Le paludisme urbain à Brazzaville : hétérogénéité locale, enjeu global: De la géographie du risque aux stratégies de lutte antipaludique

National audienceMalaria is still a sanitary curse in many sub‐Saharan countries. In central Africa, this disease is the first cause of mortality and one of the first causes of children'mortality. In Brazzaville, this sanitary issue is not solved at all. In Brazzaville, the capital of Congo, the malaria transmission is high and permanent all over the year. The aim of this study is to analyze the geographical impact of the control measures of malaria risk. This analysis enables to mix world and local observation scales in order to establish whether the nature of those control measures is complementary. Another sensitive question which has to be studied in order to consider all the factors responsible for the disease persistence, is: the correlation between disease and the social and political context. Twelve years of war, a delay in development and above all a health sector with a lack of medical staff, in addition to poor infrastructures and limited investments, are among the major causes of the malaria burden in Central Africa. The sanitary strategies must be regarded as primordial in the struggle against disease.Le paludisme reste encore une urgence sanitaire dans beaucoup de pays du monde, particulièrement en Afrique Centrale où cette maladie est la première cause de morbidité et une des premières causes de mortalité infantile. À Brazzaville, capitale du Congo, ce problème de santé est loin d'être résolu et la transmission reste permanente tout au long de l'année. L'enjeu de cette étude est d'analyser l'impact géographique des mesures de contrôle du risque paludique. Une analyse transversale basée sur un jeu d'échelles du global au local permettrait de constater la nature complémentaire ou non des politiques sanitaires mises en place. Enfin, pour explorer la globalité des facteurs responsables de la persistance de la pathologie, un dernier point mérite d'être étudié : la relation entre la maladie et son contexte social et politique. Douze ans de guerre, un retard de développement et un secteur de la santé souffrant de manque de personnels, d'infrastructures défectueuses et de peu d'investissements sont autant d'éléments responsables du fardeau socio‐économique que représente le paludisme en Afrique Centrale. Les stratégies de santé doivent donc être considérées comme primordiales dans la lutte contre cette pathologie

Accounting for residential and non-residential environments to measure contextual effects on health behavior : the case of recreational walking behavior

