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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the healthcare and outcomes of individuals with various chronic diseases. However, there is a paucity of data on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on diabetes mellitus (DM) in low-resource settings. To address this, we conducted a scoping review to explore the literature published on diabetes-related COVID-19 outcomes and care during the COVID-19 pandemic in countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: We applied our search strategy to PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, African Index Medicus, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Science Direct, ERIC and Embase to obtain relevant articles published from January 2020 to March 2023. Two independent reviewers were involved in screening the retrieved articles. Data from eligible articles were extracted from quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods studies. Quantitative evidence was summarised using descriptive statistics, while a thematic framework was used to identify and categorise themes from qualitative evidence. Results: We found 42 of the retrieved 360 articles eligible, mainly from South Africa, Ethiopia and Ghana (73.4%). The incidence of DM among COVID-19 cases was 13.7/1,000 person-days observation. COVID-19 was associated with increased odds of death (OR 1.30–9.0, 95% CI), hospitalisation (OR 3.30–3.73: 95% CI), and severity (OR: 1.30–4.05, 95% CI) in persons with DM. Challenges in caring for DM during the pandemic were inadequate patient self-management, difficulties in healthcare access, and inadequate healthcare resources. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic was characterised by a high incidence of DM in persons infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and high COVID-19-associated mortality, severity, and hospitalisation among people persons with DM. The pandemic also created difficulties in DM self-management and worsened the quality of DM care services. Policymakers should devise preventive and management strategies for DM during emerging and re-emerging infectious disease epidemics and outbreaks, given that such occurrences are increasingly frequent in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eeh.2005.05.005 Byline: Aravinda Meera Guntupalli (a), Joerg Baten (b) Keywords: Stature; Heights; Biological welfare; India; Great Depression; Inequality; Influenza; Caste; Real wages Abstract: In this study, we trace the development of height and its distribution in India during 1915-1944. Heights of North, West, and East Indians grew very slowly. Although for this period it has been argued that income inequality declined, we reject our working hypothesis that height inequality declined in parallel with income inequality. In fact, height differences were low during the influenza/famine period of 1918-1920, and the Great Depression period. With the growing openness of the late 1920s, we observe a temporary rise in height inequality. The overall level of height inequality is lower than expected for Indian society that is influenced by a rigid caste system. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Economics, University of Tuebingen, Mohlstrasse 36, Tuebingen, Germany (b) University of Tuebingen and CESifo, Germany Article History: Received 30 August 2004 Article Note: (footnote) [star] We are thankful to Ralph Shlomowitz for his excellent support along with John McDonald, and Lance Brennan, for providing data for comparison. We are also thankful to Alok Bhargava, Stephen Broadberry, Michael Burda, Bishnupriya Gupta, Michael Haines, John Murray, Sevket Pamuk, Albrecht Ritschl, Osamu Saito and the participants of the 2004 Fifth World Cliometrics congress in Venice, the 2003 Social Science History Association in Baltimore, the 2004 Second Economics and Human Biology conference in Munich and the members of the Tuebingen economic history research group for helpful comments.

For all health conditions, reliable age-disaggregated data are vital for both epidemiological analysis and monitoring the relative prioritization of different age groups in policy responses. This is especially essential in the case of Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19), given the strong association between age and case fatality. This paper assesses the availability and quality of age-based data on reported COVID-19 cases and deaths for low- and middle-income countries. It finds that the availability of reliable data which permit specific analyses of older people is largely absent. The paper explores the potential of excess mortality estimates as an alternative metric of the pandemic's effects on older populations. Notwithstanding some technical challenges, this may offer a better approach, especially in countries where cause of death data are unreliable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to delineate the sociodemographic differences in disability prevalence across the population aged 60 years and over in Bangladesh, and to investigate the association of factors with reporting disability in later life. A microdata sample for those aged 60 years or over from the Census of Bangladesh 2011 was used where disability was assessed with a self-reported single response question. Logistic regression models were performed separately for men and women. Results reveal that the disability prevalence rate increased sharply with age, and it was higher among older women (5.2 per cent) compared to men (4.8 per cent). Physical and vision disabilities were the two categories with the highest prevalence of reported disabilities, with a higher prevalence of physical disability among men and vision disability among women. Being older, female, currently not in marital partnership, and having a lower educational attainment, not being employed, living alone, and residing in the rural areas were significantly associated with reporting disability in later life. The higher prevalence of disability among older women, those who are illiterate, and those residing in rural areas highlights the need for policies prioritising these groups. Special attention should also be given to those who are currently not in marital partnership, particularly women who are living alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY Timely vaccinations of children in developing countries are important for reducing morbidity and mortality, which are Millennium Development Goals. However, a majority of children do not possess vaccination cards compiling information on timing. We investigated the benefits of vaccination cards for the uptake of immunizations against diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT), polio, tuberculosis (BCG), and measles using data on over 200,000 Indian children from the District Level Health and Facility Survey 3. Methodological issues such as whether parents of children with higher morbidity levels may have them vaccinated were investigated. The results from the models for DPT, polio, measles, and BCG vaccinations showed significant beneficial effects of maternal education, household possessions, and access to health care facilities. Moreover, models for children's ages at the time of vaccination showed significant interactions between maternal education and access to and availability of health care facilities. Finally, models for child morbidity due to diarrhea, cough, and fever showed that timely vaccinations against DPT, access to piped water, and cooking with electricity or natural gas were associated with lower morbidity. Overall, issuing paper or electronic vaccination cards to children is likely to enhance timely uptake of various immunizations thereby reducing child morbidity. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents new evidence on long-term trends in sickness rates in England and Wales using data from the Hampshire Friendly Society. In previous work, Edwards, Gorsky, Harris, and Hinde argued that this Society contained a uniquely detailed set of records for the study of individual sickness histories. However, their initial findings were based on the records of a relatively small number of men who joined the Society at different points in time between 1871 and 1912. The current article draws on a much larger body of evidence, based on the records of over 5,500 men who joined between 1824 and 1939. It examines trends in the seasonality of sickness episodes, changes in the relationship between sickness and age, and cause-specific sickness rates. The results indicate that there was little change in age-specific morbidity rates over time, but morbidity did increase with age, mainly because older men remained off work for longer, even when they succumbed to the same conditions as men in younger age groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the second half of the nineteenth century, friendly-society actuaries became increasingly concerned about an apparent increase in recorded morbidity. They attributed this increase to changes in sickness behaviour and a decline in the societies' ability to police sickness claims. These arguments have been echoed by a number of historians but others have suggested that the increase represented a real change in sickness experience. This paper addresses these arguments in three ways. It begins by exploring contemporary debates over morbidity change between 1870 and 1914. It then revisits the data on which many of these arguments were based. Finally, it presents new data from a recent study of the Hampshire Friendly Society, which shed fresh light on the pattern of age-specific morbidity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]