Factores con mayor influencia sobre la elección de alimentos en la población española

Fundamentos: Encuesta poblacional dirigida a conocer los factores que influyen en la elección de los alimentos de la población española. Métodos: Análisis de una muestra de todo el territorio español compuesta por 1009 individuos y seleccionada por un procedimiento aleatorio multietápico. Este estudio corresponde a la participación española en un estudio europeo sobre las actitudes de la población frente a la alimentación, nutrición y salud dirigido por el Instituto Europeo de Estudios Nutricionales de Dublín. Se determinó el porcentaje de individuos que situó a alguno de los cinco factores mencionados con más frecuencia (calidad, precio, dieta sana, condicionantes españoles, sabor) entre las tres primeras influencias en la elección de alimentos. Se ajustó un modelo multivariante para identificar los factores asociados a la elección de una dieta sana como una de las tres primeras influencias en la alimentación.Resultados: El precio influía más en los individuos de mayor edad, en niveles socioeconómicos más bajos y en individuos con menor nivel educativo. Fue mayor el impacto del precio en las mujeres de la zona Norte, Noreste y Noroeste. El sexo, la distribución geográfica, la edad y el nivel educativo presentaron un efecto independiente y significativo sobre la importancia concedida por la población a la elección de una dieta sana. Conclusiones: Los resultados sugieren la necesidad de una mayor educación sobre dieta y salud especialmente en hombre jóvenes, personas con menor nivel educativo y mujeres del Noroeste del país

Sources of information on healthy eating in a mediterranean country and the level of trust in them: a national sample in a pan-european survey

Objetivos: Determinar las fuentes de información y el nivel de confianza en las fuentes de información sobre dieta sana en la población española, para facilitar la promoción de hábitos dietéticos sanos. Pacientes y métodos: Análisis de una muestra representativa española de adultos mayores de 15 años compuesta por 1009 individuos y seleccionada por un procedimiento aleatorio multietápico. Este estudio corresponde a la participación española en un estudio europeo multicéntrico coordinado por el Instituto Europeo de Estudios Nutricionales (IEFS) de Dublín. Se preguntó a cada individuo por las fuentes de las que procedía su información sobre dieta sana y su nivel de confianza en ellas. Se analizaron las cinco fuentes más frecuentemente mencionadas. Resultados: La fuente de información más citada y de mayor confianza fueron los "profesionales sanitarios". Aproximadamente, el 26% de los encuestados mencionaron a los "profesionales sanitarios" como su fuente de información acerca de la dieta sana. Sin embargo, la "radio/TV" (25,7%) fue casi tan seleccionada como los "profesionales sanitarios". Alrededor del 17,4% de los individuos declaró que no obtenía información sobre dieta sana. Los individuos con nivel de estudios universitarios citó con mayor frecuencia a los "profesionales sanitarios", mientras que los sujetos de nivel socio-económico elevado prefirieron la "radio/TV". El grado de confianza fue mayor para los mensajes obtenidos de los "profesionales sanitarios" (89,9%) y del "Departamento de Sanidad" (78,7%) y menor en el caso de la información obtenida de los "periódicos" (34,2%) y de los "anuncios publicitarios" (17,6%). Conclusión: Los profesionales sanitarios deben promover las guías dietéticas a través de los canales adecuados para lograr que lleguen a los diferentes grupos de individuos.Objeclive: To know the sources of information and the level of trust in these sources in a population to facilitate the promotion of healthy dietary habits. Palienls and methods: A national survey was carried out according to an established protocol on a representative sample of 1009 Spanish subjects over 15 years of age selected by a random multietapic procedure. This study belongs to the Spanish partnership in a pan-European Survey about sources of information on healthy eating and their level of trust The analysis was focussed on the evaluation of the 5 most frequently chosen sources. Results: There was a trend towards a greater use and trust in "Health professionals" !han other sources. Thus, about 26% of the respondents mentioning "health professionals" as the source of information on healthy eating_ However, "TV/radio" (25.7%) was almos! so often selected as "Health professionals". About 17.4% of subjects declared that they obtained no information at all on healthy eating. Subjects with university level of studies exhibited a greater mention of "Health professionals", while individuals belonging to higher socio-economic levels preferred "TV/radio". The degree of trust was higher for messages obtained from "Health professionals" (89.9%) and the "Department of Health" (78.7%) and lower for information obtained from "newspaper" (34.2%) and "advertising" (17.6%). Conclusion: Nutrition and health educators must pro-J mote dietary guidelines through the appropriate channels for communicating messages to difieren! targets groups

