Bmc Public Health
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The effect of two different health messages on physical activity levels and health in sedentary overweight, middle-aged women.
Most public health guidelines recommend that adults need to participate in 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity on most days of the week to maintain good health. Achieving the recommended 30 minutes of exercise a day can be difficult in middle aged, overweight women. This 12 week study evaluated whether a 10,000 steps per day message was more effective than a 30 minutes a day message in increasing physical activity in low active, overweight women. ⋯ This study found that low active, overweight women undertook significantly more physical activity when they had a daily 10,000 step goal using a pedometer, than when they were asked to achieve 30 minutes of walking/day. Therefore we suggest that a public health recommendation of "10,000 steps/day", rather than the "30 min/day" could be applied to promote increased physical activity in sedentary middle aged women.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Study protocol: a pragmatic randomised controlled trial of a 12-week physical activity and nutritional education program for overweight Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have a higher prevalence and incidence of obesity and type 2 diabetes than non-Indigenous Australian women. Physical inactivity is a key modifiable risk factor for obesity and evidence shows that even modest reductions in waist circumference (WC) have significant health benefits. Trialing physical activity programs in difficult-to-reach high risk groups, especially urban Indigenous Australians poses distinct implementation challenges. ⋯ The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women's Fitness Program (WFP) is designed to provide a rigorous physiological and client-based evaluation of a structured 12-week program aimed to increase metabolic fitness and reduce WC in this high risk population. Evaluation results aim to provide the support necessary to design programs that are accessible, affordable and effective at reducing WC, while also improving the metabolic profile of overweight Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Targeting young drinkers online: the effectiveness of a web-based brief alcohol intervention in reducing heavy drinking among college students: study protocol of a two-arm parallel group randomized controlled trial.
The prevalence of heavy drinking among college students and its associated health related consequences highlights an urgent need for alcohol prevention programs targeting 18 to 24 year olds. Nevertheless, current alcohol prevention programs in the Netherlands pay surprisingly little attention to the drinking patterns of this specific age group. The study described in this protocol will test the effectiveness of a web-based brief alcohol intervention that is aimed at reducing alcohol use among heavy drinking college students aged 18 to 24 years old. ⋯ This study protocol describes the two-arm parallel group randomized controlled trial developed to evaluate the effectiveness of a web-based brief alcohol intervention. We expect a reduction of mean weekly alcohol consumption and frequency of binge drinking in the experimental condition compared to the control condition as a direct result of the intervention. If the website is effective, it will be implemented in alcohol prevention initiatives, which will facilitate the implementation of the protocol.
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Health services across Europe provide health care for migrant patients every day. However, little systematic research has explored the views and experiences of health care professionals in different European countries. The aim of this study was to assess the difficulties professionals experience in their service when providing such care and what they consider constitutes good practice to overcome these problems or limit their negative impact on the quality of care. ⋯ Health care professionals in different services experience similar difficulties when providing care to migrants. They also have relatively consistent views on what constitutes good practice. The degree to which these components already are part of routine practice varies. Implementing good practice requires sufficient resources and organisational flexibility, positive attitudes, training for staff and the provision of information.
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Research on children's responses to wartime trauma has mostly addressed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). However, PTSD is only one aspect of a complex set of responses. This study proposes to expand knowledge of well-being in children exposed to political violence through widening the conceptualization of well-being beyond PTSD, morbidity, and mortality by measuring health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and its facets, physical health, and psychosocial health. ⋯ HRQOL, including psychosocial health and emotional functioning is often severely impaired among preschoolers in the Gaza Strip. Exposure to both violent and non-violent negative events was associated with HRQOL in preschoolers.