
Robby De PauwVeterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre · Lifestyle and chronic diseases
Robby De Pauw
MSc, PT, MT, PhD
I am currently working on: Burden of disease | NCDs | Musculoskeletal pain | Epidemiological models | R fanatic
About
137
Publications
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Introduction
Robby De Pauw is a researcher at Sciensano and a post-doctoral researcher at Ghent University. His research interests include chronic pain, musculoskeletal pain, health statistics and epidemiology.
Additional affiliations
May 2021 - present
October 2020 - present
August 2020 - May 2021
Education
September 2015 - June 2018
October 2013 - October 2019
September 2013 - July 2014
Publications
Publications (137)
Background
The transition from traditional office work to telework has accelerated significantly since the late 20th century, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite its widespread adoption, the long-term health impacts of telework remain unclear. This study seeks to clarify the telework–health relationship by integrating longitudinal...
Background/Objectives: White matter (WM) structural changes have been found in patients with chronic spinal pain (CSP). In these patients, pain neuroscience education followed by cognition-targeted exercise therapy (i.e., the Modern Pain Neuroscience Approach (MPNA)) was shown to be more effective than biomedically-focused education followed by sym...
Background and methods
High body mass index (BMI) is a major risk factor for several non-communicable diseases. The increasing concern about the health and economic burden of BMI makes it essential for countries to track their progress on major modifiable risk exposures. The aim of the study is to estimate the burden attributable to high BMI in Bel...
Background Measuring health-related unmet needs is crucial for identifying innovation gaps and developing targeted strategies to address them. This study focused on measuring the unmet needs of patients with Crohn’s disease in Belgium using a standardised methodology that facilitates comparisons across different diseases. Crohn’s disease is a chron...
Introduction
The NEED (Needs Examination, Evaluation and Dissemination) assessment framework aims to identify patient and societal unmet needs in various diseases, highlighting gaps for intervention. This approach is exemplified through a malignant melanoma case study, ranking sixth in European cancers. Therapeutic progress has been made over the l...
Introduction: The prevalence of excess weight in Scotland is higher than other UK nations and amongst the highest when compared with European Union countries. The aim of our study was to use historic data to identify and integrate age-period-cohort (APC) effects into projected estimates of the prevalence of excess weight in Scotland.
Methods: Int...
Introduction
As there is no standard definition of unmet patient or societal needs, the Needs Examination, Evaluation, Dissemination (NEED) project defined criteria for assessing these needs. This study describes the creation of an exploitable evidence database on unmet health-related patient and societal needs for various health conditions, and ho...
Introduction
The healthcare ecosystem is predominantly supply-driven, leading to a lack of innovation in financially less-attractive health areas, inefficient use of public resources for healthcare, and unmet patient and societal needs. This study proposes a framework to identify unmet health-related patient and societal needs for different health...
Despite numerous efforts worldwide to reduce the harmful effects of alcohol, its impact on health remains significant, contributing significantly to the loss of healthy life years. In Belgium, alcohol use is still a major public health concern, ranking among the highest in alcohol consumption across Europe. This study aims to use available national...
This study leverages a registry-based microsimulation model to analyze the non-fatal burden of cancer in Belgium from 2004 to 2019, emphasizing the methodology for severity distribution. Utilizing incidence- and prevalence-based approaches, we estimated Years Lived with Disability (YLD) through detailed national cancer registry data coupled with ta...
Tobacco use remains a challenge given its substantial role in contributing to disability and premature death globally. Understanding its impact on population health, as an attributable burden, can help monitor progress on the effectiveness of tobacco policies. In this study, we used the Comparative Risk Assessment (CRA) method to estimate the share...
The NEED (Needs Examination, Evaluation and Dissemination) assessment framework was developed to identify and measure health-related patient and societal unmet needs across different health conditions, supporting the creation of needs-driven healthcare policy and innovation. It includes 25 criteria of needs and 46 related indicators allowing to est...
