Mixed use of psychiatric drugs and alcohol by Finnish university students participating in a health screening.

OBJECTIVE: To obtain descriptive data on the mixed use of psychiatric drugs and alcohol. The difference and associations of health and mental risk factors between mixed users and others were also studied. DESIGN: A self-administered questionnaire as part of a general health screening. SETTING: First-year university students enrolled in the Finnish Student Health Service in Helsinki. Foreign students and those aged 30 years or over were excluded. SUBJECTS: 3,836 students were invited. The participation rate was 73.2% for the female and 53.2% for the male students. RESULTS: The mixed use of psychiatric drugs and alcohol with the aim of getting high, at least once, was reported by 3.6% of the female and 3.1% of the male students. However, only 1.0% had tried this mixed use more than once. Mixed users were more often smokers, heavy drinkers, or users of cannabis or heavy drugs. Male students tended to be mixed users because of anxiety, low self-esteem, and fears. Depression, stress, and sensation seeking were associated with mixed use in female students. CONCLUSIONS: Mixed use of psychiatric drugs and alcohol by young Finnish university students is still rare. There is a strong accumulation of other addictive behaviours among mixed users. Extra-personal reasons for mixed use were more prevalent among female students, and intra-personal reasons among male students.

Screening for heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems in young university students: the CAGE, the Mm-MAST and the trauma score questionnaires.

The efficacy of the CAGE questions, the Malmö modification of the MAST questionnaire (Mm-MAST) and Skinner's five-item trauma score were used as a part of a larger health questionnaire in a sample of 1,663 female and 707 male first-year university students in Finland. The Mm-MAST correlated well (0.51-0.66) to reported alcohol intake and drinking for intoxication, the correlation (0.30-0.39) to CAGE was not as high but significant (p < .001). The trauma score did not correlate significantly to reported alcohol intake. Sensitivity and specificity for Mm-MAST > or = 3 in detecting heavy drinking, defined as a reported consumption of pure ethanol per year of at least 10 kg for women and at least 15 kg for men, was 63.8% and 87.1%, respectively, for female students and 86.3% and 87.4% for male students. Mm-MAST can be recommended as a useful screening tool for heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems in young university students. It is more specific and more sensitive than the CAGE questionnaire in this population. Skinner's trauma score was not useful for the screening of heavy drinking among young university students.

Alcohol-use patterns in young university students in Finland.

OBJECTIVE: To obtain descriptive data on the alcohol-use patterns and the factors affecting them among Finnish first-year university students. DESIGN: Cross sectional survey with a self-administered questionnaire. SETTING: Finnish first-year university students. PARTICIPANTS: 3,836 students during the academic year 1989/90. The participation rate was 73.7% for female and 53.6% for male students. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Frequency of drinking alcohol, heavy drinking, and drinking for intoxication, average alcohol consumption. RESULTS: The mean alcohol consumption for female students was 2.6 kg and for male students 6.5 kg of pure alcohol per year. 6.5% of the female students and 5.1 of the male students were abstainers. The heaviest drinking 10% consumed 42% of all consumed alcohol. 4.9% of the female students reported a consumption of at least 10 kg of pure alcohol per year and 11.7% of male students reported a consumption of at least 15 kg. The median for the frequency of drinking was every second week for the females and once a week for the males. Furthermore, drinking for intoxication was more frequent among the male than the female students. CONCLUSION: Male students have a higher alcohol consumption, drink more frequently, and are more often intoxicated than female students.

Conventional laboratory tests as indicators of heavy drinking in young university students.

Conventional laboratory tests: gamma glutamyltransferase (GGT), alanine aminotransferase (ALAT), aspartate aminotransferase (ASAT), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-cholesterol) were studied as possible markers of heavy drinking in a sample of 1,619 first-year university students in Helsinki. Alcohol consumption was measured on a frequency-volume scale. No significant (p < 0.001) correlation between the laboratory tests and reported drinking was found. However, significant differences between different drinking groups were found in GGT, MCV, and HDL-cholesterol in both female and male students and in cholesterol in male students. We conclude that, even if alcohol drinking has some impact on GGT, MCV, HDL-cholesterol, and cholesterol (males), these tests are neither specific nor sensitive enough to be used as screening tests for heavy drinking in young students.

