Bmc Public Health
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Screening and brief interventions for hazardous and harmful alcohol use among patients with active tuberculosis attending primary public care clinics in South Africa: results from a cluster randomized controlled trial.
In 2008 the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that South Africa had the highest tuberculosis (TB) incidence in the world. This high incidence rate is linked to a number of factors, including HIV co-infection and alcohol use disorders. The diagnosis and treatment package for TB and HIV co-infection is relatively well established in South Africa. However, because alcohol use disorders may present more insidiously, making it difficult to diagnose, those patients with active TB and misusing alcohol are not easily cured from TB. With this in mind, the primary purpose of this cluster randomized controlled trial was to provide screening for alcohol misuse and to test the effectiveness of brief interventions in reducing alcohol intake in those patients with active TB found to be misusing alcohol in primary public health care clinics in three districts in South Africa. ⋯ The results suggest that alcohol screening and the provision of a health education leaflet on sensible drinking performed at the beginning of anti-tuberculosis treatment in public primary care settings may be effective in reducing alcohol consumption.
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Comparative Study
Trends and risk factors of hyperglycemia and diabetes among Kuwaiti adults: National Nutrition Surveillance Data from 2002 to 2009.
Current prevalence estimates for diabetes in Arabian Gulf countries are some of the world's highest, yet regional trends and contributing factors are poorly documented. The present study was designed to determine temporal changes in the prevalence of impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and diabetes and associated factors in Kuwaiti adults. ⋯ Continued monitoring of blood glucose is needed to see if negative trends observed in 2008-2009 endure and further research of contributing factors is required for development of targeted intervention strategies.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Kids Safe and Smokefree (KiSS): a randomized controlled trial of a multilevel intervention to reduce secondhand tobacco smoke exposure in children.
Secondhand smoke exposure (SHSe) harms children's health, yet effective interventions to reduce child SHSe in the home and car have proven difficult to operationalize in pediatric practice. A multilevel intervention combining pediatric healthcare providers' advice with behavioral counseling and navigation to pharmacological cessation aids may improve SHSe control in pediatric populations. ⋯ This study tests an innovative multilevel approach to reducing child SHSe. The approach is sustainable, because clinics can easily integrate the tobacco intervention prompts related to "ask, advise, and refer" guidelines into electronic health records and refer smokers to free evidence-based behavioral counseling interventions, such as state quitlines.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Children, parents and pets exercising together (CPET): exploratory randomised controlled trial.
Levels of physical activity (PA) in UK children are much lower than recommended and novel approaches to its promotion are needed. The Children, Parents and Pets Exercising Together (CPET) study is the first exploratory randomised controlled trial (RCT) to develop and evaluate an intervention aimed at dog-based PA promotion in families. CPET aimed to assess the feasibility, acceptability and potential efficacy of a theory-driven, family-based, dog walking intervention for 9-11 year olds. ⋯ The acceptability of the CPET intervention and outcome measures was high. Using pet dogs as the agent of lifestyle change in PA interventions in children and their parents is both feasible and acceptable, but did not result in a significant increase in child PA in this exploratory trial.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Efficacy of 'Tailored Physical Activity' or 'Chronic Pain Self-Management Program' on return to work for sick-listed citizens: design of a randomised controlled trial.
Pain affects quality of life and can result in absence from work. Treatment and/or prevention strategies for musculoskeletal pain-related long-term sick leave are currently undertaken in several health sectors. Moreover, there are few evidence-based guidelines for such treatment and prevention. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of 'Tailored Physical Activity' or 'Chronic Pain Self-Management Program' for sick-listed citizens with pain in the back and/or the upper body. ⋯ There are few evidence-based interventions for rehabilitation programmes assisting people with musculoskeletal pain-related work absence. This study will compare outcomes of interventions on return to work in order to increase the knowledge of evidence-based rehabilitation of sick-listed citizens to prevent long-term sick-leave and facilitate return to work.