bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
“Place standard” depicts social gradient in the neighbourhood environment in Cyprus
Authors: Middleton N , Kleopa D , Kouta C , Kaifa S , Photiou G , Panayioutou A 
Published: October 2020

Abstract

Background
Census data, GIS, surveys and audits are used to profile “place”, each with shortcomings. There are several “neighbourhood environment” tools, including the “Place Standard” a policy and advocacy tool developed in Scotland. “Place” is not a strong feature in the public health agenda in Cyprus.

Methods
In an internet survey under the auspices of the Cyprus Healthy Cities Office, participants rated 14 features of their neighborhood environment. Exploratory factor, cluster and regression analysis were used to explore the dimensionality of the concept, neighborhood profiles and differences according to individual and area-level characteristics.

Results
With the exception of safety (M = 4.4, SD = 1.7 on a 1: large to 7: little improvement), 492 participants (mean age 42, 50% residents for &gt;10 years) from 266 postcodes (33% islandwide) did not rate other features favourably, with lowest scores for “influence and sense of control”. A clear dimensionality of Built, Physical, Social and Service environment supports the construct validity of the tool. People who rated their neighbourhood lower on a social position ladder were consistently more likely to rate all contextual neighrbourhood features less favourably. The social gradient was evident according to both individual sociodemographic characteristics and census-based area measures of built (e.g. pre-2001 housing) and socio-economic disadvantage (e.g. single-parent households) and appeared stronger in terms of the built (e.g. moving around) than the social environment (social contact, identity and belonging).

Conclusions
The “place standard” shows good metric properties and can be used as a public health research, and practice tool to profile the variability and document the inequity in the neighbourhood health environment as well as to support and enhance citizens' participation in the dialogue, which they generally rate lowest.

Key messages
The “Place Standard” offers a framework and a tool to profile the neighbourhood environment in research and public health practice. Generally unfavourable rating of health-related neighbourhood environment with evidence of social gradient across all features with larger differences in built environment.
Heat waves and mortality: developing a local prediction model based on two kinds of heat waves
Authors: dos P , Luís Santos , Nunes C 
Published: October 2020

Abstract

Background
Heat waves (HW) will tend to have a higher impact on mortality due to climate change. The aim of this study was to develop a tailored model to predict local mortality associated to HW.

Methods
In this ecological study, daily temperature and daily mortality were collected from May to October of 1980 to 2017 in Coimbra, Portugal. Two definitions of HW were used: more than two consecutive days of maximum temperature (MaxT) or minimum temperature (MinT) above percentile 95 for the periods in question. Attributable general mortalities with 13 and 30 lag days were calculated and then converted to attributable general mortality rates adjusted to the resident population. Bivariate and multivariate analyses with SPSS statistics were performed with the following independent variables for each HW: MaxT, diurnal temperature variation (DTV), mean of the mean daily temperatures, month, ageing index (AI), ordinal number of the HW for that year (ONHW), duration, overlapping of another HW and existence of a public health contingency plan.

Results
The multivariate analyses returned a R2=0,19 for the MaxT model (MaxTM) for both 13 and 30 lag days and a R2=0,51 for the MinT model (MinTM) with 13 lag days and R2=0,45 for 30 lag days. DTV was the only variable with statistical significance in the MaxTM (p &lt; 0,023; β = 0,44 for 13 lag days and p &lt; 0,024; β = 0,43 for 30 lag days). In the MinTM model two variables had statistical significance: AI (p &lt; 0,008; β = 1,72 for 13 lag days and p &lt; 0,037; β = 0,44 for 30 lag days) and ONHW (p &lt; 0,038; β= -0,44 for 30 lag days).

Conclusions
MaxTM and MinTM had different predictability potentials with different statistical significant independent variables. This may mean HW defined by MaxT have impact in a distinct way from HW defined by MinT. Further development of these models that include acclimatization indexes and causes of mortality may help local public health services to create more efficient, selective contingency plans.

