Search results for "epidemiological methods"
showing 6 items of 6 documents
Predicting dengue fever outbreaks in French Guiana using climate indicators
2016
Background Dengue fever epidemic dynamics are driven by complex interactions between hosts, vectors and viruses. Associations between climate and dengue have been studied around the world, but the results have shown that the impact of the climate can vary widely from one study site to another. In French Guiana, climate-based models are not available to assist in developing an early warning system. This study aims to evaluate the potential of using oceanic and atmospheric conditions to help predict dengue fever outbreaks in French Guiana. Methodology/Principal Findings Lagged correlations and composite analyses were performed to identify the climatic conditions that characterized a typical e…
EPI-CT: design, challenges and epidemiological methods of an international study on cancer risk after paediatric and young adult CT
2015
Computed tomography (CT) has great clinical utility and its usage has increased dramatically over the years. Concerns have been raised, however, about health impacts of ionising radiation exposure from CTs, particularly in children, who have a higher risk for some radiation induced diseases. Direct estimation of the health impact of these exposures is needed, but the conduct of epidemiological studies of paediatric CT populations poses a number of challenges which, if not addressed, could invalidate the results. The aim of the present paper is to review the main challenges of a study on the health impact of paediatric CTs and how the protocol of the European collaborative study EPI-CT, coor…
Oxidative stress is associated with an increased antioxidant defense in elderly subjects: a multilevel approach.
2014
© 2014 Fonseca et al. Background: Studies of associations between plasma GSH-Px activity and cardiovascular risk factors have been done in humans, and contradictory results have been reported. The aim of our study was to assess the association between the scavenger antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity in plasma and the presence of novel and classical cardiovascular risk factors in elderly patients. Copyright: Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study with baseline data from a subsample of the PREDIMED (PREvención con DIeta MEDiterránea) study in Spain. Participants were 1,060 asymptomatic subjects at high risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), aged 55 to 80, selec…
Lifestyles and risk factors associated with adherence to the Mediterranean diet: a baseline assessment of the PREDIMED trial
2013
Background: The traditional Mediterranean dietary pattern (MedDiet) is associated with longevity and low rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, there is little information on who is more likely to follow this food pattern. Aim: To evaluate how different factors are associated with lower MedDiet adherence in older Spanish subjects. Methods: We included 7305 participants (men aged 55-80 y, women 60-80 y) at high-risk of CVD recruited into the PREDIMED trial (ISRCTN35739639). Socioeconomic, anthropometric, lifestyle characteristics and CVD risk factors were recorded. A validated 14-item questionnaire was used to evaluate MedDiet adherence at baseline. Multivariate models were used to …
Telomere length and physical performance at older ages:an individual participant meta-analysis
2013
<p>Background: Telomeres are involved in cellular ageing and shorten with increasing age. If telomere length is a valuable biomarker of ageing, then telomere shortening should be associated with worse physical performance, an ageing trait, but evidence for such an association is lacking. The purpose of this study was to examine whether change in telomere length is associated with physical performance.</p>\ud \ud <p>Methods: Using data from four UK adult cohorts (ages 53–80 years at baseline), we undertook cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. We analysed each study separately and then used meta-analytic methods to pool the results. Physical performance was measured us…
2011–12 Seasonal Influenza Vaccines Effectiveness against Confirmed A(H3N2) Influenza Hospitalisation: Pooled Analysis from a European Network of Hos…
2013
BackgroundInfluenza vaccination strategies aim at protecting high-risk population from severe outcomes. Estimating the effectiveness of seasonal vaccines against influenza related hospitalisation is important to guide these strategies. Large sample size is needed to have precise estimate of influenza vaccine effectiveness (IVE) against severe outcomes. We assessed the feasibility of measuring seasonal IVE against hospitalisation with laboratory confirmed influenza through a network of 21 hospitals in the European Union.MethodsWe conducted a multicentre study in France (seven hospitals), Italy (one hospital), and Navarra (four hospitals) and Valencia (nine hospitals) regions in Spain. All ≥1…