Katarina Matthes, PhD
- Deputy Head & Senior Research Assistant
- Anthropometrics & Historical Epidemiology Group
- Phone
- +41 44 635 05 13 (Room Y11 G68)
I have a multidisciplinary background in statistics, (historical) epidemiology, and (historical) demography, with a focus on historical demography and epidemiology.
One of my researches focus on past pandemics. I study various aspects of pandemics, such as their immediate impact on mortality, morbidity and birth outcomes, and the long-term health and mortality consequences of in-utero exposure.
Another key focus of my research concerns social and demographic inequalities in mortality trends in Switzerland. I am currently the PI of the SNF Project “Socio-demographic inequalities in the causes of death in Switzerland, 1876–2024”. In this project, approximately 240,000 individual, highly detailed death records from 1876 to 1959 from the City of Zurich are being transcribed from the Zurich City Archives for the first time. These data form the basis for analysing mortality across different socio-demographic and socio-economic groups and offer new insights into the historical dimensions of health inequalities and the influence of social structures in Switzerland’s largest city.
Research interests
- Socio-demographic disparities and inequalities in past epidemics/pandemics
- Long-term effects resulting from exposure in-utero or early life to a pandemic
- Disparities and inequalities in mortality and morbidity trends
- Maternal and neonatal health
Ongoing projects
Socio-demographic inequalities in the causes of death in Switzerland 1877-2024 (PI - SNSF COST Project)
EU-HORIZON / SERI Project “PREPSHIELD: Preparedness for Society in Health Crises and Disasters”
EU Cost Action “ The Great Leap. Multidisciplinary approaches to health, 1800-2022” (MC Member Switzerland, Active Member in working group 3)
EU Cost Action “ Maternal Perinatal Stress and Adverse Outcomes in the Offspring: Maximising infants´development (TREASURE)” (Active Member in working group 2)
Population health then and now: Historical epidemiology, body height, excess weight
Closed projects
Online Profiles
Publications
ZORA Publication List
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Publications
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2025
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Association between a mismatch of maternal/neonatal body size and obstetrical interventions in Switzerland in the 1920s: a cross-sectional study Schweizerische Medizinische Wochenschrift, 155(11), 4546. https://doi.org/10.57187/s.4546
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Maternal Influenza-Like Illness and Neonatal Health During the 1918 Influenza Pandemic in a Swiss City Annals of Internal Medicine, online. https://doi.org/10.7326/annals-24-03796
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Fertility dynamics through historical pandemics and COVID-19 in Switzerland, 1871–2022 Population Studies, Epub ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2025.2462291
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Is height loss in adulthood associated with health in later life among the 1946 UK Birth Cohort (NSHD) participants? Aging and Health Research, 5(1):100224.
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2024
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The health and demographic impacts of the “Russian flu” pandemic in Switzerland in 1889/1890 and in the years thereafter Epidemiology and Infection, 152:e174.
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Spatial pattern of all cause excess mortality in Swiss districts during the pandemic years 1890, 1918 and 2020 Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology, 51:100697.
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Health of singleton neonates in Switzerland through time and crises: a cross-sectional study at the population level, 2007-2022 BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 24(1):218.
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The Need to Analyse Historical Mortality Data to Understand the Causes of Today’s Health Inequalities International Journal of Public Health, 69:1607739.
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2023
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The ups and downs of birth rate in Switzerland 2020 to 2023 in a historical context medRxiv 23299432, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
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Associations between 3D surface scanner derived anthropometric measurements and body composition in a cross-sectional study European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 77(10):972-981.
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Health of neonates born in the maternity hospital in Bern, Switzerland, 1880–1900 and 1914–1922 PLoS ONE, 18(8):e0289157.
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From pandemic to endemic: Spatial-temporal patterns of influenza-like illness incidence in a Swiss canton, 1918-1924 Economics and Human Biology, 50:101271.
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Reinfections and Cross-Protection in the 1918/19 Influenza Pandemic: Revisiting a Survey Among Male and Female Factory Workers International Journal of Public Health, 68:1605777.
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Health and lifespan of Swiss men born in an alpine region in 1905–1907 The History of the Family, 28(2):339-359.
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Long-term mortality effects of century crises: A warning from the past for the decades after COVID-19? Swiss Medical Weekly, 153(3):40057.
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Height loss in adulthood is associated with health outcomes in later life in men and women enrolled in the 1946 UK Birth Cohort (NSHD) medRxiv 23298098, University of Zurich.
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2022
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The role of body height as a co-factor of excess weight in Switzerland American Journal of Human Biology, 34(8):e23754.
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Historically High Excess Mortality During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Switzerland, Sweden, and Spain Annals of Internal Medicine, 175(4):523-532.
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Selling, buying and eating – a synthesis study on dietary patterns across language regions in Switzerland British Food Journal, 124(5):1502-1518.
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A quantitative synthesis study on body mass index and associated factors among adult men and women in Switzerland Journal of Nutritional Science, 11:e65.
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2021
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Impact of comorbidities at diagnosis on the 10-year colorectal cancer net survival: A population-based study Cancer Epidemiology, 73:101962.
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Are there sex differences among colorectal cancer patients in treatment and survival? A Swiss cohort study Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, 147(5):1407-1419.
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Public health interventions, epidemic growth, and regional variation of the 1918 influenza pandemic outbreak in a Swiss canton and its greater regions Annals of Internal Medicine, 174(4):533-539.
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Risk for Invasive Cancers in Women With Breast Cancer In Situ: Results From a Population Not Covered by Organized Mammographic Screening Frontiers in Oncology, 11:606747.
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2020
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37-year incidence and mortality time trends of common cancer types by sex, age, and stage in the canton of Zurich Swiss Medical Weekly, 150:w20388.
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Residential altitude associates with endurance but not muscle power in young Swiss men Frontiers in Physiology, 11:860.
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2019
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Have Swiss adult males and females stopped growing taller? Evidence from the population-based nutrition survey menuCH, 2014/2015 Economics and Human Biology, 33:201-210.
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Increasing trends in in situ breast cancer incidence in a region with no population-based mammographic screening program: results from Zurich, Switzerland 2003-2014 Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, 145(3):653-660.
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Dietary Heterocyclic Amine Intake and Colorectal Adenoma Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, 28(1):99-109.
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2018
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Cancer of unknown primary-Epidemiological trends and relevance of comprehensive genomic profiling Cancer Medicine, 7(9):4814-4824.
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The risk of prostate cancer mortality and cardiovascular mortality of nonmetastatic prostate cancer patients: A population-based retrospective cohort study Urologic Oncology, 36(6):309.e15-309.e23.
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Impact of comorbidities at diagnosis on prostate cancer treatment and survival Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, 144(4):707-715.
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Trends in prostate cancer incidence between 1996 and 2013 in two Swiss regions by age, grade, and T-stage Cancer Causes & Control, 29(2):269-277.
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Indicators of Data Quality at the Cancer Registry Zurich and Zug in Switzerland BioMed Research International, 2018:7656197.
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The impact of comorbidities and tumor characteristics on treatment decisions and survival of prostate cancer patients 2018, University of Zurich, Faculty of Science.
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2017
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Primary treatment choice over time and relative survival of prostate cancer patients: influence of age, grade, and stage Oncology Research and Treatment, 40(9):484-489.
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Longitudinal auditory learning facilitates auditory cognition as revealed by microstate analysis Biological Psychology, 123:25-36.
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2016
