Journal of health monitoring最新文献

Background: As part of the German Burden of Disease Study, population-based prevalences of important diseases are estimated. This allows regional patterns and temporal trends to be identified.

Methods: The prevalence of Parkinson disease in the population was estimated cross-sectionally for the years 2017 to 2022 at the level of the Spatial Planning Regions using routine data of persons insured in the statutory health insurance AOK, adjusted for age, sex and morbidity (administrative prevalence).

Results: In 2022, the prevalence of Parkinson disease in Germany was 0.35 % of the population. This represents approximately 295,000 people. The prevalence is 0.34 % in women and 0.36 % in men. The prevalence of Parkinson disease increases with age. It is 0.61 % from the age of 40 and 1.42 % from the age of 65. There is a slight downward trend over time. The age-standardised regional distribution shows no clear pattern.

Conclusions: Measured by administrative prevalence, the significance of Parkinson disease for population health remains largely stable with a slight downward trend.

Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are a significant public health challenge. Obesity and smoking are among the major risk factors for their development. In addition to individual behavioural changes, public health measures can help prevent NCDs by creating health-promoting conditions for the population. The aim of this paper is to analyse trends in obesity and smoking prevalence in Germany over time and place these trends in the context of existing public health measures for structural prevention.

Method: The prevalence of obesity and smoking over the last 20 years was examined using data from the Robert Koch Institute Telephone Health Surveys and the German Health Update.

Results: Between 2003 and 2023, the prevalence of obesity increased from 12.2 % to 19.7 % among women and men, for all age and education groups. The prevalence of smoking decreased from 32.1 % to 28.8 %, especially among younger people and in the highly educated group, but the decline has slowed in recent years.

Conclusions: The continuous increase in obesity prevalence between 2003 and 2023 indicates that measures taken so far to prevent obesity have been insufficient. It is therefore imperative not only to address behavioural change at the individual level, but also to implement population-wide, settings-based prevention measures. In addition, more consistent implementation of regulatory measures is needed to further reduce tobacco consumption.

Background: This study examines differences in life expectancy between Germany's most affluent and most deprived areas.

Methods: Nationwide data from the cause-of-death statistics from 2003 to 2022 were linked with official population data to calculate the average life expectancy of females and males in each of Germany's districts. Regression analysis was used to assess the association with the German Index of Socioeconomic Deprivation (GISD) at district level and calculate the life expectancy gap between the most and least deprived areas.

Results: In the period 2020 - 2022, life expectancy in the most deprived areas was 4.3 years (females) and 7.2 years (males) lower than in the least deprived areas. In the period 2003 - 2005, this life expectancy gap was still 2.6 and 5.7 years. The widening of the life expectancy gap resulted from a less favourable development of life expectancy in the most deprived areas. It was already evident before and intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conclusions: The increasing life expectancy gap indicates that health inequality in Germany is increasing. As a result, the development of a strategy to improve health equity is more important than ever to be placed on the policy agenda.

Background: The containment measures of the COVID-19 pandemic have changed many people's daily lives. The study examines how children and adolescents assess the impact of the coronavirus measures on various areas of life.

Methods: Overall, N = 6,475 students (11 - 15 years) in Germany took part in the representative 'Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC)' study in 2022. Logistic regressions were performed to investigate the relationships between the perceived impact of the coronavirus measures on various areas of their lives by age, gender and family wealth.

Results: Two years after the onset of the pandemic, children and adolescents reported both, positive and negative effects of the coronavirus measures. About a half of those surveyed perceived positive effects regarding social relationships. In contrast, approximately one in three respondents reported a deterioration in mental health and school performance. In particular, 11-year-olds, boys and wealthy students reported more often positive effects.

Conclusions: The positive effects of the pandemic on the lives of children and adolescents in individual areas and the resilience (resistance) that is emerging here, as well as the results on more negative assessments of adolescents, girls and respondents with lower family wealth, can be used as a starting point for a needs-oriented and target group-specific health promotion in times of crisis. Future research should focus on the pandemic's long-term effects on young people's development.

Background: Surveillance systems for diseases serve as an early warning system and orientation for decision-makers. As part of the National Diabetes Surveillance at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), existing formats of information transfer were evaluated and an analysis of users' requirements regarding the dissemination of results of surveillance for non-communicable diseases (NCD) was carried out.

Methods: 13 semi-structured guided interviews were conducted with persons from health politics, healthcare, media and science and analysed in a qualitative content analysis (interview survey period: 10/2022 - 01/2023).

Results: For all respondents, the frequency of diseases and their determinants, care and consequences were the focus of NCD surveillance. Wider determinants of health and illness situation were also considered relevant. Requirements regarding the presentation of these contents differed between the user groups. Factors that facilitate and inhibit the use of NCD surveillance information were consistent across the user groups.

