Health Status Indicators Research Articles

A Five Year Study on Maternal Mortality in The Maternity Ward of Government General Hospital, Siddhartha Medical College, Vijayawada

Introduction: Maternal health is important for the development of any country in terms of increasing equity and reducing poverty and is important in their own right and is central to solving economic, social and developmental challenges. Hence, maternal mortality is the key indicator of health and socio economic status and development of a community and the whole national system. Aim: To study the factors responsible for maternal mortality and to analyse the causes and trends in maternal mortality. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study on maternal deaths that occurred in the maternity ward of Government General Hospital, Siddhartha Medical College, Vijayawada during the period of five years from January 2017 to December 2021. Covid related deaths excluded. Results: Total 137 maternal deaths occurred during the study period. 121 maternal deaths (88.32%) were unbooked cases, 16 (11.67%) were booked cases. 58 women (42.33%) were primiparous, 76 (55.47%) were multiparous and 3 (2.18%) were grand multiparous. 76 women (55.47%) were of 20-24 years age, 38 women (27.73%)were of 25-29 years age. Maternal deaths due to direct causes were 89 (65.92%) and due to indirect causes were 47 (34.07%). Hypertensive disorders complicating pregnancy was the leading cause of death followed by hemorrhage in pregnancy. 105 (76.64%) maternal deaths occurred after delivery, 14 deaths (10.21%) during 3rd trimester of gestation. Type 1 delay (20.74%), type 2 delay (57.7%) type 3 (21.48%) delays contributed to the maternal deaths. Conclusion: Health education regarding adolescent health, pregnancy, abortion and contraception. Regular antenatal checkup, early identification of risk factors, awareness, timely intervention and referral to higher institute, proper intra natal and post natal care, multispecial team management in high risk cases are needed to reduce the maternal mortality.

Neural Processing of Health Information and Hypertension Self-Management in African Americans.

Uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) rates are persistently high among African Americans with hypertension. Although self-management is critical to controlling BP, little is known about the brain-behavior connections underlying the processing of health information and the performance of self-management activities. In this pilot study, we explored the associations among neural processing of two types of health information and a set of self-management cognitive processes (self-efficacy, activation, decision-making, and hypertension knowledge) and behaviors (physical activity, dietary intake, and medication taking) and health status indicators (BP, health-related quality of life, anxiety, and depression). Using a descriptive cross-sectional design, 16 African Americans with uncontrolled hypertension (mean age = 57.5 years, 68.8% women) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess activation of two neural networks, the task-positive network and the default mode network, and a region in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex associated with emotion-focused and analytic-focused health information. Participants completed self-reports and clinical assessments of self-management processes, behaviors, and health status indicators. Our hypothesis that neural processing associated with different types of health information would correlate with self-management cognitive processes and behaviors and health status indicators was only partially supported. Home diastolic BP was positively associated with ventromedial prefrontal cortex activation ( r = .536, p = .09); no other associations were found among the neural markers and self-management or health status variables. Expected relationships were found among the self-management processes and behaviors and health status indicators. To advance our understanding of the neural processes underlying health information processing and chronic illness self-management, future studies are needed that use larger samples with more heterogeneous populations and additional neuroimaging techniques.

Impact of lipid ratio as an objective indicator of mental health status in Indian Individuals with Diabetes mellitus: an observational pilot study

Impact of lipid ratio as an objective indicator of mental health status in Indian Individuals with Diabetes mellitus: an observational pilot study

The Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Life Expectancy in the Middle East

The Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Life Expectancy in the Middle East

Changes of Self-Rated Health Status, Overweight and Physical Activity During Childhood and Adolescence-The Ratchet Effect of High Parental Socioeconomic Status.

