scholarly journals Using different physical activity measurements in eight European countries. Results of the European Physical Activity Surveillance System (EUPASS) time series survey

2003 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Rütten ◽  
H Ziemainz ◽  
F Schena ◽  
T Stahl ◽  
M Stiggelbout ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Time Series ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Surveillance System ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Short Version ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Studies ◽  
Activity Measurements

AbstractObjectives:The European Physical Activity Surveillance System (EUPASS) research project compared several physical activity (PA) measures (including the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)) in a time series survey in eight countries of the European Union. The present paper describes first results provided by the different instruments regarding PA participation, frequency and duration, both at the European and national levels. The purpose of the present study is to explore and compare the specific quality and usefulness of different indicators rather than to provide valid and reliable prevalence data. Thus, the main focus is on discussion of the methodological implications of the results presented.Methods:A time series survey based on computer-aided telephone interviewing (CATI) was carried out in eight European countries over a six-month period. The study provided for about 100 realised interviews per month in each country (i.e. ~600 per country). Descriptive statistical analysis was used to: (1) report IPAQ results on vigorous, moderate and light PA and sitting, as well as on the overall measure of calories expenditure (MET min−1), in the different countries; (2) compare these results with national PA indicators tested in EUPASS; and (3) compare IPAQ results with other European studies.Results:First, the scores for the different PA categories as well as for the overall measure of calories expenditure provided by the IPAQ appeared rather high compared with previous studies and public health recommendations. Second, the different PA measurements used in EUPASS provided completely different results. For example, national indicators used in Germany and The Netherlands to date neither corresponded in absolute values (e.g. means of PA or sitting) nor correlated with the IPAQ in any significant way. Third, comparing EU countries, the ranking for vigorous, moderate and light activities by use of the IPAQ differed from that of other European studies. For example, in the present analysis, German respondents generally showed higher scores for PA than the Finns and the Dutch, while, in contrast, findings from other studies ranked Finland before The Netherlands and Germany.Conclusions:The present analysis highlights some methodological implications of the IPAQ instrument. Among other things, differences in overall scores for PA as well as in the ranking of nations between the present results using IPAQ and other measures and studies may partly be due to the concepts of PA behind the measurements. Further analysis should investigate if the range of PA-related categories provided by the IPAQ is fully appropriate to measure all relevant daily activities; it may also consider the public health implications of mixing up different contexts of PA (e.g. work, leisure-time, transportation) in the IPAQ short version.

scholarly journals No changes in adolescent’s sedentary behaviour across Europe between 2002 and 2017

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. López-Fernández ◽  
A. López-Valenciano ◽  
X. Mayo ◽  
G. Liguori ◽  
M. A. Lamb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Sedentary Behaviour ◽  
Score Test ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Sitting Time ◽  
Short Version ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Public Health Organizations ◽  
Activity Questionnaire ◽  
The Eu

Abstract Background Public health organizations have been alerted to the high levels of sedentary behaviour (SB) among adolescents as well as to the health and social consequences of excess sedentary time. However, SB changes of the European Union (EU) adolescents over time have not been reported yet. This study aimed to identify SB of the EU adolescents (15–17 years) in four-time points (2002, 2005, 2013 and 2017) and to analyse the prevalence of SB according to the sex. Methods SB of 2542 adolescents (1335 boys and 1207 girls) as a whole sample and country-by-country was analysed in 2002, 2005, 2013, and 2017 using the Sport and Physical Activity EU Special Eurobarometers’ data. SB was measured using the sitting time question from the short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), such that 4h30min of daily sitting time was the delineating point to determine excess SB behaviour (≥4h30min of sitting time) or not (≤4h30min of sitting time). A χ2 test was used to compare the prevalence of SB between survey years. Furthermore, SB prevalence between sexes was analysed using a Z-Score test for two population proportions. Results The prevalence of SB among EU adolescents across each of the four survey years ranged from 74.2 and 76.8%, rates that are considered high. High levels of SB were also displayed by both sexes (girls: 76.8 to 81.2%; boys: 71.7 to 76.7%). No significant differences in the prevalence of SB among years (p > 0.05) were found for the whole sample, and for either girls or boys. Also, no significant differences in the prevalence of SB between girls and boys were found. Conclusion The SB prevalence in European adolescents is extremely high (76.8% in 2017) with no differences between girls and boys. No significant improvements have been seen between 2002 and 2017. Eurobarometer should increase the adolescents’ sample to make possible benchmarking comparisons among the EU countries and extend the survey to the younger children population.

