Biomedical subjects

T Lampert

Publications and source records attributed to T Lampert.

15 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

[A basic set of indicators for mapping migrant status. Recommendations for epidemiological practice].

Data on the health status of migrants are still scarce. One of the reasons for this is that migration status has not been well recorded in official statistics and epidemiological studies. In order to obtain an adequate and standardised operationalisation of migrant status, we first need an exact definition of the terms "migrant" and "migration background". We discuss approaches to the definition of terms and the surveying of ethnic minorities and migrants, and then develop a basic set of migration status indicators for use in epidemiological research. This set of indicators includes country of birth of the father and mother, year of immigration, mother tongue, German language skills and status of residence. The key indicator for the identification of migrants is the country of birth of the parents and not the nationality as was previously often the case. Thus, the classification based on the judicial category of nationality is replaced by a classification based on the biographical event "migration". Migration brings with it specific life conditions and challenges that can impact health across several generations. An instrument for surveying migrant status must be further developed both to reflect the special conditions of the life situation resulting from the migration experience and to take as full account as possible of all aspects of a migrant's history.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2006

[Evaluation of the health target "tobacco control"].

UNLABELLED: "Tobacco control" is one of six health targets of the forum gesundheitsziele.de (health targets). Key stakeholders from health policy and from the health system are involved in the process of defining and deciding about health targets. The goal of gesundheitsziele.de is the improvement of the health of the population through integrated action. Goals are supplemented with recommendations for intervention measures, and indicators to mea sure whether goals had been achieved. The evaluation board of gesundheitsziele.de is committed to assess the availability and appropriateness of German data bases for the evaluation of the health target "tobacco control", and to submit a concept for the evaluation. In particular, the German health monitoring system, and the evaluation and quality assurance of the Federal Center for Health Education provide a good data base for the evaluation of the health target. Lack of data exists regarding outcome and impact evaluation of structural (policy, legal) interventions. RECOMMENDATIONS: Evaluation of health targets requires continuing conduction of representative population surveys. The evaluation of national intervention campaigns and the extension of the topic "tobacco control" within the German health report system are necessary. The collection and documentation of information about intervention measures, programs, and evaluation results is recommended. The evaluation board favors follow-up studies, and the coordination of existing data resources; the creation of new evaluation systems is not required.

Databases, Factual↗

PubMed2006

[Children and adolescents: unequal living conditions, unequal health opportunities].

Today, children and young people represent the age group that is most frequently threatened by poverty in Germany. Poverty during childhood means a bad start to life and often has long-term effects on an adolescent's social and health development. Health problems are more frequent among preschool-age children from socially disadvantaged families. They are also more often affected by accidents and dental problems. In adolescence, links can be established between the social situation and psychosocial well-being, pain incidence and health behaviour. However, poverty does not inevitably go hand-in-hand with health problems. A stable and supporting social environment -- particularly in families, peer groups and schools -- promotes the development of a positive self-image and social skills, thus empowering the child to deal with demanding living conditions. Measures of social and health policy aimed at lessening the effects of poverty on health must start here.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

[Income differences in health and life expectancy--cross-sectional and longitudinal findings of the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP)].

Income is an important determinant of individual standards of living and participation in social life. Data from the German Socio-Economic Panel shows that the level of income also affects a person's health and life expectancy. People's self-assessment of their health and health-related quality of life follow a distribution pattern which can be described as a gradient: the lower the income, the more frequent the impairments to subjective health. Life expectancy statistics also reflect income differences, primarily due to premature deaths among lower-income groups. Clues for explaining income-related differences in health and life expectancy can be found in the results on health-related behaviour and use of the medical system: people in the lower income groups smoke more frequently, are slaker in sports and are less likely to go to a doctor when their health is impaired. Furthermore, work environment and job-specific influences, stress burdens and reactions, social comparison processes and disease-induced processes of declining social mobility and social exclusion are discussed as possible explanations.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

[The health of unemployed women and men. First results of the Telephone Health Survey 2003].

