Population-based epidemiology of rotavirus hospitalisations in Switzerland

BACKGROUND: Rotaviruses (RV) are the most common cause of dehydrating gastroenteritis requiring hospitalisation in children <5 years of age. A new generation of safe and effective RV vaccines is available. Accurate data describing the current burden of RV disease in the community are needed to devise appropriate strategies for vaccine usage. METHODS: Retrospective, population-based analysis of RV hospitalisations in children <5 years of age during a 5-year period (1999-2003) in a both urban and rural area inhabited by 12% of the Swiss population. RESULTS: Of 406 evaluable cases, 328 were community-acquired RV infections in children <5 years of age. RV accounted for 38% of all hospitalisations for gastroenteritis. The overall hospitalisation incidence in the <5-year-old was 1.5/1000 child-years (peak incidence, 2.6/1000 child-years in children aged 13-24 months). The incidence of community-acquired RV hospitalisations was significantly greater in children of non-Swiss origin (3.0 vs. 1.1/1000 child-years, relative risk 2.7; 95% CI 2.2-3.4), who were younger, but tended to be less severely dehydrated on admission than Swiss children. In comparison with children from urban areas, RV hospitalisation incidence was significantly lower among those residing in the remote mountain area (0.71 vs. 1.71/1000 child years, relative risk 2.2, 95% CI 1.6-3.1). CONCLUSION: Population-based RV hospitalisation incidence was low in comparison with other European countries. Significantly greater hospitalisation rates among children living in urban areas and those from non-Swiss families indicate that factors other than the severity of RV-induced dehydration are important driving forces of hospital admission.

Musikalische Globalisierungsprozesse als Begegnungsfeld ethnomusikologischer und musikhistorischer Forschung

Die moderne Globalisierungsdebatte war lange Zeit auf die verdichteten Prozesse (cf David Held et al. 1999/2003) der vergangenen Jahrzehnte ausgerichtet. Im Mittelpunkt der Diskurse stand dabei vor allem die westlich geprägte Dominanz globaler Netzwerke – sowohl auf kunstmusikalischer Ebene wie auch hinsichtlich des popularmusikalischen Mainstreams. Ein erweiterter Blick auf historische Globalisierungsprozesse enthüllt jedoch eine andere Musikgeschichte: Historisch-global betrachtet hat der Westen erst seit relativ kurzer Zeit (etwa seit dem 16./17. Jh.) eine zentrale Rolle in musikalisch-globalen Strömungen gespielt. Die stärksten musikalisch-globalen Bewegungen fanden beispielsweise zuvor eher im pazifischen und (süd-) asiatischen Raum statt. Dieser Perspektivenwechsel verlangt in der Auseinandersetzung mit den Quellen sowohl ein musikhistorisches als auch ein ethnomusikologisches Wissen. Wie kann eine mögliche Zusammenarbeit der beiden Fächer hier aussehen? Wie in diesem Vortrag argumentiert wird, liegt der fachliche Unterschied in der Gegenwart nicht so sehr in den gegensätzlichen Ausrichtungen auf nicht-westliche versus westliche Musiktraditionen oder etwa Kunstmusik versus Volks- oder Popularmusik. Vielmehr repräsentieren historische Musikwissenschaft und Ethnomusikologie vor allem unterschiedliche methodische Ansätze und ein jeweils anderes Quellenverständnis. Wie anhand von Beispielen aus der Berner Unterrichtspraxis erläutert werden soll, kann eine gemeinsame dialogische Auseinandersetzung über gemeinsame Forschungsgegenstände hier zu einem erweiterten Erkenntnisgewinn für beide Seiten führen.

No sports – no mental health? Analysis of longitudinal effects in SHP data.

Results from the Zurich study have shown lasting associations between sport practice and mental health. The effects are pronounced in people with pre-exising mental health problems. This analysis aims to replicate these results with the large Swiss Household Panel data set and to provide more differentiated results. The analysis covered the interviews 1999-2003 and included 3891 stayers, i.e., participants who were interviewed in all years. The outcome variables are depression / blues / anxiety, weakness / weariness, sleeping problems, energy / optimism. Confounding variables include sex, age, education level, citizenship. The analyses were carried out with mixed models (depression, optimism) and GEE models (weakness, sleep). About 60% of the SHP participants practise weekly or daily an individual or a team sport. A similar proportion enjoys a frequent physical activity (for half an hour minimum) which makes oneself slightly breathless. There are slight age-specific differences but also noteworthy regional differences. Practice of sport is clearly interrelated with self-reported depressive symptoms, optimism and weakness. This applies even though some relevant confounders – sex, educational level and citizenship – were introduced into the model. However, no relevant interaction effects with time could be shown. Moreover, direct interrelations commonly led to better fits than models with lagged variables, thus indicating that delayed effects of sport practice on the self-reported psychological complaints are less important. Model variants resulted for specific subgroups, for example, participants with a high vs. low initial activity level. Lack of sport practice is an interesting marker for serious psychological symptoms and mental disorders. The background of this association may differ in different subgroups, and should stimulate further investigations in this area.

FAIRLIE: Stata module to generate nonlinear decomposition of binary outcome differentials

fairlie computes the nonlinear decomposition of binary outcome differentials proposed by Fairlie (1999, 2003).