Validation of the exercise self-efficacy scale (ESE-S) for increased adherence to physical activity

Background: Various self-efficacy instruments have been used to predict exercise behavior. Many of these scales have been shown tobe valid and reliable measures for the strength dimension of self-efficacy, but have overlooked the construct’s dimensions of magnitude and generality. This study established the Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale (ESE-S), a measure of the strength, generality, and magnitude dimensions of exercise self-efficacy, as a valid tool towards the promotion and adherence of routine physical activity.Methods: Using a non-experimental, cross-sectional design, the ESE-S was administered to individuals aged 18 and older (n=270) whowere conveniently recruited from a large city located in Ohio. Participants were employees of a large, national company and consentedto participate in an employee wellness campaign over a two-day period. Participants completed the 24-item ESE-S onetime and demographic data were not collected. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the 4-factor hypothesized structure of the ESE-S.Results: The confirmatory analysis showed that the data did not conform to the factorial structure as originally hypothesized, but didretain a 4-four factor solution. Final factors identified from the confirmatory analysis were internal strength, external strength, generality, and magnitude.Conclusions: This study confirmed a 4-factor, 21-item factorial structure. Although the structure differed from that hypothesized, theresults showed that the tool was a valid and reliable instrument to measure the dimensions of exercise self-efficacy commonly overlooked within the literature. Public health professionals and researchers can use the instrument to measure exercise self-efficacy and develop self-efficacy based exercise promotion programs

Exploration of provider exercise prescriptions and exercise referrals to place or professional: A pilot survey research study

Background: Physical inactivity contributes to roughly $28 billion in annual US health care expenditures, although few US-based providers write exercise prescriptions (EPs). Little research has explored the practice of provider referrals to places for exercise as part of an EP or part of general exercise counseling, despite the known relationship between place and health. The purpose of this pilot study, conducted with Northeast Ohio-based providers, was to assess a new instrument designed to explore provider practices related to EP and referral to place and professional.Methods: The 88-item survey combined standardized and new items to fully address the purpose. Providers were surveyed via paper and online methods. Logistic regression was conducted to explore factors related to referrals to a specific place or exercise professional.Results: Of 166 providers who completed the survey, 14.8% of prescribed exercise to patients and 54.3% referred patients to an exercise professional or specific place. Logistic regression analysis suggested that physicians who prescribed exercise were more likely to provide a referral to professional or place (OR = 6.12, 95% CI = 1.36 – 27.47) while physicians who had accurate knowledge of exercise recommendations were less likely to provide a referral to a professional or place (OR = 0.15, 95% CI = 0.04 – 0.57).Conclusions: A key reason for failure to prescribe place-based exercise referrals was provider unfamiliarity with convenient and safelocations other than health system owned fitness facilities, so provision of exercise location resources for providers potentially willincrease use of EPs

Skin Cancer Knowledge, Beliefs, Self-Efficacy, and Preventative Behaviors among North Mississippi Landscapers

There are slightly over one million workers in the landscape service industry in the US. These workers have potential for high levels of solar ultraviolet radiation exposure, increasing their risk of skin cancer. A cross-sectional sample of 109 landscapers completed a self-administered questionnaire based on Health Belief Model (HBM). The participants correctly answered 67.1% of the knowledge questions, 69.7% believed they were more likely than the average person to get skin cancer, and 87.2% perceived skin cancer as a severe disease. Participants believed that the use of wide-brimmed hats, long sleeved shirts/long pants, and sunscreen was beneficial but reported low usage of these and other sun protective strategies. The primary barriers to using sun protection were “I forget to wear it” and “it is too hot to wear.” Of the HBM variables, perceived benefits outweighing perceived barrier (, ) and self-efficacy (, ) were correlated with sun protection behaviors. The reasons for absence of the relationship between perceived skin cancer threat and sun protection behaviors could be lack of skin cancer knowledge and low rate of personal skin cancer history

