The Role of COVID-19 in Excess Mortality in Slovakia: A Novel Approach Based on Healthcare Billing Records.

Objectives: Propose a methodology to identify COVID-19 associated deaths using healthcare billing records and evaluate its effectiveness by comparing the results with excess mortality data from 2020 to 2022 and confirmed COVID-19 deaths.

Methods: A retrospective quantitative analysis was conducted by merging healthcare billing records with cause of death data. The term "COVID-19 associated death" was defined as any death occurring within a defined timeframe following a confirmed contact with COVID-19.

A case-control epidemiological survey on potential risk factors for celiac disease.

Objectives: Celiac disease (CD) is a chronic autoimmune disorder caused by a complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors. The main goal of our case-control study was to analyse the association of environmental factors with the odds of CD development in a sample of the Slovak population.

Methods: Data were collected from 1,226 respondents (534 CD patients and 692 controls) by a questionnaire.