Publications by authors named "Anna Heidha Olafsdottir"
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to assess if improvements in lung cancer survival from 1990 to 2016 were consistent across different age groups and cancer types in Nordic countries.
- Data from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden was analyzed, showing continuous improvements in both 1- and 5-year relative survival rates for lung cancer across all demographics and subtypes, with Denmark seeing the most significant improvements.
- Despite these advancements, lung cancer survival rates are still low, with around 75% of patients dying within five years of diagnosis.
Background: Since the early 2000s, overall and site-specific cancer survival have improved substantially in the Nordic countries. We evaluated whether the improvements have been similar across countries, major cancer types, and age groups.
Material And Methods: Using population-based data from the five Nordic cancer registries recorded in the NORDCAN database, we included a cohort of 1,525,854 men and 1,378,470 women diagnosed with cancer (except non-melanoma skin cancer) during 2002-2021, and followed for death until 2021.
Background: Smartphones present a near-ubiquitous channel through which structured lifestyle change can reduce risk or progression of the most common noncommunicable diseases. We explored whether a digital structured lifestyle program enhances weight loss.
Methods: We randomized overweight and obese participants attending a four-month lifestyle change program to either standard weekly coaching sessions (controls), or standard treatment supplemented with a digital therapeutic mobile application (intervention).
Background: Pay for performance schemes are increasingly being implemented in low income countries to improve health service coverage and quality. This paper describes the context within which a pay for performance programme was introduced in Tanzania and discusses the potential for pay for performance to address health system constraints to meeting targets.
Method: 40 in-depth interviews and four focus group discussions were undertaken with health workers, and regional, district and facility managers.
Background: There has been a lack of systematic inquiry into how governments respond during times of crises, how well these responses comply with good governance, and how they affect health systems. The aim of this study was to analyse the reactions of the Icelandic health system during the first 7 months of the economic crisis in 2008.
Methods: The grounded theory approach was used in data sampling, collection, and data analysis.
Background: The literature on health systems focuses largely on the performance of healthcare systems operationalised around indicators such as hospital beds, maternity care and immunisation coverage. A broader definition of health systems however, needs to include the wider determinants of health including, possibly, governance and its relationship to health and health equity. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between health systems outcomes and equity, and governance as a part of a process to extend the range of indicators used to assess health systems performance.
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