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Psychological Test and Assessment Modeling Bipolar items for the measurement of personal optimism instead of unipolar items Standard setting in complex performance assessments: An approach aligned with cognitive diagnostic models Bipolar items for the measurement of personal optimism instead of u...more
IntroductionEconomic groups, such as microfinance or self-help groups are widely implemented in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Women’s groups are voluntary groups, which aim to improve the well-being of members through... more
IntroductionEconomic groups, such as microfinance or self-help groups are widely implemented in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Women’s groups are voluntary groups, which aim to improve the well-being of members through activities, such as joint savings, credit, livelihoods development and/or health activities. Health interventions are increasingly added on to existing women’s economic groups as a public health intervention for women and their families. Here, we present the protocol for a mixed-methods systematic review we will conduct of the evidence on integrated economic and health interventions on women’s groups to assess whether and how they improve health-related knowledge, behaviour and outcomes in LMICs.Methods and analysisWe will search seven electronic databases for published literature, along with manual searches and consultation. The review will include (1) randomised trials and non-randomised quasiexperimental studies of intervention effects of integrate...
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BackgroundSocial innovations in health are inclusive solutions to address the healthcare delivery gap that meet the needs of end users through a multi-stakeholder, community-engaged process. While social innovations for health have shown... more
BackgroundSocial innovations in health are inclusive solutions to address the healthcare delivery gap that meet the needs of end users through a multi-stakeholder, community-engaged process. While social innovations for health have shown promise in closing the healthcare delivery gap, more research is needed to evaluate, scale up, and sustain social innovation. Research checklists can standardize and improve reporting of research findings, promote transparency, and increase replicability of study results and findings.Methods and findingsThe research checklist was developed through a 3-step community-engaged process, including a global open call for ideas, a scoping review, and a 3-round modified Delphi process. The call for entries solicited checklists and related items and was open between November 27, 2019 and February 1, 2020. In addition to the open call submissions and scoping review findings, a 17-item Social Innovation For Health Research (SIFHR) Checklist was developed based...
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Research Interests: Global Health, Environmental Health, Diet, General Internal Medicine, Public Health, and 15 moreRisk assessment, Mortality, Medicine, Disability, Clusters, Na, Disease, Pollution, Burden of Disease, Lancet, Science Technology, Risk Assessment, Relative Risk, Disease Burden, and Medical and Health Sciences
Research Interests: Epidemiology, Infectious disease epidemiology, Health Inequalities, Global Health, Environmental Health, and 15 moreDeveloping Countries, Infectious Diseases, Diarrhea, Humans, Drinking Water Treatment, Epidemiologia, Inequality, Drinking Water, building capacities for WASH sector, Geospatial Analysis, Bayes Theorem, Elsevier, Global burden of disease, HUMAN MEDICINE, and Fatores Socioeconômicos
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While social innovations in health have shown promise in closing the healthcare delivery gap, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), more research is needed to evaluate, scale up, and sustain social innovations. Research... more
While social innovations in health have shown promise in closing the healthcare delivery gap, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), more research is needed to evaluate, scale up, and sustain social innovations. Research checklists can standardize and improve reporting of research findings, promote transparency, and increase replicability of study results and findings. This article describes the development of a 17-item social innovation in health research checklist to assess and report social innovation projects and provides examples of good reporting. The checklist is adapted from the TIDieR checklist and will facilitate more complete and transparent reporting and increase end user engagement.Summary pointsWhile many social innovations have been developed and shown promise in closing the healthcare delivery gap, more research is needed to evaluate social innovationThe Social Innovation in Health Research Checklist, the first of its kind, is a 17-item checklist to ...
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Whether requiring Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) results for doctoral applicants affects the diversity of admitted cohorts remains uncertain. This study randomized applications to 2 population-health doctoral programs at the... more
Whether requiring Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) results for doctoral applicants affects the diversity of admitted cohorts remains uncertain. This study randomized applications to 2 population-health doctoral programs at the University of California San Francisco to assess whether masking reviewers to applicant GRE results differentially affects reviewers’ scores for underrepresented minority (URM) applicants from 2018–2020. Applications with GRE results and those without were randomly assigned to reviewers to designate scores for each copy (1–10, 1 being best). URM was defined as self-identification as African American/Black, Filipino, Hmong, Vietnamese, Hispanic/Latinx, Native American/Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander. We used linear mixed models with random effects for the applicant and fixed effects for each reviewer to evaluate the effect of masking the GRE results on the overall application score and whether this effect differed by URM status. Revie...
