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O Odegård

Publications and source records attributed to O Odegård.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

[Surgical treatment of lumbar disk prolapse. A 20-year material].

Surgery for herniated lumbar discs was performed on approximately 700 patients during the period 1963-83. 500 patients with a median observation of 13.5 years (5-25 years) were included in a follow-up study by reviewing journals and using a questionnaire. 35 of these patients (7%) had an acute operation. 398 patients (79.6%) were satisfied with the operation. There was a high positive correlation between the radiologic and peroperative findings and few complications after operation. 59 patients (11.8%) were reoperated and 94 patients (18.8%) were later hospitalized without operation because of lumbar pain. We conclude that patients who are to have surgery must be carefully selected, and that patients should be informed about the degenerative process, and the marked possibility of residual or repeated herniation and continuing lumbar pain.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Huntington's chorea in Norway.

By means of a National Case Register of patients admitted to psychiatric hospitals in Norway it was possible to study the case-histories of the 199 patients admitted from 1916 to 1975 with a diagnosis of Huntington's chorea. Ascertainment is likely to have been most complete for the years 1930-50, when the prevalence rates ranged between 6 and 7 per 100 000 population. The social adjustment of the patients was found to be more favourable than expected up to the onset of serious psychiatric and neurological symptoms. The marriage rate and the rate of reproduction were not lowered. Occupational distribution and the pattern of migration were normal. Depression and suicide were remarkably rare. The age of onset among single patients was nearly 10 years lower than among the married, and more than 13 years lower on admission to hospital, indicating selection for marriage. With a marriage rate of about 70% and the late manifestation of the disease, predictive tests without prospects of treatment are apt to increase significantly the burden on the carriers.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Inbreeding and schizophrenia.

The unique situation that the Norwegian 1891 census included information on consanguineous relation between spouses and that first admissions to psychiatric hospitals by diagnosis were available for the years 1921-40, formed the basis for the present study. There are similarities between the pattern of inbreeding and admission rates in our rural communities, but we were unable to demonstrate any significant correlation. This is interpreted as due to selective avoidance in the choice of a marriage partner, particularly between near relatives. Good neighbourhood knowledge was an important factor in our sparsely populated communities with a marriage pattern distinguished by extreme geographical proximity of residence of spouses. The considerably lower proportion of first cousin matings than expected among parents of psychiatric in-patients 1926-55, illustrates the lower psychiatric morbidity in offspring of consanguineous parentage. Admissions 1921-40 comprised only functional psychoses with a predominance of schizophrenia (greater than 80%), which today is diagnosed in less than 10%. A decline in incidence rate is not likely, whereas changing diagnostic practice is probably a main factor. The near disappearance of catatonia and hebephrenia could be related to the introduction of psychotropic drugs and the accompanying improvement in hospital treatment. The epidemiology of schizophrenia is unchanged with a significant excess in lower social classes. This could in part be due to schizophrenic phenocopies related to the unchanged social differential in infant mortality and morbidity (including a particular season of birth effect), in part to the prevalence of adverse environment postnatally. The considerably greater male marital differential has probably a social cause, whereas male earlier onset of disease and more severe course of the disease are discussed in relation to the new concept of progressive sexual brain differentiation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Recent rise in supposedly stress dependent causes of death in psychiatric hospitals in Norway indicating increased "stress" in hospitals?

