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Biomedical subjects

O Rahkonen

Publications and source records attributed to O Rahkonen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Multiple socio-economic circumstances and healthy food habits.

OBJECTIVE: To examine associations between seven indicators of socio-economic circumstances and healthy food habits, while taking into account assumed temporal order between these socio-economic indicators. DESIGN AND SETTING: Data were derived from cross-sectional postal questionnaires in 2000-2002. Socio-economic circumstances were assessed by parental education, childhood economic difficulties, own education, occupational class, household income, home ownership and current economic difficulties. Healthy food habits were measured by an index consisting of consumption of fresh vegetables, fruit or berries, rye bread, fish and choosing vegetable fats on bread and oil in cooking. Sequential logistic regression models were used, adjusting for age and marital status. PARTICIPANTS: Employees of the City of Helsinki, Finland (n=8960, aged 40-60 years). RESULTS: Healthy food habits were reported by 28% of women and by 17% of men. Own education, occupational class, household income, home ownership and current economic difficulties were associated with healthy food habits. These associations were attenuated but mainly remained after mutual adjustments for the socio-economic indicators. Among women, a pathway was found suggesting that part of the effects of education on food habits were mediated through occupational class. CONCLUSIONS: Employees in higher and lower socio-economic positions differ in their food habits, and those in lower positions and economically disadvantaged are less likely to report healthy food habits. Health promotion programmes and food policies should encourage healthier food choices among those in lower socio-economic positions and among those with economic difficulties in particular.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Associations of SF-36 mental health functioning and work and family related factors with intentions to retire early among employees.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations of mental health functioning (SF-36) and work and family related psychosocial factors with intentions to retire early. METHODS: Cross sectional survey data (n = 5037) from the Helsinki Health Study occupational cohort in 2001 and 2002 were used. Intentions to retire early were inquired with a question: "Have you considered retiring before normal retirement age?" Mental health functioning was measured by the Short Form 36 (SF-36) mental component summary (MCS). Work and family related psychosocial factors included job demands and job control, procedural and relational justice, conflicts between work and family, and social network size. Multinomial regression models were used to analyse the data. RESULTS: Poor mental health functioning, unfavourable psychosocial working conditions, and conflicts between work and family were individually related to intentions to retire early. After adjustments for all work and family related factors the odds ratio for low mental health functioning was halved (from OR = 6.05 to 3.67), but nevertheless the association between poor mental health functioning and strong intentions to retire early remained strong. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight not only the importance of low mental health and unfavourable working conditions but also the simultaneous impact of conflicts between work and family to employees' intentions to retire early.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Mice with a deletion in the first intron of the Col1a1 gene develop dissection and rupture of aorta in the absence of aneurysms: high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging, at 4.7 T, of the aorta and cerebral arteries.

Deletion of the majority of the first intron of the Col1a1 gene in mice leads to decreased type I collagen synthesis and content in the aortic wall. In 54% of cases, mice homozygous for the Col1a1 mutation die of thoracic hemorrhage by the age of 18 months. It is unknown whether the fatal bleeding results from an acute dissection of the aortic wall or a gradually developing dilatation of the medial layer prior to rupture. We optimized high-resolution MRI methods using a 4.7 T MR scanner to obtain in vivo images of the entire mouse aorta. The MR images were acquired in three imaging planes using gradient echo, spin echo, and spin echo with inversion recovery pulse sequences with a maximum in-plane resolution of 68 x 68 microm and acquisition times less than 10 min. In five Col1a1 mutated mice aged 16 months, the MR images showed no signs of aneurysmal dilatation, wall defects, or former dissection, suggesting that the mechanism for aortic rupture is an acute dissection of the aortic medial layer. Cerebral arteries were imaged using a three-dimensional time of fight pulse sequence. The resolution of 73 x 73 x 94 microm showed normal cerebral arteries. Histology showed a 22% thinner cerebral artery wall in Col1a1 mutated mice.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Differences in connective tissue gene expression between normally functioning, polycystic and post-menopausal ovaries.

