Articles

Prevalence and risk factors for anemia severity and type in Malawian men and women: urban and rural differences

The global burden of anemia is large especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where HIV is common and lifestyles are changing rapidly with urbanization. The effects of these changes are unknown. Studies of anemia usu...

Authors: Aishatu L. Adamu, Amelia Crampin, Ndoliwe Kayuni, Alemayehu Amberbir, Olivier Koole, Amos Phiri, Moffat Nyirenda and Paul Fine

Assessing the psychometric and ecometric properties of neighborhood scales using adolescent survey data from urban and rural Scotland

Despite the well-established need for specific measurement instruments to examine the relationship between neighborhood conditions and adolescent well-being outcomes, few studies have developed scales to measu...

Authors: Gina Martin, Joanna Inchley, Gerry Humphris and Candace Currie

Assessment of pre-injury health-related quality of life: a systematic review

Insight into the change from pre- to post-injury health-related quality of life (HRQL) of trauma patients is important to derive estimates of the impact of injury on HRQL. Prospectively collected pre-injury HR...

Authors: Annemieke C. Scholten, Juanita A. Haagsma, Ewout W. Steyerberg, Ed F. van Beeck and Suzanne Polinder

Evidence-based design recommendations for prevalence studies on multimorbidity: improving comparability of estimates

In aging populations, multimorbidity causes a disease burden of growing importance and cost. However, estimates of the prevalence of multimorbidity (prevMM) vary widely across studies, impeding valid compariso...

Authors: Barbara M. Holzer, Klarissa Siebenhuener, Matthias Bopp and Christoph E. Minder

Establishing disability weights for congenital pediatric surgical conditions: a multi-modal approach

Burden of disease (BoD) as measured by Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) is one of the criteria for priority-setting in health care resource allocation. DALYs incorporate disability weights (DWs), which a...

Authors: D. Poenaru, J. Pemberton, C. Frankfurter, B. H. Cameron and E. Stolk

Incidence and survival of end-stage kidney disease due to polycystic kidney disease in Australia and New Zealand (1963–2014)

The aim of this study was to determine whether the incidence and survival of patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) due to polycystic kidney disease (PKD) has changed in Australia and New Zealand.

Authors: Mangalee R. Fernando, Hannah Dent, Stephen P. McDonald and Gopala K. Rangan

The share of ultra-processed foods and the overall nutritional quality of diets in the US: evidence from a nationally representative cross-sectional study

Recent population dietary studies indicate that diets rich in ultra-processed foods, increasingly frequent worldwide, are grossly nutritionally unbalanced, suggesting that the dietary contribution of these foo...

Authors: Euridice Martínez Steele, Barry M. Popkin, Boyd Swinburn and Carlos A. Monteiro

Change in life expectancy with type 2 diabetes: a study using claims data from lower Saxony, Germany

This study estimates life expectancy with and without type 2 diabetes for individuals in Lower Saxony, Germany in order to detect a trend in population health.

Authors: Denise Muschik, Juliane Tetzlaff, Karin Lange, Jelena Epping, Sveja Eberhard and Siegfried Geyer

Does alcohol use have a causal effect on HIV incidence and disease progression? A review of the literature and a modeling strategy for quantifying the effect

In the first part of this review, the nature of the associations between alcohol use and HIV/AIDS is discussed. Alcohol use has been found to be strongly associated with incidence and progression of HIV/AIDS, ...

Authors: Jürgen Rehm, Charlotte Probst, Kevin D. Shield and Paul A. Shuper

Development and validation of an early childhood development scale for use in low-resourced settings

Low-cost, cross-culturally comparable measures of the motor, cognitive, and socioemotional skills of children under 3 years remain scarce. In the present paper, we aim to develop a new caregiver-reported early...

