Why we should monitor disparities in old-age mortality with the modal age at death.

Indicators based a fixed "old" age threshold have been widely used for assessing socioeconomic disparities in mortality at older ages. Interpretation of long-term trends and determinants of these indicators is challenging because mortality above a fixed age that in the past would have reflected old age deaths is today mixing premature and old-age mortality. We propose the modal (i.e., most frequent) age at death, M, an indicator increasingly recognized in aging research, but which has been infrequently used for monitoring mortality disparities at older ages. We use mortality and population exposure data by occupational class over the 1971-2017 period from Finnish register data. The modal age and life expectancy indicators are estimated from mortality rates smoothed with penalized B-splines. Over the 1971-2017 period, occupational class disparities in life expectancy at 65 and 75 widened while disparities in M remained relatively stable. The proportion of the group surviving to the modal age was constant across time and occupational class. In contrast, the proportion surviving to age 65 and 75 has roughly doubled since 1971 and showed strong occupational class differences. Increasing socioeconomic disparities in mortality based on fixed old age thresholds may be a feature of changing selection dynamics in a context of overall declining mortality. Unlike life expectancy at a selected fixed old age, M compares individuals with similar survival chances over time and across occupational classes. This property makes trends and differentials in M easier to interpret in countries where old-age survival has improved significantly.

[CAR-T CELLS: How does the EBMT registry monitor European activities, identify hurdles and prepare for changes in regulations]. / CAR-T cells : comment le registre de l'EBMT monitore les activités en Europe, identifie les contraintes et prépare l'évolution des régulations.

CAR-T Cells are gene therapy medicinal products, a subcategory of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products as defined in the EC Regulation 1394/2007. They may represent the first example of such medicinal products that are industry-manufactured and commercialized on a large scale. Their very nature, their manufacturing processes, pricing and conditions upon which they were approved by regulatory agencies, all lead the latter to require long-term follow-up after marketing approval with a view for a better definition of CAR-T Cells safety profile and efficacy profile in real world conditions. Collection and analysis of data over a 15-year period of time represents a technical and political challenge. So does the a priori definition of data to be collected for a wealth of forthcoming analyses that focus on the interests of a variety of stakeholders. EBMT has been collecting and analyzing data on hematopoietic cell transplants for decades. EBMT currently works with many interested parties to collect data on patients treated with CAR-T Cells.

ADL-dependent older adults were identified in medico-administrative databases.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to develop an algorithm for the identification of basic Activities of Daily Living (ADL)-dependency in health insurance databases. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We used the AMI (Aging Multidisciplinary Investigation) population-based cohort including both individual face-to-face assessment of ADL-dependency and merged health insurance data. The health insurance factors associated with ADL-dependency were identified using a LASSO logistic regression model in 1000 bootstrap samples. An external validation on a 1/97 representative sample of the French Health Insurance general population of Affiliates has been performed. RESULTS: Among 995 participants of the AMI cohort aged ≥ 65y, 114 (11.5%) were ADL-dependent according to neuropsychologists individual assessments. The final algorithm developed included: age, sex, four drug classes (dopaminergic antiparkinson drugs, antidepressants, antidiabetic agents, lipid modifying agents), three type of medical devices (medical bed, patient lifter, incontinence equipment), four medical acts (GP's consultations at home, daily and non-daily nursing at home, transport by ambulance) and four long-term diseases (stroke, heart failure, coronary heart disease, Alzheimer and other dementia). Applying this algorithm, the estimated prevalence of ADL-dependency was 12.3% in AMI and 9.5% in the validation sample. CONCLUSION: This study proposes a useful algorithm to identify ADL-dependency in the health insurance data.

Laboratory informatics capacity for effective antimicrobial resistance surveillance in resource-limited settings.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major threat to human health globally. Surveillance is a key activity to determine AMR burden, impacts, and trends and to monitor effects of interventions. Surveillance systems require efficient capture and onward sharing of high-quality laboratory data. Substantial investment is being made to improve laboratory capacity, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) with high disease burdens. However, building capacity for effective laboratory data management remains an under-resourced area, which, unless addressed, will limit progress towards comprehensive AMR surveillance in LMICs. The lack of a fit-for-purpose and open-source laboratory information management system software is of particular concern. In this Personal View, we summarise the technical requirements for microbiology laboratory data management, provide a snapshot of laboratory data management in LMIC laboratories, and describe the key steps required to improve the situation. Without action to improve information technology infrastructure and data management systems in microbiology laboratories, the ongoing efforts to develop capacity for AMR surveillance in LMICs might not realise their full potential.