Childhood and adolescence are important life periods for the development of health status and physical activity (PA) behaviours. This study analyses the stability and potential changes of self-rated health status, overweight and PA behaviour over time, specifically focusing on the age and the socioeconomic status of children and adolescents. We employ representative longitudinal data for German children and adolescents from the Motorik-Modul Study and the German Health Interview and Examination Survey. Using four different dichotomous health status and PA indicators (self-rated health status [SRHS]; overweight; moderate-to-vigorous PA; and leisure sports engagement), we report within-person transition rates across the panel waves when the survey was taken (2003–2006, 2009–2012, and 2014–2017). Additionally, we report results of logistic regressions estimating the impact of children's age, gender, migration background, and their parents' socioeconomic status on these transition rates. The transition rates show mixed results. While children and adolescents from highly problematic states reporting bad SRHS and no leisure sports engagement at an early stage tend to improve later on, overweight children mostly stay overweight. Age and social inequality indicators correlate with some of the chances of improving or worsening the health and PA states. Most clearly, high parental status prevents the health status and PA from worsening over all transitions, particularly becoming overweight, representing a ratchet effect. The results of the present study underline that health policy needs to target specific groups to reduce social inequality in the health status and PA of children and adolescents.

Use of official municipal demographics for the estimation of mortality in cities suffering from heavy environmental pollution: Results of the first study on all the neighborhoods of Taranto from 2011 to 2020.

In cities suffering from heavy environmental pressure or pollution, it is extremely important to rapidly access municipal demographics that can be used as indicators of population health status. Among those, mortality rates represent the most reliable data as they are officially retained and available to municipality with high level of details, thus allowing epidemiological comparison between different neighborhoods of the city across several years. Our study was aimed at validating and propose as universally applicable approach the use of municipal demographics as first-line tool to rapidly assess population health and drive health policies or urban planning in cities characterized by heavy environmental pressure. The case study of Taranto has been chosen due to the presence of the biggest European steel plant since 1960s resulting in heavy burden on environment and population health. We have performed an ecological study on general mortality data due to all causes, specific by gender, age groups and disaggregated at sub-municipal level (highest data granularity) into neighborhoods from 2011 to 2020 by using official demographics related to all people living in Taranto available at General Registry Office of the municipality. A preliminary analysis comparing data available at Municipality and those provided by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) was performed and confirmed the high level of reliability of the municipal source of data. For comparative analyses, we used Regional demographics and mortality from ISTAT. Indirect age-standardized mortality ratios (SMR; CI 90% and 95%), specific for gender and neighborhoods, were calculated in reference to the city of Taranto and Apulia Region; direct age-standardized and neighborhoods mortality rates were computed on city population. The city of Taranto shows relevant inequalities in terms of mortality between the northern neighborhoods, closest to the industrial area (Paolo VI, Tamburi and Città Vecchia-Borgo), with excess mortality highlighted across 10 years described by SMRs always higher than those of the entire Apulia region, with peaks exceeding 50% between 2015 and 2017 both in women and men. The significant excesses of mortality have increased from 2011 to 2020 and progressively extended across several neighborhoods of Taranto city. Compared to the Apulia region, in the 3 Northern neighborhoods of the city (Paolo VI, Tamburi and Città Vecchia-Borgo) a total of 1020 excess deaths were recorded from 2011 to 2019 in both males and females (showing statistical significance), with a peak of 68% mortality excess in 2019 for men living in Paolo VI district. The use of official mortality data allows a timely, reliable and costless assessment of population health in cities heavily impacted by environmental pollution like Taranto.

A comparative analysis of the nutritional status of children attending early childhood development centres in Gauteng, North-west and Limpopo province, South Africa

The nutritional status of children is a valuable indicator of health status and can indicate inequalities in health faced by the populations. The preschool period is the critical stage of active development and growth of physical, social, and mental well-being of children. Children eating patterns and food preferences develop over a lifetime and are influenced by family, ethnicity, and social environment. The purpose of the study was to do a comparative analysis of the nutritional status of children aged 2 to 5 years attending early childhood development centres in South Africa. A quantitative descriptive design was used to assess the nutritional status of 872 children attending preschool in the Soshanguve, Moretele, and Makhuduthamaga areas, and data was collected using a structured, researcher-administered questionnaire. The variables collected were age, sex, weight, height, mid-upper arm circumference. Gender and age-specific BMI cut-off points were used to determine the nutritional status. The study sample consisted of 872 preschool children, of which 422 (48%) were males, and 450 (52%) were females. The prevalence of overweight; obesity, and undernutrition were 7.7%, 3.4%, and 3.2%, respectively. The findings of this study showed that in all ECDs areas, most of the male children had normal weight. In this study, the age of children (p=0.007), as well as ECDs area (p=0.000), influenced the BMI of the children (p=0.007), and that overweight was higher amongst older children, 4 & 5 years from rural ECD area. The prevalence of overweight amongst children was 4.2% (Soshanguve), 9.3% (Moretele), and 9.6% (Makhuduthamaga), and the prevalence of underweight amongst children was 3.9% in Soshanguve, 2.7% in Moretele, and 3.1% in Makhuduthamaga. The prevalence of underweight was higher in urban ECD areas as compared to ECDs in rural areas. In this study, overnutrition was more prevalent as compared to undernutrition. Therefore, there is a need for nutritional intervention which promotes a healthy lifestyle in preschools. Key words: Weight, height, preschool children, nutritional status, overnutrition, undernutrition

