191 research outputs found
sj-docx-1-aph-10.1177_10105395221115220 – Supplemental material for Perceived Loneliness, Peer, and Parental Relationship With Smoking: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Adolescents Across South-East Asia
No full textSupplemental material, sj-docx-1-aph-10.1177_10105395221115220 for Perceived Loneliness, Peer, and Parental Relationship With Smoking: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Adolescents Across South-East Asia by Caitlin McClure-Thomas, Carmen Lim, Susy Sebayang, Fitri Fausiah, Hebe Gouda and Janni Leung in Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health</p
Correction: Socio-economic status and behavioural and cardiovascular risk factors in Papua New Guinea: A cross-sectional survey
No full textThe fourth author’s name is spelled incorrectly. The correct name is: Suparat Phuanukoonnon. The correct citation is: Rarau P, Pulford J, Gouda H, Phuanukoonnon S, Bullen C, Scragg R, et al. (2019) Socio-economic status and behavioural and cardiovascular risk factors in Papua New Guinea: A cross-sectional survey. PLoS ONE 14(1): e0211068. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0211068 There is an error in the current address for author Suparat Phuanukoonnon. The correct current address is: Department of Social and Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Ratchadewee, Bangkok, Thailand
Why choice of metric matters in public health analyses: a case study of the attribution of credit for the decline in coronary heart disease mortality in the US and other populations.
No full textBACKGROUND: Reasons for the widespread declines in coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality in high income countries are controversial. Here we explore how the type of metric chosen for the analyses of these declines affects the answer obtained.
METHODS: The analyses we reviewed were performed using IMPACT, a large Excel based model of the determinants of temporal change in mortality from CHD. Assessments of the decline in CHD mortality in the USA between 1980 and 2000 served as the central case study.
RESULTS: Analyses based in the metric of number of deaths prevented attributed about half the decline to treatments (including preventive medications) and half to favourable shifts in risk factors. However, when mortality change was expressed in the metric of life-years-gained, the share attributed to risk factor change rose to 65%. This happened because risk factor changes were modelled as slowing disease progression, such that the hypothetical deaths averted resulted in longer average remaining lifetimes gained than the deaths averted by better treatments. This result was robust to a range of plausible assumptions on the relative effect sizes of changes in treatments and risk factors.
CONCLUSIONS: Time-based metrics (such as life years) are generally preferable because they direct attention to the changes in the natural history of disease that are produced by changes in key health determinants. The life-years attached to each death averted will also weight deaths in a way that better reflects social preferences
Scientific and technical learning and cultural change in Venezuela
No full textFil: Vessuri, Hebe. Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas. Departamento de Estudio de la Ciencia; Venezuela.El presente artículo describe algunos elementos pertinentes desde el punto de vista sociológico para la comprensión de los procesos de aprendizaje y cambio cultural en los países en desarrollo. En primer lugar, se considera la evolución del aprendizaje tecnológico por parte de científicos e ingenieros en su accionar en el trabajo del laboratorio de I + D . En segundo lugar, se reconstruye a grosso modo, desde la perspectiva sociotécnica, una tecnología particular, con referencia al aprendizaje socio-institucional en dimensiones que superan lo estrictamente técnico. En tercer lugar, se describen algunos de los problemas de transferencia de información entre subsistemas de conocimiento y el rol de mediación de algunos de los individuos claves. Finalmente, se refiere al “cierre” de las controversias y debates y la estabilización de la innovación tecnológica en contextos sin una fuerte tradición productiva, ni de I + D , ni de mercadeo de tecnología.This article describes some relevant elements from the sociological point of view for the understanding of the processes of learning and cultural change in developing countries. In the first place, the author analyzes the evolution of technical learning by scientists and engineers working within the R & D laboratory. Secondly, a specific technology is briefly outlined from a sociotechnical perspective, with regard to socioinstitutional learning and taking into account elem ents that go beyond a merely technical approach. Thirdly, the author describes some of the problems met in the transference of information among subsystem s of knowledge, and the role of mediator that befalls on some key individuals. Finally, the author mentions the “closing” of controversies and debates, as well as the stabilization of technological innovation in contexts without a strong tradition in production, in R & D , or in the
marketing of technology
Civil registration and vital statistics, emergencies, and international law: understanding the intersection