Young people's advisory groups in health research: scoping review and mapping of practices.

BACKGROUND: Young people's advisory groups (YPAGs) for research are comprised of children or adolescents who work with researchers to shape different stages of the research process. Their involvement is expected to ensure studies better reflect the preferences and needs of targeted youth populations. However, despite their increasing use in health research, there is little systematic evidence on the methods and impacts associated with YPAGs. METHOD: To address this gap, we conducted a scoping review of YPAGs in youth-focused health studies. We systematically searched MEDLINE for empirical studies in populations between 12 years and 18 years of age published in 2019. If a potential YPAG was identified, authors were contacted for additional information about the activities and level of involvement of the YPAG. FINDINGS: Of all studies that collected primary data from persons aged 12-18 years, only 21 studies reported using youth advice during their research. This represents less than 1% of all published empirical child and adolescent studies. There was variation in the type of research activity undertaken by YPAGs and their level of involvement. Most studies involved YPAGs in co-production of research design and/or in dissemination activities. The majority of authors that responded were positive about the impact of YPAGs. INTERPRETATION: Recommendations for consistent reporting of YPAG involvement in empirical studies include reporting on the match between YPAG and study populations, frequency/format of meetings, and the nature and level of involvement.

Parent-Reported Symptoms and Medications Used Among Children With Severe Neurological Impairment.

Importance: Children with severe neurological impairment (SNI) often take multiple medications to treat problematic symptoms. However, for children who cannot self-report symptoms, no system exists to assess multiple symptoms and their association with medication use. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of 28 distinct symptoms, test whether higher global symptom scores (GSS) were associated with use of more medications, and assess the associations between specific symptoms and medications. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study was conducted between April 1, 2019, and December 31, 2019, using structured parent-reported symptom data paired with clinical and pharmacy data, at a single-center, large, hospital-based special health care needs clinic. Participants included children aged 1 to 18 years with SNI and 5 or more prescribed medications. Data analysis was performed from April to June 2020. Exposure: During routine clinical visits, parent-reported symptoms were collected using the validated 28-symptom Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS) and merged with clinical and pharmacy data. Main Outcomes and Measures: Symptom prevalence, counts, and GSS (scored 0-100, with 100 being the worst) were calculated, and the association of GSS with medications was examined. To evaluate associations between symptom-medication pairs, the proportion of patients with a symptom who used a medication class or specific medication was calculated. Results: Of 100 patients, 55.0% were boys, the median (interquartile range [IQR]) age was 9 (5-12) years, 62.0% had 3 or more complex chronic conditions, 76.0% took 10 or more medications, and none were able to complete the MSAS themselves. Parents reported a median (IQR) of 7 (4-10) concurrent active symptoms. The median (IQR) GSS was 12.1 (5.4-20.8) (range, 0.0-41.2) and the GSS was 9.8 points (95% CI, 5.5-14.1 points) higher for those with worse recent health than usual. Irritability (65.0%), insomnia (55.0%), and pain (54.0%) were the most prevalent symptoms. Each 10-point GSS increase was associated with 12% (95% CI, 4%-19%) higher medication counts, adjusted for age and complex chronic condition count. Among the 54.0% of children with reported pain, 61.0% were prescribed an analgesic. Conclusions and Relevance: These findings suggest that children with SNI reportedly experience substantial symptom burdens and that higher symptom scores are associated with increased medication use. Paired symptom-medication data may help clinicians identify targets for personalized symptom management, including underrecognized or undertreated symptoms.

Necropolitics and the impact of COVID-19 on the Black community in Brazil: a literature review and a document analysis. / Necropolítica e reflexões acerca da população negra no contexto da pandemia da COVID-19 no Brasil: uma revisão bibliográfica.

