Deficits in psycho-oncological care among Turkish immigrant women with breast cancer in Germany – an interview study

Spallek L, Yilmaz-Aslan Y, Klein-Ellinghaus F, et al. Deficits in psycho-oncological care among Turkish immigrant women with breast cancer in Germany – an interview study. International Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research. 2017;1(2):1-10

Rehabilitative Versorgung und gesundheitsbedingte Frühberentung von Personen mit Migrationshintergrund in Deutschland: Abschlussbericht

Dieser Abschlussbericht stellt die Ergebnisse des Projektes "Rehabilitative Versorgung und gesundheitsbedingte Frühberentung von Personen mit Migrationshintergrund in Deutschland" vor. Auf Basis eines quantitativen und qualitativen Forschungszugangs wurde untersucht, inwiefern sich einzelne Gruppen von ausländischen Staatsangehörigen bzw. Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund hinsichtlich der Häufigkeit von Arbeitsunfällen und Berufskrankheiten, der Inanspruchnahme beruflicher und medizinischer Rehabilitationsmaßnahmen, des Rehabilitationserfolges und der Frühberentung von Deutschen bzw. Menschen ohne Migrationshintergrund unterscheiden. Unter Bezugnahme auf Prozess- und Individualdaten unterschiedlicher Rehabilitationsträger zeigt der Bericht, dass Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund im Durchschnitt weniger häufig Maßnahmen der medizinischen Rehabilitation in Anspruch nehmen sowie einen geringeren Rehabilitationserfolg und höhere Frühberentungsquoten aufweisen als die Mehrheitsbevölkerung. Auf Basis einer systematischen Literaturrecherche und mittels qualitativer Experten- und Fokusgruppeninterviews werden darüber hinaus unterschiedliche Zugangs-, Durchführungs- und Wirksamkeitsbarrieren in der Rehabilitation von Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund identifiziert, welche die quantitativen Ergebnisse zumindest teilweise erklären können. Handlungsempfehlungen für die Verbesserung der rehabilitativen Versorgung von Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund werden abgeleitet

Awareness and knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among school-going adolescents in Europe: a systematic review of published literature

Samkange-Zeeb FN, Spallek L, Zeeb H. Awareness and knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among school-going adolescents in Europe: a systematic review of published literature. BMC public health. 2011;11(1): 727.BACKGROUND: Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are a major health problem affecting mostly young people, not only in developing, but also in developed countries.We conducted this systematic review to determine awareness and knowledge of school-going male and female adolescents in Europe of STDs and if possible, how they perceive their own risk of contracting an STD. Results of this review can help point out areas where STD risk communication for adolescents needs to be improved. METHODS: Using various combinations of the terms "STD", "HIV", "HPV", "Chlamydia", "Syphilis", "Gonorrhoea", "herpes", "hepatitis B", "knowledge", "awareness", and "adolescents", we searched for literature published in the PubMed database from 01.01.1990 up to 31.12.2010. Studies were selected if they reported on the awareness and/or knowledge of one or more STD among school-attending adolescents in a European country and were published in English or German. Reference lists of selected publications were screened for further publications of interest. Information from included studies was systematically extracted and evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 15 studies were included in the review. All were cross-sectional surveys conducted among school-attending adolescents aged 13 to 20 years. Generally, awareness and knowledge varied among the adolescents depending on gender.Six STDs were focussed on in the studies included in the review, with awareness and knowledge being assessed in depth mainly for HIV/AIDS and HPV, and to some extent for chlamydia. For syphilis, gonorrhoea and herpes only awareness was assessed. Awareness was generally high for HIV/AIDS (above 90%) and low for HPV (range 5.4%-66%). Despite knowing that use of condoms helps protect against contracting an STD, some adolescents still regard condoms primarily as an interim method of contraception before using the pill. CONCLUSION: In general, the studies reported low levels of awareness and knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases, with the exception of HIV/AIDS. Although, as shown by some of the findings on condom use, knowledge does not always translate into behaviour change, adolescents' sex education is important for STD prevention, and the school setting plays an important role. Beyond HIV/AIDS, attention should be paid to infections such as chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis

Awareness and knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among school-going adolescents in Europe: a systematic review of published literature

