An investigation to identify potential risk factors associated with common chronic diseases among the older population in India

© 2017 Indian Journal of Community Medicine. Background: In India, chronic diseases are the leading cause of death and their prevalence has constantly increased over the last decade. Objective: This study aimed to identify risk factors associated with common chronic diseases among people aged 50 years and over in India. Materials and Methods: Data from Wave 1 of the 2007/2008 Indian Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) was used to investigate the association between lifestyle choices and chronic diseases using logistic regression. Result: The fully adjusted model showed that significant independent risk factors for angina included area of residence, being diagnosed with diabetes, chronic lung disease (CLD) [highest odds ratio (OR) 4.77, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.95-7.70] and arthritis. For arthritis, risk factors included having underlying diabetes, CLD diagnosis, or angina (highest OR 2.32, 95% CI: 1.63-3.31). Risk factors associated with CLD included arthritis, angina (highest OR 4.76, 95% CI: 2.94-7.72), alcohol use, and tobacco use. Risk factors associated with diabetes included level of education, area of residence, socioeconomic status, angina (highest OR 3.59, 95% CI: 2.44-5.29), CLD, arthritis, stroke, and vegetable consumption. Finally, risk factors associated with stroke included diabetes and angina (highest OR 3.34, 95% CI: 1.72-6.50). The presence of any other comorbidity was significantly associated with all five chronic diseases studied. Conclusion: The results show that within the older population, the contribution of lifestyle risk factors to the common chronic diseases investigated in this study was limited. Our findings showed that the major health issue within the study population was multimorbidity

An Investigation Into Thermal Comfort In Residential Buildings In The Hot Humid Climate Of Sub-Saharan Africa: A Field Study In Abuja-Nigeria

A field study was conducted to understand the real and preferred conditions of thermal comfort in low-income residential buildings in Abuja, Nigeria. Knowing the temperatures people are experiencing in their houses and the limits which residents can tolerate is a first step to proffer passive solutions to reduce discomfort. During the study, 40 people responded to a post occupancy questionnaire and two households were issued a comfort survey questionnaire. Physical measurements were taken simultaneously during the comfort survey in both an air-conditioned and naturally ventilated residential building. The ASHRAE and air flow sensation scale were chosen as voting scales. The results from this study show that during the monitoring period the average and maximum temperatures in an air conditioned residential building were 31°C and 34°C; and 33°C and 36°C for natural ventilated buildings in Abuja. This compares with the external average and maximum air temperatures of 31°C and 39°C

Modelling Behaviour Change in Online Users: A Study of Influencing Healthier Shopping Habits in E-commerce Shoppers

While a lot of effort and research has gone towards influencing people to be more active with the use of apps, games, and exercise tools not much has been done in influencing people to eat healthy foods, especially by influencing healthy shopping habits. The use of persuasive strategies to change people’s behaviour is an active research area in several domains including e-commerce. Research suggests that persuasive strategies are more effective in bringing about the desired behaviour change when they are tailored to individuals or groups of similar individuals. There is, therefore, a need to identify what factors can be used to tailor persuasive strategies in ecommerce. To fill this gap and to tailor persuasive strategies to consumers, this dissertation proposes two consumer behaviour traits commonly used in consumer studies research: consumers’ need for uniqueness and their need for status (called "status consumption" in the literature), as well as a factor called "shopper type" accounting to the shopper's motivation. Two structural research models were developed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to identify the receptiveness of shoppers to persuasive strategies based on their consumer behaviour trait (consumers’ need for uniqueness and status consumption) and their shopping motivation (shopper types: convenience shoppers, variety seekers, store oriented shoppers, and balanced buyers). These models were tested by conducting a user study of 244 e-commerce shoppers. The results from these models were used to develop ShopRight, a persuasive game to influence behaviour change in e-commerce shoppers and to help them develop healthier shopping habits. To evaluate the game's effectiveness, a study of 305 participants was conducted using a data-driven approach to measure the receptiveness of participants to the persuasive strategies. The findings from this dissertation suggest that consumer behaviour traits and consumer’s online shopping motivation can be used to tailor persuasive strategies in ecommerce and in particular, influence healthy shopping online. This dissertation’s findings also show that tailored persuasive strategies are more likely to bring about a change in attitude or behaviour than non-tailored strategies. Furthermore, a serious game can be used as a learning tool to influence healthy shopping habits, educate shoppers on the nutritional value of foods and show that healthy foods can be purchased on a budget

