La publicidad con pretendida finalidad sanitaria en la radio española. Un análisis empírico por tipo de emisora

El presente trabajo demuestra que buena parte de la publicidad radiofónica de productos relacionados con la salud vulnera la legislación vigente. El análisis de una muestra de 430 cuñas publicitarias, 1664 si se tiene en cuenta su frecuencia de emisión, ha permitido identificar las cuatro categorías de producto que concentran los claims ilícitos: alimentación, bebidas, belleza e higiene y salud. La proporción de engaños por cada cuña ilícita emitida alcanza el 3,99 en la radio generalista y el 2,2 en la radio temática. El tipo de engaño más frecuente hace referencia a productos que supuestamente proporcionan seguridad de alivio o curación cierta

Socio-cultural factors for breastfeeding cessation and their relationship with child diarrhoea in the rural high-altitude Peruvian Andes - a qualitative study

BACKGROUND: In some areas of the world, breast milk is seen as a potential source of child diarrhoea. While this belief has been explored in African and Southeast Asian countries, it remains vastly understudied in Latin American contexts. We investigate socio-cultural factors contributing to breastfeeding cessation in rural high-altitude populations of the Peruvian Andes. The role of socio- cultural factors in the local explanatory model of child diarrhoea, and whether these perceptions were integrated in the local healthcare system were assessed. METHODS: Within the framework of a randomised controlled trial, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 40 mothers and 15 health personnel from local healthcare centres involved in the trial. RESULTS: Cultural beliefs on breastfeeding cessation included the perception that breast milk turned into "blood" after six months and that breastfeeding caused child diarrhoea. We identified eight local types of child diarrhoea, and women linked six of them with breastfeeding practices. "Infection" was the only diarrhoea mothers linked to hygiene and the germ disease concept and perceived as treatable through drug therapy. Women believed that other types of diarrhoea could not be treated within the formal healthcare sector. Interviews with health personnel revealed no protocol for, or consensus about, the integration of the local explanatory model of child diarrhoea in local healthcare and service provision. CONCLUSIONS: The local explanatory model in rural Andean Peru connected breastfeeding with child diarrhoeas. Cultural beliefs regarding diarrhoea management may increase home treatments, even in cases of severe diarrhoeal episodes. Future national breastfeeding support programmes should promote peer-counselling approaches to reduce negative attitudes towards breastfeeding and health practitioners. Local explanatory models should be incorporated into provincial and regional strategies for child diarrhoea management to promote equity in health and improve provider-patient relationships

Dietary supplements’ endorsements. A content analysis of claims and appeals on Spanish radio

The aims of this study are to analyze the presence of endorsers in DS advertising on Spanish radio and the health-related product information of endorsements on full service Spanish radio. To this end, the content analysis of all radio spots broadcast throughout the year 2017 is conducted, deriving a corpus of 165 different radio spots belonging to the product category of dietary supplements, broadcast a total of 10,566 times. According to the Elaboration Likelihood Model, endorsers are a peripheral cue and increase advertising persuasion. The main results show that the most prevalent type of endorser in DS radio spots is the anonymous spokesperson, followed by celebrities, and that endorsers use explicit claims more frequently than implicit claims. Additionally, experts and celebrities use rational appeals more frequently while emotional appeals predominate in endorsements by typical consumers. Thus, rational appeals are prevalent in endorsements voiced by the most credible endorsers: experts and celebrities. That is, the higher the social recognition and credibility of the endorser, the greater the weight of direct, explicit and rational arguments in the message, while less attention is given to emotional appeals.The aims of this study are to analyze the presence of endorsers in DS advertising on Spanish radio and the health-related product information of endorsements on full service Spanish radio. To this end, the content analysis of all radio spots broadcast throughout the year 2017 is conducted, deriving a corpus of 165 different radio spots belonging to the product category of dietary supplements, broadcast a total of 10,566 times. According to the Elaboration Likelihood Model, endorsers are a peripheral cue and increase advertising persuasion. The main results show that the most prevalent type of endorser in DS radio spots is the anonymous spokesperson, followed by celebrities, and that endorsers use explicit claims more frequently than implicit claims. Additionally, experts and celebrities use rational appeals more frequently while emotional appeals predominate in endorsements by typical consumers. Thus, rational appeals are prevalent in endorsements voiced by the most credible endorsers: experts and celebrities. That is, the higher the social recognition and credibility of the endorser, the greater the weight of direct, explicit and rational arguments in the message, while less attention is given to emotional appeals

What Role Do Traditional Beliefs Play in Treatment Seeking and Delay for Buruli Ulcer Disease?–Insights from a Mixed Methods Study in Cameroon