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Research Interests: Demography, Epidemiology, Child health, Africa, Global Health, and 15 moreEnvironmental Health, Clinical Epidemiology, General Internal Medicine, Health, Epidemiologia, Health and Social Care, Digital mapping, Criança, Diarrhoeal disease, Cholera, Epidemiology and biostatistics, Child mortality, Elsevier, Global burden of disease, and Disease Burden
Educational attainment is an important social determinant of maternal, newborn, and child health1–3. As a tool for promoting gender equity, it has gained increasing traction in popular media, international aid strategies, and global... more
Educational attainment is an important social determinant of maternal, newborn, and child health1–3. As a tool for promoting gender equity, it has gained increasing traction in popular media, international aid strategies, and global agenda-setting4–6. The global health agenda is increasingly focused on evidence of precision public health, which illustrates the subnational distribution of disease and illness7,8; however, an agenda focused on future equity must integrate comparable evidence on the distribution of social determinants of health9–11. Here we expand on the available precision SDG evidence by estimating the subnational distribution of educational attainment, including the proportions of individuals who have completed key levels of schooling, across all low- and middle-income countries from 2000 to 2017. Previous analyses have focused on geographical disparities in average attainment across Africa or for specific countries, but—to our knowledge—no analysis has examined the ...
Research Interests: European Studies, Health Sciences, Education, Epidemiology, Children and Families, and 15 moreEarly Childhood Education, Africa, Child Development, Health Inequalities, Global Health, Clinical Epidemiology, Developing Countries, Health Equity, Health, Health Policy, Female, Attainment, Educational Attainment, Bayes Theorem, and Equity Law
Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2—to end preventable child deaths... more
Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2—to end preventable child deaths by 2030—we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends. Here we quantified, for the period 2000–2017, the subnational variation in mortality rates and number of deaths of neonates, infants and children under 5 years of age within 99 low- and middle-income countries using a geostatistical survival model. We estimated that 32% of children under 5 in these countries lived in districts that had attained rates of 25 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births by 2017, and that 58% of child deaths between 2000 and 2017 in these countries could have been averted in the absence of geographical inequality. This study enables the identification of high-mortality clusters, patterns of progress and geograp...
Research Interests: African Studies, Epistemology, Epidemiology, Infectious disease epidemiology, Global Health, and 15 moreDeveloping Countries, Mortality, Maternal Health, Medicine, Maternal and Child Health, Brasil, Inequality, Developing World, Burden of Disease, Infant Mortality, Child Survival, Child mortality, Infant Deaths, Child death review, and Adnan Kisa
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IntroductionIn underserved populations, the contribution of community health workers (CHWs) is vital to the healthcare systems. Attrition of these workers causes critical breakdowns in the delivery of essential services to these... more
IntroductionIn underserved populations, the contribution of community health workers (CHWs) is vital to the healthcare systems. Attrition of these workers causes critical breakdowns in the delivery of essential services to these populations. Literature on reasons for attrition is limited, although some have been identified in studies on sustainability of CHW programmes. These factors are, however, likely to be influenced by context. We measured CHW attrition and its predictors in a rural area in Kenya.MethodsWe conducted a nested case–control study and focus group discussions among CHWs involved in a maternal and child health project. A training register of 1005 CHWs was used to sample and follow CHWs for attrition. Incidence of CHW attrition was calculated using a Poisson model. Separately, we used logistic regression to determine predictors of CHW attrition.ResultsOf the 1005 CHWs, 498 (49.6%) had left the project by the time of the study. The incidence of attrition was 46.8/1000 ...
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Research Interests: Geography, Demography, Epidemiology, Global Health, Fertility, and 15 moreGeneral Internal Medicine, Adolescent, Humans, Child, International Public Health, Female, Infant, Aged, Adult, Birth Rate, Birth Control, Human Fertility, Global burden of disease, Child preschool, and Global Burden of Diseases
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Detailed assessments of mortality patterns, particularly age-specific mortality, represent a crucial input that enables health systems to target interventions to specific populations. Understanding how all-cause mortality has changed with... more
Detailed assessments of mortality patterns, particularly age-specific mortality, represent a crucial input that enables health systems to target interventions to specific populations. Understanding how all-cause mortality has changed with respect to development status can identify exemplars for best practice. To accomplish this, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 (GBD 2016) estimated age-specific and sex-specific all-cause mortality between 1970 and 2016 for 195 countries and territories and at the subnational level for the five countries with a population greater than 200 million in 2016. We have evaluated how well civil registration systems captured deaths using a set of demographic methods called death distribution methods for adults and from consideration of survey and census data for children younger than 5 years. We generated an overall assessment of completeness of registration of deaths by dividing registered deaths in each location-year by ...
