European journal of epidemiology
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In the nineteenth century, the legendary physicist Lord Kelvin remarked, "to measure is to know" and "when you can measure what you are speaking about, and can express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind". Even though Lord Kelvin did not have epidemiology in mind when he made these statements, they hold true in the world of epidemiology-where measurement is the key. The importance of physical activity as a determinant for health and diseases-and as an adjuvant in medical treatment and rehabilitation-is increasingly valued. And, it has been highlighted by this journal many times.
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To investigate the independent associations between occupational and educational based measures of socioeconomic status (SES) and cause-specific mortality, and the extent to which potentially modifiable risk factors smoking and body mass index (BMI) explain such relationships. ⋯ Social class and education are not necessarily interchangeable measures of SES. Some but not all of the socioeconomic differential in mortality can be explained by potentially modifiable risk factors smoking and BMI. Further understanding of the mechanisms underlying the association of each socioeconomic indicator with specific health outcomes is needed if we are to reduce inequalities in health.
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Mortality rates after hip fracture have not declined in 20 years. We assessed the impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on mortality after hip fracture, and compared mortality in this cohort to persons without hip fracture in a population-based prospective cohort study. ⋯ In this cohort, persons with COPD have a 60-70% higher risk of death following hip fracture than those without COPD. In addition, hip fracture and COPD increased 1-year mortality 3-5 times that of persons without hip fracture.
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To identify predictive factors for 2-year mortality in frail elderly patients after acute hospitalisation, and from these to derive and validate a Mortality Risk Index (MRI). A prospective cohort of elderly patients was set up in nine teaching hospitals. This cohort was randomly split up into a derivation cohort (DC) of 870 subjects and a validation cohort (VC) of 436 subjects. ⋯ The area under the ROC curve for overall score was statistically the same in the DC (0.72) as in the VC (0.71). The proposed MRI appears as a simple and easy-to-use tool developed from relevant geriatric variables. Its accuracy is good and the validation procedure gives a good stability of results.