Victims of Buruli ulcer disease (BUD) frequently report to specialized units at a late stage of the disease. This delay has been associated with local beliefs and a preference for traditional healing linked to a reportedly mystical origin of the disease. We assessed the role beliefs play in determining BUD sufferers' choice between traditional and biomedical treatments.Anthropological fieldwork was conducted in community and clinical settings in the region of Ayos and Akonolinga in Central Cameroon. The research design consisted of a mixed methods study, triangulating a qualitative strand based on ethnographic research and quantitative data obtained through a survey presented to all patients at the Ayos and Akonolinga hospitals (N = 79) at the time of study and in four endemic communities (N = 73) belonging to the hospitals' catchment area.The analysis of BUD sufferers' health-seeking behaviour showed extremely complex therapeutic itineraries, including various attempts and failures both in the biomedical and traditional fields. Contrary to expectations, nearly half of all hospital patients attributed their illness to mystical causes, while traditional healers admitted patients they perceived to be infected by natural causes. Moreover, both patients in hospitals and in communities often combined elements of both types of treatments. Ultimately, perceptions regarding the effectiveness of the treatment, the option for local treatment as a cost prevention strategy and the characteristics of the doctor-patient relationship were more determinant for treatment choice than beliefs.The ascription of delay and treatment choice to beliefs constitutes an over-simplification of BUD health-seeking behaviour and places the responsibility directly on the shoulders of BUD sufferers while potentially neglecting other structural elements. While more efficacious treatment in the biomedical sector is likely to reduce perceived mystical involvement in the disease, additional decentralization could constitute a key element to reduce delay and increase adherence to biomedical treatment

Advertising self-regulation. A comparative analysis between the United Kingdom and Spain

Según los criterios y parámetros que la Unión Europea considera determinantes para un modelo efectivo de autorregulación publicitaria, este trabajo realiza un análisis comparativo entre los sistemas de autorregulación publicitaria de Reino Unido y España. Teniendo en cuenta que el modelo británico es considerado una referencia internacional por su eficacia, este estudio tiene como principal objetivo identificar las fortalezas y debilidades del sistema español en términos de independencia, eficacia, financiación y cobertura. En consonancia con el modelo de buenas prácticas y a partir de los resultados, se proponen herramientas de mejora en el marco de un organismo independiente y proactivo.Based on the criteria and parameters considered decisive by the European Union for an effective self-regulation model in advertising, this work carries out a comparative analysis between the advertising self-regulation systems in the United Kingdom and Spain. Setting the British system as a benchmark due to its effectiveness, the main objective of the study is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the Spanish system in terms of independence, effectiveness, funding and coverage. In line with the best practice model and in view of the results obtained, certain improvement tools are proposed within a framework of an independent and proactive body

Solubility prediction of mebendazole in solvent mixtures

Los estudios de solubilidad proporcionan una valiosa información que puede emplearse en optimizar el proceso en las fases previas en el desarrollo de medicamentos. En los últimos años, se han desarrollado diferentes métodos de predicción de la solubilidad. En esta investigación se han probado dos modelos de Jouyban con el mebendazol (MB) a 298,15 K en mezclas binarias formadas por etanol y agua y etanol-acetato de etilo. Estos modelos son sencillos de aplicar y resultan muy útiles puesto que sólo se requiere un número pequeño de resultados experimentales. El primer modelo utilizado fue el siguiente: lnXm, = f1 lnX1 + f2 lnX2 + f3 lnX3, B1 (f1 2f2) + B2 (f1f2) + B3 (f3 2 f2) + B4 (f3f2) (ec.1) en la que, X1, X2, y X3 son las solubilidades del soluto en los disolventes puros 1-3, respectivamente, B1-4 son constantes del modelo. El otro modelo semiempírico de predicción fue: lnXm,T = f1 lnX1,T +(1-f1) lnX2,T +f1 (1-f1) [ T T 85,254 735,662( (1 ) 1 1 F - - F + ] (ec.2) en la que f1 es la fracción de volumen de la mezcla agua-etanol, y T, la temperatura experimental. El tercer término es el factor de exceso de Jouyban-Acree (Factor JA). Los dos modelos semiempíricos de predicción empleados proporcionan una excelente reproducibilidad del perfil de solubilidad. Se concluye que los modelos propuestos, pueden ser útiles en preformulación para predecir el incremento de solubilidad en mezclas disolventes, ahorrando determinaciones experimentales, que consumen tiempo y un importante gasto económico en el diseño de formulaciones líquidas.Solubility studies provide valuable information that can be used to optimize the process in the previous stages in development of drugs. In recent years, different methods of prediction of solubility have been developed. In this research, two models of Jouyban was tested with mebendazole (MB) to 298,15 K in binary mixtures of water- ethanol and ethanol-ethylacetate. These models are very easy to apply and useful since only a small number of experimental results is required. The first model used was the following: lnXm, = f1 lnX1 + f2 lnX2 + f3 lnX3, B1 (f1 2 f2) + B2 (f1f2) + B3 (f3 2 f2) + B4 (f3f2) (ec.1) where X1, X2 and X3 are the solubility of the solute in the pure solvents, respectively, B1-4 are constant model. The other semiempirical prediction model tested was: lnXm,T = f1 lnX1,T +(1-f1) lnX2,T +f1 (1-f1) [ T T 85,254 735,662( (1 ) 1 1 F - - F + ] (ec.2) where f1 is the fraction of the volume of the mixture ethanol-water, and T, the experimental temperature. The third term is the factor of excess Jouyban-Acree (Factor JA). The two semiempirical prediction models employed offer an excellent reproducibility of the profile of solubility. It is concluded that the proposed models may be useful in preformulación to predict increased solubility in mixing solvents, saving experimental determinations, which consume time and economic effort in the design of liquid formulations

