9^th European Epidemiology and Public Health Congress June 13-14, 2019 Scandic Jarvenpaa | Helsinki, Finland

Biography:

Dr. Connie Evashwick is a healthcare executive who thrives at the nexus of management and academia, health care delivery systems and public health. Dr. Evashwick holds a bachelor's and a master's degree from Stanford University and a master's and doctoral degree from the Harvard School of Public Health.  Dr. Evashwick is an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University and at San Diego State University. She has published over 100 articles, has just completed her 14^th book, and has been editor of two journals, including Frontiers in Public Health Education and Promotion. She served as the Dean of a School of Public Health in the USA and has worked with epidemiologists as faculty, students, and colleagues. Dr. Evashwick has been a Visiting Scholar in six countries and is currently a Visiting Professor at Tampere University.

Abstract:

Epidemiology is central to public health. Without the study of the health of populations and communities, public health cannot be effective in preventing, ameliorating, or eradicating diseases. Three recent studies by our research team suggest how epidemiology might enhance its role as the driver of transdisciplinary research and evaluation. Our first study was a review of the literature pertaining to the education of the public health workforce. We found 375 studies published in peer-reviewed literature between 2000 and 2015. Only a few articles examined multi- or trans-disciplinary education. Joint education of epidemiologists and biostatisticians was reported only twice. A second study examined the sub-set of 86 articles between 2000 and 2017 that focused on evaluation of education. Only five studies evaluated education that served more than one discipline. The methodological sophistication of the evaluations was disappointing. The expertise of epidemiologists in research methodology was absent. Yet, these evaluations took place in schools of medicine and public health, where epidemiologists are core faculty members. The third initiative was a thematic analysis of articles submitted to a special journal issue on contemporary education for healthcare executives around the globe. 

Biography:

Dr Shyam Sundar Ganguly is a professor in Department of Family Medicine & Public Health, the College of Medicine & Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman. He worked as an associate professor in Armed Forces Medical College, India.

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: Ischemic stroke is a health concern worldwide. It has been suggested that ischemic stroke is a multifactorial disease of various etiologies involving both environmental and genetic factors. Polymorphism of apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene, which is associated with lipid metabolism, has been the focus of numerous studies as a potential risk factor for ischemic stroke. However, no such study has been carried out among Omani patients with ischemic stroke.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between APOE gene polymorphism and lipid profiles in the risk of ischemic stroke among the Omani population.

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: A total of 100 cases of large artery atherothrombotic and small vessel occlusion ischemic stroke were recruited from Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH). A similar number of age-matched controls were recruited from the same hospital based on some inclusion and exclusion criteria. Fasting blood samples were collected for lipid profile measurement using the standard methods and for genomic DNA extraction. APOE genotyping was performed by real-time PCR using TaqMan^©SNP Genotyping Assay.                            

Biography:

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) describes a social communication deficit and repetitive sensory-motor behaviours. Children with ASD have difficulties in socio-emotional reciprocity, verbal communicative behaviours and in developing and understanding relationships. Recently, a growing evidence on positive effect of different kinds of interventions for children with ASD, including Montessori therapy, appeared in scientific journals. Despite of a growing number of performed studies, the effect of Montessori therapy in the case of ASD is not fully proven. The aim of the current study was to compare a progress in psychomotor function between children with ASD attended Montessori therapy and those that did not attend any therapy.

Methodology: The study sample consisted of children 2 – 5 years old that attended the Children Clinical University Hospital and the Social Paediatrics Centre of the University of Latvia at 2013-2015. All children were diagnosed for presence of ASD by psychiatrist using the Denver functional test. After the initial assessment, children were randomly divided into those participated in Montessori therapy or those did not receive therapy. The final assessment was performed using the Denver functional test 6 - 8 months after the baseline examination. Multiple logistic regression models adjusted for age, compliance of development to age norms, and initial diagnosis of a child were built for the association between attendance the Montessori therapy and improvement of psychomotor functions. 

Conclusion & Significance: Attending Montessori therapy is preferable for children to improve their psychomotor function. We propose to attend therapies/developmental activities not only to children with ASD, but for healthy children as well.

Biography:

Laszlo Pecze has completed his PhD in Epidemiology at the age of 25 from University of Szeged, Hungary. He works as Computational Scientist at Philip Morris International in Neuchatel, Switzerland. He is responsible for computational analysis and statistical programming related to population health impact modelling. He has published five papers in eminent journals in the field of mathematical biology.

