Background  Total dietary antioxidant capacity has been associated with a lower risk of breast cancer​, but the supporting evidence is limited. We investigated the association between dietary Non-Enzymatic Antioxidant Capacity (NEAC), measuring the total antioxidant potential of the diet, and the risk of breast cancer.

Methods  We followed 24,950 women recruited into the Swedish National March Cohort through record linkages to Swedish health registries from 1997 until 2016. Total NEAC was computed based on the baseline 96-item food frequency questionnaire. Three measures of dietary NEAC were assessed: total NEAC, NEAC from fruits and vegetables and NEAC from grains. We fitted multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models to compute hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to quantify the association between dietary NEAC and risk of overall, as well as pre- and post-menopausal breast cancer.

Results  During a median follow-up of 19.2 years, 1142/24,950 women were diagnosed with breast cancer (136/10,826 pre- and 975/21,152 post-menopausal). Findings indicated a trend in the association between total NEAC and the hazard of overall breast cancer (highest vs. lowest quartile: adjusted HR = 0.85, 95% CI 0.69-1.04; p-value for Wald test = 0.138, p-value for trend = 0.048). The association was more evident for post-menopausal breast cancer (HR = 0.76, 95% CI 0.60-0.96; p-value for trend = 0.010). However, when missing data were imputed, the magnitude of the association was found to be weaker in terms of hazard reduction and no statistically significant associations were observed but the direction of the associations remained consistent (overall: HR = 0.89 (0.74-1.08), p-value for trend = 0.091; post-menopausal: HR = 0.84 (0.69-1.03), p-value for trend = 0.057). When distinguishing NEAC based on food sources, breast cancer hazard was inversely associated with NEAC from fruits and vegetables (HR = 0.79, 95% CI 0.64-0.97; p-value for trend = 0.019), but not with NEAC from grains (HR = 1.05, 95% CI 0.86-1.29; p-value for trend = 0.630).

Conclusion  These results suggest an inverse association between dietary total antioxidant capacity and the risk of breast cancer, particularly in post-menopausal women, which seems to be driven by the consumption of fruits and vegetables. However, sensitivity analysis on imputed covariates did not fully confirm our findings, indicating the need for future confirmatory research.

BACKGROUND: Women with intellectual disabilities face significant barriers to gynecological, reproductive, antenatal, and perinatal care, which may adversely impact maternal and fetal health. Previous research indicates increased risks for gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, caesarean birth, preterm birth, and other complications in pregnant women with intellectual disabilities. However, studies on the reproductive health in this group remain scant, and comprehensive research on maternal and fetal health from pregnancy to the postpartum period remain missing.

OBJECTIVE(S): Using high-quality data from Swedish registers, the present study aims to examine a full range of maternal and fetal outcomes among birthing women with intellectual disabilities and to compare them to those of birthing women in the general population. Such knowledge is important in understanding and preventing adverse health outcomes.

STUDY DESIGN: This was a register study based on all women living in Skåne, Sweden on January 1^st, 2104, with at least 1 singleton birth in 2014–2021. By linking regional and national registers, we were able to compare maternal and fetal outcomes in a cohort of women with intellectual disabilities (n=378), including a subgroup of women with diagnosis of mild intellectual disability (n=177), to outcomes among women from the general population (n=65 925). Diagnoses (i.e., outcomes) were collected from the Skåne Healthcare Register, which comprises all healthcare contacts in the Skåne region in Sweden. Poisson regression was used to estimate relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to quantify the association between intellectual disability and each outcome. The fully adjusted model included maternal year of birth and age at birthing, sociodemographic indicators, and obstetric comorbidities.

RESULTS: In the fully adjusted models, women with intellectual disabilities had increased risk of pre-eclampsia (RR 1.67, 95% CI 1.15–2.42), infections of the genitourinary tract (2.30, 1.67–3.16), premature rupture of membranes (2.42, 1.24–4.69 for women with mild intellectual disability), and false labor (1.27, 1.05–1.53). In crude (i.e., unadjusted) models, increased risks were also found for maternal care for known or suspected fetal abnormality and damage, maternal care for other known or suspected fetal problems, other disorders of amniotic fluid and membranes, antepartum hemorrhage, not elsewhere classified, and failed induction of labor.

CONCLUSION(S): Pregnant women with intellectual disabilities have increased risk of several adverse maternal outcomes, with the risk for some likely driven-at least in part-by lower sociodemographic status and worse obstetric health.

