Determinants of the Cost-Effectiveness of Telemedicine: Systematic Screening and Quantitative Analysis of the Literature.

Background and Objectives: Telemedicine holds the promise of increasing access-to-care at a lower cost. Yet, for years, the evidence of telemedicine's cost-effectiveness was scarce. Faced with a rapidly expanding literature, we conduct both manual and systematic selection of the literature, and analyzed the data to determine: (1) the characteristics of economic evaluations of telemedicine, and (2) the determinants of economically efficient telemedicine interventions. Methods: We reviewed all published economic evaluations of telemedicine in Cochrane, Embase, and Pubmed from 2008 to 2018. Articles were screened by two researchers first on title and abstract (Stage 1), then on full article (Stage 2), (protocol available on PROSPERO, ref. CRD42019143032). We proposed an alternative method for screening articles using machine learning based on textual classification and compared these two approaches. We constructed an exclusive dataset on the characteristics of the selected articles and enriched it using OECD data at the country level. We identified the determinants of efficient telemedicine interventions using multiple logit models. Results and Conclusion: We included 156 articles out of 2,639. Most economic studies of our sample regard telemonitoring. A majority (73.7%) of studies found that telemedicine intervention is efficient, regardless of the medical domain. Articles with higher standards of economic evaluation (cost-effectiveness analysis, randomized trials with high sample size) were less likely to report an efficient intervention. We found no effect of the publication year, signifying that the nature of the evidence has not changed over time.

Teachers' Health: How General, Mental and Functional Health Indicators Compare to Other Employees? A Large French Population-Based Study.

Teachers' health is a key factor of any successful education system, but available data are conflicting. To evaluate to what extent teachers' health could be at risk, we used pre-pandemic data from the CONSTANCES population-based French cohort (inclusion phase: 2012-2019) and compared teachers (n = 12,839) included in the cohort with a random subsample selected among all other employees (n = 32,837) on four self-reported health indicators: perceived general health, depressive symptoms (CES-D scale), functional limitations in the last six months, and persistent neck/back troubles (Nordic questionnaire). We further restricted our comparison group to the State employees (n = 3583), who share more occupational similarities with teachers. Lastly, we focused on teachers and evaluated how their health status might differ across teaching levels (primary, secondary, and higher education). As compared to non-teacher employees, and even after adjusting for important demographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle, and occupational confounders, teachers were less likely to report bad perceived health and depressive symptoms but were more likely to present functional limitations. Trends were similar in the analyses restricted to State employees. Within the teaching population, secondary school teachers were more likely to report depressive symptoms but less frequently declared persistent neck/back troubles than primary school teachers. Our descriptive cross-sectional study based on a probability sampling procedure (secondary use of CONSTANCES inclusion data) did not support the idea that teachers' health in France was particularly at risk in the pre-pandemic period. Both cross-cultural and longitudinal studies are needed to further gain information on the topic of teachers' health around the world and to monitor its evolution over time, particularly during crises impacting the education system such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

What Levers to Promote Teachers' Wellbeing during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond: Lessons Learned from a 2021 Online Study in Six Countries.

To highlight effective levers to promote teachers' wellbeing worldwide, particularly during difficult times such as the COVID-19 pandemic, we investigated work-related factors associated with teacher wellbeing, across borders and cultures. In six countries/territories, we examined the factors that were most consistently and strongly associated with two indicators of wellbeing at work: (i) job satisfaction; and (ii) work/life balance, and three indicators of general wellbeing: (i) subjective health; (ii) mental health; and (iii) life satisfaction. Between May and July 2021, after 18 months of the pandemic, 8000 teachers answered the first edition of the International Barometer of Education Personnel's Health and Wellbeing (I-BEST): 3646 teachers from France, 2349 from Québec, 1268 from Belgium, 302 from Morocco, 222 from The Gambia, and 215 from Mexico. For each country/territory and each wellbeing indicator, we used a forward stepwise regression procedure to identify important determinants among a carefully selected set of 31 sociodemographic, private, and professional life factors. Aside from healthcare access, the factors most consistently and strongly associated with teacher wellbeing in France, Québec and Belgium (samples whose size were ≥1000) were related to the psychosocial and the organizational dimensions of work, namely: feeling of safety at school, autonomy at work, and the quality of relationships with superiors and quality of relationships with students. In the smaller samples of teachers from the three remaining countries (Morocco, The Gambia and Mexico), exploratory analyses showed that the feeling of safety and autonomy at work were, there too, consistently associated with wellbeing indicators. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the factors most consistently associated with teachers' wellbeing across countries were related to security and autonomy at work, supporting the importance to consider these aspects in a continuous, structural way at school. Factors associated with teachers' wellbeing in very different contexts require further cross-cultural study.

Health behaviours of teachers and other education professionals in France: can we do better?

