The influence of media violence on youth

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/83429/1/2003.Anderson_etal.InfluenceofMediaViolenceonYouth.PsychologicalScienceinthePublicInterest.pd

Coding of occupation for the "young cohort" of the Danish twin register:A resource for future epidemiologic research

Objectives: Information on health-related outcomes and exposures is available in user-friendly computerized format for the ``young cohort'' of the Danish Twin Register born 1953-82. We incorporated occupation information within the database to facilitate future job-related studies. Methods: Occupation information for the 29,430 twins responding to a mailed questionnaire in 1995 was coded according to DISCO-88. The subjects were classified in three ways depending on the information available: directly from the 2,196 job titles listed in the DISCO-88 handbook, according to a set of predetermined rules, or by consensus if ambiguous information was provided. Two percent (2%) of the sample was recoded independently by two investigators to demonstrate coding consistency. Results: Occupation could be directly coded using job titles for 61% of the sample; 15% were coded according to a set of rules or by consensus; 24% could not be coded. The recoded sample was 99% in agreement with the original coding. Conclusion: Occupation information has been incorporated within the extensive health-related database for the ``young cohort'' of the Danish Twin Register. This resource is available to researchers for future studies concerning occupation, health, and heredity using (1) the existing data (2) via linkage to other Danish databases, or (3) by contacting selected subjects directly

Stroke and apolipoprotein E (4 are independent risk factors for cognitive decline: a population-based study.

Background and Purpose —Stroke and apolipoprotein E ε4 (ApoE ε4) are individually important risk factors for cognitive decline, including Alzheimer disease. It has been suggested that ApoE ε4 multiplies the risk for cognitive decline following stroke. In a population-based sample, using well-defined sensitive cognitive measures, this study investigates whether cognitive decline following stroke is worse for patients who carry the ApoE ε4 allele. Methods —Subjects were participants in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA). The sample consisted of 1224 subjects, aged 62 to 85 years, who participated in the 3-year follow-up examination and for whom ApoE and stroke data were complete. We assessed cognitive decline using the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Auditory Verbal Learning Test (memory: immediate and delayed recall), and the Coding Task (information processing speed). The effects of stroke and ApoE ε4 on cognitive decline were evaluated with ANOVA and multiple logistic regression analysis, adjusted for age, sex, education, and baseline cognition. Results —A synergistic effect modification for stroke and ApoE ε4 on cognitive decline was not observed. Unexpectedly, instead, stroke patients carrying the ε4 allele demonstrated a nonsignificantly lowered risk for Mini-Mental State Examination decline (OR=0.3; 95% CI 0.1 to 1.1). ApoE ε4 was associated with declines in information processing speed (OR=1.5; 95% CI 1.1 to 2.1) and small declines for immediate and delayed recall. Conclusions —Stroke and ApoE ε4 may impair cognition through distinct nonsynergistic mechanisms. The slowing of information processing speed for ApoE ε4 carriers was more evident than impairment in memory. </jats:p