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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Does reducing malaria improve household living standards?

Living in malaria-endemic regions places an economic burden on households even if they do not actually suffer an episode of malaria. Households living in endemic malarial regions are less likely to have access to economic opportunities and may have to modify agricultural practices and other household behaviour to adapt to their disease environment. Data from Vietnam demonstrate that reductions in malaria incidence through government-financed malaria control programmes can contribute to higher household income for all households in endemic areas. Empirically, the roughly 60% decline in malaria cases over the 1990s in Vietnam translated to a dollars 12.60 average improvement in annual consumption of all households, or a roughly dollars 180 million annual economic benefit in the form of improved living standards.

Cost of Illness↗
PubMed1994

Living standards and mortality in the European Community.

OBJECTIVE: The association between living standards and mortality in the European Community (EC) was investigated using regional level data from all EC member countries. DATA AND METHODS: Data covering the 1980s were extracted from various publications. Data on "all cause" mortality (standardised mortality ratios, both sexes, all ages), living standards (gross domestic product, car access, unemployment rates), and some potential confounders (population density, agricultural employment, industrial employment, country) were available for 133 regions. Multiple regression analysis was used for each living standard variable, taking lnSMR as the dependent variable. RESULTS: It is only after taking into account potential confounders that higher living standards are associated with lower mortality. Unemployment rates have the strongest association--each additional percentage in unemployment in the regional population is associated with an increase in mortality by 0.81%. There is important variation between countries in the living standards--mortality relationship. The latter ranges from relatively strong in the UK to absent in Italy. DISCUSSION: The results of this study show that there is an association between living standards and mortality at the regional level in the EC, but that this association comes to light only after controlling for confounding variables. It seems that the mortality increasing effects of urbanisation and industrialization have obscured the mortality lowering effects of high living standards. In addition, factors specific to countries (such as dietary habits) act as confounders. The latter finding is interpreted in the light of differences between countries in the way in which they have gone through the "epidemiologic translation" from infectious diseases to the "western" diseases that currently dominate the mortality pattern.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

The effects of race, living standards, and exercise on the degree of motor development: comparison between schoolchildren in the Republic of Honduras and Japan.

To investigate the development of motor ability according to age and physique, a comparison was made among races and/or living standards of schoolchildren in Republic of Honduras, and between Honduran and Japanese schoolchildren. Based on the results of these comparisons, the extent to which exercise contributes to the development of motor ability was examined. Subjects were schoolchildren of typical three races in Honduras: Negroid, Mongoloid (native Indio), and mixed race (Mongoloid, Caucasoid, and Negroid), who attended public elementary schools. For a further comparison, schoolchildren of mixed race attending private schools, whose living standards are thought to be different from children attending public schools, were also selected. Comparing physique among races from the measurement values in the test battery, Negroid group ranked highest followed by the mixed race group and Mongoloid group. The results for the comparison of motor ability were also in the same order. From the viewpoint of living standards, the physique and motor ability of the private school children, who were from wealthy families, was better than that of the public school children. However, when the degrees of motor development were compared using revised values based on age and physique, the differences among groups became smaller, and there was no significant difference between groups in the 50-meter dash or in the standing long jump. However, a comparison with Japanese schoolchildren showed that, even if there was no difference in physique, Japanese schoolchildren were still superior in motor ability. These results suggest that differences in the degree of motor development are mainly due to differences in exercise experience.

Aging↗
PubMed1995

Emigration and living standards in Ireland since the Famine.

"Ireland experienced dramatic levels of emigration in the century following the Famine of 1845-1849. The paper surveys the recent cliometric literature on post-Famine emigration and its effects on Irish living standards. The conclusions are that the Famine played a significant role in unleashing the subsequent emigration; and that emigration was crucial for the impressive increase in Irish living standards which took place during the next 100 years."

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed2000

Measuring living standards with proxy variables.

Very few demographic surveys in developing countries have gathered information on household incomes or consumption expenditures. Researchers interested in living standards therefore have had little alternative but to rely on simple proxy indicators. The properties of these proxies have not been analyzed systematically. We ask what hypotheses can be tested using proxies, and compare these indicators with consumption expenditures per adult, our preferred measure of living standards. We find that the proxies employed in much demographic research are very weak predictors of consumption per adult. Nevertheless, hypothesis tests based on proxies are likely to be powerful enough to warrant consideration.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Coronary heart disease risk factors in black and white man in zimbabwe and the effect of living standards.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factor levels in a cross-section of 283 Blacks and 109 Whites are described. Ten CHD risk factors were studied: age, serum cholesterol level, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, cigarette smoking, body mass index, physical unfitness, and serum glucose, insulin and uric acid levels. The Blacks were stratified by income and education as well as by occupation using a method developed for that purpose. Seventy-one Blacks had similar occupations to those of the Whites. The results described how the CHD risk factors are affected by changes in the living standards of Blacks and the extent to which concentrations and interactions differ between Blacks and Whites in similar employment. Among Black subjects the serum cholesterol level and systolic blood pressure increase with age in the upper but not the lower occupational groups, suggesting a possible Black community threshold related to living standards.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Does non-profit health insurance reduce financial burden? Evidence from the Vietnam Living Standards Survey Panel.