Unemployment has material and psychosocial consequences that can also have an adverse effect on health. According to the Telephone Health Survey 2003, unemployed women and men suffer more frequently from many diseases and complaints. Their assessment of their own state of health is also more negative, and they say more often that their quality of life is restricted by their health. In the case of men, health problems are especially common among the long-term unemployed (>1 year), whereas women can suffer equally (or even more) serious effects on their health as a result of short-term unemployment. On the other hand, the analysis clearly indicates that poor health heightens a person's risk of becoming unemployed. However, no conclusive statement can be made on the direction of causality between unemployment and health, since this requires more longitudinal data.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

[Distribution and patterns of tobacco consumption in Germany].

Tobacco consumption increases the risk of many chronic degenerative diseases and causes considerable social follow-up costs. The ongoing high tobacco consumption in the population, therefore, highlights an area in which health policy action is urgently required. According to the Telephone Health Survey 2003, about 37% of men aged 18 years and older and 28% of women of the same age are smokers. Almost half of the male daily smokers and a third of the female daily smokers consume 20 or more cigarettes a day, thus exposing themselves to a serious health risk. Among persons of socially disadvantaged groups, smoking prevalence is particularly high; they are also more likely to be heavy smokers and less likely to stop smoking. In the last 20 years, tobacco consumption has only declined slightly among men, while it has increased among women. These results underline the necessity for comprehensive tobacco prevention and tobacco control, and this means not only general measures but also initiatives focusing on specific target groups.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

[Overweight and obesity in Germany 1984-2003].

The magnitude and the development of the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Germany during the past 20 years are analysed in this contribution. Using body mass index (BMI) data of the National Examination Surveys (1984-1992), the German National Health Interview and Examination Survey 1998 as well as the Telephone Health Survey 2003, all representative of the adult non-institutionalised population, the occurrence of overweight and obesity is studied. To improve the comparability with measurement values, the Telephone Health Survey data which were based on self-reporting were adjusted. All data were weighted to improve the representativeness for the time of assessment. Although the proportion of persons with a BMI between 25 and 30 did not change essentially during the last 20 years, the proportion of obese individuals (BMI>or=30) increased considerably. At present, about 70% of men and 50% of women in Germany are overweight or obese. In conclusion, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Germany continues to increase.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

[Measuring health-related quality of life with the SF-8. Normal sample of the German population].

The SF-8, a relatively new instrument for measuring health-related quality of life, was used in the German National Telephone Health Survey 2003. The SF-8 provides results which are comparable to those of the SF-36, the instrument most commonly used internationally. The German National Telephone Health Survey provides nationally representative data for the residential population in Germany aged 18 and older. In addition to the measurement of health-related quality of life, comprehensive information on chronic illnesses and complaints, health care needs, utilisation of health care, risk factors, risk behaviour and social status is also collected, making differentiated analyses possible. According to the data collected, men rate their quality of life in all dimensions higher than women. With increasing age, quality of life for both men and women decreases in the physical dimensions, while increasing in the mental health dimensions. Apart from chronic disease and pain having a negative impact on health-related quality of life, social differences are also observable, in that worse health-related quality of life is reported by respondents with lower socioeconomic status.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

[Sport and health among adults in Germany].

Regularly participating in sports activities can have a positive effect on people's health and is therefore an important area of health promotion. Data of the Telephone Health Survey 2003 indicate that until now there is an unexploited potential for programmes promoting sports: in total 37.3% of men aged 18 years and above and 38.4% of equally aged women do not participate in sports at all; another 20.9% of men and 28.4% of women only engage in sports activities for up to 2 h/week. The highest prevalence of sports activity is seen among young adults, whereas it is lowest among older people. However, the latter slightly increased their sports activity during the last 10 years, while the trend observed among younger adults seems to point rather in the opposite direction. Also relevant for the planning and implementation of group-specific interventions is the observation that persons with low socioeconomic status tend to engage less often in sports than people with middle or high status do. The present study underlines the health relevance of sports participation by presenting inverse relationships between sports activity and behaviour-related health risks such as smoking and obesity as well as a positive effect of sports on self-assessed health.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

[Subjective health as predictor for mortality].

