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Brunes, A., Flanders, W. D., & Augestad, L. B. (2017). Self-reported visual impairment, physical activity and all-cause mortality: The HUNT Study. Scand J Public Health, 45(1), 33–41.
Abstract: AIMS: To examine the associations of self-reported visual impairment and physical activity (PA) with all-cause mortality. METHODS: This prospective cohort study included 65,236 Norwegians aged 20 years who had participated in the Nord-Trondelag Health Study (HUNT2, 1995-1997). Of these participants, 11,074 (17.0%) had self-reported visual impairment (SRVI). The participants' data were linked to Norway's Cause of Death Registry and followed throughout 2012. Hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were assessed using Cox regression analyses with age as the time-scale. The Cox models were fitted for restricted age groups (<60, 60-84, 85 years). RESULTS: After a mean follow-up of 14.5 years, 13,549 deaths were identified. Compared with adults with self-reported no visual impairment, the multivariable hazard ratios among adults with SRVI were 2.47 (95% CI 1.94-3.13) in those aged <60 years, 1.22 (95% CI 1.13-1.33) in those aged 60-84 years and 1.05 (95% CI 0.96-1.15) in those aged 85 years. The strength of the associations remained similar or stronger after additionally controlling for PA. When examining the joint associations, the all-cause mortality risk of SRVI was higher for those who reported no PA than for those who reported weekly hours of PA. We found a large, positive departure from additivity in adults aged <60 years, whereas the departure from additivity was small for the other age groups. CONCLUSIONS: Adults with SRVI reporting no PA were associated with an increased all-cause mortality risk. The associations attenuated with age.
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Engdahl, B., Tambs, K., & Hoffman, H. J. (2013). Otoacoustic emissions, pure-tone audiometry, and self-reported hearing. Int J Audiol, 52(2), 74–82.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to describe the association between otoacoustic emissions (OAEs), pure-tone thresholds, and self-reported hearing disability. DESIGN: A population-based cohort of 4202 adults was examined with air conduction pure-tone audiometry, transient OAE (TEOAE), and distortion product OAE (DPOAE). Participants completed 15 self-report items on hearing disability. RESULTS: Correlation coefficients in the range of 0.3 to 0.5 were observed between OAE (TEOAE, and DPOAE) and self-reported hearing depending on age and sex. Pure-tone average hearing thresholds generally predicted self-reported hearing slightly better than did the OAE measures. Adding TEOAE and DPOAE as predictors in a multivariate model together with the scores from pure-tone audiometry did not predict self-reported hearing better than did pure-tone audiometry alone. The relationship between OAE and self-reported hearing was stronger in men than in women and became more manifest with age, a trend also stronger in men. CONCLUSIONS: OAEs were shown to be a valid measure of self-reported hearing disability of the general population but added no additional information to what pure-tone hearing thresholds had already captured.
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Holseter, C., Dalen, J. D., Krokstad, S., & Eikemo, T. A. (2015). Self-rated health and mortality in different occupational classes and income groups in Nord-Trondelag County, Norway. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen, 135(5), 434–438.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: People with a lower socioeconomic position have a higher the prevalence of most self-rated health problems. In this article we ask whether this may be attributed to self-rated health not reflecting actual health, understood as mortality, in different socioeconomic groups. MATERIAL AND METHOD: For the study we used data from the Nord-Trondelag Health Study 1984-86 (HUNT1), in which the county's entire adult population aged 20 years and above were invited to participate. The association between self-rated health and mortality in different occupational classes and income groups was analysed. The analysis corrected for age, chronic disease, functional impairment and lifestyle factors. RESULTS: The association between self-rated health and mortality was of the same order of magnitude for the occupational classes and income groups, but persons without work/income and with poor self-rated health stood out. Compared with persons in the highest socioeconomic class, unemployed men had a hazard ratio for death that was three times higher in the follow-up period. For women with no income, the ratio was twice as high. INTERPRETATION Self-rated health and mortality largely conform to the different socioeconomic strata. This supports the perception that socioeconomic differences in health are a reality and represent a significant challenge nationally. Our results also increase the credibility of findings from other studies that use self-reported health in surveys to measure differences and identify the mechanisms that create them.
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