| 1. |
- Berkman, Lisa F., et al.
(författare)
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Working conditions and health
- 2014. - 2
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Ingår i: Social epidemiology. - Oxford : Oxford University Press. - 9780199395330 ; , s. 153--181
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 2. |
- Chakraborty, Rishika, et al.
(författare)
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Child support grant expansion and cognitive function among women in rural South Africa : findings from a natural experiment in the HAALSI cohort
- 2024
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 19:3 March
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Cash transfers are a promising but understudied intervention that may protect cognitive function in adults. Although South Africa has a rapidly ageing population, little is known about the nature of association between cash transfers and cognitive function in this setting. Objectives We leveraged age-eligibility expansions to South Africa's Child Support Grant (CSG) to investigate the association between duration of CSG eligibility and cognitive function of biological mothers of child beneficiaries in South Africa.Methods: We analysed 2014/2015 baseline data from 944 women, aged 40–59 years with at least one CSG-eligible child, enrolled in the population-representative HAALSI cohort in Agincourt, South Africa. Duration of CSG eligibility for each mother was calculated based on the birth dates of all their children and the CSG age-eligibility expansion years (2003–2012). Cognitive function was measured using a cognitive battery administered at the HAALSI baseline interview. Linear regression was used to estimate the association between duration of CSG eligibility, dichotomized as low (≤10 years) and high (>10 years) eligibility, and cognitive function z-scores of the mothers.Results: High vs. low duration of CSG eligibility, was associated with higher cognitive function z-scores in the full sample [β: 0.15 SD units; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.26; p-value = 0.01]. In mothers with one to four lifetime children, but not five or more, high vs. low duration of CSG eligibility, was associated with higher cognitive function z-scores [β: 0.19 SD units; 95% CI: 0.05, 0.34, p-value = 0.02].Conclusion: Government cash transfers given to support raising children may confer substantial protective effects on the subsequent cognitive function of mothers. Further studies are needed to understand how parity may influence this relationship. Our findings bring evidence to policymakers for designing income supplementation programmes to promote healthy cognitive ageing in low-income settings.
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| 3. |
- Gaziano, Thomas A., et al.
(författare)
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Cardiometabolic risk in a population of older adults with multiple co-morbidities in rural south africa : the HAALSI (Health and Aging in Africa: longitudinal studies of INDEPTH communities) study
- 2017
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Ingår i: BMC Public Health. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2458. ; 17
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: A consequence of the widespread uptake of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) is that the older South African population will experience an increase in life expectancy, increasing their risk for cardiometabolic diseases (CMD), and its risk factors. The long-term interactions between HIV infection, treatment, and CMD remain to be elucidated in the African population. The HAALSI cohort was established to investigate the impact of these interactions on CMD morbidity and mortality among middle-aged and older adults. Methods: We recruited randomly selected adults aged 40 or older residing in the rural Agincourt sub-district in Mpumalanga Province. In-person interviews were conducted to collect baseline household and socioeconomic data, self-reported health, anthropometric measures, blood pressure, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), HbA1c, HIV-status, and point-of-care glucose and lipid levels. Results: Five thousand fifty nine persons (46.4% male) were enrolled with a mean age of 61.7 +/- 13.06 years. Waist-to- hip ratio was high for men and women (0.92 +/- 0.08 vs. 0.89 +/- 0.08), with 70% of women and 44% of men being overweight or obese. Blood pressure was similar for men and women with a combined hypertension prevalence of 58.4% and statistically significant increases were observed with increasing age. High total cholesterol prevalence in women was twice that observed for men (8.5 vs. 4.1%). The prevalence of self-reported CMD conditions was higher among women, except for myocardial infarction, and women had a statistically significantly higher prevalence of angina (10.82 vs. 6.97%) using Rose Criteria. The HIV- persons were significantly more likely to have hypertension, diabetes, or be overweight or obese than HIV+ persons. Approximately 56% of the cohort had at least 2 measured or self-reported clinical co-morbidities, with HIV+ persons having a consistently lower prevalence of co-morbidities compared to those without HIV. Absolute 10-year risk cardiovascular risk scores ranged from 7.7-9.7% for women and from 12.5-15.3% for men, depending on the risk score equations used. Conclusions: This cohort has high CMD risk based on both traditional risk factors and novel markers like hsCRP. Longitudinal follow-up of the cohort will allow us to determine the long-term impact of increased lifespan in a population with both high HIV infection and CMD risk.
