International Journal of Public Health最新文献

Objectives: During the COVID-19 pandemic, essential health services experienced significant disruptions, impacting preventive and chronic care across the world.

Methods: Utilizing the Pandemic Recovery Survey (PRS), conducted online with Facebook's Active User Base across 21 countries between March and May 2023, this cross-sectional study identifies the magnitude of and key factors associated with unmet preventive and chronic care needs during the late stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results: Approximately 28.2% of respondents reported unmet preventive care needs, and 42.1% experienced unmet chronic care needs, with key determinants including food insecurity (aOR 1.94, 95% CI 1.81-2.07 for preventive services; aOR 1.85, 95% CI 1.68-2.03 for existing conditions) and distrust in health professionals (aOR 1.09, 95% CI 1.03-1.15 for preventive services; aOR 1.53, 95% CI 1.41-1.66 for existing conditions).

Conclusion: The findings underscore a widespread unmet need for health services, highlighting the impact of social determinants and trust in health professionals on service disruption. The results suggest that pandemic recovery efforts should focus on the most affected groups to bridge health disparities and ensure an equitable recovery.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and sociodemographic profiles of mental morbidity and multimorbidity.

Methods: A descriptive analysis was performed with data from 25,269 women and 8,389 men from the French NutriNet-Santé general-population cohort. Participants were split into 8 groups: 1. No mental morbidity; 2. Pure anxiety; 3. Pure insomnia; 4. Pure eating disorders (ED); 5. Comorbid anxiety and insomnia; 6. Comorbid anxiety and ED; 7. Comorbid insomnia and ED; 8. Multimorbid anxiety, insomnia, and ED. Data were weighted using the 2016 French Census and analyzed with Chi² tests.

Results: 40.6% of the participants had ≥1 mental disorder; 2.3% had all 3 disorders. Most pure and comorbid disorders were more common in women than in men. The multimorbidity group had the largest proportions of men who were overweight (52.1%) and current smokers (23.2%). Men with insomnia and ED were the most likely to have obesity (45.8%) and low physical activity (44.3%). Women with ≥2 disorders were the most likely to be current smokers.

Conclusion: The findings could inform research, prevention, and public health guidelines for multimorbidity.

Objectives: We evaluated the impact of polypharmacy on the health of community-dwelling older adults.

Methods: We prospectively analyzed 5,631 individuals from the Moli-sani study (51% men, aged ≥65 years, recruitment 2005-2010, follow-up 2005-2020). Exposure was categorized as chronic polypharmacy therapy (C-PT; ≥5 therapeutic groups and >2 defined daily doses (DDDs)) or non-chronic polypharmacy therapy (NC-PT; polypharmacy but ≤2 DDDs). Hospitalization and mortality were the main outcomes. The mediating role of potentially inappropriate prescriptions (PIP) was examined.

Results: Compared to individuals not on polypharmacy, those in NC-PT and C-PT had higher hazards of mortality [21% (95% CI 7%-37%) and 30% (16%-46%), respectively] and hospitalization [39% (28%-51%) and 61% (49%-75%), respectively]. Similar results were found for cardiovascular outcomes. PIP mediated the association between polypharmacy and outcomes, with mediation effects ranging from 13.6% for mortality to 6.0% for hospitalization. Older adults without multimorbidity experienced the same harm from multiple medications as those with multimorbidity.

Conclusion: Polypharmacy is associated with a higher hazard of mortality and hospitalization, with PIP playing an important role. Addressing "medication without harm" requires assessing the appropriateness of drug prescriptions and monitoring for adverse effects.

Objectives: This study aims to understand the effectiveness and challenges of communication strategies implemented to maintain contact between nursing home (NH) residents and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic, by considering the perspectives of families, healthcare professionals, and NH managers.

Methods: Using a qualitative research design, the study analyzed in-depth semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders (N = 34), including family members, NH staff, and managers.

Results: The study found that communication strategies like video calls, telephone calls, and window visits were generally appreciated and facilitated contact between residents and their families. However, challenges emerged around technical and organizational issues. Both internal and external stakeholders concurred that an increase in technological and human resources was necessary to alleviate these challenges.

