Piloting the use of accelerometry devices to capture energy expenditure in agricultural and rural livelihoods: Protocols and findings from northern Ghana

In this study we report on the protocols adopted and the findings from a pilot study in northern Ghana involving 40 respondents wearing accelerometry devices for a week. We show how integrating energy expenditure data from wearable accelerometry devices with data on activity and time-use can provide a window into agricultural and rural livelihoods in developing country contexts that has not been previously available for empirical research. Our findings confirm some of the stylised facts of agricultural and rural livelihoods, but the study also provides several new insights that come from the triangulation of energy expenditure, time use, and activity data. We report findings and explore the potential applications of using accelerometry devices for a better understanding of agriculture-nutrition linkages in developing countries

Knowledge about breast cancer and hereditary breast cancer among nurses in a public hospital

OBJECTIVE: To assess the knowledge of nurses involved in the care of oncology patients in a public university hospital, regarding breast cancer and hereditary breast cancer, and to verify the use of such knowledge in their daily practice.METHODS: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. Data were obtained through a structured, self-administered questionnaire. Out of 154 nurses, 137 (88.9%) agreed to participate in the study. Two questionnaires were excluded such that 135 questionnaires were analyzed.RESULTS: The global percentage of correct answers was not associated with age (p=0.173) or degree/specialization (p=0.815). Questions were classified into categories. In categories involving knowledge of established breast cancer risk factors and indicators of hereditary breast cancer, the rate of correct answers was 65.8% and 66.4%, respectively. On the practice of genetic counseling, 40.7% of those interviewed were not sure about the definition of genetic counseling and 78.5% reported never having identified or referred a patient at genetic risk for specialized risk assessment. Practice of educational actions regarding this subject was reported by 48.5% of those interviewed.CONCLUSION: This study reinforces the need to develop qualifying actions for nurses, so that strategies to control breast cancer become effective in their health care practice

Association of low-level inorganic arsenic exposure from rice with age-standardized mortality risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in England and Wales

Adverse health outcomes, including death from cardiovascular disease (CVD), arising from chronic exposure to inorganic arsenic (iAs) are well documented. Consumption of rice is a major iAs exposure route for over 3 billion people, however, there is still a lack of epidemiological evidence demonstrating the association between iAs exposure from rice intake and CVD risks. We explored this potential association through an ecological study using data at local authority level across England and Wales. Local authority level daily per capita iAs exposure from rice (E-iAsing,rice) was estimated using ethnicity as a proxy for class of rice consumption. A series of linear and non-linear models were applied to estimate the association between E-iAsing,rice and CVD age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR), using Akaike's Information Criterion as the principle model selection criterion. When adjusted for significant confounders, notably smoking prevalence, education level, employment rate, overweight percentage, PM2.5, female percentage and medical and care establishments, the preferred non-linear model indicated that CVD risks increased with iAs exposure from rice at exposures above 0.3 μg/person/day. Also, the best-fitted linear model indicated that CVD ASMR in the highest quartile of iAs exposure (0.375–2.71 μg/person/day) was 1.06 (1.02, 1.11; p-trend <0.001) times higher than that in the lowest quartile (<0.265 μg/person/day). Notwithstanding the well-known limitations of ecological studies, this study further suggests exposure to iAs, including from rice intake, as a potentially important confounder for studies of the factors controlling CVD risks