The European monitoring of excess mortality for public health action (EuroMOMO) network monitors weekly excess all-cause mortality in 27 European countries or subnational areas. During the first wave ...of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Europe in spring 2020, several countries experienced extraordinarily high levels of excess mortality. Europe is currently seeing another upsurge in COVID-19 cases, and EuroMOMO is again witnessing a substantial excess all-cause mortality attributable to COVID-19.
Recently, a patient-reported experience measure (PREM) was developed in Slovenia to assess patients' experiences with outpatient specialist healthcare clinics. The aim of this study was to evaluate ...the psychometric properties (including factor structure, reliability, convergent validity, and response distribution) of the questionnaire.
The sample consisted of 8,406 adult participants treated in 171 specialist clinics from different medical fields. Participants voluntarily and anonymously responded to either the paper or online survey.
Descriptive statistics show meaningful response patterns with a general tendency towards favourable assessments. The psychometric analyses of the scales evaluating doctor's and nurses' work, respectively, generally showed a good fit of the unidimensional factor model as well as the Rasch model, high factor loadings and very good to satisfactory reliability. The Rasch scaling showed that these scales were most informative for patients with relatively unfavourable experience ratings.
The results are similar to those found in previous evaluations of PREMs in other countries. Given its good psychometric properties, the Slovenian PREM can be recommended for healthcare evaluations in Slovenia and as a model for the development of similar PREMs in other countries.
Health-related data are collected from a variety of sources for different purposes, including secondary use for population health monitoring (HM) and health system performance assessment (HSPA). Most ...of these data sources are not included in databases of international organizations (e.g., WHO, OECD, Eurostat), limiting their use for research activities and policy making. This study aims at identifying and describing collection methods, quality assessment procedures, availability and accessibility of health data across EU Member States (MS) for HM and HSPA.
A structured questionnaire was developed and administered through an online platform to partners of the InfAct consortium form EU MS to investigate data collections applied in HM and HSPA projects, as well as their methods and procedures. A descriptive analysis of the questionnaire results was performed.
Information on 91 projects from 18 EU MS was collected. In these projects, data were mainly collected through administrative sources, population health interview or health examination surveys and from electronic medical records. Tools and methods used for data collection were mostly mandatory reports, self-administered questionnaires, or record linkage of various data sources. One-third of the projects shared data with EU research networks and less than one-third performed quality assessment of their data collection procedures using international standardized criteria. Macrodata were accessible via open access and reusable in 22 projects. Microdata were accessible upon specific request and reusable in 15 projects based on data usage licenses. Metadata was available for the majority of the projects, but followed reporting standards only in 29 projects. Overall, compliance to FAIR Data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) was not optimal across the EU projects.
Data collection and exchange procedures differ across EU MS and research data are not always available, accessible, comparable or reusable for further research and evidence-based policy making. There is a need for an EU-level health information infrastructure and governance to promote and facilitate sharing and dissemination of standardized and comparable health data, following FAIR Data principles, across the EU.
Objectives were to estimate the lifetime prevalence of self-reported sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and describe STIs healthcare.
Data was collected in the period 2016-2017 from a probability ...sample of the general population, 18-49 years old, at respondents' homes by a combination of face-to-face interviews and self-administration of more sensitive questions. Statistical methods for complex survey data were used to account for stratification, clustered sampling, and weighting.
Approximately every tenth sexually experienced individual reported to have had genitourinary symptoms suggestive of STIs, but only a minority of them reported to have had those respective STIs diagnosed. The proportion of sexually experienced individuals that reported to have ever been diagnosed with an STI (excluding trichomoniasis, pubic lice for men and women, and pelvic inflammatory disease, vaginal thrush, bacterial vaginosis for women) was 2.4% for men and 6.7% for women (p<0.001). Independent risk factors associated with self-reported STIs in women included at least 10 lifetime sexual partners and having been forced into sex. The majority of the last STI episodes in women were treated by gynaecologists accessible at the primary healthcare level and in men by a dermatovenerologist, after referral by a general practitioner. Approximately half of STI patients were counselled for safer sex and majority reported to have notified their sexual contacts.
Our estimates for lifetime prevalence of self-reported STIs in a probability sample of Slovenian sexually experienced men and women, 18-49 years old, indicate a substantial national burden of STIs. The results will inform national STI prevention and control policies and strategies.
In Europe, data on population health is fragmented, difficult to access, project-based and prone to health information inequalities in terms of availability, accessibility and especially in quality ...between and within countries. This situation is further exacerbated and exposed by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The Joint Action on Health Information (InfAct) that builds on previous works of the BRIDGE Health project, carried out collaborative action to set up a sustainable infrastructure for health information in the European Union (EU). The aim of this paper is to present InfAct's proposal for a sustainable research infrastructure, the Distributed Infrastructure on Population Health (DIPoH), which includes the setup of a Health Information Portal on population health to be maintained beyond InfAct's time span.
The strategy for the proposal was based on three components: scientific initiatives and proposals to improve Health Information Systems (HIS), exploration of technical acceptability and feasibility, and finally obtaining high-level political support.. The technical exploration (Technical Dialogues-TD) was assumed by technical experts proposed by the countries, and political guidance was provided by the Assembly of Members (AoM), which gathered representatives from Ministries of Health and Science of EU/EEA countries. The results from the AoM and the TD were integrated in the sustainability plan compiling all the major outputs of InfAct.
