Code reviewing as a practice in research groups

Presentation (2021, July)

Luxembourg

in Immergut, E.; Anderson, K.; Devitt, C. (Eds.) et al Health politics in Europe: A handbook (2021)

Prevalence of dementia among elderly in Latin America and the Caribbean: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Poster (2021, June)

Exploring the frequency of anxiety and depression symptoms in a Brazilian sample during the COVID-19 outbreak

in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2021), 18(9),

Returns to Educational and Occupational Attainment in Cognitive Performance for Middle-Aged South Korean Men and Women

in Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine (2021), 7

Background: Gender differences in late middle-age cognitive performance may be explained by differences in educational or occupational attainment rates, or gender-patterned returns of similar education ... [more ▼]

Background: Gender differences in late middle-age cognitive performance may be explained by differences in educational or occupational attainment rates, or gender-patterned returns of similar education and occupation to cognitive reserve. We tested these competing hypotheses in the historically highly gender unequal context of South Korea. Methods: Data came from the 2006 wave of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging. We included adults aged 45–65 years. Using quantile regression decompositions, we decomposed cognitive performance differences across quantiles into differences due to rates of educational and occupational attainment and differences due to divergent returns to those characteristics. Results: Gender-based cognitive performance differences across deciles were driven by differences in rates of educational and occupational attainment, while the returns to these characteristics were similar for both genders. Conclusions: Findings suggest that educational and occupational characteristics contribute to cognitive performance similarly in men and women, but discordant rates of these characteristics contribute to performance gaps. [less ▲]

Machine learning in the social and health sciences

E-print/Working paper (2021)

The uptake of machine learning (ML) approaches in the social and health sciences has been rather slow, and research using ML for social and health research questions remains fragmented. This may be due to ... [more ▼]

The uptake of machine learning (ML) approaches in the social and health sciences has been rather slow, and research using ML for social and health research questions remains fragmented. This may be due to the separate development of research in the computational/data versus social and health sciences as well as a lack of accessible overviews and adequate training in ML techniques for non data science researchers. This paper provides a meta-mapping of research questions in the social and health sciences to appropriate ML approaches, by incorporating the necessary requirements to statistical analysis in these disciplines. We map the established classification into description, prediction, and causal inference to common research goals, such as estimating prevalence of adverse health or social outcomes, predicting the risk of an event, and identifying risk factors or causes of adverse outcomes. This meta-mapping aims at overcoming disciplinary barriers and starting a fluid dialogue between researchers from the social and health sciences and methodologically trained researchers. Such mapping may also help to fully exploit the benefits of ML while considering domain-specific aspects relevant to the social and health sciences, and hopefully contribute to the acceleration of the uptake of ML applications to advance both basic and applied social and health sciences research. [less ▲]

Inequality of educational opportunity at time of schooling predicts cognitive functioning in later adulthood

in SSM - Population Health (2021), 15

Objectives. Our understanding of how societal conditions and educational policies influence cognitive development across the life course is improving. We tested the extent to which inequality of ... [more ▼]

Objectives. Our understanding of how societal conditions and educational policies influence cognitive development across the life course is improving. We tested the extent to which inequality of educational opportunity (IEO), the country- and cohort-specific correlation of parents' and their offspring's length of schooling, offers systematically different opportunities to contribute to cognitive development, which in turn influences cognitive abilities up to older ages. Methods. A total of 46,972 individuals of three cohorts born 1940–63 from 16 European countries and Israel provided up to six cognitive assessments and information on covariates in the SHARE survey 2004–2017. Individual-level data were linked to indicators of IEO at time of schooling, and economic, health, and human development, provided by World Bank, WHO, and the UN. Results. In multilevel (mixed-effects) models with random individual and country-cohort effects and adjusted for a large set of confounders, higher IEO was associated with lower levels of cognitive functioning in men and women. Interaction analyses suggested lower cognitive levels particularly of women who were schooled in higher IEO contexts and had lower educational attainment. Associations with rate of change in cognitive functioning were present only in women, however there was little clinically relevant cognitive decline across the window of observation. Result patterns were mostly consistent after including additional contextual indicators, and in a subsample with childhood information. Discussion. Findings suggest that IEO is able to substantially influence cognitive development with long-lasting impacts. Lower-educated women of the cohorts under investigation may have been particularly vulnerable to high-inequality educational contexts. [less ▲]

