Survival and costs of colorectal cancer treatment and effects of changing treatment strategies: a model approach.

New and emerging advances in colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment combined with limited healthcare resources highlight the need for detailed decision-analytic models to evaluate costs, survival and quality-adjusted life years. The objectives of this article were to estimate the expected lifetime treatment cost of CRC for an average 70-year-old patient and to test the applicability and flexibility of a model in predicting survival and costs of changing treatment scenarios. The analyses were based on a validated semi-Markov model using data from a Norwegian observational study (2049 CRC patients) to estimate transition probabilities and the proportion resected.

Food variety consumption and household food insecurity coping strategies after the 2010 landslide disaster - the case of Uganda.

Objective: To evaluate the nutritional situation of the victims of the 2010 landslide disaster in Uganda, food varieties consumed and coping strategies were assessed.

Design: Cross-sectional. Food variety scores (FVS) were obtained as the total of food items eaten over the last week while an index was based on severity weighting of household food insecurity coping strategies.

Household food insecurity and diet diversity after the major 2010 landslide disaster in Eastern Uganda: a cross-sectional survey.

In 2010, a landslide in Bududa, Eastern Uganda, killed about 350 people and nearly 1000 affected households were resettled in Kiryandongo, Western Uganda. A cross-sectional survey assessed household food insecurity and diet diversity among 1078 affected and controls. In Bududa, the affected had a lower adjusted mean score of food insecurity than controls - 9·2 (se 0·4) v.

Improving nutrition surveillance and public health research in Central and Eastern Europe/Balkan Countries using the Balkan Food Platform and dietary tools.

The objective of this paper is to share experience and provide updated information on Capacity Development in the Central and Eastern Europe/Balkan Countries (CEE/BC) region relevant to public health nutrition, particularly in creation of food composition databases (FCDBs), applying dietary intake assessment and monitoring tools, and harmonizing methodology for nutrition surveillance. Balkan Food Platform was established by a Memorandum of Understanding among EuroFIR AISBL, Institute for Medical Research, Belgrade, Capacity Development Network in Nutrition in CEE - CAPNUTRA and institutions from nine countries in the region. Inventory on FCDB status identified lack of harmonized and standardized research tools.

Perceptions on the right to adequate food after a major landslide disaster: a cross-sectional survey of two districts in Uganda.

Background: Despite the instruments on the right to adequate food adopted by the United Nations, there exists limited information on how this right is perceived. Following a major 2010 landslide disaster in the Bududa district of Eastern Uganda and the resettlement of some affected households into the Kiryandongo district in Western Uganda, we surveyed both districts to explore perceptions about the right to adequate food among households with different experiences; disaster-affected and controls.

Methods: We deployed qualitative and quantitative techniques to a cross-sectional survey.

Modeling and validating the cost and clinical pathway of colorectal cancer.

Background: Cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality, and colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in the world. The estimated costs of CRC treatment vary considerably, and if CRC costs in a model are based on empirically estimated total costs of stage I, II, III, or IV treatments, then they lack some flexibility to capture future changes in CRC treatment. The purpose was 1) to describe how to model CRC costs and survival and 2) to validate the model in a transparent and reproducible way.

Iodine-induced goitre and high prevalence of anaemia among Saharawi refugee women.

Objective: The main objective was to assess iodine status (thyroid volume (Tvol) and urinary iodine concentration (UIC)) and their determinants in Saharawi refugee women.

Design: A cross-sectional survey was performed during January-February 2007. Tvol was measured by ultrasound and iodine concentration was analysed in spot urine samples and in household drinking water.

Data quality and practical challenges of thyroid volume assessment by ultrasound under field conditions - observer errors may affect prevalence estimates of goitre.

Background: The ultrasonographic estimation of thyroid size has been advocated as being more precise than palpation to diagnose goitre. However, ultrasound also requires technical proficiency. This study was conducted among Saharawi refugees, where goitre is highly prevalent.

Endemic goitre and excessive iodine in urine and drinking water among Saharawi refugee children.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of enlarged thyroid volume (Tvol) in Saharawi refugee children, and their urinary iodine concentration (UIC), and to identify possible sources of excess iodine intake.

Design: A cross-sectional survey was performed during January-February 2007. Tvol was measured by ultrasound and iodine concentration was analysed in casual urine samples, in household drinking water and in milk samples from household livestock.

Turning dilemmas into opportunities: a UNU/SCN capacity development network in public nutrition in Central and Eastern Europe.

Capacity development in nutrition is a process whereby individuals, groups, institutions, organizations and societies enhance their abilities to identify and meet challenges in a sustainable manner. To address these issues, in 2001 the UN System Standing Committee on Nutrition (SCN) established a Working Group on Capacity Development under the joint coordination of the United Nations University (UNU) and the International Union of Nutritional Sciences. Several regional professional networks have developed under this working group, the latest for the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries.

A survey among potential employers for developing a curriculum in public health nutrition.

Objectives: To describe which functions potential employers of public health nutritionists in Norway find important for a person trained in public health nutrition to be able to carry out. Further, to illustrate how the findings were used in the development of a curriculum for a bachelor in public health nutrition at Akershus University College.

Design: A non-random, cross-sectional survey using a questionnaire with both pre-coded and open-ended questions.

Women's iodine status and its determinants in an iodine-deficient area in the Kayes region, Mali.

Objective: To assess iodine status and its determinants in women of childbearing age in a rural area in the Kayes region, Mali, West Africa.

Design: Cross-sectional study where women's iodine status was indicated by urinary iodine concentration (UIC) and level of goitre based on palpation. Salt iodine was assessed semi-quantitatively at household level.

Validation of the second version of a quantitative food-frequency questionnaire for use in Western Mali.

Objective: To assess the relative validity of the second version of a quantitative food-frequency questionnaire (QFFQ), designed to measure the habitual food and nutrient intake in one season in rural populations in Western Mali, West Africa.

Design: The dietary intake during the previous week was assessed with the 164-item QFFQ administered by interview. This was compared with the intake from a 2-day weighed record (WR) with weighed recipes.