This study discusses to what extent the inclusion, or not, of the race/color variable in epidemiological analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic can work as an external manifestation of necropolitics and as a producer of health inequities. We conducted a literature review on 09 articles, and on Scientific Electronic Library, PubMed and Virtual Health Library databases. We also conducted a documental analysis on 27 epidemiological reports from all the federal states and the Federal District of Brazil. We did not see much information regarding race/color, which can be interpreted as an intentional omission in order to hide those who the epidemics affects the most. The denial of basic and fundamental rights is the element that characterizes the larger racist structure of Brazil's COVID-19 policies.

Com o objetivo de discutir em que medida a inclusão ou não da variável raça/cor nas análises epidemiológicas da pandemia da COVID-19 manifesta-se como mecanismo de efetivação da necropolítica e como produtor de iniquidades (injustas e evitáveis) em saúde foi realizada uma revisão bibliográfica a partir da revisão da literatura científica nas bases de dados Scientific Eletronic Library, PubMed e Biblioteca Virtual de Saúde incluindo 09 artigos e análise documental de 27 boletins epidemiológicos de todos os estados brasileiros e Distrito Federal. Observou-se incipiência de dados relacionados a raça/cor, o que pode revelar a pretensão de invisibilizar quem são os mais atingidos pela epidemia. A negação dos direitos básicos e fundamentais caracteriza a estrutura racista que tem operado a política de enfrentamento da COVID-19 no país.

Abortion Reporting in the United States: An Assessment of Three National Fertility Surveys.

Despite its frequency, abortion remains a highly sensitive, stigmatized, and difficult-to-measure behavior. We present estimates of abortion underreporting for three of the most commonly used national fertility surveys in the United States: the National Survey of Family Growth, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Numbers of abortions reported in each survey were compared with external abortion counts obtained from a census of all U.S. abortion providers, with adjustments for comparable respondent ages and periods of each data source. We examined the influence of survey design factors, including survey mode, sampling frame, and length of recall, on abortion underreporting. We used Monte Carlo simulations to estimate potential measurement biases in relationships between abortion and other variables. Underreporting of abortion in the United States compromises the ability to study abortion-and, consequently, almost any pregnancy-related experience-using national fertility surveys.

Necropolítica e reflexões acerca da população negra no contexto da pandemia da COVID-19 no Brasil: uma revisão bibliográfica / Necropolitics and the impact of COVID-19 on the Black community in Brazil: a literature review and a document analysis

Resumo Com o objetivo de discutir em que medida a inclusão ou não da variável raça/cor nas análises epidemiológicas da pandemia da COVID-19 manifesta-se como mecanismo de efetivação da necropolítica e como produtor de iniquidades (injustas e evitáveis) em saúde foi realizada uma revisão bibliográfica a partir da revisão da literatura científica nas bases de dados Scientific Eletronic Library, PubMed e Biblioteca Virtual de Saúde incluindo 09 artigos e análise documental de 27 boletins epidemiológicos de todos os estados brasileiros e Distrito Federal. Observou-se incipiência de dados relacionados a raça/cor, o que pode revelar a pretensão de invisibilizar quem são os mais atingidos pela epidemia. A negação dos direitos básicos e fundamentais caracteriza a estrutura racista que tem operado a política de enfrentamento da COVID-19 no país.

Abstract This study discusses to what extent the inclusion, or not, of the race/color variable in epidemiological analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic can work as an external manifestation of necropolitics and as a producer of health inequities. We conducted a literature review on 09 articles, and on Scientific Electronic Library, PubMed and Virtual Health Library databases. We also conducted a documental analysis on 27 epidemiological reports from all the federal states and the Federal District of Brazil. We did not see much information regarding race/color, which can be interpreted as an intentional omission in order to hide those who the epidemics affects the most. The denial of basic and fundamental rights is the element that characterizes the larger racist structure of Brazil's COVID-19 policies.

