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O Lundberg

Publications and source records attributed to O Lundberg.

42 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Socioeconomic effects of acute diarrhoea in adults.

Epidemiological features and socioeconomic importance of acute diarrhoea in adults were studied in a prospective investigation of 309 patients and 240 controls in the city of Malmö, Sweden. Data from a national survey of 6,000 individuals interviewed for gastrointestinal and other symptoms were included. The age group 20-35 years constituted half of the patients. Although 41% of all patients were travellers--and travelling is more common in young people--the age distribution was not due to travelling habits alone. A relative risk of attracting diarrhoea abroad in different geographical regions is indicated, tropical Africa and Romania having the highest risk factors. The community costs of diarrhoea depend much more on production loss by the affliction of young people than direct costs for medical care. Preventive measures would be economically rewarding.

Acute Disease↗

Class and health: comparing Britain and Sweden.

The questions addressed in this article are two, namely are class differences in health apparent in Sweden in the same manner as was shown for Britain in the Black Report? and is it possible to learn anything new about inequality patterns in different stages of life from analyses of self-reported morbidity data? By analysing data on long-standing illness by the means of logistic regression, it is shown that the risk of falling ill is distributed in very similar ways in the two countries, although the dispersion of these risk factors seems to be greater in Britain. In an analysis of acute sickness this result is not obtained, which is assumed to be an effect of differences in answering patterns. For Sweden, it is shown that social classes do not differ much in terms of health among the young. Instead, inequalities in health seem to be established at first in middle age.

Age Factors↗

Examining points of reference of self-rated health among Swedish oldest old.

The aim of the study is to assess the relative importance of comparisons with people of the same age and comparisons with the respondent's own health 1 year before the survey as two likely points of reference for ratings of health status among the elderly. Data was derived from the Swedish Panel Study of Living Conditions of the Oldest Old (n=438) comprising those aged 77-98. On the basis of multiple regression analyses we first map the relationships between three measures of self-rated health (SRH) on the one hand and measures of ill-health and physical functioning on the other. In our main analyses it is shown that both men and women use other persons of the same age as an important point of reference when rating their own health. Our results also tend to suggest that men, in contrast to women, also refer to recent changes in their own health when giving a general health rating.

Journal Article↗

Persistent variations in average height between countries and between socio-economic groups: an overview of 10 European countries.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: This paper aims to provide an overview of variations in average height between 10 European countries, and between socio-economic groups within these countries. DATA AND METHODS: Data on self-reported height of men and women aged 20-74 years were obtained from national health, level of living or multipurpose surveys for 1987-1994. Regression analyses were used to estimate height differences between educational groups and to evaluate whether the differences in average height between countries and between educational groups were smaller among younger than among older birth cohorts. RESULTS: Men and women were on average tallest in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands and shortest in France, Italy and Spain (range for men: 170-179 cm; range for women: 160-167 cm). The differences in average height between northern and southern European countries were not smaller among younger than among older birth cohorts. In most countries average height increased linearly with increasing birth-year (approximately 0.7-0.8 cm/5 years for men and approximately 0.4 cm/5 years for women). In all countries, lower educated men and women on average were shorter than higher educated men (range of differences: 1.6-3.0 cm) and women (range of differences: 1.2-2.2 cm). In most countries, education-related height differences were not smaller among younger than among older birth cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: The persistence of international differences in average height into the youngest birth cohorts indicates a high degree of continuity of differences between countries in childhood living conditions. Similarly, the persistence of education-related height differences indicates continuity of socio-economic differences in childhood living conditions, and also suggests that socio-economic differences in childhood living conditions will continue to contribute to socio-economic differences in health at adult ages.

Adult↗