Measuring causes of death in populations: a new metric that corrects cause-specific mortality fractions for chance
Conclusions:
CCCSMF Accuracy should be used instead of CSMF Accuracy when assessing VA estimation methods because it provides a more easily interpreted measure of the quality of population-level estimates. (Source: Population Health Metrics)
Source: Population Health Metrics - October 12, 2015 Category: Epidemiology Authors: Abraham FlaxmanPeter SerinaBernardo HernandezChristopher MurrayIan RileyAlan Lopez Source Type: research
Validation of a new predictive risk model: measuring the impact of the major modifiable risks of death for patients and populations
Conclusion:
The risk model accurately predicted mortality in a representative sample of the US population and could be used to help inform patient and provider decision-making, identify high risk groups, and monitor the impact of efforts to improve population health. (Source: Population Health Metrics)
Source: Population Health Metrics - October 1, 2015 Category: Epidemiology Authors: Stephen LimEmily CarnahanEugene NelsonCatherine GillespieAli MokdadChristopher MurrayElliott Fisher Source Type: research
The importance of regional availability of health care for old age survival - Findings from German reunification
Conclusion:
Our results suggest that the modernization of the health care system had a substantial effect on old-age life expectancy and helped to significantly reduce circulatory diseases as the main cause of death in East Germany. (Source: Population Health Metrics)
Source: Population Health Metrics - September 29, 2015 Category: Epidemiology Authors: Tobias VogtJames Vaupel Source Type: research
Estimating the current mean age of mothers at the birth of their first child from household surveys
Conclusions:
Based on these results, we recommend the first method. The measure is relatively straightforward to calculate and, since it refers to recent births, is presumably more accurately reported than indicators based on events that occurred in the more distant past. This measure makes it possible for the first time to assess recent trends in the onset of childbearing in developing countries with multiple DHS surveys and to compare recent period estimates of the mean age at first birth among countries. (Source: Population Health Metrics)
Source: Population Health Metrics - September 14, 2015 Category: Epidemiology Authors: John BongaartsAnn Blanc Source Type: research
The Population Health Model (POHEM): an overview of rationale, methods and applications
The POpulation HEalth Model (POHEM) is a health microsimulation model that was developed at Statistics Canada in the early 1990s. POHEM draws together rich multivariate data from a wide range of sources to simulate the lifecycle of the Canadian population, specifically focusing on aspects of health. The model dynamically simulates individuals’ disease states, risk factors, and health determinants, in order to describe and project health outcomes, including disease incidence, prevalence, life expectancy, health-adjusted life expectancy, quality of life, and healthcare costs. Additionally, POHEM was conceptualized and buil...
Source: Population Health Metrics - September 3, 2015 Category: Epidemiology Authors: Deirdre HennessyWilliam FlanaganPeter TanuseputroCarol BennettMeltem TunaJacek KopecMichael WolfsonDouglas Manuel Source Type: research
Mapping HIV prevalence using population and antenatal sentinel-based HIV surveys: a multi-stage approach
Conclusions:
Inverse Probability Weighting combined with an appropriate HIV prediction model can be a useful tool to correct for non-response to HIV testing, especially if the number of tested individuals is very minimal at subnational levels. In populations where most know their HIV status, population-based HIV prevalence estimates can be heavily biased. High-coverage antenatal clinics’ surveillance HIV data would then be the only important HIV data information sources. (Source: Population Health Metrics)
Source: Population Health Metrics - September 2, 2015 Category: Epidemiology Authors: Samuel MandaLieketseng MasenyetseBo CaiRenate Meyer Source Type: research
A method for reclassifying cause of death in cases categorized as “event of undetermined intent”
Conclusions:
Overuse of the external cause of death classification “event of undetermined intent” may indicate questionable quality of mortality data on external causes of death. This can have wide-ranging implications for families, medical professionals, the justice system, researchers, and policymakers. With our classification probability set as equal to or higher than 0.75, we were able to reclassify about two-thirds of EUI deaths in our sample. Our optional additional step allowed us to redistribute the remaining unclassified EUIs. Our method can be applied to data from any nation or sub-national population in whic...
