Ria Laubscher
Biographic Data
| ID | 7253791 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ria Laubscher |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ria |
| FAMILY NAME | Laubscher |
| SIGNATURE | LAUBSCHER R |
| AFFILIATIONS | South African Medical Research Council |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6669-9040 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
Association between diet quality, physical activity and anthropometric status of people living with HIV in Cape Town
Research on the diet of PLWH in South Africa is limited. We assessed the association between BMI and diet quality of PLWH on ART in Cape Town. We recruited 246 participants between 2021 and 2022. Information on demographics, infection, treatment, anthropometry, and physical activity was obtained. Diet quality was assessed using the Alternate Healthy Eating Index (aHEI). Anthropometry was measured using BMI, waist circumference, mid-upper-arm circ…
Can verbal autopsies be used on a national scale? Key findings and lessons from South Africa's national cause-of-death validation study
BACKGROUND: Verbal autopsy (VA), though imperfect, serves as a vital tool to determine cause-of-death, particularly for out-of-facility deaths, but challenges persist in integrating VA into Civil Registration and Vital Statistics systems. OBJECTIVE: To describe the challenges and successes of collecting a national sample of verbal autopsy interviews in South Africa to obtain the cause of death profile in 2017/18. METHODS: We recruited next of kin…
Alcohol, Violence, and Injury-Induced Mortality
This paper evaluates the impact of a sudden and unexpected nationwide alcohol sales ban in South Africa. We find that this policy causally reduced injury-induced mortality in the country by at least 14%. We argue that this estimate constitutes a lower bound on the true impact of alcohol on injury-induced mortality. We also document a sharp drop in violent crimes, indicating a tight link between alcohol and aggressive behavior in society. Our resu…
Poor Health Behaviour in Medical Students at a South African University
Medical students have a high prevalence of poor sleep quality, low levels of physical activity and low-to-moderate diet quality, which does not appear to change over the course of their academic career. Sleep hygiene, regular physical activity and healthy nutrition should be targeted in intervention programmes and be more prevalent in the medical curriculum
Linkage to HIV Care and Early Retention in Care Rates in the Universal Test-and-Treat Era
HIV linkage, and retention are key weaknesses in South Africa's national antiretroviral therapy (ART) program, with the greatest loss of patients in the HIV treatment pathway occurring before ART initiation. This study investigated linkage-to and early-retention-in-care (LTRIC) rates among adults newly diagnosed with HIV in a high-HIV prevalent rural district. We conducted an observational prospective cohort study to investigate LTRIC rates for a…
Adherence to the South African food based dietary guidelines may reduce breast cancer risk in black South African women
Objective: To determine the level of adherence and to assess the association between higher adherence to the South African food based dietary guidelines (SAFBDG) and breast cancer risk. Design: Population-based, case–control study (the South African Breast Cancer study) matched on age and demographic settings. Validated questionnaires were used to collect dietary and epidemiological data. To assess adherence to the SAFBDG, a nine-point adherence …
Factors associated with current substance use among a sample of homeless individuals in Cape Town, South Africa
Homelessness is a global issue that is often associated with substance use. Research on this relationship in low- to middle-income countries (LMIC) is limited. We aimed to explore which factors are associated with substance use through secondary data analysis of a sample of 472 adults who attended services for homeless individuals in Cape Town, South Africa. Logistic regression was utilized to investigate if length of homelessness was associated …
Is South Africa being spared the global opioid crisis? A review of trends in drug treatment demand for heroin, nyaope and codeine-related medicines in South Africa (2012–2017)
Dietary patterns of 6–24‐month‐old children are associated with nutrient content and quality of the diet
We determined the associations of dietary patterns with energy/nutrient intakes and diet quality. Previously collected single 24-hr dietary recalls for children aged 6-11 months (n = 1,585), 12-17 months (n = 1,131), and 18-24 months (n = 620) from four independent studies in low socio-economic populations in South Africa were pooled. A maximum-likelihood factor model, with the principal-factor method, was used to derive dietary (food) patterns. …
Consumption of Traditional and Indigenous Foods and Their Contribution to Nutrient Intake among Children and Women in Botswana
