Representation of gender in migrant health studies – a systematic review of the social epidemiological literature
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Wandschneider L
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7556985 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:The development of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) requires more qualified professionals in these fields. However, gender segregation in higher education in this sector is creating a gender gap that means that for some disciplines female representation does not even reach 30% of the total. In order to propose measures to address the phenomenon, it is necessary to understand the possible causes of this issue. A systematic literature review and mapping were carried out for the study, following the PRISMA guidelines and flowchart. The research questions to be answered were (RQ1) What studies exist on the gender gap in relation to the choice of higher education in the STEM field; and (RQ2) How do gender roles and stereotypes influence decision-making related to higher education? The review of peer-reviewed scientific articles, conferences texts, books and book chapters on the European education area was applied. A total of 4571 initial results were obtained and, after the process marked by the PRISMA flowchart, the final results were reduced to 26. The results revealed that gender stereotypes are strong drivers of the gender gap in general, and the Leaky Pipeline and Stereotype Threat in particular. To narrow the gender gap, it is necessary to focus on influences from the family, the educational environment, and the peer group, as well as from the culture itself. Positive self-concept, self-efficacy, self-confidence, and self-perception need to be fostered, so that the individual chooses their studies according to their goals.
| S-EPMC9449562 | biostudies-literature
Project description:It is unclear whether the literature on adolescent gender dysphoria (GD) provides sufficient evidence to inform clinical decision making adequately. In the second of a series of three papers, we sought to review published evidence systematically regarding the extent and nature of mental health problems recorded in adolescents presenting for clinical intervention for GD. Having searched PROSPERO and the Cochrane library for existing systematic reviews (and finding none), we searched Ovid Medline 1946 -October week 4 2020, Embase 1947-present (updated daily), CINAHL 1983-2020, and PsycInfo 1914-2020. The final search was carried out on the 2nd November 2020 using a core strategy including search terms for 'adolescence' and 'gender dysphoria' which was adapted according to the structure of each database. Papers were excluded if they did not clearly report on clinically-likely gender dysphoria, if they were focused on adult populations, if they did not include original data (epidemiological, clinical, or survey) on adolescents (aged at least 12 and under 18 years), or if they were not peer-reviewed journal publications. From 6202 potentially relevant articles (post deduplication), 32 papers from 11 countries representing between 3000 and 4000 participants were included in our final sample. Most studies were observational cohort studies, usually using retrospective record review (21). A few compared cohorts to normative or population datasets; most (27) were published in the past 5 years. There was significant overlap of study samples (accounted for in our quantitative synthesis). All papers were rated by two reviewers using the Crowe Critical Appraisal Tool v1·4 (CCAT). The CCAT quality ratings ranged from 45% to 96%, with a mean of 81%. More than a third of the included studies emerged from two treatment centres: there was considerable sample overlap and it is unclear how representative these are of the adolescent GD community more broadly. Adolescents presenting for GD intervention experience a high rate of mental health problems, but study findings were diverse. Researchers and clinicians need to work together to improve the quality of assessment and research, not least in making studies more inclusive and ensuring long-term follow-up regardless of treatment uptake. Whole population studies using administrative datasets reporting on GD / gender non-conformity may be necessary, along with inter-disciplinary research evaluating the lived experience of adolescents with GD.