Conclusions: There is a need for the presentation of options for action, especially for users involved in health politics and healthcare. Diabetes surveillance showed that many requirements are already met by the existing formats. Many of the users also wanted the content to be expanded to include other NCD.

Background: The European Core Health Indicators (ECHI) are a set of 88 indicators that provide a compact overview of the extensive field of European public health and healthcare. The ECHI set adds value to European Union health information systems (HIS) for both Member States and EU-associated countries and the European Commission by providing a solid, comparable information base on national public health and healthcare trends and developments. The indicators allow for learning by comparison and the list supports the organisation of national health information systems. As the ECHI set was defined more than ten years ago, it is time to review its current needs and readiness for the future.

Methods: In this article, we reflect on the sustainability of the ECHI set and explore directions for improving future use, based on the activities in the Joint Action on Health Information (2018 - 2021). There, we looked into ECHI governance and reviewed the set's metadata, content and link with other indicator sets in the wider European health information landscape.

Conclusions: We conclude that in order to remain relevant and keep up with technical and policy developments, the ECHI set needs maintenance and updates. This cannot be achieved in a non-systematic project-based manner; it requires sustainable funding, governance and formalised activities in a permanent structure. We call on the European Commission, Member States, research networks and individual users of the ECHI to take action in this.

Background: National health systems in Europe are facing similar challenges - demographic change, a rising burden of disease due to chronic non-communicable diseases, and health inequalities. Comparable health data and knowledge sharing between countries are therefore an important basis for policy decision-making. However, health information in the European Union (EU) is fragmented and approaches to establishing a comprehensive system are largely project-based.

Methods: This contribution describes the European projects BRIDGE Health (2015 - 2017), InfAct (Information for Action, 2018 - 2021) and PHIRI (Population Health Information Research Infrastructure, 2020 - 2023), which aimed at developing a sustainable health information infrastructure.

Results: The projects, which build on one another, laid the groundwork for an EU-wide health information system. For example, a health information portal was established, a federated research infrastructure was implemented, handouts were created and training on capacity building was provided.

Conclusions: An integrated EU-wide health information system is an important basis for policy decision-making and a prerequisite for a rapid and coordinated response to health crises. A sustainable structure or institution with a mandate for non-communicable diseases (NCD) and their determinants at the EU level would be desirable.

Background: In Europe, the health situation is primarily influenced by non-communicable diseases. Comparable information on key indicators for the European region can highlight potential areas for improvement in prevention and care.

Method: Based on EHIS 3, age-standardised prevalences of three disease groups and two indicators of self-assessed health among those affected were presented for Germany (n = 22,708) and the average of 29 European countries (n = 301,960).

Results: The disease prevalence estimates in Germany were higher compared to the European average: diabetes 8.4 % vs. 7.4 %, cardiovascular diseases 6.8 % vs. 5.7 %, chronic respiratory diseases 11.4 % vs. 7.9 %. Likewise, the proportion with self-assessed very good or good general health among those affected was also higher in Germany (diabetes 35.8 % vs. 30.7 %, cardiovascular diseases 25.3 % vs. 18.9 %, chronic respiratory diseases 44.7 % vs. 41.9 %). For limitations in everyday activities, higher proportions were found in Germany for diabetes (65.6 % vs. 60.6 %) and chronic respiratory diseases (64.5 % vs. 57.6 %). Germany showed similar gender-, age- and education-specific differences for disease prevalence, but in part less pronounced differences for the indicators of self-assessed health than the European average.

Conclusions: Further analysis of the differences for the indicators considered between Germany and the European average and the possible underlying factors, such as differences in prevention, diagnosis, disease severity and care, is required. The educational inequalities observed across Europe suggest considerable potential for promoting health equity.

Background: Needs-based care is a central concern of healthcare policy. A European comparison of the utilisation of medical services can help to assess national data and identify the need for action.

Methods: This article describes indicators on the utilisation of outpatient and inpatient services, medical examinations and the use of medicines from the third wave of the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS 3) and compares the results from Germany with the European averages.

Results: Age-standardised, the utilisation of medical services in Germany was above the European average without exception, whereby demographic and social differences were similar. Almost all services were utilised more frequently by women and in older age groups. Exceptions are inpatient services and colonoscopy, where there was no difference between the sexes, and more frequent use of psychiatric and psychotherapeutic services and non-prescription medication among younger adults. Specialist medical and dental services were used more frequently in the high education group, psychiatric and psychotherapeutic services as well as inpatient services and prescription medication in the low education group.

Conclusions: The European comparison requires a differentiated categorisation of the findings. While the high utilisation in Germany for some evidence-based services (e.g. colonoscopy, dentistry) indicates good access to care, the high inpatient utilisation, for example, is also the subject of critical discussion.