Current Issue : July - September Volume : 2012 Issue Number : 3 Articles : 6 Articles
Aims of the study: This study wants to examine the availability of Belgian healthcare data in the three main\r\ninternational health databases: the World Health Organization European Health for All Database (WHO-HFA), the\r\nOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Health Data 2009 and EUROSTAT.\r\nMethods: For the indicators present in the three databases, the availability of Belgian data and the source of these\r\ndata were checked.\r\nMain findings: The most important problem concerning the availability of Belgian health-related data in the three\r\nmajor international databases is the lack of recent data. Recent data are available for 27% of the indicators of the\r\nWHO-HFA database, 73% of the OECD Health Data, and for half of the Eurostat indicators. Especially recent data\r\nabout health status (including mortality-based indicators) are lacking.\r\nDiscussion: Only the availability of the health-related data is studied in this article. The quality of the Belgian data\r\nis however also important to examine.\r\nThe main problem concerning the availability of health data is the timeliness. One of the causes of this lack of\r\n(especially mortality) data is the reform of the Belgian State. Nowadays mortality data are provided by the\r\ncommunities. This results in a delay in the delivery of national mortality data. However several efforts are made to\r\ncatch up....
Background/purpose: The number of dietary exposure assessment studies focussing on children is very limited.\nChildren are however a vulnerable group due to their higher food consumption level per kg body weight.\nTherefore, the EXPOCHI project aims [1] to create a relational network of individual food consumption databases in\nchildren, covering different geographical areas within Europe, and [2] to use these data to assess the usual intake\nof lead, chromium, selenium and food colours.\nMethods: EXPOCHI includes 14 food consumption databases focussed on children (1-14 y old). The data are\nconsidered representative at national/regional level: 14 regions covering 13 countries. Since the aim of the study is\nto perform long-term exposure assessments, only data derived from 24 hr dietary recalls and dietary records\nrecorded on at least two non-consecutive days per individual were included in the dietary exposure assessments.\nTo link consumption data and concentration data of lead, chromium and selenium in a standardised way,\ncategorisation of the food consumption data was based on the food categorisation system described within the\nSCOOP Task report 3.2.11. For food colours, the food categorisation system specified in the Council Directive 94/\n36/EC was used.\nConclusion: The EXPOCHI project includes a pan-European long-term exposure assessment of lead, chromium,\nselenium and food colours among children living in 13 different EU countries. However, the different study\nmethods and designs used to collect the data in the different countries necessitate an in-depth description of\nthese different methods and a discussion about the resulting limitations....
This study aims to identify major food sources of energy and macronutrients among Flemish preschoolers as a\r\nbasis for evaluating dietary guidelines. Three-day estimated diet records were collected from a representative\r\nsample of 696 Flemish preschoolers (2.5-6.5 years old; participation response rate: 50%). For 11 dietary constituents,\r\nthe contribution of 57 food groups was computed by summing the amount provided by the food group for all\r\nindividuals divided by the total intake of the respective nutrient for all individuals. Bread (12%), sweet snacks (12%),\r\nmilk (6%), flavoured milk drinks (9%), and meat products (6%) were the top five energy contributors. Sweet snacks\r\nwere among the top contributors to energy, total fat, all fatty acids, cholesterol, and complex and simple\r\ncarbohydrates. Fruit juices and flavoured milk drinks are the main contributors to simple carbohydrates\r\n(respectively 14% and 18%). All principal food groups like water, bread and cereals, vegetables, fruit, milk and\r\nspreadable fats were under-consumed by more than 30% of the population, while the food groups that were\r\nover-consumed consisted only of low nutritious and high energy dense foods (sweet snacks, sugared drinks, fried\r\npotatoes, sauces and sweet spreads). From the major food sources and gaps in nutrient and food intakes, some\r\nrecommendations to pursue the nutritional goals could be drawn: the intake of sweet snacks and sugar-rich drinks\r\n(incl. fruit juices) should be discouraged, while consumption of fruits, vegetables, water, bread and margarine on\r\nbread should be encouraged...
