This paper explores classical and war-related factors associated with human insecurity reports in the Gaza Strip following the winter 2008-09 Israeli attack. A cross-sectional survey was conducted six months after the Israeli attack with adults from 3017 households. Results demonstrate that persons with greater human capital and socioeconomic resources were somewhat protected from human insecur...

OBJECTIVES To describe which functions potential employers of public health nutritionists in Norway find important for a person trained in public health nutrition to be able to carry out. Further, to illustrate how the findings were used in the development of a curriculum for a bachelor in public health nutrition at Akershus University College. DESIGN A non-random, cross-sectional survey usin...

OBJECTIVES To examine the relationship between nonmedical use of prescription opioids and heroin initiation from childhood to young adulthood, and to test whether certain ages, racial/ethnic, and income groups were at higher risk for this transition. STUDY DESIGN Among a nationally representative sample of US adolescents assessed in the 2004-2011 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health cross-...

Age-related changes in brain structure result from a complex interplay among various neurobiological processes, which may contribute to more complex trajectories than what can be described by simple linear or quadratic models. We used a nonparametric smoothing spline approach to delineate cross-sectionally estimated age trajectories of the volume of 17 neuroanatomic structures in 1100 healthy a...

BACKGROUND Self-diagnosis of influenza is an important component of pandemic control and management as it may support self-management practices and reduce visits to healthcare facilities, thus helping contain viral spread. However, little is known about the accuracy of self-diagnosis of influenza, particularly during pandemics. METHODS We used cross-sectional survey data to correlate self-dia...

Objective To assess how raising cigarette excise taxes in Peru might impact cigarette consumption, and to determine if higher taxes would be regressive. Methods Total demand price elasticity was estimated by income groups using two datasets: quarterly time-series data from 1993 - 2012 and data from a cross-sectional survey of income and expenses conducted in 2008 - 2009 . A functional form of...

BACKGROUND Patient satisfaction towards care during encounter with clinicians is key for better treatment outcomes. We assessed patient satisfaction with TB clinical care consultations in Kampala, Uganda. METHODS This was a facility-based cross sectional study done between September 2012 and February 2013 using qualitative method of data collection. Participants consecutively completed a pre-...

STUDY OBJECTIVE The study aimed to consider the impact of two different types of reminder on response rates and costs in a postal survey. DESIGN The study was a cross sectional survey. A self-completion lifestyle questionnaire was used. Those who did not respond after the initial mailing were randomly allocated to receive either a postcard or questionnaire as a first reminder. All outstanding...

BACKGROUND Although motivation of health workers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has become a topic of increasing interest by policy makers and researchers in recent years, many aspects are not well understood to date. This is partly due to a lack of appropriate measurement instruments. This article presents evidence on the construct validity of a psychometric scale developed to mea...

BACKGROUND Mothers are encouraged to practice exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a child's life. The general objective of the study was to assess the predictors of exclusive breastfeeding among mothers in Ghana. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study using data from the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS). The study sample (n = 316) was based on infants (0-5 mon...