Use of health information systems in the Russian federation in the assessment of environmental health effects

Russia-specific relative risks and their effects on the estimated alcohol-attributable burden of disease

Background

Alcohol consumption is a major risk factor for the burden of disease globally. This burden is estimated using Relative Risk (RR) functions for alcohol from meta-analyses that use data from all countries; however, for Russia and surrounding countries, country-specific risk data may need to be used. The objective of this paper is to compare the estimated burden of alcohol consumption calculated using Russia-specific alcohol RRs with the estimated burden of alcohol consumption calculated using alcohol RRs from meta-analyses.

Methods

Data for 2012 on drinking indicators were calculated based on the Global Information System on Alcohol and Health. Data for 2012 on mortality, Years of Life Lost, Years Lived with Disability, and Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) lost by cause were obtained by country from the World Health Organization. Alcohol Population-Attributable Fractions (PAFs) were calculated based on a risk modelling methodology from Russia. These PAFs were compared to PAFs calculated using methods applied for all other countries. The 95 % Uncertainty Intervals (UIs) for the alcohol PAFs were calculated using a Monte Carlo-like method.

Results

Using Russia-specific alcohol RR functions, in Russia in 2012 alcohol caused an estimated 231,900 deaths (95 % UI: 185,600 to 278,200) (70,800 deaths among women and 161,100 deaths among men) and 13,295,000 DALYs lost (95 % UI: 11,242,000 to 15,348,000) (3,670,000 DALYs lost among women and 9,625,000 DALYs lost among men) among people 0 to 64 years of age. This compares to an estimated 165,600 deaths (95 % UI: 97,200 to 228,100) (29,700 deaths among women and 135,900 deaths among men) and 10,623,000 DALYs lost (95 % UI: 7,265,000 to 13,754,000) (1,783,000 DALYs lost among women and 8,840,000 DALYs lost among men) among people 0 to 64 years of age caused by alcohol when non-Russia-specific alcohol RRs were used.

Conclusions

Results indicate that if the Russia-specific RRs are used when estimating the health burden attributable to alcohol consumption in Russia, then the total estimated burden will be more than if RRs from meta-analyses are used. Furthermore, additional research is needed to understand which aspects of the Russian style of drinking cause the most harm.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1818-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Prenatal and postnatal tobacco smoke exposure and respiratory health in Russian children

Background

Only few studies have assessed the relative impact of prenatal and postnatal exposure to tobacco smoke on the child's later asthma or chronic respiratory symptoms and to our knowledge no studies have elaborated respiratory infections and allergies in this context.

Objective

To assess the effects of prenatal and postnatal exposure to tobacco smoke on respiratory health of Russian school children.

Methods

We studied a population of 5951 children (8 to12 years old) from 9 Russian cities, whose parents answered a questionnaire on their children's respiratory health, home environment, and housing characteristics. The main health outcomes were asthma, allergies, chronic respiratory symptoms, chronic bronchitis, and upper respiratory infections. We used adjusted odds ratios (ORs) from logistic regression analyses as measures of effect.

Results

Prenatal exposure due to maternal smoking had the strongest effects on asthma (adjusted OR 2.46, 95% CI 1.19–5.08), chronic bronchitis (adjusted OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.08–1.96) and respiratory symptoms, such as wheezing (adjusted OR 1.30, 95% CI 0.90–1.89). The associations were weaker for exposure during early-life (adjusted ORs 1.38/1.27/1.15 respectively) and after 2 years of age (adjusted ORs 1.45/1.34/1.18) compared to prenatal exposure and the weakest or non-existent for current exposure (adjusted ORs 1.05/1.09/1.06). Upper respiratory infections were associated more strongly with early-life exposure (adjusted OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.09–1.42) than with prenatal (adjusted OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.54–1.01) or current exposure (adjusted OR1.05, 95% CI 0.92–1.20). The risk of allergies was also related to early life exposure to tobacco smoke (adjusted OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.13–1.42).

Conclusion

Adverse effects of tobacco smoke on asthma, chronic bronchitis, and chronic respiratory symptoms are strongest when smoking takes place during pregnancy. The relations are weaker for exposure during early-life and after 2 years of age and weakest or non-existent for current exposure.

Housing characteristics and children's respiratory health in the Russian Federation

OBJECTIVES

We studied housing characteristics, parental factors, and respiratory health conditions in Russian children.

METHODS

We studied a population of 5951 children from 9 Russian cities, whose parents answered a questionnaire on their children's respiratory health, home environment, and housing characteristics. The health outcomes were asthma conditions, current wheeze, dry cough, bronchitis, and respiratory allergy.

RESULTS

Respiratory allergy and dry cough increased in association with the home being adjacent to traffic. Consistent positive associations were observed between some health conditions and maternal smoking during pregnancy, many health conditions and lifetime exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), and nearly all health conditions and water damage and molds in the home.

CONCLUSIONS

Vicinity to traffic, dampness, mold, and ETS are important determinants of children's respiratory health in Russia.

Asthma, wheezing, and allergies in Russian schoolchildren in relation to new surface materials in the home

In a cross-sectional study of 5951 Russian 8-12-year-old schoolchildren, risks of current asthma, wheezing, and allergy were related to recent renovation and the installation of materials with potential chemical emissions. New linoleum flooring, synthetic carpeting, particleboard, wall coverings, and furniture and recent painting were determinants of 1 or several of these 3 health outcomes. These findings warrant further attention to the type of materials used in interior design.

Contamination of water supplies with Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia lamblia and diarrheal illness in selected Russian cities

Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia lamblia are important agents of waterborne diarrheal illness worldwide. While giardiasis is routinely diagnosed in Russia with a chemical staining technique, data on the prevalence of cryptosporidiosis are scarce. Monitoring of the respective parasites in water supplies in Russia is very limited. A health survey conducted in the city of Cherepovets and three other cities in the European part of Russia using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) demonstrated that 6.9% of diarrheal patients tested had C. parvum antigens in their fecal samples; 9.4% had G. lamblia antigens. A survey of occurrence of these parasites in water supplies in Cherepovets and seven other cities demonstrated that source and finished water samples from several of these cities were contaminated with either C. parvum oocysts or G. lamblia cysts. The surveys were not designed to assess associations between presence or concentrations of C. parvum and G. lamblia in water and related gastrointestinal diseases in exposed populations. Rather, the goals were to demonstrate the presence of disinfection-resistant protozoan parasites in untreated and treated waters, and the importance of these pathogens as causative agents of diarrheal illnesses in a number of Russian cities.