Key messages
Minimum and maximum temperature defined heat waves may impact mortality differently. Local heat wave/mortality models may contribute to more efficient, selective contingency plans than regional models.
Health in cities: Getting out and about as we age
Authors: Ma T , Ivers R , de Leeuw E , Clapham K , Kobel C 
Published: October 2020

Abstract
Transportation influences health through its effects on people's access to goods, services, and life chance opportunities; social interactions; physical activity levels; air pollution exposures; and road injury risks. Given the ageing of populations, it is essential that decisions about land use and transportation systems are appropriate to meet the mobility needs of older people and support healthy ageing. Not all transportation options, however, may be accessible to older people. Factors that affect accessibility relate to the spatial and physical characteristics of places, personal and social contexts of individuals, and rules and norms underpinning planning and policy making.
This research aimed to understand how different parts and processes of urban systems interact to influence transportation options for older people. Using the Greater Sydney area as a case, we drew on key informant interviews and public policy documents to identify the considerations that inform planning and policy making as they pertain to the nature of cities and the opportunities of older people to get out and about. We compared and integrated these findings with peer-reviewed literature of similar urban growth areas.
Our analysis mapped the factors of the human-urban system that are central to enabling transportation mobility for older people, articulated their interrelationships, and identified the actors that influence them. Our results point to the involvement of actors from the public health, community development, transportation, and urban planning sectors at multiple levels of government. Each of these actors operate within their own remit to influence a part of the urban system relevant to older people's transportation, such as the zoning of land, the approval of housing developments, and the location of bus stops. However, these individual actions are constrained by others in the system. We interpret this complexity with a governance lens.

Key messages
Efforts to promote mobility in old age should move beyond ‘single solutions to single issues’ approaches toward those that reflect the complexity of cities and the ways that people move within them. For sustained realization of desired outcomes, age-friendly initiatives cannot occur in isolation, but rather must take into account the behaviours and dynamics of the urban system.
Developing urban resilience in Haifa: preparedness to climate change in health and welfare agencies
Authors: Negev M , Levine H , Zohar T , Nouman H , Zohar M , Paz S 
Published: October 2020

Abstract

Background
Extreme climate events (wildfires, floods, heatwaves, cold spells) are becoming more frequent in the Mediterranean, but adaptation levels in the health and welfare sectors remain low. The city of Haifa in northern Israel is prone to both war and extreme climate events. Focusing on Haifa, we aim to 1) examine local officials' risk perceptions of different extreme events, 2) compare preparedness to war vs. climate events, and 3) conduct a spatial analysis of climate and health vulnerabilities.

Methods
Mixed-Methods: a qualitative component including 30 in-depth interviews with local government health and welfare officials, and a qualitative component that includes mapping vulnerability indicators such as socio-economic status, recipients of welfare allowances, and temperature, focusing on urban heat islands.

Results
The city of Haifa developed a comprehensive resilience policy for war and wildfire. However, there is no awareness or preparedness for other climate events that have not yet been experienced. Similarly, hospitals are prepared for emergencies, but not for extreme climate events. There are no national budget or guidelines for climate adaptation at the city level or in hospitals. Correspondingly, risk perceptions of climate change among health and welfare officials remain low. At the city level, social and climatic vulnerabilities are correlated, so that downtown neighborhoods are characterized by poorer socio-economic, health and welfare conditions, and higher summer temperatures.

Conclusions
Haifa has good preparedness for events that had been experienced in the past. While emergency preparedness provides a good infrastructure for climate change preparedness, awareness and adaptation to the unique aspects of climate change preparations are needed, including reference to related spatial dimensions. Identifying the gaps between preparedness to various emergency events, can contribute to better climate change preparedness at the local level.

Key messages
In the city of Haifa, emergency preparedness exists but is not extended to extreme climate events, and awareness to health risks of climate change remains low in the health and welfare agencies. Learning from emergency preparedness to wars, wildfires and earthquakes may contribute to enhancing preparedness to extreme climate events at the local level.
Understanding national barriers to climate change adaptation for public health - a global survey
Authors: Marcus H , Hanna E 
Published: October 2020

Abstract

Background
Climate change has introduced a series of unprecedented threats to human health, ranging from rising food and water insecurity to deteriorating air quality, novel disease outbreaks, and intensifying natural disasters. The Paris Agreement pushes countries to develop adaptation plans that will protect human health from the worst impacts of climate change -a process referred to as climate change adaptation (CCA). Yet despite international pressure and escalating health threats, vast shortcomings persist in national CCA for public health progress. Thus, we investigated the major governance constraints underlying these trends.

Methods
A mixed-methods online survey was distributed to representatives of national public health associations and societies of 82 member countries under the World Federation of Public Health Associations.

Results
9 of the 11 respondent countries (82%) affirmed the existence of a national CCA plan that includes an explicit public health focus. All respondees listed governance challenges in developing and operationalising their national CCA agenda. The major identified barriers to CCA for public health progress were lack of inter-government policy coordination and insufficient political will to mobilize human and non-human resources in support of public health-oriented adaptation efforts.

