The Internet Journal of Epidemiology最新文献

{"title":"Participation Rates In Epidemiology Studies And Surveys: A Review 2007–2015","authors":"C. Keeble, P. Baxter, Stuart Barber, G. Law","doi":"10.5580/IJE.34897","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5580/IJE.34897","url":null,"abstract":"Understanding the factors associated with participation is key in addressing the problem of declining participation rates in epidemiological studies. This review aims to summarise factors affecting participation rates in articles published during the last nine years, to compare with previous findings to determine whether the research focus for non-participation has changed and whether the findings have been consistent over time. Web of Science was used to search titles of English articles from 2007–2015 for a range of synonymous words concerning participation rates. A predefined inclusion criteria was used to determine whether the resulting articles referred to participation in the context of study enrolment. Factors associated with participation were extracted from included articles. The search returned 626 articles, of which 162 satisfied the inclusion criteria. Compared with pre-2007, participant characteristics generally remained unchanged, but were topic-dependent. An increased focus on study design and a greater use of technology for enrolment and data collection was found, suggesting a transition towards technology-based methods. In addition to increased participation rates, studies should consider any bias arising from non-participation. When reporting results, authors are encouraged to include a standardised participation rate, a calculation of potential bias, and to apply an appropriate statistical method where appropriate. Requirements from journals to include these would allow for easier comparison of results between studies.","PeriodicalId":247354,"journal":{"name":"The Internet Journal of Epidemiology","volume":"30 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126452578","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Population Migration Through Railroads And Spatial Diffusion Of Polio In India: A Cross-Sectional Pr","authors":"Ananda S. Bandyopadhyay, J. Blossom, J. Wenger, M. Castro","doi":"10.5580/IJE.1633","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5580/IJE.1633","url":null,"abstract":"Background The recent occurrence of polio outbreaks in countries previously considered polio-free such as Tajikistan, Russia and China, and the economic and public health burden of managing such outbreaks underscored the importance of importation of infectious diseases across geographical regions, transcending political boundaries. It also questioned the appropriateness of classifying geographic regions, countries, states and provinces, as endemic and non-endemic and the implications such classifications had on the quality of surveillance and immunization strategies. Although molecular epidemiology and field-surveys have been useful in demonstrating the possible source of reintroduction of virus transmission in disease-free areas, the mode of importation often remains unexplored. The goal of this study is to explore the role played by popular modes of transport, such as the railways, in the importation of polio transmission from endemic to non-endemic states in India. Methods To explore the association between cases in non-endemic states and the geographical distribution of the railroads, we evaluate the spatial pattern of spread of polio from endemic to non-endemic states in India during the last four years (as of April 2013) of virus circulation in the country, 2008 2011, in a cross-sectional design. We geo-coded addresses of serotype 1 (P-1) cases followed by mapping and proximity analysis using geo-spatial tools. Fisher’s exact 2-tailed test was used to assess the statistical significance of the proximity analysis. Results Our analysis established that cases in non-endemic states were more likely (64.7% in non-endemic states compared to 38.9% in endemic states) to be geographically closer to the railroads compared to cases in endemic states. The results were statistically significant (Fisher’s exact 2-tailed P: 0.01) and the null hypothesis of no association between location of P-1 cases in non-endemic areas and proximity to the railroads was rejected. All P-1 wild type cases (n = 173) from all states and Union Territories in India were included for the most recent 4-year period, and knowing the predominant sub-clinical nature of polio infection, the results were based on a robust set of data from a large cohort of infected population.","PeriodicalId":247354,"journal":{"name":"The Internet Journal of Epidemiology","volume":"129 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114554617","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An Approach to Comparing Nations for Inclusion of Studies in Health-based Systematic Literature Reviews","authors":"R. Deonandan, H. Schachter, Mylan Ly, D. Lacroix, Ceri Moore, N. Barrowman, Idil Abdulkadir, A. Girardi","doi":"10.5580/2ba0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5580/2ba0","url":null,"abstract":"Background: To develop and demonstrate a systematic approach for comparing nations, for the purpose of deciding whether to include or exclude studies in a systematic review of a health research question pertinent to the Canadian population. Results: a template of nine criteria was developed, including both sociodemographic and systemic indicators, and was applied to 68 jurisdictions, of which 19 were deemed sufficiently comparable to Canada to be included in the review. Conclusions: Subsequent systematic reviews, regardless of which nation is ultimately the reference population, should employ a similar process, with indicators and characteristics specific to the research questions, to ensure that political, economic, historical or ethnic biases are not influencing the selection or rejection of relevant papers.","PeriodicalId":247354,"journal":{"name":"The Internet Journal of Epidemiology","volume":"140 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114903135","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Adjusting Structural Equation Modelling Of Spiritual Coping Scale: Use Of The Sattora-Bentler Method As An Alternative To Maximum Likelihood Estimation","authors":"Mohmad Taghi Khodayari, Alireza Abadi, H. A. Majd, M. Rassouli, H. Sadeghi-Bazargani","doi":"10.5580/2ba1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5580/2ba1","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Structural