Jouko Miettunen

University of Oulu · Center for Life Course Health Research

The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology of nerve injuries of the upper extremity in the whole population of Finland (1998–2016). Data based on diagnosis codes were obtained from the Care Register for Health Care, including cases of median, radial, ulnar, musculocutaneous, axillary and digital nerves. Age- and gender-specific incidenc...

Background The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and BDI-II (revised version) are some of the most widely used and comparable self-report scales for assessing the presence and severity of depressive symptoms in many countries. However, although the relative mean score of each symptom in different countries may vary, the cultural differences of BDI-II...

Objective: Longitudinal studies examining the association between adolescent cannabis use and self-harm are rare, heterogenous and mixed in their conclusions. We study this association utilizing a large general population-based sample with prospective data. Methods: The Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (n= 6582) with linkage to nationwide regi...

Background Cannabis use has been associated with increased risk of psychiatric disorders. However, associations between adolescent cannabis use, depression and anxiety disorders are inconsistently reported in longitudinal samples. Aims To study associations of adolescent cannabis use with depression and anxiety disorders. Method We used data from...

Ulnar nerve entrapment (UNE) is the second most common entrapment neuropathy in the upper extremity. The aetiology of UNE is multifactorial and is still not fully understood. The aim of the study was to identify occupational risk factors for UNE and to determine whether smoking modifies the effects of work-related factors on UNE. The study populati...

Ulnar nerve entrapment (UNE) is the second most common entrapment neuropathy in the upper extremity. The aetiology of UNE is multifactorial and is still not fully understood. The aim of the study was to identify occupational risk factors for UNE and to determine whether smoking modifies the effects of work-related factors on UNE. The study populati...

The current management of patients with primary psychosis worldwide is often remarkably stereotyped. In almost all cases an antipsychotic medica­tion is prescribed, with second‐generation antipsychotics usually preferred to first‐generation ones. Cognitive behavioral therapy is rarely used in the vast majority of countries, although there is eviden...

Background Although the link between early adversity (EA) and later-life psychiatric disorders is well-established, it is yet to be elucidated whether EA is related to distortions in the processing of different facial expressions. We conducted a meta-analysis to investigate whether exposure to EA relates to distortions in responses to different fac...

We apply neoclassical economic modelling augmented with behavioral aspects to provide a detailed empirical investigation into indicators of socio-economic status (SES) as determinants of leisure-time physical activity. We utilize the data from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 obtained at the most recent time point during 2012-2014 (response r...

Nerve injuries of the upper extremity can cause significant motor and sensory deficits that may lead to personal suffering and work disability with increased healthcare costs. The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology of nerve injuries of the upper extremity in the whole population of Finland (1998–2016). Data based on diagnosis codes...

Purpose The lifespan of people with severe mental illness (SMI) is shorter compared to the general population. There might be common familial pathway leading to a high co-occurrence of somatic disorders and SMI. To study this we explored the long-term mortality for natural causes in the offspring of people with SMI. Methods Participants were membe...

Schizophrenia is a common, often life-long disorder, beginning mostly in early adulthood. It has remarkably negative effects on personal, familial, somatic, and social well-being. Outcomes range from recovery to chronic disability. Subtle premorbid deviances in motor, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral domains exist. Continuous symptomatology, br...

Objective The aim of this study was to explore changes in the incidences of childhood and early adulthood hospital‐treated psychiatric disorders in five large Finnish birth cohorts of individuals born between 1966 and 1997. Methods The five birth cohorts were as follows: Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC 1966) and 1986 (NFBC 1986), 1987 Fin...

The aim of the study was to investigate how psychosocial problems in childhood and adolescence associate with an unhealthy health behavior pattern among adolescents in Northern Finland. The study population consisted of 4350 participants, drawn from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 Study. Health behavior patterns were assessed in adolescence...