Conclusions
Climate change-driven amplification of global health risks necessitates that all nations generate clear CCA plans to protect human health. Our findings assist by highlighting the need for new platforms for organizational collaboration/networked governance and enhanced forums for CCA agenda-setting and ambition-raising. Such forms of enriched knowledge may facilitate decision-making amongst key public health stakeholders and global institutions for how best to align climate advocacy and country-wide support initiatives with cross-cutting national needs and constraints.

Key messages
Climate change-driven amplification of global health risks necessitates that all nations generate clear climate change adaptation plans to protect human health. New platforms for organizational collaboration/networked governance and enhanced forums for adaptation agenda-setting and ambition-raising may significantly bolster public health adaptation progress.
Lifestyle habits among a sample of middle school adolescents in Tunisia
Authors: Ben Fredj M , Dhouib W , Kacem M , Bennasrallah C , Dhouib W , Zemni I , Bannour R , Trimech F , Belguith Sriha A 
Published: October 2020

Abstract

Introduction
Adolescent health is a major global concern today. In fact, adolescence is the period of life where different risky behaviors can take hold and is therefore the best prevention phase to guarantee healthy lifestule in adulthood. We aimed to assess the lifestyle of middle school adolescents and to highlight the main behaviors such as the eating habits, the physical activity and the personal hygiene.

Methods
We carried out a cross sectional study among a sample of adolescents from December 2017 to January 2018 and we involved two middle school schools in the region of Monastir in Tunisia. The questionnaire GSHS (the Global school-based student health survey) was used.

Results
In total, 802 participants were enrolled with a mean age of 13.6 ±1.9 years, ranged from 11 to 16 years old. Females represented 51.9% of the study population. More than one third of the students (36%) reported rarely or never eating breakfast with a significant difference in girls more than in boys (62.8% vs 37.2%, p &lt; 10-3). Almost half of students (46.2%) reported drinking sugary sodas at least once a day and 86.3% of them reported consuming fast food more than two times per week. In addition, 59.4% of middle school students reported eating fruit more than twice a day and 24.3% eating vegetables at least three times a day. Regarding physical activity, our results showed that 24.4% of middle school students were physically active (1 hour minimum during the day) every day for the last 7 days, boys more than girls (56.5% vs 43.5%, p = 0.02). In addition, 39.7% of students declared they sit at least three hours a day. As for personal hygiene, our study found that 9.3% of students never, or rarely, washed or brushed their teeth; boys more than girls (69.3% vs 30.7%, p = &lt;0.001).

Conclusions
Our results provide additional evidence on the need to combat sedentary lifestyle and encourage healthy nutrition and physical activity among adolescents.

Key messages
Understanding the health needs and concerns of young people contribute to implement effective health programs. Interventions in young people should act on various aspects of the lifestyle to ensure an optimal effect.
Factors associated with abandonment of exclusive breastfeeding in Veracruz, Mexico
Authors: Alemán Pérez I A , Cervantes Gómez K C , Cosgalla González R I , Tapia Pulido E A , Villegas Domínguez J E , Falcón Correa S G , Landa Santibañez G E 
Published: October 2020

Abstract

Background
Exclusive breastfeeding is a fundamental part in the development of the newborn, however, 40% of babies worldwide receive this form of feeding, while in Mexico we comply with breastfeeding in 14.4% although currently the services of health participating in social security promote exclusive breastfeeding promotion strategies. Research question: What are the factors associated with the abandonment of exclusive breastfeeding in mothers assigned to social security health services in Veracruz, Mexico?

Methods
A cross-sectional, analytical, observational and prospective study was conducted between December 2019 and March 2020. Women who had had children older than 6 months, attached to the Mexican Social Security Institute were included, excluding those who could not breastfeed due to medical indications. A non-probabilistic sampling was obtained. The results were collected and analyzed with the SPSS Statistic® program. We calculted Chi-square test and odds ratios and 95% confidence interval.

Results
176 patients were included, obtaining a prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding of 45.25%. The factors that facilitate the abandonment of breastfeeding were “not producing enough milk” (OR 4.6 IC95% 2.2-9.4) and other personal or family beliefs, both with p &lt; 0.05. The association between abandonment of exclusive breastfeeding and marital status, occupation, family type, number of children, previous history of breastfeeding, pregnancy planning, prenatal consultations, pregnancy termination form, receiving information on breastfeeding by health personnel during their postpartum stay in the hospital, attending breastfeeding training and main source of information on breastfeeding, without being significant for any of these factors.

