BACKGROUND A long-term trend of increasing mental health problems among adolescents in many Western countries indicates a great need to investigate if and how societal changes have contributed to the reported increase. Using seven waves of repeated cross-sectional data collected between 1988 and 2008 in Sweden, the current study examined if economic factors at the societal level (municipality u...

OBJECTIVE Recent research has assessed the impact of tobacco laws on cardiovascular and respiratory morbidity. In this study, we also examined whether the association between the implementation of the 2005 Spanish smoking ban and hospital admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases varies according to the adjustment for potential confounders. DESIGN Ecological time series analysis....

Secular change in height has been extensively investigated, but size and shape of the postcranial skeleton much less so. The availability of large, documented collections of nineteenth- and twentieth-century skeletons makes it possible to examine changes in skeletal structure over the past 150 years. We examined secular changes in long bone lengths and proportions, their allometric relationship...

BACKGROUND Entering puberty is an important milestone in reproductive life and secular changes in the timing of puberty may be an important indicator of the general reproductive health in a population. Too early puberty is associated with several psychosocial and health problems. The aim of our study was to determine if the age at onset of pubertal growth spurt (OGS) and at peak height velocity...

QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY Evidence-based recommendations play an important role in medical decision-making, but barriers to adherence are common. In Switzerland, the Swiss Medical Board (SMB) publishes evidence reports that conclude with recommendations. We assessed the impact of two SMB reports on service provision (2009: Recommendation of conservative treatment as first option for rupture of the ...

BACKGROUND A paradoxical secular trend of an increase in preterm births and a decrease in low birth weights has been reported in many developed countries over the last 25 years. OBJECTIVE To determine if this trend is true for Israeli neonates, and to add new information on secular trends in crown-heel length and head circumference. METHODS A hospital-based historic cohort design was used. ...

STUDY OBJECTIVE The aim was to determine whether the mean body mass index of young adults in England and Scotland had increased during the years 1973 to 1988. DESIGN The study was an analysis of reported heights and weights for parents of children participating in a mixed longitudinal study of children's growth. SETTING 20 study areas (16 in England and four in Scotland) were selected by st...

As Turkey is officially a secular state and it adopts Swiss Civil Code, thestate implements secular legal system. However, as people in Turkey are predominantlyMuslim and theyare born and raised in a traditionally Muslim environment,people generally and especially women live under the influence of these two sometimescontradictory and inconsistent legal systems and customs. As a result, thereare...

Due to its artificial and unnatural structure, Israeli society has since the beginning of its establishment, been a context for the emergence of different kinds of cleavages and tensions. This state of affairs has endangered the political stability of the Israeli regime. The present research is trying to answer this question: what is the effect of religious-secular cleavages in Israel on the fu...