In Botswana, traditional diets are gradually being replaced by westernized diets high in energy-dense and nutrient- poor, while micro nutrient deficiencies among the population remain. We determined the consumption of traditional and indigenous foods (TIF) and their contribution to nutrient intake among children and women in Botswana. TIF accounted for relatively high percentages of energy intake in children (41%) and women (36%) respectively. Th…
Contribution of commercial infant products and fortified staple foods to nutrient intake at ages 6, 12, and 18 months in a cohort of children from a low socio‐economic community in S outh A frica
Fortification of two staple foods, maize meal and wheat flour (bread), is mandatory, and commercial infant products are widely available in South Africa. Using a 24-hr recall, we determined the contribution of these foods towards nutrient intakes at ages 6 (n = 715), 12 (n = 446), and 18 (n = 213) months in a cohort of children in a peri-urban community, North West province. On the day of recall, commercial infant products were consumed by 83% of…
Accelerated nutrition transition in the North West Province of South Africa
Objective South Africa (SA) is in the midst of a health transition characterized by a quadruple burden of diseases and a nutrition transition. The existing nutrition transition in SA, accompanied by the coexistence of under- and overnutrition in the population, motivated the present study. Its objectives were to measure and report the changes in nutrient intakes of rural and urban black Africans over time to assess the impact of urbanization and …
Changes in food intake from 2005 to 2010 by a cohort of black rural and urban African men and women in the North West Province of South Africa
Objective We have shown that nutrient intakes of rural and urban black Africans in the North West Province (NWP) of South Africa (SA) followed the typical nutrition transition pattern upon urbanization and modernization. The current study aimed to examine and report on the changes in food intakes from 2005 to 2010 in rural and urban black South Africans participating in the PURE-NWP-SA study. Design/Setting/Subjects The PURE-NWP-SA study recruite…
Mortality trends and differentials in South Africa from 1997 to 2012
BACKGROUND: The poor health of South Africans is known to be associated with a quadruple disease burden. In the second National Burden of Disease (NBD) study, we aimed to analyse cause of death data for 1997-2012 and develop national, population group, and provincial estimates of the levels and causes of mortality. METHOD: We used underlying cause of death data from death notifications for 1997-2012 obtained from Statistics South Africa. These da…
Weight-loss strategies of South African female university students and comparison of weight management-related characteristics between dieters and non-dieters
Attempting weight-loss is common among female students and predicts BMI. Healthy (mainly), unhealthy and extreme weight loss methods are used. Dieters are characterized by a less realistic body image, lower body satisfaction, higher pressure to lose weight, use of informal weight-management information and a healthier life-style
Poor dietary diversity and low nutrient density of the complementary diet for 6‐ to 24‐month‐old children in urban and rural K wa Z ulu‐ N atal, S outh A frica
Infants and toddlers have high nutritional requirements relative to body size but consume small amounts of food and therefore need nutrient-dense complementary foods. A cross-sectional study included children aged 6-24 months, stratified in three age categories (6-11 months, 12-17 months and 18-24 months) and randomly selected from an urban (n = 158) and a rural (n = 158) area, both of low socio-economic status, in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of S…
Using a Theoretical Framework to Investigate Whether the HIV/Aids Information Needs of the AfroAidsinfo Web Portal Members Are Met
eHealth has been identified as a useful approach to disseminate HIV/AIDS information. Together with Consumer Health Informatics (CHI), the Web-to-Public Knowledge Transfer Model (WPKTM) has been applied as a theoretical framework to identify consumer needs for AfroAIDSinfo, a South African Web portal. As part of the CHI practice, regular eSurveys are conducted to determine whether these needs are changing and are continually being met. eSurveys s…
Urban–rural and gender differences in tobacco and alcohol use, diet and physical activity among young black South Africans between 1998 and 2003
BACKGROUND: Non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) have increased in South Africa over the past 15 years. While these usually manifest during mid-to-late adulthood, the development of modifiable risk factors that contribute to NCDs are usually adopted early in life. OBJECTIVE: To describe the urban-rural and gender patterns of NCD risk factors in black adolescents and young adults (15- to 24-year-olds) from two South African Demographic and Hea…
Demographic and circumstantial accounts of burn mortality in Cape Town, South Africa, 2001-2004
