Sleep in relation to psychiatric symptoms and perceived stress in Swedish adolescents aged 15 to 19 years

Background:Sleep affects psychiatric health and perceived stress during adolescence.Objective:The first aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of poor sleep in a sample of Swedish adolescents aged 15 to 19 years. The second aim was to investigate correlations between: a) sleep and psychiatric symptoms and; b) sleep and perceived stress. The third aim was to examine possible sex differences in sleep.Method:In 2011, a total of 185 Swedish adolescents (aged 15 to 19 years) from two upper secondary schools participated in this cross-sectional study. We used three different psychometric scales: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Symptoms Checklist (SCL-90), and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) to measure sleep, general psychiatric health and perceived stress.Results:In total, 76% of the female students and 71% of the male students had poor overall sleep quality. A large majority, 93%, reported daytime dysfunction and 60% reported problems staying awake during daily activities. The correlation between sleep and general psychiatric health was 0.44 and the correlation between sleep quality and perceived stress was 0.48. Female students reported significantly more sleep disturbances than male students do.Conclusions:Three out of four of the upper secondary school students presented with poor overall sleep that associated with psychiatric symptoms and perceived stress. These findings add to results from earlier studies and imply that interventions to improve sleep in adolescents, individually as well as on a societal level, should be considered as one way of trying to impact the observed rising numbers of psychiatric complaints. Such interventions may improve mental and somatic health in adolescents and prevent the development of psychiatric and stress-related symptoms. Further studies of possible methods, and their implementation, for improving sleep in adolescents should be of high priority

Digital nerve injuries: Epidemiology, results, costs, and impact on daily life.

Epidemiology, results of treatment, impact on activity of daily living (ADL), and costs for treatment of digital nerve injuries have not been considered consistently. Case notes of patients of 0-99 years of age living in Malmö municipality, Sweden, who presented with a digital nerve injury and were referred to the Department of Hand Surgery in 1995-2005 were analysed retrospectively. The incidence was 6.2/100 000 inhabitants and year. Most commonly men (75%; median age 29 years) were injured. Isolated nerve injuries and concomitant tendon injuries were equally common. The direct costs (hospital stay, operation, outpatient visits, visits to a nurse and/or a hand therapist) for a concomitant tendon injury was almost double compared with an isolated digital nerve injury (6136 EUR [range, 744-29 689 EUR] vs 2653 EUR [range, 468-6949 EUR]). More than 50% of the patients who worked were injured at work and 79% lost time from work (median 59 days [range 3-337]). Permanent nerve dysfunction for the individual patient with ADL problems and subjective complaints of fumbleness, cold sensitivity, and pain occur in the patients despite surgery. It is concluded that digital nerve injuries, often considered as a minor injury and that affect young people at productive age, cause costs, and disability. Focus should be directed against prevention of the injury and to improve nerve regeneration from different aspects

Att vara ung och anställningsbar : En kvalitativ studie om hur arbetslösa ungdomar uppfattas vara anställningsbara ur ett kommunalt arbetsgivarperspektiv