Abstract:

Philip Morris International has developed the Population Health Impact Model (PHIM) to estimate the reduction in smoking attributable mortality that could result from the marketing of a reduced-risk products (RRPs)* on the population (as a whole) of the market where the RRP is introduced. The PHIM predictions cover mortality from four smoking-related diseases — lung cancer, ischemic heart disease, stroke, and chronic pulmonary obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In the absence of long-term epidemiological data, PHIM predictions can only be verified in future studies. An exception is Sweden, where many Swedish smokers have already switched from cigarettes to a proven reduced risk, and non-combustible tobacco product (Swedish snus) for which long-term epidemiologic data is available in the period 1980-2010. Applying the PHIM to the Swedish data, a counterfactual scenario assumes that snus had not been available in Sweden and that the population of Swedish male snus users continued to smoke cigarettes instead. In this case, an increased number of deaths from the four smoking-related diseases has been estimated. Two approaches were used to calculate this counterfactual mortality: 1) indirect standardization considering the mortality rates from other European countries and 2) a “crude method” considering the relative risks of sub-populations with specific smoking and snus use behavior. The distribution of tobacco use habits — snus users (current/former/never) and smokers (current/former/never) — was calculated for 1980-2010 period. Finally, the counterfactual hypothetical mortalities were implemented into the PHIM as input parameters, and the model output was compared with the actual Swedish mortality data in males.

Biography:

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: Ovarian cancer has a poor prognosis, accounting for the most deaths among individuals with cancers of the female reproductive system, highlighting the need for preventive measures. Although ovarian cancer is relatively rare, Scandinavian countries have one among the highest incidence globally. Ovarian cancer shares some risk factors with breast cancer, and there is established evidence that menopausal hormone therapy (MHT), particularly combination therapy (estrogen + progestin, EP-MHT), increases the risk of invasive breast cancer.^{1, 2} However, the association with ovarian cancer is inconclusive.

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: This large Swedish population based, group-level matched-cohort (1:3 ratio) study was based on the Swedish Prescribed Drug Registry and Patient Registry. All women ≥40 years, who received ≥1 prescription of systemic MHT during the study period, 2005-2012, were included. The risk of ovarian cancer was presented as multivariate adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), sub-grouped by the different MHT types, formulations, administration routes and modes. Women who underwent bilateral oophorectomy or salpingo-oophorectomy were excluded from analyses.

Biography:

Lilian Tzivian has her expertise in the epidemiology of stress, well-being, and age-related processes. Investigating these processes, she worked on different fields of studies, such as environmental epidemiology, social epidemiology and public health. Her current research interests are related to age-associated personal changes and worsening of working condition of medical personal in Latvia with specific focus on nurses. In addition, professional burning of nurses is on the scope of her scientific interests, as this process cannot be separated from aging and years of experience. Lilian tries to assess using epidemiological methods of studies the main factors related to premature loss of work force in medicine, which is known as one of the main problems of contemporary health care.

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: In aging societies there is increased interest in keeping older people in the workforce. This is especially true in the health care system where at the same time due to increasing age of the population more people need medical help and nursing, while the staff becomes older too and tends to leave the work force prematurely, thus leading to a shortage of health care workers. The development of technologies increases the professional duties of nurses but doesn’t reduce work stress. Association between work stress of nurses and their workability is still underestimated. In this study we aimed to investigate the association between work stress and workability of nurses from three major hospitals in Riga, Latvia.

Methodology: We assessed cross-sectionally work- and health-related factors of nurses using structured questionnaires. Workability was assessed by self-reported 1 to 10 scale. Work stress was assessed using eight questions on anxiety, two questions on depressive symptoms, and three question on burnout. Multiple linear regression models adjusted for presence of children, year of experience, wage and position were built to investigate the association between work stress and workability. We investigated the effect measure modification of this association by age (dichotomized on median of 45 years).

Conclusion & Significance: Nurses should be particularly treated to reduce their level of stress to prevent a shortage of health care workers.

Biography:

Lilian Tzivian has her expertise in the epidemiology of stress, well-being, and age-related processes. Investigating these processes, she worked on different fields of studies, such as environmental epidemiology, social epidemiology and public health. Her current research interests are related to age-associated personal changes and worsening of working condition of medical personal in Latvia with specific focus on nurses. In addition, professional burning of nurses is on the scope of her scientific interests, as this process cannot be separated from aging and years of experience. Lilian tries to assess using epidemiological methods of studies the main factors related to premature loss of work force in medicine, which is known as one of the main problems of contemporary health care.   

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: In aging societies there is increased interest in keeping older people in the workforce. This is especially true in the health care system where at the same time due to increasing age of the population more people need medical help and nursing, while the staff becomes older too and tends to leave the work force prematurely, thus leading to a shortage of health care workers. The development of technologies increases the professional duties of nurses but doesn’t reduce work stress. Association between work stress of nurses and their workability is still underestimated. In this study we aimed to investigate the association between work stress and workability of nurses from three major hospitals in Riga, Latvia.

Methodology: We assessed cross-sectionally work- and health-related factors of nurses using structured questionnaires. Workability was assessed by self-reported 1 to 10 scale. Work stress was assessed using eight questions on anxiety, two questions on depressive symptoms, and three question on burnout. Multiple linear regression models adjusted for presence of children, year of experience, wage and position were built to investigate the association between work stress and workability. We investigated the effect measure modification of this association by age (dichotomized on median of 45 years).

