Gabriele Berg-Beckhoff - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Gabriele Berg-Beckhoff

European Journal of Public Health

Introduction Knowing predictors for adherence to governmental recommendations is fundamental to g... more Introduction Knowing predictors for adherence to governmental recommendations is fundamental to guiding health communication in pandemic situations. This study investigated whether political stringency was associated with students’ adherence to the COVID-19 governmental measures in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland, and Sweden) and the United Kingdom (UK). Methods We used data from a cross-sectional online survey, from university students in all Nordic countries and the UK (N = 10.345), in May 2020. Data on socio-demography, study information, living arrangements, health behaviors, stress, knowledge, and concern about COVID-19 infection supplemented with measures on political stringency from the Oxford Covid-19 Government Response Tracker were utilised. Multiple linear regression analysis methods were applied. Results Around 66% reported that they followed governmental measures. Our model explained only 10% of the variation of adherence. The main predictors for...

<br> INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 has disrupted normal life and resulted in an online transformat... more <br> INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 has disrupted normal life and resulted in an online transformation of teaching. Little is known about how these changes affected academic stress in students. This study examined the role of changes of teaching methods on academic stress among university students during the first lockdown in Denmark. <br> METHODS: The cross-sectional survey was part of the international "COVID-19 International Student Well-being Study" and included responses on socio-economic characteristics, infection worries, academic stress, work capacity and satisfaction with teaching from 1,541 Danish health and medical science university students in May-June 2020. Changes in academic stress were analysed using descriptive statistics and multi-variable analyses using stepwise logistic regression. RESULTS: A considerable part (39%) of students reported academic stress due to COVID-19. One third reported that their study workload had increased significantly due to ...

Knowledge Management Strategies and Applications, 2017

The aim of this chapter is to critically reflect definitions of hazard, risk, and risk perception... more The aim of this chapter is to critically reflect definitions of hazard, risk, and risk perception and their assessments used in different scientific disciplines and give examples of the potential implications for scientific discussions, knowledge management, and risk communication. Scientists with backgrounds in public health, psychology, environmental health, occupational health, engineering, sociology, and medicine were asked for a definition of hazard, risk, risk assessment, and risk perception seen from their specific scientific disciplines. Hazard is generally seen as an adverse event or condition. For most risk definitions, probability and severity are important aspects. Often a quantification of risk is desired, whereas risk perception is seen as a subjective appraisal and a cognitive construct. As risk perceptions are based on a combination of knowledge and individual values and affects, it may not provide a reliable guidance for risk management decisions on a societal level. Discipline differences are mainly connected to terminology and interpretation of key concepts, but the differences are based on different tasks and perspectives. For dealing with controversies in science across disciplines, an acceptance and appreciation of terminology and perspectives from different scientific disciplines are needed to ensure a transparent risk assessment process.

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022

Despite the proximity of both countries, Danes and Germans differ in the level of trust in their ... more Despite the proximity of both countries, Danes and Germans differ in the level of trust in their government. This may play a role with respect to the disruptive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on university students. This study investigated the association between trust in governmental regulations, trust in university regulations, risk perceptions, and academic frustration among Danish and German students. As part of the COVID-19 International Student Well-being Study, an online survey was distributed among university students in participating European and non-European universities. In Denmark, 2945 students and Germany, 8725 students responded to the questionnaire between May and July 2020. Students from both countries reported approximately the same level of academic frustration concerning their progress and quality of education. However, German students perceived a higher risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 compared to Danish respondents. Danish students showed higher trust in their g...