Burns are a persisting public health problem in low- and middle-income countries; however, epidemiologic data for these settings is scarce. South Africa is no exception although there is an emerging knowledge base, especially for paediatric burns. The current study describes the epidemiology of burn mortality across the lifespan in Cape Town (2.9 million inhabitants in 2001), one of the six South African metropolitan centres. The distribution of …
Levels and Differentials in Childhood Mortality in South Africa, 1977–1998
This study uses the 1996 Census and the 1998 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) to investigate the level of and trend in infant and child mortality and their covariates in South Africa. Census estimates of childhood mortality are higher than those from the DHS. Analysis suggests that the former overestimate mortality while the latter are probably slightly too low. Both inquiries document a reversal of the trend toward lower mortality in the 1990…
Intimate Partner Violence
This study examined the prevalence of and risk factors for intimate partner physical violence against women. Interviews were conducted with a sample of 1,378 men working in Cape Town municipalities. An average of 42.3% (95% CI: 39.6, 44.8) reported physical violence against a partner of the last 10 years, and 8.8% (95% CI: 7.3, 10.3) reported physical violence in the past year. After adjustment for age, occupational group, and race, the factors a…
Obesity in South Africa
Objectives: To ascertain the anthropometric profile and determinants of obesity in South Africans who participated in the Demographic and Health Survey in 1998. Research Methods and Procedures: A sample of 13,089 men and women (age, ≥15 years) were randomly selected and then stratified by province and urban and nonurban areas. Height, weight, mid‐upper arm circumference, and waist and hip circumference were measured. Body mass index (BMI) was use…
Dietary intake and barriers to dietary compliance in black type 2 diabetic patients attending primary health-care services
Objective: To determine the dietary intake, practices, knowledge and barriers to dietary compliance of black South African type 2 diabetic patients attending primary health-care services in urban and rural areas. Design: A cross-sectional survey. Dietary intake was assessed by three 24-hour recalls, and knowledge and practices by means of a structured questionnaire ( n =133 men, 155 women). In-depth interviews were then conducted with 25 of the p…
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Obesity in South Africa
Objectives: To ascertain the anthropometric profile and determinants of obesity in South Africans who participated in the Demographic and Health Survey in 1998. Research Methods and Procedures: A sample of 13,089 men and women (age, ≥15 years) were randomly selected and then stratified by province and urban and nonurban areas. Height, weight, mid‐upper arm circumference, and waist and hip circumference were measured. Body mass index (BMI) was use…
Dietary intake and barriers to dietary compliance in black type 2 diabetic patients attending primary health-care services
Objective: To determine the dietary intake, practices, knowledge and barriers to dietary compliance of black South African type 2 diabetic patients attending primary health-care services in urban and rural areas. Design: A cross-sectional survey. Dietary intake was assessed by three 24-hour recalls, and knowledge and practices by means of a structured questionnaire ( n =133 men, 155 women). In-depth interviews were then conducted with 25 of the p…
Intimate Partner Violence
This study examined the prevalence of and risk factors for intimate partner physical violence against women. Interviews were conducted with a sample of 1,378 men working in Cape Town municipalities. An average of 42.3% (95% CI: 39.6, 44.8) reported physical violence against a partner of the last 10 years, and 8.8% (95% CI: 7.3, 10.3) reported physical violence in the past year. After adjustment for age, occupational group, and race, the factors a…
Levels and Differentials in Childhood Mortality in South Africa, 1977–1998
This study uses the 1996 Census and the 1998 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) to investigate the level of and trend in infant and child mortality and their covariates in South Africa. Census estimates of childhood mortality are higher than those from the DHS. Analysis suggests that the former overestimate mortality while the latter are probably slightly too low. Both inquiries document a reversal of the trend toward lower mortality in the 1990…
Demographic and circumstantial accounts of burn mortality in Cape Town, South Africa, 2001-2004
Burns are a persisting public health problem in low- and middle-income countries; however, epidemiologic data for these settings is scarce. South Africa is no exception although there is an emerging knowledge base, especially for paediatric burns. The current study describes the epidemiology of burn mortality across the lifespan in Cape Town (2.9 million inhabitants in 2001), one of the six South African metropolitan centres. The distribution of …