The four self-efficacy trajectories among people with multiple sclerosis: Clinical associations and implications

BackgroundLongitudinal studies among people with Multiple Sclerosis (pwMS) have shown that self-efficacy is linked to physical, cognitive and psychological functioning. ObjectivesTo determine the distribution of self-efficacy in a large sample of pwMS, examining whether there are distinct groups which show different self-efficacy trajectories over time, and the health status characteristics of any groups identified. MethodsParticipants completed serial questionnaire packs, including Unidimensional Self-efficacy-MS (USE-MS) scale, for the Trajectories of Outcome in Neurological Conditions-MS (TONiC-MS) study over an average 46-month period. The resulting longitudinal data were analysed by a group-based trajectory model. Results5887 pwMS were studied: mean age 50.2 years (SD 12.0); 73.6% female; Relapsing Remitting MS (61.8%), Secondary Progressive (22.9%), Primary Progressive (11.1%), Rapidly Evolving Relapsing Remitting MS (4.2%). Four distinct self-efficacy trajectories emerged, with declining, slightly declining, stable or improving self-efficacy, each showing different patterns of health status indicators such as EQ-5D-5L, disability and depression. USE-MS ≤ 18 at baseline detected all participants in the two declining groups. ConclusionFuture trials on interventions for self-efficacy should assume a priori that those with low levels of self-efficacy (USE-MS ≤ 18 at baseline) are likely to be on a declining trajectory and may need different interventions from those with stable self-efficacy.

Eating Behavior of Older Adults with and Without Diabetes: The Vigitel Survey, Brazil, 2016.

ResumoFundamentos A alimentação saudável é um fator de proteção contra o diabetes tipo 2 e desempenha importante papel no tratamento do diabetes e das comorbidades associadas.Objetivo Caracterizar o hábito alimentar de idosos diabéticos e não diabéticos com 65 anos ou mais, residentes nas capitais brasileiras e no Distrito Federal.Métodos Estudo transversal com dados da pesquisa Vigilância de Fatores de Risco e Proteção para as Doenças Crônicas por Inquérito Telefônico (Vigitel, 2016). Foram estimadas as prevalências de diabetes melito segundo variáveis sociodemográficas, inatividade física, autoavaliação da saúde e índice de massa corporal (IMC). O hábito alimentar foi avaliado pela frequência (semanal e diária) de consumo de alimentos saudáveis e não saudáveis, e pela substituição da comida por lanches. As diferenças foram verificadas por meio do teste Qui-quadrado de Pearson (Rao-Scott) com nível de significância de 5%.Resultados Foram entrevistados 13.649 idosos, e a prevalência de diabetes autorreferido foi de 27,2% (IC95%:25,5; 29,0). Nos pacientes diabéticos, observou-se maior consumo de hortaliças cruas (32,1% vs. 26,5%/3-4 dias/semana) e menor de frango (3,8% vs. 6,4%/quase nunca/nunca), suco (24,0% vs. 29,6%) e doces (6,8% vs. 16,2%) ≥5 dias/semana. Os percentuais de idosos com consumo de leite desnatado (51,5% vs. 44,6%) e refrigerante dietético (60,0% vs. 17,3%) ≥5 dias/semana, hortaliças cruas (9,1% vs. 2,5%/no jantar) e doces (37,7% vs. 20,5%/2 vezes/dia) 3-4 dias/semana foram maiores nos diabéticos, comparados aos não diabéticos.Conclusão As diferenças observadas sinalizam a necessidade de promover intervenções para alimentação saudável entre todos os idosos, bem como orientações específicas para os diabéticos.