The present study comprises all deaths in Norwegian psychiatric hospitals in 1950-74 with the diagnosis of non-organic (functional) psychosis: 5106 deaths. Mortality declined in both sexes as did excess mortality which is now 1.7 times the general population in the male, and 2.3 times in the female sex. However, a significant rise in unnatural deaths (suicides and accidents) took place in both sexes during 1963-74, as mortality increased 2-3 times in comparison with 1950-62. This rise in unnatural deaths is probably directly related to the introduction of drug therapy, which created an increased need for protection of the hospital population. A challenge which the accompanying changes in the hospital environment have failed to meet. Cardio-vascular mortality increased considerably during 1963-74 in both sexes. The rise is most likely the combined result of an adverse effect of drug therapy in individual patients (obesity, physical inactivity, increased smoking habits), the reduced stress-relieving effect of hospitalisation through shorter stays in hospital and the liberalization policy. We may not yet have experienced the total adverse effect on mortality of the increase in behavioural risk factors in psychiatric patients. It is suggested that future mortality studies include psychiatric out-patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Persistent discrepancy in international diagnostic practice since 1970.

National admission statistics by diagnosis since 1970, were available from seven WHO member countries. All had officially introduced the ICD 8, but only two countries strictly adhered to the ICD categories in practice. The new 3-digit category 298 (Other psychosis) has met with no success, nor did the new subgroups of schizophrenia with a favourable outcome (295.4, 295.5 and 295.7) gain much acceptance. The discrepancy in diagnostic distribution is virtually unchanged from that before 1970 with a persistent wide concept of schizophrenia in U.S.A. and of depressive illness in England. A new feature is the striking increase in non-psychotic admissions at a time when there is a marked decline in the hospital population. This is taken to indicate that the social stigma attached to the term psychosis persists, and is met with evasion. A preference for unspecified terms (fourth digit 9) is evident, as is the use of terms which leave open whether the patient is psychotic or not (311 in ICD 9). Evidently, instruction in the use of the WHO glossary is called for. In the U.S.A. the replacement of the ICD by the local classification DSM-III is likely to accelerate the reluctance to accept international standards. Moreover, the development of local diagnostic systems for research purposes in England and U.S.A. is not without problems, as there is a disturbing lack of consensus in diagnosis between these two national systems. Obviously, we need the ICD with its clear concepts, and above all the ICD is valuable for securing continuity in diagnostic classification.

Bipolar Disorder↗
PubMed1982

[Perspectives after 55 years of psychiatric activity].

The author looks back over 55 years of psychiatric activity. It is pointed out that radical changes have taken place in the discharge practice of the psychiatric hospitals. The number of discharges with less than three months of stay in hospital have increased from 819 per year 1941-2 to 7881 in the years 1978-79, the number of beds being about the same. Although most of these discharges are re-admissions and therefore do not represent as many individuals, this means a drastic increase in the number of extramural patients. Many of them in a convalescent state. The resulting health problems demand a more active aftercare than is given today.

History, 20th Century↗
PubMed1980

[Paranoia].

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Humans↗
PubMed1980

Fertility of psychiatric first admissions in Norway 1936-1975.

A statistical study is made of the children born up to first admission to married women hospitalized for serious mental disease in Norway 1936-1975, 30,428 women were registered, with a total of 60,916 children. This observed number of children was related to the number to be expected if the fertility of the patients had been equal to that of a corresponding sample of the general population. The relative fertility (number of children observed per 100 expected) was found to have increased moderately from 72.4 in 1936-45 to 83.6 in 1966-75. There was no difference between the diagnostic categories, in particular not between schizophrenia and manic-depression. It is pointed out that individuals with a psychotic parent may represent a high-risk group because of their social and personal situation. Our material indicates that each year 1,800 children are born in Norway who during their childhood or adolescence were exposed to this particular risk.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Mortality in psychiatric hospitals in Norway 1950--74.

