bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Sailing along the global tobacco supply chain: public health insights of innovative database project
Authors: Hiscock R , Dunwoodie Stirton F , Matthes B K , Mehegan J , Alaouie H , Gallagher AWA , Bloomfield M J 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Background
Tobacco control commonly focuses on reducing tobacco demand rather than tobacco supply. This paper presents findings from a major four-year project on the tobacco supply chain. Transnational Tobacco and Leaf Companies (TTLCs) and other tobacco supply chain companies argue that provision of livelihoods, exports and corporate social responsibility (CSR) exonerates tobacco. Our objective was to consider these claims.

Methods
This paper presents the results of three studies: a literature review and two analyses of data from the innovative Tobacco Supply Chain Database (TSCD). Study 1: A scoping review of academic literature (n = 124 papers) reviewing how the tobacco supply chain embeds the tobacco industry as a development actor. Study 2: The statistical association between countries hosting TTLC subsidiaries (TSCD) and TTLC interference in health policy (Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index) was analysed (n = 76 countries). Study 3: Document and website analysis of TSCD non-TTLC tobacco supply chain companies comparing descriptions of CSR and tobacco supply chain involvement (n = 80 companies).

Results
Study 1: Although there are instances of advantages of involvement in the tobacco supply chain, TTLCs tends to be associated with declines in tobacco workers’ income, equality, quality of life (cultural and health and wellbeing) and nations’ environment and economy. Study 2: Countries that hosted more TTLCs had more policy interference (farming subsidiaries p=.046, tobacco product manufacturing subsidiaries p=.008). Study 3: Non-TTLC companies often lack transparency regarding their connection to tobacco. For example, 68% linked to CSR activity on their homepage whereas only 16% linked to involvement in the tobacco supply chain.

Conclusions
Tobacco supply chain involvement is detrimental to public health, the environment and governance. Countries and companies should seek to extricate themselves from the tobacco supply chain.

Key messages
• Tobacco supply chain involvement weakens public health governance despite CSR activities. Lack of transparency on supply chain involvement by companies is thus a concern.
• The new Tobacco Supply Chain Database illuminates previously hidden areas of the tobacco supply chain: the location of tobacco industry subsidiaries and presence of independent companies.
Nationwide prevalence and trends in high-risk drinking among adult men the disabled and non-disabled
Authors: Park B H , Kim S Y , Park J H 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Background
Excessive drinking is an important public issue that causes various levels of physical, psychological, behavioral problems. Especially for the disabled, it matters in that it could lead to poor health and secondary health conditions.

Methods
This study analyzed high-risk drinking (HRD) behaviors over a 9-year period in adult South Korean men according to disability presence, severity, type. We linked national disability registration data with the National Health Insurance claims data. Age-standardized prevalence of HRD were analyzed for each year and the odds of current HRD were determined by multivariate logistic regression after adjusting for income level, residence, insurance type, Charlson comorbidity index.

Results
The age-standardized HRD prevalence of the mildly disabled was higher than that among the non-disabled. Among the mildly disabled and physically disabled, younger aged group showed higher prevalence of HRD than that of non-disabled. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, the mildly (aOR=1.26, 95% CI = 1.24-1.29), physically (aOR=1.31, 95% CI = 1.28-1.33), communication disabled (aOR=1.12, 95% CI = 1.07-1.17) had higher prevalence of HRD than the non-disabled.

Conclusions
The prevalence of HRD was higher among the young mildly disabled than the non-disabled, this was more evident in young men physically disabled, communication disabled. This may be a result of the physical and social limitations of severely disabled and should be interpreted with caution. Social activities should be supported, and health policies on alcohol consumption should be implemented to prevent secondary conditions and reduce health disparities. Funding: This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Ministry of Education (No. 2022R1I1A3070074) and by a grant of Patient-Centered Clinical Research Coordinating Center (PACEN) funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (grant number: HC23C0165).

Key messages
• The prevalence of high-risk drinking was highest among the mild disabled, especially the mild, physical, communication disabled in younger aged men.
• Health policies and efforts to improve health disparities aimed at reducing alcohol consumption among people with disabilities are needed.
Cancer prevention in people experiencing homelessness: feasibility of the Health Navigator Model
Authors: Belogianni K , Kouvari M , Gawronska J , Schiffler T , Knapp M , Gómez Trenado R , Tabaki I , Moudatsou M , González Peña P , Grabovac I 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Background
The Health Navigator Model (HNM) is a newly developed skill-mixed model that may improve access to cancer prevention services for over 895,000 People who are currently Experiencing Homelessness (PEH) in Europe. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and implementation of the model in European settings.