In the last two decades self-rated health has received growing interest in international studies because of its consistent prediction for mortality. However, for Germany there are no studies confirming a long-term effect independent from objective health indicators in comparison of different follow-up. On the basis of the Life-Expectancy-Study (1984/86 - 1998) from the Federal Institute for Population Research it was possible to analyze the association between subjective health and mortality in relation to the length of observation. A stronger correlation between bad self-rated health and objective health status could be indicated because of a better prediction for mortality in a short-term follow-up. The evidence of a significant effect between self-rated health and mortality in the long-term follow-up not including the deaths from the short-term follow-up indicates that the mechanisms between subjective health and mortality are more complex than those between objective health status and death.

Female↗

PubMed2005

[Smoking as potential confounder in german epidemiological studies: standardization of assessment, quantification, and analysis].

Tobacco smoking is one of the most frequently examined risk factors in epidemiological studies due to the high frequency of smoking in the population and its high risk potential. This paper discusses the issue of standardization of the assessment of tobacco exposure in German epidemiological studies based on a suggestion of the working group "Epidemiological methods" of the German Society of Epidemiology (DGEpi), the German Society of Social Medicine and Prevention (DGSMP), and German Society of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (GMDS) together with the working group "Epidemiology in the workplace" of the DGEpi and the German Society of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (DGAUM). The main element is a short questionnaire for German adults for the assessment of tobacco smoking in epidemiological studies where smoking is a potential confounder. In addition, information on the consideration of intermittent periods of non-smoking, a very short questionnaire for medical examinations in the workplace or non-responder interviews as well as the quantification and statistical modelling of smoking are presented. A brief discussion of scientific problems and questionnaires related to the exposure to environmental tobacco smoke is given.

Bias↗

PubMed2004

[Social inequality and smoking behavior in Germany].

Data of the National Health Survey 1998 are used to analyze the impact of alternative indicators of social inequality on smoking of the 18- to 79-year-old population in Germany. The members of socially disadvantaged groups not only smoke more frequently, they show also lower rates in smoking cessation. This is most obvious in middle age while only small differences can be observed at older ages. Multivariate analyses evidence primarily education as a determinant of smoking among men and women. The effects of income and occupational status are fairly small. The results point out that health inequalities can partly be explained by different smoking habits and, therefore, underline the necessity of a differentiated and group-specific tobacco prevention and tobacco control policy.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

[Perspectives on gender sensitive health reporting].

Based on the different health status of women and men the advantages of gender-sensitive compared to gender-differentiated health reporting are pointed out. The main focus is on considerations how gender-sensitive perspectives can be implemented within health monitoring at federal level. Possible guidelines are suggested.

Disease Notification↗

PubMed2002

[Conceptualization and operationalization of social inequality in The Child and Adolescent Health Survey].

Poverty and social disadvantages are often accompanied by long-lasting social and psychosocial strain on the well-being and health of children and adolescents. From a health policy point of view the rising poverty quotas among young people indicate a high need for action. The status of empirical research is insufficient, so that it is difficult to plan and undertake political measures. The National Health Survey for Children and Adolescents will provide data permitting differentiated analysis of relations between poverty, social inequality and health in the adolescent generation. To get a first impression of possible analyses, the present article demonstrates which information on the living situation will be ascertained in the National Health Survey for Children and Adolescents, and which theoretical and methodological considerations have been playing a role.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Smoking habits in Germany -- results of the German National Telephone Health Survey 2003].

Analyses are based on the National German Telephone Health Survey 2003, which provides data on current smoking behaviour among residents aged 18 years and older in Germany. Smoking prevalence is approximately 37 % for men and 28 % for women. About 95 % of the smokers prefer cigarettes, whereas other tobacco goods are secondary and predominantly consumed by men from middle age onwards. Among cigarette consumers, almost half of the men and one third of the women smoke 20 or more cigarettes per day. Over the years, the average age at onset of smoking has become earlier in life, particularly among women. Women born between 1970 and 1985 started smoking at the age of nearly 16, which is comparable to the age at onset among men. Considering data of preceding German National Health Surveys, the percentage of smokers has slightly decreased among men but increased among women during the past twenty years. The presented analyses confirm previous results on unequivocal social and socio-economic differences in smoking.

Adolescent↗