Urban–rural and gender differences in tobacco and alcohol use, diet and physical activity among young black South Africans between 1998 and 2003
BACKGROUND: Non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) have increased in South Africa over the past 15 years. While these usually manifest during mid-to-late adulthood, the development of modifiable risk factors that contribute to NCDs are usually adopted early in life. OBJECTIVE: To describe the urban-rural and gender patterns of NCD risk factors in black adolescents and young adults (15- to 24-year-olds) from two South African Demographic and Hea…
Poor dietary diversity and low nutrient density of the complementary diet for 6‐ to 24‐month‐old children in urban and rural K wa Z ulu‐ N atal, S outh A frica
Infants and toddlers have high nutritional requirements relative to body size but consume small amounts of food and therefore need nutrient-dense complementary foods. A cross-sectional study included children aged 6-24 months, stratified in three age categories (6-11 months, 12-17 months and 18-24 months) and randomly selected from an urban (n = 158) and a rural (n = 158) area, both of low socio-economic status, in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of S…
Using a Theoretical Framework to Investigate Whether the HIV/Aids Information Needs of the AfroAidsinfo Web Portal Members Are Met
eHealth has been identified as a useful approach to disseminate HIV/AIDS information. Together with Consumer Health Informatics (CHI), the Web-to-Public Knowledge Transfer Model (WPKTM) has been applied as a theoretical framework to identify consumer needs for AfroAIDSinfo, a South African Web portal. As part of the CHI practice, regular eSurveys are conducted to determine whether these needs are changing and are continually being met. eSurveys s…
Mortality trends and differentials in South Africa from 1997 to 2012
BACKGROUND: The poor health of South Africans is known to be associated with a quadruple disease burden. In the second National Burden of Disease (NBD) study, we aimed to analyse cause of death data for 1997-2012 and develop national, population group, and provincial estimates of the levels and causes of mortality. METHOD: We used underlying cause of death data from death notifications for 1997-2012 obtained from Statistics South Africa. These da…
Weight-loss strategies of South African female university students and comparison of weight management-related characteristics between dieters and non-dieters
Attempting weight-loss is common among female students and predicts BMI. Healthy (mainly), unhealthy and extreme weight loss methods are used. Dieters are characterized by a less realistic body image, lower body satisfaction, higher pressure to lose weight, use of informal weight-management information and a healthier life-style
Contribution of commercial infant products and fortified staple foods to nutrient intake at ages 6, 12, and 18 months in a cohort of children from a low socio‐economic community in S outh A frica
Fortification of two staple foods, maize meal and wheat flour (bread), is mandatory, and commercial infant products are widely available in South Africa. Using a 24-hr recall, we determined the contribution of these foods towards nutrient intakes at ages 6 (n = 715), 12 (n = 446), and 18 (n = 213) months in a cohort of children in a peri-urban community, North West province. On the day of recall, commercial infant products were consumed by 83% of…
Accelerated nutrition transition in the North West Province of South Africa
Objective South Africa (SA) is in the midst of a health transition characterized by a quadruple burden of diseases and a nutrition transition. The existing nutrition transition in SA, accompanied by the coexistence of under- and overnutrition in the population, motivated the present study. Its objectives were to measure and report the changes in nutrient intakes of rural and urban black Africans over time to assess the impact of urbanization and …
Changes in food intake from 2005 to 2010 by a cohort of black rural and urban African men and women in the North West Province of South Africa
Objective We have shown that nutrient intakes of rural and urban black Africans in the North West Province (NWP) of South Africa (SA) followed the typical nutrition transition pattern upon urbanization and modernization. The current study aimed to examine and report on the changes in food intakes from 2005 to 2010 in rural and urban black South Africans participating in the PURE-NWP-SA study. Design/Setting/Subjects The PURE-NWP-SA study recruite…
Dietary patterns of 6–24‐month‐old children are associated with nutrient content and quality of the diet