Methods
A co-designed pilot implementation study was undertaken in Austria, Spain, Greece and the United Kingdom. A total of 20 trained health navigators were appointed at support centres for PEH and facilitated PEH’s access to cancer prevention activities based on a comprehensive and tailored needs assessment. The study duration was 19 months, with two follow-ups. Feasibility data (recruitment/retention/participation rates, barriers, facilitators) were monitored throughout the study.

Results
More than 1,981 PEH were informed about the study and 652 of them participated. Most participants were male (64%), with low or no income (42%) and had previously experienced homelessness (51.7%). The mean age of participants was 47.4 years old. Overall, 69% of participants completed the first, and 42.5% completed the second follow-up. Main dropout reasons were loss of contact, loss of interest or having other priorities. Participants undertook a range of cancer prevention activities, including education (n = 494), workshops (n = 280), health consultations (n = 251), referrals for specialist care (n = 212) and cancer screening tests (n = 169). Difficulties in accessing the healthcare system, de-prioritising cancer and PEH’s complex needs were identified as the main barriers. Building trusting relationships with PEH, increasing cancer awareness and coordinating social and health services were identified as the main facilitators.

Conclusions
Implementing the Health Navigator Model was a feasible and dynamic process leading to improved equity and inclusion of people experiencing homelessness in cancer preventive services.

Key messages
• The Health Navigator Model is a feasible model to enhance cancer prevention among people experiencing homelessness following a person-centred, destigmatising approach.
• Effective liaison between health and social services under the Health Navigator Model plays a critical role in facilitating access to cancer preventive care among people experiencing homelessness.
Deafness and Inclusion: Perceived Communicative Barriers in the Area of Rehabilitation in Italy
Authors: Sabato M , Sandroni S , Marceca M 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Introduction
Deafness can create a communication deficit/barrier between the Deaf or Hard of Hearing patient and the Healthcare Workers (HWs), with negative outcomes for diagnostic and therapeutic success. As underlined by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a need to train HWs in effective communication strategies in order to avoid marginalising or excluding the Deaf Community by denying them access to healthcare services. This study highlights the urgent need and desire of Healthcare staff for training in effective communication strategies, such as sign language, to help the Deaf community gain equal access to Healthcare.

Materials and methods
A cross-sectional survey was carried out between May and July 2022 using the Google Forms platform. An anonymous questionnaire was given to Rehabilitation HWs (RHWs) at a national level to collect information from the HWs of the various areas of rehabilitation, identifying their knowledge, training, and experience with regard to deafness. Data analysis was then carried out using the Google Forms program, SPSS program Windows7 Excel Spreadsheet.

Results
252 RHWs belonging to 8 different profiles answered this survey. 89% were women. 46% were younger than 30. 57% of these 252 had deaf patients, but 54.6% of these had no prior training. 33% of the RHWs had followed courses or seminars on deafness at least once. When asked, 94% were interested in courses or training in communication with deaf people.

Conclusions
HWs recognize the gap in communication and are willing to learn more in the matter for effective communication with their patients to gain a better therapeutic success. They also consider a program that imparts such knowledge and training to be highly important.

Key messages
• Therapeutic success is increased if there are effective communication strategies, such as sign language, between the Deaf and Healthcare provider.
• This study shows the importance of training all health workers in effective communication strategies with deaf people to allow an all-inclusive healthcare.
Refining current methods: Including comorbidity adjustment in burden of disease estimates
Authors: Porst M , Yessimova D , von der Lippe E 
Published: October 2024

Abstract
When quantifying years lost due to disability (YLD), a correction for multimorbidity (or comorbidity, COMO for short, in the Global Burden of Disease study) is necessary to avoid overestimating the morbidity-related burden of disease. Such an overestimation occurs if the calculation of disease frequencies does not consider that persons are counted more than once in a cross-sectional year. In such cases, the time spent with illness at an individual level can add up to a value of more than 1 year. To avoid this, a microsimulation is used that corrects the YLD to a maximum value of 1. A standard approach is to generate a synthetic data set by age, gender and region. Using prevalence estimates and based on (independent) Bernoulli experiments, a vector of diseases is randomly assigned to these (pseudo) individuals. The assignment is usually independent, which means that the presence of one disease has no influence on the presence of another disease. At this level, the individual YLD are then proportionally corrected (the maximum value is 1) and extrapolated to the population. However, there is evidence that disease clusters exist at the individual level. As part of the further development of such multimorbidity correction methods, a new approach will be tested and applied to generate a more realistic population of interest. This considers correlation patterns (1st step) between diseases when generating the synthetic data (2nd step) on the basis of Bernoulli experiments. For this purpose, the existing approaches need to be enriched by (pairwise) correlations between diseases, which requires the inclusion of additional epidemiological data sources. It is assumed that this will lead to an additional correction of the YLD, as they are still overestimated under an independent assignment.
Promoting ownership in local community health promotion interventions
Authors: Lund Holm Thomsen L , Andersen C G , Overgaard C 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Background
A prerequisite for successful and sustainable implementation of local community health interventions is strong community ownership. Ownership is related to the level of perceived control of an intervention and its program components. Facilitation of community ownership involves engagement of the stakeholders within the community, e.g. in deciding what the problem is to whom and how to solve it. Much is known about methods to facilitate community engagement at a continuum between informing the community and community control. However, less is known about how different methods for community engagement work to foster and sustain ownership among local stakeholders.