Arrested follicular maturation is a characteristic feature of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Follicles mature in ovarian stroma composed of extracellular matrix (ECM). However, little is known of the expression of ECM genes in polycystic ovaries. The present study compares the expression levels of genes coding for collagens, matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), their inhibitors (TIMP) and cathepsins in polycystic ovaries using fertile and post-menopausal ovaries as controls. In northern analyses, the gene expression profiles of type I and III collagen of PCOS samples resembled those observed in normal follicular phase ovaries, while mRNA levels of proalpha1(IV) collagen and TIMP-3 mRNA were significantly lower in polycystic than control ovaries. During the normal menstrual cycle, an increase was observed in MMP-9 gene expression during the luteal phase. In post-menopausal ovaries, mRNA levels for type I, III and IV collagens and osteonectin were reduced, while the MMP, TIMP (excluding TIMP-3) and cathepsins did not reflect this metabolic down-regulation. Immunohistochemical staining for MMP-9 and TIMP-4 suggested differences between polycystic and normally functioning ovaries. These data demonstrate that normal ovarian functions are associated with changes in production and degradation of ECM. The alterations observed in the production and/or distribution of type IV collagen, TIMP-3 and TIMP-4 suggest involvement of basement membranes in the pathogenesis of PCOS.

Connective Tissue↗
PubMed2001

[Small changes in health differences in the Nordic countries during the 1980s and 1990s].

The study examined changes over time in health inequality in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Data derive from comparable interview surveys carried out in 1986/87 and 1994/95. Limiting long-standing illness and perceived ill health were analysed regarding age, gender; educational attainment, and employment status. Age adjusted prevalence rates were calculated. Changes in differences in health were found in education and employment status groups. There was little or no change in the prevalence of ill health during the time period studied. Despite social and economic changes differences in health remained broadly stable in the examined countries.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2001

Body height, birth cohort and social background in Finland and Sweden.

BACKGROUND: Poor childhood living conditions are associated with short stature. Before the Second World War Finland had much lower living standards than Sweden, but this gap had largely disappeared by the 1970s. Body height differences were examined by birth cohort, economic difficulties in childhood and adult socioeconomic position in Finland and Sweden. METHODS: Two nationally representative data sets were used (n = 7,300 in Finland and n = 4,551 in Sweden). Three indicators of social background were included, i.e. economic difficulties in childhood, education and occupational class. The methods used were direct age-standardisation, index of dissimilarity and regression analysis. RESULTS: In the cohort born in 1920-1929 body height was taller in Sweden (175.8 cm among men and 163.7 cm among women) than in Finland (173.9 and 161.2 cm respectively). Body height by birth cohort increased faster in Finland, with the result that, in the cohort born in 1960-1969, the gap between the countries had narrowed to 0.8 cm among men and 0.3 cm among women. Body height differences by social background were larger in Finland than in Sweden. Socioeconomic body height differences have remained largely stable over the birth cohorts in both countries. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that differential economic development is partly seen in the narrowing of body height differences between Finland and Sweden. However, socioeconomic differences in body height have remained largely similar over the birth cohorts studied and between Finland and Sweden.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Structural changes and social inequalities in health in Finland, 1986-1994.

BACKGROUND: This paper seeks to examine changes in health inequalities in Finland from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. To improve our understanding of the contribution of employment status changes to class and educational differences in health within the context of changing labour market conditions, we examined the differences in ill health among social classes, educational groups, and employment status groups. METHODS: The data was derived from nation-wide Finnish Surveys on Living Conditions from 1986 and 1994. Analyses included the age range 25-64 years. Health was measured using limiting long-standing illness and perceived health as below good. Results are presented as age-standardized prevalence percentages and odds ratios from logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: The pattern and size of relative social inequalities in ill health have remained generally stable during the eight-year study period in Finland. Differences between social classes have changed only slightly. Differences between educational groups have declined somewhat among men, but have remained stable among women. Compared with the employed, health among the unemployed, housewives, and pensioners has improved for both men and women. Analysing social class differences within both the employed and the non-employed showed only negligible changes. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in social inequalities in health as indicated by class and educational differentials among Finnish men and women have mostly been negligible. The observed changes are likely to have been affected by the 1990s' labour market crisis in Finland. The rapidly increasing mass unemployment is unlikely to have been very individually selective in the short run. However, in the longer run, to the extent that unemployment remains high, this trend can be expected to change as re-entry to paid employment is likely to be more individually selective.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Understanding income inequalities in health among men and women in Britain and Finland.