equation modelling (SEM) is a multivariate analysis method used to investigate direct and indirect effects among several observed or latent variables. In psychology and social sciences, data are often collected through questionnaires or inventories that commonly include Likert scale questions. Multivariate normal distribution is an essential assumption that often does not hold for this kind of data. Through an experiment on spiritual coping, our study aimed to illustrate key problems associated with using the common maximum likelihood (ML) method, and to assess a way for dealing with structural equation models when variables are in categorical form and don’t exhibit a normal and continuous distribution. Methods:Data regarding measurement of spiritual coping and its predictors collected through a questionnaire were analysed. A structural model was developed and specified for spiritual coping. The model was fitted and investigated to assess common fit indices and Sattora-bentler estimators for small samples and non-normal Likert scale data. Data analysis and modelling was done using the EQS statistical software package. Results:It was found that fit indices and parameters encountered underestimation problems when using common ML estimator method. The robust SB-χ method showed the model to have a better fit to the data ((S-B 2 )/ df) = 1.82, CFI = 0.94)). Conclusion:Structural equation modelling using a robust SB-estimator is an appropriate method for analysing complex Likert scale measurements, especially with a small sample size, specifically regarding the spiritual coping scale and similar metrics. INTRODUCTION Nearly everyone working in research fields of psychology and neuropsychiatric diseases is acquainted with the Likerttype scale. The Likert scale was invented by a psychologist called Likert Rensis . Although general applicability of Likert scales has been often questioned, this type of measurement remains an extremely popular methodology in the fields of psychology, public health and nursing research. In fact, it is so widely used in scaling responses in surveys that it is sometimes used interchangeably with rating scales, even though the two are not synonymous. Analysis of data measured on Likert scales is another issue requiring special notation. A variable measured using Likert type questions exists on an ordinal scalegenerally one limited to a few levels. This poses the question of whether we can safely apply statistical methods that rely on assumptions of normality. The issue gets even more problematic when the sample size is small and a complex model needs to be developed to assess a latent variable representative of a health-related phenomenon. Structural equation modelling (SEM) is a statistical methodology that takes a confirmatory (i.e. hypothesistesting) approach to the analysis of a structural theory bearing on some phenomenon. Typically, this theory represents “causal” processes that generate observation","PeriodicalId":247354,"journal":{"name":"The Internet Journal of Epidemiology","volume":"55 4","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"113935785","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Socioeconomic And Maternal Determinants Of Infant Mortality: An Analysis Using The Swaziland Demographic Health Survey 2007","authors":"E. Zwane","doi":"10.5580/2b4a","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5580/2b4a","url":null,"abstract":"This paper uses the 2007 Swaziland Demographic and Health Survey to investigate the impact of socioeconomic and maternal variables on infant survival. Results indicate that children born using Caesarean section had a higher risk of infant mortality. The infant mortality risk associated with multiple births was about 4 times higher relative to singleton births. Socioeconomic variables did not have a distinct impact on infant mortality. These results suggest that improving maternal and child health services, screening for high-risk pregnancies and making referral services for high-risk pregnancies more accessible, particularly to the rural women and children, will also contribute to improvement of infant survival rates.","PeriodicalId":247354,"journal":{"name":"The Internet Journal of Epidemiology","volume":"52 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116763953","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Educational Seminars For Atopic Patients, A New French Series.","authors":"S. Osdoit, G. Guillet","doi":"10.5580/2b1b","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5580/2b1b","url":null,"abstract":"Objective: to determine the immediate impact of educational seminars on the selfmanagement of patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis.Design: Prospective single centre studyPatients: 346 patients, 128 children (age 0 to 10 years), 18 teenagers (age 11 to 17 years) and 197 adults (age 18 to more than 61 years), taking part in educational seminars in La Roche Posay thermal health resort between 2008 and 2009.Results: Before the seminar, 27% patients never received information about atopia. 18% patients never use steroids because of fear. 78% patients declared a regular use of moisturizing therapy. 92% patients found an interest in the seminar. 80% patients thought that the advice and recommendations provided during the session would improve their self-management of eczema.Conclusion: This new series assess the behavioural changing after the educative session and the strong need of personalized information in atopic patients.Écouter Lire phonétiquement","PeriodicalId":247354,"journal":{"name":"The Internet Journal of Epidemiology","volume":"39 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122429968","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Maternal Health Correlates Of Neonatal Deaths In A Tribal Area In India","authors":"G. Babu, S. Ramachandra, Ushashree Garikipati, T. Mahapatra, S. Mahapatra, S. Narayana, Hira Pant","doi":"10.5580/2cc4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5580/2cc4","url":null,"abstract":"ObjectivesIn tribal areas of India, the coverage of antenatal care service is poor and rate of home delivery is very high Moreover, most of these deliveries are either unattended or attended by unskilled traditional birth attendants. Evidences suggest that the rate of neonatal mortality is also very high in these areas. The aim of the current study was to explore maternal factors, explicitly focusing on antenatal care and maternal health seeking pattern in relation to neonatal health