Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health articles from August 2003

Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health archives from August 2003

Chasing the dollar: why scientists should decline tobacco industry funding; tobacco dollars are a bad bargain.(Editorials)(Editorial)
August 1, 2003... Most tobacco researchers now know how the tobacco industry for decades operated clandestinely to obstruct and obfuscate the scientific evidence that smoking causes cancer and, later, that secondhand smoke causes disease in non-smokers. The...

Hazardous effects of tobacco industry funding: public health scientists should be aware of the motives of research sponsors and their potential impact on health.(Editorials)(Editorial)
August 1, 2003... Concern over commercial sponsorship of medical research is at an all time high these days. As academic medical schools become increasingly dependent on financial relationships with the pharmaceutical industry, for example, there have been calls...

Multilevel analytical approaches in social epidemiology: measures of health variation compared with traditional measures of association: considering both distribution and determinants of health.(Editorials)(Editorial)
August 1, 2003... In this issue of the journal Jennifer Ahern et al (1) present the results of a multilevel analysis showing the increased likelihood of preterm birth affecting both African American and white women living in a neighbourhood with deprived...

El Salvador: social cost of neoliberal health reform.(The JECH Gallery)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Despite eight months on strike against health privatisation, (1) popular marches, and a large electoral reverse, the Salvadorian government seems determined on privatisation. The Congress debated a loan from the Interamerican Development Bank...

Psychosocial factors and public health.(Commentaries)(Editorial)
August 1, 2003... Macleod and Davey Smith state that the aim of their paper is to critically examine the role of psychosocial factors in health. (1) Unfortunately, what could have been an interesting discussion is compromised by the authors implicit assumption...

Unemployment and suicide: how is your work going?(Commentaries)
August 1, 2003... The prevention of suicidal behaviour is still a land of hopes and promises but not of certainties. In fact, Western countries are facing a general decline in suicide rates that seems unrelated to any national plan aimed at obtaining the desired...

Unemployment and suicidal behaviour: the role of economic policy.(Commentaries)
August 1, 2003... In the mid-1980s, Stephen Platt published two reviews of the literature that indicated that unemployment was associated with an increased risk of completed suicide and an increased risk of attempted suicide (sometimes referred to as...

Research on unemployment and suicide: problems and consequences.(Commentaries)
August 1, 2003... Many capitalist economies are characterised by business cycles with concomitant increases in joblessness during recessions and depressions, and reductions in unemployment in periods of economic expansion. In view of the potentially debilitating...

Unemployment and suicide: is the link always causal?(Commentaries)
August 1, 2003... Suicide is more frequent among people who are unemployed. (1) The suicide-unemployment association has been debated since sociologist Emil Durkheim's classic study (2) over 100 years ago concluded that unemployment increased social isolation,...

Advanced glossary on genetic epidemiology.(Glossary)
August 1, 2003... This is the last of a series of glossaries on terms used in genetic epidemiology published by the journal. This glossary covers the most advanced genetic terms, most of which are related to new study designs and laboratory techniques. It...

The right to health of the European Union citizens. A strategy for a social European construction.(Speaker's Corner)
August 1, 2003... The fundamentals of the European construction were only economic until the Unique Act was passed. Then some social aspects were partially incorporated. Several advances in the field of common citizens' rights have, indeed, been introduced...

Psychosocial factors and public health: a suitable case for treatment?
August 1, 2003... Adverse psychosocial exposure or "misery" is associated with physical disease. This association may not be causal. Rather it may reflect issues of reverse causation, reporting bias, and confounding by aspects of the material environment...

Neurocysticercosis: households, pigs, and risks.(The JECH Gallery)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Neurocysticercosis is a major cause of neurological disease in most developing countries and is an emerging disease in industrialised areas. My intention is not to provide a detailed explanation of this problem, but to give an image to the...

Chasing Ernst L Wynder: 40 years of Philip Morris' efforts to influence a leading scientist.(Evidence Based Public Health Policy And Practice)
August 1, 2003... Study objective: To highlight strategies used by the Philip Morris tobacco company to try to manipulate the eminent scientist, Dr Ernst Wynder between 1955 and 1995. Methods: Systematic keyword and opportunistic searching of www.pmdocs.com...

Smoking cessation services are reducing inequalities. (Short Report).
August 1, 2003... The recent introduction of the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Bill (1) follows a whole range of strategies and subsequent interventions aimed at reducing levels of smoking in the UK. In particular, Smoking kills: a white paper on tobacco (2)...

Social deprivation and the public health risks of community drinking water supplies in New Zealand.(Evidence Based Public Health Policy And Practice)
August 1, 2003... Study objective: Quantitative evidence linking environmental exposures and social status at sub-national scales is surprisingly limited. This study investigated the public health risks associated with community water supplies in relation to...

Does an increase of low income families affect child health inequalities? A Swedish case study.(Evidence Based Public Health Policy And Practice)
August 1, 2003... Study objective: Reduction of health inequalities is a primary public health target in many countries. A change of proportion of low income families might affect child health inequalities. Yet, the importance of family incomes in high income...