Background: Studies from Sweden have reported association between immigrant status and incidence of\r\ncardiovascular diseases. The nature of this relationship is unclear. We investigated the relationship between\r\nimmigrant status and risk of heart failure (HF) hospitalization in a population-based cohort, and to what extent this\r\nis mediated by hypertension and life-style risk factors. We also explored whether immigrant status was related to\r\ncase-fatality after HF.\r\nMethods: 26,559 subjects without history of myocardial infarction (MI), stroke or HF from the community-based\r\nMalm�¶ Diet and Cancer (MDC) cohort underwent a baseline examination during 1991-1996. Incidence of HF\r\nhospitalizations was monitored during a mean follow-up of 15 years.\r\nResults: 3,129 (11.8%) subjects were born outside Sweden. During follow-up, 764 subjects were hospitalized with\r\nHF as primary diagnosis, of whom 166 had an MI before or concurrent with the HF. After adjustment for potential\r\nconfounding factors, the hazard ratios (HR) for foreign-born were 1.37 (95% CI: 1.08-1.73, p = 0.009) compared to\r\nnative Swedes, for HF without previous MI. The results were similar in a secondary analysis without censoring at\r\nincident MI. There was a significant interaction (p < 0.001) between immigrant status and waist circumference\r\n(WC), and the increased HF risk was limited to immigrants with high WC. Although not significant foreign-born\r\ntended to have lower one-month and one-year mortality after HF.\r\nConclusions: Immigrant status was associated with long-term risk of HF hospitalization, independently of\r\nhypertension and several life-style risk factors. A significant interaction between WC and immigrant status on\r\nincident HF was observed....
Introduction: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is known to be a common complication during pregnancy especially\r\nduring the third trimester.\r\nAim: This article focuses on its impact to the third trimester pregnant mothers with CTS.\r\nMethods: Third trimester pregnant mothers with no other known risk factors for CTS, were interviewed and\r\nexamined for a clinical diagnosis of CTS. The severity of CTS was assessed by means of symptoms severity and\r\nfunctionality using the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire.\r\nResults: Out of 333 third trimester pregnant mothers, 82 (24.6%) were clinically diagnosed with CTS. Malay race\r\nwas found to have significant correlation with the diagnosis of CTS (p = 0.024) and are two times more likely to\r\nget CTS during pregnancy (OR = 2.26) compare to the non-Malays. Bilateral CTS was two times higher (n = 58,\r\n63.4%) than unilateral cases (n = 30, 36.6%), however no significant correlation between the two was found with\r\nseverity (p = 0.284) or functional (p = 0.906). The commonest complaint was numbness/tingling during day time\r\n(n = 63, 76.8%). Majority of the CTS cases were mild (n = 66, 80.5%) and approximately one third (n = 28, 34.1%)\r\nhad affected hand functions. All symptoms related to pain was found to have significant correlation with severity\r\n(p = 0.00, OR = 12.23) and function (p = 0.005, OR = 5.01), whereas numbness and tingling does not (Severity, p =\r\n0.843, function, p = 0.632).\r\nConclusion: This study shows that even though CTS in third trimester pregnancy is prevalent, generally it would\r\nbe mild. However, function can still be affected especially if patients complain of pain....
Aim: Recently, interest has grown in the association between contextual factors and health outcomes. This study\r\nquestions whether mental health complaints vary according to the socio-economic characteristics of the residential\r\narea where people live. The gender-specific patterns are studied.\r\nMethods: Complaints of depression and generalized anxiety were measured by means of the relevant subscales of\r\nthe Symptoms Checklist 90-Revised. Multilevel models were estimated with PASW statistics 18, based on a unique\r\ndataset, constructed by merging data from the Belgian Health Interview Surveys from 2001 and 2004 with data\r\nfrom 264 municipalities derived from Statistics Belgium and the General Socio-Economic Survey.\r\nMain findings: The results of this exploratory study indicate that the local unemployment rate is associated with\r\ncomplaints of depression among women.\r\nConclusion: This study suggests that policy should approach the male and female population differently when\r\nimplementing mental health prevention campaigns....
Loading....