Ungdomsarbetslösheten i Sverige är i förhållande till den totala arbetslösheten, i landet, hög och är en av svenska regeringens högst prioriterade frågor inom arbetsmarknadspolitiken. För att komma in på arbetsmarknaden idag måste du visa dig anställningsbar. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vad kommunala arbetsgivare har för uppfattning om arbetslösa ungdomars anställningsbarhet. Syftet konkretiseras med hjälp av tre frågeställningar som syftar till att se vad betydelsen av deltagandet i aktiva arbetsmarknadsåtgärder har för anställningsbarheten, samt vad gymnasieexamen och de personliga egenskaperna betyder för anställningsbarheten. Studien utgår från en kvalitativ forskningsansats och besvarar syftet utifrån åtta kommunala arbetsgivares uppfattningar om arbetslösa ungdomars anställningsbarhet. Resultatet visar att anställningsbarhet enligt de kommunala arbetsgivarna är betydelsen av erfarenheter, kompetenser och utbildning. Studien visar även att praktik i en kommunal arbetsmarknadsåtgärd, vars syfte är att ge arbetslivserfarenhet, inte nödvändigtvis kan likställas med arbetslivserfarenhet. Deltagandet i en kommunal arbetsmarknadsåtgärd kan minska anställningsbarheten, likaså kan avsaknaden av en gymnasieexamen försvåra chansen till en anställning och en individs personliga egenskaper anses avgörande. Därför uppfylls heller inte den grundläggande anställningsbarheten.Youth unemployment in relation to overall unemployment is high and is one of the Swedish government´s priorities in labour market policy. The purpose of this study is to investigate what idea the municipal employers have of unemployed youths ́ employability. The purpose is embodied by three questions, designed to see what importance of participation in active labour market programs, upper secondary school diploma and personality have on employability. The study is based on a qualitative research approach and answers the purpose with eight municipal employers' perceptions of unemployed young people's employability. The result indicates that employability, according to the municipal employers, is the importance of experience, skills and education. The results also indicate that the internship in a municipal labour market program, which aims to provide work experience, cannot be equated with each other. Participation in a municipal labor market program could reduce employability, as well as the lack of an upper secondary school diploma reduces the chance of an employment. The personality of an individual that is considered crucial for employment does not meet the requirements of the essential employability

The clinical consequence of using less than four sensory perception examination methods in the Swedish surveillance system for Hand-Arm vibration syndrome

OBJECTIVES: The Swedish surveillance system aiming to reveal undetected Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) in workers exposed for vibrations is regulated by the provision AFS 2019:3. The goal for the surveillance system is to diagnose HAVS, as well as to find workers at risk for developing HAVS due to other conditions. The national guidelines stipulate examination using at least two out of four hand sensory examination methods (SEM); monofilament (touch), two-point discrimination (discriminative), tuning fork (vibrotactile), and Rolltemp (thermotactile). The aim of this study was to examine the clinical consequence of using less than four of these SEMs. METHODS: We collected data on SEMs from the medical records of all individuals that went through the specific surveillance medical check-up in a large occupational health service for 1 year. We then calculated the number of workers found with HAVS when using one, two, or three SEMs, and compared with the result from using all available SEMs. RESULTS: Out of 677 examined individuals, 199 had positive findings in at least one SEM. The detection rate for these findings was on average 47% when using one SEM, 71% using two SEMs, and 88% using three SEMs (out of 100% detection when all four SEMs were used). CONCLUSIONS: If fewer than four sensory examination methods are used for surveillance of HAVS, many workers with incipient injuries may stay undetected. This may lead to further exposure resulting in aggravation of injury

Upper secondary school students’ compliance with two Internet-based self-help programmes : a randomised controlled trial

Psychiatric symptoms and stress are on the increase among Swedish adolescents. We aimed to study the potential effect and feasibility of two Internet-based self-help programmes, one mindfulness based (iMBI) and the other music based in a randomised controlled trial that targeted adolescents. A total of 283 upper secondary school students in two Swedish schools were randomised to either a waiting list or one of the two programmes, on their own incentive, on schooltime. General psychiatric health (Symptoms Checklist 90), sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), and perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale) were assessed before and after the interventions. In total, 202 participants answered the questionnaires. Less than 20 logged into each intervention and only 1 performed a full intervention (iMBI). No significant differences in any of the scales were found between those who logged in and those who did not. The potential effect of Internet-based self-help programmes was not possible to examine due to low compliance rates. Adolescents seem to have a very low compliance with Internet-based self-help programmes if left to their own incentive. There were no associations between the psychiatric and stress-related symptoms at baseline and compliance in any of the intervention groups, and no evidence for differences in compliance in relation to the type of programme. Additional studies are needed to examine how compliance rates can be increased in Internet-based self-help mindfulness programmes in adolescents, as the potentially positive effects of mindfulness are partly related to compliance rates