Food availability and food insecurity in households in the state of Tocantins, Northern Brazil / Disponibilidade de alimentos e insegurança alimentar de domicílios do Estado do Tocantins, Região Norte do Brasil

ABSTRACT Objective To assess the relationship between food availability, food insecurity and socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of households in the urban area of the state of Tocantins. Methods Population-based, cross-sectional study conducted in 594 households in the urban area of 22 municipalities in the state of Tocantins. A survey was carried out in the households, to collect socioeconomic and data, and assess food insecurity using the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale. Further a food availability questionnaire was applied by the interviewer with the head of the family, who reported on the food and drinks available at home in the last 30 days. The description of the food available in the households resulted in a total of 142 food items that were grouped according to the NOVA classification of foods. demographic Results It was found that 63.3% of households were in a situation of food insecurity. The median caloric availability found was 2,771.4kcal/per capita/day, with the largest caloric contribution coming from fresh and minimally processed foods, regardless of the degree of food insecurity. Food availability was affected by socioeconomic vulnerability and the situation of food insecurity in the families.

RESUMO Objetivo Avaliar a relação entre a disponibilidade alimentar, a situação de insegurança alimentar e características socioeconômicas e demográficas de domicílios da zona urbana do Estado do Tocantins. Métodos Estudo de base populacional, do tipo transversal, realizado em 594 domicílios da área urbana de 22 municípios do Estado do Tocantins. A coleta de dados foi realizada nos domicílios, com levantamento de dados socioeconômicos e demográficos, avaliação da insegurança alimentar por meio da Escala Brasileira de Insegurança Alimentar e avaliação da disponibilidade dos alimentos a partir de um questionário de disponibilidade alimentar aplicado pelo entrevistador ao chefe da família, que informou sobre os alimentos e bebidas disponíveis no domicílio nos últimos 30 dias. A descrição dos alimentos disponíveis nos domicílios resultou em um total de 142 itens alimentares que foram agrupados de acordo com a classificação NOVA de alimentos. Resultados Constatou-se que 63,3% dos domicílios encontravam-se em situação de insegurança alimentar. A disponibilidade calórica mediana encontrada foi de 2.771,4kcal/per capita/dia, sendo a maior contribuição calórica advinda de alimentos in natura e minimamente processados, independente do grau de insegurança alimentar. Conclusão A disponibilidade alimentar foi afetada pela vulnerabilidade socioeconômica e pela situação de insegurança alimentar das famílias.

Evaluation of approaches to strengthen civil registration and vital statistics systems: A systematic review and synthesis of policies in 25 countries.

BACKGROUND: Civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems play a key role in upholding human rights and generating data for health and good governance. They also can help monitor progress in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Although many countries have made substantial progress in strengthening their CRVS systems, most low- and middle-income countries still have underdeveloped systems. The objective of this systematic review is to identify national policies that can help countries strengthen their systems. METHODS AND FINDINGS: The ABI/INFORM, Embase, JSTOR, PubMed, and WHO Index Medicus databases were systematically searched for policies to improve birth and/or death registration on 24 January 2017. Global stakeholders were also contacted for relevant grey literature. For the purposes of this review, policies were categorised as supply, demand, incentive, penalty, or combination (i.e., at least two of the preceding policy approaches). Quantitative results on changes in vital event registration rates were presented for individual comparative articles. Qualitative systematic review methodology, including meta-ethnography, was used for qualitative syntheses on operational considerations encompassing acceptability to recipients and staff, human resource requirements, information technology or infrastructure requirements, costs to the health system, unintended effects, facilitators, and barriers. This study is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42018085768. Thirty-five articles documenting experience in implementing policies to improve birth and/or death registration were identified. Although 25 countries representing all global regions (Africa, the Americas, Southeast Asia, the Western Pacific, Europe, and the Eastern Mediterranean) were reflected, there were limited countries from the Eastern Mediterranean and Europe regions. Twenty-four articles reported policy effects on birth and/or death registration. Twenty-one of the 24 articles found that the change in registration rate after the policy was positive, with two supply and one penalty articles being the exceptions. The qualitative syntheses identified 15 operational considerations across all policy categories. Human and financial resource requirements were not quantified. The primary limitation of this systematic review was the threat of publication bias wherein many countries may not have documented their experience; this threat is most concerning for policies that had neutral or negative effects. CONCLUSIONS: Our systematic review suggests that combination policy approaches, consisting of at least a supply and demand component, were consistently associated with improved registration rates in different geographical contexts. Operational considerations should be interpreted based on health system, governance, and sociocultural context. More evaluations and research are needed from the Eastern Mediterranean and Europe regions. Further research and evaluation are also needed to estimate the human and financial resource requirements required for different policies.