Background and purposeIn the group of severe mental disorders, psychotic depression (PD) is essentially under-researched. Knowledge about the risk factors is scarce and this applies especially to early risk factors. Our aim was to study early childhood and adolescent risk factors of PD in a representative birth cohort sample with a follow-up of up...

Background: More information on the health-related repercussions of age at onset of adolescent drinking is needed. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between self-reported age at first drink and age at first alcohol intoxication with the risk of death by age 30. Methods: The sample (n = 6564; 49.1% males) included all particip...

Aims To evaluate the effectiveness of web‐based mobile health interventions on pediatric patients and their parents in the day surgery context, where the primary outcome was children’s preoperative anxiety and secondary outcomes were postoperative pain and parents’ anxiety and satisfaction with entire course of the day surgery. Design A systematic...

There is a positive association between parental alcohol use and the alcohol use of their offspring. It is less clear whether this relation exists at different developmental periods. The purpose of the current study was to examine the associations between parental alcohol use at two developmental periods (prenatal and adolescence) and the alcohol m...

Author’s reply - Volume 217 Issue 2 - Antti Mustonen, Solja Niemelä, Tanja Nordström, Graham K. Murray, Erika Jääskeläinen, Jouko Miettunen

Purpose Long-term prospective studies evaluating the health burden that is consequent to adolescent drinking are needed. The aim of this study was to examine the predictive associations between self-reported alcohol tolerance and frequent intoxication at age 15–16 years and the risk of death by age 33 years. Methods A sample (n = 6,615; 49.3% male...

Aims: To identify current best evidence on the types of interventions that have been developed to improve job satisfaction among nurses and on the effectiveness of these interventions. Design: The systematic review is a quantitative systematic review and meta-analysis following a profile-likelihood random-effects model. Data sources: CINAHL, M...

Objectives To determine the association between parental socioeconomic status in childhood and adolescence and unhealthy health behaviour patterns among adolescents in Northern Finland. Methods The sample, drawn from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 Study, consisted of 15‐ to 16‐year‐old adolescents (n = 4305). Data on socioeconomic status a...

Background There are various maternal prenatal biopsychosocial (BPS) predictors of birth weight, making it difficult to quantify their cumulative relationship. Methods We studied two birth cohorts: Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (NFBC1986) born in 1985–1986 and the Generation R Study (from the Netherlands) born in 2002–2006. In NFBC1986, we se...

Background: The study aimed to explore the association between early life and life-course exposure to social disadvantage and later life body mass index (BMI) accounting for genetic predisposition and maternal BMI. Methods: We studied participants of Helsinki Birth Cohort Study born in 1934-1944 (HBCS1934-1944, n = 1277) and Northern Finland Bir...

Background People with psychotic disorders typically have the poorest rate of employment compared to other mental disorders. However, the chances of returning back to labour market and work after long-term work disability is unclear. Aim of this study was to study proportion of persons who can return to labour market after they have received disabi...

Background Association between smoking with both ADHD(1) and psychosis(2) has been explained by self-medication of ADHD and psychotic symptoms with nicotine use(3). Persons with psychosis also share impairments with persons with ADHD: e.g. inattention is a feature of both of these disorders(3). Aim of this study was to investigate the association b...

Background The prevalence of obesity is increasing public health problem with significant costs. Elevated risk for obesity is reported in patients with severe mental illness. People with obesity have an increased risk for a number of common medical conditions, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, dyslipidemia a...

Background Previous machine learning studies using structural MRI (sMRI) have been able to separate schizophrenia from controls with relatively high (about 80%) sensitivity and specificity (Kambeitz et al. Neuropsychopharmacology 2015). Interestingly, prediction accuracy in first-episode psychosis is lower compared to older and probably more chroni...

Background Recent studies indicate that adolescent cannabis use (1) and cigarette smoking (2) increase the risk for psychosis. However, less is known about symptom profile associated with cannabis use and cigarette smoking prior to the psychotic episodes. Our aim was to study the associations between daily smoking, life-time cannabis use, and psych...