Thèse réalisée en cotutelle entre l'Université de Montréal et l'Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris 06, Sorbonne Universités.Contexte : Les études portant sur les effets de l’environnement sur la santé ont essentiellement examiné les effets de l’environnement résidentiel. Cette approche a été critiquée pour son absence de prise en compte des environnements géographiques de vie non-résidentiels (c.-à-d. le travail, l’école, les lieux récréatifs et sociaux, etc.). Alors que la mobilité est un déterminant clé de l’exposition, peu d’études ont examiné les mobilités quotidiennes pour évaluer les effets du milieu sur la santé. Objectifs : L’objectif général de cette thèse est d’évaluer si la prise en compte des lieux d’activité dans lesquels les individus se déplacent et sont régulièrement exposés permet de mieux estimer l’impact de l’environnement sur la pratique de la marche récréative. Les objectifs spécifiques de la thèse sont : i) identifier les différents types de comportement spatiaux des individus vivants en région Île-de-France et leurs déterminants sociodémographiques ; ii) évaluer si l’exposition à des facteurs environnementaux facilitant la marche diffère en fonction de la définition géographique de la zone d’exposition et varie en fonction du niveau socio-économique et de la localisation de la résidence dans la région Île-de-France ; iii) évaluer les caractéristiques environnementales, résidentielles et non-résidentielles, associées à la pratique de la marche récréative. Méthodes : Trois études transversales ont été conduites sur la seconde vague de la Cohorte RECORD (Residential Environment and CORonary heart Disease). Les lieux d’activité réguliers des participants, ainsi que la délimitation de leur quartier résidentiel perçu ont été collectés grâce à l’application VERITAS (Visualization and Evaluation of Regular Individual Travel destinations and Activity Spaces). Résultats : La première étude a permis d’identifier une typologie des comportements de mobilité individuels caractérisés par : i) la taille de l’espace d’activité, ii) l’élongation de l’espace d’activité, iii) le centrage de l’espace d’activité sur le quartier de résidence, iv) le volume d’activités, et v) les types d’activités réalisées. Le statut socio-économique et la localisation de la résidence dans l’agglomération parisienne sont apparus comme de forts déterminants du comportement spatial. Les résultats de la deuxième étude montrent que l’exposition à des caractéristiques environnementales facilitant la marche diffère entre le quartier de résidence, le quartier résidentiel perçu, et l’espace d’activité. L’erreur de mesure liée à la seule prise en compte de mesures d’exposition résidentielle varie en fonction des groupes socio-économiques et des degrés d’urbanisation de la résidence dans la région Île-de-France. Dans la troisième étude, une densité de destinations élevée, la présence de lacs ou de voies d’eau et un niveau d’éducation élevé du quartier sont associés à une augmentation de la pratique de la marche récréative. Enfin, cette étude montre une forte influence des caractéristiques environnementales autour de la résidence et des lieux d’activité récréatifs sur la pratique de la marche récréative. Conclusion : Cette thèse souligne l’importance de prendre en compte les environnements géographiques de vie résidentiels et non-résidentiels pour i) mieux approximer l’exposition environnementale réelle, ii) évaluer les effets de l’environnement sur les comportements de santé. Afin d’approfondir les mécanismes par lesquels l’environnement influence la pratique de l’activité physique, il apparait pertinent d’examiner conjointement où les individus se déplacent, mais également ce que les individus font, en termes de types d’activité et de contraintes liées aux activités réalisées. Identifier quels lieux d’activité ont le plus d’influence sur la pratique de l’activité physique contribue à cibler des contextes géographiques prioritaires pour les interventions en promotion de la santé.Background: Previous studies on place effect on health focused on the residential neighborhood. This approach was criticized for not considering non-residential geographic life environments. While mobility is a key determinant of exposure, few studies accounted for daily mobility to evaluate environmental effects on health. Purpose: The overarching aim of this dissertation is to estimate whether accounting for people’s network of activity places and their resulting exposure allows improving the understanding of environmental influences on recreational walking behavior. The specific objectives are: i) to identify types of spatial behavior of individuals living in the Ile-de-France region and their socio-demographic correlates; ii) to assess whether the exposure to supportive walking environments differs depending on the geographic definition of the exposure area and varies by the socioeconomic status and the degree of urbanicity; iii) to evaluate which residential and non-residential neighborhood characteristics are associated with recreational walking. Methods: Three cross sectional studies were conducted on the second wave of the RECORD Cohort Study (Residential Environment and CORonary heart Disease). Information on participants’ regular activity places and perceived residential neighborhood were collected through the VERITAS application (Visualization and Evaluation of Regular Individual Travel destinations and Activity Spaces). Result: In the first study, I identified a typology of individuals’ patterns of mobility characterized by: i) the size of the activity space, ii) the elongation of the activity space, iii) the centering of the activity space on the residential neighborhood, iv) the volume of activity, and v) the type of activity performed. The individual-level socio-economic status and degree of urbanicity of the place of residence in the Ile-de-France region are strong determinants of individuals’ spatial behavior. Results from the second study provide evidence that exposure to environmental characteristics supportive to walking highly differs between the residential neighborhood, the perceived residential neighborhood and the activity space. The measurement error resulting from the sole use of residential measures of exposure varies among SES groups and among categories of the degree of urbanicity of the residence. In the third empirical study a high density of destinations, the presence of a lake or waterway, and a high neighborhood education are associated with recreational walking. Finally, this study provides evidence of a strong influence of the environmental condition around the home and the recreational activity locations on the practice of recreational walking. Conclusion: This dissertation strengthen the conceptual grounds and empirical evidence that accounting for both residential and non-residential geographical environments individual get exposed is required to i) better proxy the true environmental exposure, ii) estimate environmental influences on health behaviors. In order to investigate the mechanisms through which environmental exposure influence physical activity, it is relevant to examine where people go, and what people actually do in terms of type of activity and constraints related to the activity performed. Identifying which activity places is most influential on physical activity informs on the geographical contexts health promotion interventions should target