The aims of this study were to investigate whether the relationship between income and self-perceived health is similar for men and women in two contrasting welfare states, Britain and Finland; whether the relationship between income and health is accounted for by employment status, education, and occupational social class; and whether the association differs when using alternative ways of measuring income: gross individual and net household equivalent income. Among British and Finnish men, low household and low individual income were related to poor health, even after adjusting for employment status, education, and social class. The adjusted relationship between individual income and health was stronger for British than Finnish men. Among British and Finnish women, net household equivalent income was strongly related to health, but after adjusting for employment status, education, and social class this relationship became weaker for British women and practically disappeared for Finnish women. For British women the association between income and health differed strongly depending on the income measure used; gross individual income had almost no effect on health. These results indicate that the association between health and income has no threshold in the sense that only people in poverty have poorer health than others. In further studies of income and health, household equivalent income should be used as the principal measure of income with adjustments for employment status, and men and women should be studied separately.

Cross-Sectional Studies↗
PubMed1999

Apoptosis in the pattern formation of the ventricular wall during mouse heart organogenesis.

Apoptosis is an important mechanism in organogenesis, but its role in heart development has been poorly characterized. We have here studied apoptosis in the developing ventricular wall of mouse embryonic heart. Developing mice hearts on days 11 to 16 of gestation were studied using in situ end-labeling of degraded DNA (TUNEL), immunocytochemistry of regulatory genes Bcl-2 and Bax, and light and electron microscopy. TUNEL end-labeled apoptotic cells were found in the ventricular wall on days 11 to 16 of gestation. The proportions of apoptotic cells of all cells in the ventricular wall differed between the trabecular and compact regions (P = 0.003) and between the days of gestation (P = 0.0001), the calculated apoptotic index was greater in the compact region at all ages except day 14. Ultrastructural analysis showed typical apoptotic shrinkage, chromatin degradation, and apoptotic bodies in several myoblastic and myocardial endothelial cells which were also positive by DNA end-labeling. Immunocytochemical reaction for the apoptosis checkpoint proteins in the ventricular wall showed clearly more Bcl-2 positive cells than Bax positive cells. The numerical densities of all cells in the compact and trabecular regions remained always higher in the compact region (P = 0.04) despite the fact that apoptosis was present in both areas at the same time. In conclusion, apoptosis takes place in the developing myocardial muscle as well as the myocardial endothelium during ventricular morphogenesis on days 11 through 16 and decreases clearly on day 16. We suggest that apoptosis and its regulatory factors are closely involved in the morphogenesis of the ventricular wall of the mammalian heart.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Gender differences in illhealth in Finland: patterns, magnitude and change.

The common wisdom about gender differences in illhealth has been encapsulated in the phrase "women are sicker, but men die quicker". Recently this wisdom has been increasingly questioned. The purpose of this study is first to analyse the patterns and magnitude of gender differences across various indicators of illhealth; second to examine changes over time in these differences and third to assess whether sociodemographic and socioeconomic, family status and social network determinants have any bearing on the differences. The data derive from nationally representative 1986 and 1994 Surveys on Living Conditions in Finland. Women showed poorer health for five out of eight indicators analysed; that is somatic symptoms, mental symptoms, disability among those 50 years or older, long-standing illness and limiting long-standing illness were more prevalent among women than men. Male excess was found for perceived health below good and extremely limiting long-standing illness among those 50 years or older. However, the male excess was statistically significant only for poor perceived health among those 50 years or older. Adjusting for a number of suggested determinants of health had a negligible effect on gender differences. Further analyses showed that gender differences in illhealth remained largely stable over the eight year study period which saw a steep increase of unemployment for both genders. Only in the case of mental and somatic symptoms have gender differences declined, with a simultaneous increase in the prevalence of such symptoms. Otherwise gender differences in illhealth turned out to be resistant to the deep labour market crisis over this relatively short period of time. Although women had poorer health than men for a number of health indicators, we also find gender equality and even male excess for some indicators. Furthermore, the results suggest that a male excess in illhealth is likely to be found with more severe domains of illhealth among elderly people.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Can children's health be predicted by perinatal health?