Authors: Dana Charles McCoy, Christopher R. Sudfeld, David C. Bellinger, Alfa Muhihi, Geofrey Ashery, Taylor E. Weary, Wafaie Fawzi and Günther Fink

Methodological choices affect cancer incidence rates: a cohort study

Incidence rates are fundamental to epidemiology, but their magnitude and interpretation depend on methodological choices. We aimed to examine the extent to which the definition of the study population affects ...

Authors: Hannah L. Brooke, Mats Talbäck, Maria Feychting and Rickard Ljung

Different survival analysis methods for measuring long-term outcomes of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian cancer patients in the presence and absence of competing risks

Net survival is the most common measure of cancer prognosis and has been used to study differentials in cancer survival between ethnic or racial population subgroups. However, net survival ignores competing ri...

Authors: Vincent Y. F. He, John R. Condon, Peter D. Baade, Xiaohua Zhang and Yuejen Zhao

Using multi-year national survey cohorts for period estimates: an application of weighted discrete Poisson regression for assessing annual national mortality in US adults with and without diabetes, 2000–2006

Monitoring national mortality among persons with a disease is important to guide and evaluate progress in disease control and prevention. However, a method to estimate nationally representative annual mortalit...

Authors: Yiling J. Cheng, Edward W. Gregg, Deborah B. Rolka and Theodore J. Thompson

The impact of individual-level heterogeneity on estimated infectious disease burden: a simulation study

Disease burden is not evenly distributed within a population; this uneven distribution can be due to individual heterogeneity in progression rates between disease stages. Composite measures of disease burden t...

Authors: Scott A. McDonald, Brecht Devleesschauwer and Jacco Wallinga

A new parametric model to assess delay and compression of mortality

A decrease in mortality across all ages causes a shift of the age pattern of mortality, or mortality delay, while differences in the rate of decrease across ages cause a change in the shape of the age-at-death...

Authors: Joop de Beer and Fanny Janssen

Diabetes incidence and projections from prevalence surveys in Fiji

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) incidence is traditionally derived from cohort studies that are not always feasible, representative, or available. The present study estimates T2DM incidence in Fijian adults fr...

Authors: Stephen Morrell, Sophia Lin, Isimeli Tukana, Christine Linhart, Richard Taylor, Penina Vatucawaqa, Dianna J Magliano and Paul Zimmet

A quantitative evidence base for population health: applying utilization-based cluster analysis to segment a patient population

To improve population health it is crucial to understand the different care needs within a population. Traditional population groups are often based on characteristics such as age or morbidities. However, this...

Authors: Sabine I. Vuik, Erik Mayer and Ara Darzi

Type 2 diabetes detection and management among insured adults

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 28.9 million adults had diabetes in 2012 in the US, though many patients are undiagnosed or not managing their condition. This study provides US na...

Authors: Timothy M. Dall, Weyna Yang, Pragna Halder, Jerry Franz, Erin Byrne, April P. Semilla, Ritashree Chakrabarti and Bruce Stuart

Trends, causes, and risk factors of mortality among children under 5 in Ethiopia, 1990–2013: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013

Ethiopia has made remarkable progress in reducing child mortality over the last two decades. However, the under-5 mortality rate in Ethiopia is still higher than the under-5 mortality rates of several low- and...

Authors: Amare Deribew, Gizachew Assefa Tessema, Kebede Deribe, Yohannes Adama Melaku, Yihunie Lakew, Azmeraw T. Amare, Semaw F. Abera, Mesoud Mohammed, Abiy Hiruye, Efrem Teklay, Awoke Misganaw and Nicholas Kassebaum

Monitoring the prevalence of thyroid disorders in the adult population of Northeast Germany

Only a few studies like ours have investigated the effect of long-term stable iodine supply on thyroid disorders in a historically iodine-deficient population, but not with a long follow-up time of 10 years.

Authors: Rehman Mehmood Khattak, Till Ittermann, Matthias Nauck, Harald Below and Henry Völzke

A population study on the time trend of cigarette smoking, cessation, and exposure to secondhand smoking from 2001 to 2013 in Taiwan

In 2001, the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) commenced in Taiwan. This survey, conducted on a sample of the whole Taiwanese population, is nationally representative and has a high response rate (>80 %)...

