PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

L B Knudsen

Publications and source records attributed to L B Knudsen.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Legally induced abortions in Denmark after Chernobyl.

During the months following the accident in Chernobyl, Denmark experienced an increasing rate of induced abortion, especially in regions with the largest measured increase in radiation. As the increase in radiation in Denmark was so low that almost no increased risk of birth defects was expected, the public debate and anxiety among the pregnant women and their husbands "caused" more fetal deaths in Denmark than the accident. This underlines the importance of public debate, the role of the mass media and of the way in which National Health authorities participate in this debate.

Abortion, Legal↗
PubMed1990

[The use of free maternal preventive services among immigrant pregnant women in Denmark during 1983-1987].

As part of an investigation of immigrants' living conditions in Denmark, we have investigated how pregnant immigrant women utilize the possibility of free examinations during pregnancy. The study is based on data on all deliveries in Denmark in the years 1983-1987, retrieved from the Danish Medical Birth Registry concerning parturient women with permanent address in Denmark and who were born in either one of the Scandinavian countries, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Pakistan, Marocco, Iran of Vietnam. The women born outside Scandinavia gave birth to about 6,500 infants during the study period; roughly half of these were borne by Turkish women. The largest percentage of young parturients were found among women from Turkey and Yugoslavia. Pakistani and Maroccan mothers had higher parity. These two groups were especially concentrated in the municipality of Copenhagen, where half of the parturient women lived. A few lived in the remainder of the country while a total of 85% lived in the metropolitan area. Four out of ten pregnant Turkish or Pakistani women had been examined by a midwife less than the five times recommended. Among those living in the metropolitan area. Danish women have an average total of almost 11 examinations compared to 8.2-8.9 among immigrants. The conclusion of the study is that the immigrant women have less contact with the free antenatal care system during their pregnancies than the Scandinavian women and that the differences are greatest when examinations by the midwife were concerned. Further discussion on antenatal care in Denmark, is required.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

[Variations in frequency of Cesarean sections in Denmark].

An investigation is presented on the basis of the medical register of births concerning all primiparae who were delivered of a liveborn singleton infant in 1982 and 1986. On the basis of the section on complications in the notification of the births, we have made a subdivision into four "approximate indications". We find a variation in frequencies of Caesarean section from 9.7% (1982) to 17.1% (1986) between the various counties and an increase during the period investigated of 19%. 50% of the increase occurred in the group termed "other causes", 25% in the group of foetal distress and 25% in the group of dystocia. The group of breech presentations is, by and large, unchanged in Denmark as a whole but great differences are present between counties. This register investigation does not permit the possibility of deeper analysis of the reasons for the variations.

Cesarean Section↗
PubMed1990

[Labor complications and interventions in immigrant and Danish women during the period 1983-1987].

Based on data retrieved from the Danish Medical Birth Register, deliveries among Danish and immigrant women were compared in the years 1983-1987. The women were divided into two groups, primiparous and multiparous, and then compared by frequency and type of complications and interventions during labour. Five hospitals in the Copenhagen area were selected and more than 40,000 women were included in the survey. About 3,500 were from Yugoslavia, Turkey, Pakistan and Morocco and the remainder were from Denmark. An increased frequency of complications and interventions during labour was recorded among primiparous in comparison to multiparous during the period. This observation was not related to nationality. Stimulation of labour by intravenous drugs was more frequent among immigrant women than Danish women and was particular frequent among Moroccan and Pakistani women. Among these nationalities higher frequencies of complications were not recorded and the use of intravenous drugs did not imply more instrumental deliveries. It is presumed that one of the reasons why the use of intravenous drugs is more frequent among immigrant women is due to a feeling of insecurity during labour. This might be caused by defective communication between the woman in labour and the midwife. The subject calls for closer investigations based on case records and the women's own experiences. The necessities for special training of immigrant women and staff members in maternity wards are pointed out.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

[Frequency of causes of death related to sudden infant death syndrome in Denmark during the period 1972-1983].

Differences in the incidence of infant mortality due to sudden infant death syndrome between the regions of the three Institutes of Forensic Medicine in Denmark are known to exist. To investigate whether these could be due to differences in incidence of causes of death such as suffocation and respiratory infections, the rates and types of autopsy were analysed regarding these death causes. The number of deaths due to these causes and the development in the incidence cannot explain the variation of the incidence of SIDS, in the areas observed. For each of the three periods under consideration (1972-1975, 1976-1979, 1980-1983) the variation between institutes in SIDS-rate is relatively larger than the variation in the total rate of deaths due to these three groups of death causes. In the latest period the total rate is 1.93, 1.77 and 1.27 per 1,000 liveborn in Cophenhagen, Odense and Arhus areas, respectively. The study suggests different evaluations of the results of autopsy. A higher incidence of deaths due to congenital heart defects is seen in Arhus, where the lowest incidence of SIDS is observed. A prospective study (1987-1988) of all cases of sudden infant death in Denmark was initiated by the three forensic Institutes with the aim of evaluating possible time and regional incidence variations using identical diagnostic criteria.

