Barriers and facilitators to enrollment and re-enrollment into the community health funds/Tiba Kwa Kadi (CHF/TIKA) in Tanzania: a cross-sectional... (Publications)
Introduction of a health insurance scheme is one of the ways to enhance access to health care services and to protect individuals from catastrophic health expenditures. Little is known on the influence of soci [...] Majority (92.7%) of participants consented to participate, with 229 (49.8%) and 231 (50.2%) members and non members of CHF/TIKA respectively. Majority (90.9%) were aware of CHF/TIKA. Majority of CHF/TIKA members [...] associated with enrollment/re-enrollment rate. CONCLUSIONS: This...
Impact of mammography screening programmes on breast cancer mortality in Switzerland, a country with different regional screening policies (Publications)
spatiotemporal patterns and the effect of MSPs on breast cancer mortality. SETTING: Switzerland. PARTICIPANTS: The study covers breast cancer deaths of the female population of Switzerland during the period 1969-2012 [...] 2009-2012, the standardised mortality ratio declined to 57% (95% CI 54% to 60%) of the 1969-1972 value. None of the other coefficients of the spatial regressions had a significant effect on breast cancer mortality [...] rates indirectly standardised by national references. We...
The effect of human interaction on guinea pig behavior in animal-assisted therapy (Publications)
number of startling and explorative behavior and the duration of locomotion increased significantly in comparison to the control setting. During therapy without retreat possibility, the frequency of freezing [...] interacting with humans. The goal of this study was to evaluate the behavior in guinea pigs during animal-assisted therapy (AAT) and to identify factors that influence their stress and well-being. Five [...] the duration of hiding was significantly increased in the therapy setting with...
Effect of residential relocation on environmental exposures in European cohorts: an exposome-wide approach (Publications)
impact of changes in environmental exposures. Since the likelihood of relocation can be influenced by individual characteristics that also influence health, studies may be biased if the predictors of relocation [...] identify predictors of exposome trajectories among movers. On average, 7% of the participants relocated each year. Before relocating, movers were consistently exposed to higher levels of air pollution than [...] likely to move towards healthier levels of the urban exposome. We...
Informed consent approaches for clinical trial participation of infants with minor parents in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review (Publications)
for children of minor parents participating in clinical trials. In countries with high rates of underage mothers, such as in sub-Saharan Africa, this lack of guidance may affect the rights of potential [...] paediatric participants already bearing increased vulnerability. It can also influence the recruitment and generalizability of the research. We provide evidence and discuss informed consent management in [...] minor" status lacked evidence in the context of research. National laws on...
How to scale-up: a comparative case study of scaling up a district health management strengthening intervention in Ghana, Malawi and Uganda (Publications)
ng of how projects have sought to address the importance of scale-up in the design and implementation of their initiatives. This paper aims to gain insight into the facilitators of the scale-up of a d [...] involved also influenced scale-up. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the identification of the facilitators of the scale-up, full integration of the intervention into the health system has proven challenging in all countries [...] METHODS: The study took a comparative case study approach with two rounds o...
Management of non-communicable diseases in Kosovo: a scoping review (Publications)
including the inputs that influence the provision of NCDs and outcomes of NCD management. Eligibility criteria-Studies had to report NCD management in Kosovo. Sources of evidence-We systematically searched [...] serious limitations in the availability of key inputs providing care, i.e., funding, medicines, supplies, and medical staff. Additionally, in terms of the management of NCDs, there are areas for improvement [...] improvement, such as limited application of clinical pathways and...
Impacts of weather and air pollution on Legionnaires' disease in Switzerland: a national case-crossover study (Publications)
The number of reported cases of Legionnaires' disease (LD) has risen markedly in Switzerland (6.5/100,000 inhabitants in 2021) and abroad over the last decade. Legionella, the causative agent of LD, are [...] 6-14 days before LD occurrence. DISCUSSION: Our analyses showed an influence of weather with a specific temporal pattern before the onset of LD, which may provide insights into the effect mechanism. The r [...] changes can affect the incidence of LD, for example by increasing bacterial...
Long-term air pollution exposure and COVID-19 case-severity: an analysis of individual-level data from Switzerland (Publications)
entire study period. Our findings suggest that the burden of air pollution increased the risks of COVID-19 in Switzerland during the first wave of the pandemic, but not during the second wave, when the national [...] addition, the majority of the studies used an ecological study design and were applied in regions with rather high air pollution levels. Here, we study the differential effects of long-term exposure to [...] individual-level analyses using data covering the first two major waves of...
Cystic fibrosis related diabetes is not associated with maximal aerobic exercise capacity in cystic fibrosis: a cross-sectional analysis of an... (Publications)
and without cystic fibrosis (CF) related diabetes (CFRD). However, none of the studies controlled for the potential influence of physical activity on VO2peak. We investigated associations between CFRD [...] 4 h per week of vigorous physical activity were used for this project. Multivariable models were computed to study associations between CFRD and VO2peak (mL.min(-1)) adjusting for a set of pre-defined [...] predicted). In the final multivariable model, all pre-defined covariates were...