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The Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor study 2013 (GBD 2013) is the first of a series of annual updates of the GBD. Risk factor quantification, particularly of modifiable risk factors, can help to identify emerging... more
The Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor study 2013 (GBD 2013) is the first of a series of annual updates of the GBD. Risk factor quantification, particularly of modifiable risk factors, can help to identify emerging threats to population health and opportunities for prevention. The GBD 2013 provides a timely opportunity to update the comparative risk assessment with new data for exposure, relative risks, and evidence on the appropriate counterfactual risk distribution. Attributable deaths, years of life lost, years lived with disability, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) have been estimated for 79 risks or clusters of risks using the GBD 2010 methods. Risk-outcome pairs meeting explicit evidence criteria were assessed for 188 countries for the period 1990-2013 by age and sex using three inputs: risk exposure, relative risks, and the theoretical minimum risk exposure level (TMREL). Risks are organised into a hierarchy with blocks of behavioural, environmental...
Research Interests: Geography, Health Behavior, Obesity, Global Health, Environmental Health, and 15 moreRisk assessment, Medicine, Humans, Metabolic diseases, Female, Male, Burden of Disease, Nutritional Status, Occupational Exposure, Risk Factors, Risk Assessment, Occupational Diseases, Environmental Exposure, Global burden of disease, and Medical and Health Sciences
Up-to-date evidence about levels and trends in disease and injury incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability (YLDs) is an essential input into global, regional, and national health policies. In the Global Burden of Disease... more
Up-to-date evidence about levels and trends in disease and injury incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability (YLDs) is an essential input into global, regional, and national health policies. In the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 (GBD 2013), we estimated these quantities for acute and chronic diseases and injuries for 188 countries between 1990 and 2013. Estimates were calculated for disease and injury incidence, prevalence, and YLDs using GBD 2010 methods with some important refinements. Results for incidence of acute disorders and prevalence of chronic disorders are new additions to the analysis. Key improvements include expansion to the cause and sequelae list, updated systematic reviews, use of detailed injury codes, improvements to the Bayesian meta-regression method (DisMod-MR), and use of severity splits for various causes. An index of data representativeness, showing data availability, was calculated for each cause and impairment during three periods globally...
Research Interests: Epidemiology, Developing Countries, General Internal Medicine, Adolescent, Comorbidity, and 15 moreChild, Chronic diseases, Chronic Disease, Female, Conduct Disorder, Aged, Developed Countries, Alcohol dependence, Adult, Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, Cost of Illness, Disabled Persons, Acute Disease, Child preschool, and Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
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Research Interests: Business, Health Sciences, Epidemiology, Infectious disease epidemiology, Mental Health, and 15 moreGlobal Health, Health Outcomes, Public Health, Infectious Diseases, Health Policy, Chronic illness, Medicine, Saúde Pública, Burden of Disease, Lancet, Saúde Global, Elsevier, Policy dialogue, Global Burden of Diseases, and Medical and Health Sciences
Research Interests: Demography, Epidemiology, Infectious disease epidemiology, Dementia, Clinical Trials, and 15 moreGlobal Health, General Internal Medicine, Chronic illness, Disability, International Public Health, Diseases, Growth and development, Incidence, Burden of Disease, Falls, Elsevier, Causes of Death, Injury Management, Global burden of disease, and Disease Burden
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Background Most medical educational programs emphasize clinical observation or clinical skill acquisition, fewer focus upon research. The Danish-American Research Exchange (DARE) program, sponsored by the Lundbeck Foundation, is unique in... more
Background Most medical educational programs emphasize clinical observation or clinical skill acquisition, fewer focus upon research. The Danish-American Research Exchange (DARE) program, sponsored by the Lundbeck Foundation, is unique in that the medical student initiates biomedical research collaboration between Danish and US medical institutions. To achieve this, Danish medical students (DARE students) conduct binational mentored research projects while based in the United States for 10 months. In addition, DARE students are introduced to interdisciplinary thinking about how to develop ultra-low-cost healthcare interventions through the ‘$10 Challenge’. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of DARE alumni over five consecutive years (2015–2020, n = 24). Research metrics included completion of a research project, primary authorship, and co-authorship of publications. The number of publications, prior to and after the DARE program were enumerated. For the first four cohorts,...
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Additional file 2. Risk factors for development of recurrent AKI in patients with an initial episode of resolving AKI, analysed using Cox regression.