The present investigation comprises all deaths in Norwegian psychiatric hospitals 1950--74: 10,413 deaths. Mortality in men declined from 361 per 10,000 before 1950 to 252 per 10,000 in 1969--74 and in women from 324 per 10,000 to 215 per 10,000 during the same periods. In the organic and symptomatic psychoses (mainly senile and arteriosclerotic) mortality ranged from six to ten times that of the general population, whereas in the non-organic (functional) psychoses mortality was only twice as high as in the general population. This discrepancy in mortality between organic and non-organic psychoses, which is caused by the somatic disorders with high lethality underlying the organic psychoses, suggests that mortality should be calculated separately for organic and non-organic psychoses, which is sometimes neglected. An increasing number of hospital admissions with organic, mainly senile, psychoses is to be expected in the future, as well as an increasing proportion of non-organic patients with slight psychotic symptoms and a low and possibly decreasing mortality. between 1950 and 1974 radical changes took place in the psychiatric hospitals which could have influenced mortality. Age-adjusted death rates from cardio-vascular diseases were actually higher in 1963--68 than in 1950--62, possibly indicating that an adverse effect of drug therapy on physical activity and somatic fitness had outweighed the stress-relieving effect. A significant rise in unnatural deaths (suicides and accidents) has been observed particularly since 1963. As in previous investigations from Norway 1926--41, cancer as cause of death was equal to or below the general population in the non-organic psychoses and somewhat higher in the organic psychoses.

Accidents↗
PubMed1977

Season of birth in the population of Norway, with particular reference to the September birth maximum.

The monthly number of births in Norway fluctuates between a maximum in January-May and a minimum in October-December. This cyclic seasonality is assumed to be of biological origin, but indirectly it is influenced by social factors and consequently tends to vary a great deal. There is a secondary birth maximum in September, corresponding to a peak of conceptions during the traditional festivities around Christmas and New Year. It is shown that this maximum is much less variable within the country studied, though it probably varies from one country to another in relation to the impact of the mid-winter traditions. The January-May birth maximum is known to be higher in schizophrenia than in the general population, while no such difference is observed in Norway for the September birth peak. It is felt that there is a fundamental difference between the two birth maxima and a corresponding difference between schizophrenic patients and the general population. Minimal paranatal brain damage of seasonal origin is suggested as an explanation.

Birth Rate↗
PubMed1977

Treatment of posttraumatic clavicular pseudarthrosis.

Six patients with posttraumatic pseudarthrosis of the clavicle were treated during 1973 and 1974 with an operative technique consisting of trimming of the bone ends, placement of a cortical bone transplant posteriorly and metal plate anteriorly, and fixation of the plates with screws. At examination 10-23 months postoperatively complete healing had been achieved in all cases.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Predominance of extreme geographical proximity of the spouses of heirs to independent farms in a mountain valley in Norway between 1600 and 1850.

The marriages contracted between 1600 and 1850 in the parishes Vang and Slidre in the mountain valley of Valdres in Norway were investigated, using the information in the genealogical and local history of the parishes and in various public archives. The parishes functioned as a marriage isolate, in spite of regular communication with neighbouring districts. Only 54 of 4334 marriages were with residents outside the parishes, and marriages with a non-farming class (clergy) were as rare (47); 1130 marriages were probably between offspring of crofters and independent farmers. The further analysis concerns 3103 marriages contracted by the eldest sons and other heirs to 463 of the 493 farms, with members of the farming class within the parishes. Because of the linear settlement with clusters of same-named farms along both sides of the river, marital distance was measured by counting the number of farm-clusters (neighbourhood steps) between places of birth. In comparison with expectation when the marriage partner is chosen at random, marriages within the cluster occurred 13 times more frequently than expected, with an adjoining cluster 8 times more frequently and with a neighbour 1-2 clusters away 6 times as frequently as expected. One-third of the 3103 marriages were contracted within a distance of two clusters or less, and 60% eight clusters or less apart. A marital distance of 15 clusters (= 7 km) included 74% of the marriages. The predominance of a marriage pattern based on such geographical proximity must necessarily imply similarity in genetic structure of the descendants. Close consanguineous mating was apparently consciously avoided. This extreme geographical proximity of the spouses of heirs to the independent farms is probably explained by the function of a marriage as a contract to benefit the farm: promoting good neighbourliness and preventing quarrels and lawsuits related to the already very complicated ownership of cultivated land.

Female↗