The br2 – weighting Method for Estimating the Effects of Air Pollution on Population Health

Uncertainties, limitations and biases may impede the correct application of concentration-response linear functions to estimate the effects of air pollution exposure on population health. The reliability of a prediction depends largely on the strength of the linear correlation between the studied variables. This work proposes the joint use of the coefficient of determination, r2, with the regression slope, b, as an improved measure of the strength of the linear relation between air pollution and its effects on population health. The proposed br2‑weighting method offers more reliable inferences about the potential effects of air pollution on population health, and can be applied universally to other fields of research

Municipal contraceptive services, socioeconomic status and teenage pregnancy in Finland : a longitudinal study

Objectives Declining teenage pregnancy rates have been linked to improved access to youth-friendly contraceptive services, but information on the combined association of these services and socioeconomic factors with teenage pregnancy is lacking. Design and setting This retrospective longitudinal register-based study covers the annual teenage childbirth and induced abortion rates in the 100 largest municipalities in Finland in 2000-2018. We investigated the combined association of regional, socioeconomic (ie, education level and need for social assistance) and adolescent contraceptive service variables (ie, free-of-charge contraception, an adolescent-only clinic and availability of over-the-counter emergency contraception (OTC EC)) with teenage childbirth and induced abortion rates at the municipality level by using Poisson mixed-effects model. Primary outcome measures Annual teenage childbirth and induced abortion rates as numbers per 1000 teenage girls aged 15-19 years old in the 100 largest municipalities in Finland from 2000 to 2018. Results The following variables were significantly associated with both lower teenage childbirth and induced abortion rates when adjusted for all the other variables used in the model: providing free-of-charge contraception (rate ratio (RR) 0.82 (95% CI 0.73 to 0.92) and RR 0.87 (95% CI 0.79 to 0.96), respectively), availability of OTC EC without age limit (RR 0.70 (95% CI 0.67 to 0.75) and RR 0.74 (95% CI 0.71 to 0.78), respectively), and high education level of the municipality (RR 0.94 (95% CI 0.94 to 0.95) and RR 0.94 (95% CI 0.93 to 0.94), respectively). Conclusion Providing free-of-charge contraception and availability of OTC EC without age limit are associated with lower teenage pregnancy rates. These services combined with proper counselling are thus important contents of youth-friendly contraceptive services that should be provided equally for all teenagers in order to further reduce teenage pregnancy rates.Peer reviewe

A proposed case-control framework to probabilistically classify individual deaths as expected or excess during extreme hot weather events

Background: Most excess deaths that occur during extreme hot weather events do not have natural heat recorded as an underlying or contributing cause. This study aims to identify the specific individuals who died because of hot weather using only secondary data. A novel approach was developed in which the expected number of deaths was repeatedly sampled from all deaths that occurred during a hot weather event, and compared with deaths during a control period. The deaths were compared with respect to five factors known to be associated with hot weather mortality. Individuals were ranked by their presence in significant models over 100 trials of 10,000 repetitions. Those with the highest rankings were identified as probable excess deaths. Sensitivity analyses were performed on a range of model combinations. These methods were applied to a 2009 hot weather event in greater Vancouver, Canada. Results The excess deaths identified were sensitive to differences in model combinations, particularly between univariate and multivariate approaches. One multivariate and one univariate combination were chosen as the best models for further analyses. The individuals identified by multiple combinations suggest that marginalized populations in greater Vancouver are at higher risk of death during hot weather. Conclusions This study proposes novel methods for classifying specific deaths as expected or excess during a hot weather event. Further work is needed to evaluate performance of the methods in simulation studies and against clinically identified cases. If confirmed, these methods could be applied to a wide range of populations and events of interest.Medicine, Faculty ofNon UBCPopulation and Public Health (SPPH), School ofReviewedFacult

A proposed case-control framework to probabilistically classify individual deaths as expected or excess during extreme hot weather events

BACKGROUND: Most excess deaths that occur during extreme hot weather events do not have natural heat recorded as an underlying or contributing cause. This study aims to identify the specific individuals who died because of hot weather using only secondary data. A novel approach was developed in which the expected number of deaths was repeatedly sampled from all deaths that occurred during a hot weather event, and compared with deaths during a control period. The deaths were compared with respect to five factors known to be associated with hot weather mortality. Individuals were ranked by their presence in significant models over 100 trials of 10,000 repetitions. Those with the highest rankings were identified as probable excess deaths. Sensitivity analyses were performed on a range of model combinations. These methods were applied to a 2009 hot weather event in greater Vancouver, Canada. RESULTS: The excess deaths identified were sensitive to differences in model combinations, particularly between univariate and multivariate approaches. One multivariate and one univariate combination were chosen as the best models for further analyses. The individuals identified by multiple combinations suggest that marginalized populations in greater Vancouver are at higher risk of death during hot weather. CONCLUSIONS: This study proposes novel methods for classifying specific deaths as expected or excess during a hot weather event. Further work is needed to evaluate performance of the methods in simulation studies and against clinically identified cases. If confirmed, these methods could be applied to a wide range of populations and events of interest

Proceedings of the 4th World Conference on Research Integrity

CITATION: O’Brien, S. P., et al. 2016. Proceedings of the 4th World Conference on Research Integrity. Research Integrity and Peer Review, 1:9, doi:10.1186/s41073-016-0012-9.The original publication is available at https://researchintegrityjournal.biomedcentral.comThese Proceedings contain the abstracts of the presentations given at the 4th World Conference in concurrent sessions, partner symposia, and poster sessions. Also included are summaries of the discussions in three focus tracks, which allowed delegates to consider and work on questions about the roles of funders, institutions, and countries in improving research systems and strengthening research integrity. Videos of the plenary presentations are available at the conference website (www.wcri2015.org).https://researchintegrityjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s41073-016-0012-