Knowledge synthesis, translation and exchange in public health and health promotion: the role of a Cochrane review group

The Cochrane Collaboration is an international non-profit organisation that aims to produce high quality systematic reviews of the effectiveness of health interventions. This work is conducted by 51 Review Groups that span a  range of topics (e.g. pregnancy and childbirth, HIV/AIDS). The role of Fields within the Collaboration has been to actively engage relevant stakeholders internationally to improve the quality and relevance of reviews. Since the inception in 1996 of the Cochrane Public Health and Health Promotion Field, the Cochrane Collaboration has begun to embrace reviews related to public health and health promotion and is adapting to the changing needs of end-users. The introduction of a Cochrane health promotion and public health review group will help ensure that reviews will be oriented towards building evidence for equity and reducing inequalities and best meet the needs of decision-makers, practitioners and consumers. Our role as a Field has led to us working with a range of partners including reviewers,  researchers, practitioners and consumers. Knowledge synthesis, translation and exchange (KST&E) has emerged as an issue in need of further  exploration for practice to influence decision-makers and for policy to  influence practitioners. 2007 will be an exciting year for evidence-informed Health Promotion and Public Health (HPPH) both within the Cochrane Collaboration and for our partners in policy, practice and research.

Student reflections in a first year public health and health promotion unit

While reflective practice has been used extensively in nursing and teaching education over many years, the introduction of reflective practice into other disciplines is more recent. This paper provides an overview of the use of reflective practice as an assessment task in a first year, first trimester, undergraduate health promotion and public health unit. Reflective practice is included in this unit as a way for students to deal with challenges that arise during learning. This study used a coding scheme to determine the level of reflection of student journals, as well as a qualitative approach of thematic analysis to investigate themes within the student’s reflective journals. Findings of this study suggest a low level of student reflection, however; thematic analysis results in rich data that describe student aspirations for future careers.

Backpacks and school children's obesity: challenges for public health and ergonomics

This descriptive study of cross sectional has focused on analyzing the school material weight transported by students associated with children and adolescents overweight in primary and secondary schools. Participants 339 students of both genders, aged 10-19 years. 243 students carrying and average load of 12.65% of his body weight. 53 students were overweight with a BMI of 20,00 to 35,6. 20 overweight students carrying backpacks more than 10% of his body weight. 21% of the students rated complained of back and shoulder pain. This data is very important in the preventive aspects for the individuals studied, as well as others with the same anthropometric characteristics and the same demand.

The ant fauna of hospitals: advancements in public health and research priorities in Brazil

Ants inhabit several types of natural and urban habitats, where they successfully nest. In urban environments, the hospitals should be considered priority for studies, as ants pose risks to human health due to their pathogen carrying potential. We aimed at surveying the literature about studies on ants in hospital settings in Brazil in the past 20 years. We found 40 papers in 22 journals, the first one published in 1993. Among them, 26 papers assessed pathogenic microorganisms on ants. We recorded 59 ant species, being Tapinoma melanocephalum the most common. The Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo states had the largest number of published papers. Mato Grosso do Sul and Rio Grande do Sul showed the highest number of species. Exotic ant species were recorded in all states, except Goias. Considering the potential to carry microorganisms and the importance of thorough studies on the ecology of ant species, our results can support and guide further research in Brazil. (C) 2015 Sociedade Brasileira de Entomologia. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

On Time Series Analysis of Public Health and Biomedical Data

A time series is a sequence of observations made over time. Examples in public health include daily ozone concentrations, weekly admissions to an emergency department or annual expenditures on health care in the United States. Time series models are used to describe the dependence of the response at each time on predictor variables including covariates and possibly previous values in the series. Time series methods are necessary to account for the correlation among repeated responses over time. This paper gives an overview of time series ideas and methods used in public health research.

Public-health and individual approaches to antiretroviral therapy: township South Africa and Switzerland compared

BACKGROUND: The provision of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in resource-limited settings follows a public health approach, which is characterised by a limited number of regimens and the standardisation of clinical and laboratory monitoring. In industrialized countries doctors prescribe from the full range of available antiretroviral drugs, supported by resistance testing and frequent laboratory monitoring. We compared virologic response, changes to first-line regimens, and mortality in HIV-infected patients starting HAART in South Africa and Switzerland. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We analysed data from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study and two HAART programmes in townships of Cape Town, South Africa. We included treatment-naïve patients aged 16 y or older who had started treatment with at least three drugs since 2001, and excluded intravenous drug users. Data from a total of 2,348 patients from South Africa and 1,016 patients from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study were analysed. Median baseline CD4+ T cell counts were 80 cells/mul in South Africa and 204 cells/mul in Switzerland. In South Africa, patients started with one of four first-line regimens, which was subsequently changed in 514 patients (22%). In Switzerland, 36 first-line regimens were used initially, and these were changed in 539 patients (53%). In most patients HIV-1 RNA was suppressed to 500 copies/ml or less within one year: 96% (95% confidence interval [CI] 95%-97%) in South Africa and 96% (94%-97%) in Switzerland, and 26% (22%-29%) and 27% (24%-31%), respectively, developed viral rebound within two years. Mortality was higher in South Africa than in Switzerland during the first months of HAART: adjusted hazard ratios were 5.90 (95% CI 1.81-19.2) during months 1-3 and 1.77 (0.90-3.50) during months 4-24. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to the highly individualised approach in Switzerland, programmatic HAART in South Africa resulted in similar virologic outcomes, with relatively few changes to initial regimens. Further innovation and resources are required in South Africa to both achieve more timely access to HAART and improve the prognosis of patients who start HAART with advanced disease.

Health literacy among young adults: a short survey tool for public health and health promotion research

Health literacy (HL) is context-specific. In public health and health promotion, HL in the private realm refers to individuals' knowledge and skills to prevent disease and to promote health in everyday life. However, there is a scarcity of measurement tools explicitly geared to private realm contexts. Our aim was to develop and test a short survey tool that captures different dimensions of HL in the context of family and friends. We used cross-sectional data from the Swiss Federal Surveys of Adolescents from 2010 to 2011, comprising 7983 males and 366 females between 18 and 25 years. HL was assessed through a set of eight items (self-reports). We used principal component analysis to explore the underlying factor structure among these items in the male sample and confirmatory factor analysis to verify the factor structure in the female sample. The results showed that the tested item set represented dimensions of functional, interactive and critical HL. Two sub-dimensions, understanding versus finding health-relevant information, denoted functional HL. Interactive and critical HL were each represented with two items. A sum score based on all eight items (Cronbach's α: 0.64) showed expected positive associations with own and parental education among males and females (p < 0.05). The short item set appears to be a feasible measurement tool to assess HL in the private realm. Its broader application in survey studies may help to improve our understanding of how this form of HL is distributed in the general population.