Comparison of Reliability in Seventeen European Countries Using the Quasi-Simplex Model

2021 ◽  
pp. 383-404
Author(s):  
Johana Chylíková
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Reliability Estimation ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Regions ◽  
Financial Situation ◽  
Reliability Estimates ◽  
Simplex Model

The aim of this chapter is to illustrate the application of the quasi-simplex model (QSM) for reliability estimation in longitudinal data and to employ it to obtain information about the reliability of the European Union—Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data collected between 2012 and 2017. Reliability of two survey questions is analysed: one which asks respondents about the financial situation in their households, and one which requests information about respondents’ health. Employing the QSM on the two items resulted in 80 reliability estimates from 17 and 11 European countries, respectively. Results revealed statistically significant differences in reliability between post-communist Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries and the rest of Europe, and similar patterns of the size of reliability estimates were observed for both items. The highest reliability (i.e. reliability over 0.8) was observed in CEE countries such as Bulgaria, Romania, Czechia, Poland, and Hungary. The lowest reliability (i.e. reliability lower than 0.7) was observed for data from Sweden, Slovenia, Norway, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Italy, and the Netherlands. The remarkable variation in longitudinal reliability across culturally and historically different European regions is discussed both from substantive and methodological perspectives.

scholarly journals The Physical Activity of Gymnasium and Secondary Education Teachers

2017 ◽  
pp. 97-105
Author(s):  
Andrzej Soroka ◽  
Joanna Baj-Korpak
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Secondary Education ◽  
Physical Education ◽  
Physical Education Teachers ◽  
Short Version ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Male Population ◽  
Noticeable Increase ◽  
Secondary Education Teachers ◽  
The Impact

Despite a noticeable increase in health awareness of active participation in physical culture, the vast majority of society still does not see a dependency between health and physical activeness. Only a few consider the lack ofmovement as one of the most harmful factors. Many researches, both Polish and foreign, point to insufficient level of physical activeness among citizens of the European Union, also including Polish ones. The report was aimed atdetermining the level of declared physical activity of gymnasium and secondary education teachers from Bialski region. In addition, an attempt was made to assess the impact of such variables as sex and subject taught on the level of respondents’ physical activeness. There was applied a method of diagnostic survey using an IPAQ questionnaire (International Physical Activity Questionnaire) – short version, last 7 days. The research material consisted of 221 randomly selected gymnasium and secondary school teachers from Bialski region. Due to the subject taught, respondents were divided into two groups: physical education teachers (n=76) and teachers of other subjects (n=145). The largest percentage of groups surveyed consisted of people who had a sufficient level of physical activity, whilst the one third met the criteria of the high level. Only physical activeness of moderate nature significantly differentiated groups surveyed in favour of physical education teachers. Taking sex as a criterion of division of the population surveyed, among the women, a considerable differentiation appeared in the area of walking, whereas the male population did not show significant differences only in the area of intense activity.

scholarly journals A systematic review of methods to assess intake of fruits and vegetables among healthy European adults and children: a DEDIPAC (DEterminants of DIet and Physical Activity) study

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Riordan ◽  
Kathleen Ryan ◽  
Ivan J Perry ◽  
Matthias B Schulze ◽  
Lene Frost Andersen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
English Language ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
European Countries ◽  
European Studies ◽  
Diet Records ◽  
Current Review ◽  
Language Studies ◽  
Diet And Physical Activity ◽  
Living Children

AbstractObjectiveEvidence suggests that health benefits are associated with consuming recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables (F&V), yet standardised assessment methods to measure F&V intake are lacking. The current review aims to identify methods to assess F&V intake among children and adults in pan-European studies and inform the development of the DEDIPAC (DEterminants of DIet and Physical Activity) toolbox of methods suitable for use in future European studies.DesignA literature search was conducted using three electronic databases and by hand-searching reference lists. English-language studies of any design which assessed F&V intake were included in the review.SettingStudies involving two or more European countries were included in the review.SubjectsHealthy, free-living children or adults.ResultsThe review identified fifty-one pan-European studies which assessed F&V intake. The FFQ was the most commonly used (n42), followed by 24 h recall (n11) and diet records/diet history (n7). Differences existed between the identified methods; for example, the number of F&V items on the FFQ and whether potatoes/legumes were classified as vegetables. In total, eight validated instruments were identified which assessed F&V intake among adults, adolescents or children.ConclusionsThe current review indicates that an agreed classification of F&V is needed in order to standardise intake data more effectively between European countries. Validated methods used in pan-European populations encompassing a range of European regions were identified. These methods should be considered for use by future studies focused on evaluating intake of F&V.

scholarly journals United in fear: Interest group coalition formation as a weapon of the weak?