Background The link between workplace bullying and poor mental health is well-known. However, little is known about the prospective and potentially reciprocal association between workplace bullying and mental health-related sickness absence. This 2-year prospective study examined bidirectional associations between exposure to workplace bullying and sickness absence due to common mental disorders (SA-CMD) while controlling for confounding factors from both work and private life.

Methods The study was based on propensity score-matched samples (N = 3216 and N = 552) from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health, using surveys from years 2012, 2014 and 2016. Self-reported exposure to workplace bullying was linked to registry-based information regarding medically certified SA-CMD (≥ 14 consecutive days). The associations were examined by means of Cox proportional hazards regression and via conditional logistic regression analysis. Hazard ratios and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were estimated.

Results Exposure to workplace bullying was associated with an increased risk of incident SA-CMD (HR: 1.3, 95% CI: 1.0–1.8), after accounting for the influence of job demands, decision authority, previous SA-CMD, as well as other sociodemographic covariates. However, we found no statistically significant association between SA-CMD and subsequent workplace bullying (OR 1.2, 95% CI 0.7–1.9).

Conclusions The results support an association between self-reported workplace bullying and SA-CMD, independent of other sociodemographic factors and workplace stressors. Preventing workplace bullying could alleviate a share of the individual and societal burden caused by SA globally.

Background Ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) can be assessed by 7 metrics: smoking, body mass index, physical activity, diet, hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes, proposed by the American Heart Association. We examined the association of ideal CVH metrics with risk of all-cause, CVD and non-CVD death in a large cohort. Methods A total of 29,557 participants in the Swedish National March Cohort were included in this study. We ascertained 3,799 deaths during a median follow-up of 19 years. Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) of the association between CVH metrics with risk of death. Laplace regression was used to estimate 25th, 50th and 75th percentiles of age at death. Results Compared with those having 6-7 ideal CVH metrics, participants with 0-2 ideal metrics had 107% (95% CI = 46-192%) excess risk of all-cause, 224% (95% CI = 72-509%) excess risk of CVD and 108% (31-231%) excess risk of non-CVD death. The median age at death among those with 6-7 vs. 0-2 ideal metrics was extended by 4.2 years for all-causes, 5.8 years for CVD and 2.9 years for non-CVD, respectively. The observed associations were stronger among females than males. Conclusions The strong inverse association between number of ideal CVH metrics and risk of death supports the application of the proposed seven metrics for individual risk assessment and general health promotion.

BACKGROUND Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor (PDE5i) treatment for erectile dysfunction is associated with lower mortality compared with no treatment for erectile dysfunction after myocardial infarction (MI). There are conflicting results regarding the impact of PDE5i treatment on mortality in conjunction with nitrate medication. OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between PDE5i treatment and cardiovascular outcomes in men with stable coronary artery disease treated with nitrate medication. METHODS Using the Swedish Patient Register and the Prescribed Drug Register we included men with previous MI or revascularization in 2006-2013 who had 2 dispensed nitrate prescriptions within 6 months. Exposure was defined as at least 2 filled prescriptions of any PDE5i. We performed multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression to estimate HRs with 95% CIs for all -cause, cardiovascular, and noncardiovascular mortality, MI, heart failure, cardiac revascularization, and major cardiovascular events (MACE). RESULTS In total, 55,777 men were treated with nitrates and 5,710 men with nitrates and a PDE5i. The combined use of PDE5i treatment with nitrates was associated with higher mortality (HR: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.28-1.51), cardiovascular mortality (HR: 1.34; 95% CI: 1.11-1.62), noncardiovascular mortality (HR: 1.40; 95% CI: 1.27-1.54), MI (HR: 1.72; 95% CI: 1.55-1.90), heart failure (HR: 1.67; 95% CI: 1.48-1.90), cardiac revascularization (HR: 1.95; 95% CI: 1.78-2.13), and MACE (HR: 1.70; 95% CI: 1.58-1.83). CONCLUSIONS The use of a PDE5i in combination with nitrate medication in men with stable coronary artery disease may pose an increased hazard for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Careful patient -centered consideration before prescribing PDE5is to patients with cardiovascular disease using nitrate medication is warranted. (J Am Coll Cardiol 2024;83:417-426) (c) 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier on behalf of the American College of Cardiology Foundation. This is an open access article under the CC BY -NC -ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/ 4.0/).

