Articles

Surveillance of Clostridium difficile infections in a long-term care psychogeriatric facility: outbreak analysis and policy improvement

Following an exceptionally high Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) incidence (Spring 2011) in a psychogeriatric long-term care facility, a bidirectional study (2009–2012) was initiated to identify determinant...

Authors: Gretel Van Esch, Johan Van Broeck, Michel Delmée and Boudewijn Catry

Life expectancy ranking of Canadians among the populations in selected OECD countries and its disparities among British Columbians

Canada is among the world’s leading nations with the longest life expectancy at birth (LE₀), and British Columbia (BC) ranks top among Canadian provinces and territories for LE₀ in both men and women. This paper ...

Authors: Li Rita Zhang and Drona Rasali

Annual acknowledgement of manuscript reviewers

The editors of Archives of Public Health would like to thank all our reviewers who have contributed to the journal in Volume 72 (2014).

Authors: Herman Van Oyen and Olivier Bruyère

A qualitative investigation of non-response in NHS health checks

Improving uptake of NHS Health Checks has become a priority in England, but there is a lack of data on the perceptions of programme non-attenders. This study aimed to explore how non-attenders of NHS Health Ch...

Authors: Naomi Ellis, Christopher Gidlow, Lisa Cowap, Jason Randall, Zafar Iqbal and Jagdish Kumar

Assessment of knowledge and practice of health workers towards tuberculosis infection control and associated factors in public health facilities of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study

Tuberculosis is the leading causes of mortality among infectious diseases worldwide. The risk of transmission from patients to health workers is doubles that of the general population. The close contact to the...

Authors: Girma Demissie Gizaw, Zewdie Aderaw Alemu and Kelemu Tilahun Kibret

Mapping the cause-specific premature mortality reveals large between-districts disparity in Belgium, 2003–2009

Reducing premature mortality is a crucial public health objective. The goal of this paper, beside updating previous mortality atlases with recent data, is to explore the relative between-districts disparity us...

Authors: Françoise Renard, Jean Tafforeau and Patrick Deboosere

Educational inequalities in young-adult mortality between the 1990s and the 2000s: regional differences in Belgium

This study addresses educational inequalities in young-adult mortality between the 1990s and the 2000s by comparing trends in the three different regions in Belgium stratified by sex. Social inequalities in mo...

Authors: Hannelore De Grande, Hadewijch Vandenheede and Patrick Deboosere

Presenting prevalence and management of psychosocial problems in primary care in Flanders

Psychosocial problems are widespread but reliable data about management are sparse. An overall view is missing and there is a need for a wider framework to include the data available in health care and welfare...

Authors: Lena Vannieuwenborg, Frank Buntinx and Jan De Lepeleire

Implementing the European Core Health Indicators (ECHI) in the Netherlands: an overview of data availability

The European Commission, together with the European Union (EU) Member States, developed a core set of indicators for monitoring public health in the EU, the European Core Health Indicators (ECHI) shortlist. Fr...

Authors: Maartje Marloes Harbers, Marieke Verschuuren and Agnes de Bruin

Drainage systems, an occluded source of sanitation related outbreaks

Drainage systems and its role in sanitation related outbreaks are evident but still occluded once it has been installed. This current review evaluates if drainage systems can cause infections and thus be of cl...

Authors: Kristina Blom

Effect of providing risk information on undergoing cervical cancer screening: a randomized controlled trial

In Japan, the cervical cancer screening rate is extremely low. Towards improving the cervical cancer screening rate, encouraging eligible people to make an informed choice, which is a decision-making process t...

Authors: Hiroyuki Fujiwara, Akihiro Shimoda, Yoshiki Ishikawa, Akiyo Taneichi, Mai Ohashi, Yoshifumi Takahashi, Takahiro Koyanagi, Hiroyuki Morisawa, Suzuyo Takahashi, Naoto Sato, Shizuo Machida, Yuji Takei, Yasushi Saga and Mitsuaki Suzuki

The nutrition transition in Colombia over a decade: a novel household classification system of anthropometric measures

Overweight and underweight increase the risk of metabolic impairments and chronic disease. Interventions at the household level require the diagnosis of nutritional status among family members. The aim of this...

Authors: Diana C Parra, Lora Iannotti, Luis F Gomez, Helena Pachón, Debra Haire-Joshu, Olga L Sarmiento, Anne Sebert Kuhlmann and Ross C Brownson

Dietary intake and phthalates body burden in boys and girls

Phthalates are a group of environmental endocrine disruptors and have been ubiquitously applied in industrial field. Few studies had investigated how dietary intake was related with phthalate body burden in ch...