| S-EPMC10021389 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThis systematic literature review (SLR) analyzes migrant entrepreneurship support in Europe through three research questions (RQs) to understand 1) migrant entrepreneur characteristics in the European context, 2) challenges encountered by migrant entrepreneurs in European host countries, and 3) policies supporting migrant entrepreneurship in Europe. This review addresses gaps in current knowledge in academia as well as issues that policymakers and practitioners face when addressing migrant entrepreneurship support.MethodsThis SLR employed a search protocol to retrieve published sources from 1970 to 2021, via Scopus (27 March 2022) and Web of Science (7 April 2022). Inclusion criteria targeted migrant entrepreneurship support studies while exclusion criteria eliminated domestic migration and non-European contexts. The authors worked iteratively, aligning the data with the RQs to reduce bias, and adapted Bourdieu's forms of capital to create an analytical framework for the sources included in the SLR, with a table for each RQ to synthesize relevant data for analysis.ResultsThe review examined 91 peer-reviewed papers, with a focus on migrant entrepreneurship support in Europe, covering characteristics, challenges, and support policies. It classified migrant entrepreneur challenges and characteristics into financial, human, and social capital, as well as external factors. Common challenges include the local culture and language, network, funding, and adapting to local business practices. Migrant entrepreneurs' stability relates to time in the host country and local language proficiency and reflects past entrepreneurial experience and education. Supportive mechanisms involve local networks, financing, and mentoring.ConclusionsThe SLR's limitations encompass possible oversight of pertinent studies, along with potential bias in data extraction, analysis, and subjectivity due to thematic analysis. Nonetheless, the findings suggest the following research agenda for migrant entrepreneurship support: evaluating and enhancing human and social capital, sharing information, designing support programs, addressing in-group/out-group bias in support programs, and exploring bottom-up migrant entrepreneurship support approaches.
| S-EPMC10691309 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Graph theory is a well-established theory with many methods used in mathematics to study graph structures. In the field of medicine, electronic health records (EHR) are commonly used to store and analyze patient data. Consequently, it seems straight-forward to perform research on modeling EHR data as graphs. This systematic literature review aims to investigate the frontiers of the current research in the field of graphs representing and processing patient data. We want to show, which areas of research in this context need further investigation. The databases MEDLINE, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore and ACM digital library were queried by using the search terms health record, graph and related terms. Based on the "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis" (PRISMA) statement guidelines the articles were screened and evaluated using full-text analysis. Eleven out of 383 articles found in systematic literature review were finally included for analysis in this literature review. Most of them use graphs to represent temporal relations, often representing the connection among laboratory data points. Only two papers report that the graph data were further processed by comparing the patient graphs using similarity measurements. Graphs representing individual patients are hardly used in research context, only eleven papers considered such kind of graphs in their investigations. The potential of graph theoretical algorithms, which are already well established, could help increasing this research field, but currently there are too few papers to estimate how this area of research will develop. Altogether, the use of such patient graphs could be a promising technique to develop decision support systems for diagnosis, medication or therapy of patients using similarity measurements or different kinds of analysis.
| S-EPMC7067737 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectivesEvidence suggests that precarious employment can have detrimental effects on workers' health, including mental health. Migrant workers are discussed to be especially vulnerable to such effects. Thus, we systematically reviewed existing research on the association between precarious employment and migrant workers' mental health.MethodsThree electronic databases (Web of Science, PsycINFO and PubMed/Medline) were searched for original articles on quantitative and qualitative studies published from January 1970 to February 2022 in English, German, Turkish and Spanish. Multiple dimensions of precarious employment were considered as exposure, with mental health problems as outcomes. Narrative synthesis and thematic analyses were performed to summarize the findings of the included studies along with risk of bias and quality assessment.ResultsThe literature search resulted in 1557 original articles, 66 of which met the inclusion criteria - 43 were of high quality and 22 were of moderate quality. The most common exposure dimensions analyzed in the studies included temporariness, vulnerability, poor interpersonal relationships, disempowerment, lacking workers' rights and low income. The outcome measures included stress, depression, anxiety and poor general mental health. The prevalence of these outcomes varied between 10-75% among the included quantitative studies. All qualitative studies reported one or more dimensions of precarious employment as an underlying factor of the development of mental health problems among migrants. Of 33 quantitative studies, 23 reported evidence for an association between dimensions of precarious employment and mental health.ConclusionThe results of this review support the hypothesis that precarious employment is associated with migrant workers' mental health.