Background Light-to-moderate alcohol consumption reduces the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. Because vascular disease is associated with cognitive impairment and dementia, we hypothesised that alcohol consumption might also... more
Background Light-to-moderate alcohol consumption reduces the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. Because vascular disease is associated with cognitive impairment and dementia, we hypothesised that alcohol consumption might also affect the risk of dementia. Methods We examined the relation between alcohol consumption and risk of dementia in individuals taking part in the Rotterdam Study—a prospective population-based study of 7983 individuals aged 55 years and older. We studied all participants who did not have dementia at baseline (1990–93) and who had complete data on alcohol consumption (n=5395). Through follow-up examinations in 1993–94 and 1997–99 and an extensive monitoring system, we obtained nearly complete follow-up (99·7%) until the end of 1999. We used proportional hazards
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Introduction As part of an investment by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support the Government of Bihar to improve reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health and nutrition (RMNCHN) statewide, BBC Media Action implemented... more
Introduction As part of an investment by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support the Government of Bihar to improve reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health and nutrition (RMNCHN) statewide, BBC Media Action implemented multiple communication tools to support front-line worker (FLW) outreach. We analyse the impacts of a package of mHealth audio messaging and paper-based job aids used by FLWs during government-sponsored village health, sanitation and nutrition days (VHSNDs) on knowledge and practices of childbearing women across the RMNCHN continuum of care. Methods Data from two surveys collected between July and September 2016 were analysed using logistic regression to compare health-related knowledge and behaviours between women who had been exposed at VHSNDs to the mHealth GupShup Potli (GSP) audio recordings or interpersonal communication (IPC) tools versus those who were unexposed. Results Exposure to GSP recordings (n=2608) was associated with improved knowledge...
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INTRODUCTION This study was conducted to address a lack of information in the literature regarding the frequency and consequences of specific types of torture and abuse among Eritreans seeking asylum in the United States. METHODS... more
INTRODUCTION This study was conducted to address a lack of information in the literature regarding the frequency and consequences of specific types of torture and abuse among Eritreans seeking asylum in the United States. METHODS Cross-sectional study of Eritreans seeking asylum in the United States presenting to a human rights clinic for forensic medical and psychological evaluations based on Istanbul Protocol. Reports were eligible for inclusion if subjects: 1) immigrated from Eritrea 2) reported torture and abuse in Eritrea, 3) were 18 or older. 59 reports met inclusion criteria. Demographic features of individuals, reported history and specific types of torture, and physical and psychological sequelae were analyzed. RESULTS Over 300 instances of torture were reported, an average of about 6 per person. The primary forms of torture reported were beating (87.7%) and forced positioning (57.9%). 90% of asylum seekers examined had physical findings which were consistent with the tortu...
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Objective To date, there are no studies of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the Navajo Nation, US. The primary objective of this manuscript is to understand whether counties with a higher proportion of Navajo (Diné) population also had higher... more
Objective To date, there are no studies of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the Navajo Nation, US. The primary objective of this manuscript is to understand whether counties with a higher proportion of Navajo (Diné) population also had higher cases and deaths of COVID-19 and whether these dropped with vaccination. Method We undertook a cross-sectional analysis of county level data from March 16, 2020—May 11, 2021. Data were obtained from public repositories and the US Census for the Navajo Nation, including northeastern Arizona, southeastern Utah, and northwestern New Mexico. The primary outcome measure is the number of individuals with confirmed cases or deaths of COVID-19. A secondary outcome was COVID-19 vaccinations. Results The 11 counties in Navajo Nation have a wide variation in the percent Navajo population, the resources available (ICU beds and occupancy), and COVID-19 outcomes. Overall, there was a substantial increase in the number of cases from March 16 –July 16, 2020 (the h...
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The World Health Organization’s online program ‘iSupport’ for family caregivers of people with dementia was adapted and pilot‐tested in India. Although there are promising outcomes of Internet‐based interventions in Western countries,... more
The World Health Organization’s online program ‘iSupport’ for family caregivers of people with dementia was adapted and pilot‐tested in India. Although there are promising outcomes of Internet‐based interventions in Western countries, there has hardly been any research on the use and effectiveness of such interventions in developing countries.
