International journal of environmental research and public health
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Int J Environ Res Public Health · Oct 2015
Understanding Walking Behavior among University Students Using Theory of Planned Behavior.
Walking has been shown to improve physical and mental well-being, yet insufficient walking among university students has been increasingly reported. This study aimed to understand walking behavior of university students using theory of planned behavior (TPB). We recruited 169 undergraduate students by university mass email of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and first administered a salient belief elicitation survey, which was used to design the TPB questionnaire, to a subset of the study sample. ⋯ We found perceived behavioral control to be the key determinant of walking intention. Shaped by participants' perceived behavioral control, attitude toward walking and subjective norms, and behavioral intention, in turn had a moderate explanatory effect on their walking behavior. In summary, our findings suggest that walking behavior among university students can be understood within the TPB framework, and could inform walking promotion interventions on the university campuses.
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Int J Environ Res Public Health · Oct 2015
Climate Change Effects on Heat- and Cold-Related Mortality in the Netherlands: A Scenario-Based Integrated Environmental Health Impact Assessment.
Although people will most likely adjust to warmer temperatures, it is still difficult to assess what this adaptation will look like. This scenario-based integrated health impacts assessment explores baseline (1981-2010) and future (2050) population attributable fractions (PAF) of mortality due to heat (PAFheat) and cold (PAFcold), by combining observed temperature-mortality relationships with the Dutch KNMI'14 climate scenarios and three adaptation scenarios. The 2050 model results without adaptation reveal a decrease in PAFcold (8.90% at baseline; 6.56%-7.85% in 2050) that outweighs the increase in PAFheat (1.15% at baseline; 1.66%-2.52% in 2050). ⋯ The associated annual mortality burdens in 2050-accounting for both the increasing temperatures and mortality trend-show that heat-related deaths will range between 1879 and 5061 (1511 at baseline) and cold-related deaths between 13,149 and 19,753 (11,727 at baseline). Our results clearly illustrate that model outcomes are not only highly dependent on climate scenarios, but also on adaptation assumptions. Hence, a better understanding of (the impact of various) plausible adaptation scenarios is required to advance future integrated health impact assessments.
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Int J Environ Res Public Health · Oct 2015
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Medical Students: Letter from China.
The present study aimed to investigate the knowledge of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) among Chinese medical students. ⋯ Chinese medical students had good knowledge of MERS. The MERS knowledge score varied among students of different majors. Education on disease control should be included in the school curriculum.