Applying clinical epidemiological methods to health equity: the equity effectiveness loop.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Tugwell P
PROVIDER: S-EPMC1363922 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:ObjectivesThe purpose of this systematic review is to explore whether health equity audits (HEAs) are effective in improving the equity of service provision and reducing health inequalities.DesignThree databases (Ovid Medline, Embase, Web of Science) and grey literature (Opengrey, Google Scholar) were systematically searched for articles published after 2000, reporting on the effectiveness of HEA. Title and abstracts were screened according to an eligibility criteria to identify studies which included a full audit cycle (eg, initial equity analysis, service changes and review). Data were extracted from studies meeting the eligibility criteria after full text review and risk of bias assessed using the ROBINS-I tool.ResultsThe search strategy identified 596 articles. Fifteen records were reviewed in full text and three records were included in final review. An additional HEA report was identified through contact with an author. Three different HEAs were included from one peer-reviewed journal article, two published reports and one unpublished report (n=4 records on n=3 HEAs). This included 102 851 participants and over 148 practices/pharmacies (information was not recorded for all records). One study reviewed health equity impacts of HEA implementation in key indicators for coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Two HEAs explored Stop Smoking Services on programme access and equity. All reported some degree of reduction in health inequalities compared with prior HEA implementation. However, impact of HEA implementation compared with other concurrent programmes and initiatives was unclear. All included studies were judged to have moderate to serious risk of bias.ConclusionsThere is an urgent need to identify effective interventions to address health inequalities. While HEAs are recommended, we only identified limited weak evidence to support their use. More evidence is needed to explore whether HEA implementation can reduce inequalities and which factors are influencing effectiveness.Trial registration numberThe study was registered prior to its conduction in PROSPERO (CRD 42020218642).
| S-EPMC8587574 | biostudies-literature
Project description:It is well known that science can be misused to hinder the resolution (i.e., the elimination and/or control) of a health problem. To recognize distorted and misapplied epidemiological science, a 33-item "Toolkit for detecting misused epidemiological methods" (hereinafter, the Toolkit) was published in 2021. Applying the Toolkit, we critically evaluated a review paper entitled, "Lessons learned from Chernobyl and Fukushima on thyroid cancer screening and recommendations in the case of a future nuclear accident" in Environment International in 2021, published by the SHAMISEN (Nuclear Emergency Situations - Improvement of Medical and Health Surveillance) international expert consortium. The article highlighted the claim that overdiagnosis of childhood thyroid cancers greatly increased the number of cases detected in ultrasound thyroid screening following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident. However, the reasons cited in the SHAMISEN review paper for overdiagnosis in mass screening lacked important information about the high incidence of thyroid cancers after the accident. The SHAMISEN review paper ignored published studies of screening results in unexposed areas, and included an invalid comparison of screenings among children with screenings among adults. The review omitted the actual state of screening in Fukushima after the nuclear accident, in which only nodules > 5 mm in diameter were examined. The growth rate of thyroid cancers was not slow, as emphasized in the SHAMISEN review paper; evidence shows that cancers detected in second-round screening grew to more than 5 mm in diameter over a 2-year period. The SHAMISEN consortium used an unfounded overdiagnosis hypothesis and misguided evidence to refute that the excess incidence of thyroid cancer was attributable to the nuclear accident, despite the findings of ongoing ultrasound screening for thyroid cancer in Fukushima and around Chernobyl. By our evaluation, the SHAMISEN review paper includes 20 of the 33 items in the Toolkit that demonstrate the misuse of epidemiology. The International Agency for Research on Cancer meeting in 2017 and its publication cited in the SHAMISEN review paper includes 12 of the 33 items in the Toolkit. Finally, we recommend a few enhancements to the Toolkit to increase its utility.
| S-EPMC9400325 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC11308869 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Health and healthcare disparities continue despite clinical, research, and policy efforts. Large clinical datasets may not contain data relevant to healthcare disparities and leveraging these for research may be crucial to improve health equity. The Health Disparities Collaborative Research Group was commissioned by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to examine the data science needs for quality and complete data and provide recommendations for improving data science around health disparities. The group convened content experts, researchers, clinicians, and patients to produce these recommendations and suggestions for implementation. Our desire was to produce recommendations to improve the usability of healthcare datasets for health equity research. The recommendations are summarized in 3 primary domains: patient voice, accurate variables, and data linkage. The implementation of these recommendations in national datasets has the potential to accelerate health disparities research and promote efforts to reduce health inequities.
