Temporal changes in sugar-sweetened soft drink intake and variation across municipalities in the Capital Region of Denmark

We aimed to examine the changes in sugar-sweetened soft drink intake across the Capital Region of Denmark from 2007 to 2013 and to examine the association between intake and neighbourhood socioeconomic status. The study included data from three health surveys in 2007 (n = 30,426), 2010 (n = 42,218) and 2013 (n = 34,330) in the Capital Region of Denmark. Frequency of soft drink intake was derived from questionnaires among residents aged 25–79 years and linked with information from central registers. Municipality social groups (MSG) 1–4 of decreasing affluence were defined as a composite measure. Logistic regression analyses were conducted for individuals with an appropriate soft drink intake (&lt; once/week) and for individuals with a frequent soft drink intake (≥ 3 times/week). The proportion of individuals reporting an appropriate soft drink intake increased by 71% during 2007–2013 (p &lt; 0.0001). A corresponding decrease was found in the proportion of individuals reporting a frequent soft drink intake. Compared to MSG 1, odds of an appropriate soft drink intake were significantly lower in MSG 3–4: OR = 0.87 (95%CI 0.83–0.91) and OR = 0.89 (95%CI 0.85–0.92), respectively. Compared to MSG 1, odds of a frequent soft drink intake were significantly higher in MSG 3–4: OR = 1.24 (95%CI 1.63–1.31) and 1.17 (95%CI 1.10–1.25), respectively. A significant interaction between MSG and educational level was found among individuals reporting a frequent soft drink intake (p = 0.02). The results show an encouraging reduction in frequency of soft drink intake among capital residents in the period of 2007–2013. A social gradient was observed in soft drink intake across MSG.</p

Social support and risk of mortality in liver cirrhosis: A cohort study

Background & AimsThe function and structure of social relationships influence mortality in individuals within the general population. We compared aspects of social relationships in patients with cirrhosis and a matched comparison cohort and studied their association with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and mortality in cirrhosis.MethodsPatients with cirrhosis and comparators were identified among participants of the Danish National Health Surveys 2010-2017. The surveys included questions on functional (social support and loneliness) and structural (living alone/cohabitating and frequency of contacts with relatives and friends) aspects of social relationships and HRQoL (Short-Form 12). We estimated associations of aspects of social relationships in cirrhosis patients with HRQoL and all-cause mortality through 2020.ResultsOf 541 cirrhosis patients and 2,157 comparators, low social support (22% in cirrhosis vs 13% in comparators), loneliness (35% vs 20%), and living alone (48% vs 22%) were more frequent in cirrhosis than comparators, whereas the frequency of contacts with relatives and friends was similar. Except for living alone, weak functional and structural social relationships were associated with lower mental HRQoL in cirrhosis patients. Physical HRQoL was only marginally associated with social relationships. During 2,795 person-years of follow-up, 269 cirrhosis patients died. Functional and not structural aspects of social relationships were associated with risk of mortality in cirrhosis. Specifically, the adjusted hazard ratio was 1.4 (95% CI: 1.1-1.9), p = 0.011, for low vs moderate-to-high social support (functional aspect), and 1.0 (0.8-1.3), p = 0.85 for living alone vs cohabitating (structural aspect).ConclusionsPatients with cirrhosis have weaker functional and structural social relationships than matched comparators. Weak functional relationships are associated with lower mental HRQoL and increased risk of mortality in cirrhosis.Lay summaryThis study investigated the prevalence of weak social relationships in cirrhosis and their influence on health-related quality of life and risk of mortality. Patients with cirrhosis were nearly twice as likely to report low social support, loneliness and to live alone than a matched comparison cohort. Low social support and loneliness were associated with lower mental health-related quality of life and increased risk of mortality risk in cirrhosis, when adjusting for known confounders

Physical activity, self-rated fitness and stress among 55,185 men and women in the Danish Capital Region Health survey 2017

Previous studies have indicated that both low physical activity and low physical fitness are associated with a higher level of stress but the influence of age and health status on the associations is unknown. This was examined in a cross-sectional study based on data from the Danish Capital Region Health Survey 2017. Among all adults ≥ 16 years residing in the largest of five regions in Denmark 1. January 2017 a random sample of 104,950 was invited to participate. Hereof, 55.185 responded (52,6%). Physical activity during leisure time, fitness, self-rated health and stress (Cohens Perceived Stress Scale) was self-reported by questionnaire. Logistic regression weighted for size of municipality and non-response was used. Age modified the associations. In all age-groups odds ratio (OR) for a high level of stress was increasingly higher the lower the level of physical activity. The association was strongest among the 16–24-year-olds and persisted after adjustment for self-rated health, that otherwise attenuated the associations to an increasing extent the older the age-group. Similar models investigating the modifying effect of age on the association between self-rated fitness and stress showed the same patterns and tendencies. This study showed that physical activity and self-rated fitness were both associated with stress. The OR for a high level of stress was increasingly higher the lower the level of physical activity or self-rated fitness. This was found in all age-groups, but most pronounced among the 16–24-year-olds. Furthermore, findings suggest that health condition explains the associations to an increasing extent with increasing age

Do animation videos increase participation in national health surveys? A randomised controlled trial

Abstract Background Declining response proportions in surveys have been observed internationally. Improving response proportions is important for the generalizability of the outcome. The aim of this study was to examine the potential of animation videos to improve response proportions and sample composition in health surveys. Methods A randomized trial was embedded in the Danish National Health Survey 2021 (n = 186,113) where the use of animation videos in the digital invitation letter was tested as a mean to increase response proportion. The effect of both demographic-targeted videos and a general video was tested. The sample was stratified into four subsamples; (1) individuals with non-western background and a non-Danish citizenship (n = 9,956), (2) men aged 16–24 years (n = 12,481), (3) women aged 75 years or older (n = 7,815) and (4) the remaining individuals (n = 155,861). The fourth subsample was randomized into two equal sized groups; a group receiving the general video and a control group receiving no video. Each of the first three subsamples was subsequently randomized into three subgroups with 25% receiving the target group video, 25% receiving the general video and 50% receiving no video. A total of four reminders (one digital and three postal) were sent to the eligible population. Results The use of animation videos resulted in similar or slightly lower overall response proportion compared to the control group. The different animation videos were found to have heterogeneous effects on response proportions. A positive effect was found among men aged 16–24 years before the delivery of the postal reminder for the targeted animation video compared to no video (odds ratio: 1.13; 95% confidence interval: 1.02–1.26). Overall, the targeted animation videos tended to produce higher response proportions than the general animation video. Conclusions The heterogeneous effects of the videos suggest that there is some potential for the use of animation videos to improve response proportions and sample composition. The content, target group and timing of evaluation seem to be important for the animation videos to be successful. This warrants further research to better identify in which contexts, in which subgroups and under which circumstances, animation videos are useful to increase response proportions. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT05520242, registered 08/26/2022