Optic nerve fiber loss in relation to atrial fibrillation and blood pressure.

This study investigates the relationship of atrial fibrillation, systemic blood pressure and nerve fiber loss. 213 institutionalized glaucoma patients (mean age 83.9 years) and 100 control patients (mean age 81.8 years) were examined ophthalmologically and analyzed for blood pressure. A 12-lead electrocardiogram, analyzed according to the Minnesota code, was taken for 212 glaucoma patients and 100 control patients. 17% of the glaucoma patients had atrial fibrillation (AF), which was significantly more than in the control group (8%). Patients with AF had lower systolic blood pressures (mean 146.5 mmHg) than the other patients (mean 153.7 mmHg). Visual acuity (VA) of the patients having AF was lower than that of the other patients. Severe visual field defects occurred more frequently in patients having AF (in 70% v.s. 42%). Patients with severe visual field defects and lower VA had lower systolic blood pressures than the patients with better visual fields and VA. 75% of geriatric glaucoma patients with AF and 64% of geriatric glaucoma patients without AF had intraocular pressures < 18 mmHg. Atrial fibrillation and low systolic blood pressure are connected with impairment of ocular functions of geriatric glaucoma patients.

Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) in serum as a possible indicator of heavy drinking in young university students.

Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) in serum was studied as a possible marker of heavy drinking in a sample of 187 female and 102 male 1st year university students from Finland. CDT was measured by a new radioimmunoassay (Pharmacia CDT RIA). Alcohol consumption was measured on a quantity-frequency scale. For female students CDT was 18.2 +/- 0.45 units/liter (mean +/- SEM) and for male students 13.3 +/- 0.48 units/liter. 9.6% of female students and 7.8% of male students had elevated CDT with a cut-off level of 26 units/liter for females and 20 units/liter for males. The correlation between CDT and reported alcohol consumption was 0.30 (p less than 0.001) for females and 0.25 (p = 0.014) for males. Those reporting a consumption of at least 10 kg of pure ethanol per year were considered as heavy drinkers (3.7% of females and 22.5% of males). In female students the average CDT of heavy drinkers did not differ significantly from that of social drinkers but in teetotalers CDT was significantly (p less than 0.03) lower than in female alcohol users. In male students the average CDT of heavy drinkers was higher than the average of social drinkers (p less than 0.1) and significantly higher than the average of teetotalers (p less than 0.001). In the detection of heavy drinking among male students elevated CDT had a specificity of 96.2% and a sensitivity of 21.7%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Electrocardiographic changes in institutionalized geriatric glaucoma patients.

A geriatric study was conducted on 213 institutionalized geriatric glaucoma patients (mean age 83.9 years) and 100 control patients (mean age 81.3 years). A 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) analyzed according to the Minnesota code was recorded for 212 glaucoma patients and 95 control patients. The most frequent finding (in 56% of the glaucoma patients and in 38% of the control patients, P less than 0.05) was a negative or isoelectric T-wave, suggestive of ischemic heart disease. ECG findings suggestive of coronary heart disease (Q/QS patterns, ST-segment depression, negative or isoelectric T-wave, third or second degree AV block, left bundle branch block or right bundle branch block, intraventricular block or atrial fibrillation or flutter) was seen significantly more often in glaucoma patients (164/212; 77%) than in the control patients (59/95; 62%). Seventeen percent of the glaucoma patients had atrial fibrillation (AF), which was significantly more than for the control group (8/95; 8%). There was no difference in the number of ECG changes between patients with bilateral open-angle glaucoma and bilateral angle-closure glaucoma. The mean intraocular pressure of patients having AF (15.9 +/- 8 mmHg) was significantly lower than that of the other patients (18.4 +/- 11 mmHg) (P less than 0.05). Fifty-five glaucoma patients were considered blind (visual acuity less than 0.05 in the better eye). The visual acuity of patients having AF was lower than that of the other patients, and severe visual field defects (arcuate scotoma or a residual field in the temporal periphery) occurred, slightly more frequently in patients with AF (in 70% vs 51% of the other patients). Arrhythmias, especially AF, are connected with impairment of visual acuity and visual field defects in glaucoma patients. The result of this retrospective study indicate that ECG changes occur frequently, suggesting coronary heart disease in elderly glaucoma patients.