Development of the Rural Active Living Perceived Environmental Support Scale (RALPESS)

Background: Evidence supports the role of physical and social environments in active living, including perception of environment. However, measurement of perceived environments in rural settings is lacking. This study describes the development of the Rural Active Living Perceived Environmental Support Scale (RALPESS). Methods: Premised on social ecological and cognitive perspectives, 85 initial items were generated through a literature review and a mixed-methods investigation of activity-friendly environments. Items were organized by resource areas town center, indoor and outdoor physical activity areas, schools, churches, and areas around the home/neighborhood-and submitted for expert panel review. In 2009, a revised questionnaire was disseminated to adolescents, parents, public school staff, and older adults in 2 rural southeastern United States counties. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation was used to explore factor structure (n = 542). Results: The final analysis yielded 33 items with 7 factors: 1) church facilities, 2) town center connectivity, 3) indoor areas, 4) around the home/neighborhood, 5) town center physical activity resources, 6) school grounds, and 7) outdoor areas. Conclusions: The RALPESS is a valid, internally consistent, and practically useful instrument to measure perceptions of rural environments in the context of physical activity across the lifespan. Confirmatory factor analysis is recommended to validate factor structure

A communal catalogue reveals Earth's multiscale microbial diversity

Our growing awareness of the microbial world's importance and diversity contrasts starkly with our limited understanding of its fundamental structure. Despite recent advances in DNA sequencing, a lack of standardized protocols and common analytical frameworks impedes comparisons among studies, hindering the development of global inferences about microbial life on Earth. Here we present a meta-analysis of microbial community samples collected by hundreds of researchers for the Earth Microbiome Project. Coordinated protocols and new analytical methods, particularly the use of exact sequences instead of clustered operational taxonomic units, enable bacterial and archaeal ribosomal RNA gene sequences to be followed across multiple studies and allow us to explore patterns of diversity at an unprecedented scale. The result is both a reference database giving global context to DNA sequence data and a framework for incorporating data from future studies, fostering increasingly complete characterization of Earth's microbial diversity.Peer reviewe

A communal catalogue reveals Earth’s multiscale microbial diversity

Our growing awareness of the microbial world’s importance and diversity contrasts starkly with our limited understanding of its fundamental structure. Despite recent advances in DNA sequencing, a lack of standardized protocols and common analytical frameworks impedes comparisons among studies, hindering the development of global inferences about microbial life on Earth. Here we present a meta-analysis of microbial community samples collected by hundreds of researchers for the Earth Microbiome Project. Coordinated protocols and new analytical methods, particularly the use of exact sequences instead of clustered operational taxonomic units, enable bacterial and archaeal ribosomal RNA gene sequences to be followed across multiple studies and allow us to explore patterns of diversity at an unprecedented scale. The result is both a reference database giving global context to DNA sequence data and a framework for incorporating data from future studies, fostering increasingly complete characterization of Earth’s microbial diversity

Experiences of hand hygiene among acute care nurses: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

Objective: Occurrences of healthcare-associated infections are associated with substantial direct and indirect costs. Improvement in hand hygiene among acute care nurses has potential to reduce incidence of healthcare-associated infections. Findings from reviews of intervention research have not conclusively identified components that are more or less efficient or effective. Much prior qualitative research has focused on descriptive analysis of policies and practices rather than providing interpretive explorations of how individuals’ perceptions of hygiene might drive practices. Methods: We conducted qualitative interview research with eight nurses in the United States who were employed in various patient-care roles. We analyzed the data using an interpretative phenomenological analysis methodology to explore how nurses described their perceptions of, and experiences with, hygiene. We developed themes that explored individual, workplace, and management influences on perception of hygiene. Results: Developed themes include practical hygiene , risky business , and hygiene on trial ; the latter theme described the conflict between how nurses perceived their own hygiene practices and how they felt hospital management perceived these practices. Other findings included that participants distinguished between policy-mandated use of sanitizer and a personal sense of cleanliness; the latter was more likely to be associated with scrubbing or removal of contaminants than with use of protectants. Conclusion: While participants asserted support for facility hand hygiene policies, their behavior in certain instances might be mediated by broadly defined emergent situations and a belief that it is not currently possible to establish a causal link between an healthcare-associated infections and a specific individual or occurrence. Researchers and infection prevention practitioners might consider soliciting greater input from nurses in planning hand hygiene improvement interventions, to encourage ownership, and emphasizing detailed cases as training content to take advantage of individuals’ sensory responses to hygiene

