The study used data from the population-based KORA Fit study to investigate the association between various long-term environmental exposures and diabetes and obesity in men and women. Higher air pollution or air temperature and a lack of green spaces were associated with a higher prevalence of diabetes in men. We also observed an association between higher air pollution or lack of green space and the presence of obesity in male participants from urban areas. Our study contributes to the understanding of the relationship between environmental influences and metabolic health and points to relevant differences between men and women.

The paper can be accessed here.

During the annual conference of the German Society for Health Economics (dggö) on March 4 and 5, 2024 in Halle (Saale), Lars Schwettmann was elected to the Extended Board by the dggö members. With over 700 members, the dggö is the largest health economics society in Europe.

Ida Schulze Kalthoff, M.Sc., has taken up her position as a research associate in the Department of Health Economics. She studied psychology at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster and the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. She will begin a doctorate in the Department of Health Economics. Her research interests are socio-economic and regional inequalities in health care as well as prevention and health behaviour. We look forward to working with her!

Leah Barghorn (B.Sc.) startet working as a student assistant for the chair of health economics. She studies in the Master of Health Services Research at the Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg and focuses on differences in health care utilitization, with a particular interest in social gradients. Prevention and health promotion are among her interests as well. We look forward to a good collaboration!

In our article we investigated the influence of self-efficacy, risk attitudes and time preferences on the functional impairment of elderly patients by vertigo, dizziness and balance disorders (VDB). The data was provided by the  MobilE-TRA2-cohort study that has been conducted at the German dizziness and balance center (DSGZ) in Munich. Our results point towards patients with higher self-efficacy and risk tolerance potentially having better coping mechanisms to deal with the challendes of VDB.

The article has been published as open access and is publicly available (Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2023.1316081).

Teaching people in the German-Dutch border region how they can prevent chronic pain wherever possible and how to better treat pain patients who are already affected - these are the aims of the new project "Pain in the Ems-Dollart-Region: a hidden disease with extensive consequences" by the University Medical Centre Oldenburg and the University of Groningen (Netherlands). Funded by the EU Interreg VI A Germany-Netherlands programme, German and Dutch scientists and doctors from both countries are planning several projects to address different target groups - from primary school children to shipyard employees.

Prof Lars Schwettmann, PD Peter Sörös and PD Carsten Bantel from Oldenburg are involved. Read more about the project in German or Dutch.

The committee "Allocation and Distribution" of the dggö held its XIV. workshop at the Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg on the 17^th and 18^th of November 2023. The workshop was organised by the Department of Health Economics. We thank every particant for their interesting contributions and the fruitful discussions we had.

The workshop’s program is available here.

While health care systems in Europe are organized differently, the challenges they face are similar. Our article identifies similarities and difference on the macro-level of health service provision using the example of Germany and the Netherlands.. Oftentimes, it is unknown how these differences affect the individual health organisations, service providers, patients or citizens. The article discusses relevant examples from the project „Comparison of healthcare structures, processes and outcomes in the Northern German and Dutch cross-border region” (CHARE-GD).

The article has been published as open access and is publicly available here.

Sophie Ellermann (M.Sc.) has taken up her position within the Division of Health Economics as scientific coordinator for the CHARE-GD Projects within the Cross-Border Institute of Healthcare Systems and Prevention (CBI). She will complete her binational PhD in November 2023 in the Oldenburg-Groningen Joint Graduate Research Training Group "Translational Research: From Pathological Mechanisms to Therapy" at the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg and the University of Groningen. She is interested in cross-border health research and science management. We are very much looking forward to the collaboration!

Since 2007, the age-standardised new cancer incidence rate for many cancer types has been decreasing in Germany (with an important exception being lung cancer in women). This paper examines differences in these trends according to socioeconomic deprivation for cancer overall and for colorectal, lung, prostate and breast cancer using data from German cancer registries (period 2007-2018). The results indicate trend differences between deprivation groups in Germany, causing an increase in inequality for cancer overall as well as for colorectal and lung cancer.

The article was published as an open access contribution and freely available to read. The results of the study were extensively covered by cross-regional media. A link to the press release of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) can be found here. Furthermore, an interview concerning the publication was conducted with health economist Prof. Dr. Lars Schwettmann and published here.

Modern technology supports blood sugar control for many people with type 1 diabetes (T1D), improving their quality of life. However, there are inequalities in access to this technology in many countries. For Germany, inequalities in use have only been observed among children with T1D, while no studies were previously available for adults. Our data now shows that  advanced age, male gender and a migratory background are associated with lower use of diabetes technology by adults with T1D in Germany. There is an urgent need to improve access to diabetes technology in insufficiently serviced groups to reduce health inequalities.

The article was published as an open access contribution and is freely available to read.