Publications

Bapolisi W.A, Bisimwa G, Merten S. Barriers to family planning use in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo: an application of the theory of planned behaviour using a longitudinal survey. BMJ Open. 2023;13(2):e061564. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-061564

Bytyçi-Katanolli A, Obas K.A, Ramadani Q, Fota N, Jerliu N, Merten S, Gerold J, Zahorka M, Kwiatkowski M, Probst-Hensch N. Effectiveness of behavioural change interventions on physical activity, diet and body mass index of public primary healthcare users in Kosovo: the KOSCO cohort. BMJ Open. 2023;13(10):e071100. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-071100

Ikuteyijo O.O, Kaiser-Grolimund A, Fetters M.D, Akinyemi A.I, Merten S. Health providers' response to female adolescent survivors of sexual and gender-based violence and demand side barriers in the utilization of support services in urban low-income communities of Nigeria. Healthcare (Basel). 2023;11(19):2627. DOI: 10.3390/healthcare11192627

Lee T.T, Dalvie M.A, Röösli M, Merten S, Kwiatkowski M, Mahomed H, Sweijd N, Cissé G. Understanding diarrhoeal diseases in response to climate variability and drought in Cape Town, South Africa: a mixed methods approach. Infect Dis Poverty. 2023;12:76. DOI: 10.1186/s40249-023-01127-7

Makali S.L, Lembebu J.C, Boroto R, Zalinga C.C, Bugugu D, Lurhangire E, Rosine B, Chimanuka C, Mwene-Batu P, Molima C, Mendoza J.R, Ferrari G, Merten S, Bisimwa G. Violence against health care workers in a crisis context: a mixed cross-sectional study in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Confl Health. 2023;17:44. DOI: 10.1186/s13031-023-00541-w

Merten S, Haller T. Interwoven landscapes: gender and land in the Kafue Flats, Zambia. Land. 2023;12(9):1657. DOI: 10.3390/land12091657

Oehri J, Chernet A, Merten S, Sydow V, Paris D.H. Improving primary healthcare access for asylum seekers and refugees: a qualitative study from a swiss family physician perspective. J Prim Care Community Health. 2023;14:21501319231181878. DOI: 10.1177/21501319231181878

Ombere S.O, Nyambedha E.O, Haller T, Merten S. Anti-politics and free maternal health services in Kilifi County, Kenya. Afr Stud. 2023;82(1):85-97. DOI: 10.1080/00020184.2023.2241833

Ombere S.O, Nyambedha E.O, Haller T, Merten S. Local perspectives on policy implementation of free maternity health services in Kenya: implications for universal health coverage. Afr J Reprod Health. 2023;27(5s):71-81. DOI: 10.29063/ajrh2023/v27i5s.9

Owolodun B, Merten S. Food security from the forest: the case of the commodification of baobab fruit (Adansonia digitata L.) in Boundou Region, Senegal. Land. 2023;12(7):1423. DOI: 10.3390/land12071423

Schwarz J, Merten S. 'The body is difficult': reproductive navigation through sociality and corporeality in rural Burundi. Cult Health Sex. 2023;25(1):78-93. DOI: 10.1080/13691058.2021.2020904

Schwind B, Zemp E, Jafflin K, Späth A, Barth M, Maigetter K, Merten S, Kurth E. "But at home, with the midwife, you are a person": experiences and impact of a new early postpartum home-based midwifery care model in the view of women in vulnerable family situations. BMC Health Serv Res. 2023;23:375. DOI: 10.1186/s12913-023-09352-4

Shrikhande S, Merten S, Cambaco O, Lee T.T, Lakshmanasamy R, Röösli M, Dalvie M.A, Utzinger J, Cissé G. Barriers to climate change and health research in India: a qualitative study. BMJ Open. 2023;13(10):e073381. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-073381

Shrikhande S.S, Merten S, Cambaco O, Lee T, Lakshmanasamy R, Röösli M, Dalvie M.A, Utzinger J, Cisse G. "Climate change and health?": Knowledge and perceptions among key stakeholders in Puducherry, India. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023;20(6):4703. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20064703