Public Health Kompakt, 2021

In diesem Kapitel befassen wir uns mit der materiellen Umwelt der Menschen und den Auswirkungen, ... more In diesem Kapitel befassen wir uns mit der materiellen Umwelt der Menschen und den Auswirkungen, die sie auf die menschliche Gesundheit haben kann. Vor allem in den letzten beiden Jahrhunderten hat sich unsere Umwelt durch Bevölkerungswachstum, Industrialisierung und Urbanisierung stark verändert, und sie verändert sich laufend weiter. Im ersten Abschnitt widmen wir uns dem sich ändernden Klima und seinen ökologischen und gesundheitlichen Folgen. Dazu diskutieren wir die politischen Aspekte, die in diesem Zusammenhang von großer Bedeutung sind, einschließlich der Maßnahmen zur Reduktion von Treibhausgasemissionen. Im zweiten Abschnitt gehen wir auf die Trinkwasserversorgung und Abwasserentsorgung ein, die von zentraler Bedeutung für die Gesundheit der Bevölkerung sind. Der nächste Abschnitt widmet sich der Verschmutzung des Bodens, der Grundlage des Lebens auf dem Festland und wesentliche Basis der Nahrungsmittelproduktion und des Wasserhaushaltes. Danach beschäftigen wir uns mit der Luftverschmutzung. Wir betrachten die wichtigsten Schadstoffquellen, die gesundheitlichen Auswirkungen der Luftverschmutzung und mögliche präventiven Maßnahmen. In einem weiteren Abschnitt erörtern wir die Begriffe und Maßeinheiten rund um ionisierende und nicht ionisierende Strahlung, die häufigsten Strahlungsquellen, gesundheitlichen Auswirkungen und präventive Maßnahmen. Abschließend definieren wir Schall und Lärm, schauen uns die wichtigsten Lärmquellen an und gehen auf die Bedeutung der durch Lärm ausgelösten Erkrankungen und ihre Prävention ein.

International Journal of Epidemiology, 2021

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021

Knowledge on compliance with governmental recommendations in combating the spread of COVID-19 in ... more Knowledge on compliance with governmental recommendations in combating the spread of COVID-19 in different groups is important to target efforts. This study investigated the adherence to the governmental implemented COVID-19 measures and its predictors in Danish university students, a not-at-risk group for COVID-19 mortality and normally characterized by many social contacts. As part of the COVID-19 International Student Wellbeing Study, a survey on socio-demographic situation, study information, living arrangements, lifestyle behaviors, stress, questions about COVID-19 infection and knowledge and concern about COVID-19 infection was sent via email to relevant university students in Denmark in May, 2020 (n = 2.945). Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was employed. Our results showed that around 60% of the students were not concerned about COVID-19, while 68% reported that they followed governmental measures. The main facilitators for following the recommendations were olde...

European Journal of Public Health, 2017

A comparative analysis of the four models was performed through a template, which aims to investi... more A comparative analysis of the four models was performed through a template, which aims to investigate five sections: historical background and context of the national health system, organizational structures, financing, workforce, quality assurance and performance measurement of preventive services. Results The activities of health promotion and prevention, in the four analysed countries, are organised and distributed in different levels. The preventive services can be managed on a central level, by a national agency of public health (i.e. UK and France), or can be entrusted to local governmental or nongovernmental agencies (i.e. Germany and Spain). The service delivery (i.e. vaccine and screening) can be provided by a public or private health professionals. The percentage of total health funds (GDP) reserved to the prevention in the four analysed countries ranges from 1,9% in France to 4.1% in UK. Conclusions Even if the variability of these organizational models doesn't allow a direct comparison, the study of different health care prevention systems is necessary to adopt models and good practices, which proved to be effective according to the available evidences, and could help to level out the prevention service in the European countries.

Nutrients, 2019

Little is known about the relationships between weight satisfaction, body image concern, healthy ... more Little is known about the relationships between weight satisfaction, body image concern, healthy nutrition, health awareness, and physical activity among college students across culturally different countries. We assessed country and sex-specific associations between health status (self-rated health, depression, BMI), healthy behavior (healthy nutrition, physical activity, health awareness), weight satisfaction, and body image concern via a cross-sectional survey (5888 undergraduates) in Egypt, Palestine, and Finland. This health and wellbeing survey employed identical self-administered paper questionnaires administered at several Universities in two Eastern Mediterranean countries (Egypt, Palestine—Gaza Strip), and an online-survey comprising the same questions in Finland. Regression analyses were employed. Health status variables exhibited the strongest associations; high BMI and more depressive symptoms were more often among students satisfied with their weight (except in Palesti...