Authors: Qing Shen, Huijing Shi, Yunhui Zhang and Yang Cao

Understanding and defining bullying – adolescents’ own views

The negative consequences of peer-victimization on children and adolescents are major public health concerns which have been subjected to extensive research. Given all efforts made to analyze and estimate the ...

Authors: Lisa Hellström, Louise Persson and Curt Hagquist

Biological, psychological and social processes that explain celebrities’ influence on patients’ health-related behaviors

Celebrities can have substantial influence as medical advisors. However, their impact on public health is equivocal: depending on the advice’s validity and applicability, celebrity engagements can benefit or h...

Authors: Steven J Hoffman and Charlie Tan

Legionnaires’ disease: overview of the situation concerning notification in Wallonia (Belgium) in 2012, a retrospective descriptive study based on a capture-recapture method

Legionnaires’ disease is a severe form of pneumonia, and although public health medical inspectors must be notified, it is often under-reported. The objectives of this study were to determine the completeness ...

Authors: Stéphanie Jacquinet, Olivier Denis, Filomena Valente Soares and Carole Schirvel

Public, environmental, and occupational health research activity in Arab countries: bibliometric, citation, and collaboration analysis

The objective of this study was to analyze quantity, assess quality, and investigate international collaboration in research from Arab countries in the field of public, environmental and occupational health.

Authors: Waleed M Sweileh, Sa’ed H Zyoud, Samah W Al-Jabi and Ansam F Sawalha

Modeling time-to-cure from severe acute malnutrition: application of various parametric frailty models

In developing countries about 3.5% of children aged 0–5 years are victims of severe acute malnutrition (SAM). Once the morbidity has developed the cure process takes variable period depending on various factor...

Authors: Akalu Banbeta, Dinberu Seyoum, Tefera Belachew, Belay Birlie and Yehenew Getachew

Why children are not vaccinated against measles: a cross-sectional study in two Nigerian States

Childhood vaccination rates in Nigeria are among the lowest in the world and this affects morbidity and mortality rates. A 2011 mixed methods study in two states in Nigeria examined coverage of measles vaccina...

Authors: Anne Cockcroft, Muhammad U Usman, Obrian F Nyamucherera, Henry Emori, Bong Duke, Nisser Ali Umar and Neil Andersson

Reliability and Validity of the Dutch Physical Activity Questionnaires for Children (PAQ-C) and Adolescents (PAQ-A)

This study was designed to validate the Dutch Physical Activity Questionnaires for Children (PAQ-C) and Adolescents (PAQ-A).

Authors: Liene Bervoets, Caroline Van Noten, Sofie Van Roosbroeck, Dominique Hansen, Kim Van Hoorenbeeck, Els Verheyen, Guido Van Hal and Vanessa Vankerckhoven

Mode differences in a mixed-mode health interview survey among adults

Health interview surveys are important data sources for empirical research in public health. However, the diversity of methods applied, such as in the mode of data collection, make it difficult to compare resu...

Authors: Jens Hoebel, Elena von der Lippe, Cornelia Lange and Thomas Ziese

Sarcopenia: burden and challenges for public health

Sarcopenia, operationally defined as the loss of muscle mass and muscle function, is a major health condition associated with ageing, and contributes to many components of public health at both the patient and...

Authors: Charlotte Beaudart, René Rizzoli, Olivier Bruyère, Jean-Yves Reginster and Emmanuel Biver

Lessons learned from a textbook outbreak: EHEC-O157:H7 infections associated with the consumption of raw meat products, June 2012, Limburg, Belgium

On 5 June 2012 several enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, EHEC, O157:H7 infections were reported to the public health authorities of Limburg.

Authors: Toon Braeye, Sarah Denayer, Klara De Rauw, Anmarie Forier, Jurgen Verluyten, Ludo Fourie, Katelijne Dierick, Nadine Botteldoorn, Sophie Quoilin, Pascale Cosse, Jeannine Noyen and Denis Pierard

Study protocol: effects of school gardens on children’s physical activity

Childhood obesity is an epidemic. Strategies are needed to promote children’s healthy habits related to diet and physical activity. School gardens have the potential to bolster children’s physical activity and...

Authors: Nancy M Wells, Beth M Myers and Charles R Henderson Jr

Determinant of factors associated with child health outcomes and service utilization in Ghana: multiple indicator cluster survey conducted in 2011

The effects of National Health Insurance Scheme in Ghana and its impact on child health outcome and service utilization cannot be underestimated. Despite the tremendous improvement in child health care in Ghan...

