Health expectancies in the European Union: same concept, different methods, different results

2021 ◽  
pp. jech-2020-213791
Author(s):  
João Vasco Santos ◽  
João Viana ◽  
Brecht Devleesschauwer ◽  
Juanita A Haagsma ◽  
Cristina Costa Santos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Intraclass Correlation ◽  
Epidemiological Data ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Disability Weight ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Health States ◽  
Healthy Life ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Health Measure

BackgroundHealthy life expectancy (HLE) is a population health measure that combines mortality and morbidity, which can be calculated using different methods. In this study, we aimed to assess the correlation, reliability and (dis)agreement between two estimates monitored in the European Union (EU), that is, the European Commission's HLE based on self-perceived health (SPH-HLE) and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation's HLE based on disability weight (DW-HLE), by sex, and comparing these results with LE and proportion of life spent in good health (%GH).MethodsWe performed a retrospective study in the EU28 countries, between 2010 and 2017. The HLE methods differ in definition, measurement and valuation of health states. While SPH-HLE relies directly on one question, DW-HLE relies on epidemiological data adjusted for DW. Spearman’s r, intraclass correlation coefficient, information-based measure of disagreement and Bland-Altman plots were used to assess reliability, correlation and disagreement in HLE resulting from both methods and in LE or %GH measured by both institutions.ResultsCorrelation and reliability between SPH-HLE and DW-HLE were good (better for males), with low disagreement, and were even better for LE between both institutions. The HLE Bland-Altman plots suggest a variability range of approximately 6 years for both sexes, higher for females. There was also an increasing HLE difference between methods with higher average HLE for both sexes.ConclusionWe showed wide variations between both methods with a clear and different high impact on female and male HLE, showing a tendency for countries with higher health expectancies to yield larger gaps between SPH-HLE and DW-HLE.

scholarly journals Healthy life expectancy in Brazil: applying the Sullivan method

2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. S7-S18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalia Elena Romero ◽  
Iúri da Costa Leite ◽  
Célia Landmann Szwarcwald
Keyword(s):  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Functional Limitation ◽  
Good Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Healthy Life Expectancy ◽  
State Of Health ◽  
World Health Survey ◽  
Healthy Life ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Sullivan Method

The objective of this study is to present the method proposed by Sullivan and to estimate the healthy life expectancy using different measures of state of health, based on information from the World Health Survey carried out in Brazil in 2003. By combining information on mortality and morbidity into a unique indicator, simple to calculate and easy to interpret, the Sullivan method is currently the one most commonly used for estimating healthy life expectancy. The results show higher number of healthy years lost if there is a long-term disease or disability that limits daily activities, regardless of the difficulty in performing such activities or the severity of the functional limitations. The two measures of healthy life expectancy adjusted by the severity of functional limitation show results very similar to estimates based on the perception of state of health, especially in advanced age. It was also observed, for all measures used, that the proportion of healthy years lost increases significantly with age and that, although females have higher life expectancy than males, they live proportionally less years in good health.

Isoprenaline and Atropine Effect on Atrial Arrhythmias Study

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Ahmad ◽  
Fernando S. Schlindwein ◽  
Jiun H. Tuan ◽  
G. Andre Ng
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Atrial Fibrillation ◽  
European Union ◽  
Frequency Analysis ◽  
Dominant Frequency ◽  
Atrial Arrhythmias ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Spectral Techniques ◽  
Frequency Changes

Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is the most common disorder of the heart rhythms. There are about 2.3 million people in United States and 4.5 million people in the European Union with AF [Go et.al, 2001]. It is also one of the factors that may contribute to mortality and morbidity. Researchers who apply spectral techniques show that certain areas of the atria can have higher activation frequencies than other areas. Frequency analysis is used to measure changes in Dominant Frequency (DF). We access the electrical propagation inside the atria by spectrogram plotting and examining the effect of isoprenaline and atropine on frequency changes.