The InfAct sustainability plan was organized in three main sections: a proposal of a new research infrastructure on population health (the DIPoH), new health information tools and innovative proposals for HIS, and a comprehensive capacity building programme. These activities were carried out in InfAct and are being further developed in the Population Health Information Research Infrastructure (PHIRI). PHIRI is a practical rollout of DIPoH facilitating and generating the best available evidence for research on health and wellbeing of populations as impacted by COVID-19.
The sustainability plan received wide support from Member States and was recognized to have an added value at EU level. Nevertheless, there were several aspects which still need to be considered for the near future such as: (i) a commitment of stable financial and political support by Member States (MSs), (ii) the availability of resources at regional, national and European level to deal with innovations, and (iii) a more direct involvement from EU and international institutions such as the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD for providing support and sustainable contributions.
BackgroundTo inform prevention and control of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), we need reliable prevalence estimates.AimOne objective of the Slovenian National Survey of Sexual Lifestyles, ...Attitudes and Health was to estimate the prevalence of STIs with
,
,
and
.MethodsData were collected between October 2016 and July 2017 in a probability sample of the general population aged 18-49 years. Computer-assisted face-to-face interviewing and self-completion of questionnaires were used. Respondents were invited to provide urine samples to be tested for STIs.ResultsOf 1,929 survey participants, 1,087 individuals provided urine samples which were tested confidentially for
and a subset (n = 1,023) were tested anonymously for the other STIs. The prevalence of
was 0.5% (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.1-1.8) in men and 1.7% (95% CI: 0.9-3.2) in women. Age-specific prevalence was the highest among individuals aged 18-24 years, 2.8% (95% CI: 0.7-10.6) in men and 4.7% (95% CI: 1.7-12.3) in women.
was not detected. Prevalence of
was 0.5% (95% CI: 0.1-2.2) in men and 0.3% (95% CI: 0.1-1.1) in women; the highest prevalence was among men aged 25-34 years (1.1%; 95% CI: 0.2-7.5) and women aged 35-49 years (0.5%; 95% CI: 0.1-2.0).
was detected in the sample from one woman (0.2%; 95% CI: 0.1-1.2).ConclusionThe substantial prevalence of
among young adults suggests gaps in testing, diagnosis and treatment.
Abstract Background Timely and high-quality population-level health information is needed to support evidence-informed decision-making, for planning and evaluation of prevention, care and cure ...activities as well as for research to generate new knowledge. FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) principles are one of the key elements supporting health research and making it more cost-effective through the reuse of already existing data. Currently, health data are in many countries dispersed and difficult to find and access. Methods Two EU Public Health Programmes co-funded Joint Actions, Information for Action (InfAct) and Population Health Information Research Infrastructure (PHIRI) have established a European Health Information Portal, a web-based service, to facilitate better findability, access, interoperability and reuse of existing health information. Results The European Health Information Portal (www.healthinformationportal.eu) has been established including sections on National Nodes, data sources, publications, health information projects within countries and across Europe, research networks and research infrastructures, ethical and legal issues for health information exchange and use, capacity-building activities in all areas of population health and a dedicated COVID-19 section. Conclusions The European Health Information Portal, being a central place for a wide range of population health information from EU Member States, is an information source for researchers, policy-makers and other relevant stakeholders. It is important to ensure the sustainability of the portal, especially in light of the European Health Data Space (EHDS) Regulation proposal and its requirements regarding the secondary use of health data.
An indispensable prerequisite for answering research questions in health services research is the availability and accessibility of comprehensive, high-quality data. It can be assumed that health ...services research in the coming years will be increasingly based on data linkage, i.e., the linking, or connecting, of several data sources based on suitable common key variables. A range of approaches to data collection, storage, linkage and availability exists across countries, particularly for secondary research purposes (i.e., the use of data initially collected for other purposes), such as health systems research. The main goal of this review is to develop an overview of, and gain insights into, current approaches to linking data sources in the context of health services research, with the view to inform policy, based on existing practices in high-income countries in Europe and beyond. In doing so, another objective is to provide lessons for countries looking for possible or alternative approaches to data linkage. Thirteen country case studies of data linkage approaches were selected and analysed. Rather than being comprehensive, this review aimed to identify varied and potentially useful case studies to showcase different approaches to data linkage worldwide. A conceptual framework was developed to guide the selection and description of case studies. Information was first identified and collected from publicly available sources and a profile was then created for each country and each case study; these profiles were forwarded to appropriate country experts for validation and completion. The report presents an overview of the included countries and their case studies (Chapter 2), with key data per country and case study in the appendices. This is followed by a closer look at the possibilities of using routine data (Chapter 3); the different approaches to linkage (Chapter 4); the different access routes for researchers (Chapter 5); the use of data for research from electronic patient or health records (Chapter 6); foundational considerations related to data safety, privacy and governance (Chapter 7); recent developments in cross-border data sharing and the European Health Data Space (Chapter 8); and considerations of changes and responses catalysed by the COVID-19 pandemic as related to the generation and secondary use of data (Chapter 9). The review ends with overall conclusions on the necessary characteristics of data to inform research relevant for policy and highlights some insights to inspire possible future solutions - less or more disruptive - for countries looking to expand their use of data (Chapter 10). It emphasises that investing in data linkage for secondary use will not only contribute to the strengthening of national health systems, but also promote international cooperation and contribute to the international visibility of scientific excellence.
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