Sabrina Chiodo, Sonia M. Grandi, Jessica Gronsbell
et al.
Introduction
Perinatal outcomes are shaped by clinical, social, and environmental factors, yet Canada lacks a nationally representative pregnancy cohort capturing these influences at the individual-level. This gap has limited the ability to address multifactorial drivers of maternal and fetal health. To fill this need, we established a linked cohort integrating survey, clinical, and contextual data to support equity-focused, precision public health research in maternal health.
Methods
We linked the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS; 2000--2017) to the Discharge Abstract Database (DAD) using Statistics Canada's Social Data Linkage Environment. Eligible participants were female (as defined by the binary CCHS sex variable), aged 15-49 years, with a hospital delivery within two years of their CCHS interview. We excluded multifetal gestations and retained only the first delivery per individual. Area-level and environmental exposures (i.e., neighbourhood inequity, pollution, greenspace, neighbourhood walkability, etc.) were appended via residential postal codes using the Postal Code Conversion File Plus (PCCF+).
Results
The cohort includes 13,360 singleton births. Pre-pregnancy data include sociodemographics, health behaviours, chronic conditions, psychosocial factors, and reproductive history. Contextual measures capture neighbourhood marginalization, air pollution, greenness, and built environment characteristics. In the CCHS, individuals who reported being pregnant at interview and those who did not (but later delivered) had similar characteristics (SMDs < 0.1), except for age and marital status. Data quality is supported by Statistics Canada's survey protocols, CIHI's hospital validation processes, and standardised geocoding.
Conclusion
Approved researchers can recreate this dataset within Statistics Canada's Research Data Centres using reproducible R code, which will become openly available on GitHub. The cohort enables research across descriptive epidemiology, causal inference, predictive modelling, and health equity evaluation, supporting investigations into multilevel determinants of maternal health. Future work should prioritise national mother--child linkages to expand life course research.
Celia Sifre-Armengol, Jose M. Pavía, Josep Lledó Benito
BACKGROUND: Analysing mortality is relevant for decision-making. Life tables have traditionally been based on age and sex, assuming homogeneous mortality rates within these groups. This omits other factors that could affect mortality risks. Advances in information technology and improved access to official microdata now enable the construction of life tables that incorporate additional variables, offering a more detailed analysis. OBJECTIVE: This paper aims to expand the classical approach of using age and sex by integrating additional risk factors related to the area of residence. Specifically, the factors of climate, habitat size, and income are considered, using detailed georeferenced population data at the census level. Additionally, we aim to estimate future central death rates using various forecasting models. METHODS: Utilising almost 2 billion microdata events from the Spanish population between 2010 and 2019, we begin by estimating new life tables that incorporate climate, habitat size, and income as risk factors. Then, after addressing random variations, erratic peaks, and the unexplained observed decline in mortality at extreme older ages, we use a triad of classical longevity models to project future mortality trends. All the generated data are offered in a public repository. CONTRIBUTION: The database introduced in this paper can be used by social planners, demographers, and insurers, as well as being employed to validate existing findings and explore new research questions, particularly within the demographic and actuarial-economic fields.
Catherine Quantin, Jonathan Cottenet, Colleen Chambers
et al.
Objectives
Child physical abuse (CPA) is a global public health problem associated with lifelong negative consequences, yet reliable epidemiologic data are lacking. We did a multinational cohort study to analyse trends in CPA hospitalisations between 2013 and 2021.
Method
We used medico-administrative databases to identify children aged one month to five years hospitalised in Denmark, England, France, Ireland, and Wales. Analysing data on more than 12 million hospitalisations, we identified CPA using a validated algorithm based on International Classification of Diseases-10 codes (ICD-10 codes). We calculated the number, proportion, and incidence rate of children hospitalised for CPA, and the number and proportion of total hospitalisations for CPA, by year and age group (<1 and <5). We assessed the distribution of ICD-10 codes used to identify CPA, in each country.