Conclusion: The study underscores the importance of innovative and flexible communication strategies to sustain connections between NH residents and their families in crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Future readiness calls for increased investment in human and technical resources, and a commitment to understanding and addressing the diverse communication needs of NH residents.

Objectives: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis on long-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and ozone (O₃) with mortality, to expand evidence that informed 2021 the WHO Air Quality Guidelines and guide the Health Risks of Air Pollution in Europe project.

Methods: We included cohorts investigating NO₂ and O₃ mortality from all-causes, respiratory diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI); and NO₂ mortality from circulatory, ischemic heart, cerebrovascular diseases and lung cancer. We pooled estimates by random-effects models and investigated heterogeneity. We assessed the certainty of the evidence using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment Development approach and Evaluation (GRADE).

Results: We selected 83 studies for NO₂ and 26 for O₃ for the meta-analysis. NO₂ was associated with all outcomes, except for cerebrovascular mortality. O₃ was associated with respiratory mortality following annual exposure. There was high heterogeneity, partly explained by region and pollutant levels. Certainty was high for NO₂ with COPD and ALRI, and annual O₃ with respiratory mortality.

Conclusion: An increasing body of evidence, with new results from countrywide areas and the Western Pacific, supports certainty, including new outcomes.

Objective: Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) is a viral zoonosis reported from Karnataka, India. We investigated cases in the Shivamogga district, Karnataka, to describe the epidemiology and identify risk factors in the affected block in 2022.

Methods: A case was defined as a laboratory-confirmed KFD-positive resident of Shivamogga from 1 January-31 May 2022. We extracted the records of KFD cases from district surveillance. We conducted a 1:3 case-control study in the Thirthahalli block. We enrolled laboratory-confirmed KFD-positive Thirthahalli residents from January to May 2022 as cases, and residents without "fever with myalgia" as controls. We reported adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results: Shivamogga reported 35 cases, with a median age of 46 (4-75) years, of which 51% were men, and one death. Among 25 cases and 90 controls, knowledge of avoiding recent monkey death sites was low (cases = 0%, controls = 11%). Monkey death sites within 500 m [aOR = 8.6 (1.8-41.9)] and household tick exposure [aOR = 3.7 (1.3-10.7)] were independent risk factors.

Conclusion: This was a laboratory-confirmed cluster of KFD cases in Thirthahalli, with residence near a monkey death site and household tick exposure considered significant risk factors. We recommend evaluating monkey carcass disposal procedures and increasing awareness of tick protective measures.

Objectives: Our objective was to assess morbidity trends in Europe and to classify European countries based on population ageing theories: the compression, expansion and dynamic equilibrium of morbidity.

Methods: The proportions of healthy life years were calculated for 31 European countries for the period 2005-2019 based on life expectancy values and healthy life years at age 65 years adopted from the Eurostat database. European countries were classified according to morbidity patterns applying the standard deviation distance from the average of relative change method between the selected years.

Results: A large degree of variation in terms of life expectancy and healthy life years at age 65 years was determined between 2005 and 2019. While the life expectancy differences between men and women were consistent across all the European countries, the gender gap concerning healthy life years was more diverse. Approximately one-third of the countries fell into the expansion, compression and dynamic equilibrium categories, respectively.

Conclusion: Significant variations were identified in healthy life year trends across European countries, which underscores the need for preventive strategies.

Objectives: People living with HIV are aging. This study aimed to assess the factors influencing the requirements for geriatric nursing of older adults living with HIV (OALHIV).

Methods: Convenience sampling was used to conduct a survey on the 295 OALHIV aged over 50 in Luzhou, China.

Results: OALHIV had few needs for living care needs. Most people indicate a requirement for reducing medical costs. Regarding psychological comfort needs, disease privacy and confidentiality were the greatest requirement. Multivariable regression analyses found that social support had a positive influence on the requirements for geriatric nursing.

Conclusion: It is necessary to provide more social support for OALHIV. Most importantly, China should incorporate OALHIV into national pension security plan, integrate various resources and improve social security for them.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/ijph.2024.1607407.].