Potential health risks for informal caregivers have been hypothesised to be partly related to adverse changes in health-related behaviour, but evidence is limited. We examined whether smoking, drinking, eating, physical activity or leisure pursuits change in relation to co-resident or out-of-home caregiving (for someone outside the household), and if associations differ by sex, educational attainment, and welfare state typology. We conducted a longitudinal study using six waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, collecting data repeatedly from 2004 to 2017 for adults aged 50 years and older living in 17 European countries (57,962 individuals). To control for measured and unmeasured within-individual time-invariant confounders, we used fixed effects logistic models to analyse the repeated measures of caregiving, behaviour and covariates and estimated odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). Among male participants, unhealthy eating increased while smoking decreased [ORs 1.26 (95%CI 1.01–1.58) and 0.53 (0.36–0.78), respectively] in survey waves in which they provided co-resident care, compared with the waves that they did not. Among female participants, there was little change in behaviour between waves with and without co-resident caregiving. When providing out-of-home care, lacks of physical activity and leisure pursuits declined. But in the same time, drinking increased both men and women, and especially among individuals with lower educational attainment and residing in non-Nordic countries. To conclude, overall, increased drinking when providing out-of-home care was most consistent, especially among individuals with lower educational attainment and residing in non-Nordic countries. Otherwise, the associations varied by the type of care, behaviour and population subgroups. These findings indicated that not all caregivers are susceptible to behavioural changes, and that not all behaviour may be involved similarly in linking caregiving to health risks. This opens possibilities to target specific behaviour and groups to prevent adverse changes in health behaviour in caregivers.

Background Population-based longitudinal studies on bereaved children and youth’s mental health care use are scarce and few have assessed the role of surviving parents’ mental health status.

Methods Using register data of individuals born in Sweden in 1992–1999, we performed a matched cohort study(n = 117,518) on the association between parental death and subsequent initiation of antidepressant treatment among individuals bereaved at ages 7–24 years. We used flexible parametric survival models to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) over time after bereavement, adjusting for individual and parental factors. We further examined if the association varied by age at loss, sex, parental sociodemographic factors, cause of death, and the surviving parents’psychiatric care.

Findings The bereaved were more likely to initiate antidepressants treatment than the nonbereaved matched individuals during follow-up (incidence rate per 1000 person years 27.5 [26.5–28.5] vs. 18.2 [17.9–18.6]). The HRs peaked in the first year after bereavement and remained higher than the nonbereaved individuals until the end of the follow-up. The average HR over the 12 years of follow-up was 1.48 (95% confidence interval [1.39–1.58]) for father’s death and 1.33 [1.22–1.46] for mother’s death. The HRs were particularly high when the surviving parents received psychiatric care before bereavement (2.11 [1.89–2.56] for father’s death; 2.14 [1.79–2.56] for mother’s death) or treated for anxiety or depression after bereavement (1.80 [1.67–1.94]; 1.82 [1.59–2.07]).

Interpretation The risk of initiating antidepressant treatment was the highest in the first year after parental death and remained elevated over the next decade. The risk was particularly high among individuals with surviving parentsaffected by psychiatric morbidity.

Importance  Bereavement following parental death experienced in adulthood may be associated with suicide over many years, but this risk has received scant attention.

Objective  To investigate whether the risk of suicide increases among adult children around the anniversary of a parent’s death.

Design, Setting, and Participants  This case-crossover study used Swedish register-based longitudinal data from 1990 to 2016, based on the entire national population. Participants included all adults aged 18 to 65 years who experienced parental death and subsequently died by suicide. Conditional logistic regression was used to quantify the association between the anniversary (or preanniversary and postanniversary periods) and suicide, controlling for time-invariant confounding. All analyses were stratified by sex of the offspring. The analyses were also stratified by the sex of the deceased parent, time since parental death, age, and marital status. Data analyses were performed in June 2022.

Exposures  Anniversary of a parent’s death (or preanniversary and postanniversary periods).

Main Outcomes and Measures  Suicide.

