The potential individual- and population-level benefits of encouraging drinkers to count their drinks

Introduction: Cross-sectional studies have established a link between overall engagement in protective behavioral strategies (PBSs) and reduced alcohol consumption. However, there are mixed results on the effectiveness of individual PBSs, with some found to result in increased consumption. A recent study examining the effects of PBS use over time found the ‘Count your drinks’ strategy to be most reliably associated with reduced alcohol consumption among 16 strategies. Given the apparent superior efficacy of this PBS, this exploratory study aimed to extend these results by (i) determining the extent to which increasing the frequency of PBS enactment is associated with alcohol consumption over time and (ii) predicting potential changes in population-level consumption resulting from higher levels of PBS use. Method: 1250 drinkers aged 18–70 years provided data at two time points relating to their drinking practices. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to model the relationship between changes in frequency of enactment of the ‘Count your drinks’ PBS and alcohol consumption. Coefficients were used to predict average reductions in alcohol consumption over one year associated with increased frequency of use of this PBS. Results: Larger increases in the frequency of using the ‘Count your drinks’ PBS were associated with greater reductions in alcohol consumption. Exploratory extrapolation analyses demonstrated the potential for substantial reductions in overall alcohol consumption. Conclusion: The results suggest health promotion efforts designed to increase the frequency with which drinkers count their drinks could produce substantial annual decreases in alcohol consumption at both individual and population levels

Factors Associated with Poly Drug Use in Adolescents

Poly drug use in adolescents represents a significant public health issue, heightening risk for abuse, dependency, and a variety of short- and long-term psychological, psychosocial, and health consequences. However, past studies have typically examined just one or two substances in isolation and there is a lack of research that has comprehensively examined possible predictors of poly drug use in adolescents. To inform the development of comprehensive prevention programs that can simultaneously target multiple substances, the present study sought to identify psychological, environmental, and demographic factors that are most strongly associated with alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis poly drug use. Adolescents aged 15 to 17 years (n = 1661; 50.9% male) completed a survey on their use of alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis over the last 30 days. Various psychological, environmental, and demographic factors were also assessed. Weighted multiple-level logistic regression was conducted to assess the factors associated with poly drug use. In total, 20.3% of respondents had used at least one substance, 6.7% reported using two substances, and 3.3% reported using all three substances. The most common combined pattern of use was alcohol and tobacco, followed by alcohol and cannabis. Several factors emerged as significant, with conduct problems, depression, and the school environment accounting for the most variance. Specific psychological and environmental factors appear to be particularly important domains to target in adolescent substance use prevention programs. Early identification of adolescent depression and conduct problems and the development of programs that address these symptoms in youth may be effective approaches to delaying or preventing poly drug use in this population

Vegetable and fruit intake in Australian adolescents: Trends over time and perceptions of consumption

The consumption of vegetables and fruit during adolescence is crucial to ensuring adequate intake of the nutrients required to meet the rapid growth that characterises this developmental period. However, significant reductions in vegetable and fruit intake during adolescence have been observed making the promotion of consumption an important health promotion challenge. To monitor progress in this population segment toward meeting recommended intake levels and identifying at-risk groups, the present study assessed changes in Australian adolescents’ vegetable and fruit consumption over time and identified the demographic factors associated with meeting recommendations. As individuals who are aware of their diet deficiencies are likely to be more receptive to healthy eating interventions, the present study also assessed adolescents’ perceptions of the adequacy of their vegetable and fruit intake and identified the demographic factors associated with correctly perceiving fruit and vegetable intake to be inadequate. Two cross-sectional samples of Western Australian secondary school students aged 12–17 years were surveyed in 2009–2010 (n = 1501) and 2012–2013 (n = 1406). Only 14% of students at Wave 1 and 13% at Wave 2 met the recommended guidelines for vegetable intake while 68% and 71% met the guidelines for fruit intake. Females had significantly greater odds of failing to meet guidelines for vegetable intake than males. Only 50% of students correctly identified their vegetable and fruit intake to be inadequate. The observed very low levels of compliance with vegetable intake recommendations suggest that addressing deficiencies in vegetable consumption should be a primary focus of future nutrition interventions. Efforts should also be made to increase adolescents’ perceptions of the inadequacy of their intake to optimise the effectiveness of schemes designed to improve vegetable and fruit consumption in this population segment

