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Wagner C, Carmeli C, Jackisch J, Kivimäki M, van der Linden BWA, Cullati S, Chiolero A. Life course epidemiology and public health. Lancet Public Health 2024; 9:e261-e269. [PMID: 38553145 DOI: 10.1016/s2468-2667(24)00018-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Revised: 01/18/2024] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024]
Abstract
Life course epidemiology aims to study the effect of exposures on health outcomes across the life course from a social, behavioural, and biological perspective. In this Review, we describe how life course epidemiology changes the way the causes of chronic diseases are understood, with the example of hypertension, breast cancer, and dementia, and how it guides prevention strategies. Life course epidemiology uses complex methods for the analysis of longitudinal, ideally population-based, observational data and takes advantage of new approaches for causal inference. It informs primordial prevention, the prevention of exposure to risk factors, from an eco-social and life course perspective in which health and disease are conceived as the results of complex interactions between biological endowment, health behaviours, social networks, family influences, and socioeconomic conditions across the life course. More broadly, life course epidemiology guides population-based and high-risk prevention strategies for chronic diseases from the prenatal period to old age, contributing to evidence-based and data-informed public health actions. In this Review, we assess the contribution of life course epidemiology to public health and reflect on current and future challenges for this field and its integration into policy making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cornelia Wagner
- Population Health Laboratory (#PopHealthLab), University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Cristian Carmeli
- Population Health Laboratory (#PopHealthLab), University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Josephine Jackisch
- Population Health Laboratory (#PopHealthLab), University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland; Department of Public Health Sciences, Centre for Health Equity Studies, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Mika Kivimäki
- UCL Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK; Clinicum, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | | | - Stéphane Cullati
- Population Health Laboratory (#PopHealthLab), University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Arnaud Chiolero
- Population Health Laboratory (#PopHealthLab), University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland; Institute of Primary Health Care (BIHAM), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; School of Population and Global Health, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
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Ochoa LB, Been JV. Use of natural experiments to evaluate public health policy. Lancet Public Health 2023; 8:e164-e165. [PMID: 36841554 DOI: 10.1016/s2468-2667(23)00024-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2023] [Accepted: 01/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Lizbeth Burgos Ochoa
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Erasmus MC Sophia Children's Hospital, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Jasper V Been
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Erasmus MC Sophia Children's Hospital, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands; Division of Neonatology, Department of Paediatrics, Erasmus MC Sophia Children's Hospital, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands; Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
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