Factors Associated with the Presence of Strong Social Supports in Bhutanese Refugee Women During Pregnancy

Social support may mitigate stress related to the refugee experience, including during resettlement. For refugee women, social support can play an important role during pregnancy. In-depth interviews were conducted within a sample of 45 Bhutanese refugee women. Perceived social support was measured using the Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire. Averaged social support scores are reported to account for personal network size. Participants were identified as “low support” and “high support” based on their reported score. The mean social support score reported was 18.9. Participants experiencing a secondary resettlement within the U.S. were 4.52 (95% CI 1.19–17.15) times as likely to report a “high support” network compared to participants who resettled directly from Nepal. Personal social networks are an important source of support for resettled refugee women during pregnancy in the U.S.. Refugee women who experience secondary resettlement may perceive stronger support from their personal connections

Sociodemographic and psychological correlates of sun protection behaviors among outdoor workers: a review

Outdoor workers are at a higher risk for developing skin cancer due to their increased sun exposure. The primary objective of this review was to synthesize the current research literature that addresses sociodemographic and psychological factors related to sun protection behaviors in outdoor workers. Two additional purposes were to provide an overview of sun exposure and describe sun protection behaviors of outdoor workers. To identify the studies for this review, a methodical search was performed in the PubMed, PsycInfo, MEDLINE, and ERIC databases. Fifteen studies met the review criteria. Despite regular and prolonged sun exposure, many outdoor workers fail to engage in sufficient sun protection behaviors. Correlates of outdoor workers' sun protection behaviors include being female, older age, being white, personal skin cancer history, time (hours/years) spent at work, sun safety training, perceived prioritization of sun protection, concern about sun exposure, workplace support, families' expectations, and familial information giving. However, limited attention is given to designing theoretically grounded studies to identify factors to inform future research. There is a need to conduct research based on solid theoretical foundations that explains the relationships among the factors in this domain

Predictors of Bone Mineral Density in African-American and Caucasian College Aged Women

Background: Research regarding risk factors and prevalence of low bone min-eral density (BMD) among African-American and Caucasian college-aged wom-en are limited. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine if selected predictors of BMD in African-American and Caucasian college-aged women differ by race.Methods: A total of 101 local African-American (n=50) and Caucasian (n=51) females, ages 18 to 30 years, were in this study. All data were collected in the Bone Density and Body Composition Laboratory. BMD was measured using DXA technology. Race, family history of osteoporosis, BMI, current physical activity, osteoporosis knowledge, length of time on oral contraceptives, age at menarche and calcium intake were included in the multiple regression analyses with spinal and femoral BMD as dependent variables.Results: Overall, 38.6% had low spinal BMD and 7.9% had low femoral BMD. BMI (β=0.073, R2 = .148, P = .001, 95% CI [0.030, 0.116]) and current physical activity (β=0.071, R2 = .148, P = .017, 95% CI [0.013, 0.129]) were the only variables that were statistically significant in predicting spinal BMD. BMI (β=0.056, R2 = .13, P = .010, 95% CI [0.014, 0.098]) and current physical activ-ity (β=0.078, R2 = .13, P = .007, 95% CI [0.022, 0.134]) were also the only varia-bles that were statistically significant in predicting femoral BMD. Race was not a significant predictor of spinal or femoral BMD.Conclusion: It is imperative for both African-American and Caucasian women to engage in osteoporosis-preventive behaviors