Understanding the Risk Factors, Burden, and Interventions for Chronic Respiratory Diseases in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review.

Objective: This scoping review aims to identify risk factors for COPD and asthma, examine the burden and intervention measures, and clarify the findings in the context of climate change, with a particular focus on LMICs.

Methods: Following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we conducted a scoping review using PubMed, Embase, and Scopus, focusing on studies published from 2011 to 2024.

Results: Our review included 52 studies that encompassed 244,004 participants.

Association of relationship satisfaction with blood pressure: a cross-sectional study of older adults in rural Burkina Faso.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to examine the association between relationship satisfaction and blood pressure (BP) in a low-income setting and to screen for gender moderation in this context. Research conducted in high-income settings suggests that relationship satisfaction is associated with better physical and mental health outcomes.

Design: A cross-sectional study design was employed, using both questionnaire and physical measurement data.

Evaluating the effectiveness of the 'eco-cooler' for passive home cooling.

Constructed with used plastic bottles, the eco-cooler has been widely adopted in resource-poor communities in Bangladesh and other countries. We tested the eco-cooler under controlled conditions using a scientific wind tunnel in a climatic chamber. In our tests, we used seven eco-cooler designs in 27 climate conditions typical of Bangladesh (temperatures of 40 °C, 35 °C, and 30 °C; humidity levels of 70%, 60%, and 40%; and wind speeds of 4.

"Empathy for children is often missing": a mixed methods analysis of a German forum on COVID-19 pandemic measures.

Background: The pandemic and its preventive measures disrupted daily routines and posed unforeseen obstacles for families. Users of public online forums chronicled these challenges by freely expressing their sentiments in unrestricted text-length formats. We explored a German COVID-19 forum to understand family perspectives and experiences of pandemic measures, particularly in terms of testing and vaccinating children.

"Not Only a Matter of Personal Interest"-Vaccination Narratives and the Model of Moral Motives in China and Germany.

Understanding vaccination decision-making processes is vital for guiding vaccine promotion within pandemic contexts and for routine immunization efforts. Vaccine-related attitudes influencing individual decision-making can be affected by broader cultural and normative contexts. We conducted 73 qualitative interviews with adults in China ( = 40) and Germany ( = 33) between December 2020 and April 2021 to understand COVID-19 vaccination intentions and preferences, and we analyzed transcripts using a five-step framework approach.

The global geography of artificial intelligence in life science research.

Artificial intelligence (AI) promises to transform medicine, but the geographic concentration of AI expertize may hinder its equitable application. We analyze 397,967 AI life science research publications from 2000 to 2022 and 14.5 million associated citations, creating a global atlas that distinguishes productivity (i.

Effect of a Male-Targeted Digital Decision Support Application Aimed at Increasing Linkage to HIV Care Among Men: Findings from the HITS Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial in Rural South Africa.

Linkage to HIV care remains suboptimal among men. We investigated the effectiveness of a male-targeted HIV-specific decision support app, Empowering People through Informed Choices for HIV (EPIC-HIV), on increasing linkage to HIV care among men in rural South Africa. Home-Based Intervention to Test and Start (HITS) was a multi-component cluster-randomized controlled trial conducted among 45 communities in uMkhanyakude, KwaZulu-Natal.

Self-help digital mental health intervention in improving burnout and mental health outcomes among healthcare workers: A narrative review.

Background: Healthcare workers face burnout from high job demands and prolonged working conditions. While mental health services are available, barriers to access persist. Evidence suggests digital platforms can enhance accessibility.

The impact of health insurance on hypertension care: a household fixed effects study in India.

Introduction: Hypertension is highly prevalent in India, but the proportion of patients achieving blood pressure control remains low. Efforts have been made to expand health insurance coverage nationwide with the aim of improving overall healthcare access. It is critical to understand the role of health insurance coverage in improving hypertension care.

Animations to communicate public health prevention messages: a realist review protocol.

Introduction: With digital and social media advances, animated health communications (health animations) are highly prevalent globally, yet the evidence base underpinning them remains unclear and limited. While individual studies have attempted to explore the effectiveness, acceptability and usability of specific features of health animations, there is substantial heterogeneity in study design, comparators and the animation design and content. Consequently, there is a need to synthesise evidence of health animations using an approach that recognises this contextual complexity, which may affect their impact.