No full textCivil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems are typically run by governments to record every birth, adoption, death, marriage, and divorce that occurs among a country’s population. Registration of vital events provides individuals with a formal relationship with the State and each other, and is the foundation of a person’s identity, nationality, and legal status. At a population level, vital statistics are essential for effective planning and implementation of policies and services. Globally, strong CRVS systems are increasingly recognised as a crucial backbone for redressing health inequities and as a priority in strengthening global health and development efforts. Many countries, however, currently lack adequate and reliable CRVS systems, leaving many people vulnerable to statelessness, limited access to important government services (such as education and health services), and effective legal protection. Public health and humanitarian emergencies in such contexts can expose those already disadvantaged and marginalised to heightened risk. CRVS systems weakened by crises make registration difficult or impossible and unregistered people may be displaced or separated from their families, exacerbating their susceptibility. The presence of a strong CRVS system, therefore, can facilitate effective and cost-effective emergency responses, help prevent exploitation of individuals (particularly women and children), and help to rebuild communities post-crisis. This article will consequently review the international legal mandates that exist to strengthen CRVS systems globally, with particular view to public health and humanitarian emergencies. Identity and citizenship, and the socio-political contexts in which these concepts co-exist, are inevitably interconnected with CRVS. This can create potential for CRVS systems and data to be exploited as a political instrument. Grounding CRVS strengthening in a single binding, human rights law instrument is a potential way forward
There is more than one way to evaluate public health: economics, the QALY and the value of health
No full textWhy my disease is important: metrics of disease occurrence used in the introductory sections of papers in three leading medical journals in 1993 and 2003
No full textBACKGROUND: We assessed the metrics used in claims about disease importance made in the introductory sections of scientific papers published in 1993 and 2003. We were interested in the choice of metric in circumstances where establishing the relative social importance of a disease was, presumptively, a primary objective. METHODS: This study consisted of a textual examination of the introductory statements from papers retrieved from MEDLINE. Papers were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, and the Journal of the American Medical Association during the first halves of 1993 and 2003, and were selected on the basis of keywords found in a pilot study to be associated with claims about disease importance. RESULTS: We found 143 papers in 1993 and 264 papers in 2003 included claims about disease importance in their introductory sections, and characteristics of these claims were abstracted. Of the quotes identified in the papers and articles examined, most used counts, prevalence, or incidence measurements. Some also used risk estimates and economic quantities to convey the importance of the disease. There was no change in the types of metrics used between 1993 and 2003. Very few articles, even in 2003, used metrics that weighted disease onsets by the expected consequent loss of healthy time -- such as years of life lost, quality-adjusted life years, and/or disability-adjusted life years. CONCLUSIONS: Claims about the relative importance of diseases continued to be overwhelmingly expressed in terms of counts (of deaths and disease onsets) and comparisons of counts, rates, and risks. Where the aim is to convey the burden that a given disease imposes on a society, "event-based" metrics might be less fit for the purpose than "time-based" metrics. More attention is needed to how the choice of metric should relate to the purpose at hand
The science of epidemiology and the methods needed for public health assessments: a review of epidemiology textbooks
No full textObjectives. Epidemiology is often described as 'the science of public health'. Here we aim to assess the extent that epidemiological methods, as covered in contemporary standard textbooks, provide tools that can assess the relative magnitude of public health problems and can be used to help rank and assess public health priorities. Study Design. Narrative literature review. Methods. Thirty textbooks were grouped into three categories; pure, extended or applied epidemiology, were reviewed with attention to the ways the discipline is characterised and the nature of the analytical methods described. Results: Pure texts tend to present a strict hierarchy of methods with those metrics deemed to best serve aetiological inquiry at the top. Extended and applied texts employ broader definitions of epidemiology but in most cases, the metrics described are also those used in aetiological inquiry and may not be optimal for capturing the consequences and social importance of injuries and disease onsets. Conclusions: The primary scientific purpose of epidemiology, even amongst 'applied' textbooks, is aetiological inquiry. Authors do not readily extend to methods suitable for assessing public health problems and priorities
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