Findings: Study sample included 232 nurses aged from 18 to 79, had median 19 years of experience, mostly worked full wage. In fully adjusted multiple regression models, workability was associated with work stress(effect estimate, β=-0.03 [95% confidence interval -0.04; -0.01] and with position (β=-0.23 [-0.42; -0.05]). Younger participants had stronger association than those older than 45 years, proposing age as effect measure modifier in the association between stress and workability.

Conclusion & Significance: Nurses should be particularly treated to reduce their level of stress to prevent a shortage of health care workers.

Biography:

Olga Sribna belong to National Scientific Centre “M.D. Strazhesko Institute of Cardiology” MAS of Ukraine.

Abstract:

Goal: The goal is to evaluate the long-term dynamics of the epidemiological conditions of CVD formation among females living in urban area.

Material and Methods: During 2015-20161018 men aged 18-64 years were examined. The findings were compared to the results of similar design studies, executed in 1980 (1148 people), 2000 (1025 persons), 2005 (967 persons) and 2010 (1076 persons).

Results: When persistent changes in such risk factors prevalence hypertension (27-31 %) and obesity (30-28 %) along with the decrease in encountering overweight(from 38 to 28 %, Ñ€<0,01)  are absent we register vivid and reliable increase in the number of individuals with hypodynamia (from 36 to 55 %, Ñ€<0,001) and hypercholesterolemia(from 39  to 61 %,Ñ€<0,01). From 1980 to 2000 we see 4 times increase in smoking frequency (from 5 to 20 %). The results of the further research show the lack of significant changes in this indicator. One of the important manifestations in risk profile deterioration is the increase of associativity inidentified risk agents: percent of the individuals with one risk factor decreased 2 times and the part of the females with the combination of 3 and more risk factors increased 4 times.

Conclusion: Negative risk profile dynamics among urban females testifies about the increase among the population as a whole of the cohort of individuals with high risl of CVD development and respectively speaks about the decrease in population health indicators.  It is necessary to develop and introduce active prophylaxis measures to improve epidemiological conditions for CVD formation among population.

Biography:

Baridalyne Nongkynrih, trained in public health and currently working as a faculty in  Community Medicine  All India Institute of Medical Sciences New Delhi India since 2003. My area of interest is  Non Communicable Diseases and health systems. I have  worked extensively in the area of primary health care in NCDs with the WHO and Ministry of Health Government of India. Currently since 2017,  I am also involved in the  sample registration system of India and verbal autopsy based  cause of death assignment under the Office of the Registrar General of India where we are developing a system for cause of death estimation for the country.

Abstract:

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) as a major challenge for sustainable development.(1) More than half of all countries are predicted to fail to reach the UN target to reduce premature deaths from cancers, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, and diabetes by 2030 (2).  The challenge is seen at many levels: detecting, treating and ensuring follow up and keeping disease status under control. In addition, one often neglected aspect is the ascertainment of NCD as a cause of death. This is a crucial element to determine whether a country has achieved SDG Target 3.4 .In developing countries like India, most deaths take place at home without medical attention and a proper certification of the cause of death is often not available. In India, the system of death verification is done through the Sample Registration System (3) whereby a verbal autopsy is conducted in a sample of deaths by trained persons after which a trained physician assigns the cause of death.  This system has its advantages and disadvantages. Verbal autopsy takes place approximately six months after death, therefore recall of events leading to death is likely to be compromised. Secondly, NCDs like diabetes, hypertension are usually not the immediate cause of death. They are the underlying conditions which lead to complications and death.  However the advantage of the system is that the SRS is a continuous activity which is done by trained persons, and carried out in a representative sample of households, thereby providing a trend of deaths on the community. This system also ensures that all deaths even the ones that take place at home without medical attention are also captured by the system. This paper looks into the challenges of estimating the cause of death in a sample of deaths using verbal autopsy.

Biography:

Dr. Muhammad Hassam Rehm, was born and raised in Pakistan. After completion of MBBS in 2007, he worked in Lahore (Pakistan) as Medical Officer and later on moved to Australia for my Post-graduate studies in Master in Health Management (MHM) from Public Health Department University of New South Wales, Sydney Australia. In 2012, he started his career as a Lecturer in Community Medicine/ Public Health department of Sahiwal Medical College, Sahiwal. Since 2015, He is working as Assistant Professor of Community Medicine/ Public Health Department in the same institute. 

Abstract:

Blood transfusion is generally considered safe after cross-matching the blood but there is risk of transmission of transfusion related infections. Screening for many infectious diseases is done to reduce the risk of transmission of infections to the recipients. However, with screening, an odd of catching hepatitis B and C from donated blood is 1 in 300,000 and 1 in 1.5 million respectively. The aim of the study was to determine sero-prevalence of hepatitis B and C virus in local population of province Punjab, Pakistan. This study was conducted at department for pathology and community medicine, Sahiwal Medical College, Sahiwal, Pakistan from 2012-2017. Blood grouping was done by forward and reverse blood grouping while sera were screened for anti-HCV and HBsAg using rapid diagnostic kits.