Aim
To generate knowledge about how ownership is fostered or hindered among stakeholders across three different communities in a local community intervention with whole-of-community characteristics implemented to reduce overweight among children. The study also explores how synergies of ownership between various types of stakeholders at different organizational levels influence overall ownership and implementation of the intervention.

Methods
The study is designed as a multiple case study based on Robert K. Yin’s principles for case study evaluation. The study takes place in three different Danish Municipalities with different local contextual conditions. Various data sources are collected including sources of qualitative data comprising document analysis, observations, and interviews with key stakeholders.

Preliminary results
An influential contextual factor on local ownership is that implementation of the intervention and commitment to this in 10 years is a top-down decision at the policy level. Local stakeholders find the goals of the intervention meaningful to their day-to-day practices. However, they also experience a shortage of resources for participating and lack trust in higher management stakeholders to take shared leadership when the implementation phase ends.

Key messages
• Ownership is influenced by the degree of engagement.
• Ownership is influence by the synergy of ownership between different stakeholders.
Association of physical activity with health-related quality of life in rectal cancer survivors
Authors: Gazibara T , Grubor N , Pavic N , Grubor I , Ceranic M 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Background
Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in rectal cancer survivors after completion of surgical treatment may be influenced by various factors including physical activity. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between regular exercise and physical and mental health in rectal cancer survivors.

Methods
People who underwent surgical resection of rectal cancer with temporary ileostomy from 2018 to 2021 were invited to participate. Participants were drawn from the Clinic for Digestive Surgery and the Clinic for Emergency Surgery of the University Clinical Center of Serbia, as well as the nationwide laparoscopic program - LapSerb consortium. Data were collected through interviews in late 2022 and early 2023. The HRQoL was evaluated using the physical composite score (PCS) and mental composite score (MCS) of the Short Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire. Socio-demographic, clinical and behavioral characteristics including the frequency of exercise were analyzed in multiple linear regression models.

Results
A total of 134 rectal cancer survivors were tested. Few participants (18.7%) exercised regularly, while most of the study population occasionally (41.8%) or never engaged (39.5%) in physical activity. Rectal cancer survivors who exercised regularly had significantly higher scores of physical (75.5 vs. 62.8, p = 0.019) and mental quality of life (78.9 vs. 63.8, p = 0.008). Regular exercise remained associated with better physical and mental health after the adjustment for demographic, clinical and behavioral characteristics.

Conclusions
Consistent physical exercise seems to be significant contributor of better physical and mental quality of life in rectal cancer survivors after completion of surgical treatment.

Key messages
• Physical exercise may help rectal cancer survivors improve their physical and mental health.
• Promotion of physcial activity in rectal cancer survivors could optimize recovery after surgery.
Thirty-five years of personalized promotion. The contribution of medicine in the workplace
Authors: Magnavita N , Iannaccone U , Di Stasio E , Meraglia I , Viti G , Borghese L 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Issue/problem
Occupational medicine has always had the task of identifying and solving problems caused by exposure to occupational risks and improving the health conditions of workers. This traditional prevention task can be advantageously associated with promotional activities to reduce the incidence of non-communicable diseases.

Description of the problem
Since the end of the 1980s we have conducted health promotion interventions in the workplace, integrated into the company’s occupational prevention plan. The results, discussed internationally, have allowed the improvement of projects such as the one presented here, aimed at the prevention of cardiovascular and metabolic risks.

