Provinces Of Finland Research Articles

Suicide by Drowning in Uusimaa Province in Southern Finland

This study investigates drownings in Uusimaa province in Finland in order to form a picture of the people who end their lives in this way. The material consisted of 285 successive drownings, which were subject to autopsy at the Helsinki University Department of Forensic Medicine between 1978 and 1986 and for whom diatom analysis was carried out. There were 51 definitive cases of suicide by drowning. For these, an analysis was made of age and sex distribution, alcohol and drugs, scene of the incident, significant diseases, social group, place of residence, information on suicide notes, previous suicide attempts, treatment for mental problems, depression preceding the suicide, talk of suicide and heavy use of alcohol. According to this material the typical Finnish drowning suicide is a man from 21 to 30 years old, who belongs to the lowest social group, is unmarried, and lives in Helsinki. He drowns sober during June in the shallow water off the coast of the Gulf of Finland, has previously attempted suicide, received treatment for mental problems, and has been depressed recently.

Selection Bias in Disease-Related Twin Studies — Data on 11,154 Adult Finnish Twin Pairs from a Nationwide Panel

The effect of migration on pairwise concordance for disease was assessed in 11,154 twin pairs of the Finnish Twin Cohort Study by comparing the pairs living in the same province to the pairs which members were living in different provinces of Finland. The cumulative incidence of psychosis and hypertension for the years 1972-1985 were analyzed. The cumulative concordance of psychosis for those MZ twin pairs living in the same province were higher than for those MZ pairs living further apart. Similar findings were found among DZ pairs for psychosis. The cumulative concordance of hypertension was only slightly higher among those MZ and DZ pairs living in the same province compared with pairs living in different provinces. These results indicate an overestimation of concordance of psychosis caused by selective migration. This bias in twin studies is likely to influence heritability estimates in a sample of limited geographical area.

A cancer register-based case study of occupations of patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

All 636 cases of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) reported to the Finnish Cancer Registry between 1971 and 1977 inclusive were compared with patients with other forms of cancer (non-AML) from the same registry. We found no increasing trend in the incidence of AML for either sex, but we found some evidence for regional clusters in certain provinces of Finland. A statistically significant higher incidence was found for men than women in the age group of 50 to 80 years. Classification according to occupation at the time of diagnosis revealed no statistically significant differences between the leukemia cases and the patients with other forms of cancer, but forestry work was more common among the men with AML, and both health care and food industry work were more common among the women with AML. Classification for exposure to chemicals, solvents, or drugs did not yield any statistical differences. The results were inconclusive with regard to the possible role of occupational factors in the etiology of acute myeloid leukemia.

The development of cardiovascular mortality in Finland from 1951 to 1978

This article describes the development of total mortality and cardiovascular mortality among the middle-aged (35-64 year old) population in Finland. The study covers cardiovascular mortality during the period 1951-78 and total mortality during the period 1951-80. It is based on mortality data for the whole country for urban and rural municipalities and for provinces in Finland. The analysis especially attempts to shed light on the nature and the determinants of the fluctuations in male cardiovascular mortality. The effects of changes in milk fat consumption smoking pensions and health care are considered. (EXCERPT)

The high incidence of coronary heart disease in Finland and its probable causes

The mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD) in Finland is remarkably high; according to the vital statistics released by the World Health Organization it has for many years been the highest in the world. This, however, concerns only the male sex; in the females the mortality figures, though also relatively high, do not very markedly differ from those of many other populations. It is also noteworthy that the CHD mortality in the eastern provinces of Finland is higher than in the western provinces.

Polysaccharide Vaccines of Group A Neisseria meningitidis and Haemophilus influenzae Type b: A Field Trial in Finland

During an epidemic caused by group A Neisseria meningitidis, 98,272 children (three months to five years of age) were vaccinated in three provinces of Finland. Meningococcal group A and Haemophilus influenzae type b polysaccharide vaccines were used in a double-blind fashion. Mlild side reactions were common, especially after group A meningococcal vaccine, which also caused high fever in 1.8% of the children. Antibody responses were measured by radioimmunoassay. The response to the group A meningococcal vaccine was consistently good in children older than 18 months of age and was fair in infants as young as six months of age. Good secondary responses were obtained at all ages (three to 17 months) when a booster dose was given. The response to H. influenzac type b vaccine was poor in children below one year of age and was good only in those above 18 months of age; booster doses did not appear to have any effect. Clinical efficacy of the group A N. meningitidis vaccine was good at all ages; protection seemed to extend to the entire age range and resulted in an age-specific decrease in the incidence of the disease. The H. influenzae type b vaccine afforded good protection in children older than 14 months of age at the time of vaccination but no protection in those below that age; this result correlates well with the age-related immunogenicity of the H. influenzae type b vaccine.