Heiko Becher
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 6170933 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Heiko Becher |
| PRENOMES | Heiko |
| SOBRENOME | Becher |
| ASSINATURA | BECHER H |
| AFILIAÇÕES | Universität Hamburg |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8808-6667 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 49 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 8 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 49 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 1990 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 2 |
Participation behaviour of different migrant groups in breast cancer screening – palpation of the breast and mammography. Results from the German national cohort (Nako)
In contrast to earlier studies, our findings suggest that MSP participation and motivation does not significantly differ by migration status or language skills. This may indicate that information on MSP is broadly accessible through established invitation procedures in Germany. However, lower uptake of breast palpation by a physician in some migrant populations highlights potential gaps in broader preventive care engagement
Depression and anxiety symptoms in internally migrated women and men after the German unification
Subgroup analyses revealed group differences to depend on sex, but show negligible effect sizes, with internal migration only explaining less than 0.2 % of the variance for depression and anxiety symptoms. Internal migration alone is thus no substantial factor in explaining mental health differences. Future studies should use longitudinal data to determine temporal associations between internal migration and mental health
Depressive symptoms, education, gender and history of migration - an intersectional analysis using data from the German National Cohort (Nako)
We observed a robust educational gradient in depressive symptoms, but gender and history of migration had substantial contribution on the magnitude of educational inequalities. An intersectional perspective on inequalities in depressive symptoms enhances current knowledge by showing that different social dimensions may intersect and contribute to inequalities in depressive symptoms. Future studies on inequalities in depression may greatly benefit…
From cigarettes to symptoms
Our findings support an association between smoking and depression. Robust dose-response relationships were found, with higher cigarette consumption associated with more severe depressive symptoms, and longer time since cessation linked to lower depression levels. These results highlight smoking as a meaningful and modifiable contributor to current and lifetime depression, suggesting that quitting smoking or reducing cigarette consumption may ben…
Birth Order, Caesarean Section, or Daycare Attendance in Relation to Child- and Adult-Onset Type 1 Diabetes
(1) Background: Global incidence of type 1 diabetes (T1D) is rising and nearly half occurred in adults. However, it is unclear if certain early-life childhood T1D risk factors were also associated with adult-onset T1D. This study aimed to assess associations between birth order, delivery mode or daycare attendance and type 1 diabetes (T1D) risk in a population-based cohort and whether these were similar for childhood- and adult-onset T1D (cut-off…
Diabetes, Hypertension, Atrial Fibrillation and Subsequent Stroke-Shift towards Young Ages in Brunei Darussalam
Southeast Asia harbors a young population of more than 600 million people. Socioeconomic transition within the last decades, driven by globalization and rapid economic growth, has led to significant changes in lifestyle and nutrition in many countries of this region. Hence, an increase in the number of non-communicable diseases is seen in most populations of Southeast Asia. Brunei Darussalam is the smallest country in this region, with a populati…
Migration and Sexual Health Services Use – Results from the German Health and Sexuality Survey (GeSiD)
Introduction Migration background is an important predisposing characteristic of health service use (HSU). In this cross-sectional survey, we aim to explore the association between migration background and HSU in the context of sexual health. Methods In a population-representative sample of 4,955 persons from all German federal states (data collection 2018/2019), we examined the HSU of first-generation (15.9% of the total sample) and second-gener…
Diabetes prevalence and risk factors of early-onset adult diabetes
BACKGROUND: Diabetes is increasing rapidly in South-East Asia. Studies have reported typical risk factors associated with all-age adult diabetes and highlighted the roles of economic transition and childhood development factors in diabetes in later life. However, little is known about whether these factors were associated with young adult diabetes risk. OBJECTIVES: The study has two main aims: (1) estimate diabetes prevalence among adult particip…
Half-Year Longitudinal Seroprevalence of Sars-CoV-2-Antibodies and Rule Compliance in German Hospital Employees
COVID-19, which is caused by SARS-CoV-2, is an occupational health risk, especially for healthcare employees due to their higher exposure and consequently higher risk of symptomatic and asymptomatic infections. This study was designed to determine the longitudinal seroprevalence of specific immunoglobulin-G (IgG) antibodies in employees in a hospital setting. All employees in a secondary care hospital, including healthcare and non-healthcare work…
Genetic Variation and Cardiovascular Risk Factors
Resettlers are a large migrant group of more than 2 million people in Germany who migrated mainly from the former Soviet Union to Germany after 1989. We sought to compare the distribution of the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and to investigate the overall genetic differences in a study population which consisted of resettlers and native (autochthone) Germans. This was a joint analysis of two cohort studies which were perform…
Predictors of Changes in Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior during the Covid-19 Pandemic in a Turkish Migrant Cohort in Germany