Results  Of 7694 individuals who died by suicide (76% intentional self-harm), 2255 (29%) were women, and the median (IQR) age at suicide was 55 (47-62) years. There was evidence of an anniversary reaction among women, with a 67% increase in the odds of suicide when exposed to the period from the anniversary to 2 days after the anniversary, compared with when not being exposed (odds ratio [OR], 1.67; 95% CI, 1.07-2.62). The risk was particularly pronounced among maternally bereaved women (OR, 2.29; 95% CI, 1.20-4.40) and women who were never married (OR, 2.08; 95% CI, 0.99-4.37), although the latter was not statistically significant. An increased risk of suicide from the day before up to the anniversary was observed among women bereaved between the ages of 18 and 34 years (OR, 3.46; 95% CI, 1.14-10.56) and between the ages of 50 and 65 years (OR, 2.53; 95% CI, 1.04-6.15). Men had an attenuated suicide risk for the period from the day before up to the anniversary (OR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.36-0.92).

Background: Following progressive aging of the population worldwide, the prevalence of Parkinson disease is expected to increase in the next decades. Primary prevention of the disease is hampered by limited knowledge of preventable causes. Recent evidence regarding diet and Parkinson disease is inconsistent and suggests that dietary habits such as fat intake may have a role in the etiology.

Objective: To investigate the association between intake of total and specific types of fat with the incidence of Parkinson disease.

Methods: Participants from the Swedish National March Cohort were prospectively followed-up from 1997 to 2016. Dietary intake was assessed at baseline using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Food items intake was used to estimate fat intake, i.e. the exposure variable, using the Swedish Food Composition Database. Total, saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat intake were categorized into quartiles. Parkinson disease incidence was ascertained through linkages to Swedish population-based registers. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) of the association between fat intake from total or specific types of fats and the incidence of Parkinson disease. The lowest intake category was used as reference. Isocaloric substitution models were also fitted to investigate substitution effects by replacing energy from fat intake with other macronutrients or specific types of fat.

Results: 41,597 participants were followed up for an average of 17.6 years. Among them, 465 developed Parkinson disease. After adjusting for potential confounders, the highest quartile of saturated fat intake was associated with a 41% increased risk of Parkinson disease compared to the lowest quartile (HR Q4 vs. Q1: 1.41; 95% CI: 1.04–1.90; p for trend: 0.03). Total, monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fat intake were not significantly associated with Parkinson disease. The isocaloric substitution models did not show any effect.

Conclusions: We found that a higher consumption of large amounts of saturated fat might be associated with an increased risk of Parkinson disease. A diet low in saturated fat might be beneficial for disease prevention.

Importance  To better support children with the experience of parental death, it is crucial to understand whether parental death increases the risk of adverse school outcomes.

Objectives  To examine whether parental death is associated with poorer school outcomes independent of factors unique to the family, and whether children of certain ages are particularly vulnerable to parental death.

Design, Setting, and Participants  This population-based sibling cohort study used Swedish national register-based longitudinal data with linkage between family members. Register data were collected from January 1, 1990, to December 31, 2016. Data analyses were performed on July 14, 2021. The participants were all children born between 1991 and 2000 who lived in Sweden before turning age 17 years (N = 908 064).

Exposure  Parental death before finishing compulsory school.

Main Outcomes and Measures  Mean school grades (year-specific z scores) and ineligibility for upper secondary education on finishing compulsory school at age 15 to 16 years. Population-based cohort analyses were conducted to examine the association between parental death and school outcomes using conventional linear and Poisson regression models, after adjustment for demographic and parental socioeconomic and health indicators measured before childbirth. Second, using fixed-effect linear and Poisson regression models, children who experienced parental death before finishing compulsory school were compared with their siblings who experienced the death after. Third, the study explored the age-specific associations between parental death and school outcomes.

Results  In the conventional population-based analyses, bereaved children (N = 22 634; 11 553 boys [51.0%]; 11 081 girls [49.0%]; mean [SD] age, 21.0 [2.8] years) had lower mean school grade z scores (adjusted β coefficient, −0.19; 95% CI, −0.21 to −0.18; P < .001) and a higher risk of ineligibility for upper secondary education than the nonbereaved children (adjusted risk ratio, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.32-1.41; P < .001). Within-sibling comparisons using fixed-effects models showed that experiencing parental death before finishing compulsory school was associated with lower mean school grade z scores (−0.06; 95% CI, −0.10 to −0.01; P = .02) but not with ineligibility for upper secondary education (adjusted risk ratio, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.93-1.23; P = .34). Independent of birth order, losing a parent at a younger age was associated with lower grades within a family.

Conclusions and Relevance  In this cohort study, childhood parental death was associated with lower school grades after adjustment for familial confounders shared between siblings. Children who lost a parent may benefit from additional educational support that could reduce the risk of adverse socioeconomic trajectories later in life.