Pharmaceutical cost control in primary care: opinion and contributions by healthcare professionals

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Strategies adopted by health administrations and directed towards drug cost control in primary care (PC) can, according to earlier studies, generate tension between health administrators and healthcare professionals. This study collects and analyzes the opinions of general practitioners (GPs) regarding current cost control measures as well as their proposals for improving the effectiveness of these measures.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A qualitative exploratory study was carried out using 11 focus groups composed of GPs from the Spanish regions of Aragon, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. A semi-structured guide was applied in obtaining the GPs' opinions. The transcripts of the dialogues were analyzed by two investigators who independently considered categorical and thematic content. The results were supervised by other members of the team, with overall responsibility assigned to the team leader.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>GPs are conscious of their public responsibility with respect to pharmaceutical cost, but highlight the need to spread responsibility for cost control among the different actors of the health system. They insist on implementing measures to improve the quality of prescriptions, avoiding mere quantitative evaluations of prescription costs. They also suggest moving towards the self-management of the pharmaceutical budget by each health centre itself, as a means to design personalized incentives to improve their outcomes. These proposals need to be considered by the health administration in order to pre-empt the feelings of injustice, impotence, frustration and lack of motivation that currently exist among GPs as a result of the implemented measures.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Future investigations should be oriented toward strategies that involve GPs in the planning and management of drug cost control mechanisms. The proposals in this study may be considered by the health administration as a means to move toward the rational use of drugs while avoiding concerns about injustice and feelings of impotence on the part of the GPs, which can lead to lack of interest in and disaffection with the current measures.</p

Applications of fluorescence and bioluminescence resonance energy transfer to drug discovery at G protein coupled receptors

The role of G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) in numerous physiological processes that may be disrupted or modified in disease makes them key targets for the development of new therapeutic medicines. A wide variety of resonance energy transfer (RET) techniques such as fluorescence RET and bioluminescence RET have been developed in recent years to detect protein–protein interactions in living cells. Furthermore, these techniques are now being exploited to screen for novel compounds that activate or block GPCRs and to search for new, previously undiscovered signaling pathways activated by well-known pharmacologically classified drugs. The high resolution that can be achieved with these RET methods means that they are well suited to study both intramolecular conformational changes in response to ligand binding at the receptor level and intermolecular interactions involving protein translocation in subcellular compartments resulting from external stimuli. In this review we highlight the latest advances in these technologies to illustrate general principles

Barriers to a healthy lifestyle among patients attending primary care clinics at a university hospital in Riyadh

<b>Background And Objectives: </b> The occurrence and progress of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is associated with unhealthy lifestyles and behaviors. Modification of barriers to healthy lifestyle can produce great benefits. The objective of this study was to identify barriers to physical activity and healthy eating among patients attending primary health care clinics in Riyadh city. <b> Patients and Methods: </b> A cross-sectional study was conducted at King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH) in Riyadh city. Four hundred and fifty participants attending primary health care clinics (PHCC) from 1 March to 30 April 2007 were randomly selected. A questionnaire about barriers to physical activity and healthy eating was adapted from the CDC web site. <b> Results: </b> The prevalence of physical inactivity among the Saudi population in the study was 82.4&#x0025; (371/450). Females were more physically inactive (87.6&#x0025;, 268/306) compared to males (71.5&#x0025;, 103/144) (P&#60; .001). The most common barrier to physical activity was lack of resources (80.5&#x0025;, 326/405), which was significantly higher among females than males and among the lower income versus the higher income group. The most common barrier to healthy diet was lack of willpower. More than four-fifths (80.3&#x0025;, 354/441) of the study group stated that they did not have enough will to stick to a diet. <b> Conclusion: </b> Lack of resources was the most important barrier for physical activity, while lack of willpower and social support were both barriers for adherence to physical activity and a healthy diet