The new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the resulting response measures have led to severe limitations of people's exercise possibilities with diminished physical activity (PA) and increased sedentary behavior (SB). Since for migrant groups in Germany, no data is available, this study aimed to investigate factors associated with changes in PA and SB in a sample of Turkish descent. Participants of a prospective cohort study (adults of Turkish …
Colorectal Cancer among Resettlers from the Former Soviet Union and in the General German Population
This study examined time trends and clinical and pathological characteristics of colorectal cancer (CRC) among ethnic German migrants from the Former Soviet Union (resettlers) and the general German population. Incidence data from two population-based cancer registries were used to analyze CRC as age-standardized rates (ASRs) over time. The respective general populations and resettler cohorts were used to calculate standardized incidence ratios (…
Impact of Family Separation on Subjective Time Pressure and Mental Health in Refugees from the Middle East and Africa Resettled in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Little is known about social determinants among refugees resettled in Germany. This study aims to examine the impact of family separation on refugees' subjective time pressure and mental health. Data come from the FlueGe Health Study ( n = 208), a cross-sectional study administered by Bielefeld University. We used logistic regression analysis to investigate the effect of family separation on (i) being time-stressed and (ii) having a high risk for…
Strategies to Enhance Retention in a Cohort Study Among Adults of Turkish Descent Living in Berlin
Retention is important for statistical power and external validity in long-term cohort studies. The aims of our study were to evaluate different retention strategies within a cohort study of adults of Turkish descent in Berlin, Germany, and to compare participants and non-participants. In 2011-2012, a population-based study was conducted among adults of Turkish descent to primarily examine recruitment strategies. 6 years later, the participants w…
Loneliness as a mediator of social relationships and health-related quality of life among refugees living in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Loneliness played a mediating role in the association between social relationships and health-related quality of life among refugees living in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The results provide implications for both, health policy and the host society
Effects of Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) Related Contact Restrictions in Germany, March to May 2020, on the Mobility and Relation to Infection Patterns
In an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19, Germany has gradually implemented mobility restrictions culminating in a partial lockdown and contact restrictions on 22 March. The easing of the restrictions began 1 month later, on 20 April. Analysis of the consequences of these measures for mobility and infection incidence is of public health interest. A dynamic cohort of about 2,000 individuals in Germany aged 16-89 years provided individual inf…
The Incidence of Intestinal Gastric Cancer among Resettlers in Germany—Do Resettlers Remain at an Elevated Risk in Comparison to the General Population
Resettlers' higher risk of developing intestinal GC does not attenuate towards the incidence in the general German population. Dietary and lifestyle patterns might amplify the risk of GC, and we believe that further investigation of risk behaviors is needed to better understand the development of disease pattern among migrants
Physical Activity Trajectories among Persons of Turkish Descent Living in Germany—A Cohort Study
Physical activity (PA) behavior is increasingly described as trajectories taking changes over a longer period into account. Little is known, however, about predictors of those trajectories among migrant populations. Therefore, the aim of the present cohort study was to describe changes of PA over six years and to explore migration-related and other predictors for different PA trajectories in adults of Turkish descent living in Berlin. At baseline…
Breast cancer incidence and mammography screening among resettlers in Germany
MSP participating seems surprisingly high among resettlers. An explanation for the increased willingness to participate might be the structured invitation procedure of the MSP. However, the exact reasons remain unclear and future research is needed to confirm this hypothesis and rule out the possibility of selection bias in the cross-sectional study
Reevaluation of risk factors for time to subsequent events after first stroke occurrence using a new weighted all-cause effect measure
Using the new weighted hazard ratio, established risk factors and risk diseases for the occurrence of a first stroke do not remain to be significant predictors for subsequent events like death or recurrent stroke. It has been demonstrated that the new weighted hazard ratio can be used for a more adequate analysis of cardiovascular risk and disease progress. The results have to be confirmed within a larger study with more events
Periodontal Health and Use of Oral Health Services
A cross-sectional study was performed with 251 individuals, consisting of 127 Germans, 68 migrants from Turkey, and 56 resettlers (migrants from the former Soviet Union with German ancestors) to compare periodontal health status, with a special focus on associations with lifestyle and anthropometric factors, and use of dental health services. Maximal pocket depth was used as a clinical surrogate marker for periodontitis. Other variables were obta…
Serum vitamin D levels in Berliners of Turkish descent –a cross-sectional study
Serum vitamin D levels were considerably low in Berliners of Turkish descent, and especially in veiled women. Potentially modifiable factors of low vitamin D levels were high BMI and low physical activity. These findings should be considered in the development of future public health strategies for subpopulations with Turkish migration background
Human health as a motivator for climate change mitigation