Results
Workers carry out a clinical check integrated with blood chemistry tests, actigraphic measurement of physical activity and sleep, bioimpedance measurement and plicometry, to objectify the data of interest. Furthermore, they keep a food diary and answer questionnaires on lifestyle, stress, and sleep. They receive personalized non-pharmacological treatment aimed at making salutogenic changes to diet, sleep, physical activity, and relaxation methods. They are monitored monthly and carry out a follow-up after six months. The pilot study, conducted on 20 healthcare workers with previously undiagnosed metabolic problems, indicates a significant improvement in abdominal circumference, systolic blood pressure and sleep duration in the third month. Workers report a high level of satisfaction with the initiative, a lower level of occupational stress and a higher quality of sleep.

Lessons
Accumulated experience demonstrates that projects of this type are feasible, sustainable, and advantageous and can be applied to companies of all sizes, regardless of the quantity of resources available.

Key messages
• Health promotion in the workplace can contribute to the reduction of chronic non-communicable diseases.
• The active participation of workers in health promotion activities contributes to improving job engagement and satisfaction derived from work.
Impact of Multiple Sclerosis on different life dimensions among working women in Sweden
Authors: Machado A , Teni F S , Friberg E 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Introduction
Multiple sclerosis (MS), like many other chronic diseases, may impact the whole life situation. MS is more common among women than men, in addition, women tend to report worse health status. We aimed to explore the self-reported impact of MS on different dimensions of life such as work, family, leisure activities and, contact with friends and acquaintances.

Methods
All individuals 20-50 years of age listed in the Swedish MS Registry were invited to answer a survey in 2021. Responses from 2659 working women regarding impact of MS in different dimensions (1, not at all; 2-3, occasionally; 4-5, frequently; 6-7 to a high extend) were explored with descriptive statistics.

Results
Reported impact of MS varied across the different life dimensions. Working women reported that MS had a greater impact on their leisure activities (20.7% - responding to ‘to a high extent’), followed by contact with friends and acquaintances (15.8%), work (15.5%) and family (11.7%). This despite the fact that 77.1% had mild levels of disability. Further, the MS diagnosis was reported to have contributed to reduced working time (31.4%), refrained from changing job (28.8%), changed jobs (20.5%) or changed career track (20.4%). When questioned about positive life-changing experiences due to MS diagnosis, a majority of the women stated that it had contributed to learning how to adapt to things one cannot change (59.2%) and being grateful for everyday (51.7%).

Conclusions
An MS diagnosis can significantly impact various aspects of life. While work is notably affected, leisure activities also undergo substantial changes after MS diagnosis. However, acceptance, adaptability and finding meaning, among other, can be important parts of the journey.

Key messages
• At early stages of MS, the disease tend to affect leisure activities more than other dimensions of life.
• Finding coping mechanisms to handle MS may contribute to compensate the impact of MS.
Work and disability benefit unraveled in chronic gastrointestinal patients
Authors: Lemlijn-Slenter AHWM , van Iperen L P , Wijnands KAP , Masclee AAM , de Rijk A E 
Published: October 2024

Abstract

Background
Persons with a chronic disease, such as chronic gastrointestinal and hepato-pancreatico-biliary (GI-HPB) disease, have a lower work participation (WP) than the healthy population. Instead, they might receive a disability benefit (DB). Positive Health (PH) is a newly developed, holistic view of health and comprises six dimensions: bodily functions, mental well-being, meaningfulness, quality of life, participation, and daily functioning. In this study we aim to determine whether the dimensions of PH relate to WP and DB in persons with GI-HPB.

Methods
GI-HPB patients attending the outpatient clinic of the Maastricht University Medical Center between 2019-2021 received validated questionnaires (Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale, Short Nutritional Assessment Questionnaire, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, Short Form-36, Disease Experience Questionnaire, EuroQol-5D-5L) and items regarding WP and DB. The relation between the six dimensions of PH, and WP and DB, were tested with univariate and multivariate statistics.

Results
448 patients (Mage = 45 years; 69% female) were included. Univariate analysis revealed that, except for meaningfulness, all dimensions were significantly associated with WP (p≤.02) and DB (p≤.005). In multivariate analyses, lower age (p=.010), better general health (p=.044) and better physical functioning (p&lt;.001) related to WP. Higher age (p=.002) and lower physical functioning (p=.011) related to DB.

Conclusions
Among GI-HPB patients, physical functioning related to both WP and DB. The chance of working was higher among younger patients and those with better general health while those with a higher age received DB more often. The PH concept was only partially relevant to work status and DB.

Key messages
• Within the dimensions of Positive health, work participation was associated with a lower age, a better general health and a better physical functioning.
• Within the dimensions of Positive health, disability benefit was associated with higher age and lower physical functioning.