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IntroductionWe evaluated the impact of a ‘Team-Based Goals and Incentives’ (TBGI) intervention in Bihar, India, designed to improve front-line (community health) worker (FLW) performance and health-promoting behaviours related to... more
IntroductionWe evaluated the impact of a ‘Team-Based Goals and Incentives’ (TBGI) intervention in Bihar, India, designed to improve front-line (community health) worker (FLW) performance and health-promoting behaviours related to reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health and nutrition.MethodsThis study used a cluster randomised controlled trial design and difference-in-difference analyses of improvements in maternal health-related behaviours related to the intervention’s team-based goals (primary), and interactions of FLWs with each other and with maternal beneficiaries (secondary). Evaluation participants included approximately 1300 FLWs and 3600 mothers at baseline (May to June 2012) and after 2.5 years of implementation (November to December 2014) who had delivered an infant in the previous year.ResultsThe TBGI intervention resulted in significant increases in the frequency of antenatal home visits (15 absolute percentage points (PP), p=0.03) and receipt of iron-folic acid...
Childhood obesity is increasing especially in Latinos and early intervention is essential to prevent later obesity complications. Latino children (n = 201) recruited at two San Francisco hospitals were assessed at birth including infant... more
Childhood obesity is increasing especially in Latinos and early intervention is essential to prevent later obesity complications. Latino children (n = 201) recruited at two San Francisco hospitals were assessed at birth including infant anthropometrics and feeding practices and followed to age 9 with annual anthropometric assessments. We evaluated the relationship between perinatal risk factors and obesity at age 9 and chronic obesity (obesity at both 5 and 9 years). Higher birthweight [odds ratio (OR) 2.48, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06-5.81] and maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) (OR 1.09, 95% CI 1.00-1.18) were associated with increased risk for obesity at 9 years. Higher maternal pre-pregnancy BMI (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.01-1.20) was associated with chronic obesity. Additionally, prenatal depression symptoms were protective (OR 0.33, 95% CI 0.11-0.94) against chronic obesity. We found no association between maternal age and education, exclusive breastfeeding at 4-6 week...
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Dementia has a huge physical, psychological, social and economic impact upon caregivers, families and societies at large. There has been a growing impetus to utilize Internet interventions given the potential scalability, and presumed... more
Dementia has a huge physical, psychological, social and economic impact upon caregivers, families and societies at large. There has been a growing impetus to utilize Internet interventions given the potential scalability, and presumed cost-effectiveness and accessibility. In this paper, we describe the design of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) aiming to study the impact of online self-help programs on caregivers of people with dementia in India. The experimental group will receive an interactive training and support program and the comparison group will receive an education-only e-book. It will be among the first online support intervention RCTs for a mental health condition in a lower-middle income country. Two hundred and eight participants are expected to be recruited via several strategies (email, Internet and social media, telephone and face-to-face) starting in the Bangalore region of India. The inclusion criteria for participation in the trial are: (1) being 18 years or o...
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Duration of acute kidney injury (AKI) has been recognized a risk factor for adverse outcomes following AKI. We sought to examine the relationship of AKI duration and recurrent AKI with short-term outcomes in critically ill patients who... more
Duration of acute kidney injury (AKI) has been recognized a risk factor for adverse outcomes following AKI. We sought to examine the relationship of AKI duration and recurrent AKI with short-term outcomes in critically ill patients who were mechanically ventilated and met criteria for the acute respiratory distress syndrome. Participants in the NHLBI ARDS Network SAILS multicenter trial who developed AKI were included in this analysis and divided into groups based on AKI duration. Differences in outcomes were evaluated using t test and Chi-square test. Competing risks regression and Cox regression were used to evaluate factors associated with resolving AKI and recurrent AKI. In total, 238 patients were included in the study. Seventy-seven patients had short duration AKI (1-2 days), 47 medium duration AKI (3-7 days), 87 persistent AKI (> 7 days) and 38 died during their AKI episode. Persistent AKI was associated with worse outcomes including increased ICU length of stay, time on t...
Beta-blockers vary in pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetic properties. It is unknown whether specific types are associated with increased perioperative risks. We evaluated perioperative risks associated with beta-blocker subtypes, overall... more
Beta-blockers vary in pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetic properties. It is unknown whether specific types are associated with increased perioperative risks. We evaluated perioperative risks associated with beta-blocker subtypes, overall and in patient subgroups. We performed a Danish Nationwide cohort study, 2005-2011, of patients treated chronically with beta blocker (atenolol, bisoprolol, carvedilol, metoprolol, propranolol, or other) prior to non-cardiac surgery. Risks of 30-day all-cause mortality (ACM) and 30-day major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) were estimated using adjusted logistic regression models and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. We identified 61 660 patients, most frequently treated with metoprolol (67% of patients, mean age 69 years, 49% males), atenolol (10% of patients, mean age 68 years, 36% males), or carvedilol (9% of patients, mean age 68 years, 60% males). The crude incidences of ACM and MACE were 4.1 and 3.5% in patients with metoprolol, ...