Materia Socio Medica, 2018

Introduction: The protective benefit of male circumcision against spreading HIV is well establish... more Introduction: The protective benefit of male circumcision against spreading HIV is well established. Aim: The objective of this Meta-analysis was to investigate behavioral risk compensation measured as the change in condom use behavior in light of knowledge of the benefits of circumcision. Material and Methods: A systematic search was conducted from 6 bibliographic databases for studies that quantitatively assessed a link between male circumcision and condom use behavior. Pooled odd ratios (OR) of condom use during any sexual activity were generated from three cohort studies and two Randomized Control Trails (RCT) that were included in the review. Results: The pooled effects from cohort and RCTs were not statistically significant at 6 months followup (OR=0.91, 95% CI: 0.57-1.45), at 12 months (OR=1.08, 95% CI=0.87-1.34) and 24 or more months (OR=1.11, 95% CI: 0.85, 1.45). Conclusion: Male circumcision does not influence condom use behavior in the medium and short term.

International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2017

The aim of this systematic review is to summarise quantitative studies in occupational settings o... more The aim of this systematic review is to summarise quantitative studies in occupational settings observing the association between Information communication technology (ICT) and stress, and burnout, considering age as an effect modifier. A systematic review using PRISMA guidelines was conducted through the following bibliographic databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Psycinfo, and the Cochrane Library. Inclusion criteria were occupational settings and content relevant to our research question. Risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Two interventional, 4 cohorts, and 29 cross-sectional studies were found. ICT use in occupational settings was associated with stress seen in cross-sectional studies, but not in interventional studies. There was a concordant association with ICT and burnout in different study designs. Overall, there were no linear trends between age and technostress. We suggest that the observed associations were mostly present in the middle-aged working population and that these associations need to be supported in further studies.

PLOS ONE, 2019

This error also appears in the first sentence under the subheading "Characteristics of the study ... more This error also appears in the first sentence under the subheading "Characteristics of the study reviewed" in the Results section. Lastly, this error appears in the fifth sentence of the fifth paragraph under the same subheading in the Results section. There are incorrect numbers in Fig 1. In the box labelled "Full Text articles excluded," the total number of articles should be 24, not 25. In the same box, the total number of articles under "No or non-specified NCD" should be 15, not 14. Please see the corrected Fig 1 here.

PLOS ONE, 2018

Background Out of pocket payment (OOPP), is the major health financing mechanism in South Asia re... more Background Out of pocket payment (OOPP), is the major health financing mechanism in South Asia region. With the rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the region is facing a high financial burden. However, the extent and nature of economic impact caused by treatment and management of NCDs at the household level is yet unknown. Method We conducted a systematic review using Medline and Embase databases. Only peerreviewed quantitative studies published between January 2000 to December 2016 assessing OOPP or catastrophic health expenditure or impoverishment or financial coping strategy due to at least one of the four major NCDs-cardiovascular diseases(CVDs), diabetes, cancer, chronic respiratory disease in South Asia region was included in the review. The review is registered in PROSPERO no: CRD42017059345. Results A total of 21 studies (of 2693 records identified) met the inclusion criteria. The economic impact was most frequently studied in CVDs and in terms of OOPP. The studies collectively indicated high OOPP, higher likelihood of catastrophic expenditure and impoverishment for inpatient care for these major NCDs which was visible in all income levels. Borrowing and selling off assets were the most common forms of coping strategies adopted and varied inconsistently between urban and rural households. The true extent of the economic impact, however, remains difficult to determine due to methodological heterogeneity regarding outcomes reported and measures employed for calculation of OOPP, catastrophic expenditure, and impoverishment across these four major NCDs and between nations.

Psychological Medicine, 2017

BackgroundMaternal exposures to fever and infections in pregnancy have been linked to subsequent ... more BackgroundMaternal exposures to fever and infections in pregnancy have been linked to subsequent psychiatric morbidity in the child. This study examined whether fever and common infections in pregnancy were associated with psychosis-like experiences (PLEs) in the child.MethodsA longitudinal study of 46 184 children who participated in the 11-year follow-up of the Danish National Birth Cohort was conducted. Pregnant women were enrolled between 1996 and 2002 and information on fever, genitourinary infections, respiratory tract infection, and influenza-like illness during pregnancy was prospectively collected in two interviews during pregnancy. PLEs were assessed using the seven-item Adolescent Psychotic-Like Symptom Screener in a web-based questionnaire completed by the children themselves at age 11.ResultsPLEs were reported among 11% of the children. Multinomial logistic regression models with probability weights to adjust for potential selection bias due to attrition suggested that ...

