Stomach cancer screening and preventive behaviors in relatives of gastric cancer patients

AIM:To investigate gastric cancer screening and preventive behaviors among the relatives of patients with gastric cancer[i.e.,gastric cancer relatives(GCRs)].METHODS:We examined the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005(KNHANESⅢ) database and compared the gastric cancer screening and preventive behaviors of GCRs(n=261)with those of non-GCRs(n=454)and controls without a family history of cancer(n=2842).RESULTS:The GCRs were more likely to undergo gastric cancer screening compared with the control group(39.2%vs 32.3%,adjusted odds ratio:1.43,CI:1.05-1.95),although the absolute screening rate was low.Dietary patterns and smoking rates did not differ significantly between the groups,and a high proportion of GCRs reported inappropriate dietary habits(i.e.,approximately 95%consumed excessive sodium,30% were deficient in vitamin C,and 85%were deficient in dietary fiber).CONCLUSION:The gastric cancer screening and preventive behaviors of GCRs have yet to be improved.To increase awareness among GCRs,systematic family education programs should be implemented.

Recovery shape of physical activity after COVID-19 pandemic

Background:Since shutdowns associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic,there has been limited discourse on physical activity(PA)recovery(i.e.,the ability of individuals to resume PA at pre-pandemic levels),including recovery rate,speed of recovery,which individuals are able to return quickly,who is left behind,and what are the causes of those differences.This study aimed to estimate the level and shape of PA recovery rate in Thailand.Methods:This study employed 2 rounds(2020 and 2021)of Thailand's Surveillance on Physical Activity dataset for the analysis.Each round included over 6600 samples from individuals aged 18 years or older.PA was assessed subjectively.Recovery rate was calculated from the relative difference in the cumulative minutes of moderate-to-vigorous PA(MVPA)from 2 different periods.Results:The Thai population experienced a medium level of recession of PA(-26.1%)and a moderate level of recovery of PA(37.44%).PA recovery in the Thai population resembled an imperfect V shape,reflecting a sharp decline followed by an immediate upturn;still,recovered PA remained lower than pre-pandemic levels.The quickest recovery was found among older adults,whereas students,young adults,residents of Bangkok,the unemployed,and those who had a negative attitude toward PA experienced the highest recession of PA and were among the slowest to recover.Conclusion:The level of recovery of PA among Thai adults is largely determined by the preventive behaviors demonstrated by groups within the population who have a higher awareness of their health.The effect of the mandatory coronavirus disease 2019 containment measures on PA was temporary.However,the slower recovery rate of PA among some individuals was caused by a combination of restrictive measures and socioeconomic inequality,which required more time and effort to overcome.

Assessing preventive health behaviors from COVID-19:a cross sectional study with health belief model in Golestan Province,Northern of Iran

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)is a new viral disease that has caused a pandemic in the world.Due to the lack of vaccines and definitive treatment,preventive behaviors are the only way to overcome the disease.Therefore,the present study aimed to determine the preventive behaviors from the disease based on constructs of the health belief model.Methods:: In the present cross-sectional study during March 11–16,2020,750 individuals in Golestan Province of Iran were included in the study using the convenience sampling and they completed the questionnaires through cyberspace.Factor scores were calculated using the confirmatory factor analysis.The effects of different factors were separately investigated using the univariate analyses,including students sample t-test,ANOVA,and simple linear regression.Finally,the effective factors were examined by the multiple regression analysis at a significant level of 0.05 and through Mplus 7 and SPSS 16.Results: The participants’mean age was 33.9±9.45 years;and 57.1%of them had associate and bachelor's degrees.Multiple regression indicated that the mean score of preventive behavior from COVID-19 was higher in females than males,and greater in urban dwellers than rural dwellers.Furthermore,one unit increase in the standard deviation of factor scores of self-efficacy and perceived benefits increased the scores of preventive behavior from COVID-19 by 0.22 and 0.17 units respectively.On the contrary,one unit increase in the standard deviation of factor score of perceived barriers and fatalistic beliefs decreased the scores of the preventive behavior from COVID-19 by 0.36 and 0.19 units respectively.Conclusions: Results: of the present study indicated that female gender,perceived barriers,perceived self-efficacy,fatalistic beliefs,perceived interests,and living in city had the greatest preventive behaviors from COVID-19 respectively.Preventive interventions were necessary among males and villagers.

Pandemic prevention and personality psychology: Gender differences in preventive health behaviors during COVID-19 and the roles of agreeableness and conscientiousness

One of the greatest public health crises in recent times,the COVID-19 pandemic,has come with a myriad of challenges in terms of health communication and public cooperation to prevent the spread of the disease.Un-derstanding which are the key determinants that make certain individuals more cooperative is key in effectively tackling pandemics and similar future challenges.In the present study(N=800),we investigated whether gen-der differences in compliance with preventive health behaviors(PHB)at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic could be established,and,if so,whether the personality traits of agreeableness and conscientiousness could help explain this presumed relationship.Consistent with our theorizing,we found women to score higher than men on agreeableness and conscientiousness,and to be more willing to comply with a set of PHB.Importantly,both per-sonality traits were found to mediate the gender-compliance link.This means that women’s greater compliance levels with PHB could,at least in part,be attributed to their higher agreeableness and conscientiousness scores.A greater understanding of the determinants of PHB in terms of gender and associated personality traits may help identify options for developing more effective communication campaigns,both in terms of communication channel selection and message content.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes Prevention among Women of Reproductive Age in Nasarawa Local Government Area, Kano State, Nigeria

Background: Adverse pregnancy outcomes continue to contribute substantially to maternal mortality as well as poor maternal and fetal health outcomes whose burden can be reduced by the initiation of preventive behaviors like the uptake of maternal health services. This continuous unacceptably high maternal mortality justifies a need for progressive research to better understand the predictors of the preventive behaviors of women towards adverse pregnancy outcomes. This study was conducted to assess levels of knowledge, attitudes about adverse pregnancy outcomes and preventive practices among women of reproductive age in Nassarawa local government area, Kano State, Nigeria. Methodology: The study was a cross-sectional descriptive study that employed a four-sectioned pretested researcher administered questionnaire to collect data on knowledge, attitude and practice of adverse pregnancy outcomes prevention among 164 consenting respondents in Kano State, Nigeria between November 2020 and December 2020. Responses were transformed and computed using SPSS version 26 to generate descriptive statistics. Regression analysis was done to test the degree of association between the predictors and practice of adverse pregnancy outcomes prevention with the level of significance set at a cut-off of p ≤ 0.05. Results: The findings showed that the majority of the respondents were between 20 - 24 years of age and had secondary educational attainment. Results further revealed that knowledge and attitude about adverse pregnancy outcomes which were both measured on 18-point scales, reported for the respondents’ mean scores of 9.46 (9.07 ± 9.85) and 10.72 (9.79 ± 10.62) respectively. The practice of adverse pregnancy outcomes prevention when assessed on a 15-point scale shows that respondents scored a mean of 7.42 ± 8.30 which denotes 53.4% of the level of prevention practice anticipated from the respondents. The study also showed a significant positive association between the level of knowledge (p = 0.010), attitude (p < 0.001) and prevention practice of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Conclusions: The findings reported an average but inadequate knowledge and neutral attitude that predicted unsatisfactory adverse pregnancy outcomes prevention practices among the examined reproductive-aged women, which calls for targeted health education on adverse pregnancy outcomes within the community in order to inform better prevention practices.