Results
The pooled incidence rate of infants <1 year hospitalised for CPA was stable over time (around 42/100,000 per year), ranging on average from 33 to 48/100,000 between countries. Average incidence rates for infants were highest in England and lowest in Wales. The pooled proportion of infant CPA hospitalisations was around 0.17% per year (range 0.15–0.21%), increasing significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 (0.21%). In children <5, the incidence rate (around 18/100,000 per year) and proportion of CPA hospitalisations (around 0.11% per year, range 0.10–0.14%) were lower than in infants but also increased in 2020 (0.14%). There were national differences in the distribution of ICD-10 codes used to record CPA and differences in year-on-year trends between countries.
Conclusions
This study is, to our knowledge, the first large-scale analysis examining trends in CPA hospitalisations in more than two European countries. We demonstrated that comparing temporal trends in CPA hospitalisations between countries is feasible, implying that hospital data are one of several valuable sources of information for surveillance of CPA.
We present the opportunities and limitations of administrative benefits data held by local authorities for data linkage projects. Whilst the richness of this data has been exploited by practitioners for administration, its potential remains little explored by researchers. We discuss data quality, sample selection and legal gateways for data sharing.
Drawing on our experience working with over 40 local authorities, we present the structure of three datasets: the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, the Single Housing Benefits Extract and the Universal Credit Data Share. We show what variables are usually included, under which legal gateways this data can be shared and how the cohorts represented within the data compare with the low-income population. We discuss how these datasets can be linked at the household level with a number of other data held by local authorities such as social rent and Council Tax arrears, Housing Benefit overpayments and Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs).
Administrative benefits data provides a comprehensive snapshot of a household’s financial situation. Local authorities can proactively use and share this data with external data processors to fulfil their statutory duties if a legal gateway allows. By identifying households at risk of cash shortfalls before they reach a crisis point, councils can target support when administering local welfare schemes and preventing homelessness. By assessing eligibility for benefits, they can run data-driven uptake campaigns. This data captures a proportion of the population on national and local benefits within a local authority at several points in time. Attrition is of concern since households may leave datasets over time. Some will see their income rise and no longer qualify for benefits. Others will move out of the constituency.
Local authorities routinely process longitudinal data on households receiving means-tested benefits by administering housing benefits, council tax support, and discretionary support funds. This data provides a unique real-time insight into the socioeconomic situation of low-income households. Yet, we show that its promising potential for policy research remains largely untapped.
Objectives
We started a family-based genetic epidemiology study in 2006-11 which recruited ~24,000 adult volunteers from ~7000 families across Scotland with consent for follow-up through medical record linkage and re-contact. In 2022-23 we are recruiting another 20,000, with consent extended to administrative records, with age range now 12+.
Methods
Original volunteers completed a demographic, health and lifestyle questionnaire, provided biological samples, and underwent detailed clinical assessment. The samples, phenotype and genotype data form a resource for research on the genetics of conditions of public health importance. This has become a longitudinal dataset by linkage to routine NHS hospital, maternity, lab test, prescriptions, dentistry, mortality, imaging, cancer screening, GP data records, Covid-19 testing and vaccinations, as well as follow-up questionnaires. The new wave of recruitment is all online and can be done on a smartphone, with DNA from saliva collected by post. Teenagers aged 12-15 can join with parental consent.
Results
GWAS has been done on quantitative traits and biomarkers, with DNA methylation data and proteomics available for most of the cohort. Our “CovidLife” surveys collected data on effects of the pandemic.
Researchers can find prevalent and incident disease cases and controls, to test research hypotheses on a stratified population. They can also do targeted recruitment of participants to new studies, including recall by genotype. We have established and validated E-HR linkage with the NHS Scotland CHI Register,,overcoming technical and governance issues in the process. We contribute to major international consortia, with collaborators from institutions worldwide, both academic and commercial. Recruits are asked to give consent to linkage to other administrative data, and reuse of samples from routine NHS tests for medical research.
Conclusion
We plan to extend the linkage process to include other administrative data from national datasets as and when approvals are obtained. New types of data can also be collected by online questionnaires. The Research Tissue Bank resources are available to academic and commercial researchers through a managed access process.