Nutrients, 2017

Research on healthy behaviour such as physical activity and healthy nutrition and their combinati... more Research on healthy behaviour such as physical activity and healthy nutrition and their combination is lacking among university students in Arab countries. The current survey assessed healthy nutrition, and moderate/vigorous physical activity (PA) of 6266 students in Egypt, Libya, and Palestine. We computed a nutrition guideline achievement index using WHO recommendation, as well as the achievement of PA recommendations using guidelines for adults of the American Heart Association guidelines. Latent class regression analysis identified homogenous groups of male and female students, based on their achievements of both guidelines. We examined associations between group membership and achievement of guidelines. A three-class solution model best fitted the data, generating three student Groups: "Healthy Eaters" (7.7% of females, 10.8% of males), "Physically Active" (21.7% of females, 25.8% of males), and "Low Healthy Behaviour" (70.6% of females, 63.4% of males). We did not observe a latent class that exhibited combined healthy behaviours (physically active and healthy eaters), and there were no major differences between countries. We observed a very low rate of healthy nutrition (≈10% of students achieved greater than four of the eight nutrition guidelines), with little gender differences across the countries. About 18-47% of students achieved the PA guidelines, depending on country and gender, more often among males. Few females achieved the PA guidelines, particularly in Libya and Palestine. Culturally adapted multi-behavioural interventions need to encourage healthy lifestyles, nutrition and PA behaviours. National policies need to promote active living while addressing cultural, geographic, and other barriers to young adults' engagement in PA.

American Journal of Epidemiology, 2017

European Journal of Public Health, 2015

Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology, 2016

Background: Fishermen work in a physically challenging work environment. The aim of this analysis... more Background: Fishermen work in a physically challenging work environment. The aim of this analysis was to estimate the prevalence and predictors of musculoskeletal pain among Danish fishermen. Method: A cross-sectional survey in a random sample of Danish fishermen was done with application of the Nordic questionnaire regarding musculoskeletal pain considering lower back, shoulders, hand neck, knee, upper back elbow, hip and feet. In total, 270 fishermen participated in the study (response rate: 28%). Workload, vessel type, skipper, duration of work, sideline occupation, days/weeks of fishing at sea, age, BMI and education were used as predictors for the overall musculoskeletal pain score (multiple linear regression) and for each single pain site (multinomial logistic regression). Results: The prevalence of pain was high for all musculoskeletal locations. Overall, more than 80% of the responding Danish fishermen reported low back pain, which in 37% lasted for a minimum of 30 days during the past year. In the multiple linear regression analysis, middle workload was associated with a 32% (95% CI: 19-46%) and high workload with 60% (95% CI: 46-73%) increased musculoskeletal pain score compared to low work load. Multinomial logistic regression models showed that workload was the only predictor for all pain sites, in particular regarding upper and lower limb pain. Conclusion: Although changes were implemented to improve the fishermen's work environment, the work continues to be physically demanding and impacting their musculoskeletal pain. Potential explanation for this unexpected result like increased work pressure and reduced financial attractiveness in small scale commercial fishery needs to be confirmed in future research.

International Maritime Health, 2016

Radiation and Environmental Biophysics, 2003

We evaluated the methods and results of nine cohort studies dealing with the biological effects o... more We evaluated the methods and results of nine cohort studies dealing with the biological effects on human health from exposure to radiofrequencies/microwaves, published between 1980 and 2002. The size of the cohorts varied between 304 (3,362 person years) and nearly 200,000 persons (2.7 million person years). As exposures were defined: dielectric heaters in a plastic manufacturing plant, working with radio devices (professional and amateur), production of wireless communication technologies, radar devices of the Canadian police, radar units used by the military as well as artificially produced electromagnetic pulses similar to those after a nuclear explosion. In all studies (except one that used a qualitative job-exposure-matrix) either the duration of occupational work as an approximation to actual exposure was determined or a simple yes/no differentiation was used based on a definition of high-exposed and/or lowexposed (occupational) groups. Either total mortality, cancer mortality, cancer incidence or other outcomes were estimated. In most of the studies, an increased risk for various types of cancer was found in exposed study participants, although in different organs. The overall results were, however, inconsistent. The most important limitations of the studies were the lack of measurements referring to past and current exposures and, thus, the unknown details on actual exposure, the use of possibly biased data as well as the lack of adjustment for potential confounders and the use of indirect standardization techniques. Due to these limitations and the inconsistencies of the results it has to be concluded that the studies give no evidence of high frequency emissions causing cancer.