in tribal areas of Andhra Pradesh, India. Study designThis community based study was conducted in two phases: the first phase involved use of qualitative methods and aided in obtaining relevant information in the quantitative phase from mothers who had delivered in the one year period prior to the study. MethodsInformation from analysis of qualitative data was used to construct a questionnaire, which was administered in the subsequent quantitative phase wherein a population-based survey was undertaken. Reported infant deaths were investigated through verbal autopsy. Multi-stage systematic random sampling was used to identify study participants. The study recruited 230 subjects for the quantitative study. All women of the reproductive age group (15 � 45 years) in the tribal areas of Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh state were eligible for the study. ResultsAmong the 230 women studied, 74% utilized public health facilities for antenatal care (ANC) and the provision of ANC services was good with high coverage of Tetanus toxoid (97%) and excellent provision of IFA tablets (93%). Our results also show that 56% of women delivered at home, 38% at a public health facility and 5.2% could avail private facility. Qualified doctors conducted only 10% of deliveries and 29% were conducted by ANM. Age of mother, total number of women in the","PeriodicalId":247354,"journal":{"name":"The Internet Journal of Epidemiology","volume":"97 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132846935","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prevalence Of Hypertension And Diabetes Mellitus Among People Seeking Cataract Surgery In Rural South India","authors":"B. Behera, K. Satish, S. Jena, M. Hussain, Soumya Samal","doi":"10.5580/2af6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5580/2af6","url":null,"abstract":"Objective: To know the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes mellitus among people seeking cataract surgery in the rural population. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Setting: Study was carried out at G.S.L. Medical College & General Hospital, Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, India. Participants: Cases of cataract requiring surgery. Methodology: People were screened for cataract at village level eye camps and an ophthalmology outpatient department. The study group consisted of diagnosed cases of senile cataract, who were admitted to the hospital for surgery. All the cases were screened for hypertension and diabetes mellitus before surgery. Statistical Analysis: Percentages, Z-test, & chi-square test. Results: Out of 1627 cases, 49% were male and 51% were female. The prevalence of hypertension & diabetes mellitus was 20.59% & 5.9% respectively. Among 795 male cases, 13.8% have hypertension, whereas the prevalence of diabetes mellitus was 4.7%. The prevalence of hypertension & diabetes mellitus among 832 female cases was 24.5% and 4.4% respectively. Conclusions: Chronic diseases like hypertension and diabetes are usually present among cataract cases. Early detection and proper control will greatly delay the development and progress of complications This paper was presented in the 35 th annual National IAPSM conference, 23 rd -25 th January 2008, held at JIPMER","PeriodicalId":247354,"journal":{"name":"The Internet Journal of Epidemiology","volume":"111 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132673662","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Perspectives, Constructs And Methods In The Measurement Of Multimorbidity And Comorbidity: A Critical Review","authors":"T. Haregu, B. Oldenburg, G. Setswe, J. Elliott","doi":"10.5580/2CC3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5580/2CC3","url":null,"abstract":"Background: There is no question about the importance of measuring multimorbidity and comorbidity. However, reviews of measures of multimorbidity/comorbidity are limited to multimorbidity indices that are used to predict mortality, disability, healthrelated quality of life and healthcare costs at individual level. Objective: To describe the perspectives, constructs and methods used in the measurement of multimorbidity and comorbidity. Methods: A structured literature search for studies reporting the measurement of multimorbidity or comorbidity was conducted in Medline and Embase. The references of the identified papers were consulted without restriction. The methods used by other researches that have reported on multimorbidity and comorbidity were also reviewed. The findings of the review are summarized under major constructs of multimorbidity and comorbidity. Results: Multimorbidity/comorbidity measurements involve the consideration of several perspectives. The four major constructs of multimorbidity/comorbidity measurement are magnitude, severity, pattern and burden. There are two major approaches of measuring multimorbidity and comorbidity. The first approach reduces measurements of multiple diseases to a single condition and the second approach uses clustering of diseases and cases in to relevant non-random groups. Conclusion: The measurement of multimorbidity involves multiple perspectives, constructs and methods.","PeriodicalId":247354,"journal":{"name":"The Internet Journal of Epidemiology","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115367435","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Do you see an elephant or just its trunk?The need of learning Modern Epidemiologic Methods: An introduction","authors":"G. Babu","doi":"10.5580/2a67","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5580/2a67","url":null,"abstract":"There is famous story wherein several blind men were asked what is the elephant is like. While one of them said it is like a pillar, another man said “snake” and each talked of it differently as they felt it. 1 In epidemiology, many of the hypotheses being evaluated in the interpretation of studies can be seen as auxiliary hypothesis in the sense that each blind person is feeling the elephant and describing individual experience. Particularly, each observation is independent of the presence, absence or direction of any causal connection between the study exposure and the disease. Much of the interpretation of epidemiological studies amounts to the testing of such auxiliary explanations for observed associations. 2","PeriodicalId":247354,"journal":{"name":"The Internet Journal of Epidemiology","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133462601","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}