Penyelenggaraan fasiliti stadium

Penyelenggaraan adalah kerja yang dilakukan untuk memelihara, menjaga, mengendali, memperbaiki dan mengawalselia struktur bangunan, kemudahan, kelengkapan, perkhidmatan bangunan dan persekitaran bagi memastikan bangunan sentiasa berada pada tahap piawaian yang telah ditetapkan. Selain itu, penyelenggaraan juga dapat mempertahankan utiliti dan nilai fasiliti kemudahan serta berada dalam keadaan selamat digunakan

Thermal comfort of occupants during the dry and rainy seasons in Abuja, Nigeria

The paper presents the results of a recent study on the thermal comfort of occupants in four low-income residential buildings, at two different locations, within the hot-humid climate of Abuja. A comfort survey questionnaire was administered to occupants of four casestudies to assess their perception of their thermal environment. Simultaneously, the indoor temperatures and relative humidity of the living room and bedroom spaces were monitored as well as outdoor parameters to evaluate the actual building performance. To support the comfort survey, a post-occupancy survey was carried out to evaluate an additional 86 buildings nearby in the case studies areas. The paper focuses on analysing the thermal conditions of respondents of the post-occupancy survey, the comfort survey and indoor monitoring findings from the case studies. The maximum daytime average temperature of the naturally ventilated buildings was only 2.0°C more than in the air-conditioned buildings. The maximum indoor air temperature in the living spaces during the dry season was 36.8°C(and 26.4% RH) and the minimum 28.4°C (and 66.6% RH),while during the rainy season these were respectively 35.9°C(and 43.7% RH) and the minimum 24.3°C (and 75.5% RH). The results suggest that there was significant thermal discomfort in the low income residential buildings

Essential healthcare services provided to conflict-affected internally displaced populations in low and middle-income countries: A systematic review

Background: Conflict and violent crises have resulted in over 40 million of internally displaced persons (IDPs). Most affected regions lack access to basic health resources and generally rely on humanitarian support. The objective of this review was to appraise primary health service interventions among conflict-induced internally displaced populations in low and middle income countries between 2000 and 2019. Methods: A systematic review of literature in the following databases: Embase, MEDLINE, PsyArticles, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, LILAC and CAB Articles, was performed to identify interventions implemented in conflict IDP settings.Results: Initial searches yielded 4578 papers and 30 studies met the inclusion criteria. Descriptive synthesis analysis was used, and the final selections were assessed using a customized Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist. Included papers were from Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and the Middle East regions. Most studies were on prevention interventions, especially water treatment and maternal health. Treatment interventions mostly focused on on malaria and mental health. Only one food and nutrition study with outcome data was identified, indicating limitations in IDP health-related intervention publications. Reported interventions were conducted between one week to five years, and the study qualities were moderate. The most effective interventions were integrated programmes and common challenges were weak study methodology and data reporting. Conclusion: Regardless of the intervention types and durations, the services offered were beneficial to the IDPs. More intervention evidence are, however required as shown in gaps around food and nutrition, health education and disease surveillance

Comparative Analysis of Custard Produced from Selected Cereals (Guinea Corn, Maize, Rice and Millet)

This study looked at the proximate and organolleptic qualities of custard powder produced from four different cereals (guinea corn, maize, rice and millet). Proximate result ranged between 9.95-14.05%, 1.20-2.78%, 1.10-2.31%, 4.75-5.50%, 7.96-12.88% and 66.49-70.58% for moisture, ash, crude fiber, fat, protein and carbohydrate content respectively. There was significant difference in all the parameters evaluated. Product from guinea corn and Millet compared favourably with the product produced from the conventional cereal (maize). Also, sensory result revealed the preference of consumers for guinea corn and Millet based custard to the conventional primary raw material. The study established the superiority of custard from guinea corn and millet to that produced from maize. Keywords Custard, Maize, Guinea corn, Rice, Mille

