Measuring Health
The health of individuals varies according to socio-economic characteristics reflecting, at least in part, different exposures to factors that influence health.
Since populations comprise groups of individuals, and these groups tend not to be random, e.g. groups defined by geography or on the basis of occupation, there are differences between the health of different populations. As an example, the health of the Scottish population is poorer than that of the UK population as a whole. Understanding such health inequalities plays an important part in improving the health of the population.
Core funded by the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health Directorates, the principal focus of the programme is on the health of the Scottish population. The programme seeks to improve the methods used to measure population health and its determinants.
More specifically, the aims of the programme are:
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to improve our understanding of the health of the Scottish population, and of the inequalities in health between particular subgroups
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to consider the importance of different contexts, e.g. school, workplace, area of residence, at different stages in life on subsequent adult health
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to ensure that the statistical methods needed to address complex public health research problems are developed and disseminated
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to evaluate the effects of Sure Start Local Programmes, an area-based intervention for young children and their families.
The programme has a number of specific projects that capitalise on our expertise with the analysis of routinely collected data, such as death records, Census records and hospital discharge records or cancer registrations, and existing survey data. We also benefit from our location in Scotland which offers access to linked hospital and mortality records covering over 25 years.
The Measuring Health team
Publications
Brown D, Benzeval M, Gayle V, Macintyre S, O'Reilly D, Leyland AH. Childhood residential mobility and health in late adolescence and adulthood: Findings from the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study [Epub ahead of print]. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 2012.
pubmedBrown D, O'Reilly D, Gayle V, Macintyre S, Benzeval M, Leyland AH. Socio-demographic and health characteristics of individuals left behind in deprived and declining areas in Scotland. Health & Place 2012;18:440-444.
pubmedGray L, Merlo J, Mindell J, Hallqvist J, Tafforeau J, O'Reilly D, Regidor E, Næss Ø, Kelleher C, Helakorpi S, Lange C, Leyland AH. International differences in self-reported health measures in 33 major metropolitan areas in Europe. European Journal of Public Health 2012;22:40-7.
pubmed open accessMok PL, Kapur N, Windfhur K, Leyland AH, Appleby L, Platt S, Webb RT. Diverging trends in national suicide rates for Scotland and England & Wales, 1960-2008 [Epub ahead of print]. British Journal of Psychiatry 2012.
Benzeval MJ, Green MJ, Leyland AH. Do social inequalities in health widen or converge with age? Longitudinal evidence from three cohorts in the West of Scotland. BMC Public Health 2011;11:947.
pubmed open accessFairley L, Dundas R, Leyland AH. The influence of both individual and area based socioeconomic status on temporal trends in Caesarean sections in Scotland 1980-2000. BMC Public Health 2011; 11:330.
pubmed open accessGray L, Leyland AH. Chapter 5: Fruit and vegetable consumption. In: Bromley C, Bradshaw P, Given L, eds. The Scottish Health Survey 2010 Volume 1: Main report. Edinburgh: The Scottish Government Health Directorate, 2011.
open accessGray L, Leyland AH. Chapter 7: Adult and child obesity. In: Bromley C, Given L, eds. The Scottish Health Survey 2010 Volume 1: Main report. Edinburgh: The Scottish Government Health Directorate, 2011.
open accessGray L, Leyland AH. Chapter 8: Respiratory health and lung function. In: Bromley C, Given L, eds. The Scottish Health Survey 2010 Volume 1: Main report. Edinburgh, 2011.
open accessHotchkiss J, Davies C, Gray L, Bromley C, Capewell S, Leyland AH. Trends in adult cardiovascular disease risk factors and their socioeconomic patterning in the Scottish population 1995 to 2008: Cross-sectional Surveys. BMJ Open 2011:doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2011-000176.
open accessHotchkiss J, Leyland AH. The relationship between body size and mortality in the linked Scottish Health Surveys: Cross-sectional surveys with follow-up. International Journal of Obesity 2011; 35:838-51.
pubmed open accessLevin KA, Torsheim T, Volleberg W, Richter M, Davies CA, Schnohr CW, Due P, Currie C. National income and income inequality, family affluence and life satisfaction among 13 year old boys and girls: A multilevel study in 35 countries. Social Indicators Research 2011; 104:179-94.
open accessMcCartney G, Mahmood L, Leyland AH, Batty GD, Hunt KM. Contribution of smoking- and alcohol-related deaths to the gender gap in mortality: evidence from 30 European countries. Tobacco Control 2011; 20:166-8.
pubmed open accessPopham F, Boyle P, O'Reilly D, Leyland AH. Selective internal migration. Does it explain Glasgow's worsening mortality record? Health & Place 2011; 17:1212-17.
