1.When physical activity meets the physical environment: precision health insights from the intersection.
Luisa V GILES ; Michael S KOEHLE ; Brian E SAELENS ; Hind SBIHI ; Chris CARLSTEN
Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine 2021;26(1):68-68
BACKGROUND:
The physical environment can facilitate or hinder physical activity. A challenge in promoting physical activity is ensuring that the physical environment is supportive and that these supports are appropriately tailored to the individual or group in question. Ideally, aspects of the environment that impact physical activity would be enhanced, but environmental changes take time, and identifying ways to provide more precision to physical activity recommendations might be helpful for specific individuals or groups. Therefore, moving beyond a "one size fits all" to a precision-based approach is critical.
MAIN BODY:
To this end, we considered 4 critical aspects of the physical environment that influence physical activity (walkability, green space, traffic-related air pollution, and heat) and how these aspects could enhance our ability to precisely guide physical activity. Strategies to increase physical activity could include optimizing design of the built environment or mitigating of some of the environmental impediments to activity through personalized or population-wide interventions.
CONCLUSIONS
Although at present non-personalized approaches may be more widespread than those tailored to one person's physical environment, targeting intrinsic personal elements (e.g., medical conditions, sex, age, socioeconomic status) has interesting potential to enhance the likelihood and ability of individuals to participate in physical activity.
Air Pollution
;
Built Environment
;
Environment
;
Exercise/psychology*
;
Hot Temperature
;
Humans
;
Precision Medicine/psychology*
;
Residence Characteristics
2.Prehabilitation for gastrointestinal cancer patients.
Chinese Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery 2021;24(2):122-127
Gastrointestinal cancer and related treatments (surgery and chemoradiotherapy) are associated with declined functional status (FS) that has impact on quality of life, clinical outcome and continuum of care. Psychological distress drives an impressive burden of physiological and psychiatric conditions in oncologic care. Cancer patients often experience anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and fears of recurrence and death. Cancer prehabilitation is a process from cancer diagnosis to the beginning of treatment, which includes psychological, physical and nutritional assessments for a baseline functional level, identification of comorbidity, and targeted interventions that improve patient's health and functional capacity to reduce the incidence and the severity of current and future impairments with cancer, chemoradiotherapy and surgery. Multimodal prehabilitation program encompasses a series of planned, structured, repeatable and purposive interventions including comprehensive physical exercise, nutritional therapy, and relieving anxiety and depression, which integrates into best perioperative management ERAS pathway and aims at using the preoperative period to prevent or attenuate the surgery-related functional decline, to cope with surgical stress and to improve the consequences. However, a number of questions remain in regards to prehabilitation in gastrointestinal cancer surgery, which consists of the optimal makeup of training programs, the timing and approach of the intervention, how to improve compliance, how to measure functional capacity, and how to make cost-effective analysis. Therefore, more high-level evidence-based studies are expected to evaluate the value of implementation of prehabilitation into standard practice.
Chemoradiotherapy/adverse effects*
;
Digestive System Surgical Procedures/psychology*
;
Gastrointestinal Neoplasms/therapy*
;
Humans
;
Preoperative Care
;
Preoperative Exercise
;
Quality of Life
;
Recovery of Function
3.Associations between screen time, physical activity, and depressive symptoms during the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak among Chinese college students.
Yi ZHANG ; Xiaoyan WU ; Shuman TAO ; Shiyue LI ; Le MA ; Yizhen YU ; Guilong SUN ; Tingting LI ; Fangbiao TAO
Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine 2021;26(1):107-107
BACKGROUND:
The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerges in China, which spreads rapidly and becomes a public health emergency of international concern. Chinese government has promptly taken quarantine measures to block the transmission of the COVID-19, which may cause deleterious consequences on everyone's behaviors and psychological health. Few studies have examined the associations between behavioral and mental health in different endemic areas. This study aimed to describe screen time (ST), physical activity (PA), and depressive symptoms, as well as their associations among Chinese college students according to different epidemic areas.
