Background: Wearable technologies have the potential to support health promotion and disease prevention. However, it remains unclear how the role of social determinants of health (SDoH) and digital determinants of health (DDoH) plays in this context.
Objective: This study investigates differences in sociodemographic factors and digital health literacy between wearable users and non-users, whether the association with wearable use varies across age groups and its potential mediator.
Objective: Rapid digitisation of health occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide. In October 2020, we conducted a survey on digital health technology use in Germany. This study aimed to conduct a second survey to investigate in more detail the internet use in health context and digital technology use for health promotion and disease prevention in Germany.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Globally, 240,000 babies die in the neonatal period annually due to congenital anomalies (CA). Malta reports the highest neonatal mortality rate (NMR) among EU (European Union) Countries, constituting a public health concern.
Objectives: This study describes the contribution of CA to NMR in Malta, investigating possible associations with known maternal risk factors of maternal age, nationality, and education.
Background: Neuropathic adverse events occur frequently in linezolid-containing regimens, some of which remain irreversible after drug discontinuation.
Objective: We aimed to identify and validate a host RNA-based biomarker that can predict linezolid-associated neuropathy before multidrug-resistant/rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/RR-TB) treatment initiation and to identify genes and pathways that are associated with linezolid-associated neuropathy.
Methods: Adult patients initiating MDR/RR-TB treatment including linezolid were prospectively enrolled in 3 independent cohorts in Germany.
Objectives: The risk of Post-COVID-19 condition (PCC) under hybrid immunity remains unclear.
Methods: Using data from the German National Cohort (NAKO Gesundheitsstudie), we investigated risk factors for self-reported post-infection symptoms (any PCC is defined as having at least one symptom, and high symptom burden PCC as having nine or more symptoms).
Results: Sixty percent of 109,707 participants reported at least one previous SARS-CoV-2 infection; 35% reported having had any symptoms 4-12 months after infection; among them 23% reported nine or more symptoms.
Introduction: The participation of older people in research and development processes has long been called for but has not been sufficiently put into practice. In addition, participation is often late and not particularly intensive, so that certain older groups of people are underrepresented in the development of health technologies (HT). Heterogeneity, e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on students' financial situation as well as on their mental health.
Aim: To examine the reported change in the financial situation of German university students before and across two time points of the COVID-19 pandemic and to evaluate its associations with anxiety and depressive symptoms.
Methods: We used data from the cross-sectional COVID-19 German Student Well-being Study conducted at five German universities (N = 7203).
Unlocking the full potential of digital public health (DiPH) systems requires a comprehensive tool to assess their maturity. While the World Health Organization and the International Telecommunication Union released a toolkit in 2012 covering various aspects of digitalizing national healthcare systems, a holistic maturity assessment tool has been lacking ever since. To bridge this gap, we conducted a pioneering Delphi study, to which 54 experts from diverse continents and academic fields actively contributed to at least one of three rounds.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis review aimed to systematically quantify the differences in Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) prevalence across various ethnic groups in high-income countries by sex, and to evaluate the overall prevalence trends from 1996 to 2022. We conducted a systematic literature review using MEDLINE, Web of Science Core Collection, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library, focusing on studies about MetS prevalence among ethnic groups in high-income countries. We pooled 23 studies that used NCEP-ATP III criteria and included 147,756 healthy participants aged 18 and above.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo compare health service use (HSU) between migrants and non-migrants in Germany. Using data from the population-based German National Cohort (NAKO), we compared the HSU of general practitioners, medical specialists, and psychologists/psychiatrists between six migrant groups of different origins with the utilization of non-migrants. A latent profile analysis (LPA) with a subsequent multinomial regression analysis was conducted to characterize the HSU of different groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz
March 2024
Background: Experiencing financial insecurity and being underserved is often associated with low health literacy, i.e., the ability to identify, obtain, interpret and act upon health information, which may result in poor health outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Determinants affecting children's physical activity (PA) at an early age are of particular interest to develop and strengthen strategies for increasing the levels of children's PA. A qualitative study was conducted to investigate the views of primary school-aged children, their teachers and parents regarding barriers and facilitators to engage in PA.