| S-EPMC9527784 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Recent evidence suggests a global burden of chronic cough in general populations. However, the definitions vary greatly among epidemiological studies, and none have been validated for clinical relevance. We aimed to examine previous epidemiological definitions in detail and explore the operational characteristics.A systematic review was conducted for epidemiological surveys that reported the prevalence of chronic cough in general adult populations during the years 1980 to 2013. A literature search was performed on Pubmed and Embase without language restriction. Epidemiological definitions for chronic cough were classified according to their components, such as cutoff duration. Meta-analyses were performed for the male-to-female ratio of chronic cough prevalence to explore operational characteristics of epidemiological definitions.A total of 70 studies were included in the systematic review. The most common epidemiological definition was identified as 'cough ?3 months' duration without specification of phlegm (n=50); however, it conflicted with the cutoff duration in current clinical guidelines (cough ?8 weeks). Meta-analyses were performed for the male-to-female ratio of chronic cough among 28 studies that reported sex-specific prevalence using the most common definition. The pooled male-to-female odds ratio was 1.26 (95% confidence interval 0.92-1.73) with significant heterogeneity (I²=96%, P<0.001), which was in contrast to clinical observations of female predominance from specialist clinics. Subgroup analyses did not reverse the ratio or reduce the heterogeneity.This study identified major issues in defining chronic cough in future epidemiological studies. The conflict between epidemiological and clinical diagnostic criteria needs to be resolved. The unexpected difference in the gender predominance between the community and clinics warrants further studies. Clinical validation of the existing definition is required.
| S-EPMC4713878 | biostudies-other
Project description:BackgroundThe re-emergence of tuberculosis (TB) in low-incidence countries and its disproportionate burden on immigrants is a public health concern posing specific social and ethical challenges. This review explores perceptions, knowledge, attitudes and treatment adherence behaviour relating to TB and their social implications as reported in the qualitative literature.MethodsSystematic review in four electronic databases. Findings from thirty selected studies extracted, tabulated, compared and synthesized.FindingsTB was attributed to many non-exclusive causes including air-born transmission of bacteria, genetics, malnutrition, excessive work, irresponsible lifestyles, casual contact with infected persons or objects; and exposure to low temperatures, dirt, stress and witchcraft. Perceived as curable but potentially lethal and highly contagious, there was confusion around a condition surrounded by fears. A range of economic, legislative, cultural, social and health system barriers could delay treatment seeking. Fears of deportation and having contacts traced could prevent individuals from seeking medical assistance. Once on treatment, family support and "the personal touch" of health providers emerged as key factors facilitating adherence. The concept of latent infection was difficult to comprehend and while TB screening was often seen as a socially responsible act, it could be perceived as discriminatory. Immigration and the infectiousness of TB mutually reinforced each another exacerbating stigma. This was further aggravated by indirect costs such as losing a job, being evicted by a landlord or not being able to attend school.ConclusionsUnderstanding immigrants' views of TB and the obstacles that they face when accessing the health system and adhering to a treatment programme-taking into consideration their previous experiences at countries of origin as well as the social, economic and legislative context in which they live at host countries- has an important role and should be considered in the design, evaluation and adaptation of programmes.