Physical capability in a rural birth cohort at the age of 52: association with early environmental, nutritional, and developmental factors

IntroductionMidlife physical capability (PC) is associated with developmental factors in the populations of economically developed countries. As far as we know, there is no information for rural populations of low- and middle-income countries. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of pre- and postnatal factors on midlife objective measures of PC in a 1966–67 birth cohort from a Mexican rural community. The hypothesis was that adverse developmental conditions are associated with low midlife PC.MethodsIn 1966–67, a birth cohort of all children from a poor Mexican rural community was assembled. Data on family socioeconomic status (SES), parental health and nutritional status, birth weight, postnatal growth and feeding patterns were registered. In 2018, out of the 336 cohort members, 118 were living in the community, and eighty-two of them underwent a comprehensive clinical evaluation. The evaluation included grip strength, gait velocity and chair-stand PC tests. In multivariable linear models, PC tests were the dependent variables, and prenatal, birth and postnatal factors were the independent variables. Adjustment for confounding was made with adult anthropometric, body composition, clinical and ageing status variables.ResultsIndependent of adult health status and other ageing indicators, lower PC was associated with family organization and SES, parental nutritional status, birth weight, infant postnatal growth velocity, and weaning time. These results indicate that adverse family and environmental conditions that are prevalent in poor rural communities are associated with low midlife PC.

Cardiocirculatory Stress in Professional Football (Soccer) Coaches.

Objective:It was intended to quantify cardiocirculatory stress and risk of professional football (soccer) coaches during competition.Design:Descriptive cross-sectional study.Setting:Medical screening examination and measurements during match.Participants:Seventeen coaches and 11 assistant coaches of the 2 highest German football leagues (male coaches; 46 ± 7 years; 8 ± 7 years in job).Independent variables:Professional football matches with highly competitive character were chosen and monitored for elicited cardiocirculatory stress and possible damage.Main Outcome Measures:Indicators of general health status, occurrence of arrhythmias, and course of heart rate and cardiac biomarkers (brain natriuretic peptide [BNP], troponin I) during the match.Results:Besides a few preexisting cardiovascular diseases, medical screening revealed a risk factor profile similar to the general population and above-average maximal/submaximal cycle ergometry performance: Pmax 2.9 ± 0.5 W*kg−1; PWC130 1.9 ± 0.5 W*kg−1. No match-induced changes were detected for BNP (20.5 ± 9.4 to 19.7 ± 10.7 pg/mL; P = 0.48) and troponin I (12.6 ± 16.5 to 10.5 ± 14.1 ng/L; P = 0.31). Maximal heart rate during the first and second half was 127 ± 15 and 132 ± 19 beats per minute, respectively. No match-induced arrhythmias of higher degree were detected.Conclusions:Head and assistant coaches of German professional football teams do not show any match-induced cardiac damage, despite considerable cardiocirculatory stress. Possibly, their above-average fitness level saves them from more detrimental outcomes.

Vital Signs Monitoring Device with BPM and SpO2 Notification Using Telegram Application Based on Thinger.io Platform

Vital signs are an important component of monitoring the adult or child patient's progress during hospitalization, as they allow for the prompt detection of delayed recovery or adverse events. Vital signs are measured to obtain basic indicators of a patient's health status. The most common intervention performed in hospital medicine is a measurement of vital signs, and these traditionally consist of blood pressure, temperature, pulse rate, and respiratory rate. Advanced monitoring systems incorporate a balanced combination of clinical and technological aspects to give an innovative healthcare outcome. Remote patient monitoring systems are rapidly becoming the core of healthcare deliveries. The paradigm shifted from traditional and manual recording to computer-based electronic records and further to smartphones as versatile and innovative healthcare monitoring systems. This research aims to design a Vital Sign Monitoring device for BPM and SpO2 Parameters with Notifications through the IoT-Based Telegram application. This device can monitor vital signs, especially BPM and SPO2, wherever the patient is and whenever so that doctors or health workers and patients can find out their health condition. This display can be viewed via web thinger.io, then forwarded to telegram if an abnormal patient condition is found, and there is an indicator light that will light up differently for each condition. This study uses the MAX30100, which is a digital sensor to detect oxygen saturation and heart rate. The results of this study have succeeded in displaying data on the IoT web and sending notifications to the Telegram application. And also, the resulting data has an error that does not exceed the allowable limit according to each parameter. The difference between heart rate readings and oxygen saturation values ​​on the device and patient monitor is 0.015% for heart rate and 0.01% for oxygen saturation. This study indicates that it is time to monitor vital signs that can be seen remotely and have a system that is an inexpensive and easy-to-operate device for health workers without interfering with activities of daily living.

