Closing the life expectancy gap: An ecological study of the factors associated with smaller regional health inequalities in post-reunification Germany.

Regional health inequalities are rising globally. The case of German reunification offers a unique opportunity to explore how such inequalities can be reduced, or even eliminated: following reunification, a long-standing life expectancy gap between East and West Germany was closed for women and markedly reduced for men in less than 15 years. We used data from official national statistics covering the period 1994-2020 for 15 regions in East and West Germany.

Do longer job hours matter for maternal mental health? A longitudinal analysis of single versus partnered mothers.

Over the past decade, single mothers have experienced increasing work requirements both in the UK and in other developed countries. Our aim was to examine if increasing job hours are associated with mental health of single mothers compared to partnered mothers. Using 13 waves of the Understanding Society Survey (2009-2023), we estimated the relationship between changing job hours and mental health using difference-in-difference event study design, accounting for differential treatment effects across time and individuals.

Understanding the Relationship Between Decreases in Social Security Benefits and Intergenerational Inequalities in Mental Health.

It is well-established that mental health follows similar patterns across generations. However, little is known how structural factors, such as those related to social security reforms, may impact this relationship. Our aim was to quantify the strength of association in mental health between parents and their adolescent children, and to explore how much of this correlation is explained by decreases in benefits.

Practitioner and digitally delivered interventions for reducing hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption in people not seeking alcohol treatment: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Aim: To compare the effectiveness of practitioner versus digitally delivered interventions for reducing hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption.

Design: Systematic review and network meta-analysis comprising comprehensive search for randomised controlled trials, robust screening and selection methods and appraisal with the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. Network meta-analyses were conducted in Stata using random effects, frequentist models.

Exploration of the costs of accessing health services: data from a longitudinal study of young people in transition from paediatric to adult services.

Background: Economic evaluations that include the patient perspective often base their estimates of patient time and travel costs on data collected at a single point in time. This, however, may be inaccurate if the costs of accessing care change substantially over time, as may be the case for young people in transition from paediatric to adult health services.

Aims: The aim of this study was to explore the differences in these time and travel costs between two data collection points for young individuals in transition between health care services, and thus to provide an insight of whether such costs should be collected more than once.

Effects of social security policy reforms on mental health and inequalities: A systematic review of observational studies in high-income countries.

Evidence increasingly shows that changes to social security policies can affect population mental health. Thus, in the context of rising burden of mental illness, it is of major importance to better understand how expansions and contractions to the social security system may impact on mental health of both adults and children. The aim of this systematic review is to provide a synthesis of observational literature on the effects on mental health and inequalities in mental health of social security reforms.

Investigating the relationship between changes in social security benefits and mental health: a protocol for a systematic review.

Introduction: Poor mental health is one of the greatest causes of disability in the world. Evidence increasingly shows that population mental health may be influenced by national social security policies. This systematic review aims to establish the relationship between social security and mental health in order to help inform recommendations for policy-makers, practitioners and future research.

Early invasive strategy in senior patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: is it cost-effective? - a decision-analytic model and value of information analysis.

Background: Non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) is the most common type of heart attack in the UK and it is becoming increasingly prevalent among older people. An early invasive treatment strategy may be effective and cost-effective for treating NSTEMI but evidence is currently unclear.

Objectives: To assess the cost-effectiveness of the early invasive strategy versus medical management in elderly patients with NSTEMI and to provide guidance for future research in this area.