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| 4. |
- Geldsetzer, Pascal, et al.
(författare)
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Depressive Symptoms and Their Relation to Age and Chronic Diseases Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in Rural South Africa
- 2019
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Ingår i: The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences. - : OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC. - 1079-5006 .- 1758-535X. ; 74:6, s. 957-963
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Understanding how depression is associated with chronic conditions and sociodemographic characteristics can inform the design and effective targeting of depression screening and care interventions. In this study, we present some of the first evidence from sub-Saharan Africa on the association between depressive symptoms and a range of chronic conditions (diabetes, HIV, hypertension, and obesity) as well as sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: A questionnaire was administered to a population-based simple random sample of 5,059 adults aged 40 years and older in Agincourt, South Africa. Depressive symptoms were measured using a modified version of the eight-item Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression screening tool. Diabetes was assessed using a capillary blood glucose measurement and HIV using a dried blood spot. Results: 17.0% (95% confidence interval: 15.9%-18.1%) of participants had at least three depressive symptoms. None of the chronic conditions were significantly associated with depressive symptoms in multivariable regressions. Older age was the strongest correlate of depressive symptoms with those aged 80 years and older having on average 0.63 (95% confidence interval: 0.40-0.86; p<.001) more depressive symptoms than those aged 40-49 years. Household wealth quintile and education were not significant correlates. Conclusions: This study provides some evidence that the positive associations of depression with diabetes, HIV, hypertension, and obesity that are commonly reported in high-income settings might not exist in rural South Africa. Our finding that increasing age is strongly associated with depressive symptoms suggests that there is a particularly high need for depression screening and treatment among the elderly adults in rural South Africa.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Gomez-Olive, F. Xavier, et al.
(författare)
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Social conditions and disability related to the mortality of older people in rural South Africa
- 2014
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Ingår i: International Journal of Epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press. - 0300-5771 .- 1464-3685. ; 43:5, s. 1531-1541
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: South Africa is experiencing a health and social transition including an ageing population and an HIV epidemic. We report mortality experience of an older rural South African population.Methods: Individual survey data and longer-term demographic data were used to describe factors associated with mortality. Individuals aged 50 years and over (n = 4085) answered a health and quality of life questionnaire in 2006 and were followed for 3 years thereafter. Additional vital events and socio-demographic data were extracted from the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System from 1993 to 2010, to provide longer-term trends in mortality. Cox regression analysis was used to determine factors related to survival.Results: In 10 967 person-years of follow-up between August 2006 and August 2009, 377 deaths occurred. Women had lower mortality {hazard ratio [HR] 0.35 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.28-0.45]}. Higher mortality was associated with being single [HR 1.48 (95% CI 1.16-1.88)], having lower household assets score [HR 1.79 (95% CI 1.28-2.51)], reporting greater disability [HR 2.40 (95% CI 1.68-3.42)] and poorer quality of life [HR 1.59 (95% CI 1.09-2.31)]. There was higher mortality in those aged under 69 as compared with those 70 to 79 years old. Census data and cause specific regression models confirmed that this was due to deaths from HIV/TB in the younger age group.Conclusions: Mortality due to HIV/TB is increasing in men, and to some extent women, aged over 50. Policy makers and practitioners should consider the needs of this growing and often overlooked group.
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| 7. |
- Grady, Christine, et al.
(författare)
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Broad Consent for Research With Biological Samples : Workshop Conclusions
- 2015
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Ingår i: American Journal of Bioethics. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1526-5161 .- 1536-0075. ; 15:9, s. 34-42
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Different types of consent are used to obtain human biospecimens for future research. This variation has resulted in confusion regarding what research is permitted, inadvertent constraints on future research, and research proceeding without consent. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center's Department of Bioethics held a workshop to consider the ethical acceptability of addressing these concerns by using broad consent for future research on stored biospecimens. Multiple bioethics scholars, who have written on these issues, discussed the reasons for consent, the range of consent strategies, and gaps in our understanding, and concluded with a proposal for broad initial consent coupled with oversight and, when feasible, ongoing provision of information to donors. This article describes areas of agreement and areas that need more research and dialogue. Given recent proposed changes to the Common Rule, and new guidance regarding storing and sharing data and samples, this is an important and timely topic.
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| 8. |
- Harling, Guy, et al.