Authors: Chi-Yung Chiang and Hsing-Yi Chang

Alzheimer’s and other dementias in Canada, 2011 to 2031: a microsimulation Population Health Modeling (POHEM) study of projected prevalence, health burden, health services, and caregiving use

Worldwide, there is concern that increases in the prevalence of dementia will result in large demands for caregivers and supportive services that will be challenging to address. Previous dementia projections h...

Authors: Douglas G. Manuel, Rochelle Garner, Philippe Finès, Christina Bancej, William Flanagan, Karen Tu, Kim Reimer, Larry W. Chambers and Julie Bernier

Oral/dental items in the resident assessment instrument – minimum Data Set 2.0 lack validity: results of a retrospective, longitudinal validation study

Oral health in nursing home residents is poor. Robust, mandated assessment tools such as the Resident Assessment Instrument – Minimum Data Set (RAI-MDS) 2.0 are key to monitoring and improving quality of oral ...

Authors: Matthias Hoben, Jeffrey W. Poss, Peter G. Norton and Carole A. Estabrooks

The paradox of verbal autopsy in cause of death assignment: symptom question unreliability but predictive accuracy

We believe that it is important that governments understand the reliability of the mortality data which they have at their disposable to guide policy debates. In many instances, verbal autopsy (VA) will be the...

Authors: Peter Serina, Ian Riley, Bernardo Hernandez, Abraham D. Flaxman, Devarsetty Praveen, Veronica Tallo, Rohina Joshi, Diozele Sanvictores, Andrea Stewart, Meghan D. Mooney, Christopher J. L. Murray and Alan D. Lopez

What is the optimal recall period for verbal autopsies? Validation study based on repeat interviews in three populations

One key contextual feature in Verbal Autopsy (VA) is the time between death and survey administration, or recall period. This study quantified the effect of recall period on VA performance by using a paired da...

Authors: Peter Serina, Ian Riley, Bernardo Hernandez, Abraham D. Flaxman, Devarsetty Praveen, Veronica Tallo, Rohina Joshi, Diozele Sanvictores, Andrea Stewart, Meghan D. Mooney, Christopher J. L. Murray and Alan D. Lopez

Dynamic denominators: the impact of seasonally varying population numbers on disease incidence estimates

Reliable health metrics are crucial for accurately assessing disease burden and planning interventions. Many health indicators are measured through passive surveillance systems and are reliant on accurate esti...

Authors: Elisabeth zu Erbach-Schoenberg, Victor A. Alegana, Alessandro Sorichetta, Catherine Linard, Christoper Lourenço, Nick W. Ruktanonchai, Bonita Graupe, Tomas J. Bird, Carla Pezzulo, Amy Wesolowski and Andrew J. Tatem

The use of a lot quality assurance sampling methodology to assess and manage primary health interventions in conflict-affected West Darfur, Sudan

Organizations working in conflict-affected areas have a need to monitor and evaluate their programs, however this is often difficult due to the logistical challenges of conflict areas. Lot quality assurance sa...

Authors: Kiemanh Pham, Emily Chambers Sharpe, William M. Weiss and Alexander Vu

Ethnic differences in prevalence and risk factors for hypertension in the Suriname Health Study: a cross sectional population study

Limited information is available about the prevalence, ethnic disparities, and risk factors of hypertension within developing countries. We used data from a nationwide study on non-communicable disease (NCD) r...

Authors: Ingrid S. K. Krishnadath, Vincent W. V. Jaddoe, Lenny M. Nahar-van Venrooij and Jerry R. Toelsie

Infant mortality among the Canadian-born offspring of immigrants and non-immigrants in Canada: a population-based study

Adult immigrants in Canada have a survival advantage over their Canadian-born counterparts. It is unknown whether migrants are able to transmit their survival advantage to their Canadian-born children.