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Hanegraaff ◽  
Andrea Pritoni
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
European Union ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
Coalition Formation ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Coalition Building ◽  
The European Union

Although many interest groups work together perpetually, most academic studies agree that coalition formation does not lead to more influence. In this article, we try to explain these puzzling findings. While former research generally tends to frame the decision of forming an interest group coalition as a strength, in this paper, we argue that coalition building should be considered as a ‘weapon of the weak’. Interest groups fearing that they are insufficiently influential, and whose very existence as an organisation is at risk, are more likely to coalesce. This theoretical framework is tested on a sample of around 3000 interest groups in six European countries – Belgium, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Sweden – and the European Union. Empirical findings clearly demonstrate that perceived fears – oriented towards both organisational survival and policy influence – have an effect on how likely it is that an interest group will decide to build a coalition.

Why the European Union is not Delivering. An Essay on the Role of Diversity

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arjen Van Witteloostuijn
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
European Union ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Euro Crisis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Clear Cases ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
The Eu

The European Union (EU) has suffered from fall-out recently. Clear cases in point were the anti-EU outcomes of the referenda in France and the Netherlands, as well as the messy process in response to the Euro crisis. More broadly, recent elections in many European countries have resulted in winning parties that advertise an explicit anti-EU sentiment, often linked to an equally explicit anti-immigrant stance. Apparently, in the eyes of many, the EU is not delivering – quite to the contrary. In this essay, insights from a variety of social sciences will be reviewed that may shed light on this issue, with a focus on the role of a multidimensional conception of diversity.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the surveillance system for invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in the Netherlands, 2004 – 2016

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diederik A.H. Brandwagt ◽  
Arie van der Ende ◽  
Helma (W.) L.M. Ruijs ◽  
Hester E. de Melker ◽  
Mirjam J. Knol
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Meningococcal Disease ◽  
Surveillance System ◽  
National Level ◽  
Vaccination Status ◽  
Invasive Meningococcal Disease ◽  
Reference Laboratory ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Notification Data

Abstract Background Enhanced surveillance for confirmed cases of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) was introduced in the Netherlands in 2003, in which reference laboratory data (NRLBM) are linked with notification data (OSIRIS). The quality of surveillance information is important for public health decision making. Our objective was to describe the system and evaluate it for data completeness and timeliness.
Methods
Cases reported in the surveillance system from 2004 to 2016 were included. For the notification data, we used information on serogroup, vaccination status, mortality, and country of infection as indicators for record completeness. Notification times to regional and national level were calculated using the reported dates available in the notification database. 
Results
A total of 2,123 cases were reported in the years 2004-2016, of which 1.968 (93%) were reported by the reference laboratory and 1.995 (94%) in the notification system. Of all cases, 1.840 cases (87%) were reported in both systems and could be linked. The serogroup was known in 86% of the notified cases, and was significantly higher (94%) in the years 2013-2016. Information on vaccination status, mortality and country of infection was available in 88%, 99% and 97% of notified cases, respectively. Regional notification of cases occurred within one working day for 86% of cases and 98% were notified nationally within three days. 
Conclusions
A well performing IMD surveillance system was demonstrated and serogroup completeness has improved over the years. Underlining the need for reporting to both the clinical and laboratory surveillance system remains important to further improve the overall performance in supporting public health response and vaccination policy.

scholarly journals Soda Pop: A Time-Series Clustering, Alarming and Disease Forecasting Application

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremiah Rounds ◽  
Lauren Charles-Smith ◽  
Courtney D. Corley
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Spatial Scale ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Surveillance System ◽  
Disease Surveillance ◽  
Time Series Clustering ◽  
R Shiny ◽  
Data Source ◽  
Shiny Application

