Promoting Healthy Eating Habits in the Working Population: The FOOD Program

Objective: Promote healthy diets through offer and demand, drawing workers' attention to diet and modifying food offers through educating food suppliers. Methods: Target group today over six million workers and 430.000 restaurants. Activities in restaurants and companies: Monitoring is carried out by an annual survey. Results: 2015 over 70% of Italian workers have lunch break every day, 41% inside and 59% outside the workplace (Europe 60% and 30%). 70% consider local and seasonal products important and 21% declare to be familiar with the programme, and 25% are prepared to change their eating habits. Italian restaurant owners state that 90% of their staff has good level of knowledge and 67% are willing to serve balanced meals (85% and 56% Europe). Conclusion and implications: The programme is giving good results, but also confirms that there is still to be done, particularly in the field of education and information in workplaces

Evidence for strategies that improve recruitment and retention of adults aged 65 years and over in randomised trials and observational studies: a systematic review

Background: adults aged ≥65 years are often excluded from health research studies. Lack of representation reduces generalisability of treatments for this age group. Objective: to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies that improve recruitment and retention of adults aged ≥65 in observational studies and randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Methods: searches conducted in 10 databases for RCTs of recruitment and retention strategies in RCTs or observational studies. Two reviewers screened abstracts and full-text articles for eligibility and extracted data. Studies without separate data for adults aged ≥65 were discarded. Risk of bias assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. Results were synthesised narratively. Results: thirty-two studies were included in the review (n = 75,444). Twelve studies had low risk of bias, of which 10 had successful strategies including: Opt-out versus opt-in increased recruitment (13.6% (n = 261)-18.7% (n = 36) difference; two studies); Advance notification increased retention (1.6% difference, OR 1.45; 95% CI 1.01, 2.10, one study (n = 2,686); 9.1% difference at 4 months, 1.44; 1.08, 1.92, one study (n = 753)); Hand-delivered versus postal surveys increased response (25.1% difference; X2 = 11.40, P < 0.01; one study (n = 139)); Open randomised design versus blinded RCT increased recruitment (1.56; 1.05, 2.33) and retention (13.9% difference; 3.1%, 24.6%) in one study (n = 538). Risk of bias was high/unclear for studies in which incentives or shorter length questionnaires increased response. Discussion: in low risk of bias studies, few of the strategies that improved participation in older adults had been tested in ≥1 study. Opt-out and advance notification strategies improved recruitment and retention, respectively, although an opt-out approach may have ethical limitations. Evidence from single studies limits the generalisability of other strategies

Persistence of Perennial Ryegrass, Tall Fescue and Cocksfoot Following Sequential Annual Sowings: Influence of Species, Cultivar and Pasture Age on Inter-Annual Variability in Yield and Botanical Composition

The persistence of sown, temperate pasture species is an important determinant of perennial pasture-grass productivity. Defining the traits that affect persistence is essential for improving pasture longevity through plant breeding and for identifying criteria that should be included in cultivar ranking indices such as the DairyNZ, Forage Value Index. Compared with a conventional longitudinal study, in which pasture from a single sowing is monitored over time, repeated annual sowings allow the effects on persistence of sowing year and the ensuing interactions between environment and age of pasture to be identified. A repeated sowings experiment was commenced at two sites: under sheep grazing in Canterbury, New Zealand and under cattle grazing in Waikato, New Zealand. At each site, eight cultivars of perennial ryegrass representing different ploidy, flowering date, and decade of cultivar release, and one cultivar each of tall fescue and cocksfoot were sown in a randomised complete block design with four replicates, in autumn each year. The longitudinal cohort (i.e., the measurements conducted over time following each annual sowing) is the experimental unit for effects of sowing year and age. This paper reports interim data from the longest available longitudinal cohort, sown in autumn 2016 at Waikato on pasture yield and botanical composition measured in spring and autumn for six successive years following sowing. Repeated measures analysis of the six years of pasture data was used to identify trends over time and inter-annual variability in the effects of cultivar and site

Secular trends in work disability and its relationship to musculoskeletal pain and mental health: a time-trend analysis using five cross-sectional surveys (2002-2010) in the general population.

OBJECTIVES: International evidence suggests that rates of inability to work because of illness can change over time. We hypothesised that one reason for this is that the link between inability to work and common illnesses, such as musculoskeletal pain and mental illness, may also change over time. We have investigated this in a study based in one UK district. METHODS: Five population surveys (spanning 2002-2010) of working-age people aged >50 years and ≤65 years were used. Work disability was defined as a single self-reported item 'not working due to ill-health'. Presence of moderate-severe depressive symptoms was identified from the Mental Component Score of the Short Form-12, and pain from a full-body manikin. Data were analysed with multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: The proportion of people reporting work disability across the surveys declined, from 17.0% in 2002 to 12.1% in 2010. Those reporting work disability, one-third reported regional pain, one-half widespread pain (53%) and two-thirds moderate-severe depressive symptoms (68%). Both factors were independently associated with work disability; their co-occurrence was associated with an almost 20-fold increase in the odds of reporting work disability compared with those with neither condition. CONCLUSIONS: The association of work disability with musculoskeletal pain was stable over time; depressive symptoms became more prominent in persons reporting work disability, but overall prevalence of work disability declined. The frequency and impact of both musculoskeletal pain and depression highlight the need to move beyond symptom-directed approaches towards a more comprehensive model of health and vocational advice for people unable to work because of illness

The minimum clinically important difference of the incremental shuttle walk test in bronchiectasis: a prospective cohort study.