METHODS:
The study design is cross-sectional using online survey, from 4 to 12 February 2020, 14,789 college students accomplished this online study, participants who did not complete the questionnaire were excluded, and finally this study included 11,787 college students from China.
RESULTS:
The average age of participants was 20.51 ± 1.88 years. 57.1% of the college students were male. In total, 25.9% of college students reported depression symptoms. ST > 4 h/day was positively correlated with depressive symptoms (β = 0.48, 95%CI 0.37-0.59). COVID-19ST > 1 h/day was positively correlated with depressive symptoms (β = 0.54, 95%CI 0.43-0.65), compared with COVID-19ST ≤ 0.5 h/day. Compared with PA ≥ 3 day/week, PA < 3 day/week was positively associated with depression symptoms (β = 0.01, 95%CI 0.008-0.012). Compared with low ST and high PA, there was an interaction association between high ST and low PA on depression (β = 0.31, 95%CI 0.26-0.36). Compared with low COVID-19ST and high PA, there was an interaction association between high COVID-19ST and low PA on depression (β = 0.37, 95%CI 0.32-0.43). There were also current residence areas differences.
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings identified that high ST or low PA was positively associated with depressive symptoms independently, and there was also an interactive effect between ST and PA on depressive symptoms.
Adult
;
COVID-19/psychology*
;
China/epidemiology*
;
Cross-Sectional Studies
;
Depression/etiology*
;
Exercise
;
Female
;
Humans
;
Male
;
Mental Health/statistics & numerical data*
;
Screen Time
;
Students/psychology*
;
Time Factors
;
Universities
;
Young Adult
4.Social and family factors as determinants of exercise habits in Japanese elementary school children: a cross-sectional study from the Super Shokuiku School Project.
Satomi SAWA ; Michikazu SEKINE ; Masaaki YAMADA ; Yugo FUKAZAWA ; Yusuke HIRAKU
Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine 2020;25(1):54-54
BACKGROUND:
Many studies have already reported on the relationship between exercise habits and health among schoolchildren. However, few have examined social and/or family factors as determinants of exercise habits.
METHODS:
This study's participants included 1721 schoolchildren aged between 6 and 13 who were involved in the Super Shokuiku School Project in January 2016. A survey was conducted to assess gender, grade level, physical activity, lifestyle, overall health, enrichment of school life, social background, and parental lifestyles. Both dislike and lack of physical activity were used to measure poor exercise habits; correlates were analyzed using logistic regression.
RESULTS:
"Lack of close friends" had the strongest links with both dislike (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 5.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.78-10.1) and lack of (adjusted OR 5.40; 95% CI, 2.81-10.4) physical activity. Further, children who engaged in long periods of screen time and lacked parental communication also tended to dislike and lack physical activity. Children with mothers who were unemployed (housewives) and had unhealthy lifestyles, as well as those with poor health, were also more likely to lack physical activity.
CONCLUSION
Social and family factors (e.g., having close friends) may be determinants of exercise habits among schoolchildren, independent of their own lifestyle factors. Although a longitudinal study is needed to determine causality, substantial attention may thus be required to these factors when promoting physical activity in children.
Adolescent
;
Age Factors
;
Child
;
Cross-Sectional Studies
;
Exercise
;
psychology
;
Family Characteristics
;
Female
;
Habits
;
Humans
;
Japan
;
Life Style
;
Male
;
Sex Factors
;
Socioeconomic Factors
5.Perspectives of adolescents, parents, and teachers on barriers and facilitators of physical activity among school-age adolescents: a qualitative analysis.
El-Ammari ABDELGHAFFAR ; El Kazdouh HICHAM ; Bouftini SIHAM ; El Fakir SAMIRA ; El Achhab YOUNESS
Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine 2019;24(1):21-21
BACKGROUND:
Physical activity levels are low among adolescents in Morocco; however, the influences on physical activity behavior of adolescents have not yet been explored in a qualitative study. Here, we explored potential social-ecological barriers and facilitators of physical activity in Moroccan adolescents with the goal of developing a successful intervention program aimed at improving their physical activity level.