With the consolidation of the culture of evidence-based policymaking, the availability of data has become central to policymakers. Nowadays, innovative data sources offer an opportunity to describe demographic, mobility, and migratory phenomena more accurately by making available large volumes of real-time and spatially detailed data. At the same time, however, data innovation has led to new challenges (ethics, privacy, data governance models, data quality) for citizens, statistical offices, policymakers and the private sector. Focusing on the fields of demography, mobility, and migration studies, the aim of this report is to assess the current state of data innovation in the scientific literature as well as to identify areas in which data innovation has the most concrete potential for policymaking. Consequently, this study has reviewed more than 300 articles and scientific reports, as well as numerous tools, that employed non-traditional data sources to measure vital population events (mortality, fertility), migration and human mobility, and the population change and population distribution. The specific findings of our report form the basis of a discussion on a) how innovative data is used compared to traditional data sources; b) domains in which innovative data have the greatest potential to contribute to policymaking; c) the prospects of innovative data transition towards systematically contributing to official statistics and policymaking.
Synopsis Physiological stress may induce sublethal effects on fitness by limiting energy availability and shifting energy allocation, which can incur reproductive costs. Sublethal reproductive costs may affect vital rates, linking stress events such as heat waves to population demography. Here, we test the hypothesis that heat wave intensity and consecutive days of exposure to heat wave temperatures impact survival and individual reproductive success. We subjected groups of the marine harpacticoid copepod, Tigriopus californicus, to 6 heat wave regimes that differed in maximum exposure temperature, 26°C or 32°C, and number of consecutive exposure days (1, 2, or 7), and predicted that survival and reproductive costs would increase with heat wave intensity and duration. We measured individual survival and offspring production during the heat waves and for 2 weeks following the last day of each experimental heat wave. Despite similar survivorship between the 2 maximum temperature treatments, sublethal effects of heat wave intensity were observed. Consistent with our predictions, individuals that experienced the higher maximum temperature 32°C heat waves produced fewer offspring overall than those that experienced the 26°C heat wave. Furthermore, the number of naupliar larvae (nauplii) per clutch was lower in the 32°C group for egg clutches produced immediately after the final day of exposure. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that increasing thermal stress can lead to sublethal costs, even with no discernible effects on mortality. Heat waves may not always have lethal effects on individuals, especially for individuals that are adapted to routine exposures to high temperatures, such as those occupying the high intertidal. Costs, however, associated with stress and/or reduced performance due to non-linearities, can affect short-term demographic rates. The effect of these short-term sublethal perturbations is needed to fully understand the potential for population rescue and evolution in the face of rapid climate change.
The Ural Population Project (URAPP) is built from individual level data transcriptions of 19th- to early 20th-century parish records and mid-19th-century census-like tax revisions manuscripts. This article discusses the source material, the contents, the history of creation and the strategy of the URAPP database and the outcome of the main research topics so far, including historical demography, Jewish studies, indigenous studies and studies of religious minorities in the Urals and Siberia. Our studies of the ethno-religious cultural landscape of the Urals and northwestern Siberia as well as participation in population history projects was more vital backgrounds than the traditional focus on aggregates. The over 65,000 vital events transcribed from parish records of Russian Orthodox Churches and minority religions in and around Ekaterinburg have been the basis for studies of mortality, nuptiality, religion and other characteristics. We found that the Jewish population kept their traditions and connections with relatives in the Pale of Settlement. Prisoners of WWI usually marrying within their own religious group. Infant mortality in Ekaterinburg was lower among Jews and the Catholics, minorities with higher education and western background, while the Orthodox majority exposed their newborn to extremely tough baptism. The burial records show cases of the Spanish flu in 1918–1919, but on a lower level than in the West, supporting recent theories that estimates of flu mortality may be too high. Based on the tax revisions, polygyny was officially recognized among the indigenous Siberian people. The strategy of the URAPP project has evolved from transcribing microdata about minorities towards covering the whole population.
