Lifelong socioeconomic position and physical performance in midlife: results from the British 1946 birth cohort

Socioeconomic position (SEP) across life is found to be related to adult physical performance, but the underlying pathways are not well characterized. Using a British birth cohort (N = 2956), the associations of SEP from childhood into midlife with objective physical performance measures in midlife were examined, adjusting for possible confounders or mediators, including indicators of muscle development and central nervous system function. Childhood and adulthood SEP were positively related to standing balance and chair rise performance, but not to grip strength after basic adjustments. When both father’s occupation and mother’s education were included in the same model, having a mother with low education was associated with 0.6 standard deviations (SD) (95% confidence interval (CI: 0.3, 0.8)) poorer standing balance time compared with having a mother with the highest educational level, and having a father in the lowest occupational group was associated with a 0.3 SD (95% CI: 0.1, 0.6) lower chair rise score compared with having a father in the highest occupational group. These associations were maintained, albeit attenuated, after adjustment. In contrast, the associations of own education and adult occupation with physical performance were generally not maintained after adjustment. SEP across life impacts on midlife physical performance, and thereby the ageing process

Knowledge and practices of tobacco dependence treatment among junior doctors in a Malaysian teaching hospital

Introduction: Junior doctors are ideally placed to assist smokers quit yet little is known about their knowledge and practices. Aims: To determine knowledge and practices in providing smoking cessation support, among junior doctors in a Malaysian teaching hospital. Methods: In 2012, all junior doctors at University Malaya Medical Centre were invited to complete a self-administered questionnaire. The data were collated and analysed using standard descriptive methods. Results/Findings: Seventy per cent (n = 122/173) of those eligible completed the questionnaire, 71 reporting cessation training at medical school. Most (90) asked patients their smoking status but only 52 asked about quitting. Sixty-one per cent lacked confidence in providing assistance to quit, especially female doctors (70.8, p<0.01). Most (80) were unaware of local cessation clinics, and over half (59) were unaware of the existence of guidelines for smoking cessation (p<0.001). Conclusions: Asking about smoking was undertaken at satisfactory levels, but low knowledge, confidence and skills among this group of junior doctors indicates that cessation education should be included in undergraduate and in postgraduate curriculum training programmes. Awareness of specialist services and guidelines should be raised. Our findings are unlikely to be unique to this hospital, suggesting the need for a nationally consistent approach