Longitudinal study of changes in greenness exposure, physical activity and sedentary behavior in the ORISCAV-LUX cohort study

Background: Greenness exposure has been associated with many health benefits, for example through the pathway of providing opportunities for physical activity (PA). Beside the limited body of longitudinal research, most studies overlook to what extent different types of greenness exposures may be associated with varying levels of PA and sedentary behavior (SB). In this study, we investigated associations of greenness characterized by density, diversity and vegetation type with self-reported PA and SB over a 9-year period, using data from the ORISCAV-LUX study (2007–2017, n = 628). Methods: The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) short form was used to collect PA and SB outcomes. PA was expressed as MET-minutes/week and log-transformed, and SB was expressed as sitting time in minutes/day. Geographic Information Systems (ArcGIS Pro, ArcMap) were used to collect the following exposure variables: Tree Cover Density (TCD), Soil-adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), and Green Land Use Mix (GLUM). The exposure variables were derived from publicly available sources using remote sensing and cartographic resources. Greenness exposure was calculated within 1000m street network buffers around participants’ exact residential address. Results: Using Random Effects Within-Between (REWB) models, we found evidence of negative within-individual associations of TCD with PA (β = − 2.60, 95% CI − 4.75; − 0.44), and negative between-individual associations of GLUM and PA (β = − 2.02, 95% CI − 3.73; − 0.32). There was no evidence for significant associations between greenness exposure and SB. Significant interaction effects by sex were present for the associations between TCD and both PA and SB. Neighborhood socioeconomic status (NSES) did not modify the effect of greenness exposure on PA and SB in the 1000 m buffer. Discussion: Our results showed that the relationship between greenness exposure and PA depended on the type of greenness measure used, which stresses the need for the use of more diverse and complementary greenness measures in future research. Tree vegetation and greenness diversity, and changes therein, appeared to relate to PA, with distinct effects among men and women. Replication studies are needed to confirm the relevance of using different greenness measures to understand its’ different associations with PA and SB.</p

The Use of Social Media for Health Research Purposes: Scoping Review.

peer reviewed[en] BACKGROUND: As social media are increasingly used worldwide, more and more scientists are relying on them for their health-related projects. However, social media features, methodologies, and ethical issues are unclear so far because, to our knowledge, there has been no overview of this relatively young field of research. OBJECTIVE: This scoping review aimed to provide an evidence map of the different uses of social media for health research purposes, their fields of application, and their analysis methods. METHODS: We followed the scoping review methodologies developed by Arksey and O'Malley and the Joanna Briggs Institute. After developing search strategies based on keywords (eg, social media, health research), comprehensive searches were conducted in the PubMed/MEDLINE and Web of Science databases. We limited the search strategies to documents written in English and published between January 1, 2005, and April 9, 2020. After removing duplicates, articles were screened at the title and abstract level and at the full text level by two independent reviewers. One reviewer extracted data, which were descriptively analyzed to map the available evidence. RESULTS: After screening 1237 titles and abstracts and 407 full texts, 268 unique papers were included, dating from 2009 to 2020 with an average annual growth rate of 32.71% for the 2009-2019 period. Studies mainly came from the Americas (173/268, 64.6%, including 151 from the United States). Articles used machine learning or data mining techniques (60/268) to analyze the data, discussed opportunities and limitations of the use of social media for research (59/268), assessed the feasibility of recruitment strategies (45/268), or discussed ethical issues (16/268). Communicable (eg, influenza, 40/268) and then chronic (eg, cancer, 24/268) diseases were the two main areas of interest. CONCLUSIONS: Since their early days, social media have been recognized as resources with high potential for health research purposes, yet the field is still suffering from strong heterogeneity in the methodologies used, which prevents the research from being compared and generalized. For the field to be fully recognized as a valid, complementary approach to more traditional health research study designs, there is now a need for more guidance by types of applications of social media for health research, both from a methodological and an ethical perspective. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR2-10.1136/bmjopen-2020-040671