U radu se istražuju promene obrazovnog sastava bračnih partnera u bivšim jugoslovenskim republikama, posebno opadanje učešća brakova u kojima su muškarci obrazovaniji od žena (hipergamni brakovi). U osnovi ovih promena jeste razvoj tercijarnog obrazovanja i nastanak polne asimetrije visokoobrazovanih lica, usled kojih je u prve dve decenije XX veka došlo do porasta učešća bračnih zajednica u kojima su žene obrazovanije. Analiza se pretežno temelji na podacima Demografske (vitalne) statistike, a period koji je obuhvaćen istraživanjem odnosi se na poslednjih pedeset godina. Koristeći se specifičnim pokazateljima (F i H indeksom) i korelacionom analizom, dobijeni su rezultati koji su pokazali da obrazovna hipergamija opada u svim istraživanim zemljama, kao i da je opadanje hipergamije povezano sa prevagom žena među visokoobrazovanim licima. Rezultati daju nove uvide u tumačenje izbora partnera posredstvom socioekonomskih karakteristika, ali i ukazuju na ključnu ulogu koju u procesu selekcije ima obrazovna kompozicija stanovništva.
Extreme climate events often cause population crashes but are difficult to account for in population-dynamic studies. Especially in long-lived animals, density dependence and demography may induce lagged impacts of perturbations on population growth. In Arctic ungulates, extreme rain-on-snow and ice-locked pastures have led to severe population crashes, indicating that increasingly frequent rain-on-snow events could destabilize populations. Here, using empirically parameterized, stochastic population models for High-Arctic wild reindeer, we show that more frequent rain-on-snow events actually reduce extinction risk and stabilize population dynamics due to interactions with age structure and density dependence. Extreme rain-on-snow events mainly suppress vital rates of vulnerable ages at high population densities, resulting in a crash and a new population state with resilient ages and reduced population sensitivity to subsequent icy winters. Thus, observed responses to single extreme events are poor predictors of population dynamics and persistence because internal density-dependent feedbacks act as a buffer against more frequent events. Extreme climate events can cause population crashes and may threaten population persistence. Here, the authors model reindeer population dynamics and find that more frequent extremely icy winters can actually reduce extinction risk due to density dependence and a demographic shift to resilient ages.
Climate change, fisheries and invasive species represent three pervasive threats to seabirds, globally. Understanding the relative influence and compounding nature of marine and terrestrial threats on the demography of seabird communities is vital for evidence-based conservation. Using 20 years of capture-mark-recapture data from four sympatric species of albatross (black-browed Thalassarche melanophris, gray-headed T. chrysostoma, light-mantled Phoebetria palpebrata and wandering Diomedea exulans) at subantarctic Macquarie Island, we quantified the temporal variability in survival, breeding probability and success. In three species (excluding the wandering albatross because of their small population), we also assessed the influence of fisheries, oceanographic and terrestrial change on these rates. The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) explained 20.87–29.38% of the temporal variability in survival in all three species and 22.72–28.60% in breeding success for black-browed and gray-headed albatross, with positive SAM events related to higher success. The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Index explained 21.14–44.04% of the variability in survival, with higher survival rates following La Niña events. For black-browed albatrosses, effort in south-west Atlantic longline fisheries had a negative relationship with survival and explained 22.75–32.21% of the variability. Whereas increased effort in New Zealand trawl fisheries were related to increases in survival, explaining 21.26–28.29 % of variability. The inclusion of terrestrial covariates, reflecting extreme rainfall events and rabbit-driven habitat degradation, explained greater variability in trends breeding probability than oceanographic or fisheries covariates for all three species. These results indicate managing drivers of demographic trends that are most easily controlled, such as fisheries and habitat degradation, will be a viable option for some species (e.g., black-browed albatross) but less effective for others (e.g., light-mantled albatross). Our results illustrate the need to integrate fisheries, oceanographic and terrestrial processes when assessing demographic variability and formulating the appropriate management response.
The setting of farmland prices in the market not only reflects existing agricultural activities but also expected potential for development. This study decomposes farmland prices into values representative of current agricultural production and the prospective development potential at the county level in South Korea. The income value of farmland is derived by analysing agricultural revenue and production cost, and the sale value of farmland is estimated by reviewing transaction prices filed with the administrative authority. The difference between income value and sale value is adopted as the development value in this study. The results of the estimation show that the proportion of development value in the price of farmland is remarkably high, with a median proportion of 0.78, indicating that the threat of converting land to non-agricultural use is non-trivial because it remains a financially attractive alternative. In addition, the magnitude of the portion of the development value in the price of farmland varies considerably across counties depending on the distance to nearby metropolitan cities. This implies that agricultural policy should be designed in a locally optimised manner to effectively restrain the conversion of farmland for urban use.