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this paper was to investigate how well children's health until age 7 years can be predicted by perinatal outcome using routine health registers. METHODS: Follow-up of one year cohort (N = 60192) was performed by record linkages with personal identification number. The data came from the 1987 Finnish Medical Birth Register, from six other national registers and from education registers of one county. RESULTS: All perinatal health indicators showed a strong correlation with subsequent health, and prediction of good health was satisfactory: 85% of children who were healthy in the perinatal period did not have any reported health problems in early childhood, and 91% of children healthy in early childhood had been healthy in the perinatal period. However, it was not possible to predict poor health outcome: 76% of the children with reported perinatal problems were healthy in early childhood, and 87% of the children with long-term morbidity in childhood did not have any perinatal problems. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that in assessing risk factors and health care technology, monitoring perinatal health is not enough and long-term follow-ups are needed.

Child↗
PubMed1999

Social background, adult body-height and health.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To study the socio-demographic determinants of body-height and the bearing of these determinants on the association between body-height and health among Finnish adults. DATA AND METHOD: Cross-sectional population survey including questions on social background, body-height and health, and retrospective questions on childhood living conditions. The data derive from a representative Survey on Living Conditions collected by Statistics Finland in 1994. The response rate was 73%. Male and female respondents > or =20 years were included in the analysis (N = 8212). Statistical methods include regression analysis and logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Body-height was strongly associated with year of birth, region, childhood living conditions and education among adult men and women. Body-height was also associated with limiting long-standing illness and perceived health as below good. Tall men had the best health and short men the poorest health. Among women the association of body-height with health differed from men, as tall women showed high levels of limiting long-standing illness, notably musculo-skeletal diseases. Adjusting for the background variables weakened but did not abolish the association between poor health and short stature among men and women. CONCLUSIONS: Short stature is associated with poor health among Finnish men and women. A non-linear association among women was found for musculo-skeletal diseases. The studied social background factors explained only little of the association between body-height and health.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Social class differences in health until the age of seven years among the Finnish 1987 birth cohort.

Studies on social class differences in childhood health are controversial partly because of different data collection methods, limited sample sizes and the use of limited numbers of health indicators. The increasing collection of health register data enables the use of such data in social class studies. Our purpose was to investigate social class differences in mortality and morbidity among all children born in Finland in 1987 (N=59,865 liveborns) until the age of seven by using several national health registers, and to study whether perinatal health explains these differences. The follow-up was based on data linkage with six national health registers, with 18 regional registers of mentally disabled children, covering the whole country, and with 38 educational registers of the largest county. Morbidity was measured in terms of a cumulative disease index, the cumulative incidence of asthma, diabetes, epilepsy and intellectual disability, hospitalisations, disease-related welfare benefits and special education. Social class, divided in four groups (I-III, Others) was defined by using the mother's occupation at the time the child was seven years old. Our study showed that register-based data collection is a feasible method for studying social class differences in health. In the unadjusted analysis, social class differences were found for all indicators except mortality after the age of one year and for the cumulative incidence of asthma and diabetes. After adjusting for confounders, the children in the lowest social class had the highest risk for poor health outcome both in the perinatal period and in childhood, and had the most intellectual disabilities, the highest mean of hospitalisation days, and received the most special education. The differences were not explained by perinatal health. The health of the children in the lowest social class was poorer, especially regarding mental indicators.

Chi-Square Distribution↗
PubMed1998

Social class differences in health and functional disability among older men and women.

The aims of the study were to describe the health of older men and women and to investigate the social patterning of health and functional disability among older men and women, with special reference to social class differences. The data were derived from the 1994 nationwide Finnish Survey on Living Conditions (N = 1,448). Functional disability, limiting long-standing illness, and self-assessed health were used as health measures. Sociodemographic measures were social class, marital status, and urbanization. The age-adjusted social class differences were clear. Farmers and workers reported more functional disability and poorer health than did the white-collar class. Differences were somewhat smaller among women than among men. Social class was a stronger determinant than urbanization and marital status of functional disability and health.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

Body mass and social class: a comparison of Finland and Sweden in the 1990s.