Cohort Profile: National health insurance service-senior (NHIS-senior) cohort in Korea.

PURPOSE: The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS)-Senior was set up to provide high-quality longitudinal data that can be used to explore various aspects of changes in the socio-economical and health status of older adults, to predict risk factors and to investigate their health outcomes. PARTICIPANTS: The NHIS-Senior cohort, a Korean nationwide retrospective administrative data cohort, is composed of older adults aged 60 years and over in 2002. It consists of 558 147 people selected by 10% simple random sampling method from a total of 5.5 million subjects aged 60+ in the National Health Information Database. The cohort was followed up through 2015 for all subjects, except for those who were deceased. FINDINGS TO DATE: The healthcare utilisation and admission rates were the highest for acute upper respiratory infections and influenza (75.2%). The age-standardised (defined with reference to the world standard population) mortality rate for 10 years (through 2012) was 4333 per 100 000 person-years. Malignant neoplasms were the most common cause of death in both sexes (1032.1 per 100 000 person-years for men, 376.7 per 100 000 person-years for women). A total of 34 483 individuals applied for long-term care service in 2008, of whom 17.9% were assessed as grade 1, meaning that they were completely dependent on the help of another person to live daily life. FUTURE PLANS: The data are provided for the purposes of policy and academic research under the Act on Promotion of the Provision and Use of Public Data in Korea. The NHIS-Senior cohort data are only available for Korean researchers at the moment, but it is possible for researchers outside the country to gain access to the data by conducting a joint study with a Korean researcher. The cohort will be maintained and continuously updated by the NHIS.

Community pharmacists' lack of access to health records and its impact on targeted MTM interventions.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the adequacy of health record information available to community pharmacists when completing medication therapy management (MTM) interventions and to quantify the time spent on interventions that are ultimately revealed as invalid. METHODS: This prospective cross-sectional study analyzed cases of high-risk medication use in the elderly and statin use in persons with diabetes identified by 3 MTM platforms across 15 grocery chain pharmacies. MTM interventions were completed by phone and fax following a usual care protocol. Collected data included case validity (defined as the case truly requiring a pharmacist's involvement), case success (defined as achieving the targeted goal of the intervention), time spent on the intervention, and a determination of whether information from an electronic health record (EHR) could have eliminated patient or prescriber contact. RESULTS: Among 163 cases analyzed, 54% were found to be valid and 30% successful. The most common reasons for invalidity were allergy or contraindication, patient already taking a statin, and patient not having the targeted condition. Overall, 14% of cases were valid and successful, 40% valid and unsuccessful, 17% invalid and successful, and 29% invalid and unsuccessful. Valid successful cases averaged 15.3 minutes per case, valid unsuccessful cases averaged 9.2 minutes, invalid successful cases averaged 4.2 minutes, and invalid unsuccessful cases averaged 5.1 minutes. Based on the case-by-case determination of the researchers, EHR information would have completed 39% of cases without patient or prescriber contact. The average time spent on cases needing EHR access was 5.5 minutes, compared with 9.5 minutes for cases in which EHR access would not have helped. CONCLUSION: Community pharmacists performing MTM interventions are hindered by lack of access to patient health information, imprecise patient targeting by MTM platforms, and cumbersome communication between pharmacists and prescribers.

Dropout and transfer paths: What are the risky profiles when analyzing university persistence with machine learning techniques?