ObjectiveTo introduce Soda Pop, an R/Shiny application designed to be adisease agnostic time-series clustering, alarming, and forecastingtool to assist in disease surveillance “triage, analysis and reporting”workflows within the Biosurveillance Ecosystem (BSVE) [1]. In thisposter, we highlight the new capabilities that are brought to the BSVEby Soda Pop with an emphasis on the impact of metholodogicaldecisions.IntroductionThe Biosurveillance Ecosystem (BSVE) is a biological andchemical threat surveillance system sponsored by the Defense ThreatReduction Agency (DTRA). BSVE is intended to be user-friendly,multi-agency, cooperative, modular and threat agnostic platformfor biosurveillance [2]. In BSVE, a web-based workbench presentsthe analyst with applications (apps) developed by various DTRAfundedresearchers, which are deployed on-demand in the cloud(e.g., Amazon Web Services). These apps aim to address emergingneeds and refine capabilities to enable early warning of chemical andbiological threats for multiple users across local, state, and federalagencies.Soda Pop is an app developed by Pacific Northwest NationalLaboratory (PNNL) to meet the current needs of the BSVE forearly warning and detection of disease outbreaks. Aimed for use bya diverse set of analysts, the application is agnostic to data sourceand spatial scale enabling it to be generalizable across many diseasesand locations. To achieve this, we placed a particular emphasis onclustering and alerting of disease signals within Soda Pop withoutstrong prior assumptions on the nature of observed diseased counts.MethodsAlthough designed to be agnostic to the data source, Soda Pop wasinitially developed and tested on data summarizing Influenza-LikeIllness in military hospitals from collaboration with the Armed ForcesHealth Surveillance Branch. Currently, the data incorporated alsoincludes the CDC’s National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System(NNDSS) tables [3] and the WHO’s Influenza A/B Influenza Data(Flunet) [4]. These data sources are now present in BSVE’s Postgresdata storage for direct access.Soda Pop is designed to automate time-series tasks of datasummarization, exploration, clustering, alarming and forecasting.Built as an R/Shiny application, Soda Pop is founded on the powerfulstatistical tool R [5]. Where applicable, Soda Pop facilitates nonparametricseasonal decomposition of time-series; hierarchicalagglomerative clustering across reporting areas and between diseaseswithin reporting areas; and a variety of alarming techniques includingExponential Weighted Moving Average alarms and Early AberrationDetection [6].Soda Pop embeds these techniques within a user-interface designedto enhance an analyst’s understanding of emerging trends in their dataand enables the inclusion of its graphical elements into their dossierfor further tracking and reporting. The ultimate goal of this softwareis to facilitate the discovery of unknown disease signals along withincreasing the speed of detection of unusual patterns within thesesignals.ConclusionsSoda Pop organizes common statistical disease surveillance tasksin a manner integrated with BSVE data source inputs and outputs.The app analyzes time-series disease data and supports a robust set ofclustering and alarming routines that avoid strong assumptions on thenature of observed disease counts. This attribute allows for flexibilityin the data source, spatial scale, and disease types making it useful toa wide range of analystsSoda Pop within the BSVE.KeywordsBSVE; Biosurveillance; R/Shiny; Clustering; AlarmingAcknowledgmentsThis work was supported by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency undercontract CB10082 with Pacific Northwest National LaboratoryReferences1. Dasey, Timothy, et al. “Biosurveillance Ecosystem (BSVE) WorkflowAnalysis.” Online journal of public health informatics 5.1 (2013).2. http://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/681832/dtra-scientistsdevelop-cloud-based-biosurveillance-ecosystem. Accessed 9/6/2016.3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “National NotifiableDiseases Surveillance System (NNDSS).”4. World Health Organization. “FluNet.” Global Influenza Surveillanceand Response System (GISRS).5. R Core Team (2016). R: A language and environment for statisticalcomputing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria.6. Salmon, Maëlle, et al. “Monitoring Count Time Series in R: AberrationDetection in Public Health Surveillance.” Journal of StatisticalSoftware [Online], 70.10 (2016): 1 - 35.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the surveillance system for invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in the Netherlands, 2004 – 2016

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diederik A.H. Brandwagt ◽  
Arie van der Ende ◽  
Helma (W.) L.M. Ruijs ◽  
Hester E. de Melker ◽  
Mirjam J. Knol
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Meningococcal Disease ◽  
Surveillance System ◽  
National Level ◽  
Vaccination Status ◽  
Invasive Meningococcal Disease ◽  
Reference Laboratory ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Notification Data

Abstract Background Enhanced surveillance for confirmed cases of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) was introduced in the Netherlands in 2003, in which reference laboratory data (NRLBM) are linked with notification data (OSIRIS). The quality of surveillance information is important for public health decision making. Our objective was to describe the system and evaluate it for data completeness and timeliness.
Methods
Cases reported in the surveillance system from 2004 to 2016 were included. For the notification data, we used information on serogroup, vaccination status, mortality, and country of infection as indicators for record completeness. Notification times to regional and national level were calculated using the reported dates available in the notification database. 
Results
A total of 2,123 cases were reported in the years 2004-2016, of which 1.968 (93%) were reported by the reference laboratory and 1.995 (94%) in the notification system. Of all cases, 1.840 cases (87%) were reported in both systems and could be linked. The serogroup was known in 86% of the notified cases, and was significantly higher (94%) in the years 2013-2016. Information on vaccination status, mortality and country of infection was available in 88%, 99% and 97% of notified cases, respectively. Regional notification of cases occurred within one working day for 86% of cases and 98% were notified nationally within three days. 
Conclusions
A well performing IMD surveillance system was demonstrated and serogroup completeness has improved over the years. Underlining the need for reporting to both the clinical and laboratory surveillance system remains important to further improve the overall performance in supporting public health response and vaccination policy.

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