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) comprises digestive disorders resulting from non-infectious inflammation of the colon and gastrointestinal tract. With its global prevalence on the rise, IBD poses significant challenges to healthcare systems. There is a need for more accurate disease burden estimates to guide decision-making processes within the he...
Background
During the COVID-19 crisis, data linkages were set up to efficiently monitor the outbreak and identify vulnerable population groups. Yet, considerable technical, administrative and data security issues have hindered the effectiveness of data linkages as a critical instrument during public health emergencies. This workshop aims to provide...
Valorization and interpretation of health data are contingent upon a robust analytical framework. This framework encompasses essential processes such as data cleaning, validation, and the critical evaluation of bias and missing data. A nuanced understanding of these factors is crucial for contextualizing data through stratification, developing comp...
Background
Mental illnesses (MI) constitute a growing public health problem, with reports of a higher prevalence among middle-aged adults (age effect), during specific periods such as economic crisis (period effect) and in recent birth cohorts (cohort effect). However, few studies have assessed whether these age-period-cohort (APC) effects were rel...
One of the returning challenges faced by public health scientists is bridging the ‘evidence-policy gap’-the disparity between identifying public health issues and implementing policies to address them. Despite the extensive literature documenting the challenges of promoting evidence-informed policymaking, opportunities for researchers to exchange e...
Psoriasis is a common, chronic, inflammatory skin disease with a great impact on healthcare systems. Given the limitations of the currently available burden estimates, estimates of the Belgian national burden of disease study are necessary in order to guide decision-making processes within the health sector. According to the Global Psoriasis Atlas,...
The Belgian national burden of disease study (BeBOD) was launched in 2022, and currently provides disease burden estimates for 38 key diseases. The calculation of the non-fatal component of the disease burden, the Years Lived with Disability (YLD), follows a stepwise approach that aims to establish priority outcomes; quantify prevalence “best estim...
Background
Teleworking gained ground in most workplaces, but questions remain about its impact on mental health. This research used data from the BELHEALTH cohort, a Belgian longitudinal wellbeing study, to investigate the relationship between the extent of telework and three mental health outcomes: anxiety, depression, and burnout.
Methods
In Jun...
Two people living with the same disease can have very different experiences; one has little consequence, whilst the other struggles with much more debilitating consequences that impacts how they live their lives day-to-day. A growing body of research highlights the need for better estimates of disease severity to facilitate better estimation of the...
One of the main purposes of public health institute is to tracking the health status of its citizens and understanding its evolution over time. Given the absence of a singular, comprehensive data source, we developed a framework to select databases specific to each disease and outcome of interest. This process includes a thorough evaluation of the...
The large volume of data generated by health information systems often remains siloed within the institutions that produce it, posing significant challenges to its reuse and interpretation. This fragmentation can result in conflicting information on critical health topics, complicating the decision-making process for policymakers. To address this i...
Introduction
Hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD) and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) are often accompanied by varied and complex multisystemic comorbid symptoms/conditions. The Spider questionnaire was developed to evaluate the presence and impact of eight common multisystemic comorbidities. Thirty-one questions across eight symptom do...
Background
Childhood overweight, especially obesity, significantly impacts children’s health and poses an increased risk of adult-onset diseases. This study aims to analyse the evolution of childhood overweight and obesity in Belgium from 1997 to 2018 and assess its variation across parental socioeconomic status (SES).
Methods
The Health Interview...
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288777.].
Background
Hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD) and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) are often accompanied by varied and complex multisystemic symptoms. Whilst the multisystemic nature of these conditions can have a significant impact on daily life, they are often neglected during diagnosis and treatment. The Spider, a 31-point questionn...
Purpose
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, most research has focused on the management of the acute symptoms of the disease. Yet some people tend to experience symptoms beyond the acute phase, defined as Post-COVID-19 Condition (PCC). This study aims to assess the impact of COVID-19 and PCC on anxiety and depression.
Methods
This is a prosp...
Background
Childhood overweight, especially obesity, significantly impacts children’s health and poses an increased risk of adult-onset diseases. This study aims to analyse the evolution of childhood overweight and obesity in Belgium from 1997 to 2018 and assess its variation across parental socioeconomic status (SES).