Wüthrich-Grossenbacher U, Mutsinze A, Wolf U, Maponga C.C, Midzi N, Mutsaka-Makuvaza M.J, Merten S. A validation of the religious and spiritual struggles scale among young people living with HIV in Zimbabwe: mokken scale analysis and exploratory factor analysis. Front Psychol. 2023;14:1051455. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1051455

Wüthrich-Grossenbacher U, Mutsinze A, Wolf U, Maponga C.C, Midzi N, Mutsaka-Makuvaza M.J, Merten S. Spiritual and religious aspects influence mental health and viral load: a quantitative study among young people living with HIV in Zimbabwe. BMJ Glob Health. 2023;8(8):e012671. DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2023-012671

Zepro N.B, Ali N.T, Tarr N, Medhanyie A.A, Paris D.H, Probst-Hensch N, Merten S. Sexual and reproductive health services use among adolescents in pastoralist settings, northeastern Ethiopia. BMC Health Serv Res. 2023;23:677. DOI: 10.1186/s12913-023-09616-z

Bytyci-Katanolli A, Merten S, Kwiatkowski M, Obas K, Gerold J, Zahorka M, Jerliu N, Ramadani Q, Fota N, Probst-Hensch N. Non-communicable disease prevention in Kosovo: quantitative and qualitative assessment of uptake and barriers of an intervention for healthier lifestyles in primary healthcare. BMC Health Serv Res. 2022;22:647. DOI: 10.1186/s12913-022-07969-5

Bytyci-Katanolli A, Probst-Hensch N, Obas K.A, Gerold J, Zahorka M, Jerliu N, Ramadani Q, Fota N, Merten S. Perceived barriers to physical activity behaviour among patients with diabetes and hypertension in Kosovo: a qualitative study. BMC Prim Care. 2022;23:257. DOI: 10.1186/s12875-022-01866-w

Darkhawaja R.A.M, Kwiatkowski M, Vermes T, Allabadi H, Merten S, Alkaiyat A, Probst-Hensch N. Exploring the role of social capital, self-efficacy and social contagion in shaping lifestyle and mental health among students representing the future healthcare workforce in Palestine: social cohort study protocol. BMJ Open. 2022;12:e049033. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-049033

Ebi S.J, Deml M.J, Jafflin K, Buhl A, Engel R, Picker J, Häusler J, Wingeier B, Kruerke D, Huber B.M, Merten S, Tarr P.E. Parents' vaccination information seeking, satisfaction with and trust in medical providers in Switzerland: a mixed-methods study. BMJ Open. 2022;12(2):e053267. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-053267

Grimm P.Y, Oliver S, Merten S, Han W.W, Wyss K. Enhancing the understanding of resilience in health systems of low- and middle-income countries: a qualitative evidence synthesis. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2022;11(7):899-911. DOI: 10.34172/ijhpm.2020.261

Ikuteyijo O.O, Akinyemi A.I, Merten S. Exposure to job-related violence among young female sex workers in urban slums of Southwest Nigeria. BMC Public Health. 2022;22:1021. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-022-13440-1

Jafflin K, Deml M.J, Schwendener C.L, Kiener L, Delfino A, Gafner R, Schudel S, Mäusezahl M, Berger C, Huber B.M, Merten S, Tarr P.E. Parental and provider vaccine hesitancy and non-timely childhood vaccination in Switzerland. Vaccine. 2022;40(23):3193-3202. DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.04.044

Kiener L.M, Schwendener C.L, Jafflin K, Meier A, Reber N, Schärli Maurer S, Muggli F, Gültekin N, Huber B.M, Merten S, Deml M.J, Tarr P.E. Vaccine hesitancy and HPV vaccine uptake among male and female youth in Switzerland: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open. 2022;12(4):e053754. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-053754

Ombere S.O, Nyambedha E.O, Haller T, Merten S. Measures adopted by indigent mothers in Kilifi County to tackle maternal health challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study. Afr J Reprod Health. 2022;26(12):57-65. DOI: 10.29063/ajrh2022/v26i12s.7

Schwarz J, Manirakiza R, Merten S. Reproductive governance in a fragile and population-dense context: family planning policies, discourses, and practices in Burundi. Eur J Dev Res. 2022;34(6):2666-2687. DOI: 10.1057/s41287-021-00482-1

