Body-mass index, blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular mortality in Cuba: prospective study of 146,556 participants.

Background: Cardiovascular disease accounts for about one-third of all premature deaths (ie, age < 70) in Cuba. Yet, the relevance of major risk factors, including systolic blood pressure (SBP), diabetes, and body-mass index (BMI), to cardiovascular mortality in this population remains unclear.

Methods: In 1996-2002, 146,556 adults were recruited from the general population in five areas of Cuba.

Association of childhood smoking and adult mortality: prospective study of 120 000 Cuban adults.

Background: The average age at which people start smoking has been decreasing in many countries, but insufficient evidence exists on the adult hazards of having started smoking in childhood and, especially, in early childhood. We aimed to investigate the association between smoking habits (focusing on the age when smokers started) and cause-specific premature mortality in a cohort of adults in Cuba.

Methods: For this prospective study, adults were recruited from five provinces in Cuba.

Health Data for Public Health: Towards New Ways of Combining Data Sources to Support Research Efforts in Europe.

To present the European landscape regarding the re-use of health administrative data for research. We present some collaborative projects and solutions that have been developed by Nordic countries, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and the UK, to facilitate access to their health data for research purposes. Research in public health is transitioning from siloed systems to more accessible and re-usable data resources.

[Normal pressure hydrocephalus: prognostic value of height in patients treated with an identical shunt system].

Introduction: Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is a clinical entity frequently managed by means of a cerebrospinal fluid shunt. Hydrodynamic hypotheses consider hydrostatic pressure (as well as height) a very important variable for shunt system function. However, we did not find empirical studies supporting the influence of height on clinical response in the literature.