INTRODUCTION

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are a leading global health concern. Modifiable behavioral risk factors are increasingly recognized in young adults, especially among medical students who often live independently. This study investigated the association between living alone and modifiable cardiovascular risk factors—sleep quality, sodium intake, physical activity, and body mass index (BMI)—among medical students at UERMMMCI during the 2022-2023 academic year.

METHODS

Researchers conducted an analytical cross-sectional study among 220 medical students. Validated tools were used: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Scored Sodium Questionnaire, International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), and BMI classification. Researchers performed statistical analyses using Chi-square tests and calculated relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals.

RESULTS

A significant positive association was found between living alone and poor sleep quality (RR 2.132 p = 0.047). No significant associations were observed between living alone and sodium intake (RR 0.96 p = 0.6868), physical activity (RR 1.18 p = 0.2239), or BMI (RR 1.03 p = 0.7367).

CONCLUSION

Among the studied cardiovascular risk factors, only poor sleep quality was significantly more prevalent among students living alone. These findings highlight the importance of interventions targeting sleep hygiene in this demographic.

Human ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Risk Factors ; Students, Medical ; Sleep Quality ; Living Alone ; Home Environment

BACKGROUND: Older adults have varying outcome expectations on why they exercise. The Multidimensional Outcomes Expectation for Exercise Scale (MOEES) is a tool used to measure this; however, it has not been cross-culturally adapted yet in the Filipino setting. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to translate and cross-culturally adapt the MOEES into Filipino and establish its preliminary psychometric properties in terms of internal consistency and test-retest reliability in community-dwelling Filipino older adults. METHODS: This psychometric study is divided into two phases. Phase 1 will be on the MOEES translation and cross-cultural adaptation in accordance with the guidelines set by the Beaton Protocol. Phase 2 will be on the establishment of preliminary psychometric properties based on the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the adapted MOEES from at least 30 conveniently sampled community-dwelling Filipino older adults, aged 60 years old or above, with a Mini-Mental State Examination score of at least 24 and classified as active based on the Telephone Assessment of Physical Activity. Internal consistency will be assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and item-total correlations. Intraclass correlation/ ICC (3, K) will be utilized to establish the tool’s test-retest reliability. RESULTS This will develop a translated and cross-culturally adapted MOEES in Filipino with good internal consistency, item-total correlation, and test-retest reliability that can be used by health professionals as a guide in designing, implementing, and assessing exercise programs for older persons to ensure achievement of their treatment outcome expectations.
Exercise

Global concerns have been paid to the potential hazard of traditional herbal medicinal products (THMPs). Substandard and counterfeit THMPs, including traditional Chinese patent medicine, health foods, dietary supplements, etc. are potential threats to public health. Recent marketplace studies using DNA barcoding have determined that the current quality control methods are not sufficient for ensuring the presence of authentic herbal ingredients and detection of contaminants/adulterants. An efficient biomonitoring method for THMPs is of great needed. Herein, metabarcoding and single-molecule, real-time (SMRT) sequencing were used to detect the multiple ingredients in Jiuwei Qianghuo Wan (JWQHW), a classical herbal prescription widely used in China for the last 800 years. Reference experimental mixtures and commercial JWQHW products from the marketplace were used to confirm the method. Successful SMRT sequencing results recovered 5416 and 4342 circular-consensus sequencing (CCS) reads belonging to the ITS2 and regions. The results suggest that with the combination of metabarcoding and SMRT sequencing, it is repeatable, reliable, and sensitive enough to detect species in the THMPs, and the error in SMRT sequencing did not affect the ability to identify multiple prescribed species and several adulterants/contaminants. It has the potential for becoming a valuable tool for the biomonitoring of multi-ingredient THMPs.