Education professionals play a critical role in health education, both as knowledge providers and as role-models. Drawing on the CONSTANCES French cohort (baseline 2012-19) and adjusting for important confounders, we compared education professionals (n = 14 730) with a random sample of non-education sector employees (n = 34 244) on three indicators of high-risk behaviour (at-risk drinking, current smoking, past-year cannabis use) and three indicators of unhealthy lifestyle (low physical activity, poor adherence to nutritional guidelines, overweight/obesity). Among education professionals, we distinguished between teachers (n = 12 820), school principals (n = 372), senior education advisers (n = 189), school health professionals (n = 128) and school service staff (n = 1221). Compared with non-education sector employees with similar demographic and socioeconomic profiles, teachers were less likely to be at-risk drinkers, to smoke, to have used cannabis in the past year and to be overweight/obese. Other non-teaching education professionals were also less involved in high-risk behaviours than non-education employees, but results were more mixed concerning some lifestyle indicators, with certain non-teaching education professional groups showing a higher likelihood of being physically inactive or overweight/obese. In this nationwide French study, our results suggest a window of opportunity to promote school staff health but also indirectly, that of the youth with whom they interact daily. We suggest that school staff should be supported in health matters not only through the provision of health information but also most importantly, through the development of a favourable and supportive environment enabling them to put health knowledge into practice.

Education professionals play a crucial role in health education, notably as role-models, since they come into contact with students on a daily basis. Therefore, examining their health behaviours may be instructive. In this nationwide French study, teachers appeared to behave more healthily compared with non-education sector employees in important domains such as alcohol consumption or tobacco use. However, certain non-teaching education professional groups were more likely to be physically inactive or overweight/obese. Our results highlight opportunities for interventions aimed at raising health awareness and empowerment among school staff. A comprehensive health promotion approach integrating our findings would draw less on a vertical or top-down transfer of knowledge and depend more on participation and exchange among school staff, on teachers leading by example, as well as on the development of a supportive school environment.

Healthcare consumption after a change in health insurance coverage: a French quasi-natural experiment.

BACKGROUND: Compared with the number of studies performed in the United States, few studies have been conducted on the link between health insurance and healthcare consumption in Europe, likely because most European countries have compulsory national health insurance (NHI) or a national health service (NHS). Recently, a major French private insurer, offering voluntary complementary coverage in addition to the compulsory NHI, replaced its single standard package with a range of offers from basic coverage (BC) to extended coverage (EC), providing a quasi-natural experiment to test theoretical assumptions about consumption patterns. METHODS: Reimbursement claim data from 85,541 insurees were analysed from 2009 to 2018. Insurees who opted for EC were matched to those still covered by BC with similar characteristics. Difference-in-differences (DiD) models were used to compare both the monetary value and physical quantities of healthcare consumption before and after the change in coverage. RESULTS: As expected, the DiD models revealed a strongly significant, though transitory (mainly during the first year), increase after the change in coverage for EC insurees, particularly for costly care such as dental prostheses and spectacles. Surprisingly, consumption seemed to precede the change in coverage, suggesting that one possible determinant of opting for more coverage may be previous unplanned expenses. CONCLUSION: Both catching-up behaviour and moral hazard are likely to play a role in the observed increase in healthcare consumption.

Overall and work-related well-being of teachers in socially disadvantaged schools: a population-based study of French teachers.

OBJECTIVES: As a human service profession, teaching presents specific risk factors that could be intensified in socially disadvantaged schools and, ultimately, impact the service quality. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between school socioeconomic status and teachers' well-being. DESIGN: Population-based postal survey 'Teachers' Quality of Life' (MGEN Foundation for Public Health/French Ministry of Education; 2013). To categorise the school socioeconomic status, we used the 'Education Priority Area (EPA)' administrative classification, which is chiefly based on the proportion of underprivileged students and is available for primary and lower secondary state schools. PARTICIPANTS: In-service French teachers randomly selected from among the teaching staff administrative list of the French Ministry of Education after stratification by sex, age and type of school. OUTCOME MEASURES: Indicators of well-being at work included a question on job satisfaction, job difficulty evolution and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The short version of the WHO Quality of Life questionnaire was used to evaluate overall well-being. Among primary and lower secondary school teachers, we evaluated cross-sectional associations between school EPA status and indicators of well-being, using logistic or linear regressions stratified by school level and adjusted for sociodemographic and work-related characteristics. RESULTS: In the adjusted models, there was no significant difference in work-related well-being between teachers in EPA and non-EPA schools, both in primary school (n=154 vs n=788) and in lower secondary school (n=113 vs n=452). Regarding overall well-being, the only significant differences were seen among primary school teachers, with teachers in EPA schools reporting a worse perception of physical health and living environment than teachers in non-EPA schools. CONCLUSION: Using a representative sample of French teachers, we did not observe substantial differences in work-related well-being between teachers in EPA and non-EPA schools.

Burnout symptomatology and social support at work independent of the private sphere: a population-based study of French teachers.

PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between social support at work and burnout among teachers, independent of the teachers' private social and environmental context. METHODS: In the 2013 "Teachers' Quality of Life" population-based study (France, n = 2653), burnout symptomatology was assessed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The score for each dimension (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment) was dichotomized using extreme tertiles. Global score for social support at work, and subscores by source and type were derived from the Karasek Job Content Questionnaire and were categorized into tertiles (low, medium, and high). The private context was appraised through the "social relationships" and "environment" subscales of the short version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire. Associations between social support at work and burnout indicators were evaluated among 2473 teachers with complete data, using logistic regression models adjusted for the private context plus sociodemographic and work-related characteristics. RESULTS: Eight percent of the teachers showed simultaneously high emotional exhaustion, high depersonalization and low personal accomplishment symptoms and were considered as burnout cases. After controlling for the private context, teachers who reported high social support at work were significantly less likely to report burnout [odds ratio (95% confidence interval) high vs. low = 0.62 (0.40, 0.98)]. When distinguishing the source of social support at work, only high social support from supervisors remained significantly associated with a lower risk of burnout [0.43 (0.27, 0.71)]. CONCLUSIONS: Improving social support at work, especially from a hierarchical point of view, may be an effective target to promote teacher's well-being.

Why socially deprived populations have a faster resting heart rate: impact of behaviour, life course anthropometry, and biology--the RECORD Cohort Study.

Although studies have shown that resting heart rate (RHR) is predictive of cardiovascular morbidity/mortality, few studies focused on the epidemiology and social aetiology of RHR. Using the RECORD Cohort Study (7158 participants, 2007-2008, Paris region, France), we investigated individual/neighbourhood socioeconomic variables associated with resting heart rate, and assessed which of a number of psychological factors (depression and stress), behaviour (sport-related energy expenditure, medication use, and alcohol, coffee, and tobacco consumption), life course anthropometric factors (body mass index, waist circumference, and leg length as a marker of childhood environmental exposures), and biologic factors (alkaline phosphatase and gamma-glutamyltransferase) contributed to the socioeconomic disadvantage-RHR relationship. Combining individual/neighbourhood socioeconomic factors in a socioeconomic score, RHR increased with socioeconomic disadvantage: +0.9 [95% credible interval (CrI): +0.2, +1.6], +1.8 (95% CrI: +1.0, +2.5), and +3.6 (95% CrI: +2.9, +4.4) bpm for the 3 categories reflecting increasing disadvantage, compared with the lowest disadvantage category. Twenty-one percent of the socioeconomic disadvantage-RHR relationship was explained by sport practise variables, 9% by waist circumference, 7% by gamma-glutamyltransferase, 5% by alkaline phosphatase, and 3% by leg length. Future research should further clarify the mechanisms through which socioeconomic disadvantage influences resting heart rate, as a pathway to social disparities in cardiovascular morbidity/mortality.

Investigating disparities in spatial accessibility to and characteristics of sport facilities: direction, strength, and spatial scale of associations with area income.

We conducted an environmental justice study of the spatial distribution of sport facilities, a major resource for physical activity, in the Paris Region in France. Comprehensive data of the French Census of Sport Facilities allowed us to investigate disparities not only in the spatial accessibility to facilities, but also in the characteristics of these facilities. We found that the associations between area income and the presence of facilities or favorable characteristics of these facilities varied from positive to negative depending on the facilities and on the characteristics examined. Sensitivity analyses defining area income in circular areas of different radii permitted a refined identification of areas underserved in sport facilities.

Neighborhood effects on health: correcting bias from neighborhood effects on participation.

BACKGROUND: Studies of neighborhood effects on health that are based on cohort data are subject to bias induced by neighborhood-related selective study participation. METHODS: We used data from the RECORD Cohort Study (REsidential Environment and CORonary heart Disease) carried out in the Paris metropolitan area, France (n = 7233). We performed separate and joint modeling of neighborhood determinants of study participation and type-2 diabetes. We sought to identify selective participation related to neighborhood, and account for any biasing effect on the associations with diabetes. RESULTS: After controlling for individual characteristics, study participation was higher for people residing close to the health centers and in neighborhoods with high income, high property values, high proportion of the population looking for work, and low built surface and low building height (contextual effects adjusted for each other). After individual-level adjustment, the prevalence of diabetes was elevated in neighborhoods with the lowest levels of educational attainment (prevalence odds ratio = 1.56 [95% credible interval = 1.06-2.31]). Neighborhood effects on participation did not bias the association between neighborhood education and diabetes. However, residual geographic variations in participation weakly biased the neighborhood education-diabetes association. Bias correction through the joint modeling of neighborhood determinants of participation and diabetes resulted in an 18% decrease in the log prevalence odds ratio for low versus high neighborhood education. CONCLUSIONS: Researchers should develop a comprehensive, theory-based model of neighborhood determinants of participation in their study, investigate resulting biases for the environment-health associations, and check that unexplained geographic variations in participation do not bias these environment-health relationships.