The concept of avoidable mortality is intended to assessing health care system performance. It is defined as premature deaths from selected disease groups that are considered either treatable through the timely and effective health care (amenable mortality), or preventable by public health interventions (preventable mortality). The purpose of study is to analyse the impact of four lists of causes of death created by researchers on amenable mortality by country, sex and cause of death. Data on deaths were obtained from the WHO database for 20 European Union countries in 2014. We applied the method of direct standardisation using the European Standard Population, Spearman rank‐order correlation with statistical significance tests and confidence intervals. We found that the selection of diseases considered as amenable has not significantly impact on the cross‐country comparison, but the weight of selected list of causes of death is significant at the national level. The concept has several limitations relating to selection of diseases and setting age threshold over time, availability of health care resources, prevalence of diseases or variation of causes of death coding among countries. However, indicator of avoidable mortality offers a way of the evaluating effectiveness of health systems in maintaining and improving population health.
Part of the book: Advances in Health Management
In general, the Czech and Slovak Republic are among the countries with increased alcohol consumption. It is clear that increased consumption can predict the occurrence of negative consequences that may subsequently be associated with various mental disorders. One of these mental disorders is depression, which is common in young adults and brings difficulties into their lives that can turn into problems in the future. The study examined the relationship between alcohol-related consequences and depressive symptoms in a sample of university students from the Czech and Slovak Republics in order to map the situation in these regions, where this problem is still ignored (n = 2514; CZE = 47.5%). The research included data from standardized questionnaires, namely the Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (YAACQ), which can predict alcohol use problems, and Health Questionnaire of depression (PHQ-9). The data was collected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Regarding sex differences, a higher YAACQ score was found in males and, conversely, a higher PHQ-9 score was identified in females. The results of correlation and regression analyses revealed significant associations between the scores in the individual YAACQ subscales and the PHQ-9 score, while low to moderate correlations were found in most cases. In all cases, positive trajectories were identified, meaning that the increased risk of depressive disorder can be associated with experience in selected dimensions of alcohol-related consequences. Stronger associations occurred in females than in males. In terms of practical implications, high priority was given to prevention programs and counseling. Professionals’ efforts to help young people should be sex-oriented, while females were more vulnerable to depression, males were prone to the consequences of alcohol use.
Part of the book: Addictions