Subjective social status, social network and health disparities: empirical evidence from Greece

Background Several studies suggest that socioeconomic status affects (SES) affects self-rated health (SRH), both in Greece and internationally. However, prior research mainly uses objective measures of SES, instead of subjective evaluations of individuals’ social status. Based on this, this paper aims to examine (a) the impact of the economic dowturn on SRH in Greece and (b) the relationship between subjective social status (SSS), social network and SRH. Methods The descriptive analysis is based on four cross-sectional surveys conducted by the National School of Public Health, Athens, Greece (2002, 2006, 2011, 2015), while the data for the empirical investigation were derived from the 2015 survey (Health + Welfare Survey GR). The empirical strategy is based on an ordinal logistic regression model, aiming to examine how several variables affect SRH. Size of social network and SSS are among the independent variables employed for the empirical analysis Results According to our findings, average SRH has deteriorated, and the percentage of the population that reports very good/good SRH has also decreased. Moreover, our empirical analysis suggests that age, existence of a chronic disease, size of social network and SSS affect SRH in Greece. Conclusion Our findings are consistent with the existing literature and confirm a social gradient in health. According to our analysis, health disparities can be largely attributed to socioeconomic inequalities. The adverse economic climate has impact on socioeconomic differences which in turn affect health disparities. Based on these, policy initiatives are necessasy in order to mitigate the negative impact on health and the disparities caused by economic dowturn and the occuring socioeconomic inequalities

Challenges in Representation Learning: A report on three machine learning contests

The ICML 2013 Workshop on Challenges in Representation Learning focused on three challenges: the black box learning challenge, the facial expression recognition challenge, and the multimodal learning challenge. We describe the datasets created for these challenges and summarize the results of the competitions. We provide suggestions for organizers of future challenges and some comments on what kind of knowledge can be gained from machine learning competitions.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Vaccination against HPV virus: a systematic review of economic evaluation studies for developed countries

Introduction: During the last years, a significant number economic evaluations of HPV vaccination has been published. Given that cost-effectiveness constitutes an essential part of decision-making with regards to the reimbursement of a health technology, the purpose of this study is to provide a supportive tool to decision-makers regarding the economic efficiency of the introduction of HPV vaccination to national immunization programs. Areas covered: The PubMed database was searched in order to identify cost-effectiveness studies for HPV vaccination. A total of 42 articles were finally retrieved. All retrieved cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were converted in the same currency unit (I$) and then inflated to the same year (2015) in order to facilitate cross-country comparisons. Results: Overall, vaccination against HPV 6,11,16,18 types appears to have a ICER with mean value of I$25132/QALY, whereas the mean ICER of vaccination against oncogenic HPV 16,18 types is estimated at I$38,253/QALY. Expert commentary: HPV vaccination would be a cost-effective intervention in the setting of high-income countries and could reduce the incidence of HPV-related diseases

Estimates of price and income elasticity in Greece. Greek debt crisis transforming cigarettes into a luxury good: an econometric approach

Objective: During the past decades, smoking prevalence in Greece was estimated to be near or over 40%. Following a sharp fall in cigarette consumption, as shown in current data, our objective is to assess smokers’ sensitivity to cigarette price and consumer income changes as well as to project health benefits of an additional tax increase. Methods: Cigarette consumption was considered as the dependent variable, with Weighted Average Price as a proxy for cigarette price, gross domestic product as a proxy for consumers’ income and dummy variables reflecting smoking restrictions and antismoking campaigns. Values were computed to natural logarithms and regression was performed. Then, four scenarios of tax increase were distinguished in order to calculate potential health benefits. Results: Short-run price elasticity is estimated at -0.441 and short-run income elasticity is estimated at 1.040. Antismoking campaigns were found to have a statistically significant impact on consumption. Results indicate that, depending on the level of tax increase, annual per capita consumption could fall by at least 209.83 cigarettes; tax revenue could rise by more than (sic)0.74 billion, while smokers could be reduced by up to 530 568 and at least 465 smoking-related deaths could be averted. Conclusions: Price elasticity estimates are similar to previous studies in Greece, while income elasticity estimates are far greater. With cigarettes regarded as a luxury good, a great opportunity is presented for decisionmakers to counter smoking. Increased taxation, along with focused antismoking campaigns, law reinforcement (to ensure compliance with smoking bans) and intensive control for smuggling could invoke a massive blow to the tobacco epidemic in Greece

Barriers in access to healthcare services for chronic patients in times of austerity: an empirical approach in Greece