Introduction As the number of patients undergoing primary lower-limb joint replacement has risen continuously, hospital-based healthcare resources have become limited. Delivery of any ongoing rehabilitation needs to adapt to this trend. This systematic literature aimed to examine the effects and safety of telerehabilitation in patients with lower-l...

The socioeconomic status of parents is reportedly closely related to the digital screen usage and physical inactivity levels of children and adolescents. Internalizing and externalizing behavior characteristics may be linked to these associations and explain them. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of parents’ socioecon...

In recent years, problematic gaming behavior has been a phenomenon of growing interest and in need of further empirical research worldwide. Due to a lack of research into problematic gaming behavior in Finland, this study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of the Problematic Online Gaming Questionnaire (POGQ). Data collection was carr...

The correlations between emotional and behavioral problems and increased screen time among young people has been highlighted in the literature. This study examined both longitudinal and cross-directional associations between the degree of childhood and adolescent emotional and behavioral problem characteristics and a higher level of daily screen ti...

Context Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with decreased health-related quality of life (HRQoL), but longitudinal data beyond the reproductive years are lacking, and the impact of isolated PCOS symptoms is unclear. Objective To study generic HRQoL using 15D, life satisfaction, and self-reported health status in women with PCOS symptom...

The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence rates and operations for carpal tunnel syndrome and ulnar and radial neuropathies in specialist care in Finland. Patients diagnosed with entrapment neuropathies of the upper extremity were identified from the Care Register for Health Care, 2007–2016. There were 81,911 cases in 54,095,070 person...

Aims: To assess the associations of intoxication frequency and number of drinks needed to become intoxicated in mid-adolescence with onset of psychiatric disorders in early adulthood. Design, setting and participants: Prospective cohort study in Northern Finland, with people from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 who self-reported adolescen...

Background: Maternal depression is common during pregnancy, affecting 10–15% of mothers. In previous reports, the offspring of antenatally depressed mothers have had an elevated risk for antisocial, criminal and violent behaviour in adolescence, and for borderline personality features in childhood, but long-term outcomes are unknown. Aims: To study...

Aims: To identify clusters of health behaviours among Finnish adolescents and examine whether these clusters are associated with body mass index (BMI). Methods: The data, drawn from the prospective population-based Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986, comprised a total of 7182 adolescents who replied to a follow-up postal questionnaire at the age...

Cannabis use is the most common form of illicit adolescent substance use. Adolescence is a vulnerable neurodevelopmental period, during which many brain maturation processes take place. Substance use during this critical period may disrupt these processes. Adolescent cannabis use has been associated with dysregulation of the endocannabinoid system...

Introduction: Our aim was to determine whether maternal smoking and offspring's own smoking affect the offspring's risk for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Methods: The study sample consisted of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (N=8,703). Information on maternal smoking was collected from the participants' mothers. At 31 years, information o...

Background: Psychiatric disorders tend to be developmental, and longitudinal settings are required to examine predictors of psychiatric phenomena. Replicating and combining data and results from different birth cohorts, which are a source of reliable data, can make research even more valuable. The Finnish Psychiatric Birth Cohort Consortium (PSYCOH...

Ulnar nerve entrapment is the second most common compression neuropathy of the upper extremity. It has been associated with smoking in cross-sectional studies. Our aim was to study whether smoking is associated with ulnar nerve entrapment. The study population consisted of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 participants, who attended the 31-yea...

Purpose: This study examined a developmental model that links affect-regulation difficulties in childhood with three dimensions of alexithymia in adolescence (difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, and externally oriented thinking) and substance use and depression in adulthood, while accounting for cumulative contextual ri...

Objectives: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) causes a considerable amount of sick leave and healthcare costs. The etiology of CTS is multifactorial, involving both personal and occupational risk factors. To date, few prospective cohort studies on occupational risk factors of CTS have examined the general working population. Methods: The study populati...