Does voluntary health insurance improve health and longevity? Evidence from European OECD countries.

The financing structure of the healthcare system and, particularly, the voluntary health insurance (VHI) constituent, has been a vital pillar in improving the overall quality of life. Consequently, this study aims to shed light on the effect of VHI on the population's health and longevity in a sample of 26 European OECD countries. The methodology employed covers both hierarchical clustering and the novel dynamic panel threshold technique. First, the descriptive cluster analysis unveils a delimitation of the countries into four main groups with respect to a broad set of health status indicators. Second, the estimates show that VHI is a significant determinant of health and longevity. More specifically, we find that the relationship between variables is characterized by a threshold effect, whose estimated value is roughly 6.3% of the total healthcare financing. Also, the heterogeneity analysis unveils consistent differences regarding the impact of VHI on health and longevity for the supplementary and complementary types of VHI. Overall, results are strongly robust, the signs and the significance of the coefficients being preserved in the presence of several additional control factors. From a policy perspective, the study's findings can be used nationwide to stimulate regulatory policies to encourage the achievement of a satisfactory level of private health insurance.

Joint temporal dietary and physical activity patterns: associations with health status indicators and chronic diseases

Diet and physical activity (PA) are independent risk factors for obesity and chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and metabolic syndrome (MetS). The temporal sequence of these exposures may be used to create patterns with relations to health status indicators. The objectives were to create clusters of joint temporal dietary and PA patterns (JTDPAPs) and to determine their association with health status indicators including BMI, waist circumference (WC), fasting plasma glucose, glycated hemoglobin, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, blood pressure, and disease status including obesity, T2DM, and MetS in US adults. A 24-h dietary recall and random day of accelerometer data of 1836 participants from the cross-sectional NHANES 2003-2006 data were used to create JTDPAP clusters by constrained dynamic time warping, coupled with a kernel k-means clustering algorithm. Multivariate regression models determined associations between the 4 JTDPAP clusters and health and disease status indicators, controlling for potential confounders and adjusting for multiple comparisons. A JTDPAP cluster with proportionally equivalent energy consumed at 2 main eating occasions reaching ≤1600 and ≤2200kcal from 11:00 to 13:00 and from 17:00 to 20:00, respectively, and the highest PA counts among 4 clusters from 08:00 to 20:00, was associated with significantly lower BMI (P<0.0001), WC (P=0.0001), total cholesterol (P=0.02), and odds of obesity (OR: 0.2; 95% CI: 0.1, 0.5) than a JTDPAP cluster with proportionally equivalent energy consumed reaching ≤1600 and ≤1800kcal from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 21:00, respectively, and high PA counts from 09:00 to 12:00. The joint temporally patterned sequence of diet and PA can be used to cluster individuals with meaningful associations to BMI, WC, total cholesterol, and obesity. Temporal patterns hold promise for future development of lifestyle patterns that integrate additional temporal and contextual activities.

Childhood adversity, reward processing, and health during the COVID-19 outbreak: The mediating role of reward learning.

Childhood adversity (CA) is associated with various health problems, and recent data suggest reward processing may be an important mechanism linking the 2. However, different reward processing dimensions may have distinct roles in these associations that may be sensible to the psychological impact of more recent stressful events. We examined these associations in the COVID-19 pandemic context. A community sample of 419 respondents (M age = 27.32 years, SD = 8.98, 88.1% females) completed an online survey. Participants filled in self-report measures of CA, reward processing dimensions, depressive and anxiety symptoms, physical status, and psychological impact of COVID-19. CA was significantly associated (p < .05) with depressive (r = .20) and anxiety symptoms (r = .19), physical health (r= -.16), reward learning (r = -.11) and responsiveness (r = -.16), but not reward valuation. Reward learning mediated the association between CA and all health status indicators (i.e., higher CA predicted decreased reward learning which in turn predicted increased depressive and anxiety symptoms and poorer physical health). Psychological impact of COVID-19 did not moderate the mediating role of reward processing in the associations between CA and health outcomes. Reward learning appears to be the only reward processing dimension which cuts across depressive and anxiety symptoms, and physical health problems, providing information about their onset and maintenance. Given that these findings suggest that it is a potential transdiagnostic mechanism for these various health problems, reward learning should be targeted through specific interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The Effects of Replacing Soybean Meal with Rapeseed Meal, Cottonseed Cake, and Fava Beans on the Milk Yield and Quality Traits in Milking Ewes.