Objectives: To investigate the magnitude of barriers in access to health services for chronic patients and the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics that affect them. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 1,594 chronic patients suffering from diabetes, hypertension, COPD and Alzheimer. Logistic regression analyses were carried out in order to explore the factors related to economic and geographical barriers in access, as well as the determinants of barriers due to waiting lists. Results: A total of 25% of chronic patients face geographical barriers while 63.5% and 58.5% of them are in front of economic and waiting list barriers, respectively. Unemployed, low-income and low-educated are more likely to face economic barriers in access. Moreover, women, low-income patients, and patients with lower health status are more likely to be in front of geographical barriers. In addition, the probability of waiting lists occurrence is greater for unemployed, employees and low income patients. Conclusions: Barriers in access can be mainly attributed to income decrease and unemployment. In this context, health policy measures are essential for removing barriers in access. Otherwise, inequalities may increase and chronic patients’ health status will be deteriorated. These consequences imply adverse effects on health expenditure

Subjective social status, social network and health disparities: empirical evidence from Greece

Background: Several studies suggest that socioeconomic status affects (SES) affects self-rated health (SRH), both in Greece and internationally. However, prior research mainly uses objective measures of SES, instead of subjective evaluations of individuals' social status. Based on this, this paper aims to examine (a) the impact of the economic dowturn on SRH in Greece and (b) the relationship between subjective social status (SSS), social network and SRH. Methods: The descriptive analysis is based on four cross-sectional surveys conducted by the National School of Public Health, Athens, Greece (2002, 2006, 2011, 2015), while the data for the empirical investigation were derived from the 2015 survey (Health + Welfare Survey GR). The empirical strategy is based on an ordinal logistic regression model, aiming to examine how several variables affect SRH. Size of social network and SSS are among the independent variables employed for the empirical analysis Results: According to our findings, average SRH has deteriorated, and the percentage of the population that reports very good/good SRH has also decreased. Moreover, our empirical analysis suggests that age, existence of a chronic disease, size of social network and SSS affect SRH in Greece. Conclusion: Our findings are consistent with the existing literature and confirm a social gradient in health. According to our analysis, health disparities can be largely attributed to socioeconomic inequalities. The adverse economic climate has impact on socioeconomic differences which in turn affect health disparities. Based on these, policy initiatives are necessasy in order to mitigate the negative impact on health and the disparities caused by economic dowturn and the occuring socioeconomic inequalities

Evaluation of the detection of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in cancer development and progression in patients with colorectal cancer

<div><p>Background</p><p>Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play essential role in innate and acquired immunity, are expressed in various cell types, and are associated with altered susceptibility to many diseases, and cancers. The aim of this study was to investigate <i>TLR2</i> (-196 to-174<i>del</i>), <i>TLR4</i> (Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile) and <i>TLR9</i> (T1237C and T1486C) gene polymorphisms at risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) development and progression.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Peripheral blood was obtained from 397 patients with adjuvant (stage II/III, n = 202) and metastatic (n = 195) CRC. Moreover, blood samples from 50 healthy volunteers and 40 patients with adenomatous polyps were also included as control groups. DNA from patients and controls was analyzed using PCR and PCR-RFLP for genotyping functional polymorphism within <i>TLR2</i>, <i>TLR4</i> and <i>TLR9</i> genotypes.</p><p>Results</p><p><i>TLR2–</i>196 to-174<i>del</i>/<i>del</i> genotype was detected in 76.6% of the patients and was significantly higher that the controls groups (<i>p</i><0.001). <i>TLR4</i> Asp299Gly, <i>TLR4</i> Thr399Ile, <i>TLR9 T1237C</i> and <i>T1486C</i> homozygous genotypes were detected in 70.5%, 70.5%, 61.5% and 61.5% of the patients respectively, and were also significantly higher than that in the control groups (<i>p</i><0.001). All polymorphisms detected were also significantly associated with the metastatic disease (<i>p</i><0.001) leading to shorter overall survival (<i>p</i><0.001); whereas, <i>TLR4</i> Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile polymorphisms were significantly associated with <i>KRAS</i> mutations.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>The detection of higher frequencies of the <i>TLR2</i>, <i>TLR4</i> and/or <i>TLR9</i> polymorphisms in CRC patients compared with the control groups highlight the role of these polymorphism in CRC development and cancer progression.</p></div

Association of patients’ and control groups TLR gene polymorphisms.

<p>Association of patients’ and control groups TLR gene polymorphisms.</p