[Sociodemographic aspects are associated with breast cancer screening behaviour of female patients: results of a cross-sectional survey]. / Soziodemografische Aspekte stehen im Zusammenhang mit dem Brustkrebsscreeningverhalten von Patientinnen: Ergebnisse einer Querschnittsuntersuchung.

In Austria, opportunistic mammography screening for detection of early-stages breast cancer is offered for women older than 40 years. In spite of public discussions on the effectiveness of mammography screening, evidence-based educative information material for female patients available online and in print is lacking. The present study describes the influence of the 3 sociodemographic characteristics migration background, education, and age on the individual's breast cancer screening behaviour as well as on the usage of various information sources on breast cancer for patients. In total, 333 outpatients of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, General Hospital, Vienna, Austria, participated in a monocentric cross-sectional study. Regarding breast cancer screening, 93.4% (n=282) of the female patients had at least one previous mammogram. Furthermore, 86.3% of the participants regularly consulted their gynaecologist, while women with migration background reported less frequent (p=0.02), and well-educated as well as older patients reported more frequent (p<0.02) gynaecological consultations. Higher-educated women (p=0.04) and participants aged between 50 and 69 years (p<0.05) felt better informed on breast cancer-related topics, whereas a migration background was not associated with the perceived level of information. Medical doctors (67.9%) as well as pertinent folders (33%) were the most relevant information sources on breast cancer. Mass media (22.8%) were also a relevant information source on this issue, whereas the Internet (10.5%) was quite rarely referred to for this purpose. The results of the present study show that female patients perceived the medical doctor as the most important source of medical information on breast cancer. The public health-care system could facilitate positive health communication in the doctors/patient relationship by providing homogenous, quality assured educative information material.

Assessing the public health impacts of urban air pollution in 25 European cities: results of the Aphekom project.

INTRODUCTION: The Aphekom project aimed to provide new, clear, and meaningful information on the health effects of air pollution in Europe. Among others, it assessed the health and monetary benefits of reducing short and long-term exposure to particulate matter (PM) and ozone in 25 European cities. METHOD: Health impact assessments were performed using routine health and air quality data, and a common methodology. Two scenarios were considered: a decrease of the air pollutant levels by a fixed amount and a decrease to the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines. Results were economically valued by using a willingness to pay approach for mortality and a cost of illness approach for morbidity. RESULTS: In the 25 cities, the largest health burden was attributable to the impacts of chronic exposure to PM2.5. Complying with the WHO guideline of 10 µg/m(3) in annual mean would add up to 22 months of life expectancy at age 30, depending on the city, corresponding to a total of 19,000 deaths delayed. The associated monetary gain would total some €31 billion annually, including savings on health expenditures, absenteeism and intangible costs such as well-being, life expectancy and quality of life. CONCLUSION: European citizens are still exposed to concentrations exceeding the WHO recommendations. Aphekom provided robust estimates confirming that reducing urban air pollution would result in significant health and monetary gains in Europe. This work is particularly relevant now when the current EU legislation is being revised for an update in 2013.