Schwendener C.L, Kiener L.M, Jafflin K, Rouached S, Juillerat A, Meier V, Schärli Maurer S, Muggli F, Gültekin N, Baumann A, Debergh M, Gruillot C, Huber B, Merten S, Buhl A, Deml M.J, Tarr P.E. HPV vaccine awareness, knowledge and information sources among youth in Switzerland: a mixed methods study. BMJ Open. 2022;12:e054419. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-054419

Bapolisi W, Ferrari G, Bisimwa G, Merten S. Gendered determinants of food insecurity in ongoing regional conflicts, North and South Kivu, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Agric Food Secur. 2021;10:13. DOI: 10.1186/s40066-021-00285-x

Biller-Andorno N, Spitale G, Schwind B, Jafflin K, Kaiser-Grolimund A, Merten S. Publico - a digital tool for pandemic crisis communication and management. Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Bioethica. 2021;65:34-35

Grimm P.Y, Merten S, Wyss K. Evidence of health system resilience in Myanmar during cyclone Nargis: a qualitative analysis. BMJ Open. 2021;11(9):e050700. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-050700

Leuenberger A, Cambaco O, Zabré H.R, Lyatuu I, Utzinger J, Munguambe K, Merten S, Winkler M.S. “It is like we are living in a different world”: health inequity in communities surrounding industrial mining sites in Burkina Faso, Mozambique, and Tanzania. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(21):11015. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph182111015

Leuenberger A, Kihwele F, Lyatuu I, Kengia J.T, Farnham A, Winkler M.S, Merten S. Gendered health impacts of industrial gold mining in northwestern Tanzania: perceptions of local communities. Impact Assess Proj Apprais. 2021;39(3):183-195. DOI: 10.1080/14615517.2021.190469

Olarewaju V.O, Jafflin K, Deml M.J, Gültekin N, Muggli F, Schärli S, Gruillot C, Kloetzer A, Huber B.M, Merten S, Tarr P.E. The Youth Attitudes about Vaccines (YAV-5) scale: adapting the parent attitudes about childhood vaccines short scale for use with youth in German, French, and Italian in Switzerland, exploratory factor analysis and mokken scaling analysis. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2021;17(12):5183-5190. DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2021.1980314

Olarewaju V.O, Jafflin K, Deml M.J, Zimmermann C, Sonderegger J, Preda T, Staub H, Kwiatkowski M, Kloetzer A, Huber B.M, Merten S, Tarr P.E. Application of the Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines (PACV) survey in three national languages in Switzerland: exploratory factor analysis and mokken scale analysis. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2021;17(8):2652-2660. DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2021.1894894

Ombere S.O, Haller T, Nyambedha E, Merten S. Cultural practices during pregnancy and birth among the Giriama community in coastal Kenya: a qualitative study. Int J Childbirth. 2021;11(4):154-165. DOI: 10.1891/IJC-2021-0008

Spitale G, Merten S, Jafflin K, Schwind B, Kaiser-Grolimund A, Biller-Andorno N. PubliCo. A protocol for a new risk and crisis communication platform to bridge the gap between policy makers and the public in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. JMIR Res Protoc. 2021;10(11):e33653. DOI: 10.5167/uzh-20779

Zepro N.B, Medhanyie A.A, Bezabih A.M, Tarr N, Merten S. Lived experiences and perceptions of childbirth among pastoralist women in north-eastern Ethiopia: a multimethod qualitative analysis to the WHO health systems responsiveness framework. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(23):12518. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph182312518

Bapolisi W.A, Ferrari G, Blampain C, Makelele J, Kono-Tange L, Bisimwa G, Merten S. Impact of a complex gender-transformative intervention on maternal and child health outcomes in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo: protocol of a longitudinal parallel mixed-methods study. BMC Public Health. 2020;20:51. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-019-8084-3

Giles M.L, Mantel C, Munoz F.M, Moran A, Roos N, Yusuf N, Diaz T, Ahun M, Nic Lochlainn L.M, Wootton E, Pathirana J, Rendell S, Tuncalp O, Perut M, Hombach J, Merten S, Lambach P. Vaccine implementation factors affecting maternal tetanus immunization in low- and middle-income countries: results of the Maternal Immunization and Antenatal Care Situational Analysis (MIACSA) project. Vaccine. 2020;38(33):5268-5277. DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.05.084