Monitoring international migration flows in Europe. Towards a statistical data base combining data from different sources

The paper reviews techniques developed in demography, geography and statistics that are useful for bridging the gap between available data on international migration flows and the information required for policy making and research. The basic idea of the paper is as follows: to establish a coherent and consistent data base that contains sufficiently detailed, up-to-date and accurate information, data from several sources should be combined. That raises issues of definition and measurement, and of how to combine data from different origins properly. The issues may be tackled more easily if the statistics that are being compiled are viewed as different outcomes or manifestations of underlying stochastic processes governing migration. The link between the processes and their outcomes is described by models, the parameters of which must be estimated from the available data. That may be done within the context of socio-demographic accounting. The paper discusses the experience of the U.S. Bureau of the Census in combining migration data from several sources. It also summarizes the many efforts in Europe to establish a coherent and consistent data base on international migration. The paper was written at IIASA. It is part of the Migration Estimation Study, which is a collaborative IIASA-University of Groningen project, funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). The project aims at developing techniques to obtain improved estimates of international migration flows by country of origin and country of destination

A cross-sectional study of child injury ambulance call-out characteristics and their utility in surveillance

Background: Injuries are a leading cause of death and ill-health in children. Aims: To explore the potential utility of ambulance call-out data in understanding the burden and characteristics of child injury. Methods: A cross-sectional examination was carried out of injury-related ambulance call-outs to children aged 0–14 years in the north west of England between April 2016 and March 2017. Findings: The majority of the 16 285 call-outs were for unintentional injuries (91.4%), with falls the most prevalent injury type (38.4%). The incidence of child injury ambulance call-outs peaked at age 1 year (233.4 per 10 000 population). Burns in children aged 5–9 years were significantly higher at weekends (P=0.003) and on celebration days (P=0.001); poisoning in 10–14 year-olds were significantly higher at weekends (P=0.001); and traffic injuries were significantly lower at weekends in 0–4 year-olds (P=0.009) and 10–14 year-olds (P=0.003). Conclusion: Ambulance call-out data can provide epidemiological support in examining the characteristics of child injury and identifying at-risk groups

Independent Risk Factors for Injury in Pre-School Children: Three Population-Based Nested Case-Control Studies Using Routine Primary Care Data

Background: Injuries in childhood are largely preventable yet an estimated 2,400 children die every day because of injury and violence. Despite this, the factors that contribute to injury occurrence have not been quantified at the population scale using primary care data. We used The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database to identify risk factors for thermal injury, fractures and poisoning in pre-school children in order to inform the optimal delivery of preventative strategies. Methods: We used a matched, nested case-control study design. Cases were children under 5 with a first medically recorded injury, comprising 3,649 thermal injury cases, 4,050 fracture cases and 2,193 poisoning cases, matched on general practice to 94,620 control children. Results: Younger maternal age and higher birth order increased the odds of all injuries. Children’s age of highest injury risk varied by injury type; compared with children under 1 year, thermal injuries were highest in those age 1-2 (OR = 2.43, 95%CI 2.23–2.65), poisonings in those age 2-3 (OR = 7.32, 95%CI 6.26–8.58) and fractures in those age 3-5 (OR = 3.80, 95%CI 3.42–4.23). Increasing deprivation was an important modifiable risk factor for poisonings and thermal injuries (tests for trend p#0.001) as were hazardous/harmful alcohol consumption by a household adult (OR = 1.73, 95%CI 1.26–2.38 and OR = 1.39, 95%CI 1.07–1.81 respectively) and maternal diagnosis of depression (OR = 1.45, 95%CI 1.24–1.70 and OR = 1.16, 95%CI 1.02–1.32 respectively). Fracture was not associated with these factors, however, not living in single-adult household reduced the odds of fracture (OR = 0.88, 95%CI 0.82–0.95). Conclusions: Maternal depression, hazardous/harmful adult alcohol consumption and socioeconomic deprivation represent important modifiable risk factors for thermal injury and poisoning but not fractures in preschool children. Since these risk factors can be ascertained from routine primary care records, pre-school children’s frequent visits to primary care present an opportunity to reduce injury risk by implementing effective preventative interventions from existing national guidelines

A Reflection on Economic Uncertainty and Fertility in Europe: The Narrative Framework

none5openVignoli, Daniele; Guetto, Raffaele; Bazzani, Giacomo; Pirani, Elena; Minello, AlessandraVignoli, Daniele; Guetto, Raffaele; Bazzani, Giacomo; Pirani, Elena; Minello, Alessandr