Background: Preterm birth is a global health concern. Its adverse consequences may persist throughout the life course, exerting a potentially heavy burden on families, health systems, and societies. In high-income countries, the first children who benefited from improved care are now adults entering middle age.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In Tanzania, adolescent pregnancy results in a denial of the girl's fundamental right to education. School expulsion of pregnant adolescents is a common practice exercised by teachers in this country for decades. This study aimed to explore the perceptions and feelings of secondary school teachers towards this practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The WHO identified the importance of macro-socioeconomic determinants and political context as interlinked key factors affecting healthcare quality and health equity. As a response to the recent economic and financial crisis, Portugal approved in 2011 the Economic Adjustment Programme (EAP) to obtain financial assistance from the Troika in order to reduce public debt. This study aims to analyse the impact of the economic crisis and the EAP on perinatal healthcare quality for very preterm (VPT) and/or very low birth weight (VLBW) infants, as perceived by healthcare professionals and experts, within the health administrative regions of the two major metropolitan areas in Portugal.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Retention of participants in cohort studies is a major challenge. A better understanding of all elements involved in participation and attrition phenomena in particular settings is needed to develop effective retention strategies. The study aimed to achieve an in-depth understanding of participant retention in longitudinal cohorts focusing on participants' and researcher's perspectives, across three diverse socio-geographic and cultural settings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Cohort studies represent a strong methodology for increasing one's understanding of human life-course development and etiological mechanisms. Retention of participants, especially during long follow-up periods, is, however, a major challenge. A better understanding of the motives for participation and attrition in cohort studies in diverse sociogeographic and cultural settings is needed, as this information is most useful in developing effective retention strategies.
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