Serum beta-hexosaminidase in young university students.

In a sample of 203 first-year university students, serum beta-hexosaminidase (beta-HEX) was studied as a possible marker of heavy drinking. There are no previous studies on beta-HEX in a young nonalcoholic population. All students were healthy and without regular medication except the use of p-pills in 49 of the 123 female students. Alcohol consumption was measured on a frequency-volume scale. Serum beta-HEX did not correlate with reported drinking, gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) nor alcohol problems. The mean beta-HEX of 26 teetotalers did not differ from that of the heaviest drinking group (n = 25). A new finding was a significant (p = 0.009) increase of serum beta-HEX in female students using oral contraceptives. We conclude that serum beta-HEX is a poor indicator of alcohol consumption in young university students and if elevated the use of p-pills must be considered.

Traditional use of the sauna for hygiene and health in Finland.

Finns have used the sauna for centuries to clean themselves, to maintain their health and even to help in treating a variety of ills. Up to this century the sauna was widely used as a place for childbirth. But the main reason for a sauna is the pleasure of sauna bathing and the craving for the feeling after the sauna. The longevity and effects of the sauna in Finland are linked to the view of the sauna as a holy place; participants have to behave in the sauna as they would in the church. The use of the vihta or vasta (a sauna whisk made of birch branches) has been an essential part of sauna bathing. Beating with the vihta promotes sweating and stimulates the warm skin. Many curative and magical effects have been attributed to the practice. Seldom has the sauna been thought to cause any disease.

Rubella immune state and rubella vaccination of female university students.

At the Finnish Student Health Service, we have measured rubella antibodies in 3 consecutive academic years--1979-80, 1980-81 and 1981-82--in 2 483 first year female students. In 1979-80, 16.4% were seronegative, the following year the figures were 10.4% and in the third year 7.4%. Among students less than or equal to 19 yr of age the seronegatives decreased from 19 to 2% in 3 yr. This decrease shows that the national rubella vaccination programme which began in 1975 has been more successful than expected. A hemolysis-in-gel (HIG) test has proved a suitable screening method and the health examination of first year students a suitable occasion to test the immunity against rubella. Seroconversion occurred in 81.4% of those vaccinated.

Relative weight, smoking and contraceptive pills: interrelations to blood pressure in students.

PIP: Hypertension is 1 of the most important risk factors of cardiovascular disease. Kannel et al have shown in a prospective study that relative body weight, weight change under observation, and skinfold thickness were distinctly related to existing blood pressure levels and to the subsequent rate of development of hypertension. Recent evidence has suggested that the patient with essential hypertension may be identified early in life, even before gross hypertension occurs. Stamler et al found in a prospective study of middle aged men that the baseline blood pressure was the measurement most powerfully related to follow-up blood pressure. The risk of developing hypertension in from 1-4 years for males originally normotensive was best correlated with baseline blood pressure. Multivariate analyses indicated that relative weight and cigarette smoking also added low-order independent contributors to blood pressure in predicting the risk of hypertension development. The use of variables made it possible to identify that portion of the population with a very high incidence of elevated blood pressure 4-5 years later. A relation between oral contraceptives and hypertension has been suggested. Some characteristics related to blood pressure measured at a health examination of 1st and 3rd year university students are reported here.^ieng