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The STEPS Study aims to search for the precursors and causes of problems in child health and well-being by using a multidisciplinary approach. The cohort consists of all mothers (Finnish or Swedish speaking) who had live deliveries in the Hospital District of Southwest Finland from January 2008 to April 2010 and their children (n=9811 mothers, n=9936 children). Of these, 1797 mothers and their 1827 children were recruited to an intensive follow-up group during the first trimester of pregnancy or soon after delivery. Information about the whole study cohort is based on pregnancy follow-up data from maternity clinics, National Longitudinal Census Files and child welfare clinics. Data from multiple sources are used to obtain a picture of the overall well-being of the child and the family. After birth, study visits include several clinical examinations. Collaboration is encouraged, and access to the data will be available when the data set is complete.

Background-The clinical profile with regard to sex and the influences on outcomes in patients who have been hospitalized for acute pericarditis is largely uncharacterized. Methods and Results-We studied all patients aged ≥16 years admitted to the hospital because of acute pericarditis (postpericardiotomy and myocardial infarction associated pericarditis were excluded). Data were collected from a Finnish national registry that included data on all cardiovascular admissions (670 409

BackgroundEpidemiology of myocarditis in childhood is largely unknown. Men are known to have a higher incidence of myocarditis than women in adults aged <50 years, but whether this is true by sex in pediatric age groups is unknown. We set out to study the occurrence and potential sex differences of myocarditis in a general pediatric population.Methods and ResultsData of all hospital admissions with myocarditis in Finland occurring in patients aged ≤15 years from 2004 to 2014 were collected from a mandatory nationwide registry. All patients with myocarditis as a primary, secondary, or tertiary cause of admission were included. Total and age‐ and sexspecific incidence rates were calculated using corresponding population data. There were 213 admissions with myocarditis in pediatric patients. Myocarditis was the primary cause of admission in 86%. The overall incidence rate of myocarditis was 1.95/100 000 person‐years. Of all patients, 77% were boys, but sex differences in incidence rates were age‐dependent. In children aged 0 to 5 years, there was no sex difference in the occurrence of myocarditis. Boys aged 6 to 10 years had a higher incidence rate compared with girls (72% boys; incidence rate ratio: 2.46; 95% confidence interval, 1.03–5.89; P=0.04). Sex difference further increased in children aged 11 to 15 years (80% boys; incidence rate ratio: 3.5; 95% confidence interval, 2.68–5.67; P<0.0001).ConclusionsMyocarditis leading to hospital admission is relatively uncommon in children, but occurrence of myocarditis increases with age. There is no sex difference in the risk of myocarditis during the first 6 years of life, but boys have a significantly higher risk at ages 6 to 15 years.

WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: Better postnatal growth, especially head growth, associates with better cognitive development in preterm infants. Suboptimal postnatal growth is more common in infants with poor antenatal growth than in infants with normal growth. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS:Good weight gain and head circumference growth until 2 years was associated with better 5-year cognitive outcome in non-small for gestational age infants. Good head circumference growth around term age benefits the cognitive outcome of small for gestational age infants. abstract OBJECTIVES: To study how antenatal growth affects cognitive outcome in very preterm infants and to determine whether there is an association between growth in any particular time period between birth and 5 years of age and cognitive outcome. Small for gestational age (SGA) and non-SGA infants were analyzed separately, because antenatal growth may affect postnatal growth. and 2006 who were treated at Turku University Hospital (n = 181) were followed. Weight, length, and head circumference (HC) of the infants were measured at 9 time points between birth and 5 years. The growth was determined as a z score change between measurement points. Cognitive development was assessed at 5 years of age with the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scales of IntelligenceRevised. The association between growth and full-scale IQ (FSIQ) was studied. METHODS:RESULTS: Growth in length and height was not associated with 5-year cognitive outcome. However, weight (r = 0.18, P = .04) and HC growth (r = 0.25, P = .01) between birth and 2 years of corrected age correlated to FSIQ in non-SGA children. In SGA children, HC growth (r = 0.33, P = .03) around term age correlated to FSIQ. CONCLUSIONS:Cognitive outcome was similar in SGA and non-SGA very preterm infants. Growth affected cognition positively in both subgroups, but the critical time period was different. Drs Leppänen and Lind made substantial contributions to conception and design, acquired data, analyzed and interpreted data, and wrote and revised the manuscript; Drs Lapinleimu, Lehtonen, Haataja, and Rautava made substantial contributions to conception and design, analyzed and interpreted data, and wrote and revised the manuscript; Mr Matomäki carried out the statistical analyses, made substantial contributions to conception and design and interpretation of data, and wrote and revised the manuscript; and all authors approved the article to be published. www.pediatrics.org/cgi

Parents report more behavioral and emotional problems in VLBW children at age 3 if they themselves have had symptoms of depression, parenting stress, or weak sense of coherence 1 year earlier. The new finding of this study was to show the significance of the father's psychological well-being on the behavioral development of a preterm child.

ObjectiveTo examine difference in mortality between postal survey non-respondents and respondents.DesignA prospective cohort study with baseline survey in 1998 and comprehensive linkage to national mortality registers until 2005, the Health and Social Support study.SettingA population-based postal survey of the working-aged population in Finland in 1998.ParticipantsThe original random sample comprised 64 797 working-aged individuals in Finland (20–24, 30–34, 40–44, 50–54 years of age; 32 059 women and 32 716 men), yielding 25 898 (40.0%) responses in the baseline postal survey in 1998.Primary outcome measureRegistry-based primary causes of death encoded with the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).ResultsIn women, HR for total mortality was 1.75 (95% CI 1.40 to 2.19) times higher among the non-respondents compared with the respondents. In men, non-response was associated with a 1.41-fold (1.21–1.65) excess risk of total mortality. Non-response associated in certain age groups with deaths due to diseases in women and with deaths due to external causes in men. The most prominent excess mortality was seen for total mortality for both genders and for mortality due to external causes among men.ConclusionsPostal surveys result in slight underestimation of illness prevalence.

Objective To study neurodevelopmental outcome at 2 years of corrected age in very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) (≤ 1500 g) preterm infants with abnormal fetoplacental flow. Methods