Publicaties

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an explosion of online research using rating scales. While this approach can be useful, two of the major challenges affecting the quality of this type of research include selection bias and the use of non-validated scales. Online research is prone to various forms of selection bias, including self-selection bias, non-response bias or only reaching specific subgroups. The use of rating scales requires contextually ...

Background: The surge of COVID-19 infections has prompted many countries to take unprecedented policy measures. In Belgium, the authorities implemented a nation-wide stay-at-home order for several months. Evidence of the mental health effect of such measures is scarce. A recent review by Brooks et al. has compiled a defined list of stressors affecting people's mental health under quarantine during previous epidemic settings. This study aims to ...

Social determinants of health frameworks are standard tools in public health. These frameworks for the most part omit a crucial factor: the family. Socioeconomic status moreover is a prominent social determinant of health. Insofar as family functioning is poorer in poor families and family structure and functioning are linked to health, it is critical to consider the pathways between these four constructs. In this correspondence, we reflect on ...

De hier beschreven studie is het eerste onderzoek dat de registratiegegevens analyseert van vrouwen die zich in Vlaanderen aanbieden met een abortusverzoek in het tweede trimester, buiten de legale periode van zwangerschapsafbreking. Het onderzoek focust op de karakteristieken van deze vrouwen, vergeleken met vrouwen die zich aanbieden voor een abortus binnen de legale limiet, 14 weken vanaf de eerste dag van de laatste menstruatie. De helft van ...

Zorg voor mensen met een chronische aandoening is niet eenmalig maar een continuüm: van mensen zo vroeg mogelijk opsporen en dus screenen en testen over de juiste diagnose stellen en periodiek opvolgen tot hun behandeling op punt stellen om uiteindelijk hun chronische ziekte ‘goed gereguleerd’ te krijgen.

Introduction Substantial disparities in care outcomes exist between different subgroups of adolescents and youths living with HIV (AYLHIV). Understanding variation in individual and health facility characteristics could be key to identifying targets for interventions to reduce these disparities. We modelled variation in AYLHIV retention in care and viral suppression, and quantified the extent to which individual and facility characteristics ...

The risk of increasing dengue (DEN) and chikungunya (CHIK) epidemics impacts 240 million people, health systems, and the economy in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region. The aim of this systematic review is to monitor trends in the distribution and spread of DEN/CHIK over time and geographically for future reliable vector and disease control in the HKH region. We conducted a systematic review of the literature on the spatiotemporal distribution ...

Hazardous use of alcohol is a global public health concern. Statistics suggest that this is particularly common in Europe, and among higher education students. Although it has been established that various factors—ranging from the individual to the overarching societal level—are associated with misuse of alcohol, few studies take multiple levels of influence into account simultaneously. The current study, therefore, used a social ecological ...