Source: Population Health Metrics - September 2, 2015 Category: Epidemiology Authors: Evgeny AndreevVladimir ShkolnikovWilliam PridemoreSvetlana Nikitina Source Type: research
Multiple causes of death analysis of chronic diseases: the example of diabetes
Conclusions:
The use of MCOD makes the analysis of mortality data more complex, but conveys more information than usual UCOD analyses. (Source: Population Health Metrics)
Source: Population Health Metrics - August 25, 2015 Category: Epidemiology Authors: Ugo FedeliGiacomo ZoppiniCarlo GoldoniFrancesco AvossaGiuseppe MastrangeloMario Saugo Source Type: research
High rates of homicide in a rural South African population (2000–2008): findings from a population-based cohort study
Conclusion:
The high rates of homicide observed in this typical rural South African population – particularly among men – underscore the need for urgent interventions to reduce this tragic and theoretically preventable loss of life in this population and similar South African settings. (Source: Population Health Metrics)
Source: Population Health Metrics - August 7, 2015 Category: Epidemiology Authors: George OtienoEdmore MarindaTill BärnighausenFrank Tanser Source Type: research
The longitudinal age and birth cohort trends of regular exercise among adults aged 16–63 years in Sweden: a 24-year follow-up study
Conclusions:
The prevalence of regular exercise increased in all studied sub-groups. However, the increased difference related to education level is worrying. To reduce the risk for ill health in these groups, there is a need for targeted interventions. (Source: Population Health Metrics)
Source: Population Health Metrics - July 29, 2015 Category: Epidemiology Authors: Matti LeijonPatrik MidlövJan SundquistKristina SundquistSven-Erik Johansson Source Type: research
Ambient air pollution and adverse birth outcomes: a natural experiment study
Background:
Radical regulations to improve air quality, including traffic control, were implemented prior to and during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Consequently, ambient concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO
2
) and particular matter 10 micrometers or less (PM
10
), were reduced in a distinct and short window of time, which presented a natural experiment for testing the relationships between maternal exposure to PM
10
and NO
2
during pregnancy and adverse...
Source: Population Health Metrics - July 18, 2015 Category: Epidemiology Authors: Cheng HuangCatherine NicholsYang LiuYunping ZhangXiaohong LiuSuhong GaoZhiwen LiAiguo Ren Source Type: research
Propensity score weighting for addressing under-reporting in mortality surveillance: a proof-of-concept study using the nationally representative mortality data in China
Conclusions:
The mortality data from the DSP system in China needs to be adjusted. Compared to the commonly used CMR method in the estimation of under-reporting rate, the results of propensity score weighting method are similar but more flexible when calculating the under-reporting rates in different groups. Propensity score weighting is suitable to adjust DSP data and can be used to address under-reporting in mortality surveillance in China. (Source: Population Health Metrics)
Source: Population Health Metrics - July 9, 2015 Category: Epidemiology Authors: Kang GuoPeng YinLijun WangYibing JiQingfeng LiDavid BishaiShiwei LiuYunning LiuThomas Astell-BurtXiaoqi FengJinling YouJiangmei LiuMaigeng Zhou Source Type: research
How much might a society spend on life-saving interventions at different ages while remaining cost-effective? A case study in a country with detailed data
Conclusions:
We present an approach to estimating maximal cost-effective investment in life-saving health interventions, under various assumptions. Our online calculator allows this approach to be applied in other countries. Policymakers could use these estimates as a rapid screening tool to determine if more detailed cost-effectiveness analyses of potential life-saving interventions might be worthwhile or which proposed life-saving interventions are very unlikely to benefit from such additional research. (Source: Population Health Metrics)
Source: Population Health Metrics - July 8, 2015 Category: Epidemiology Authors: Giorgi KvizhinadzeNick WilsonNisha NairMelissa McLeodTony Blakely Source Type: research
Level of agreement between patient-reported EQ-5D responses and EQ-5D Responses mapped from the Sf-12 in an injury population
Background:
Comparing health-related quality of life (HRQL) outcomes between studies is difficult due to the wide variety of instruments used. Comparing study outcomes and facilitating pooled data analyses requires valid “crosswalks” between HRQL instruments. Algorithms exist to map 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) responses to EQ-5D item responses and preference weights, but none have been validated in populations where disability is prevalent, such as injury.
Methods:
Data were extracted from the Validating and Improving injury Burden Estimates Study (Injury-VIBES) for 10,166 adult, hospitalized trauma patien...
Source: Population Health Metrics - June 13, 2015 Category: Epidemiology Authors: Belinda GabbeEmma McDermottPam SimpsonSarah DerrettShanthi AmeratungaSuzanne PolinderRonan LyonsFrederick RivaraJames Harrison Source Type: research
Should additional domains be added to the EQ-5D health-related quality of life instrument for community-based studies? An analytical descriptive study
Conclusions:
The EQ-5D-3 L performed well, but the addition of domains such as Concentration and Sleep increased the explanatory power. The user needs to weigh the advantage of using the EQ-5D, which allows for the calculation of a single summary index, against the use of a set of domains that are likely to be more responsive to differences in HRQoL within community living respondents. The poor predictive power of the Self-Care and Usual Activities domains within this context needs to be further examined. (Source: Population Health Metrics)
Source: Population Health Metrics - June 2, 2015 Category: Epidemiology Authors: Jennifer JelsmaSoraya Maart Source Type: research