Conclusions
The factors associated with the abandonment of exclusive breastfeeding are the beliefs of the mother along with those of her family, overcoming the educational actions of the health system and the social conditions of the mother.

Key messages
The educational strategies of the health system should be evaluated, since according to the results it has not yet been possible to sensitize patients about the importance of exclusive breastfeeding. Research on this topic should continue as exclusive breastfeeding brings benefits to the health of the mother, the child and the family as it is also a support for the economy.
Sociodemographic determinants of disability in patients with schizophrenia (Bulgaria, 2018-2019)
Authors: Veleva I , Yankulovska S , Velikova K , Valkova M , Grancharova G 
Published: October 2020

Abstract

Background
Schizophrenia is an increasing public health problem. Despite its low prevalence and mortality, it causes significant disability and has enormous health, social, and economic burden for patients, families, society and health systems worldwide. The aim was to assess the impact of some sociodemographic determinants on disability in patients with paranoid schizophrenia (PS).

Methods
The study includes 108 patients in Psychiatric Clinic at Pleven University Hospital: 66 males and 42 females, mean age 38.9±10.0, duration of disease 12.8±8.2 years; mean onset of disease - 24 years (Me = 25 and Mo = 22). The study was approved by Ethical Committee. The disease burden was assessed by Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (Ð ANSS), and level of disability - by 36-item WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0. Four variables (gender, age, education, type of employment) were chosen and their impact on disability was assessed by one-way ANOVA (F-test), Tukey's NDS test, two-sided t-test, Pierson r. Data processing was performed by IBM SPSS v.24.

Results
The most severe deficits were observed in “getting along with people” (61.34±25.77),”life-activities-household” (55.74±23.45), “participation in society” (53.13±19.12), “understanding and communicating” (41.67±17.67). Age at disease onset and its duration showed weak positive correlation. In most domains, males had higher deficits (р=0.0001). Age had an impact only on “getting around” (r = 0.41;p=0.0001) and “self-care” (r = 0.260;p=0.007). Significant differences (F (2,104)=7.565, p &lt; 0.01) were found between groups by education level and occupation (employed/students, unemployed and disabled) - F (3,103)=16.734; p&lt;0.001.

Conclusions
Sociodemographic factors play a major role for different function domains deficits in PS patients. Most pronounced is the impact of education and occupation. Patients with higher education and those engaged in study or work demonstrate better social functioning than less educated and disabled people.

Key messages
Education is an important protective factor for disability. Lower educational level decreases competitiveness in workforce market, both in general population and in patients with schizophrenia. Sociodemographic determinants should be considered in planning appropriate preventive and rehabilitation activities to stimulate better social functioning and adaptation of PS patients.
Children with weakness in grammar understanding have weakness in visuospatial abilities
Authors: Kiselev S 
Published: October 2020

Abstract

Objectives
Weakness in grammar understanding is key feature of children with specific language impairments (SLI). The goal of this research was to check out the hypothesis that children with weakness in grammar understanding have also weakness in visuospatial abilities.

Methods
The children were assessed with the task 'Comprehension of grammatical structures' from Luria's neuropsychological assessment for children. Experimental group included 27 children with weakness in grammar understanding. The control group included 27 children with typical grammar understanding. The children from experimental and control group were matched for IQ, gender and age. To assess the visuospatial abilities in children we used two tasks from Luria's neuropsychological assessment battery (Constructional Praxis and Head Test) as well as the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure test.

Results
One-way ANOVAs by group revealed significant differences (p ≤ 0,05) between the groups for scores in all visuospatial tasks. It can be assumed that children with weakness in grammar understanding have also weakness in visuospatial functions. We also revealed significant differences (p ≤ 0,05) between the groups for number of spatial errors in the Rey-Osterieth Complex Figure test.

Conclusions
This study suggests that children with weakness in grammar understanding have also weakness in visuospatial abilities. Received results provided insight into cognitive and language mechanisms in typically developing children and the underlying nature of SLI, helping to elucidate the nature of impaired mechanism in children with weakness in grammar understanding.

Key messages
Children with weakness in grammar understanding have weakness in visuospatial abilities. It is possible that children with specific language impairments have deficit in nonverbal abilities.