University dropout is a growing problem with considerable academic, social and economic consequences. Conclusions and limitations of previous studies highlight the difficulty of analyzing the phenomenon from a broad perspective and with bigger data sets. This paper proposes a new, machine-learning based method, able to examine the problem using a holistic approach. Advantages of this method include the lack of strong distribution hypothesis, the capacity for handling bigger data sets and the interpretability of the results. Results are consistent with previous research, showing the influence of personal and contextual variables and the importance of academic performance in the first year, but other factors are also highlighted with this model, such as the importance of dedication (part or full time), and the vulnerability of the students with respect to their age. Additionally, a comprehensive graphic output is included to make it easier to interpret the discovered rules.

Determinants of unit nonresponse in multi-mode data collection: A multilevel analysis.

BACKGROUND: Multi-mode data collection is widely used in surveys. Since several modes of data collection are successively applied in such design (e.g. self-administered questionnaire after face-to-face interview), partial nonresponse occurs if participants fail to complete all stages of the data collection. Although such nonresponse might seriously impact estimates, it remains currently unexplored. This study investigates the determinants of nonresponse to a self-administered questionnaire after having participated in a face-to-face interview. METHODS: Data from the Belgian Health Interview Survey 2013 were used to identify determinants of nonresponse to self-administered questionnaire (n = 1,464) among those who had completed the face-to-face interview (n = 8,133). The association between partial nonresponse and potential determinants was explored through multilevel logistic regression models, encompassing a random interviewer effect. RESULTS: Significant interviewer effects were found. Almost half (46.6%) of the variability in nonresponse was attributable to the interviewers, even in the analyses controlling for the area as potential confounder. Partial nonresponse was higher among youngsters, non-Belgian participants, people with a lower educational levels and those belonging to a lower income household, residents of Brussels and Wallonia, and people with poor perceived health. Higher odds of nonresponse were found for interviews done in the last quarters of the survey-year. Regarding interviewer characteristics, only the total number of interviews carried out throughout the survey was significantly associated with nonresponse to the self-administered questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that interviewers play a crucial role in nonresponse to the self-administered questionnaire. Participant characteristics, interview circumstances and interviewer characteristics only partly explain the interviewer variability. Future research should examine further interviewer characteristics that impact nonresponse. The current study emphasises the importance of training and motivating interviewers to reduce nonresponse in multi-mode data collection.

Unmet need for family planning and its associated factor among women of reproductive age in Debre Berhan Town, Amhara, Ethiopia.

OBJECTIVE: Unmet need refers to fecund women who either wish to postpone the next birth (spacers) or who wish to stop childbearing (limiters) but are not using a contraceptive method. The aim of this study was to assess the unmet needs of family planning and identify associated factors in Debre Berhan town among women in reproductive age. The community-based cross-sectional study design was used among 411 study participants (women with reproductive age) at Debre Berhan town. A systematic sampling technique was used to select the households. Bivariate and multivariable analyses were done to determine the association of each independent variable with the dependent variable. RESULTS: The overall unmet need for family planning among women in reproductive age groups was found to be 30.9%. Occupational status AOR = 13.992 (1.054-185.833), from whom the respondents got information about family planning AOR = 0.018 (0.002-0.170), having a discussion with husband AOR = 16.692 (2.911-95.713) and support from husband AOR = 0.005 (0.001-0.025) was significantly associated with the outcome variable. The level of unmet need for family planning in the study area is still high compared to the target set (10%) in the national family planning guide plan for Ethiopia.

Blame and shame in the veterinary profession: barriers and facilitators to reporting significant events.

Significant event reporting is an important concept for patient safety in human medicine, but substantial barriers to the discussion and reporting of adverse events have been identified. This study explored the factors that influence the discussion and reporting of significant events among veterinary surgeons and nurses. Purposive sampling was used to generate participants for six focus groups consisting of a range of veterinary professionals of different ages and roles (mean N per group=9). Thematic analysis of the discussions identified three main themes: the effect of culture, the influence of organisational systems and the emotional effect of error. Fear, lack of time or understanding and organisational concerns were identified as barriers, while the effect of feedback, opportunity for learning and structure of a reporting system facilitated error reporting. Professional attitudes and culture emerged as both a positive and negative influence on the discussion of error. The results were triangulated against the findings in the medical literature and highlight common themes in clinician's concerns regarding the discussion of professional error. The results of this study have been used to inform the development of the 'VetSafe' tool, a web-based central error reporting system.