International Journal of Public Health最新文献

Objectives: This study aimed to examine trends in relative and absolute social inequality in overweight/obesity among Danish infants born between 2002 and 2022.

Methods: The study applied yearly cross-sectional data on infants' weight and length at age 6-10 months, n = 63,100. Data was linked with parental education from population registers. Social inequality was measured by OR, relative index of inequality (RII), and slope index of inequality (SII). Trend tests measured changes over time.

Results: No difference in odds for overweight/obesity by parental education was observed between 2002 and 2004, but from 2005 social inequality in overweight/obesity was revealed. The OR for overweight/obesity ranged from 1.20 (95% CI: 0.76-1.89) to 2.31 (95% CI: 1.64-3.25) for infants of parents with lowest educational attainment. RII ranged from 0.78 to 0.41 (test for trend, p = 0.179) and SII ranged from -0.92 to -4.54 (test for trend, p = 0.026) indicating a persistent relative social inequality and an increase in absolute social inequality in overweight/obesity from 2002 to 2022, respectively.

Conclusion: The study revealed persistent relative social inequality and increased absolute social inequality in overweight/obesity among Danish infants from 2002 to 2022.

Objectives: In this protocol, we describe a planned intervention to adapt the Mother Mentor (MoMent) peer support program for women living with HIV (WLWH). WLWH face a six-fold higher risk of cervical cancer, yet screening and treatment rates remain low in Nigeria.

Methods: Using an implementation science approach, we will engage key stakeholders-including ministries of health, NACA, professional bodies, WLWH, Mentor Mothers, healthcare providers, and development partners (e.g., WHO, US CDC, USAID)-through deliberative democracy to adapt and expand MoMent for home-based HPV screening and follow-up treatment. We will pilot the adapted MoMent HIV+HCC program with 1,500 women in 15 health facilities across Nigeria's five geopolitical zones. The RE-AIM framework will guide evaluation of reach, adoption, fidelity, effectiveness, and sustainability.

Results: This study is designed to contribute to WHO's global strategy to eliminate cervical cancer by improving access to home-based screening and care in low-resource settings.

Conclusion: Findings will inform national HPV prevention efforts and may drive broader integration into Nigeria's cervical cancer program.

Clinical trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT06751030.

Objectives: This study aims to assess the knowledge and attitude of medical students in Lebanon towards disaster medicine.

Methods: An exploratory online cross-sectional survey was conducted on 388 medical students from different educational levels and universities in Lebanon. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), considering a p-value of <0.05 as significant.

Results: The participants had a mean knowledge score of 12.19 ± 4.04 out of 25 questions. Those who received a disaster medicine educational course (19.1%) had a higher knowledge score (p-value <0.001). There was a significant association between the knowledge score on one hand, and the confidence level of respondents (p-value of 0.003) and their willingness to enroll in a disaster medicine course on the other hand (p-values <0.001).

Conclusion: It is evident that medical students in Lebanon possess a fair level of knowledge and a high attitude towards disaster medicine.

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected global psychological well-being. We explored long-term trajectories of adults' well-being from before the pandemic through its progression and identified risk factors for compromised well-being.

Methods: Psychological well-being of a diverse group of 481 adults (18-74 years) was assessed prior to (T0) and during the pandemic (T1-T5: 04-05/2020, 10-11/2020, 04-05/2021, 10-11/2021, 04-05/2022). Latent variable mixture modelling identified subgroups with distinct trajectories of well-being. Ordinal regression analysis investigated risk factors for low well-being during the pandemic.

Results: Three subgroups with different trajectories were identified: 73% reported consistently good well-being; 21% experienced decreasing well-being; and 5% exhibited consistently low well-being. Decreasing or consistently low well-being was significantly associated with younger age, limited social support, caregiving responsibilities, concerns about COVID-19 infection, and stress due to pandemic-related changes.

Conclusion: While many individuals remained resilient, a vulnerable subgroup experienced mental health challenges over 2 years of the pandemic. Given the global scale, even a small affected proportion represents millions of people. Public health measures are essential to identify and support those at highest risk for impaired psychological well-being.

Objectives: The pandemic was the most significant event affecting health systems in the last 100 years. Research shows that gender, age and socioeconomic status were associated with higher mortality during the pandemic. However, most studies are cross-sectional and country specific. This paper assesses sociodemographic characteristics associated with time and cause of death in Europe between 2018 and 2022.

Methods: The analysis includes 7,137 decedents aged over 50, using post-death interviews with proxy respondents, from the Survey on Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Data from 28 countries, from SHARE waves 7 to 9, are examined using t-tests, chisquaretests and multivariate logit regression models, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. The three binary outcome variable sindicate the time and cause of death.

Results: Being male, older, without a partner, self-reporting financial difficulties, and living in Eastern Europe were associated with an increased likelihood of dying during the pandemic. The association was stronger for deaths due to COVID-19, respiratory and infectious diseases.

Conclusion: The pandemic highlighted socioeconomic gradients in mortality. These results call for policymakers to prepare for future shocks, ensuring equal access to adequate care.

Objective: Peer physical violence (PPV) has been shown to be an early marker for development of other health-risk behaviours. This study assessed the prevalence and risk factors of PPV among in-school adolescents in a state in South-east, Nigeria.

Methods: This was a cross sectional study conducted among 1,296 in-school adolescents using the Global School-based students Health Survey questionnaire. Data on socio-demographic characteristics and factors associated with PPV were obtained and p-value <0.05 was considered significant.

Result: The overall mean age (S.D) of participants was 15.0 ± 2.0 years and the prevalence of PPV was 43.1%. In multivariate logistic regression, predictors of PPV were gambling (AOR: 1.56; 95%CI:1.13-2.16; p = 0.007), cigarette smoking (AOR: 1.85; 95%CI:1.01-3.40; p = 0.047), serious injury in the past 1 year (AOR: 2.29; 95%CI:1.78-2.95; p < 0.001) and bully victims (AOR: 1.70; 95% CI:1.28-2.25; p < 0.001). Older adolescent age (AOR:0.37; 95%CI:0.25-0.53; p < 0.001] and being religious (AOR: 0.70; 95%CI: 0.53-0.92; p = 0.011) were protective.

Conclusion: There is high prevalence of PPV in the study population. The risk factors were young adolescence age, bullying, gambling, cigarette smoking, having had a serious injury and not being religious. Stricter regulations on gambling through legislation, especially as it concerns age, and adoption of school policies against bullying and cigarette smoking are recommended.

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to many studies of seroprevalence. A number of methods exist in the statistical literature to correctly estimate disease prevalence or seroprevalence in the presence of diagnostic test misclassification, but these methods seem to be not routinely used in the public health literature. We aimed to examine how widespread the problem is in recent publications, and to quantify the magnitude of bias introduced when correct methods are not used.

Methods: A systematic review was performed to estimate how often public health researchers accounted for diagnostic test performance in estimates of seroprevalence.

Results: Of the seroprevalence studies sampled, 77% (95% CI 72%-82%) failed to account for sensitivity and specificity. In high impact journals, 72% did not correct for test characteristics, and 34% did not report sensitivity or specificity. The most common type of correction was the Rogen-Gladen formula (57%, 45%-69%), followed by Bayesian approaches (32%, 21%-44%). Rates of correction increased slightly over time, but type of correction did not change.

Conclusion: Researchers conducting studies of prevalence should report sensitivity and specificity of the diagnostic test and correctly account for these characteristics.