Methods
The Health Interview...
Background
Recent studies have identified important social inequalities in SARS-CoV-2 infections and related COVID-19 outcomes in the Belgian population. The aim of our study was to investigate the sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics associated with the uptake of COVID-19 vaccine in Belgium.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional an...
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288777.].
Title of the poster : 'General practitioners' use of physical activity on prescription (PAP): the case of Belgium'.
Related abstract was published in Oct 2023, the European Journal of Public Health 33(Supplement_2). DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckad160.1406
Background
While many studies on the determinants of post-COVID-19 conditions (PCC) have been conducted, little is known about the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 variants and PCC. This study aimed to assess the association between different SARS-CoV-2 variants and the probability of having PCC three months after the infection.
Methods
This study...
Introduction
Cancer causes a substantial burden to our society, both from a health and an economic perspective. To improve cancer patient outcomes and lower society expenses, early diagnosis and timely treatment are essential. The recent COVID-19 crisis has disrupted the care trajectory of cancer patients, which may affect their prognosis in a pote...
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are responsible for a significant proportion of global morbidity and mortality, placing a substantial burden on individuals, communities, and healthcare systems. To effectively plan and allocate resources for prevention and treatment, it is crucial to understand the future burden of NCDs. Projections of prevalence o...
Background
Medical registries frequently underestimate the prevalence of health problems compared with surveys. This study aimed to determine the registry variables that can serve as a proxy for variables studied in a mental health survey.
Methods
Prevalences of depressive symptoms and antidepressant use from the 2018 Belgian Health Interview Surv...
Background
Tobacco use in Belgium remains a key public health concern with an estimated 15% of adults reporting daily tobacco use in 2018. In 2022, the Belgian government launched the “Interfederal Strategy 2022-2028 for a Smoke-free Generation.” The strategy outlines a number of targets for reducing daily tobacco use among adults 15+ years and you...
Injuries are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Europe, and not only place a huge burden on individuals and health care services but on society as a whole. However, estimates on the burden of disease expressed as disability adjusted life years (DALY) are only available in some countries. Other countries don’t have the required data or re...
Background
Evidence suggests that people from lower socioeconomic status are at higher risk of infectious disease impact, owed to virus exposure, susceptibility and incomplete or delayed vaccination. However, It is unknown whether COVID-19 incidence disparities is due to social inequalities or social vaccination inequalities. The aim of this resear...
Background
Physical activity (PA) reduces 19.5% of the attributable burden of chronic diseases (CDs), i.e. healthy life years lost due to morbidity and mortality. In addition, 29.5% of Belgians self-declared having at least one chronic disease. Moreover, almost 30% of the population above 15 years old is at health risk due to physical inactivity. E...
Issue
In the last years, Belgian policy makers have become increasingly concerned about health problems affecting only women (e.g. endometriosis) or affecting women in different ways than men (e.g. cardiovascular diseases). The current monitoring tools on the health status in Belgium routinely present information disaggregated by sex. Nevertheless,...
By being the leading risk factor for most of the leading causes of death worldwide, tobacco use represents an important public health issue that causes a significant health and economic burden. Despite policy regulations, the prevalence of the use remains substantial in many countries, such as Belgium. A comprehensive framework for the quantificati...
Introduction
Tobacco use is one of largest contributors to preventable disease burden in the world. In Belgium, tobacco use is a public health concern and prominent on the policy agenda. To monitor tobacco use and understand the impact on associated outcomes, we estimated the population attributable fraction (PAF) to tobacco use in Belgium and used...
Objectives:
The incidence of falling in older adults has remained unchanged over the past decades, despite evidence-based prevention initiatives. Therefore, it is appropriate to reflect on the current screening approach for preventive initiatives. The objective of this study was to determine whether the multifactorial algorithm proposed by Lusardi...
Objectives
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, most research has focused on its acute pathophysiology, yet some people tend to experience persisting symptoms beyond the acute phase of infection, referred to as post COVID-19 condition (PCC). However, evidence on PCC is still scarce. This study aimed to assess the distribution, classification o...