Simple SummaryThe substitution of soybean meal in farm animal diets is considered vital for the economic and environmental sustainability of the livestock sector. However, data regarding the effects of a soybean meal replacement on the milk yield and quality traits in dairy sheep are scarce. In our study, two isonitrogenous and isoenergetic diets were used, with soybean meal of a typical ration being replaced by a mixture of rapeseed meal, cottonseed cake, and fava beans. The milk yield and the body condition scores were recorded, and milk samples were analyzed monthly for their fat, protein, lactose, and total solids yields, as well as for somatic cell counts, total bacterial counts, pH, electrical conductivity, and the refractive index. Daily and 100-day fat yields were significantly increased in the group fed the experimental ration and the electrical conductivity was significantly decreased in the same group, while no adverse effects on any of the rest of the studied milk production traits were observed.The replacement of soybean meal (SBM) from intensively reared dairy sheep diets has emerged as a significant challenge for sustainable production. However, the effects of this replacement on milk production have not been sufficiently elucidated. The objective of this study was to prospectively assess the effects of replacing SBM with a mixture of alternative protein sources on the milk yield (MY) and the milk quality traits (MQT) in intensively reared dairy sheep. A total of 112 multiparous, purebred milking ewes of the Chios and Frizarta breeds, from two intensive dairy sheep farms, were involved in the study, postweaning, and were assigned to either the control (CR) or the experimental ration (ER) group. In the ER, 3/4 of the SBM was replaced by a mixture of rapeseed meal, cottonseed cake, and fava beans, producing a ration of a similar nutritional value. MY, MQT, and body condition scores were recorded for each individual ewe monthly for a period of 4 months during lactation. The experimental ration was associated with beneficial effects on daily and 100-day fat yields and on the electrical conductivity of milk as an improved udder health status indicator, with no adverse effects on any of the rest of the studied milk production traits.

The health status: the ignored risk factor in dementia incidence. NEDICES cohort

The causes of the dementia decrease in affluent countries are not well known but health amelioration could probably play a major role. Nevertheless, although many vascular and systemic disorders in adult life are well-known risk factors (RF) for dementia and Alzheimer disease (AD), health status is rarely considered as a single RF. To analyse whether the health status and the self-perceived health (SPH) could be RF for dementia and AD and to discuss its biological basis. We analysed different objective health measures and SPH as RF for dementia and AD incidence in 4569 participants of the NEDICES cohort by means of Cox-regression models. The mean follow-up period was 3.2 (range: 0.03-6.6) years. Ageing, low education, history of stroke, and "poor" SPH were the main RF for dementia and AD incidence, whereas physical activity was protective. "Poor" SPH had a hazard ratio = 1.66 (95% CI 1.17-2.46; p = 0.012) after controlling for different confounders. According to data from NEDICES cohort, SPH is a better predictor of dementia and AD than other more objective health status proxies. SPH should be considered a holistic and biologically rooted indicator of health status, which can predict future development of dementia and AD in older adults. Our data indicate that it is worthwhile to include the SPH status as a RF in the studies of dementia and AD incidence and to explore the effect of its improvement in the evolution of this incidence.