Likeability and perceived effectiveness of messages designed to encourage physical activity participation among older adults

Issue addressed: Older adults are significantly less likely than their younger counterparts to engage in physical activity. Comprehensive policies to support healthy ageing thus need to include components encouraging greater participation in physical activity in later life. This study tested potential messages for use in health communication campaigns aimed at increasing physical activity among older adults. Methods: Twelve written messages designed to encourage older adults to increase their levels of physical activity were rated by Australians aged 60-92 years (n = 369; 54 % female) on the variables of likeability and perceived effectiveness. Results: Ratings for all the tested messages were high across both outcome variables. The message Move more, live longer scored most favourably, with large majorities of participants liking this message (87 %) and considering it effective (81 %). Messages featuring rhyming or alliteration were rated significantly higher on both outcomes than messages without these attributes (all Ps \u3c .001). Conclusions: Results provide insights into the types of messages that are likely to be accepted by older adults. Statements that use the phonological patterns of rhyming or alliteration are likely to be especially well received. So What?: Increasing participation in physical activity among older adults is critical to promoting the sustainability of health care systems and enhancing quality of life. The specific messaging attributes identified in the present study as being effective could be used by public health practitioners to inform their approach to physical activity messaging to older adults and incorporated into future health communication campaigns to increase their potential effectiveness with this target group

Exploring Factors Associated With Physical Activity in Older Adults: An Ecological Approach

According to ecological models of behavior, the physical environment can influence physical activity engagement by a series of mediating and moderating processes. This study tested such a model to identify factors relevant to older adults' engagement in moderate-vigorous physical activity. Sociodemographic, psychological, physical, and environmental factors were assessed in 432 Western Australians aged 60 and older. Moderate-vigorous physical activity was measured objectively using accelerometers. No environmental variables were related to engagement in moderate-vigorous physical activity either directly or indirectly. However, various individual-level factors were significant, indicating that these may be more important than environmental factors in locations such as Australia that have generally conducive environments and ambient conditions

Communicating with older people about physical activity

Objective: Little is known about how to effectively encourage higher levels of activity among older people. This study tested the effectiveness of a public service advertisement designed according to recommendations for communicating with older audiences and featuring five types of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity: tennis, line dancing, cycling, swimming and jogging. Methods: A survey administered to 1,200 Australians aged 50+ years assessed effects of the public service advertisement on: motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic); perceived believability, relevance, and effectiveness; and feelings elicited (e.g. interest, hope, guilt). Open-ended questions enabled respondents to describe aspects of the ad they considered to be most and least effective. Results: Moderate to high scores were obtained on the motivation measures and the ad evaluation criteria of perceived effectiveness, likeability, believability and personal relevance. Mean scores for the feelings measures were generally low, with the exception of the positive feelings of being interested, inspired, hopeful and determined. Conclusions: The results suggest physical activity promotion ads can be motivating across age and socioeconomic subgroups of older people. Implications for public health: Ads aiming to encourage older people to be more physically active may be accepted and effective if they depict everyday older people enjoying a range of relevant activities

Pain among nursing home patients in the Netherlands: prevalence, course, clinical correlates, recognition and analgesic treatment – an observational cohort study