Randomised controlled trial of the effect of evidence based information on women's willingness to participate in cervical cancer screening.(Evidence Based Public Health Policy And Practice)
August 1, 2003... Study objectives: To assess whether providing women with additional information on the pros and cons of screening, compared with information currently offered by the NHS, affects their intention to attend for screening. Design: Randomised...

Health, equity, human rights, and the invasion of Iraq.(Speaker's Corner)
August 1, 2003... During the days culminating in the US-British invasion of Iraq, I was working with a human rights attorney colleague, exploring links and distinctions between health, equity, and human rights. These concepts thus have been in my thoughts, and...

Unemployment and suicide. Evidence for a causal association?(Research Report)
August 1, 2003... Objectives: To determine the independent associations of labour force status and socioeconomic position with death by suicide. Design: Cohort study assembled by anonymous and probabilistic record linkage of census and mortality records. ...

Women's life cycle and abortion decision in unintended pregnancies.(Research Report)
August 1, 2003... Objective: To study the impact of sociodemographic, financial, and reproductive factors and of characteristics related to intimate relationships on the decisions of women in different age groups about whether or not to continue an unintended...

Preterm birth among African American and white women: a multilevel analysis of socioeconomic characteristics and cigarette smoking.(Research Report)
August 1, 2003... Study objective: Research shows that neighbourhood socioeconomic factors are associated with preterm delivery. This study examined whether cigarette smoking and individual socioeconomic factors modify the effects of neighbourhood factors on...

Secular trends in sex ratios at birth in North America and Europe over the second half of the 20th century.(Research Report)
August 1, 2003... Context: A previous study showed that significantly more boys were born in southern latitudes in Europe than in northern latitudes and the converse pattern was observed in North America. Objective: This study analyses secular trends in...

Starting a rumour, following Christopher Columbus, and spending other people's money.(Aphorism Of The Month)
August 1, 2003... Readers will recall that Columbus was adept at following his strategy for exploration by spending other people's money. (1) Bridging the gap between starting a rumour and mobilising resources for change is at the heart of public health--how...

Contextual risk factors for the common mental disorders in Britain: a multilevel investigation of the effects of place.(Research Report)
August 1, 2003... Study objective: To test hypotheses about associations between area level exposures and the prevalence of the most common mental disorders (CMD) in Britain. A statistically significant urban-rural gradient was predicted, but not a socioeconomic...

Continuing inequality: gender and social class influences on self perceived health after a heart attack.(Research Report)
August 1, 2003... Study objective: To investigate the effect of social class and gender on self perceived health status for those recovering from an acute myocardial infarction. Design: A longitudinal survey design was used, collecting both qualitative and...

Mortality and temperature in Sofia and London.(Theory And Methods)
August 1, 2003... Study objective: Heat and cold have been associated with increased mortality, independently of seasonal trends, but details are little known. This study explores associations between mortality and temperature in two European capitals--Sofia and...

An adaptation of the Framingham coronary heart disease risk function to European Mediterranean areas.(Theory And Methods)
August 1, 2003... Aim: To determine whether the Framingham function accurately predicts the 10 year risk of coronary disease and to adapt this predictive method to the characteristics of a Spanish population. Method and Results: A Framingham function for...

Concepts of epidemiology: an integrated introduction to the ideas, theories, principles and methods of epidemiology.(Book Review)
August 1, 2003... R Bhopal. (Pp 317; price not stated). Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-19-263155-1 The main focus of Concepts of epidemiology by Raj Bhopal is on giving readers the key concepts on which the practice of epidemiology is based. For this...

Evaluating health promotion programs.(Book Review)
August 1, 2003... T W Valente. (Pp 305; 37.50 [pounds sterling]). Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-19-514176-8 The author, Thomas W Valente, is Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine at the University of Southern California School of Medicine. So...

The politics of sports development.(Book Review)
August 1, 2003... B Houlihan, A White. (Pp 250; 19.99 [pounds sterling]). Routledge, London, 2002. ISBN 0-415-27748-5 (hbk), 0-415-27749-3 (pbk). This is a book that will attract anybody who has an interest in sports development, developing sport (the book...

Writing to the editor is not always in vain.(Hygieia)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... After cajoling from the Washington State Drowning Prevention Project, newspapers in the area increased the coverage they gave to fatal and non-fatal submersion injuries. It was also found that newspapers, as a general surveillance tool for...

Regular drinking as a mid-life hobby.(Hygieia)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... A prospective study of cardiovascular disease in the UK has lent weight to the reluctance of public health authorities to encourage alcohol drinking for health, with middle aged new regular drinkers suffering a higher risk of all cause...

Aberrant accounts abort analysis.(Hygieia)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The varying manner in which primary schools in one education authority reported accidents made it impossible to examine the association between accident rates and social deprivation (Arch Dis Child 2002;86:91-4). Expecting to confirm the...

Care in the community.(Hygieia)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Community based rehabilitation is an effective method of helping those who have suffered severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), even if treatment begins years after the initial injury. Rehabilitation for such injuries traditionally takes place in...