Punching Above its Weight: Current and Future Aging Policy in Malta

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (8) ◽  
pp. 1384-1391
Author(s):  
Marvin Formosa ◽  
Charles Scerri
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Active Ageing ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Aging Policy

Abstract Malta has been at the forefront in aging policy and healthy aging development. It was the first country to highlight the need of a United Nations-led international action plan aimed at meeting the needs of an emerging global aging population. Through a number of initiatives, Malta has managed to put aging as a top priority on its national policy agenda. The country boasts of the longest life span spent in good health among all European Union countries with its inhabitants expected to live a significant portion of their life free of disability. Malta’s ranking in the Active Ageing Index experienced consistent improvements in the past decade, registering the sharpest progress in the European Union. In response to an increase in individuals with dementia, Malta was also among the first countries to adopt a national strategic policy for dementia. Notwithstanding such significant progress, Malta still lags behind in developing policy directions addressing gender inequalities and minority groups’ interests among its older population. Similar to other Southern European countries, Malta’s accelerated rate of population aging raises concerns with regard to economic growth, sustainability of effective health care and pension systems, and the well-being of older persons. Gender will also feature prominently in the future planning of long-term care policy as older women are projected to increase threefold in the foreseeable years with the high risk of poverty associated with older single and widowed women, implying that a few would be able to opt for private care.

scholarly journals COVID- 19 PANDEMIC AND THE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHT TO ABORTION

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivana Tucak ◽  
Anita Blagojević
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Health States ◽  
Member States ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Legal Difficulties ◽  
The Right ◽  
International Conventions ◽  
Right Of Access

The COVID - 19 pandemic that swept the world in 2020 and the reactions of state authorities to it are unparalleled events in modern history. In order to protect public health, states have limited a number of fundamental human rights that individuals have in accordance with national constitutions and international conventions. The focus of this paper is the right of access to abortion in the Member States of the European Union. In Europe, the situation with regard to the recognition of women's right to abortion is quite clear. All member states of the European Union, with the exception of Poland and Malta, recognize the rather liberal right of a woman to have an abortion in a certain period of time after conception. However, Malta and Poland, as members of the European Union, since abortion is seen as a service, must not hinder the travel of women abroad to have an abortion, nor restrict information on the provision of abortion services in other countries. In 2020, a pandemic highlighted all the weaknesses of this regime by preventing women from traveling to more liberal countries to perform abortions, thus calling into question their right to choose and protect their sexual and reproductive rights. This is not only the case in Poland and Malta, but also in countries that recognize the right to abortion but make it conditional on certain non-medical conditions, such as compulsory counselling; and the mandatory time period between applying for and performing an abortion; in situations present in certain countries where the problem of a woman exercising the right to abortion is a large number of doctors who do not provide this service based on their right to conscience. The paper is divided into three parts. The aim of the first part of the paper is to consider all the legal difficulties that women face in accessing abortion during the COVID -19 pandemic, restrictions that affect the protection of their dignity, right to life, privacy and right to equality. In the second part of the paper particular attention will be paid to the illiberal tendencies present in this period in some countries of Central and Eastern Europe, especially Poland. In the third part of the paper, emphasis will be put on the situation in Malta where there is a complete ban on abortion even in the case when the life of a pregnant woman is in danger.

Healthy Life Expectancy Measurement in Scotland

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. S. Macdonald ◽  
J. Straughn ◽  
M. Sutton
Keyword(s):  
Good Health ◽  
Health Expectancy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Expected Number ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Scottish Population ◽  
Accession Countries ◽  
Scottish Health Survey

ABSTRACTHealth expectancy (HE) was only recently estimated for the Scottish population (Clark et al., 2004). The estimates were based on Sullivan's method, applying the morbidity prevalence in each age group to the expected number of years lived, to obtain the expected number of years lived in good health. First, we compare these estimates with a wide range of estimates in respect of the rest of the United Kingdom and the (pre-accession) countries of the European Union. We find that Scotland's HE is relatively low, especially for men. Second, we examine data comprising the responses to the 1998 Scottish Health Survey, linked to the hospital records of the respondents from 1981 to 2004, and death records from 1998 to 2004, with HE measurement in mind. Although time spent in hospital does not give a satisfactory measure of HE, the linkage presents a rare opportunity for statistical analysis of survey respondents' mortality and morbidity. We show the results of survival analyses, quantifying the effectiveness of various definitions of ‘unhealthy’ as predictors of future mortality and morbidity. The results suggest that enumerating recent serious hospital episodes might help to predict future patterns of demand for acute services.

scholarly journals Control methods for cattle feedstuffs aimed at prevention of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)

2006 ◽  
Vol 60 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 249-254
Author(s):  
Ksenija Nesic
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Active Role ◽  
World Market ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Spongiform Encephalopathy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The World ◽  
First Time