(författare)
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Interviewer-driven variability in social network reporting : results from health and aging in africa: a longitudinal study of an INDEPTH community (HAALSI) in South Africa
- 2018
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Ingår i: Field Methods. - : SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC. - 1525-822X .- 1552-3969. ; 30:2, s. 140-154
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Social network analysis depends on how social ties to others are elicited during interviews, a process easily affected by respondent and interviewer behaviors. We investigate how the number of self-reported important social contacts varied within a single data collection round. Our data come from Health and Aging in Africa: a Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH community (HAALSI), a comprehensive population-based survey of individuals aged 40 years and older conducted over 13 months at the Agincourt health and demographic surveillance site in rural South Africa. As part of HAALSI, interviewers elicited detailed egocentric network data. The average number of contacts reported by the 5,059 respondents both varied significantly across interviewers and fell over time as the data collection progressed, even after adjusting for respondent, interviewer, and respondent-interviewer dyad characteristics. Contact numbers rose substantially after a targeted interviewer intervention. We conclude that checking (and adjusting) for interviewer effects, even within one data collection round, is critical to valid and reliable social network analysis.
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| 9. |
- Harling, Guy, et al.
(författare)
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Social contact, social support, and cognitive health in a population-based study of middle-aged and older men and women in rural South Africa
- 2020
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Ingår i: Social Science and Medicine. - : Elsevier. - 0277-9536 .- 1873-5347. ; 260
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Several theories seek to explain how social connections and cognitive function are interconnected in older age. These include that social interaction protects against cognitive decline, that cognitive decline leads to shedding of social connections and that cognitive decline leads to increased instrumental support. We investigated how patterns of social contact, social support and cognitive health in rural South Africa fit with these three theories.Method: We used data from the baseline of "Health and Aging in Africa: a Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH community in South Africa" (HAALSI), a population-based study of 5059 individuals aged >= 40 years. We evaluated how a range of egocentric social connectedness measures varied by respondents' cognitive function.Results: We found that respondents with lower cognitive function had smaller, denser social networks that were more local and more kin-based than their peers. Lower cognitive function was associated with receipt of less social support generally, but this difference was stronger for emotional and informational support than for financial and physical support. Impairment was associated with greater differences among those aged 40-59 and those with any (versus no) educational attainment.Conclusions: The patterns we found suggest that cognitively impaired older adults in this setting rely on their core social networks for support, and that theories relating to social connectedness and cognitive function developed in higher-income and higher-education settings may also apply in lower-resource settings elsewhere.
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| 10. |
- Henschke, Nicholas, et al.
(författare)
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Strengthening capacity to research the social determinants of health in low-and middle-income countries : lessons from the INTREC programme
- 2017
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Ingår i: BMC Public Health. - : BioMed Central. - 1471-2458. ; 17
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The INDEPTH Training & Research Centres of Excellence (INTREC) collaboration developed a training programme to strengthen social determinants of health (SDH) research in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). It was piloted among health-and demographic researchers from 9 countries in Africa and Asia. The programme followed a blended learning approach and was split into three consecutive teaching blocks over a 12month period: 1) an online course of 7 video lectures and assignments on the theory of SDH research; 2) a 2-week qualitative and quantitative methods workshop; and 3) a 1-week data analysis workshop. This report aims to summarise the student evaluations of the pilot and to suggest key lessons for future approaches to strengthen SDH research capacity in LMICs. Methods: Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires with 24 students from 9 countries in Africa and Asia were used to evaluate each teaching block. Information was collected about the students' motivation and interest in studying SDH, any challenges they faced during the consecutive teaching blocks, and suggestions they had for future courses on SDH. Results: Of the 24 students who began the programme, 13 (54%) completed all training activities. The students recognised the need for such a course and its potential to improve their skills as health researchers. The main challenges with the online course were time management, prior knowledge and skills required to participate in the course, and the need to get feedback from teaching staff throughout the learning process. All students found the face-to-face workshops to be of high quality and value for their work, because they offered an opportunity to clarify SDH concepts taught during the online course and to gain practical research skills. After the final teaching block, students felt they had improved their data analysis skills and were better able to develop research proposals, scientific manuscripts, and policy briefs. Conclusions: The INTREC programme has trained a promising cadre of health researchers who live and work in LMICs, which is an essential component of efforts to identify and reduce national and local level health inequities. Time management and technological issues were the greatest challenges, which can inform future attempts to strengthen research capacity on SDH.
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