Authors: Zoua M. Vang

A feasibility study on using smartphones to conduct short-version verbal autopsies in rural China

Currently there are two main sources of mortality data with cause of death assignments in China. Both sources–the Ministry of Health-Vital Registration system and the Chinese Disease Surveillance Point system–...

Authors: Jing Zhang, Rohina Joshi, Jixin Sun, Samantha R. Rosenthal, Miao Tong, Cong Li, Rasika Rampatige, Meghan Mooney, Alan Lopez and Lijing L. Yan

Accuracy of self-reported height, weight, and waist circumference in a general adult Chinese population

Self-reported height, weight, and waist circumference (WC) are widely used to estimate the prevalence of obesity, which has been increasing rapidly in China, but there is limited evidence for the accuracy of s...

Authors: Shurong Lu, Jian Su, Quanyong Xiang, Jinyi Zhou and Ming Wu

Disparities in length of life across developed countries: measuring and decomposing changes over time within and between country groups

Over the past half century the global tendency for improvements in longevity has been uneven across countries. This has resulted in widening of inter-country disparities in life expectancy. Moreover, the patte...

Authors: Sergey Timonin, Vladimir M. Shkolnikov, Domantas Jasilionis, Pavel Grigoriev, Dmitry A. Jdanov and David A. Leon

Current tobacco use and its associated factors among adults in a country with comprehensive ban on tobacco: findings from the nationally representative STEPS survey, Bhutan, 2014

Despite a comprehensive ban on cultivation, manufacture, distribution, and sale of tobacco products since 2004, two nationwide surveys conducted in 2012 and 2013 reported high tobacco use in Bhutan. National H...

Authors: Mongal Singh Gurung, Dorji Pelzom, Tandin Dorji, Wangchuk Drukpa, Chador Wangdi, Palanivel Chinnakali and Sonu Goel

Socioeconomic status and self-rated health of Japanese people, based on age, cohort, and period

Differences in health resulting from differences in socioeconomic status (SES) have been identified around the world. Age, period, and cohort (A-P-C) differences in health are vital factors which are associate...

Authors: Hidehiro Sugisawa, Ken Harada, Yoko Sugihara, Shizuko Yanagisawa and Masaya Shinmei

Rapid assessment of disability in the Philippines: understanding prevalence, well-being, and access to the community for people with disabilities to inform the W-DARE project

International recognition that people with disabilities were excluded from the Millennium Development Goals has led to better inclusion of people with disabilities in the recently agreed Global Goals for Susta...

Authors: Manjula Marella, Alexandra Devine, Graeme Ferdinand Armecin, Jerome Zayas, Ma Jesusa Marco and Cathy Vaughan

Comparative approaches for assessing access to alcohol outlets: exploring the utility of a gravity potential approach

A growing body of research recommends controlling alcohol availability to reduce harm. Various common approaches, however, provide dramatically different pictures of the physical availability of alcohol. This ...

Authors: Tony H. Grubesic, Ran Wei, Alan T. Murray and William Alex Pridemore

Expansion or compression of long-term care in Germany between 2001 and 2009? A small-area decomposition study based on administrative health data

Studies state profound cross-country differences in healthy life years and its time trends, suggesting either the health scenario of expansion or compression of morbidity. A much-discussed question in public h...

Authors: Daniel Kreft and Gabriele Doblhammer

Future healthy life expectancy among older adults in the US: a forecast based on cohort smoking and obesity history

In the past three decades, the elderly population in the United States experienced increase in life expectancy (LE) and disability-free life expectancy (LE^ND), but decrease in life expectancy with disability (LE^D

Authors: Bochen Cao

Summarizing health-related quality of life (HRQOL): development and testing of a one-factor model

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a multi-dimensional concept commonly used to examine the impact of health status on quality of life. HRQOL is often measured by four core questions that asked about ge...