In the course of the last decades of the twentieth century, more than 30 new diseases were determined for the first time in history. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or "mad cow disease" is one of them. The disease implies the subacute neurodegenerative transmission of spongiform encephalopathy and it was diagnosed and described for the first time in Great Britain in 1986. A theory has been established that BSE is spread through feedstuffs, more precisely, meat-bone flour which contains infective proteins of ruminants, and legislature has been passed throughout the world with the objective of preventing the entry of meat-bone flour into the food chain. The complete ban of the use of meat-bone flour for all farm animals (with the exception of fish flour for non-ruminants) and an adequate thermal treatment in the production of meat-bone flour (133?C, 3 bar, 20 min) are the elements on which the European Union (EU) legislature is based. The regulations in our country include a ban on the use of meat-bone flour in cattle feedstuffs and a ban on imports of beef proteins. The implementation of this legislature throughout the world requires the corresponding analytical means. At the present time, there are several available possibilities: optic microscopy, PCR, immunoprobes, spectroscopic methods, and several others which are still being examined for use for this purpose. All the analytical methods are being applied with the objective of controlling the implementation of the current regulations, but also in order to discover possible cross contamination that could take place in factories of animal feedstuffs, during transportation, storage, or on farms, in particular when there are no separate lines for feedstuffs that contains meat-bone flour and others in which even its traces are banned. In order to secure the successful control and prevention of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in our country, as well as to secure the unhindered continuation of the integration processes with the European Union, it is necessary to create an adequate system for the monitoring of this disease, not only because of food safety as a precondition for the good health of people, but also for commercial reasons, as that is the only way to have an active role on the world market. .

scholarly journals Enlarging the Application of the Food Security Index at European Union Regions

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larisa Mihoreanu ◽  
Laura Mariana Cismas ◽  
Laura Maria Danila Jianu
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Good Health ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Zero Hunger

The food security remains a major priority and a typical issue that requires immediate international solutions. Recent studies reveal the increasing complexity of food security issues focusing on the necessity to address formal actions and solve the dramatic situations. New tools are always welcome to facilitate solutions’ implementation.In September 2015, the United Nations Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development among the goals of which the followings are fundamental: no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, clean water and climate action. The European Union joined the Program, expressing the full commitment to its implementation. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the number of undernourished people reached in 2017 about 821 million peoples, representing an increase from about 804 million peoples in 2016. The 2018 statistics of FAO state that 22% of children under-five are affected by malnutrition, while over 38 million children in the same age group are overweight.Beyond the premises, as a novelty, we contribute at the food security knowledge by calculating a regional index at European and Romanian levels to better outline the realities and provide the decision-makers with a new tool to find better solutions.

Seroprevalence of Anti–Hepatitis E Virus and Anti-Salmonella Antibodies in Pigs at Slaughter in Switzerland

2012 ◽  
Vol 75 (8) ◽  
pp. 1483-1485 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. WACHECK ◽  
E. SARNO ◽  
E. MÄRTLBAUER ◽  
C. ZWEIFEL ◽  
R. STEPHAN
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Immunoglobulin G ◽  
Hepatitis E Virus ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Hepatitis E ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Zoonotic Pathogens ◽  
Meat Juice ◽  
Fattening Pigs

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) and Salmonella bacteria are zoonotic pathogens that can be acquired by foodborne transmission because food animals, for example pigs, are recognized as a reservoir. The objectives of this study were to determine the seroprevalence of anti-HEV immunoglobulin G (IgG) and anti-Salmonella antibodies from healthy pigs at slaughter in Switzerland, a country with a good health status of pig herds (e.g., eradication of enzootic pneumonia) compared with those of many countries in the European Union, and a rate of importation of live pigs that is very low (<1%). Based on pooled (diaphragm muscles from 3 to 5 animals per producer) meat juice samples, 120 (60%) of 200 and 8 (4%) of 200 samples were positive for anti-HEV IgG and anti-Salmonella antibodies, respectively. HEV seems to be highly prevalent among fattening pigs in Switzerland, whereas the low seroprevalence of anti-Salmonella IgG has not changed in recent years.

FREQUENCY ESTIMATION FOR ATRIAL FIBRILLATION FROM HUMAN STUDIES

2016 ◽  
Vol 78 (7-4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Atrial Fibrillation ◽  
European Union ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Frequency Estimation ◽  
Dominant Frequency ◽  
High Frequency Stimulation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Spectral Techniques ◽  
Frequency Stimulation

Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is the most common disorder of the heart rhythms. There are about 2.3 million people in United States and 4.5 million people in the European Union with AF [1]. It is also one of the factors that may contribute to mortality and morbidity. Researchers who apply spectral techniques show that certain areas of the atria can have higher activation frequencies than other areas. Frequency analysis is used to measure changes in Dominant Frequency (DF). We access the electrical propagation inside the atria by spectrogram plotting and examining the effect of high frequency stimulation on human.

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