| S-EPMC3857814 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundMore intense cyclones are expected in the future as a result of climate change. A comprehensive review is urgently needed to summarize and update the evidence on the health effects of cyclones.ObjectivesWe aimed to provide a systematic review with meta-analysis of current evidence on the risks of all reported health outcomes related to cyclones and to identify research gaps and make recommendations for further research.MethodsWe systematically searched five electronic databases (MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science) for relevant studies in English published before 21 December 2022. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines, we developed inclusion criteria, screened the literature, and included epidemiological studies with a quantitative risk assessment of any mortality or morbidity-related outcomes associated with cyclone exposures. We extracted key data and assessed study quality for these studies and applied meta-analyses to quantify the overall effect estimate and the heterogeneity of comparable studies.ResultsIn total, 71 studies from eight countries (the United States, China, India, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Australia, Brazil), mostly the United States, were included in the review. These studies investigated the all-cause and cause-specific mortality, as well as morbidity related to injury, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), respiratory diseases, infectious diseases, mental disorders, adverse birth outcomes, cancer, diabetes, and other outcomes (e.g., suicide rates, gender-based violence). Studies mostly included only one high-amplitude cyclone (cyclones with a Saffir-Simpson category of 4 or 5, i.e., Hurricanes Katrina or Sandy) and focused on mental disorders morbidity and all-cause mortality and hospitalizations. Consistently elevated risks of overall mental health morbidity, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as all-cause mortality or hospitalizations, were found to be associated with cyclones. However, the results for other outcomes were generally mixed or limited. A statistically significant overall relative risk of 1.09 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04, 1.13], 1.18 (95% CI: 1.12, 1.25), 1.15 (95% CI: 1.13, 1.18), 1.26 (95% CI: 1.05, 1.50) was observed for all-cause mortality, all-cause hospitalizations, respiratory disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease hospitalizations, respectively, after cyclone exposures, whereas no statistically significant risks were identified for diabetes mortality, heart disease mortality, and preterm birth. High between-study heterogeneity was observed.ConclusionsThere is generally consistent evidence supporting the notion that high-amplitude cyclones could significantly increase risks of mental disorders, especially for PTSD, as well as mortality and hospitalizations, but the evidence for other health outcomes, such as chronic diseases (e.g., CVDs, cancer, diabetes), and adverse birth outcomes remains limited or inconsistent. More studies with rigorous exposure assessment, of larger spatial and temporal scales, and using advanced modeling strategy are warranted in the future, especially for those small cyclone-prone countries or regions with low and middle incomes. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP12158.
| S-EPMC10461789 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND:Precarious employment has become an urgent public health issue at a global scale with potential consequences for quality of life and health of employees, especially in vulnerable groups such as migrants. The primary aim of this systematic review is thus to analyze and summarize existing research on the association between precarious employment and migrant workers' mental health. METHODS:We will search PubMed/MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science (from January 1970 onwards) for original articles on observational studies (e.g., cohort, case-control and cross-sectional, and qualitative) published in English, German, Turkish, and Spanish. The primary outcome will be depression and anxiety disorders. Secondary outcomes will be burnout, sleeping problems, and occupational stress. Two reviewers will independently screen all citations, full-text articles, and abstract data. Potential conflicts will be resolved through discussion. The methodological quality (or risk of bias) of individual studies will be appraised using an appropriate tool. A narrative synthesis will summarize and explain the characteristics and findings of the studies. If feasible, we will conduct random effects meta-analyses where appropriate. DISCUSSION:This systematic review will analyze the ways in which precarious employment affects migrant workers' mental health and the process that underlies this relationship. The results from the systematic review outlined in this protocol will be of interest to labor and health professionals, policy makers, labor unions, and non-governmental organizations. Our findings may encourage and impel related policy makers to establish human-focused, safe and healthy work environments, and workplace conditions. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION:PROSPERO, CRD42019132560.
| S-EPMC7060985 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The current review evaluates the potential of cannabidiol (CBD) as a promising pharmacotherapy for social anxiety disorder (SAD). Although a number of evidence-based treatments for SAD are available, less than a third of affected individuals experience symptom remission after one year of treatment. Therefore, improved treatment options are urgently needed, and CBD is one candidate medication that may have certain benefits over current pharmacotherapies, including the absence of sedating side effects, reduced abuse liability, and rapid course of action. The current review provides a brief overview of CBD’s mechanisms of action, neuroimaging in SAD, and evidence for CBD’s effects on the neural substrates of SAD, as well as systematically reviewing literature directly examining the efficacy of CBD for improving social anxiety among healthy volunteers and individuals with SAD. In both populations, acute CBD administration significantly decreased anxiety without co-occurring sedation. A single study has also shown chronic administration to decrease social anxiety symptoms in individuals with SAD. Collectively, the current literature suggests CBD may be a promising treatment for SAD. However, further research is needed to establish optimal dosing, assess the timecourse of CBD’s anxiolytic effects, evaluate long-term CBD administration, and explore sex differences in CBD for social anxiety.
| S-EPMC9983614 | biostudies-literature