Methods: Focus groups were conducted separately with primary school children, parents and teachers in a city in Northern Germany between October 2021 and January 2022.
Bundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz
March 2024
A key prerequisite for the successful digital transformation of the healthcare system is a well-developed level of digital health literacy (DHL) among the population. DHL is the ability to deal with health-relevant digital information and information options with the aim of promoting and maintaining health and well-being for oneself and one's environment. This article examines the discussions about digital health literacy, the existing studies and measurement tools used in them, the data situation in Germany, and current challenges.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz
March 2024
The burden of mental diseases is enormous and constantly growing worldwide. The resulting increase in demand for psychosocial help is also having a negative impact on waiting times for psychotherapy in Germany. Digital interventions for mental health, such as interventions delivered through or with the help of a website (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz
March 2024
Digital public health has received a significant boost in recent years, especially due to the demands associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. In this report, we provide an overview of the developments in digitalization in the field of public health in Germany since 2020 and illustrate these with examples from the Leibniz ScienceCampus Digital Public Health Bremen (LSC DiPH).The following topics are central: How do digital survey methods as well as digital biomarkers and artificial intelligence methods shape modern epidemiology and prevention research? What is the status of digitalization in public health offices? Which approaches to health economics evaluation of digital public health interventions have been utilized so far? What is the status of training and further education in digital public health?The first years of the Leibniz ScienceCampus Digital Public Health Bremen (LSC DiPH) were also strongly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Public Health
January 2024
Background: Combining non-specialists and digital technologies in mental health interventions could decrease the mental healthcare gap in resource scarce countries. This systematic review examined different combinations of non-specialists and digital technologies in mental health interventions and their effectiveness in reducing the mental healthcare gap in low-and middle-income countries.
Methods: Literature searches were conducted in four databases (September 2023), three trial registries (January-February 2022), and using forward and backward citation searches (May-June 2022).
Health Promot Int
December 2023
Community-based approaches are promising to promote physical activity in old age. The community readiness (CR) model offers a structured approach to assess community capacities to address a certain health topic before and after implementing an intervention. The objective of this study is to assess whether community-based capacity building for physical activity among the elderly has a lasting effect on CR.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool (DPET) with 47 items was developed to assess the disaster preparedness level among nurses in the USA. This study aimed (1) to adapt and validate the DPET for the nursing context in Germany and (2) to perform its psychometric evaluation. The DPET items were translated to German (DPET-GER).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The objective was to assess the feasibility of incorporating trained community health mediators in COVID-19 prevention in a multicultural and disadvantaged setting in Bremen, Germany. Specifically, we aimed to develop and implement measures corresponding to the needs of the residents and to analyse the role of digital communication tools and sustainability factors of the health mediator approach.
Methods: A comprehensive process evaluation using 41 qualitative interviews with residents, mediator short surveys and group discussions, work documentation sheets, and a stakeholder workshop was carried out.
Bundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz
October 2023
From free choice to forced flight, there are many reasons for migration. Accordingly, the backgrounds and living conditions of migrating people are also diverse. The different associated exposures affect the health of migrants and their children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In Germany, all women aged 50-69 have been invited to biennial mammography screening since 2009. We aimed to assess longitudinal adherence over ten years in women aged 50 in 2009 and characterize the different adherence groups.
Methods: Using the German Pharmacoepidemiological Research Database (GePaRD, ~ 20% of the German population), we included women aged 50 in 2009 (baseline) with continuous health insurance coverage and without breast cancer or in-situ-carcinoma.
Bundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz
September 2023
Based on scientific findings, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended stricter guideline values for air quality in 2021. Significant reductions in the annual mean values of particulate matter (particle size 2.5 µm or smaller, PM) and long-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO) and ozone (O) were put forward.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: School-based physical activity (PA) promotion is usually conducted by providing one specific intervention. In contrast, the ACTIvity PROmotion via Schools (ACTIPROS) toolbox provides a set of twelve evidence-based PA interventions serving different domains of the Health Promoting Schools framework that primary schools can select according to their requirements. In this study, we tested the feasibility of the toolbox approach in primary schools.
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