Acceptance and uptake of improved biomass cookstoves in Peru: learning from system level approaches to transform large-scale cooking interventions

Improved biomass cookstoves (ICS) are cooking technologies that increase wellbeing and reduce household air pollution. With the goal of identifying factors influencing ICS acceptance and uptake at five system levels (intrapersonal, interpersonal, community, institutional, and policy), we carried out a qualitative study in three regions in Peru. We conducted 32 focus group discussions (243 ICS users) and 26 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, applying a combination of two system-level frameworks for analysis: the socio-ecological model and the ICS adoption domain. Enabling and impeding factors at each level were closely related to each other. Decisions made by policy makers - often centralised and not considering local/regional realities - strongly influenced acceptance and barriers at lower levels. ICS acceptance and uptake tended to be low when ICS users were not involved from the start. Most ICS programmes focused on stove distribution outputs, without considering community needs, such as training on ICS building, maintenance and repair, or issues related to spare part availability, which is a strong barrier to sustained uptake of ICS. Using a combination of models that allows one to examine facilitators and barriers at multiple levels, as well as the interactions of those levels, was useful in assessing potential improvements to intervention design, facilitating programme success, preventing unforeseen programme adaptations, and improving cost-effectiveness of interventions

Sustainability indicator for the prevention of potential thermal interferences between groundwater heat pump systems in urban aquifers

The steady increase of geothermal systems using groundwater is compromising the renewability of the geothermal resources in shallow urban aquifers. To ensure sustainability, scientifically-based criteria are required to prevent potential thermal interferences between geothermal systems. In this work, a management indicator (balanced sustainability index, BSI) applicable to groundwater heat pump systems is defined to assign a quantitative value of sustainability to each system, based on their intrinsic potential to produce thermal interference. The BSI indicator relies on the net heat balance transferred to the terrain throughout the year and the maximum seasonal thermal load associated. To define this indicator, 75 heating-cooling scenarios based in 23 real systems were established to cover all possible different operational conditions. The scenarios were simulated in a standard numerical model, adopted as a reference framework, and thermal impacts were evaluated. Two polynomial regression models were used for the interpolation of thermal impacts, thus allowing the direct calculation of the sustainability indicator developed as a function of heating-cooling ratios and maximum seasonal thermal loads. The BSI indicator could provide authorities and technicians with scientifically-based criteria to establish geothermal monitoring programs, which are critical to maintain the implementation rates and renewability of these systems in the cities

“It Is Me Who Endures but My Family That Suffers”: Social Isolation as a Consequence of the Household Cost Burden of Buruli Ulcer Free of Charge Hospital Treatment

Despite free of charge biomedical treatment, the cost burden of Buruli ulcer disease (Bu) hospitalisation in Central Cameroon accounts for 25% of households' yearly earnings, surpassing the threshold of 10%, which is generally considered catastrophic for the household economy, and calling into question the sustainability of current Bu programmes. The high non-medical costs and productivity loss for Bu patients and their households make household involvement in the healing process unsustainable. 63% of households cease providing social and financial support for patients as a coping strategy, resulting in the patient's isolation at the hospital. Social isolation itself was cited by in-patients as the principal cause for abandonment of biomedical treatment. These findings demonstrate that further research and investment in Bu are urgently needed to evaluate new intervention strategies that are socially acceptable and appropriate in the local context