| S-EPMC7671626 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundPublic health (PH) practitioners have a strong moral commitment to health equity and social justice. However, PH values often do not align with health systems values, making it challenging for PH practitioners to promote health equity. In spite of a growing range of PH ethics frameworks and theories, little is known about ethical concerns related to promotion of health equity in PH practice. The purpose of this paper is to examine the ethical concerns of PH practitioners in promoting health equity in the context of mental health promotion and prevention of harms of substance use.MethodsAs part of a broader program of public health systems and services research, we interviewed 32 PH practitioners.ResultsUsing constant comparative analysis, we identified four systemic ethical tensions: [1] biomedical versus social determinants of health agenda; [2] systems driven agendas versus situational care; [3] stigma and discrimination versus respect for persons; and [4] trust and autonomy versus surveillance and social control.ConclusionsNaming these tensions provides insights into the daily ethical challenges of PH practitioners and an opportunity to reflect on the relevance of PH frameworks. These findings highlight the value of relational ethics as a promising approach for developing ethical frameworks for PH practice.
| S-EPMC8375114 | biostudies-literature
Project description:This is a nationwide epidemiological study using DSM-5 criteria to assess the prevalence of mental disorders in a large sample of Austrian adolescents between 10 and 18 years including hard-to-reach samples. A sample of 3615 adolescents from four cohorts (school grades 5, 7, 9, 11; age range 10-18 years) was recruited from 261 schools, samples of unemployed adolescents (n = 39) and adolescents from mental health institutions (n = 137) were added. The Youth Self-Report and SCOFF were used to screen for mental health problems. In a second phase, the Childrens' Diagnostic Interview for Mental Disorders was used to make point and lifetime psychiatric diagnoses. Mental health service use was also assessed. Point prevalence and lifetime prevalence rates for at least one psychiatric disorder were 23.9% and 35.8%. The highest lifetime prevalence rates were found for anxiety disorders (15.6%), neurodevelopmental disorders (9.3%; ADHD 5.2%) and depressive disorders (6.2%). Forty-seven percent of adolescents with a lifetime psychiatric disorder had a second diagnosis. Internalising disorders were more prevalent in girls, while neurodevelopmental disorders and disruptive, impulse control and conduct disorders were more prevalent in boys. Of those with a lifetime psychiatric disorder, 47.5% had contacted mental health services. Of the residual 52.5% who had not contacted mental health services, 18.1% expressed an interest in treatment. DSM-5 mental health disorders are highly prevalent among Austrian adolescents. Over 50% had or were interested in accessing treatment. Early access to effective interventions for these problems is needed to reduce burden due to mental health disorders.
| S-EPMC5701961 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A growing body of evidence shows the use of digital technologies in health-referred to as eHealth, mHealth or 'digital health'-is improving and saving lives in low- and middle-income countries. Despite this prevalent and persistent narrative, very few studies examine its effects on health equity, gender and power dynamics. This journal supplement addresses these invisible imperatives by going beyond traditional measures of coverage, efficacy and cost-effectiveness associated with digital health interventions, to unpack different experiences of health workers and beneficiaries. The collection of papers presents findings from a cohort of implementation research projects in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, and two commentaries offer observations from learning-oriented evaluative activities across the entire cohort. The story emerging from this cohort is comprised of three themes: (i) digital health can positively influence health equity; (ii) gender and power analyses are essential; and (iii) digital health can be used to strengthen upward and downward accountability. These findings, at the individual project level and at the level of the cohort, provide encouraging recommendations on how to approach the design, implementation and evaluation of digital health interventions to address the Sustainable Development Goals agenda of leaving no one behind.
