1.19 over all ages). The stage distribution of cases was not different from that expected from Finnish cancer registry data for 1980, but the breast cancer mortality was lower than expected (a rate ratio of 0.75). The latter difference occurred mainly in Years 3-6 of the follow-up period. The effect seemed similar in women under and over the age of 50 years. The cohort was of higher educational status than the Finnish population, and the mortality from all causes was lower than the general Finnish population, an effect seen in previous studies of compliers with breast screening. CONCLUSIONS: The reduction in mortality from breast cancer in the study cohort is consistent with an effect of the BSE-containing Mama program, though selection bias, inherent in any observational study of screening, provided an alternative explanation for the findings.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Breast cancer screening as public health policy in Finland.

A nationwide mammographic screening for breast cancer was started in Finland in 1987. During the first 2 years of the organised screening programme, 126,000 women were invited. Most of them (103,000) belonged to the birth year cohort in the 50-59 years' age groups. Among the 112,000 screenees, 418 cancers (0.4%) were found. Specificity of the test was about 96%. The screening prevalence was 2.4 times the annual incidence and a minimum estimate for the detection rate among those invited was 1.6 times that among those not invited. These estimates indicate a relatively low test and programme sensitivity. The final effectiveness of a public health policy cannot be predicted on the basis of limited preventive trials, and there is need to evaluate also a public health policy by experimental means.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

Effect of a mass screening program on the risk of cervical cancer.

In Finland, the organized mass screening program for cervical cancer was initiated in the mid-1960s. In the early 1970s, the program became nationwide and it covered the age groups of 30 to 55 years. Currently, the screened age groups are 25 to 60 years, and the screening interval is 5 years. The organized program has resulted in a substantial decrease in the incidence of and mortality from cervical cancer. The reduction in age-specific incidence for all age groups from 30-34 to 50-54 years between the 1960s and 1980s was over 70%. At the age of 60 years and over there has been a slight decrease since the mid-1970s. The trends in mortality from cervical cancer have decreased correspondingly. Between the 1960s and 1980s, the reduction in age-specific mortality for age groups from 30-34 to 54-59 years was about 80%. The decrease was about 50% in the age group 60 to 69 years. At the age of 70 years and over, the decrease was smaller.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

A screening programme for cervical cancer that worked.

In three of the Nordic countries there are nationwide population based screening programmes for cervical cancer. These organized programmes have resulted in a substantial decrease in the incidence of and mortality from cervical cancer. In Finland the reduction in the incidence due to screening has been about 60-70% and it was most substantial for women around the ages of 35 to 50 years, which were screened most intensively. Similar changes occurred in the mortality. It seems that the prerequisites for a successful programme are, for example, to identify the target population, to send personal invitations to attend the screening and to give the results to the women screened. Quality control and evaluation of the programme are also assumed to be part of the programme. The programmes are consuming few resources. In Finland screening is repeated every five years, resulting in only six or seven smears in a lifetime.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Geographic origin of the family as a determinant of serum levels of lipids in Finnish children.

Children in the eastern part of Finland have higher serum total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels than children in the western part of the country. This is consonant with the high mortality rate for coronary heart disease in eastern Finland. Eastern and western Finns are assumed to have different geographic origins; because of this we divided into groups 630 newborns and 3554 children and adolescents according to their grandparents' birthplace, which, in Finland, reflect the origins of the children. No differences in serum lipid levels were found in the newborns but in the 3- to 18-year-old children the differences in mean serum total and LDL cholesterol levels were accentuated by this division. Boys with grandparents from the extreme eastern part and those with grandparents from the western part of the country showed the greatest differences. Prepubescent boys 3 to 12 years old living in the west but with grandparents from the east had total and LDL cholesterol levels similar to those of boys living in and descended of grandparents from the east, despite their diet being of the western type. Thus, although diet is known to be a major determinant of serum cholesterol level, genetic factors also seem to play a role.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Atherosclerosis precursors in Finnish children and adolescents. I. General description of the cross-sectional study of 1980, and an account of the children's and families' state of health.

The paper describes the general outline of a multicentre study on the risk factors of coronary heart disease (CHD) and their determinants in children of various ages in different parts of Finland. The study was a cross-sectional one, and was carried out in 1980 in five university cities of Finland with medical schools and in 12 rural communities in their vicinity. The randomized sample included an equal number of boys and girls, aged 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 years, and an equal number of urban and rural population in each area. The total sample size was 4,320 subjects, and of these 3,596 participated (83.1%). The families received before the medical examination of the child, questionnaires on the socioeconomic background the child's general health and development, the parents' and grandparents' health status, and the child's food and exercise habits. At the physical examination also a fasting blood sample (lipids, insulin, trace elements) was taken, a bundle of hair was cut for trace element analysis, and a 48-hour recall on food intake was obtained from every second subject. 19.5% of the children had in their history some long-term disease, allergic diseases being the most common. CHD and other cardiovascular diseases were significantly more frequent among the grandparents and parents in eastern than in western Finland. The study is meant to be a basis for a longitudinal study.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Atherosclerosis precursors in Finnish children and adolescents. VII. Serum immunoreactive insulin.

In the Finnish Multicentre Study of the risk factors of coronary heart disease serum immunoreactive insulin (IRI) was measured in 3,486 children and adolescents aged 3-18 years. Serum IRI increased with age till the age of 15 years in both sexes. The increase in serum IRI levelled off with the progression of pubertal development. Serum IRI levels were higher in girls than in boys from the age of 6 years onwards. Comparison of serum IRI gave identical results from eastern and western parts of the country. Serum IRI correlated positively with skinfold thickness, weight, relative weight and body mass index in all age groups except the 3-year-old children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Atherosclerosis precursors in Finnish children and adolescents. IX. Socioeconomic status and risk factors of coronary heart disease.

Relationships between parental socioeconomic status and CHD risk factors were examined in the Finnish Multicentre Study on Atherosclerosis Precursors comprising a material of 3,596 study subjects aged 3-18 years in five university cities and 12 rural communes. The work is based on the hypothesis that socioeconomic status has associations with important lifestyle factors related to the evolution of CHD risk factors. Although there is some indication that parental status variables correlate with CHD risk factors, the majority of the data point to the conclusion that socioeconomic status indicators have little relevance for children's CHD risk factor levels. The main exceptions to the above stated were the lower P/S ratio of the diet in farmers' children compared to the other socioeconomic groups in all age cohorts, and the higher serum total and LDL-cholesterol levels in the farmers' children as compared to the others in some age cohorts. The explanation to these findings is the dietary practice in farmers' households, full milk and butter being favoured instead of other milk types and vegetable margarine, respectively. Our findings illustrate the importance of the families' dietary habits with regard to certain CHD risk factors.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Atherosclerosis precursors in Finnish children and adolescents. XI. Psychological aspects.

The role of psychic risk factors in the early history of atherosclerosis was studied in 3,596 Finnish children and adolescents, aged 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 years. The family atmosphere, behavioural pattern and self-esteem were tested. The results showed that the abuse of alcohol by the parents and daily smoking by the child were the factors most clearly indicating the existence of psychic problems. The results showed that boys manifested in every age group behaviour most disposed to coronary heart disease (CHD). Furthermore, low serum HDL-cholesterol, high serum triglycerides, thick triceps skinfold and self-esteem problems coexisted and they can be supposed to independently contribute to the aetiology of CHD.

Adolescent↗