International journal of epidemiology
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This article of the International Epidemiological Association commissioned paper series stocktakes the population health and status of epidemiology in 21 of the 53 countries of the WHO European Region. By United Nations geographical classification, these countries belong to Eastern Europe, Western Asia and South-Central Asia. ⋯ Epidemiological capacity will continue to be heterogeneous across the region and depend more on countries' individual historical, social, political and economic conditions and contexts than their epidemiologists' successive efforts. National and international research funding, and within- and between-country collaborations should be enhanced, especially for South-Central Asian countries.
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Within-person variability in measured values of a risk factor can bias its association with disease. We investigated the extent of regression dilution bias in calculated variables and its implications for comparing the aetiological associations of risk factors. ⋯ The extent of within-person variability relative to between-person variability in calculated risk factors can be considerably larger (or smaller) than in its components. Aetiological associations of risk factors should be compared through the use of error-corrected HRs per SD change in error-corrected levels of these risk factors.
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Forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) is inversely associated with mortality in Western populations, but few studies have assessed the associations of peak expiratory flow (PEF) with subsequent cause-specific mortality, or have used populations in developing countries, including China, for such assessments. ⋯ A lower value of h-PEF was associated with increased mortality from respiratory and other causes, including lung cancer and cardiovascular disease, but its associations with the other causes of death declined across the follow-up period.