METHODS:
For this study, we conducted 17 focus group discussions (100 participants, composed of 56 adolescents, 26 parents, and 18 teachers from two middle schools in Taza city, Morocco). Discussions during focus groups were facilitated by a semi-structured interview guide. Guide questions were underpinned by the social-ecological model as a theoretical framework. Data analysis was carried out by two coders using thematic analysis.
RESULTS:
We found that barriers and facilitators of physical activity in adolescents are organized into six themes that belong to different levels of the social-ecological model. Three themes belonged to the intrapersonal level (perceived motivating and limiting factors, physical activity awareness, and time constraints), two themes were classified into the interpersonal/cultural level (social support and gender and cultural norms), and one theme belonged to the environmental level (access to opportunities). Most of the themes were at the individual level, with each theme including both barriers and facilitators.
CONCLUSIONS
Adolescent participation in physical activity can be facilitated or hampered by many factors. Results from the focus group discussions showed that these factors belonged to different levels of the social-ecological model, but most were at the individual level. Our findings have several implications. First, they may offer suggestions for a tailored intervention program aimed at improving adolescent physical activity. Second, they can improve quantitative research by enriching the battery of questions of physical activity instruments (e.g., a question related to physical disability). Third, the proposed thematic map can contribute to understanding interactions and causal pathways in the social-ecological model.
Adolescent
;
Adolescent Behavior
;
psychology
;
Exercise
;
psychology
;
Female
;
Focus Groups
;
Humans
;
Male
;
Morocco
;
Parents
;
psychology
;
Qualitative Research
;
Risk Factors
;
School Teachers
;
psychology
;
Social Environment
;
Students
;
psychology
6.Analyzing the distinguishing factors that affect childhood obesity in South Korea.
So Jung YANG ; Hun-Sung KIM ; Kun-Ho YOON
Frontiers of Medicine 2018;12(6):707-716
Understanding obesity in children is crucial because it can lead to adulthood obesity and result in fatal chronic diseases. Distinctive factors associated with obesity in adults have been described, but distinctive factors related to children remain unclear. We analyzed the correlation between the percentage of body mass index and lifestyle habits by conducting surveys on physical, nutritional, and psychological factors, and we used annual physical examination data to compare different traits among elementary school students (n = 197) and middle school students (n = 461). Our study revealed that the computing hours in elementary school students with overweight and obesity were significantly correlated with the percentage of body mass index (r = 0.29 on school days and r = 0.35 on days off, all P < 0.05). No statistically significant difference was found (all P > 0.05) in the computing hours of middle school students with overweight and obesity. Childhood obesity can cause depression and reduce children's quality of life because of their distorted body perception. In conclusion, physical factors directly affecting childhood obesity and psychological and environmental factors surrounding a child should be considered.
Adolescent
;
Body Mass Index
;
Child
;
Diet
;
Exercise
;
Feeding Behavior
;
Female
;
Humans
;
Male
;
Pediatric Obesity
;
epidemiology
;
Physical Examination
;
Quality of Life
;
Republic of Korea
;
epidemiology
;
Students
;
psychology
;
Surveys and Questionnaires
7.Tackling the Challenge of the Aging Society: Detecting and Preventing Cognitive and Physical Decline through Games and Consumer Technologies.
David WORTLEY ; Ji Young AN ; Almas HESHMATI
Healthcare Informatics Research 2017;23(2):87-93
OBJECTIVES: This study seeks to review some of the approaches employed to address health and well-being issues in the elderly population. METHODS: This article reviews and analyses a range of projects and approaches designed for the elderly population and aimed at preserving and/or enhancing physical and cognitive capabilities in later life. RESULTS: Various intervention measures have been developed across the globe to preserve and/or enhance physical and cognitive capabilities of the elderly population. A selection of these measures is described in this article. CONCLUSIONS: Approaches which combine games psychology and mechanics with enabling technologies designed to engage, influence and motivate elderly people can encourage healthy active aging lifestyles. Healthy active aging helps to realise a double dividend of reduced healthcare costs and an improved quality of life for the elder citizen.