The incremental shuttle walk test (ISW) is an externally-paced field walking test that measures maximal exercise capacity1 and is widely used in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) undergoing pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). Its psychometric properties, including reliability, construct validity2 and responsiveness to intervention,2-5 have been demonstrated in patients with bronchiectasis, but little data exist on the minimum clinically important difference (MCID). Although two studies have investigated the MCID of ISW in patients with bronchiectasis, the generalisability of these data is limited because of the study sample characteristics,6 or did not involve an exercise-based intervention.2 The MCID enables clinicians and researchers to understand the clinical significance of change data and forms an important part of the evidence required by regulatory agencies for approval for use in clinical trials. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to provide MCID estimates of the ISW in response to intervention, namely PR, in patients with bronchiectasis

Trust in Nanotechnology? On Trust as Analytical Tool in Social Research on Emerging Technologies

Trust has become an important aspect of evaluating the relationship between lay public and technology implementation. Experiences have shown that a focus on trust provides a richer understanding of reasons for backlashes of technology in society than a mere focus of public understanding of risks and science communication. Therefore, trust is also widely used as a key concept for understanding and predicting trust or distrust in emerging technologies. But whereas trust broadens the scope for understanding established technologies with well-defined questions and controversies, it easily fails to do so with emerging technologies, where there are no shared questions, a lack of public familiarity with the technology in question, and a restricted understanding amongst social researchers as to where distrust is likely to arise and how and under which form the technology will actually be implemented. Rather contrary, ‘trust’ might sometimes even direct social research into fixed structures that makes it even more difficult for social research to provide socially robust knowledge. This article therefore suggests that if trust is to maintain its important role in evaluating emerging technologies, the approach has to be widened and initially focus not on people’s motivations for trust, but rather the object of trust it self, as to predicting how and where distrust might appear, how the object is established as an object of trust, and how it is established in relation with the public

The Future of Humanitarian Reporting

These working papers mark the launch of the Centre for Law, Justice and Journalism’s initiative ‘The Future of Humanitarian Reporting’, which aims to make recommendations for the way journalists, NGOs and academics can improve reporting of humanitarian disasters in the 21st centur

Critical perspectives on ‘consumer involvement’ in health research: epistemological dissonance and the know-do gap

Researchers in the area of health and social care (both in Australia and internationally) are encouraged to involve consumers throughout the research process, often on ethical, political and methodological grounds, or simply as ‘good practice’. This paper presents findings from a qualitative study in the UK of researchers’ experiences and views of consumer involvement in health research. Two main themes are presented in the paper. Firstly, we explore the ‘know-do gap’ which relates to the tensions between researchers’ perceptions of the potential benefits of, and their actual practices in relation to, consumer involvement. Secondly, we focus on one of the reasons for this ‘know-do gap’, namely epistemological dissonance. Findings are linked to issues around consumerism in research, lay/professional knowledges, the (re)production of professional and consumer identities and the maintenance of boundaries between consumers and researchers

Predicting developmental dysplasia of the hip in at-risk newborns.

BACKGROUND: The development of developmental dysplasia of the hip can be attributed to several risk factors and often in combination with each other. When predicting the likelihood of developing this condition, clinicians tend to over and underestimate its likelihood of occurring. Therefore, the study aim is to determine among at-risk newborns how to best predict developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) within 8 weeks post-partum. METHODS: Prospective cohort study in secondary care. Patient population included newborns at-risk for DDH - we assessed 13,276 consecutive newborns for the presence of DDH risk factors. Only newborns with at least one of the predefined risk factors and those showing an abnormal examination of the hip were enrolled (n = 2191). For the development of a risk prediction model we considered 9 candidate predictors and other variables readily available at childbirth. The main outcome measure was ultrasonography at a median age of 8 weeks using consensus diagnostic criteria; outcome assessors were blinded. RESULTS: The risk model includes four predictors: female sex (OR = 5.6; 95% CI: 2.9-10.9; P  4000 g (OR = 1.6; 95% CI: 0.6-4.2; P = 0.34), and abnormal examination of hip (OR = 58.8; 95% CI: 31.9, 108.5; P <  0.001). This model demonstrated excellent discrimination (C statistic = 0.9) and calibration of observed and predicted risk (P = 0.35). A model without the variable 'hip examination' demonstrated similar performance. CONCLUSION: The risk model quantifies absolute risk of DDH within 8 weeks postpartum in at-risk newborns. Based on clinical variables readily available at the point of childbirth, the model will enhance parental counselling and could serve as the basis for real time decisions prior to discharge from maternity wards

‘Dead people don’t claim’: A psychopolitical autopsy of UK austerity suicides

One of the symptoms of post financial crisis austerity in the UK has been an increase in the numbers of suicides, especially by people who have experienced welfare reform. This article develops and utilises an analytic framework of psychopolitical autopsy to explore media coverage of ‘austerity suicide’ and to take seriously the psychic life of austerity (internalisation, shame, anxiety), embedding it in a context of social dis-ease. Drawing on three distinct yet interrelated areas of literature (the politics of affect and psychosocial dynamics of welfare, post and anti-colonial psychopolitics, and critical suicidology), the article aims to better understand how austerity ‘kills’. Key findings include understanding austerity suicides as embedded within an affective economy of the anxiety caused by punitive welfare retrenchment, the stigmatisation of being a recipient of benefits, and the internalisation of market logic that assigns value through ‘productivity’ and conceptualises welfare entitlement as economic ‘burden’. The significance of this approach lies in its ability to widen analytic framing of suicide from an individual and psychocentric focus, to illuminate culpability of government reforms while still retaining the complexity of suicide, and thus to provide relevant policy insights about welfare reform