Abstract Background Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are a major health problem affecting mostly young people, not only in developing, but also in developed countries. We conducted this systematic review to determine awareness and knowledge of school-going male and female adolescents in Europe of STDs and if possible, how they perceive their own risk of contracting an STD. Results of this review can help point out areas where STD risk communication for adolescents needs to be improved. Methods Using various combinations of the terms "STD", "HIV", "HPV", "Chlamydia", "Syphilis", "Gonorrhoea", "herpes", "hepatitis B", "knowledge", "awareness", and "adolescents", we searched for literature published in the PubMed database from 01.01.1990 up to 31.12.2010. Studies were selected if they reported on the awareness and/or knowledge of one or more STD among school-attending adolescents in a European country and were published in English or German. Reference lists of selected publications were screened for further publications of interest. Information from included studies was systematically extracted and evaluated. Results A total of 15 studies were included in the review. All were cross-sectional surveys conducted among school-attending adolescents aged 13 to 20 years. Generally, awareness and knowledge varied among the adolescents depending on gender. Six STDs were focussed on in the studies included in the review, with awareness and knowledge being assessed in depth mainly for HIV/AIDS and HPV, and to some extent for chlamydia. For syphilis, gonorrhoea and herpes only awareness was assessed. Awareness was generally high for HIV/AIDS (above 90%) and low for HPV (range 5.4%-66%). Despite knowing that use of condoms helps protect against contracting an STD, some adolescents still regard condoms primarily as an interim method of contraception before using the pill. Conclusion In general, the studies reported low levels of awareness and knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases, with the exception of HIV/AIDS. Although, as shown by some of the findings on condom use, knowledge does not always translate into behaviour change, adolescents' sex education is important for STD prevention, and the school setting plays an important role. Beyond HIV/AIDS, attention should be paid to infections such as chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis.</p

HPV infection awareness and self-reported HPV vaccination coverage in female adolescent students in two German cities

Samkange-Zeeb F, Spallek L, Klug SJ, Zeeb H. HPV infection awareness and self-reported HPV vaccination coverage in female adolescent students in two German cities. Journal of community health. 2012;37(6):1151-1156.Low levels of human papillomavirus (HPV) awareness and knowledge have been observed in the few studies conducted among school-going adolescents. Such data are lacking in Germany. To assess awareness of HPV and of vaccination status among girls attending grades 8-13 in Bremen and Bremerhaven, two German cities. Participants completed a questionnaire in school including questions on demographic characteristics, about HPV awareness and on vaccination status. We analysed the relationship between awareness of HPV, of vaccination status and vaccine uptake and several variables including age and migrant background using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Six hundred and thirty-two girls aged 12-20 years completed the questionnaire. 50 % had no awareness of HPV, 12 % reported being vaccinated against HPV and 57 % did not know whether or not they were vaccinated against HPV. In multivariate analyses, ever had sex was associated with awareness of HPV, and ever been to a gynaecologist with awareness of vaccination status. Our results may be an indication that female adolescents in Germany are not adequately informed and counselled about HPV and associated issues

Association of environmental factors and the stress level among slum dwellers-a cross sectional study in the megacity Dhaka, Bangladesh

Spallek L, Pfitzner R, Kernebeck S, Krämer A, Khan MH. Association of environmental factors and the stress level among slum dwellers-a cross sectional study in the megacity Dhaka, Bangladesh. The European Journal of Public Health. 2012;22(Suppl. 2):276-277

Contraceptive use in rural and urban areas in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. An analysis of the Demographic and Health Surveys

Spallek L, Grosser A, Pollmann T, Krämer A, Khan MH. Contraceptive use in rural and urban areas in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. An analysis of the Demographic and Health Surveys. The European Journal Of Public Health. 2012;22:267-267

Socioeconomic inequalities in primary-care and specialist physician visits: a systematic review

Background!#!Utilization of primary-care and specialist physicians seems to be associated differently with socioeconomic status (SES). This review aims to summarize and compare the evidence on socioeconomic inequalities in consulting primary-care or specialist physicians in the general adult population in high-income countries.!##!Methods!#!We carried out a systematic search across the most relevant databases (Web of Science, Medline) and included all studies, published since 2004, reporting associations between SES and utilization of primary-care and/or specialist physicians. In total, 57 studies fulfilled the eligibility criteria.!##!Results!#!Many studies found socioeconomic inequalities in physician utilization, but inequalities were more pronounced in visiting specialists than primary-care physicians. The results of the studies varied strongly according to the operationalization of utilization, namely whether a physician was visited (probability) or how often a physician was visited (frequency). For probabilities of visiting primary-care physicians predominantly no association with SES was found, but frequencies of visits were higher in the most disadvantaged. The most disadvantaged often had lower probabilities of visiting specialists, but in many studies no link was found between the number of visits and SES.!##!Conclusion!#!This systematic review emphasizes that inequalities to the detriment of the most deprived is primarily a problem in the probability of visiting specialist physicians. Healthcare policy should focus first off on effective access to specialist physicians in order to tackle inequalities in healthcare.!##!Prospero registration number!#!CRD42019123222

Rehabilitative Versorgung und gesundheitliche Frühberentung von Personen mit Migrationshintergrund in Deutschland. Forschungsbericht Nr. 402

Brzoska P, Voigtländer S, Reutin B, et al. Rehabilitative Versorgung und gesundheitliche Frühberentung von Personen mit Migrationshintergrund in Deutschland. Forschungsbericht Nr. 402. Berlin: Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales; 2010