Cause of Death↗
PubMed1989

[Abnormalities among newborn children born to immigrants in Denmark in the period 1983-1987].

It has recently been discussed whether there was a higher incidence of congenital malformations among newborns of immigrant mothers than among Danish infants. The study is based on information retrieved from two registries in the Danish National Board of Health, both with national coverage: The Medical Birth Register and the Register of Congenital Malformations. All livebirths in Denmark, born to women from Denmark, Scandinavia, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Pakistan, Morocco, Iran and Vietnam in the years 1983-1987, more than 240,000 infants, were included. When comparing the birth prevalence of congenital malformations in the various groups, the observed rate is corrected for maternal age and parity distribution, fathers' occupation (indicating the social position) and county of delivery, as ascertainment varies between hospitals. This part of the analysis did not support the observation of an increased incidence among offspring of immigrant women. A more detailed analysis, based on a multiplicative Poisson-model, compares the three largest groups: Danish, Turkish and Pakistani mothers. Evaluating the influence of maternal age, father's occupation and county of delivery, the result is that the differences observed can, to a large degree, be explained by these three factors, especially the county of delivery. The remaining differences are no larger than can be explained as random. We were thus unable to support the debated observation on a higher incidence of congenital malformations among infants born to immigrant mothers.

Congenital Abnormalities↗
PubMed1989

[Regional distribution of birth weights in Denmark during the period 1979-1983].

We investigated the geographical distribution of birthweights among liveborn infants in Denmark for the years 1979-1983, using the Medical Birth Register of the Danish National Board of Health. The investigation includes 272,361 liveborn children. The birthweight varies with the sex of the child, and with the age and parity of the mother. In the analysis of geographical variation of birthweight correction was made for these factors. We found an association between birthweight and urbanization, the lowest average birthweight being found in the capital, and the highest in the rural areas. Further, the average birthweight was higher in the western than in the eastern part of Denmark, especially in Northern Jutland and in Aarhus County. Geographical variation in gestational age explains part of the geographical variation in birthweight, but part of the variation must be explained by variation in the growth of fetuses. The role of genetic variation, variation in living conditions, and variation in the conduct of the health services is discussed. We found an unexpected association between the average birthweight in the counties, and neonatal mortality; the counties with high average birthweights also had a significantly increased neonatal mortalities.

Birth Weight↗
PubMed1989

[Extrauterine pregnancy after sterilization via a laparoscope].

Information was collected from the Danish National Patient Register and the Danish Board of Health about the frequency of rupture of extrauterine pregnancies among a normal population and among women who had previously been sterilized via a laparoscope. Significantly fewer extrauterine pregnancies were observed among the group of women who had undergone sterilization. Ruptured tubal pregnancies were significantly more frequent among women who had previously been sterilized as compared with the remainder of the fertile female population. It is therefore important that women who have previously undergone laparoscopic sterilization should contact their general practitioner if the slightest suspicion of pregnancy arises.

Female↗
PubMed1989

Ectopic pregnancy subsequent to laparoscopic sterilization.

Ectopic pregnancy after laparoscopic sterilization is analyzed and compared with the occurrence of ectopic pregnancy in a fertile female population of Denmark. The incidence of ectopic pregnancy in laparoscopic-sterilized women is significantly decreased compared with the nonsterilized fertile female population. When a poststerilization pregnancy occurred, ectopic pregnancy occurred 76% of the time, and the incidence of ruptured ectopic pregnancy is significantly increased after previous laparoscopic sterilization.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Effect of maternal age distribution and prenatal diagnosis on the population rates of Down syndrome--a comparative study of nineteen populations.

We analyzed published data from 1980-85 on maternal age specific rates of Down syndrome in nineteen malformation monitoring systems. In the comparisons, we used maternal age specific Down syndrome baseline rates collected in Sweden using multiple sources and from a period before intense prenatal diagnosis. We supposed that no real maternal age specific risk difference exists between different populations, and that ascertainment of cases is independent of maternal age. With these suppositions, most programs had an ascertainment level of 70-90%, and some had about the same but none had a higher ascertainment level than that in the Swedish baseline. Marked differences in maternal age distribution in the populations studied resulted in a 12.3% standard deviation of the average population Down syndrome rate. The highest theoretical rate (estimated from actual maternal age distribution and Swedish baselines) was found in Spain (20% above average), the lowest in Czechoslovakia (24% below average). The estimated average effect of prenatal diagnosis was a decrease of only 6%, but in Denmark it was 25% and in Sweden and France:Paris 13%.

Adult↗