High physical weight affects public health as well as people's social relations. This study seeks to examine the distribution of physical weight across the social structure in Finland and Sweden in the early 1990s. We compare physical weight, classified by overweight and obesity, 1) between men and women, 2) between different age groups, and 3) between social classes in these two countries. Comparable interview surveys were conducted in Finland 1994 (N = 8,650, response rate 73%) and in Sweden 1991 (N = 5,306, response rate 79%). Physical weight, overweight and obesity of populations are described in terms of body mass index (BMI = weight (kg)/height (m2)). The average BMI is higher in Finnish men (25.6) and women (24.6) than in their Swedish counterparts (24.6 and 23.2, respectively). In both countries, the average BMI is higher in men than in women below the age of about 55-64 years. In both countries and in both genders the average BMI is higher, the higher the age. The level of overweight as well as obesity is lower in Sweden than in Finland. Social class differences can be found in both countries. The odds ratio for overweight is higher in Finnish male and female farmers (OR = 1.57 and 1.94, respectively) as compared to upper white collars (OR = 1.0). In Sweden, high odds ratio for overweight can be found among male entrepreneurs (OR = 1.80) and female unskilled manuals (OR = 2.65). Obesity varies by social class in Swedish men and women as well as in Finnish women, but not in Finnish men. The results show that Finnish men and women are more often overweight and obese than their Swedish counterparts, but social class differences in overweight and obesity are larger in Sweden than in Finland.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Past or present? Childhood living conditions and current socioeconomic status as determinants of adult health.

The aim was to study the associations of childhood living conditions, together with past and present socioeconomic status, with adult health among Finnish men and women. The data were derived from a nationwide interview Survey on Living Conditions collected by Statistics Finland in 1986. The sample represents the non-institutional Finnish population aged 15 years or older. The number of respondents was 12,057 and the response rate 87%. In this study we analysed 30-year-old and older subjects. Two health indicators were analysed: first, limiting long-standing illness; and second, self-assessed health as "below good". Four different indicators of childhood living conditions were included: one concerning economic problems, and three concerning family related social problems during childhood. Additionally, the degree of urbanisation of the childhood living area was examined. Past and present socioeconomic status were measured by the status of origin, i.e. the respondent's father's and mother's education, and the status of destination, i.e. the respondent's own current education. Economic problems during childhood were associated with current health. The association of childhood social problems with health was somewhat weaker and less consistent than that of economic problems. A comparison of the mutual impacts of economic and social problems, respectively, shows that economic problems are stronger and more independent determinants of adult health than social problems. According to multivariate logistic regression analysis, past and, particularly, present socioeconomic status are both important determinants of adult health. Current socioeconomic status showed strongest associations with adult health, but living conditions during upbringing, particularly economic problems and status of origin, were also significant predictors.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Changes in the social patterning of health? The case of Finland 1986-1994.

This paper analyses the social patterning and change of health status among the Finnish population from the mid-1980s until the mid-1990s. A broad structural transformation has been going on in Finland including demographic, social structural and, in the early 1990s, particularly sudden and deep labour market changes. We first examine the patterning of health status and its change among the Finnish adult population by age; secondly by regional structure; thirdly by socioeconomic status, that is educational level; and fourthly by employment status, that is between the employed and the unemployed. Analyses were made separately for men and women. The data derive from two pooled nationwide "Surveys on Living Conditions" which were conducted in 1986 (N = 12,057) and in 1994 (N = 8650). Health status was measured by limiting long-standing illness (LLI) and self-assessed health (SAH) as below good. The overall trend shows that health status has remained stable or improved slightly among the Finnish adult population from 1986 to 1994. Age differences show leveling off as particularly men above age 45 in 1994 reported better health status than eight years before; those below age 45 tend to report somewhat poorer health. Also regional differences have declined; health in the East/North regions is approaching the level of the rest of the country, except the Helsinki Metropolitan region. Educational differences in health status continue to be clear; however, for men, differences in LLI between the two lower educational groups have levelled off by 1994. Also for men, employment status differences in LLI have declined by 1994; no corresponding levelling off was apparent for women. The health status and its social patterning among the Finnish adult population have remained rather stable during the recession and related social structural changes in the early 1990s. Certain levelling off has taken place among men. As a result men's and women's health inequalities now resemble each other more than eight years before. Adverse health consequences of the recession are supposed to take a longer time to show up.

Adult↗