Authors: Duah Dwumoh, Edward Eyipe Essuman and Seth Kwaku Afagbedzi

A frame-critical policy analysis of Canada’s response to the World Food Summit 1998–2008

The 2012 visit to Canada of Olivier De Schutter, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, led to a public rebuff by Canadian governmental officials. This paper adapts the frame-critical poli...

Authors: Catherine L Mah, Catherine Hamill, Krista Rondeau and Lynn McIntyre

What determines health-related quality of life among people living with HIV: an updated review of the literature

As infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has evolved to a chronic disease, perceived health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is becoming a prominent and important patient-reported outcome measur...

Authors: Sophie Degroote, Dirk Vogelaers and Dominique M Vandijck

Metaprop: a Stata command to perform meta-analysis of binomial data

Meta-analyses have become an essential tool in synthesizing evidence on clinical and epidemiological questions derived from a multitude of similar studies assessing the particular issue. Appropriate and access...

Authors: Victoria N Nyaga, Marc Arbyn and Marc Aerts

Access to social capital and risk of HIV infection in Bukoba urban district, Kagera region, Tanzania

Kagera is one of the 22 regions of Tanzania mainland, which has witnessed a decline in HIV prevalence during the past two decades; decreasing from 24% in 1987 to 4.7 in 2009 in the urban district of Bukoba. Ac...

Authors: Gasto Frumence, Maria Emmelin, Malin Eriksson, Gideon Kwesigabo, Japhet Killewo, Sabrina Moyo and Lennarth Nystrom

Adherence influencing factors – a systematic review of systematic reviews

Non-adherence is widespread problem. Adherence is a crucial point for the success and the safe use of therapies. The objective of this overview (review of reviews) was to identify factors that influence adhere...

Authors: Tim Mathes, Thomas Jaschinski and Dawid Pieper

Association between medical home characteristics and staff professional experiences in pediatric practices

The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model has been touted as a potential way to improve primary care. As more PCMH projects are undertaken it is critical to understand professional experiences as staff ar...

Authors: Caprice Knapp, Shourjo Chakravorty, Vanessa Madden, Jacqueline Baron-Lee, Ruth Gubernick, Steven Kairys, Cristina Pelaez-Velez, Lee M Sanders and Lindsay Thompson

The EPIRARE proposal of a set of indicators and common data elements for the European platform for rare disease registration

The European Union acknowledges the relevance of registries as key instruments for developing rare disease (RD) clinical research, improving patient care and health service (HS) planning and funded the EPIRARE...

Authors: Domenica Taruscio, Emanuela Mollo, Sabina Gainotti, Manuel Posada de la Paz, Fabrizio Bianchi and Luciano Vittozzi

Premature mortality in Belgium in 1993-2009: leading causes, regional disparities and 15 years change

Reducing premature mortality is a crucial public health objective. After a long gap in the publication of Belgian mortality statistics, this paper presents the leading causes and the regional disparities in pr...

Authors: Françoise Renard, Jean Tafforeau and Patrick Deboosere

Effects of vitamin D in the elderly population: current status and perspectives

Besides its well-known effect on bone metabolism, recent researches suggest that vitamin D may also play a role in the muscular, immune, endocrine, and central nervous systems. Double-blind RCTs support vitami...

Authors: Olivier Bruyère, Etienne Cavalier, Jean-Claude Souberbielle, Heike A Bischoff-Ferrari, Charlotte Beaudart, Fanny Buckinx, Jean-Yves Reginster and René Rizzoli

Pneumonia and influenza, and respiratory and circulatory hospital admissions in Belgium: a retrospective database study

Influenza infections can lead to viral pneumonia, upper respiratory tract infection or facilitate co-infection by other pathogens. Influenza is associated with the exacerbation of chronic conditions like diabe...

Authors: Ralph Crott, Isabelle Pouplier, Isabelle Roch, Yi-Chen Chen and Marie-Christine Closon

Past and future corollaries of theories on causes of metabolic syndrome and obesity related co-morbidities part 2: a composite unifying theory review of human-specific co-adaptations to brain energy consumption

A composite unifying theory on causes of obesity related-MetS has been formulated and published in an accompanying article (1). In the current article, the historical and recent past, present and future coroll...

Authors: Anne-Thea McGill

Causes of metabolic syndrome and obesity-related co-morbidities Part 1: A composite unifying theory review of human-specific co-adaptations to brain energy consumption

Metabolic syndrome and obesity-related co-morbidities are largely explained by co-adaptations to the energy use of the large human brain in the cortico-limbic-striatal and NRF2 systems.

Authors: Anne-Thea McGill

What determines inclusion in the early phase of the type 2 diabetes care trajectory in Belgium?

