Dataset Information

Tuberculosis Mortality and Living Conditions in Bern, Switzerland, 1856-1950.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Tuberculosis (TB) is a poverty-related disease that is associated with poor living conditions. We studied TB mortality and living conditions in Bern between 1856 and 1950.

Methods

We analysed cause-specific mortality based on mortality registers certified by autopsies, and public health reports 1856 to 1950 from the city council of Bern.

Results

TB mortality was higher in the Black Quarter (550 per 100,000) and in the city centre (327 per 100,000), compared to the outskirts (209 per 100,000 in 1911-1915). TB mortality correlated positively with the number of persons per room (r = 0.69, p = 0.026), the percentage of rooms without sunlight (r = 0.72, p = 0.020), and negatively with the number of windows per apartment (r = -0.79, p = 0.007). TB mortality decreased 10-fold from 330 per 100,000 in 1856 to 33 per 100,000 in 1950, as housing conditions improved, indoor crowding decreased, and open-air schools, sanatoria, systematic tuberculin skin testing of school children and chest radiography screening were introduced.

Conclusions

Improved living conditions and public health measures may have contributed to the massive decline of the TB epidemic in the city of Bern even before effective antibiotic treatment became finally available in the 1950s.

SUBMITTER: Zurcher K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4755532 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Tuberculosis Mortality and Living Conditions in Bern, Switzerland, 1856-1950.

Zürcher Kathrin K Ballif Marie M Zwahlen Marcel M Rieder Hans L HL Egger Matthias M Fenner Lukas L

PloS one 20160216 2

<h4>Background</h4>Tuberculosis (TB) is a poverty-related disease that is associated with poor living conditions. We studied TB mortality and living conditions in Bern between 1856 and 1950.<h4>Methods</h4>We analysed cause-specific mortality based on mortality registers certified by autopsies, and public health reports 1856 to 1950 from the city council of Bern.<h4>Results</h4>TB mortality was higher in the Black Quarter (550 per 100,000) and in the city centre (327 per 100,000), compared to th ...[more]

PMID: 26881850

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Project description:BackgroundPsychiatric disorders constitute a major public health concern that are associated with substantial health and socioeconomic burden. Psychiatric patients may be more vulnerable to high temperatures, which under current climate change projections will most likely increase the burden of this public health concern.ObjectiveThis study investigated the short-term association between ambient temperature and mental health hospitalizations in Bern, Switzerland.MethodsDaily hospitalizations for mental disorders between 1973 and 2017 were collected from the University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy in Bern. Population-weighted daily mean ambient temperatures were derived for the catchment area of the hospital from 2.3-km gridded weather maps. Conditional quasi-Poisson regression with distributed lag linear models were applied to assess the association up to three days after the exposure. Stratified analyses were conducted by age, sex, and subdiagnosis, and by subperiods (1973-1989 and 1990-2017). Additional subanalyses were performed to assess whether larger risks were found during the warm season or were due to heatwaves.ResultsThe study included a total number of 88,996 hospitalizations. Overall, the hospitalization risk increased linearly by 4.0% (95% CI 2.0%, 7.0%) for every 10°C increase in mean daily temperature. No evidence of a nonlinear association or larger risks during the warm season or heatwaves was found. Similar estimates were found across for all sex and age categories, and larger risks were found for hospitalizations related to developmental disorders (29.0%; 95% CI 9.0%, 54.0%), schizophrenia (10.0%; 95% CI 4.0%, 15.0%), and for the later rather than the earlier period (5.0%; 95% CI 2.0%, 8.0% vs. 2.0%; 95% CI -3.0%, 8.0%).ConclusionsOur findings suggest that increasing temperatures could negatively affect mental status in psychiatric patients. Specific public health policies are urgently needed to protect this vulnerable population from the effects of climate change.

Dataset Information

Tuberculosis Mortality and Living Conditions in Bern, Switzerland, 1856-1950.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Tuberculosis Mortality and Living Conditions in Bern, Switzerland, 1856-1950.

Similar Datasets

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