Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Feb 2022
Does laughing with others lower the risk of functional disability among older Japanese adults? The JAGES prospective cohort study.
While laughter is evoked mainly in social contexts, the potential link between laughter in daily life and health benefits is unclear. This study aimed to examine the association between laughter in daily life and the onset of functional disability among older adults in Japan. Data were obtained from a 6-year follow-up cohort of 12,571 participants (46.1% male) in the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, aged ≥65 years, who could independently perform daily activities. ⋯ Laughing in a conversation with friends reduced the risk of functional disability by approximately 30% compared to laughing alone. Overall, laughing with others was associated with a reduced risk of functional disability. Having more situations to laugh with others or at least the situation to laugh with friends might contribute to reducing the risk of functional disability later in life.
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Preventive medicine · Feb 2022
Review Meta AnalysisThe association between adherence to cancer screening programs and health literacy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
The effectiveness of a cancer screening program relies on its adherence rate. Health literacy (HL) has been investigated among the factors that could influence such participation, but the findings are not always consistent. The aim of this meta-analysis was to summarize the evidence between having an adequate level of HL (AHL) and adherence to cancer screening programs. ⋯ The sensitivity analyses confirmed these results. Health literacy seems to be critical for an effective cancer prevention. Given the high prevalence of illiterate people across the world, a long-term action plan is needed.
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Preventive medicine · Feb 2022
ReviewThe effects of motor skill and physical activity interventions on preschoolers' cognitive and academic skills: A systematic review.
The present systematic review aimed to investigate the methodological quality and the effects of fundamental motor skills and physical activity interventions on cognitive and academic skills in typically developing 3 to 7-year-old children. The review was conducted and reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. A literature search was carried out in April 2020 using seven electronic databases. ⋯ The effects were larger on cognitive and academic skills in the combined interventions compared to only fundamental motor skill and physical activity interventions, while fundamental motor skill interventions had larger effects than physical activity interventions. These findings indicate that it may be possible to support typically developing preschoolers' cognitive and academic learning with fundamental motor skill and physical activity interventions. However, most of the studies in this field have a weak methodological quality and thus, the presented evidence was considered weak in nature.
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Preventive medicine · Feb 2022
ReviewA scoping review of adherence to WHO health promoting school framework by school-based interventions to promote physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness among 6- to 10-year-old children.
Physical inactivity, a leading cause of mortality, tracks from childhood to adulthood. Effective interventions to promote physical activity (PA) at a young age are therefore needed. The aim of this scoping review was to provide an overview of school-based interventions for the promotion of PA, cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and the reduction of sedentary behaviours (SB) among six- to ten-year-old school children, and map these interventions to the WHO Health Promoting Schools framework. ⋯ A higher percentage of effective interventions were found for theory-based interventions. Some single-feature interventions were found to be effective while no specific feature combination seemed to be associated with better intervention effectiveness. Theory-based single- as well as multi-feature interventions seem to have the potential to improve effectiveness with regard to PA, CRF, and SB outcomes.
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Preventive medicine · Feb 2022
Randomized Controlled TrialEvaluation of the Swedish school-based program "tobacco-free DUO" in a cluster randomized controlled trial (TOPAS study). Results at 2-year follow-up.
Friends' and parents' tobacco use are strong predictors of tobacco uptake among adolescents, however the effectiveness of interventions based on public commitments and agreements to remain tobacco-free are not established. Here, we evaluated the effectiveness of the school-based Swedish program Tobacco-Free Duo (T-Duo) in preventing adolescents from initiating tobacco use (TOPAS study). T-Duo is a multi-component intervention witha formal agreement between a student and an adult partner to remain tobacco-free during the entire 3-year study period as core component. ⋯ Protocol: Galanti, M. R., Pulkki-Brännström, A.-M., Nilsson, M., 2020. Tobacco-free duo adult-child contract for prevention of tobacco use among adolescents and parents: protocol for a mixed-design evaluation. JMIR Res. Protoc. 9, e21100. doi:10.2196/21100.