We determined the associations of dietary patterns with energy/nutrient intakes and diet quality. Previously collected single 24-hr dietary recalls for children aged 6-11 months (n = 1,585), 12-17 months (n = 1,131), and 18-24 months (n = 620) from four independent studies in low socio-economic populations in South Africa were pooled. A maximum-likelihood factor model, with the principal-factor method, was used to derive dietary (food) patterns. …
Consumption of Traditional and Indigenous Foods and Their Contribution to Nutrient Intake among Children and Women in Botswana
In Botswana, traditional diets are gradually being replaced by westernized diets high in energy-dense and nutrient- poor, while micro nutrient deficiencies among the population remain. We determined the consumption of traditional and indigenous foods (TIF) and their contribution to nutrient intake among children and women in Botswana. TIF accounted for relatively high percentages of energy intake in children (41%) and women (36%) respectively. Th…
Is South Africa being spared the global opioid crisis? A review of trends in drug treatment demand for heroin, nyaope and codeine-related medicines in South Africa (2012–2017)
Factors associated with current substance use among a sample of homeless individuals in Cape Town, South Africa
Homelessness is a global issue that is often associated with substance use. Research on this relationship in low- to middle-income countries (LMIC) is limited. We aimed to explore which factors are associated with substance use through secondary data analysis of a sample of 472 adults who attended services for homeless individuals in Cape Town, South Africa. Logistic regression was utilized to investigate if length of homelessness was associated …
Linkage to HIV Care and Early Retention in Care Rates in the Universal Test-and-Treat Era
HIV linkage, and retention are key weaknesses in South Africa's national antiretroviral therapy (ART) program, with the greatest loss of patients in the HIV treatment pathway occurring before ART initiation. This study investigated linkage-to and early-retention-in-care (LTRIC) rates among adults newly diagnosed with HIV in a high-HIV prevalent rural district. We conducted an observational prospective cohort study to investigate LTRIC rates for a…
Adherence to the South African food based dietary guidelines may reduce breast cancer risk in black South African women
Objective: To determine the level of adherence and to assess the association between higher adherence to the South African food based dietary guidelines (SAFBDG) and breast cancer risk. Design: Population-based, case–control study (the South African Breast Cancer study) matched on age and demographic settings. Validated questionnaires were used to collect dietary and epidemiological data. To assess adherence to the SAFBDG, a nine-point adherence …
Can verbal autopsies be used on a national scale? Key findings and lessons from South Africa's national cause-of-death validation study
BACKGROUND: Verbal autopsy (VA), though imperfect, serves as a vital tool to determine cause-of-death, particularly for out-of-facility deaths, but challenges persist in integrating VA into Civil Registration and Vital Statistics systems. OBJECTIVE: To describe the challenges and successes of collecting a national sample of verbal autopsy interviews in South Africa to obtain the cause of death profile in 2017/18. METHODS: We recruited next of kin…
Alcohol, Violence, and Injury-Induced Mortality
This paper evaluates the impact of a sudden and unexpected nationwide alcohol sales ban in South Africa. We find that this policy causally reduced injury-induced mortality in the country by at least 14%. We argue that this estimate constitutes a lower bound on the true impact of alcohol on injury-induced mortality. We also document a sharp drop in violent crimes, indicating a tight link between alcohol and aggressive behavior in society. Our resu…
Poor Health Behaviour in Medical Students at a South African University
Medical students have a high prevalence of poor sleep quality, low levels of physical activity and low-to-moderate diet quality, which does not appear to change over the course of their academic career. Sleep hygiene, regular physical activity and healthy nutrition should be targeted in intervention programmes and be more prevalent in the medical curriculum
Association between diet quality, physical activity and anthropometric status of people living with HIV in Cape Town
Research on the diet of PLWH in South Africa is limited. We assessed the association between BMI and diet quality of PLWH on ART in Cape Town. We recruited 246 participants between 2021 and 2022. Information on demographics, infection, treatment, anthropometry, and physical activity was obtained. Diet quality was assessed using the Alternate Healthy Eating Index (aHEI). Anthropometry was measured using BMI, waist circumference, mid-upper-arm circ…
Medicine (22 works) · Environmental health (17 works) · Demography (14 works) · Demography (8 works) · Geography (8 works) · Internal Medicine (8 works) · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet (8 works) · Population (8 works) · Child Nutrition and Water Access (7 works) · Nutrient (6 works)