| S-EPMC6294032 | biostudies-other
Project description:BackgroundEpidemiological evidence on the social determinants of health inequity is well-advanced, but considerably less attention has been given to evaluating the impact of public policies addressing those social determinants. Methodological challenges to produce evidence on policy outcomes present a significant barrier to mobilising policy actions for health equities. This review aims to examine methodological approaches to policy evaluation of health equity outcomes and identify promising approaches for future research.MethodsWe conducted a systematic narrative review of literature critically evaluating policy impact on health equity, synthesizing information on the methodological approaches used. We searched and screened records from five electronic databases, using pre-defined protocols resulting in a total of 50 studies included for review. We coded the studies according to (1) type of policy analysed; (2) research design; (3) analytical techniques; (4) health outcomes; and (5) equity dimensions evaluated.ResultsWe found a growing number of a wide range of policies being evaluated for health equity outcomes using a variety of research designs. The majority of studies employed an observational research design, most of which were cross-sectional, however, other approaches included experimental designs, simulation modelling, and meta-analysis. Regression techniques dominated the analytical approaches, although a number of novel techniques were used which may offer advantages over traditional regression analysis for the study of distributional impacts of policy. Few studies made intra-national or cross-national comparisons or collected primary data. Despite longstanding challenges of attribution in policy outcome evaluation, the majority of the studies attributed change in physical or mental health outcomes to the policy being evaluated.ConclusionOur review provides an overview of methodological approaches to health equity policy outcome evaluation, demonstrating what is most commonplace and opportunities from novel approaches. We found the number of studies evaluating the impacts of public policies on health equity are on the rise, but this area of policy evaluation still requires more attention given growing inequities.
| S-EPMC6037500 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThis formative study leveraged a community-academic partnership to identify barriers to care that are potential sources of breast cancer disparities in Black women. Through this partnership and using a community-based participatory research approach, the objective was to develop a community task force to inform future interventions aimed at addressing breast cancer disparities and increasing health equity.MethodsThe authors assessed gaps in care related to breast cancer in Buffalo, New York, by collecting and analyzing qualitative data from focus groups and interviews with breast cancer survivors and breast navigation groups assessing barriers and facilitators across the cancer care continuum. Then, community-based participatory research approaches were used to build a task force to develop an action plan addressing gaps in care.ResultsThe authors conducted a thematic analysis of qualitative findings to understand barriers and facilitators to cancer care. Three main domains of themes emerged, including medical mistrust, fear, and stigma; the importance of patient navigation as a form of social support; and the importance of faith and faith-based community. Finally, the findings were presented to a newly formed community task force to validate the data collected and set future priorities to address breast cancer disparities and increase breast health equity in the region.ConclusionsThe authors observed that health equity is a critically important issue in cancer care and that developing culturally tailored interventions has the potential to improve care delivery and reduce breast cancer disparities. Learning from and working with community members helps set the future agenda related to health equity.Plain language summaryOur overall goal was to assess gaps in breast cancer care in Buffalo, New York, and to use community-based participatory approaches to build a task force to work toward breast health equity. Recent and historical data indicate that the Western New York community is facing a continued wide gap in breast cancer mortality trends between Black and White patients. We collected qualitative data to understand potential sources of inequity related to breast cancer and presented findings to a community task force to set future priorities for addressing breast cancer disparities and increasing breast health equity in our region.
| S-EPMC10513749 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Saturation, a core concept in qualitative research, suggests when data collection might end. It is reached when no new relevant information emerges with additional interviews. The aim of this research was to explore whether a mixed methods design could contribute to the demonstration of saturation. Firstly, saturation was conceptualized mathematically using set theory. Secondly, a conversion mixed design was conducted: a set of codes derived from qualitative interviews were quantitized and analyzed using partial least squares (PLS) regression to document whether saturation was reached. A qualitative study conducted by other researchers prior to this work (i.e. none of the present authors was involved in this study) was used to test saturation using PLS regression. This illustrative qualitative study aimed to investigate the impact of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) on nurses' work in the hospital and the results were published elsewhere (Guillemin et al. 2015). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 nurses. Saturation was characterized by the cumulative percentage of variability accounted for by PLS factors. After 12 interviews, this percentage was 51% which suggests that saturation was achieved at least on main themes. Two main themes identifying similarities in the experience of nurses caring for patients with CDI were identified: Organization/Coordination of the working day and Time-consuming work. Although dependent on the coding of qualitative data, PLS regression of quantitized data from qualitative interviews generated useful information for the determination of saturation.
| S-EPMC7304618 | biostudies-literature