Background
Burden of disease estimates have become important population health metrics over the past decade to measure losses in health. In Belgium, the disease burden caused by COVID-19 has not yet been estimated, although COVID-19 has emerged as one of the most important diseases. Therefore, the current study aims to estimate the direct COVID-19...
Introduction
Information on years of life lost (YLL) due to premature mortality is instrumental to assess the fatal impact of disease and necessary for the calculation of Belgian disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). This study presents a novel method to reallocate causes of death data.
Materials and methods
Causes of death data are provided by...
Chronic subjective tinnitus is a prevalent symptom, which has many similarities with chronic pain. Central sensitization is considered as a possible underlying mechanism of both symptoms. Central sensitization has already been investigated in chronic pain populations but not in patients with chronic subjective tinnitus. Therefore, the main objectiv...
Purpose of Review
To review the upstream determinants of overweight and obesity in Europe, including food and built environments, and political, commercial, and socioeconomic determinants.
Recent Findings
Overweight and obesity affect 60% of European adults, and one in three children, and are more common in individuals with low compared to high so...
Background
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, most research has focused on the acute phase of COVID-19, yet some people experience symptoms beyond, referred to as post COVID-19 conditions (PCC). However, evidence on PCC and its impacts on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is still scarce. This study aimed to assess the impact of COVID-1...
Introduction
Engaging in meaningful activities contributes to health and well-being. Therefore, it is important to measure this with reliable and valid evaluation tools. The Engagement in Meaningful Activities Survey (EMAS-VL) has been cross-culturally validated in Flemish and the psychometric properties determined.
Method
The adaptation process f...
Introduction
Meaningful activities contribute to wellbeing, health, and quality of life. Understanding the brain mechanisms that underlie the attribution of meaning to activities is crucial for further comprehension of human functioning and health.
Method
An explorative electroencephalographic study including thirteen females. A visual paradigm wit...
Objectives:
Within the framework of the burden of disease (BoD) approach, disease and injury burden estimates attributable to risk factors are a useful guide for policy formulation and priority setting in disease prevention. Considering the important differences in methods, and their impact on burden estimates, we conducted a scoping literature re...
Bats can be affected by fungal pathogens such as Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the causative agent of the white-nose syndrome. Their body surface can also be colonized by fungal commensals or carry transient fungal species and participate in their dispersal. In this study, 114 bat specimens belonging to seven species were sampled from various locat...
Objectives: To describe and assess the risk of bias of the primary input studies that underpinned the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2019 modelled prevalence estimates of low back pain (LBP), neck pain (NP), and knee osteoarthritis (OA), from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Spain, and Switzerland. To evaluate the certainty of the GBD modelled prev...
Introduction
Data linkage systems have proven to be a powerful tool in support of combating and managing the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the interoperability and the reuse of different data sources may pose a number of technical, administrative and data security challenges.
Methods and analysis
This protocol aims to provide a case study for linkin...
Introduction
Information on years of life lost (YLL) due to premature mortality is instrumental to assess the fatal impact of disease and necessary for the calculation of Belgian disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). This study presents a novel method to reallocate causes of death data.
Materials and methods
Causes of death data are provided by S...
Título: Contribución de la participación en actividades significativas sobre la salud mental en población española durante el confinamiento por CO-VID-19. Resumen: Introducción: Durante el confinamiento provocado por el CO-VID-19 en España, los ciudadanos tuvieron que dejar de realizar activida-des de forma habitual, lo cual podría haber tenido un...
Introduction
Engaging in meaningful activities contributes to health and wellbeing. Research identifies meaningfulness by analysing retrospective and subjective data such as personal experiences in activities. Objectively measuring meaningful activities by registering the brain (fNIRS, EEG, PET, fMRI) remains poorly investigated.
Methods
A systema...