Detecting the ‘Black Hole’ of age-period excess mortality in 25 countries: Age-period-cohort residual analysis

in Bell, Andrew (Ed.) Age, Period, and Cohort Effects (2021)

In a time of worldwide availability of annual age-specific mortality data, we lack basic tools for detecting and graphing, from a comparative perspective, fine-grained deviations from mortality trends. We ... [more ▼]

In a time of worldwide availability of annual age-specific mortality data, we lack basic tools for detecting and graphing, from a comparative perspective, fine-grained deviations from mortality trends. We provide a new age-period-cohort-based methodology, combining information from age-period (AP) and APC-Detrended (APCD) analyses to detect all-cause mortality increases. Plotting the resulting AP coefficients and APCD residuals in equilateral Lexis diagrams, mortality patterns can easily be distinguished as age, period, or cohort trends and fluctuations. We highlight abnormalities as interactions of age and period (‘Black Holes’). We then investigate the ‘Black Holes’ of mortality of young-adult cohorts in the early 1990s in Spain, other southern European countries, and the U.S., in emphasizing their simultaneously occurring mortality crises. Additional analyses with WHO mortality data and epidemiological evidence from other studies show that these mortality increases likely result from lack of treatment and inadequate public health responses to the beginnings of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. We discuss other possible applications of the new method. [less ▲]

Changes in Neighborhood-Level Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Older Americans’ Cognitive Functioning

in Health and Place (2021)

Background: While associations of neighborhood conditions with cognitive functioning at older ages have been established, few studies have investigated with a dynamic perspective if changing neighborhood ... [more ▼]

Background: While associations of neighborhood conditions with cognitive functioning at older ages have been established, few studies have investigated with a dynamic perspective if changing neighborhood socioeconomic conditions affect older residents’ cognitive declines, and which putative factors mediate this relationship. Method: Using data from waves 2 (2010–2011) and 3 (2015–2016) of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) survey (n = 1837), ordinary least squares regressions and mediation analyses were conducted, adjusting for multiple confounders and testing eight putative mediators. Results: Worsening neighborhood socioeconomic circumstances were associated with cognitive declines. Changes in depressive symptoms, sizes of close social networks, and physical activity substantially mediated this relationship. Discussion: While 18.10% of the total effect occurred through these mechanisms, further pathways may work through contextual- and individual-level variables not assessed in the NSHAP. [less ▲]

Programme Démence Prévention (pdp ): A Nation-Wide Programme for Dementia Prevention in Luxembourg

Poster (2020, April)

Objectives: To implement a multi-year nation-wide programme, by the means of a personalised lifestyle intervention, to prevent or to delay cognitive decline that can contribute to development of dementia ... [more ▼]

Objectives: To implement a multi-year nation-wide programme, by the means of a personalised lifestyle intervention, to prevent or to delay cognitive decline that can contribute to development of dementia in Luxembourg. Methods: Participants with mild cognitive impairment, referred to the programme by their treating physician, undergo an extensive cognitive evaluation by a neuropsychologist on relevant neuropsychological domains as well as a structured dementia risk factor assessment. Based on these assessments, individualised lifestyle interventions are offered by diverse national partners involved in the programme, thus filling a gap of not yet reimbursed services in the Luxemburgish healthcare system. After the personalised lifestyle interventions, each participant will undergo a neuropsychological follow-up in order to re-evaluate his/her health status in terms of cognition. Results: We established a participant-centred national network by presenting the programme on many outreach events and efficient stakeholder communication. The network raises the awareness of dementia prevention in the Luxembourgish population, fosters interdisciplinary communication between individual medical and non-medical healthcare professionals and allows for a successful recruitment of the target population. Moreover, we collect information about adherence to the suggested lifestyle changes, as well as the effectiveness of our interventions in reducing risk factors contributing to the onset of dementia. Conclusions: We provide evidence for the feasibility of the implementation of a nation-wide dementia prevention programme including diverse partners offering personalised lifestyle interventions, which are easily transferrable to other countries. Future results from this programme may also help to integrate prevention interventions into the regular healthcare system. [less ▲]