Articles: mortality.
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Most studies that have evaluated the association between the body-mass index (BMI) and the risks of death from any cause and from specific causes have been conducted in populations of European origin. ⋯ Underweight was associated with a substantially increased risk of death in all Asian populations. The excess risk of death associated with a high BMI, however, was seen among East Asians but not among Indians and Bangladeshis.
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Comparative Study
Health behaviours, socioeconomic status, and mortality: further analyses of the British Whitehall II and the French GAZEL prospective cohorts.
Differences in morbidity and mortality between socioeconomic groups constitute one of the most consistent findings of epidemiologic research. However, research on social inequalities in health has yet to provide a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms underlying this association. In recent analysis, we showed health behaviours, assessed longitudinally over the follow-up, to explain a major proportion of the association of socioeconomic status (SES) with mortality in the British Whitehall II study. However, whether health behaviours are equally important mediators of the SES-mortality association in different cultural settings remains unknown. In the present paper, we examine this issue in Whitehall II and another prospective European cohort, the French GAZEL study. ⋯ Health behaviours were strong predictors of mortality in both cohorts but their association with SES was remarkably different. Thus, health behaviours are likely to be major contributors of socioeconomic differences in health only in contexts with a marked social characterisation of health behaviours. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.
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Comparative Study
Ability to walk 1/4 mile predicts subsequent disability, mortality, and health care costs.
Mobility, such as walking 1/4 mile, is a valuable but underutilized health indicator among older adults. For mobility to be successfully integrated into clinical practice and health policy, an easily assessed marker that predicts subsequent health outcomes is required. ⋯ Mobility disability, a simple self-report measure, is a powerful predictor of future health, function, and utilization independent of usual health and demographic indicators. Mobility disability may be used to target high-risk patients for care management and preventive interventions.
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Patterns of diversity in age at death are examined using e (†), a dispersion measure that equals the average expected lifetime lost at death. We apply two methods for decomposing differences in e (†). The first method estimates the contributions of average levels of mortality and mortality age structures. ⋯ This result can be attributed to dissimilarity between the age- and cause-of-death structures of temporal mortality reduction and intercountry mortality variation. It also suggests that factors affecting overall mortality decrease differ from those responsible for excess lifetime losses in the United States compared with other countries. The latter can be related to weaknesses of health system and other factors resulting in premature death from heart diseases, amenable causes, accidents and violence.
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World J. Gastroenterol. · Jan 2011
Meta AnalysisEffect of preoperative biliary drainage on malignant obstructive jaundice: a meta-analysis.
To evaluate the effect of preoperative biliary drainage (PBD) on obstructive jaundice resulting from malignant tumors. ⋯ PBD cannot significantly reduce the postoperative mortality and complications of malignant obstructive jaundice, and therefore should not be used as a preoperative routine procedure for malignant obstructive jaundice.