Introduction
Low back pain (LBP), neck pain (NKP), osteoarthritis (OST) and rheumatoid arthritis (RHE) are among the musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders causing the greatest disability in terms of Years Lived with Disability. The current study aims to analyze the health and economic impact of these MSK disorders in Belgium, providing a summary of morbi...
Background: While many studies on the determinants of post-COVID-19 conditions (PCC) have been conducted, little is known about the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 variants and PCC. This study aimed to assess the association between different SARS-CoV-2 variants and the probability of having PCC three months after the infection. Methods: This study...
Background
Recent studies have identified important social inequalities in SARS-CoV-2 infection and related COVID-19 outcomes in the Belgian population. The aim of our study was to investigate the sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics associated with the uptake of COVID-19 vaccine in Belgium.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional ana...
Background
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, most research has focused on the pathophysiology and management of the acute symptoms of COVID-19, yet some people tend to experience symptoms beyond the acute phase of infection, that is, Post COVID-19 condition (PCC). However, evidence on the long-term health impacts of a COVID-19 infection are...
Background
According to WHO, approximately one in three people worldwide live with a chronic, painful musculoskeletal (MSK) disorder. Low back pain (LBP), neck pain (NKP), osteoarthritis (OST) and rheumatoid arthritis (RHE) are among the most disabling MSK disorders. According to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, LBP was the leading global...
Information on years of life lost (YLLs) due to premature mortality is necessary to assess the fatal impact of disease, crucial for the calculation of Belgian disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). This study presents a novel method to redistribute cause of death data. Belgian cause of death data are obtained from Statistics Belgium (Statbel). Aft...
Background
Considering the current overweight and obesity epidemic and its associated increase in non-communicable diseases and healthcare costs, the current study aimed to project the trends in prevalence of overweight and obesity in Belgium using a Bayesian age-period-cohort (APC) model to support policy planning.
Methods
Height and weight of 58...
Measuring the burden of disease due to injury is a similar process compared to the disease burden. However, burden calculations for injuries impose an extra complexity for the non-fatal burden, as it is important to consider both the ‘cause’ and the ‘nature’ of the injury. Cause of injury (e.g., road injuries, falls, drowning) have historically bee...
Background
Within the European Union, musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders represent the most prevalent and costly work-related health problems affecting about 45 million workers. Since middle-aged people during their formative and peak income-earning years are predominantly affected, MSK disorders are the major contributors to the loss of productive li...
Background
Recent studies have identified important social inequalities in SARS-CoV-2 infection and related COVID-19 outcomes in the Belgian population. This study aims to investigate socioeconomic and -demographic characteristics associated with the uptake of COVID-19 vaccine in Belgium.
Methods
We conducted a retrospective analysis of the uptake...
Background:
In a context of decreasing resources and growing health needs, evidence-based health and care policies are essential. This study aims to assess the health trends in Belgium between 1990 and 2019, to compare the Belgian health status to that of the EU-15 countries, and to identify the main drivers in trends over time and country differe...
Background
In healthy people and people with nonspecific chronic spinal pain (nCSP) and/or insomnia, participation in physical activity on a regular basis has several physical and psychological health benefits. However, people with chronic conditions often tend to reduce physical activity participation which can lead to deconditioning over time. Cu...
Poster session 3, September 23, 2022, 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
Bats can be affected by fungal pathogens such as Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the causative agent of the white-nose syndrome. Their body surface can also be colonized by fungal commensals or carry transient fungal species and participate in their dispersal. The present study aimed to assess...
Introduction
: Low back pain (LBP), neck pain (NKP), osteoarthritis (OST) and rheumatoid arthritis (RHE) are among the most disabling musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders. The current study aims to analyse the health and economic impact of these MSK disorders in Belgium, providing a summary of morbidity and mortality outcomes from 2013 to 2018, as well...
Introduction
Low back pain (LBP), neck pain (NKP), osteoarthritis (OST) and rheumatoid arthritis (RHE) are among the most disabling musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders. The current study aims to analyse the health and economic impact of these MSK disorders in Belgium, providing a summary of morbidity and mortality outcomes from 2013 to 2018, as well as...