Participation of Turkish Migrants in an Epidemiological Study
Stage of cancer diagnoses among migrants from the former Soviet Union in comparison to the German population – are diagnoses among migrants delayed
Re-settlers were more likely to be diagnosed at an advanced tumor stage. These findings are in line with previous research having shown unfavorable health care utilization of re-settlers. Overall, low mortality rates despite an increased risk of advanced stage at diagnosis argue for a sufficient follow-up care, comparable to the autochthonous population
Human health as a motivator for climate change mitigation
Assessing the effect of regional deprivation on mortality avoiding compositional bias
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: We assessed the effect of regional deprivation on individual mortality by making use of a natural experiment: we followed up ethnic German resettlers from Former Soviet Union countries who were quasi-randomly distributed across the socioeconomically heterogeneous counties of Germany's federal state North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). METHODS: We used data from the retrospective cohort study 'AMOR' on the mortality of resettler…
Oral health and access to dental care – a comparison of elderly migrants and non-migrants in Germany
Elderly German migrants have higher treatment needs than non-migrants. Likely causes are poorer oral hygiene and lower utilization of dental care services. Specific prevention programs targeting migrants are warranted to improve oral health in this disadvantaged group
The impact of duration of residence on cause-specific mortality
A case-control study of lung cancer with special reference to the effect of air pollution in Poland
STUDY OBJECTIVE--The aim of the study was to assess the affect of inhaled pollutants on lung cancer risk. DESIGN--The study was a retrospective case-control survey of lung cancer deaths over a six year period (1980-1985). Information on occupation, smoking habits, and residency was collected from next of kin. Classification of exposure to community air pollution was based on measured levels of total suspended particular matter and sulphur dioxide…
All-cause and Cardiovascular mortality among ethnic German immigrants from the Former Soviet Union
In contrast to our hypothesis on migrants' health, overall and CVD mortality among Aussiedler is lower than in Germany's general population. Possible explanations are a substantially better health status of Aussiedler in the FSU as compared to the local average, a higher perceived socio-economic status of Aussiedler in Germany, or selection effects. SMR differences between substrata need further exploration, and risk factor data are needed
Chronic disease mortality associated with infectious agents
Higher mortality from cancers associated with infection and from viral hepatitis among migrants from the Former Soviet Union might result from higher prevalence of infections which were acquired in earlier years of life. The results highlight new challenges posed by diseases of infectious origin in migrants and call attention to the link between communicable and non-communicable diseases
Decreasing childhood mortality and increasing proportion of malaria deaths in rural Burkina Faso
Decreasing childhood mortality and increasing proportion of malaria deaths in rural Burkina Faso
BACKGROUND: Malaria is the leading cause of death among children less than five years of age in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), however, precise estimates on the burden of malaria are lacking. The aim of this study was to describe temporal trends for malaria and all-cause mortality by combining a series of clinical and intervention studies conducted in Burkina Faso. METHODS: Data from a demographic surveillance system was used to follow-up children und…
Invited Commentary to the paper ‘Dying to count
Having participated in the formal process of his PhD defence, it was a real pleasure to read the paper by Ed Fottrell discussing challenges, limitations, possibilities and research areas related to mortality data in developing countries (1). In a few pages he has managed to highlight the most important aspects around that topic. The request, quoted from J.W. Lee, former Director General of the World Health Organisation, ‘To make people count, we …
The impact of duration of residence on cause-specific mortality
Analyses of mortality clustering at member HDSSs within the INDEPTH Network – an important public health issue
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The Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) in Nouna, Burkina Faso, 1993–2007
The Nouna Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) is located in rural Burkina Faso and has existed since 1992. Currently, it has about 78,000 inhabitants. It is a member of the International Network for the Demographic Evaluation of Populations and Their Health in Developing Countries (INDEPTH), a global network of members who conducts longitudinal health and demographic evaluation of populations in low- and middle-income countries. The…
Time trends in cardiovascular disease mortality in Russia and Germany from 1980 to 2007 - are there migration effects
The effects on CVD mortality rates due to migration in Germany and Russia were smaller than those due to secular economical changes. However, migration should still be considered as a factor influencing national mortality trends
Intensity and Inhalation of Smoking in the Aetiology of Laryngeal Cancer
The carcinogenic effect of smoking on laryngeal cancer is well established; however, the risk pattern for detailed smoking characteristics is less clear. Thus, the aim of this analysis was to quantify the impact of different inhalation behaviours on the risk of laryngeal cancer. We conducted a population-based case control study in Germany, frequency-matched for sex and age, using a standardized questionnaire covering lifelong smoking details, in…
Drug utilization patterns and reported health status in ethnic German migrants (Aussiedler) in Germany
Ethnic German migrants seem to differ only slightly from Germans in health status, drug utilization, and disease risk factors, and if so, not in an extreme way. Country of origin remains a source of medicines for a substantial part of migrants. The study is limited by a small sample size and low response rate