The rate of growth population (LPP) becomes the main problem that is being faced by Indonesia today, one of them was East Java Province which increased 0.06 in 2000–2010 from 1990–2000 period. One effort to control LPP was family planning program by using contraception, especially Intra Uterine Device (IUD) to regulate the distance of pregnancy and to regulate birth spacing. Achievements of new Long Term Contraception Method (MKJP) acceptors especially IUD tend to decrease from 2013 to 2015 in Surabaya. The achievement of the proportion of new IUD acceptors in 2016 in Pusyan Gatra decreased by 6% became 34% from 2015 which is 40%. This study aimed to know and analyze the variables associated with the use of IUD in Pusyan Gatra in 2016 by using chi-square test. This research was an analytic quantitative research with cross-sectional design. This research data source were a new acceptor secondary data of MKJP in 2016. Population in this research were 270 new acceptors of MKJP from January to December 2016. The independent variables were age, educational level, employment status, and parity. The results from chi – square test were age (p = 0.002) and parity (p = 0.001) which related to IUD. Level of education and employment status of acceptors had no significant relationship with IUD in Pusyan Gatra. Therefore, the couple of reproductive (PUS) were >35 years old who had parity >2 and not using long–term contraception method yet, the counseling about using MKJP such as IUD must be improved.
With legal frameworks changing, administrative data can increasingly be utilised both for official statistics and to facilitate new research, enabling the development of evidence-based policy for the public benefit. Secure access conditions generally apply to using these rich, highly detailed data. However, using data from various sources is difficult when they are fragmented in “silos” between several Research Data Centres (RDCs) as can happen at a national level, and is very likely to be the case at an international level. This is a major obstacle for international comparative research. Based on user consultations, on discussions with international organisations such as OECD and Eurostat and based on lessons learned from projects as, “Data without Boundaries” and the “Nordic Microdata Access Network”, IDAN aims to create a concrete operational international framework enabling access to controlled data for research. IDAN, founded in 2018, involves six RDCs from France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Initially, the partners’ access systems are being implemented in each partners' premise based on bilateral agreements. This process involves combining requirements of security and surveillance for Safe Rooms, thus paving the way for next steps toward an integrated RDCs network. This presentation will describe how IDAN is setting up a new concrete environment for researchers to work remotely with data from the other partners within their local RDC. The paper will present first project developments, lessons and impact for research that are also of interest for national contexts where administrative data are held in multiple data centres.
Federal administrative data is a low-cost and low-burden data source for evidence-based policy making. By linking information from different surveys, or over time, researchers can achieve the sample size and variation needed for advanced econometric methods. However, the personally identifying information (PII) needed to link information means that these data re not available to the public. One solution is to provide technical specifications to the requisite agency(s) to execute the research. This paper outlines the process and pitfalls of drafting specifications for an implementing party who knows more about the data than you do. Drawing on experience from working with the U.S. Census Bureau and knowledge gained from related literatures, such as open-source coding, this paper recommends the depth of description, order of data manipulation and analysis, and requested output to make these collaborative projects successful. A federal administrative data project proposal template is offered. The paper also advises on information that federal agencies can supply to facilitate the use of these important data sources.
The purpose of this section is to remind of what is important to population specialists, what deserves to be preserved in our memories. We are not the "Ivans with no memory of kinship." We remember our kinship, respect our history - the history of the Science School of Dmitry Ignatievich Valentey, respect and preserve the traditions of our Center for Population Studies of the Faculty of Economics of Lomonosov MSU, the 50th anniversary of which is only a little away.Anniversaries and round dates are a good occasion to recall the memorable dates of our teachers and colleagues, both living and those who had passed from this life, of their contribution to the development of population and demography economics, the neighbouring demographic sciences and the population knowledge system, to recall publications and conferences, laws and concepts, and all important to understand the ways in which modern knowledge of the country's demographic development and the world was established.And if you're considering how to begin a lecture or a new article, start with the "lesson" of memory ...
Colleen Webber, Jennifer Flemming, Richard Birtwhistle
et al.