pubmedBrown D, Leyland AH. Scottish mortality rates 2000-2002 by deprivation and small area population mobility. Social Science & Medicine 2010; 71:1951-7.
pubmed open accessDavies CA, Leyland AH. Trends and inequalities in short-term acute myocardial infarction case fatality in Scotland, 1988-2004. Population Health Metrics 2010; 8:33.
pubmed open accessDundas R, Leyland AH. The social patterning of deaths due to assault in Scotland, 1980-2005: a population based study. AQMeN Applied Quantitative Methods Newsletter, 2010:(Issue 3, September).
open accessFransson C, Tomasi C, Leyland AH, Wennström J, Berglundh T. Severity and pattern of peri-implantitis-associated bone loss. Journal of Clinical Periodontology 2010; 37:442-8.
pubmedGray L, Batty GD, Craig P, Stewart C, Whyte B, Findlayson B, Leyland AH. Cohort Profile: The Scottish Health Surveys Cohort: linkage of study participants to routinely collected records for mortality, hospital discharge, cancer and offspring birth characteristics in three nationwide studies. International Journal of Epidemiology 2010; 39:345-50.
Gray L, Hart CL, Davey Smith G, Batty GD. What is the predictive value of established risk factors for total and cardiovascular disease mortality when measured before middle-age? pooled analyses of two prospective cohort studies from Scotland. European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation 2010; 17:106-12.
Gray L, Leyland AH. Chapter 5: Diet. In: Bromley C, Given L, Ormston R, eds. The Scottish Health Survey 2009 Volume 1: Main Report. Edinburgh: The Scottish Government Health Directorate, 2010.
open accessGray L, Leyland AH. Chapter 7: Adult obesity. In: Bromley C, Given L, Ormston R, eds. The Scottish Health Survey 2009 Volume 1: Main Report. Edinburgh: The Scottish Government Health Directorate, 2010.
open accessJackson A, Davies CA, Leyland AH. Do differences in the administrative structure of populations confound comparisons of geographic health inequalities? BMC Medical Research Methodology 2010; 10:74.
pubmed open accessLevin KA, Davies CA, Douglas G, Pitts NB. Urban-rural differences in dental caries of 5-year old children in Scotland. Social Science & Medicine 2010; 71:2020-7.
pubmedLeyland AH, Dundas R. The social patterning of deaths due to assault in Scotland, 1980-2005: population based study. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 2010; 64:432-9.
pubmed open accessLeyland AH, Næss Ø. Analysing the effect of area of residence over the life course in multilevel epidemiology. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 2010; 38:119-26.
pubmedLeyland AH. Methodological challenges in the evaluation of community interventions. European Journal of Public Health 2010; 20:242-3.
pubmedLeyland AH. No quick fix: understanding the difference between fixed and random effect models. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 2010; 64:1027-8.
pubmedPopham F, Boyle P, O'Reilly D, Leyland AH. Exploring the impact of selective migration on the deprivation-mortality gap within Greater Glasgow. February 2010. Glasgow: Glasgow Centre for Population Health, 2010.
Stewart CH. Multilevel modeling of event history data: comparing methods appropriate for large datasets [PhD]. Glasgow: Dept of Statistics, University of Glasgow and MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, 2010.
open accessTarkiainen L, Martikainen P, Laaksonen M, Leyland AH. Comparing the effects of neighbourhood characteristics on all-cause mortality using two hierarchical areal units in the capital region of Helsinki. Health & Place 2010;16:409-12.
pubmedThe National Evaluation of Sure Start (NESS) Research Team (including Leyland A.H.). The impact of Sure Start Local Programmes on five year olds and their families. London: Department of Families and Education, 2010.
open accessBatty GD, Shipley M, Macintyre S, Der G, Mortensen L, Dundas R, Deary IJ. Does IQ explain the socioeconomic gradient in mortality? Comparison with the explanatory power of classic risk factors in the Vietnam Experience Study. European Heart Journal 2009; 30:1903-9.
Bond L, Leyland AH, Macintyre S, Wight D. Evaluation of a youth development programme demonstrates the need for the randomised roll-out of community interventions (rapid response). British Medical Journal 2009:July 16th.
Brown D, Leyland AH. Population mobility, deprivation and self-reported limiting long-term illness in small areas across Scotland. Health & Place 2009; 15:37-44.
Davies CA, Dundas R, Leyland AH. Increasing socioeconomic inequalities in first acute myocardial infarction in Scotland, 1990-92 and 2000-2. BMC Public Health 2009; 9:134.
Gray L, Leyland AH. A multilevel analysis of diet and socio-economic status in Scotland: investigating the Glasgow effect. Public Health Nutrition 2009; 12:1351-8.