Prostate cancer in Germany among migrants from the Former Soviet Union
BACKGROUND: In Germany, prostate cancer is the leading cause of cancer and the third leading cause of death from cancer in males. We investigate prostate cancer in Gernmany among migrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and compare them to indigenous German population with regard to prostate cancer incidence, mortality and longitudinal effects. METHODS: Data were obtained from two migrant cohorts residing in the federal states of North Rhine W…
Risk factors for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases among ethnic Germans from the former Soviet Union
The reported lower prevalences of known risk factors of CVD such as alcohol consumption, high cholesterol, diabetes and smoking (in women) could contribute to a lower risk of CVD
Addressing research capacity for health equity and the social determinants of health in three African countries
BACKGROUND: The importance of tackling economic, social and health-related inequities is increasingly accepted as a core concern for the post-Millennium Development Goal framework. However, there is a global dearth of high-quality, policy-relevant and actionable data on inequities within populations, which means that development solutions seldom focus on the people who need them most. INTREC (INDEPTH Training and Research Centres of Excellence) w…
Occupation and educational inequalities in laryngeal cancer
The use of an easily applicable control variable, simply constructed on standard occupational job classifications, provides the possibility to differentiate between educational and occupational contributions. Such an index might indirectly reflect the effect of carcinogenic agents, which are not collected in many studies
Assessing the effect of regional deprivation on mortality avoiding compositional bias
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: We assessed the effect of regional deprivation on individual mortality by making use of a natural experiment: we followed up ethnic German resettlers from Former Soviet Union countries who were quasi-randomly distributed across the socioeconomically heterogeneous counties of Germany's federal state North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). METHODS: We used data from the retrospective cohort study 'AMOR' on the mortality of resettler…
Training needs for research in health inequities among health and demographic researchers from eight African and Asian countries
The identified thematic clusters and statements provide a detailed understanding of what INDEPTH researchers want to learn in order to be able to conduct research on the social determinants of health inequalities. This offers a framework for developing capacity building programs in this emerging field of public health research
Health insurance and child mortality in rural Burkina Faso
BACKGROUND: Micro health insurance schemes have been implemented across developing countries as a means of facilitating access to modern medical care, with the ultimate aim of improving health. This effect, however, has not been explored sufficiently. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effect of enrolment into community-based health insurance on mortality in children under 5 years of age in a health and demographic surveillance system in Nouna, Burki…
Tobacco prevention policies in west-African countries and their effects on smoking prevalence
Tobacco control policies are enforced at relatively low levels in West-African countries. However, improving tobacco control policy implementation according to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control should assist in the reduction of smoking prevalence in African countries, thereby counteracting pro-smoking initiatives set forth by the tobacco industry
Tobacco Control Progress in Low and Middle Income Countries in Comparison to High Income Countries
The study aimed to describe worldwide levels and trends of tobacco control policy by comparing low and middle income countries with other income categories from 2007 to 2014 and to analyze the corresponding relation to recent changes in smoking prevalence. Policy measure data representing years 2007 to 2014 were collected from all available World Health Organization (WHO) reports on the global tobacco epidemic. Corresponding policy percentage sco…
Vaccination coverage and factors associated with adherence to the vaccination schedule in young children of a rural area in Burkina Faso
BACKGROUND: Vaccination is an important tool for reducing infectious disease morbidity and mortality. In the past, less than 80% of children 12-23 months of age were fully immunized in Burkina Faso. OBJECTIVES: To describe coverage and assess factors associated with adherence to the vaccination schedule in rural area Burkina Faso. METHODS: The study population was extracted from the Nouna Health and Demographic surveillance system cohort. Data fr…
Strengthening capacity to research the social determinants of health in low- and middle-income countries
The INTREC programme has trained a promising cadre of health researchers who live and work in LMICs, which is an essential component of efforts to identify and reduce national and local level health inequities. Time management and technological issues were the greatest challenges, which can inform future attempts to strengthen research capacity on SDH
Oral health and access to dental care – a comparison of elderly migrants and non-migrants in Germany
Elderly German migrants have higher treatment needs than non-migrants. Likely causes are poorer oral hygiene and lower utilization of dental care services. Specific prevention programs targeting migrants are warranted to improve oral health in this disadvantaged group
Participation of Turkish Migrants in an Epidemiological Study
Medicine (45 obras) · Demography (33 obras) · Environmental health (31 obras) · Population (30 obras) · Demography (24 obras) · Internal Medicine (22 obras) · Cohort (17 obras) · Geography (17 obras) · Epidemiology (16 obras) · Public health (16 obras)