Chronic disease and malnutrition biomarkers among unemployed immigrants and Canadian born adults.

Background: Immigration status and unemployment may intersect on the health outcomes of men and women. This study aimed to identify intersections between unemployment and immigration in inflammatory, metabolic and nutritional blood markers and assess gender differences.

Methods: We used Canadian Health Measures Survey data on 2493 participants aged 18 to 65.

Clinically relevant depression in old age: An international study with populations from Canada, Latin America and Eastern Europe.

Our aim is to assess cross-national variations in prevalence of clinically relevant depression and to examine the relationships of social and health factors with depression in five diverse populations of older adults, from Canada, Brazil, Colombia and Albania. We used the data from the International Mobility in Aging Study. Clinically relevant depression was defined as a score of ≥16 on the Center for Epidemiologic Study Depression Scale (CES-D).

Inequities in postnatal care in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To assess the socioeconomic, geographical and demographic inequities in the use of postnatal health-care services in low- and middle-income countries.

Methods: We searched Medline, Embase and Cochrane Central databases and grey literature for experimental, quasi-experimental and observational studies that had been conducted in low- and middle-income countries. We summarized the relevant studies qualitatively and performed meta-analyses of the use of postnatal care services according to selected indicators of socioeconomic status and residence in an urban or rural setting.

Protocol for a systematic review on inequalities in postnatal care services utilization in low- and middle-income countries.

Background: Each year, 287,000 women die from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth, and 3.8 million newborns die before reaching 28 days of life. The near totality (99%) of maternal and neonatal deaths occurs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Immigrant status, antenatal depressive symptoms, and frequency and source of violence: what's the relationship?

This study describes the prevalence of violence during pregnancy and examines the association between the experience of violence since the beginning of pregnancy and the prevalence of antenatal depressive symptoms while taking into account immigrant status. Cross-sectional study including 5,162 pregnant women attending Montreal hospitals for antenatal care was conducted, with 1,400 being born outside of Canada. CES-D scale was used to evaluate depression at 24-26 weeks of pregnancy.

Antenatal depressive symptoms among Canadian-born and immigrant women in Quebec: differential exposure and vulnerability to contextual risk factors.

Purpose: To examine the distribution of contextual risk factors for antenatal depression according to immigrant status and the length of stay in Canada, to assess the association between these risk factors and antenatal depression (AD) for Canadian-born and immigrant women, and to compare the vulnerability of Canadian-born and immigrant women to risk factors in relation to antenatal depression.

Methods: Women were recruited at routine ultrasound examinations (16-20 weeks), at antenatal blood sampling (8-12 weeks), or in antenatal care clinics. Cross-sectional analysis was performed on the baseline sample consisting of 5,162 pregnant women.

Heavy burden of non-communicable diseases at early age and gender disparities in an adult population of Burkina Faso: World Health Survey.

Background: WHO estimates suggest that age-specific death rates from non-communicable diseases are higher in sub-Saharan Africa than in high-income countries. The objectives of this study were to examine, in Burkina Faso, the prevalence of non-communicable disease symptoms by age, gender, socioeconomic group and setting (rural/urban), and to assess gender and socioeconomic inequalities in the prevalence of these symptoms.

Methods: We obtained data from the Burkina Faso World Health Survey, which was conducted in an adult population (18 years and over) with a high response rate (4822/4880 selected individuals).

Gender differences in mobility disability during young, middle and older age in West African adults.

The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and the contribution of socio-demographic factors and chronic diseases to mobility disability in West African countries. Data were obtained from the World Health Survey (2002-2003) in which adults≥18 years participated, from Burkina Faso (n=4822), Mali (n=4230) and Senegal (n=3197). Participants reporting mild, moderate, severe, extreme difficulty or inability to move around were defined as having mobility disability.

Contributions of immigration to depressive symptoms among pregnant women in Canada.

Objectives: Immigrant women present high prevalence of depressive symptoms during pregnancy, the early postpartum period and as mothers of young children. We compared mental health of immigrant and Canadian native-born women during pregnancy according to length of stay and region of origin, and we assessed the role of economics and social support in antenatal depressive symptomatology.

Methods: Data originated from the Montreal study on socio-economic differences in prematurity; 3834 Canadian-born and 1,495 foreign-born women attending Montreal hospitals for antenatal care were evaluated for depression at 24-26 weeks of pregnancy using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale by fitting logistic regressions with staggered entry of possible explanatory variables.

Prevalence and risk factors for near and far visual difficulty in Burkina Faso.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence and risk factors for near and far visual difficulty in Burkina Faso.

Methods: Population-based data were used from the World Health Survey done in Burkina Faso in 2002-2003;2003 (n=4,822 adults). Near and far visual difficulty were assessed by questions about difficulty seeing and recognizing an object at arm's length and about difficulty seeing and recognizing a person across the road.

Functional arginine vasopressin system in early heart maturation.

Since the neurohypophyseal hormone 8-arginine vasopressin (AVP) is involved in cardiovascular tissue hypertrophy and myocyte differentiation, it is possible that local AVP plays a role in heart maturation. AVP-specific RIA, RT-PCR, and immunoblot measurement of AVP receptors (VR) were used to investigate heart tissues from newborn and adult rats. To test AVP's role in differentiation and specialization into ventricle-like cardiomyocytes, we studied GFP-P19Cl6 stem cells, which express green fluorescence protein (GFP) reporter under transcriptional control of the myosin light chain-2v promoter.