Background: The prevention of the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) is complicated by multidimensional interplays between biological and psychosocial factors acting at the individual level. To address the challenge we took a systematic approach, to explore the bio-psychosocial predictors of blood glucose in mid-age. Methods: Based on the 31-year and...

Background: Due to a steady rise in cultural and linguistic diversity in healthcare settings and evident challenges associated with this diversity, there is an urgent need to address cultural competency of nurses. Ongoing, continuing professional development is needed to ensure nurses can provide culturally congruent nursing care. Objectives: Th...

Background: Mentors need diverse competencies, sources of motivation and characteristics to successfully mentor nursing students and support students' learning processes. Effective mentoring education can benefit future nursing professionals, students' satisfaction and learning, as well as the general perception of the nursing profession. Objecti...

Introduction: Healthcare professionals must sufficiently understand ionising radiation and the associated protection measures to avoid unnecessarily exposing patients and staff to ionising radiation. Hence, a proper safety culture is important to lowering health risks. The development and establishment of an instrument that can indicate healthcare...

Introduction: Nursing roles are changing, as several countries have amended legislation so that nurses can make referrals for medical imaging examination that utilize ionising radiation. Nevertheless, nurses' radiation knowledge remains a poorly studied concept. The aim of the study was to characterize Finnish nurses' knowledge of radiation use an...

Background: Exposure to cumulative contextual risk within the family early in life increases children’s risk for substance involvement and related difficulties, including school failure, in adolescence and young adulthood. However, potential protective factors that buffer these risk associations are relatively untested, yet such tests are needed to...

Background Low IQ is a risk factor for psychosis, but the effect of high IQ is more controversial. The aim was to explore the association of childhood school success with prodromal symptoms in adolescence and psychoses in adulthood. Methods In the general population-based Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 ( n = 8 229), we studied the relationship...

We investigated relationships between early developmental milestones, schizophrenia incidence and variability in its age at onset. We hypothesized that the period of risk for schizophrenia would be longer for those with later development. The Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 was followed until 47 years of age, and those members diagnosed with sch...

There is limited knowledge available on the association of vitamin D with psychiatric disorders in young adults. We aimed to investigate vitamin D levels and associating factors in schizophrenia, other psychoses and non-psychotic depression. We studied 4,987 participants from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (31 years) with available serum 25...

The Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 is a large population-based birth cohort, which aims to promote health and wellbeing of the population. In this paper, we systematically review the psychiatric research performed in the cohort until today, i.e. at the age of 32 years of the cohort (2018). We conducted a systematic literature search using the d...

Background Existing research on the relationship between economic recessions and suicides has almost completely concentrated on the most recent global financial crisis (2008). We provide the most comprehensive explanation to date of how different types of economic/financial crises since 1970 have affected suicides in developed countries. Methods N...

This chapter characterises the age of onset (AOO) of schizophrenia spectrum disorders and summarises findings regarding a range of clinical and social outcomes, cognition, brain structure and mortality. The peak AOO for schizophrenia spectrum disorders is between 20 and 29 years, during which the estimated incidence among males and females was 4.15...

There has been emerging evidence of an association between tobacco smoking and schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD). Two meta-analyses have reported that people who smoke tobacco have an ~2-fold increased risk of incident schizophrenia or psychosis, even after adjusting for confounding factors. This study aimed to critically appraise the research...

Objective: To examine associations between temperament traits and early retirement intentions. Methods: In the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966, we analyzed early retirement intentions at the age 46 according to Cloninger's temperament traits at the age 46 (n = 4409) and at the age 31 (n = 3226). Ordinal logistic regression analyses were used....

Background: Most studies on prolonging working careers have explored later career, while less is known about social and particularly health-related determinants of entry into labour market. We examined social and health-related factors from childhood and adolescence as predictors of age at entry into paid employment and early occupational class, a...