Aged
;
Aging*
;
Cognitive Therapy
;
Exercise Therapy
;
Health Care Costs
;
Humans
;
Life Style
;
Mechanics
;
Psychology
;
Quality of Life
8.Measurement and Assessment of Physical Activity by Information and Communication Technology.
Qun ZHANG ; Xi YANG ; Dan LIU ; Wen Hua ZHAO
Biomedical and Environmental Sciences 2017;30(6):465-472
This study provides explorative insights into the information and communication technology (ICT) for promoting the physical activity level. ICT has provided innovative ideas and perspectives for PA measurement, assessment, evaluation and health intervention. ICT that aims to increase exercise for the entire population should be of a well-oriented and easy-to-use design with the options of tailored and personalized feedback, coaching, and ranking and supporting; it should be capable of setting goals and working with a schedule and be accompanied by a website to provide overviews of the users' exercise results and progress.
Exercise
;
psychology
;
Health Behavior
;
Health Education
;
methods
;
Health Promotion
;
methods
;
Humans
;
Internet
;
Mobile Applications
;
Monitoring, Physiologic
;
instrumentation
;
methods
;
Smartphone
9.Benefits of nursing care service in the assisted reproduction clinic to self-cycle-management and self-efficiency of infertility patients.
Xiao-Qin LI ; Chao-Feng SUN ; Mei GUO
National Journal of Andrology 2017;23(6):536-539
Objective:
To investigate the benefits of nursing care service in the assisted reproduction clinic to self-cycle-management and self-efficiency of the outpatients with infertility.
METHODS:
We randomly divided 600 females preliminarily diagnosed with infertility into a control and an experimental group, 288 in the former and 285 in the latter group excluding those whose husbands had azoospermia. For the women patients of the experimental group, we conducted nursing care intervention concerning related knowledge, skills, diet, excise, medication, and psychology, by one-to-one consultation, individualized or group communication, establishing files, telephone follow-up, and wechat guidance. After 3 months of intervention, we compared the compliance of medical visits, effectiveness of cycle management, sense of self-efficiency, satisfaction, and anxiety score between the two groups of patients.
RESULTS:
In comparison with the controls, the patients of the experimental group showed significantly better knowledge about assisted reproduction and higher effectiveness of self-cycle-management, self-efficiency, and satisfaction (P <0.05), but a markedly lower degree of anxiety (P <0.05).
CONCLUSIONS
Nursing care service in the assisted reproduction clinic can improve the compliance of medical visits, effectiveness of self-cycle-management, self-efficiency, and satisfaction and reduce the anxiety of the patients.
Anxiety
;
prevention & control
;
Diet
;
Exercise
;
Female
;
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
;
Humans
;
Infertility
;
nursing
;
psychology
;
Menstrual Cycle
;
Patient Compliance
;
Patient Satisfaction
;
Reproductive Techniques, Assisted
;
psychology
;
Self Efficacy
10.Stress and Burnout among Physicians: Prevalence and Risk Factors in a Singaporean Internal Medicine Programme.
Kay Choong SEE ; Tow Keang LIM ; Ee Heok KUA ; Jason PHUA ; Gerald Sw CHUA ; Khek Yu HO
Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore 2016;45(10):471-474
Adult
;
Age Factors
;
Burnout, Professional
;
epidemiology
;
psychology
;
Cross-Sectional Studies
;
Exercise
;
Female
;
Humans
;
Internal Medicine
;
education
;
Internship and Residency
;
Interprofessional Relations
;
Male
;
Physicians
;
psychology
;
statistics & numerical data
;
Prevalence
;
Risk Factors
;
Singapore
;
epidemiology
;
Stress, Psychological
;
epidemiology
;
psychology
;
Surveys and Questionnaires

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