ABSTRACT
Objective
Evidence of long wait times for colonoscopy and regional variations in colonoscopy utilization have raised concerns that the availability of colonoscopy resources may be insufficient to meet current needs. This study described colonoscopy resource availability in Ontario, Canada, evaluated regional variations in colonoscopy resource availability and utilization, and examined the association between colonoscopy resource availability and colonoscopy utilization.
Approach
This is a population-based cross-sectional study of colonoscopy resource availability in Ontario, Canada from 2007 to 2013 using linked administrative health databases from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). We defined the catchment areas for colonoscopy resources using physician networks that were built upon existing patient flow patterns, with comparisons to observed colonoscopy patient travel patterns to ensure the networks reflected colonoscopy referral patterns in the province. Colonoscopy physicians were identified from physician billing data. Network-level colonoscopy availability was measured in terms of physician density, specialty, and quality, use of private colonoscopy clinics, and distance that patients travel for colonoscopy. Network-level age- and sex-standardized colonoscopy utilization rates were calculated for 2007 to 2013. Associations between colonoscopy resource availability and colonoscopy utilization were analyzed using Spearman’s rank correlation.
Results
The availability of colonoscopy resources in Ontario increased between 2007 and 2013. Physician density increased from 8.7 full-time equivalent (FTE) physicians per 100,000 residents in 2007 to 9.4 FTE per 100,000 residents in 2013. The proportion of colonoscopy physicians who achieved the recommended colonoscopy completion and polypectomy rates increased from 60% to 77%, and 28% to 53%, respectively. Use of private colonoscopy clinics also increased. In 2007, 21% of colonoscopies were completed in private clinics, and by 2013, that proportion increased to 30%. Across Ontario, we observed strong geographic variation in these measures of colonoscopy resource availability as well as in the utilization of colonoscopy. Colonoscopy utilization was positively correlated with physician availability (r=0.48, p=0.001), physician quality (r=0.6, p<0.0001) and use of private clinics for colonoscopy (r=0.5, p=0.001).
Conclusion
The availability of colonoscopy resources improved in Ontario between 2007 and 2013. However, the geographic variation in resource availability and findings that higher colonoscopy resource availability is associated with higher colonoscopy utilization suggest that certain areas of the province may be under-resourced. These areas may be appropriate targets for efforts to improve colonoscopy capacity in Ontario.
ABSTRACT
Objectives
HealthWise Wales is a national cohort study, aiming to recruit 260,000 people, over 16, living in, or accessing health services in Wales, within 5 years. The aims are; to create a cohort with longitudinal follow up data on behavioural and environmental exposures, using data linkage to healthcare datasets and outcomes; create a register of potential research participants; actively engage the public in research, inviting them to identify priorities. Research areas of importance include impact of social inequalities on health and well-being; effect of environment/neighbourhood on health; maintenance of health and well-being in the working age population and later life. Successful recruitment relies on public engagement strategies, engaging community members to engage others in their immediate community, and using local people to collect data and act as citizen scientists.
Approach
Involving People Network members were invited to take part in an advisory group to discuss the possibility of members of the public acting as citizen scientists for HealthWise Wales. An advisory group was established in North and South Wales to inform this protocol. Researchers, through meetings and communication, directed members to other citizen scientist projects and 3rd sector groups that have utilised similar methods. The advisory group also considered online citizen scientist projects.
Results
Members of the group agreed that the term champion was more appropriate than citizen scientist. Levels of commitment and the role were discussed and members concluded that overall they thought it was a good idea. They stressed training would be necessary, as well as concise and clear messaging to allow HWW champions to talk confidently about the project. They felt it was important champions decide their own level of commitment and involvement. Two levels of champions were agreed: the first level where people will commit to finding out more about the project by either attending a training session or watching an online video; and the second where they pledge to engage members from their existing networks and communities through events, clubs and activities which they might already participate in.
Conclusion
The concept of HealthWise Champion is agreeable to members of the public but appropriate training and support will need to be provided. Materials will be developed in conjunction with the advisory group members to ensure that HealthWise Wales Champions are able to clearly and confidently disseminate the more difficult elements of the study to others e.g data linkage. An evaluation will be available by July.