The Influence of Household Size on Growth Pattern of Children Aged 5-12 Years from Kazaure Emirate, Jigawa State, Nigeria

Anthropometry is the measurement of different parts of the body and is an indicator of nutritional and health status. Socio-economic variables such as income, education, birth order, family size, and urbanization are associated with the physical development of children. The aim of the study was to determine the influence of house-hold (family) size on the growth pattern of children aged 5-12 years from Kazaure emirate, Jigawa State, Nigeria. A stadiometer was used to measure height to the nearest 0.1 cm and weight to the nearest 0.5 kg. A non-elastic measuring tape was used for the measurement of head, neck, chest, mid upper arm, hip, waist and calf circumferences to the nearest 0.1cm respectively. A Harpenden skin fold caliper was used for the measurement of biceps and triceps skin fold thicknesses to the nearest 0.1 mm respectively. It was a cross-sectional survey comprising of 863 pupils of Hausa ethnic group randomly selected from public primary schools in Kazaure emirate aged 5 - 12years. Males of household size between1-2, had higher values of HT, WT and body circumferences than females except hip circumference with statistical significant difference p&lt;0.05 while females had higher values of biceps and triceps skinfold thicknesses with statistical difference p&lt;0.05. Males of household size &gt;2, had higher values of HT, WT, BMI and body circumferences than females with statistical difference (p&lt;0.05) while females had higher values of skinfold thickness and HC with statistical difference (p=0.01). Males of household size 1-2, had higher values of cephalofacial dimensions than females with statistical difference (p&lt;0.05) while females had higher values of nasal height and cephalic index than males with statistical difference p&lt;0.05. Males of household size &gt;2, had higher values of cephalofacial dimensions than females with statistical difference p&lt;0.05 while females had higher values of NH and FI with statistical difference p&lt;0.05. Males of household size 1-2 and &gt;2, had higher values of upper and lower limbs dimensions than females with statistical difference p&lt;0.05. In conclusion, it was observed that males grew better than females and, children from small family size had better growth than those from large family size.&#x0D; Keywords: Age, Household-size, Growth, Kazaure emirate, Nigeria

Vývoj kardiovaskulárnych ochorení u obyvateľov Slovenskej republiky za roky 2011 -2020

Background: Diseases of the circulatory system are the main cause of death in Slovakia and all over the world and claim 17.9 lives every year, which is an estimated 32% of all causes of death. Up to 85% of deaths from the disease are caused by heart attack and stroke, and one-third of these deaths occur in people under 70 years of age. Aim: Analysis of data on the development of cardiovascular diseases based on health status indicators such as mortality and hospitalization. Methods: The materials were obtained from the databases of selected institutions and, in summary, from the Report on the Health Status of the Population of the Slovak Republic for the years 2011-2020. Institutions such as the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic, the National Center for Health Information, Social Insurance and the Office of Public Health of the Slovak Republic participated in the creation of this report. Results: During the observed period of 2011-2020 in the entire population in the Slovak Republic, diseases of the circulatory system dominated the causes of death. Since 2011, diseases of the circulatory system have had a downward trend, from 45.1% (2011) to 42.6% (2020). The most frequent causes of hospitalization during the observed period, regardless of gender, were diseases of the circulatory system (15.5% of the total number of hospitalizations; in the number of 151,593). Conclusion: During the monitored period 2011-2020, the causes of death in the entire population of the Slovak Republic were dominated by diseases of the circulatory system and tumors. The most frequent causes of hospitalization during the monitored period, regardless of gender, were diseases of the circulatory system.

Predicting demand for long-term care using Japanese healthcare insurance claims data.

Driven by the rapid aging of the population, Japan introduced public long-term care insurance to reinforce healthcare services for the elderly in 2000. Precisely predicting future demand for long-term care services helps authorities to plan and manage their healthcare resources and citizens to prevent their health status deterioration. This paper presents our novel study for developing an effective model to predict individual-level future long-term care demand using previous healthcare insurance claims data. We designed two discriminative models and subsequently trained and validated the models using three learning algorithms with medical and long-term care insurance claims and enrollment records, which were provided by 170 regional public insurers in Gifu, Japan. The prediction model based on multiclass classification and gradient-boosting decision tree achieved practically high accuracy (weighted average of Precision, 0.872; Recall, 0.878; and F-measure, 0.873) for up to 12 months after the previous claims. The top important feature variables were indicators of current health status (e.g., current eligibility levels and age), risk factors to worsen future healthcare status (e.g., dementia), and preventive care services for improving future healthcare status (e.g., training and rehabilitation). The intensive validation tests have indicated that the developed prediction method holds high robustness, even though it yields relatively lower accuracy for specific patient groups with health conditions that are hard to distinguish.