Authors: Shaoman Yin, Rashid Njai, Lawrence Barker, Paul Z. Siegel and Youlian Liao

Estimating average alcohol consumption in the population using multiple sources: the case of Spain

National estimates on per capita alcohol consumption are provided regularly by various sources and may have validity problems, so corrections are needed for monitoring and assessment purposes. Our objectives w...

Authors: Luis Sordo, Gregorio Barrio, María J. Bravo, Joan R. Villalbí, Albert Espelt, Montserrat Neira and Enrique Regidor

Changes in life expectancy 1950–2010: contributions from age- and disease-specific mortality in selected countries

Changes of life expectancy over time serve as an interesting public health indicator for medical, social and economic developments within populations. The aim of this study was to quantify changes of life expe...

Authors: Jochen Klenk, Ulrich Keil, Andrea Jaensch, Marcus C. Christiansen and Gabriele Nagel

Development of a metric for tracking and comparing population health based on the minimal generic set of domains of functioning and health

The following minimal set of valid health domains for tracking the health of both clinical and general populations has recently been proposed: 1) energy and drive functions, 2) emotional functions, 3) sensatio...

Authors: Cornelia Oberhauser, Somnath Chatterji, Carla Sabariego and Alarcos Cieza

Mental health and urban living in sub-Saharan Africa: major depressive episodes among the urban poor in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

In sub-Saharan African cities, the epidemiological transition has shifted a greater proportion of the burden of non-communicable diseases, including mental and behavioral disorder, to the adult population. The...

Authors: Géraldine Duthé, Clémentine Rossier, Doris Bonnet, Abdramane Bassiahi Soura and Jamaica Corker

Choosing an epidemiological model structure for the economic evaluation of non-communicable disease public health interventions

Non-communicable diseases are the leading global causes of mortality and morbidity. Growing pressures on health services and on social care have led to increasing calls for a greater emphasis to be placed on p...

Authors: Adam D. M. Briggs, Jane Wolstenholme, Tony Blakely and Peter Scarborough

Improving the measurement of maternal mortality in Thailand using multiple data sources

Thailand uses cause of death records in civil registration to summarize maternal mortality statistics. A report by the Department of Health using the Reproductive Age Mortality Studies (RAMOS) reported that th...

Authors: Worawan Chandoevwit, Phasith Phatchana, Kanjana Sirigomon, Kunakorn Ieawsuwan, Jutatip Thungthong and Saray Ruangdej

Temporal evolution of the risk factors associated with low birth weight rates in Brazilian capitals (1996-2011)

To analyze the trend of low birth weight (LBW) and its determinants in Brazilian state capitals between 1996 and 2011. We intended to determine which variables are associated with LBW during the period studied.

Authors: Viviane Costa de Souza Buriol, Vânia Hirakata, Marcelo Zubaran Goldani and Clécio Homrich da Silva

Improving the usefulness of US mortality data: new methods for reclassification of underlying cause of death

Mortality data are affected by miscertification of the medical cause of death deaths and changes to cause of death classification systems. We present both mappings of ICD9 and ICD10 to a unified list of causes...

Authors: Kyle J. Foreman, Mohsen Naghavi and Majid Ezzati

Health profile of centenarians in Portugal: a census-based approach

The number of centenarians is rapidly increasing in Europe. In Portugal, it has almost tripled over the last 10 years and constitutes one of the fastest-growing segments of the population. This paper aims to d...

Authors: Oscar Ribeiro, Laetitia Teixeira, Lia Araújo and Constança Paúl

Measuring and tracking obesity inequality in the United States: evidence from NHANES, 1971-2014

Because people care about their weight relative to peers and society, obesity inequality plays a role in explaining obesity incidence and the impacts of being obese on subjective well-being. While the increase...

Authors: Tae-Young Pak, Susana Ferreira and Gregory Colson

Erratum to: Estimation of country-specific and global prevalence of male circumcision

Authors: Brian J. Morris, Richard G. Wamai, Esther B. Henebeng, Aaron A. R. Tobian, Jeffrey D. Klausner, Joya Banerjee and Catherine A. Hankins