The care cascade of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in China: a cross-sectional study of individual-level data at enrolment into the national 'Happy Breathing' Programme.

Background: Understanding the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) care cascade is crucial for identifying where and when to intervene to improve COPD outcomes. We aimed to determine the proportion of patients with COPD seeking care in China's health system who are lost at each stage of the COPD care cascade and how the patterns of loss vary across geographical regions and population groups.

Methods: From November 3, 2018, to April 22, 2021, we used individual-level patient data from the national Chinese 'Happy Breathing' Programme, which aims to identify patients with COPD and provide appropriate care.

School health and nutrition environments: A multicountry survey in five countries of sub-Saharan Africa region-Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, South Africa, Sudan, and Tanzania.

Schools are increasingly regarded as a key setting for promoting the health, well-being, and development of children and adolescents. In this multicountry cross-sectional survey, we describe the health, nutrition, and food environments of public primary schools in five urban settings in Africa region: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Durban; South Africa, Khartoum, Sudan; and, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We evaluated the school health and nutrition (SHN) environments in three main areas: (1) the availability of health-related policies, guidelines, and school curricula, (2) the provision of health, nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services in schools, and (3) the school food environments and eating habits of adolescents.

Emotional and cognitive influences on alcohol consumption in middle-aged and elderly Tanzanians: a population-based study.

Alcohol consumption in Tanzania exceeds the global average. While sociodemographic difference in alcohol consumption in Tanzania have been studied, the relationship between psycho-cognitive phenomena and alcohol consumption has garnered little attention. Our study examines how depressive symptoms and cognitive performance affect alcohol consumption, considering sociodemographic variations.

Effect of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Mobile Payments for Maternal Health: Regression Discontinuity Analysis.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the unprecedented popularity of digital financial services for contactless payments and government cash transfer programs to mitigate the economic effects of the pandemic. The effect of the pandemic on the use of digital financial services for health in low- and middle-income countries, however, is poorly understood.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the effect of the first COVID-19 lockdown on the use of a mobile maternal health wallet, with a particular focus on delineating the age-dependent differential effects, and draw conclusions on the effect of lockdown measures on the use of digital health services.

New Trauma Score versus Kampala Trauma Score II in predicting mortality following road traffic crash: a prospective multi-center cohort study.

Introduction: Mortality due to injuries disproportionately impact low income countries. Knowledge of who is at risk of poor outcomes is critical to guide resource allocation and prioritization of severely injured. Kampala Trauma Score (KTS), developed in 1996 and last modified in 2002 as KTS II, is still widely being used to predict injury outcomes in resource-limited settings with no further revisions in the past two decades, despite ongoing criticism of some of its parameters.

Messy but worth it: human-centred design as applied within a successful vaccine-promotive campaign.

Human-centred design (HCD) is an approach to problem-solving that prioritises understanding and meeting the needs of the end-users. Researchers and designers practice empathic listening as users share their perspectives, thereby enabling a variety of stakeholders to cocreate effective solutions. While a valuable and, in theory, straightforward process, HCD in practice can be chaotic: Practitioners often struggle to navigate an excess of (often conflicting) ideas and to strike a balance between problem-understanding and problem-solving.

COVID-19 antibody responses in individuals with natural immunity and with vaccination-induced immunity: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a large mortality and morbidity burden globally. For individuals, a strong immune response is the most effective means to block SARS-CoV-2 infection. To inform clinical case management of COVID-19, development of improved vaccines, and public health policy, a better understanding of antibody response dynamics and duration following SARS-CoV-2 infection and after vaccination is imperatively needed.

Preferences regarding COVID-19 vaccination among 12,000 adults in China: A cross-sectional discrete choice experiment.

Understanding public preferences concerning vaccination is critical to inform pandemic response strategies. To investigate Chinese adults' preferences regarding COVID-19 vaccine attributes, we conducted a cross-sectional online survey in 12,000 Chinese adults in June-July, 2021. Participants were requested to answer a series of discrete choice questions related to hypothetical COVID-19 vaccines.