Longitudinal study of changes in greenness exposure, physical activity and sedentary behavior in the ORISCAV-LUX cohort study

Background: Greenness exposure has been associated with many health benefits, for example through the pathway of providing opportunities for physical activity (PA). Beside the limited body of longitudinal research, most studies overlook to what extent different types of greenness exposures may be associated with varying levels of PA and sedentary behavior (SB). In this study, we investigated associations of greenness characterized by density, diversity and vegetation type with self-reported PA and SB over a 9-year period, using data from the ORISCAV-LUX study (2007–2017, n = 628). Methods: The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) short form was used to collect PA and SB outcomes. PA was expressed as MET-minutes/week and log-transformed, and SB was expressed as sitting time in minutes/day. Geographic Information Systems (ArcGIS Pro, ArcMap) were used to collect the following exposure variables: Tree Cover Density (TCD), Soil-adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), and Green Land Use Mix (GLUM). The exposure variables were derived from publicly available sources using remote sensing and cartographic resources. Greenness exposure was calculated within 1000m street network buffers around participants’ exact residential address. Results: Using Random Effects Within-Between (REWB) models, we found evidence of negative within-individual associations of TCD with PA (β = − 2.60, 95% CI − 4.75; − 0.44), and negative between-individual associations of GLUM and PA (β = − 2.02, 95% CI − 3.73; − 0.32). There was no evidence for significant associations between greenness exposure and SB. Significant interaction effects by sex were present for the associations between TCD and both PA and SB. Neighborhood socioeconomic status (NSES) did not modify the effect of greenness exposure on PA and SB in the 1000 m buffer. Discussion: Our results showed that the relationship between greenness exposure and PA depended on the type of greenness measure used, which stresses the need for the use of more diverse and complementary greenness measures in future research. Tree vegetation and greenness diversity, and changes therein, appeared to relate to PA, with distinct effects among men and women. Replication studies are needed to confirm the relevance of using different greenness measures to understand its’ different associations with PA and SB.</p

A systematic review of correlates of sedentary behaviour in adults aged 18–65 years: a socio-ecological approach

Background: Recent research shows that sedentary behaviour is associated with adverse cardio-metabolic consequences even among those considered sufficiently physically active. In order to successfully develop interventions to address this unhealthy behaviour, factors that influence sedentariness need to be identified and fully understood. The aim of this review is to identify individual, social, environmental, and policy-related determinants or correlates of sedentary behaviours among adults aged 18-65 years. Methods: PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Web of Science were searched for articles published between January 2000 and September 2015. The search strategy was based on four key elements and their synonyms: (a) sedentary behaviour (b) correlates (c) types of sedentary behaviours (d) types of correlates. Articles were included if information relating to sedentary behaviour in adults (18-65 years) was reported. Studies on samples selected by disease were excluded. The full protocol is available from PROSPERO (PROSPERO 2014:CRD42014009823). Results: 74 original studies were identified out of 4041: 71 observational, two qualitative and one experimental study. Sedentary behaviour was primarily measured as self-reported screen leisure time and total sitting time. In 15 studies, objectively measured total sedentary time was reported: accelerometry (n = 14) and heart rate (n = 1). Individual level factors such as age, physical activity levels, body mass index, socio-economic status and mood were all significantly correlated with sedentariness. A trend towards increased amounts of leisure screen time was identified in those married or cohabiting while having children resulted in less total sitting time. Several environmental correlates were identified including proximity of green space, neighbourhood walkability and safety and weather. Conclusions: Results provide further evidence relating to several already recognised individual level factors and preliminary evidence relating to social and environmental factors that should be further investigated. Most studies relied upon cross-sectional design limiting causal inference and the heterogeneity of the sedentary measures prevented direct comparison of findings. Future research necessitates longitudinal study designs, exploration of policy-related factors, further exploration of environmental factors, analysis of inter-relationships between identified factors and better classification of sedentary behaviour domains

