Interview with Josephine Chau

Josephine Chau was born in Utah, then moved to Colorado at the age of six. She then moved back to Utah for college then moved to the east coast, where she now resides in Maryland. Both her parents are immigrants, her dad is from China and her mom is from Hong Kong. She is bilingual in Chinese and English. Josephine is married with one daughter. She has a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering. Her career was in the information technology department at the University of Maryland. She is now retired.https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/auntiesewing_interviews/1015/thumbnail.jp

Evidence Module: Workplace Physical Activity and Nutrition Interventions.

 This evidence module synthesizes the findings and recommendations from multiple systematic reviews and reports to provide a summary of what works in workplace health promotion programs to physical activity, healthy diet or both, and prevent overweight and obesity

“If money was no object”: A qualitative study of South African university office workers’ perceptions of using height-adjustable sitstand desks

Background: Data from empirical investigations on the feasibility and acceptability of using sit-stand desks in an office-based setting in low- and middle-income settings are limited. Objectives: To explore the perceptions of South African office workers towards using height-adjustable sit-stand desks to reduce sitting time during vocational hours. Methods: Self-reported sedentary behaviour and in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted in December 2020. Thematic content analysis approach was used to develop themes. Results: Eleven office workers with a work-time sitting time of 8 (6-8) hours were interviewed (age 40.5 ± 12.6 years), most (91%) were female. The main themes emerged and included: overall impressions of the height-adjustable sit-stand desks; enablers versus barriers to using the desk and readiness to continue using sit-stand desks. Conclusion: The findings of this research add to the evidence on environmental workstation modifications for reducing sedentary behaviour. Further investigations on the efficacy of sit-stand desks are recommended in South African university office workers

The evolution of time use approaches for understanding activities of daily living in a public health context

This Supplement aims to raise awareness and knowledge of how time use surveys may be applied to studying health behaviours such as physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and eating. This commentary provides an overview and discussion of the papers in this Supplement about time use and health research, and considers possible future directions for the field

Adequacy of clinical information in X-ray referrals for traumatic ankle injury with reference to the Ottawa Ankle Rules-a retrospective clinical audit

Study Objective To assess the adequacy of clinical information with reference to the Ottawa Ankle Rules (OAR) in X-ray referrals for adults with traumatic ankle injury in the ED of a South Australian tertiary hospital and report upon referring trends between emergency department clinicians. Methods A retrospective clinical audit of adult ankle X-ray referrals in the emergency department was conducted. Eligible referrals were screened for their adherence to the OAR, patient details, clinical history and referrer. A logistic regression was used to determine the influence of these factors on the likelihood of being referred for X-rays despite not meeting the OAR criteria. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios and their associated confidence intervals were calculated to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the OAR for those referred. Results Out of the 262 eligible referrals, 163 were deemed to have met the criteria for the OAR. Physiotherapists showed the highest OAR compliance of 77.3% and were the most accurate in their use of the rules, with a sensitivity of 0.86. Medical officers, registrars and interns were 2.5 times more likely to still refer a patient for X-ray if they did not meet the OAR criteria, compared to physiotherapists as the baseline. Patient age, duration of injury etc. were not significantly associated with likelihood of referral (even when they did not meet OAR criteria). The overall sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios of the OAR were 0.59 (95% CI [0.47–0.71]), 0.37 (95% CI [0.30–0.44]), 0.93 (95% CI [0.76–1.16]) and 1.10 (95% CI [0.82–1.48]) respectively. Conclusion The results of this audit demonstrated poor sensitivity and moderate compliance by referrers with the rule. Reasonable evidence exists for the implementation of individual and/or institutional-based change strategies to improve clinician compliance and accuracy with use of the OAR

The prevalence and correlates of sitting in European adults - a comparison of 32 Eurobarometer-participating countries

Background Prolonged sitting is an emerging health risk. However, multi-country comparative sitting data are sparse. This paper reports the prevalence and correlates of sitting time in 32 European countries. Methods Data from the Eurobarometer 64.3 study were used, which included nationally representative samples (n = 304-1,102) from 32 European countries. Face-to-face interviews were conducted during November and December 2005. Usual weekday sitting time was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (short-version). Sitting time was compared by country, age, gender, years of education, general health status, usual activity and physical activity. Multivariable-adjusted analyses assessed the odds of belonging to the highest sitting quartile. Results Data were available for 27,637 adults aged 15–98 years. Overall, mean reported weekday sitting time was 309 min/day (SD 184 min/day). There was a broad geographical pattern and some of the lowest amounts of daily sitting were reported in southern (Malta and Portugal means 194–236 min/day) and eastern (Romania and Hungary means 191–276 min/day) European countries; and some of the highest amounts of daily sitting were reported in northern European countries (Germany, Benelux and Scandinavian countries; means 407–335 min/day). Multivariable-adjusted analyses showed adults with low physical activity levels (OR = 5.10, CI95 = 4.60-5.66), those with high sitting in their main daily activity (OR = 2.99, CI95 = 2.74-3.25), those with a bad/very bad general health state (OR = 1.87, CI95 = 1.63-2.15) and higher education levels (OR = 1.48, CI95 = 1.38-1.59) were more likely to be in the highest quartile of daily sitting time. Adults within Greece (OR = 2.91, CI95 = 2.51-3.36) and Netherlands (OR = 2.56, CI95 = 2.22-2.94) were most likely to be in the highest quartile. High-sit/low-active participants comprised 10.1% of the sample. Adults self-reporting bad/very bad general health state (OR = 4.74, CI95 = 3.97-5.65), those within high sitting in their main daily activities (OR = 2.87, CI95 = 2.52-3.26) and adults aged ≥65 years (OR = 1.53, CI95 = 1.19-1.96) and were more likely to be in the high-sit/low-active group. Conclusions Weekday sitting time and its demographic correlates varied considerably across European countries, with adults in north-western European countries sitting the most. Sitting is prevalent across Europe and merits attention by preventive interventions