Effectiveness of a cluster-randomized controlled trial community-based lifestyle intervention program to control prehypertension and/or prediabetes in Thailand

International Journal of Diabetes in Developing Countries - Lifestyle intervention is recommended as the primary management for prehypertension and prediabetes. The aim of the study was to examine...     

Unintentional injuries and socio-psychological correlates among school-going adolescents in Mozambique

ABSTRACT

Background: The study aimed to report on the prevalence and socio-psychological correlates of non-fatal injury among school-going adolescents in Mozambique.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from the 2015 ‘Global School-based Health Survey (GSHS)’ included 1918 students (median age 15 years, interquartile range = 3 years) that were representative of all students in secondary school in Mozambique.

Results: The proportion of participants with one or multiple injuries in the past 12 months was 55.7%, 30.0% once and 25.7% multiple times. The most frequent cause of the reported injury was ‘traffic injury’ (7.6%), followed by ‘fall’ (7.0%), 'poisoning' (5.0%), ‘struck or hit by person’ (3.6%) and ‘struck or hit by object’ (2.6%). The most common injury type was ‘fracture or dislocation’ (9.8%), followed by ‘cut or stab wound’ (7.5%), burns (2.7%) and ‘gunshot wound’ (2.6%). In adjusted logistic regression analysis, current tobacco use, attending physical education classes three or more days a week and psychological distress were associated with annual injury.

Conclusion: A high prevalence of annual injury was found and several variables were identified that could be targeted in injury prevention programmes in this school population.     

Physical inactivity and associated factors among university students in 23 low-, middle- and high-income countries

Objectives

The aim of this study was to determine estimates of the prevalence and social correlates of physical inactivity among university students in 23 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

Method

The International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to collect data from 17,928 undergraduate university students (mean age 20.8, SD = 2.8) from 24 universities in 23 countries.

Results

The prevalence of physical inactivity was 41.4 %, ranging from 21.9 % in Kyrgyzstan to 80.6 % in Pakistan. In multivariate logistic regression, older age (22–30 years), studying in a low- or lower middle-income country, skipping breakfast and lack of social support were associated with physical inactivity. In men, being underweight, being overweight or obese, not avoiding fat and cholesterol, not having severe depression symptoms, low beliefs in the health benefits of physical activity, low personal control and knowledge of exercise-heart link, and in women, not trying to eat fibre, low personal mastery and medium personal control were additionally associated with physical inactivity.

Conclusion

Four in each ten students are physically inactive, calling for strategic interventions by relevant professionals in higher educational institutions.

     

Recruiting volunteers for a multisite phase I/II HIV preventive vaccine trial in Thailand

Factors believed to be predictive of retention through the recruitment and screening processes for preventive HIV trials were investigated in a large multisite phase I/II HIV vaccine trial in Thailand. Retention through recruitment was equal to or greater than in previous smaller trials with similar populations. The data suggested that recruitment proceeded in a stepwise manner with different influences at each step. Demographic and motivational variables were most important in predicting retention in making and keeping screening appointments. Altruistic or mixed altruistic and nonaltruistic motives were associated with greater retention. Laboratory/medical variables appeared to be the main influence on retention during screening, although some volunteers withdrew for different reasons. The frequent presence of mixed (altruistic and nonaltruistic) motives at initial contact suggests that motivation for trials is more complex than has been previously acknowledged.     

Mortality experience of Tsimane Amerindians of Bolivia: regional variation and temporal trends.

This paper examines regional and temporal trends in mortality patterns among the Tsimane, a population of small-scale forager-horticulturalists in lowland Bolivia. We compare age-specific mortality in remote forest and riverine regions with that in more acculturated villages and examine mortality changes among all age groups over the past 50 years. Discrete-time logistic regression is used to examine impacts of region, period, sex, and age on mortality hazard. Villages in the remote forest and riverine regions show 2-4 times higher mortality rates from infancy until middle adulthood than in the acculturated region. While there was little change in mortality for most of the life course over the period 1950-1989, overall life expectancy at birth improved by 10 years from 45 to 53 after 1990. In both periods, over half of all deaths were due to infectious disease, especially respiratory and gastrointestinal infections. Accidents and violence accounted for a quarter of all deaths. Unlike typical patterns described by epidemiologic transition theory, we find a much larger period reduction of death rates during middle and late adulthood than during infancy or childhood. In the remote villages, infant death rates changed little, whereas death rates among older adults decreased sharply. We hypothesize that this pattern is due to a combination of differential access to medical interventions, a continued lack of public health infrastructure and Tsimane cultural beliefs concerning sickness and dying.