A life course examination of the physical environmental determinants of physical activity behaviour: A “Determinants of Diet and Physical Activity” (DEDIPAC) umbrella systematic literature review

Background: Participation in regular physical activity is associated with a multitude of health benefits across the life course. However, many people fail to meet PA recommendations. Despite a plethora of studies, the evidence regarding the environmental (physical) determinants of physical activity remains inconclusive. Objective: To identify the physical environmental determinants that influence PA across the life course. Methods: An online systematic literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, ISI Web of Science, Scopus and SPORTDiscus. The search was limited to studies published in English (January 2004 to April 2016). Only systematic literature reviews (SLRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) of observational studies, that investigated the association between physical determinants and physical activity outcomes, were eligible for inclusion. The extracted data were assessed on the importance of determinants, strength of evidence and methodological quality. Results: The literature search identified 28 SLRs and 3 MAs on 67 physical environmental characteristics potentially related to physical activity that were eligible for inclusion. Among preschool children, a positive association was reported between availability of backyard space and outdoor toys/equipment in the home and overall physical activity. The availability of physical activity programs and equipment within schools, and neighbourhood features such as pedestrian and cyclist safety structure were positively associated with physical activity in children and adolescents. Negative street characteristics, for example, lack of sidewalks and streetlights, were negatively associated with physical activity in adults. Inconsistent associations were reported for the majority of reviewed determinants in adults. Conclusion: This umbrella SLR provided a comprehensive overview of the physical environment determinants of physical activity across the life course and has highlighted, particularly amongst youth, a number of key determinants that may be associated with overall physical activity. Given the limited evidence drawn mostly from cross-sectional studies, longitudinal studies are needed to further explore these associations. Registration: PROSPERO CRD42015010616

Socio-cultural determinants of physical activity across the life course: A \u27Determinants of Diet and Physical Activity\u27 (DEDIPAC) umbrella systematic literature review

Objective: Regular physical activity (PA) reduces the risk of disease and premature death. Knowing factors associated with PA might help reducing the disease and economic burden caused by low activity. Studies suggest that socio-cultural factors may affect PA, but systematic overviews of findings across the life course are scarce. This umbrella systematic literature review (SLR) summarizes and evaluates available evidence on socio-cultural determinants of PA in children, adolescents, and adults. Methods: This manuscript was drafted following the recommendations of the \u27Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses\u27 (PRISMA) checklist. The MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus databases were searched for SLRs and meta-analyses (MAs) on observational studies published in English that assessed PA determinants between January 2004 and April 2016. The methodological quality was assessed and relevant information on socio-cultural determinants and any associations with PA was extracted. The available evidence was evaluated based on the importance of potential determinants and the strength of the evidence. Results: Twenty SLRs and three MAs encompassing 657 eligible primary studies investigated potential socio-cultural PA determinants, with predominantly moderate methodological quality. Twenty-nine potential PA determinants were identified that were primarily assessed in children and adolescents and investigated the micro-environmental home/household level. We found probable evidence that receiving encouragement from significant others and having a companion for PA were associated with higher PA in children and adolescents, and that parental marital status (living with partner) and experiencing parental modeling were not associated with PA in children. Evidence for the other potential determinants was limited, suggestive, or non-conclusive. In adults, quantitative and conclusive data were scarce. Conclusions: A substantial number of SLRs and MAs investigating potential socio-cultural determinants of PA were identified. Our data suggest that receiving social support from significant others may increase PA levels in children and adolescents, whereas parental marital status is not a determinant in children. Evidence for other potential determinants was limited. This was mainly due to inconsistencies in results on potential socio-cultural determinants of PA across reviews and studies. Trial registrations: This umbrella SLR was recorded on PROSPERO (Record ID: CRD42015010616)