BACKGROUND The majority of one billion smokers worldwide live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and the highest proportion of smokers in most of these countries belong to the lower socioeconomic groups. This study aimed to investigate the associations between tobacco use within households and expenditures on food, education, and healthcare in LMICs. METHODS Using data from the World...

Background A systematic review was undertaken to identify regulatory mechanisms aimed at mitigating health care worker absenteeism, to describe where and how they have been implemented as well as their possible effects. The goal was to propose potential policy options for managing the problem of absenteeism among human resources for health in low- and middle-income countries. Mechanisms describ...

BACKGROUND Low and middle income countries (LMICs) are facing an increase of the impact of mental health problems while confronted with limited resources and limited access to mental health care, known as the 'mental health gap'. One strategy to reduce the mental health gap would be to utilize the internet to provide more widely-distributed and low cost mental health care. We undertook this sys...

Double burden of diseases in low– and middle–income countries (LMICs) is well recognised. However, proper understanding of the need for a joint intervention against both infectious diseases and non–communicable diseases (NCD) has arisen only recently [1]. In 2008, the proportion of premature deaths due to NCD in population under 60 years of age in low–income countries was 41%, in lower middle-i...

BACKGROUND Reuse of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) may help address the unmet need among patients in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). METHODS To examine Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) physicians' opinions regarding CIED reuse, an online survey eliciting attitudes toward CIED reuse was sent to all 3,380 HRS physician members. RESULTS There were 429 responses (response ra...

The unequal distribution of neurosurgical resources and diseases in the world contributes to inequality. Eight in ten neurosurgical cases needing essential neurosurgical care are found in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); however, LMICs lack the neurosurgical resources to address these needs. Besides, where neurosurgical care is available, it is not financially accessible to the majorit...

Urbanization is expected to increase in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), and might contribute to the increased disease burden. The association between urbanization and CKD is incompletely understood among LMICs. Recently, Inoue et al., explored the association of urbanization on renal function from the China Health and Nutrition Survey. The study found that individuals living in an urba...

BACKGROUND There are concerns about growing barriers to cancer research. We explored the characteristics of and barriers to global clinical cancer research. METHODS The American Society of Clinical Oncology International Affairs Committee invited 300 selected oncologists with research experience from 25 countries to complete a Web-based survey. Fisher's exact test was used to compare answers ...