In 2009, the Belgian National Institute of Health and Disability Insurance established a care trajectory (CT) for a subgroup of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients (T2DM) based on Wagner’s chronic care model. Th...

Authors: Katrien Vanthomme, Nathalie Bossuyt, Sarah Moreels, Nicole Boffin, Etienne De Clercq, Geert Goderis and Viviane Van Casteren

Smart wearable body sensors for patient self-assessment and monitoring

Innovations in mobile and electronic healthcare are revolutionizing the involvement of both doctors and patients in the modern healthcare system by extending the capabilities of physiological monitoring device...

Authors: Geoff Appelboom, Elvis Camacho, Mickey E Abraham, Samuel S Bruce, Emmanuel LP Dumont, Brad E Zacharia, Randy D’Amico, Justin Slomian, Jean Yves Reginster, Olivier Bruyère and E Sander Connolly Jr

Protocol of the PSYCHOTSH study: association between neonatal thyroid stimulating hormone concentration and intellectual, psychomotor and psychosocial development at 4–5 year of age: a retrospective cohort study

Several European countries, including Belgium, still suffer from mild iodine deficiency. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) concentration in whole blood measured at birth has been proposed as an indicator of ma...

Authors: Caroline Trumpff, Johan Vanderfaeillie, Nathalie Vercruysse, Jean De Schepper, Jean Tafforeau, Herman Van Oyen and Stefanie Vandevijvere

A Centre for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Tuberculosis (CDT) in a resource-limited setting: a dragnet for patients with heart disease?

Cardiovascular disease is a growing public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa. Cough and dyspnea are symptoms of both lung diseases and heart failure. This study aimed at determining the contribution of card...

Authors: Ahmadou M Jingi, Jean Jacques N Noubiap, Edvine Wawo Yonta, Philippe Kamdem, Joël Marie Obama and Samuel Kingue

Factors associated with data quality in the routine health information system of Benin

Routine health information systems (RHIS) are crucial to the acquisition of data for health sector planning. In developing countries, the insufficient quality of the data produced by these systems limits their...

Authors: Yolaine Glèlè Ahanhanzo, Laurent T Ouedraogo, Alphonse Kpozèhouen, Yves Coppieters, Michel Makoutodé and Michèle Wilmet-Dramaix

A review of the use of health examination data from the Health Survey for England in government policy development and implementation

Information is needed at all stages of the policy making process. The Health Survey for England (HSE) is an annual cross-sectional health examination survey of the non-institutionalised general population in E...

Authors: Oyinlola Oyebode and Jennifer S Mindell

Smoking-attributable mortality in Morocco: results of a prevalence-based study in Casablanca

Tobacco control measurements’ had little impact on smoking prevalence in Morocco. The aim of this study is to provide first data on smoking attributable mortality in Morocco.

Authors: Nabil Tachfouti, Chantal Raherison, Adil Najdi, Majdouline Obtel, Ahmed Rguig, Amina Idrissi Azami and Chakib Nejjari

Mortality attributable to tobacco: review of different methods

One of the most important measures for ascertaining the impact of tobacco is the estimation of the mortality attributable to its use. Several indirect methods of quantification are available. The objective of ...

Authors: Nabil Tachfouti, Chantal Raherison, Majdouline Obtel and Chakib Nejjari

An innovative approach to using both cellphones and the radio to identify young people’s sexual concerns in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

As teenagers have easy access to both radio programs and cell phones, the current study used these tools so that young people could anonymously identify questions about sex and other related concerns in the ur...

Authors: Gabriel Vodiena Nsakala, Yves Coppieters and Patrick Kalambayi Kayembe

The relationship between school physical activity policy and objectively measured physical activity of elementary school students: a multilevel model analysis

There is evidence of school level variability in the physical activity of children and youth. Less is known about factors that may contribute to this variation. The purpose of this study was to examine if the ...

Authors: Guy Faulkner, Laura Zeglen, Scott Leatherdale, Steve Manske and Michelle Stone

Is all bullying the same?

We ask whether verbal abuse, threats of violence and physical assault among Canadian youth have the same determinants and whether these determinants are the same for boys and girls. If these are different, the...

Authors: Lihui Zhang, Lars Osberg and Shelley Phipps

Role of ciliary dysfunction in a new model of obesity and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis: the foz/fozmice

Authors: Laurence Poekes, Vanessa Legry, Geoffrey Farrell and Isabelle Leclercq

Prebiotics supplementation improves the endothelial dysfunction in n-3 PUFA-depleted ApoE^-/-mice

Authors: Emilie Catry, Géraldine Rath, Barbara D Pachikian, Audrey M Neyrinck, Patrice D Cani, Chantal Dessy and Nathalie M Delzenne