BACKGROUND: Pain is highly prevalent in nursing homes (NH) in several countries. Data about pain in Dutch NH's, where medical care is delivered by specifically trained NH-physicians, are not available. The aim of the present study is to determine prevalence, course, correlates, recognition and treatment of pain among Dutch NH-patients and to make a comparison with international data. METHODS: The study-population consisted of 350 elderly NH-patients from 14 Dutch NH's. Pain (pain-subscale Nottingham Health Profile) and clinical characteristics (gender, age, cognition, depression, anxiety, sleeping problems, morbidity and functional status) were measured at baseline and at six months. Association of pain (baseline and six months) with clinical characteristics was assessed with chi-square and multiple logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Pain-prevalence was 68.0% (40.5% mild pain symptoms, 27.5% serious pain symptoms). 80% of the patients with pain at baseline still experienced pain at six months. Serious pain at baseline was significantly associated with depression (OR: 2.56; 95% CI: 1.34-4.89) and anxiety (OR 2.47; 95% CI: 1.22-4.99). Serious pain at six months was associated with pain at baseline (OR 18.55; 95% CI: 5.19-66.31) and depression at baseline (OR: 2.63; 95% CI:1.10-6.29). Recognition of pain by NH-physicians varied (35% to 69.7%) depending on measurement instrument and severity of pain. Analgesics were received by 64.5% (paracetamol (acetaminophen), NSAIDs, opioids). Paracetamol (acetaminophen) and opioids frequently were prescribed below daily defined doses. CONCLUSION: Pain occurred frequently also among Dutch NH-patients and was associated with depression and anxiety. Recognition and treatment by NH-physicians proved sub-optimal. Future studies should focus on interventions to improve recognition and treatment of pain

Construction and validation of a patient- and user-friendly nursing home version of the Geriatric Depression Scale.

Objective To construct a patient- and user-friendly shortened version of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) that is especially suitable for nursing home patients. Methods The study was carried out on two different data bases including 23 Dutch nursing homes. Data on the GDS (n¼410), the Mini Mental State Examination (n¼410) and a diagnostic interview (SCAN; n¼333), were collected by trained clinicians. Firstly, the items of the GDS-15 were judged on their clinical applicability by three clinical experts. Subsequently, items that were identified as unsuitable were removed using the data of the Assess project (n¼77), and internal consistency was calculated. Secondly, with respect to criterion validity (sensitivity, specitivity, area under ROC and positive and negative predictive values), the newly constructed shortened GDS was validated in the AGED data set (n¼333), using DSM-IV diagnosis for depression as measured by the SCAN as ‘gold standard’. Results The eight-item GDS that resulted from stage 1 showed good internal consistency in both the Assess data set (a¼0.86) and the AGED dataset (a¼0.80). In the AGED dataset, high sensitivity rates of 96.3% for major depression and 83.0% for minor depression were found, with a specificity rate of 71.7% at a cut-off point of 2/3. Conclusion The GDS-8 has good psychometric properties. Given that the GDS-8 is less burdening for the patient, more comfortable to use and less time consuming, it may be a more feasible screening test for the frail nursing home population

Testing campaign slogans designed to motivate older people to be more physically active

Objectives and importance of study: Being physically active is critical for healthy ageing, yet many older people do not meet physical activity guidelines. The aim of this study was to test the relative effectiveness of five previously identified campaign slogans designed to encourage older people to be more physically active: ‘Be active 30–60 minutes a day to stay fit and well’; ‘Move more, live longer’; ‘Stay fit to stay functional’; ‘This is your time – enjoy being strong and active’; and ‘Use it or lose it’. Study type: Online experiment Methods: A total of 1200 Australians aged 50 years and older (50% female, mean age 65 years) were recruited to complete an online survey, with respondents randomised to answer a series of questions on a video featuring one of the five slogan conditions. One-way ANOVAs with Tukey’s post-hoc tests were used to identify differences in outcomes between slogans. Results: Overall, the slogans were assessed favourably, suggesting older adults may be receptive to messages about increasing their physical activity. ‘Use it or lose it ‘performed best across the outcome measures of internal and external motivation, perceived effectiveness, liking, believability, and personal relevance. Conclusion: Efforts to encourage physical activity among older Australians could use the slogan ‘Use it or lose it’ as an evidence-based tagline. © 2023 Pettigrew et al

Student Showcase Concert

Ida GotkovskyRobert PlanelEdith Piaf & Louis GuglielmiJohnny MandelKen ThomsonBob Becke