Mumm Rebekka, Diaz-Monsalve Sonia, Hänselmann Eva, Freund Johanna, Wirsching Michael, Gärtner Jan, Gminski Richard, Vögtlin Katrin, Körner Mirjam, Zirn Lena, Wittwer-Backofen Ursula, Oni Tolu, Kroeger Axel
a Center for Medicine and Society , University of Freiburg , Freiburg , Germany.
b Faculty of Medicine, Biological Anthropology , University of Freiburg , Freiburg , Germany.
Pathog Glob Health. 2017 Feb;111(1):7-22. doi: 10.1080/20477724.2016.1275463. Epub 2017 Jan 17.
With modern information technology, an overwhelming amount of data is available on different aspects of societies. Our research investigated the feasibility of using secondary data sources to get an overview of determinants of health and health outcomes in different population strata of Cape Town, a large city of South Africa.
The methodological approach of secondary-data analysis was similar in the different disciplines: Biological Anthropology, Public Health, Environmental Health, Mental Health, Palliative Care, Medical Psychology and Sociology at the University of Freiburg and Public Health at the University of Cape Town. The teams collected information on Cape Town through Internet searches and published articles. The information was extracted, analyzed, condensed, and jointly interpreted.
Data show the typical picture of a population in epidemiological and demographic transition exposed to often difficult social, mental, and physical environmental conditions. Comparison between low and higher socioeconomic districts demonstrated that the former had higher air pollution, poorer water quality, and deficient sanitary conditions in addition to sub-optimal mental health services and palliative care.
Although important information gaps were identified, the data draw attention to critical public health interventions required in poor health districts, and to motivate for pro-equity policies.
借助现代信息技术，可获取有关社会各方面的海量数据。我们的研究调查了利用二手数据源来全面了解南非大城市开普敦不同人口阶层的健康决定因素和健康结果的可行性。
在弗莱堡大学的生物人类学、公共卫生、环境卫生、心理健康、姑息治疗、医学心理学和社会学以及开普敦大学的公共卫生等不同学科中，二手数据分析的方法学途径相似。各团队通过互联网搜索和已发表文章收集有关开普敦的信息。对这些信息进行提取、分析、浓缩并共同解读。
数据显示了处于流行病学和人口结构转型期的人群面临往往艰难的社会、心理和自然环境状况的典型图景。低社会经济区与高社会经济区的比较表明，前者除了心理健康服务和姑息治疗欠佳外，空气污染更严重、水质更差且卫生条件不足。
尽管发现了重要的信息空白，但这些数据提请人们关注健康状况较差地区所需的关键公共卫生干预措施，并推动有利于公平的政策。