Many low-income countries are implementing non-profit medical insurance to increase access to health services, especially among low-income households, and to raise additional revenue for financing public health services. This paper estimates the effect of insurance on out-of-pocket health expenditures using the Vietnam Living Standards Surveys for 1993 and 1998 and appropriate models for panel data. Our findings suggest that health insurance reduces health expenditure when unobserved heterogeneity is accounted for. Failure to capture unobserved heterogeneity produces contrary results that are consistent with previous cross-sectional studies in the literature. Health insurance is found to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure between 16 and 18% and the reduction in expenditure is more pronounced for individuals with lower incomes. At mean income, the effect of health insurance is to reduce health expenditures between 28 and 35%.

Cost of Illness↗
PubMedDate not supplied

China: economy: living standard.

The livelihood of the urban and rural population continued to improve last year, when the average consumption/person reached 224 yuan, according to the latest data released by the State Statisitical Bureau. The bureau, which is responsible for the collection, compilation, and analysis of economic and social statistics, said that after ajustment for inflationary factors, the per capital consumption reflected an increase of 99% since 1952 or an average of 2.5% annually (Table 1). The sustained annual increase was attributed mostly to the remarkable improvement in production, which in turn led to the rise in Chinese peasants' income (L,8049). The Ministry of Agriculture said the average income of each rural inhabitant in China in 1980 was 155 yuan, which compared with 152.69 yuan in 1979, 143.17 yuan in 1978 and 133.94 yuan in 1977. As a result of the increased income, the people's purchasing power also improved. Compared with 1952, each Chinese consumed 8.2% more grain last year, 9.8% more vegetable oil, 88.6% more pork, and 320% more sugar. In the World Banks's 1st extensive report on China, published last June, the improvement in the people's livelihood was cited as the country's most remarkable achievement, although "marked rural inequality and poverty still exist in some areas." The Statistical Bureau's data also revealed a significant decline in infant mortality--from 139/1000 in 1954 to 20 in 1980. In contrast with the fall in mortality rate, the average life expectancy in China increased from 57 years in 1957 to 68 years in 1980, a development which was also hailed by the World Bank.

Asia↗
PubMed2006

A randomized trial of teaching clinical skills using virtual and live standardized patients.

BACKGROUND: We developed computer-based virtual patient (VP) cases to complement an interactive continuing medical education (CME) course that emphasizes skills practice using standardized patients (SP). Virtual patient simulations have the significant advantages of requiring fewer personnel and resources, being accessible at any time, and being highly standardized. Little is known about the educational effectiveness of these new resources. We conducted a randomized trial to assess the educational effectiveness of VPs and SPs in teaching clinical skills. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of VP cases when compared with live SP cases in improving clinical skills and knowledge. DESIGN: Randomized trial. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-five health care providers (registered nurses 45%, physicians 15%, other provider types 40%) who attended a CME program. INTERVENTIONS: Participants were randomized to receive either 4 live cases (n=32) or 2 live and 2 virtual cases (n=23). Other aspects of the course were identical for both groups. RESULTS: Participants in both groups were equivalent with respect to pre-post workshop improvement in comfort level (P=.66) and preparedness to respond (P=.61), to screen (P=.79), and to care (P=.055) for patients using the skills taught. There was no difference in subjective ratings of effectiveness of the VPs and SPs by participants who experienced both (P=.79). Improvement in diagnostic abilities were equivalent in groups who experienced cases either live or virtually. CONCLUSIONS: Improvements in performance and diagnostic ability were equivalent between the groups and participants rated VP and SP cases equally. Including well-designed VPs has a potentially powerful and efficient place in clinical skills training for practicing health care workers.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

The effect of changing living standards on iron status in pregnancy in Calabar urban.

Reduced meat intake is often associated with iron deficiency anaemia. Reduced meat intake that arose from the frugality associated with a prolonged period of national economic reorientation policy, known as the "structural adjustment programme" (SAP), may have placed iron-stress on pregnancy in particular. Iron status of pre-SAP and SAP pregnancies were established from measurement of the haematological values of subjects. Indices such as haemoglobin (Hb), packed cell volume, serum Fe were lower in pregnancy especially during SAP. However, SAP pregnancy serum ferritin did not respond significantly to iron depletion. Unlike PCV, Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC) and serum transferrin values showed a reverse behaviour. The level of these values, however, portends a toll exerted on body iron status in pregnancy associated with reduced haem iron intake. The changes in these values did not, however, lead to any over symptoms of iron deficiency probably because increased sea food (molluscs) consumption ameliorates the iron-toll from low absorbed non-haem iron. For lower income rural women in non-coastal areas, the absence of seafood in their diets exacerbates the low iron status in Pregnancy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Influence of dental care systems on dental status. A comparison between two countries with different systems but similar living standards.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the influence of two different dental care systems on dental status, taking into account relevant socio-economic factors. BASIC RESEARCH DESIGN: Questionnaire studies on randomly sampled subjects in Denmark and Sweden using questionnaire forms as identical as possible with regard to the different languages. SETTING: The studies were performed late in 1998 in both countries. PARTICIPANTS: Questionnaires were sent to 1,175 subjects aged 45-69 years in Denmark (response rate 73%) and to 1,001 subjects aged 55-79 years in Sweden (response rate 67%). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Questions about dental status and about socioeconomic factors and attitudes toward dental care were included. In logistic regression models, various dichotomies of dental conditions were used as dependent variables. State (Denmark vs. Sweden) was used as an independent variable together with socioeconomic factors and attitudes. RESULTS: There were great differences between the countries in dental status. In the regression model with 'wearing removable denture(s)' as the dependent variable, state was the strongest predictor with an OR of above 4.1 for Denmark compared to Sweden. much stronger than variables such as age, income, education and residence. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that the Swedish dental care system has been superior to the Danish one regarding dental status in middle aged and older populations in these two countries.

Age Factors↗