Gray L, Leyland AH. Chapter 4: Smoking. In: Bromley C, Bradshaw P, Given L, eds. The Scottish Health Survey 2008; Volume 1: Main report. Edinburgh: The Scottish Government Health Directorate, 2009.
Gray L, Leyland AH. Chapter 7: Obesity. In: Bromley C, Bradshaw P, Given L, eds. The Scottish Health Survey 2008; Volume 1: Main report. Edinburgh: The Scottish Government Health Directorate, 2009.
Gray L, Leyland AH. Is the "Glasgow effect" of cigarette smoking explained by socio-economic status?: a multilevel analysis. BMC Public Health 2009; 9:245.
Levin KA, Davies CA, Topping GVA, Assaf AV, Pitts NB. Inequalities in dental caries of 5-year old children in Scotland, 1993-2003. European Journal of Public Health 2009; 19:337-42.
Leyland AH, Lynch JW. Why has mortality from coronary heart disease in young adults levelled off? British Medical Journal 2009; 339:b5215.
pubmed open accessLeyland AH, Næss Ø. The effect of area of residence over the life course on subsequent mortality. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A 2009; 172:555-78.
open accessManderbacka K, Arffman M, Leyland AH, McCallum A, Keskimäki I. Change and persistence in health care inequalities: access to elective surgery in Finland in 1992-2003. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 2009; 37:131-8.
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Bloor M, Gannon M, Hay G, Jackson G, Leyland AH, McKeganey N. Contribution of problem drug users' deaths to excess mortality in Scotland: secondary analysis of cohort study. British Medical Journal 2008; 337:a478-.
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Gray L, Leyland AH. Overweight status and psychological wellbeing in adolescent boys and girls: a multilevel analysis. European Journal of Public Health 2008; 18:616-21.
Gray L. Comparisons of health-related behaviours and health measures in Greater Glasgow with other regional areas in Europe. Glasgow: The Glasgow Centre for Population Health, 2008.
open accessLumme S, Leyland AH, Keskimäki I. Multilevel modeling of regional variation in equity in health care. Medical Care 2008; 46:976-83.
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Melhuish E, Belsky J, Leyland AH, Barnes J, the National Evaluation of Sure Start Research Team. Effects of fully-established Sure Start Local Programmes on 3 year old children and their families living in England: a quazi-experimental observational study. Lancet 2008; 372:1641-47.
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Næss Ø, Davey Smith G, Claussen B, Leyland AH. Life course influence of residential area on cause specific mortality. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 2008; 62:29-34.
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The National Evaluation of Sure Start (NESS) Research Team (including Leyland AH). The impact of Sure Start Local Programmes on three year olds and their families. London: Institute for the Study of Children, Families and Social Issues, Birkbeck, University of London, NESS/2008/FR/027, 2008.
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Gray L. Comparisons of health-related behaviours and health measures between Glasgow and the rest of Scotland. Glasgow: Glasgow Centre for Population Health, 2007.
open accessLeyland A, Dundas R, McLoone P, Boddy FA. Cause-specific inequalities in mortality in Scotland: two decades of change. A population-based study.
BMC Public Health 2007; 7:172.
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Leyland AH, Dundas R, McLoone P, Boddy FA. Inequalities in mortality in Scotland 1981-2001. Glasgow: MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, Occasional Paper 16, 2007
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Leyland AH, Næss Ø. Multilevel modelling of the longitudinal influence of neighbourhoods on health (e-letter). Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health Online 2007:18 January.
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Manda SOM, Leyland AH. An empirical comparison of maximum likelihood and Bayesian estimation methods for multivariate disease mapping. South African Statistical Journal 2007; 41:1-21.
Melhuish E, Belsky J, Anning A, Ball M, Barnes J, Romaniuk H, Leyland AH, NESS Research Team. Variation in community intervention programmes and consequences for children and families: the example of Sure Start Local Programmes. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 2007; 48:543-51.
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Næss Ø, Piro FN, Nafstad P, Davey Smith G, Leyland AH. Air pollution, social deprivation and mortality. A multilevel cohort study of 468 small neighborhoods in Oslo, Norway. Epidemiology 2007; 18:686-694.
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Tomasi C, Leyland AH, Wennstrom JL. Factors influencing the outcome of non-surgical periodontal treatment: a multilevel approach. Journal of Clinical Periodontology 2007; 34:682-690.
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Gravelle H, Sutton M, Morris S, Windmeijer F, Leyland AH, Dibben C, Muirhead M. A model of supply and demand influences on the use of health care: implications for deriving a "needs-based" capitation formula. Health Economics 2003; 12:985-1004.
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