<i>Purpose</i> - Quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) represent a critical metric in economic evaluations impacting key healthcare decisions in many countries. However, there is widespread disagreement as to which is the best of the health state utility (HSU) instruments that are designed to measure the Q in the QALY. Instruments differ in their descriptive systems as well as their valuation ...

Infant and childhood growth are dynamic processes with large changes in BMI during development. By performing genome-wide association studies of BMI at 12 time points from birth to eight years (9286 children, 74,105 measurements) in the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study, replicated in 5235 children, we identify a transient effect in the leptin receptor (<i>LEPR</i>) locus: no effect ...

<i>Aim</i> - The aim of this study was to investigate if working in a cold environment and feeling cold at work are associated with chronic pain (ie, lasting ≥3 months).<p> <p><i>Methods</i> - We used data from the sixth survey (2007–2008) of the Tromsø Study. Analyses included 6533 men and women aged 30–67 years who were not retired, not receiving full-time disability benefits and had no missing ...

<p><i>Background - </i>Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection causes impairment of the gastrointestinal barrier, with substantial depletion of CD4⁺ T cells in the gut. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) restores CD4⁺ counts and may have beneficial effects on gut microbiota in adults. Little is known about effect of long-term ART on gut microbiome in HIV-infected children. We ...

<i>Background</i> - The association between reproductive factors and risk of cutaneous melanoma (CM) is unclear. We investigated this issue in the Norwegian Women and Cancer cohort study.<p> <p><i>Objectives</i> - To examine the association between the reproductive factors age at menarche, menstrual cycle length, parity, age at first and last birth, menopausal status, breastfeeding duration and ...

<i>Objective</i> - To examine the association between station of the fetal head at complete cervical dilation and duration of second stage of labor, as well as prolonged second stage of labor, without and with the use of analgesia (EA).<p> <p><i>Study design</i> - We conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study of 3311 women with a singleton pregnancy, gestational age ≥ 370 weeks, and ...

<i>Background</i> - In Europe, the highest proportion of HIV diagnoses are in gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM). Globally, HIV prevalence is particularly high among males who report selling sex, but rates among men who buy sex from other men are less clear. This study analyzed the association of transactional sex (TS) and HIV diagnosis, sexually transmitted infection (STI) diagnoses, ...

<i>Background</i> - The Nordic countries have commonalities in gender equality, economy, welfare, and health care, but differ in culture and lifestyle, which might create country-wise health differences. This study compared life expectancy, disease burden, and risk factors in the Nordic region.<p> <p><i>Methods</i> - Life expectancy in years and age-standardised rates of overall, cause-specific, ...

<p><i>Background - </i>Effects from cognitive performance on pain tolerance have been documented, however, sample sizes are small and confounders often overlooked. We aimed to establish that performance on neuropsychological tests was associated with pain tolerance, controlling for salient confounders. <p><i>Methods - </i>This was a cross‐sectional study nested within the Tromsø‐6 survey. ...

<p><i>Background - </i>How long one lives, how many years of life are spent in good and poor health, and how the population's state of health and leading causes of disability change over time all have implications for policy, planning, and provision of services. We comparatively assessed the patterns and trends of healthy life expectancy (HALE), which quantifies the number of years of life expected ...