Post disaster housing reconstruction framework for flood victims: Lokoja, Kogi State, Nigeria

The Nigerians States in 2012 experienced an unprecedented flood in areas of high risk among which Kogi State is the worst hit. In response to the havoc wreaked on the people and built environment by these floods, Kogi State government embark on post-disaster housing reconstruction (PDHR) projects which are supposed to give succor to the beneficiaries and better their lives. However, its failure has been imminent due to inadequate attention given to vital strategies contributing to the effectiveness of reconstruction strategies in Nigeria. Objectives of the study were to investigate the current community involvement in PDHR, identify community perception on PDHR, assess the impacts of the identified vital strategies on PDHR, and propose and validate PDHR framework for flood victims in Lokoja, Nigeria. The study approach was quantitative. Simple random sampling was used to administer structured questionnaires to a total of 400 houses, out of which 257 valid questionnaires constituting 64% from the population of 2012 flood victims at Lokoja metropolis, Nigeria was used in the analysis. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21 and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling Software, SmartPLS 3.0. Results showed that community involvement in the housing reconstruction is insignificant especially in risk assessment and flood information gathering (1.94), collaboration with the community (1.80), and the consequence was dissatisfaction with the reconstruction process (1.96), and reconstructed houses (2.18). The models revealed that the identified strategies jointly explained about 26.6% of the variance in effective PDHR. Furthermore, mediation analysis showed that community satisfaction with reconstruction strategies mediated adequately (T-value=2.413 and P-value=0.016; T-value=2.075 and P-value=0.038). Therefore, the study concluded with emphasis on the importance of community involvement in the identified strategies as it will significantly influence beneficiaries’ satisfaction and perception on PDHR projects. Moreover, it will add value to the reconstruction process and reconstruction products thereby enhancing the sustainability of the projects and provide a disaster resilient community in Nigeria. Based on that, a PDHR framework for flood victims in Nigeria was proposed and then validated by appropriate stakeholders

Thermal Comfort in a Hot-Humid Climate Through Passive Cooling in Low-Income Residential Buildings in Abuja, Nigeria

The research investigates the thermal performance of residential buildings in Abuja, Nigeria during the dry and rainy seasons. A field study was conducted to understand the real and preferred conditions of thermal comfort in low-income residential buildings, which represent the largest single housing sector. Knowing the temperatures people are experiencing in their houses and the limits that residents can tolerate is a first step to proffer passive solutions to reduce discomfort and energy demand and then satisfy the energy demand passively. During the survey, 222 people responded to a post occupancy questionnaire and for the ten selected case study dwellings, a comfort survey questionnaire was used. Physical measurements were taken simultaneously during the comfort survey in both air-conditioned and naturally ventilated residential buildings. The ASHRAE and air flow sensation scales were chosen as voting scales. This survey further looked at possible barriers to the implementation of more sustainable approaches that would enhance passive solutions in Nigeria, since the conventional means of cooling in this hot-humid climate is becoming expensive and less satisfactory. The results from the study showed that during the dry season monitoring period, the average and maximum temperatures in the air-conditioned case studies were 32°C and 34°C; and 31°C and 36°C for the naturally ventilated buildings. This compares with the external average and maximum air temperatures of 31°C and more than 40°C. Dynamic simulation modelling was used to reveal the sensitivity of the cooling loads to various thermal interventions (e.g. insulation and shading) in the case study buildings. The optimum passive cooling intervention (involving roof and wall insulation and shading) proved to be effective in reducing the indoor maximum temperatures by more than 5°C for naturally ventilated cases and the cooling load. This translates to a monthly cost saving in the air-conditioned model of N8,110 (£16.97) which is significant compared to the Nigerian National Minimum Wage of N18,000 (£37.66). This study makes a significant contribution to understanding the real and ideal thermal conditions occupants experience in low and middle income residential buildings in Abuja and demonstrates the effectiveness of passive interventions in reducing indoor temperatures and cooling loads