Use of the Superblock model for promoting physical activity in Barcelona: a one-year observational comparative study.

Background: The Barcelona Superblock model transforms urban public spaces into active-friendly spaces, a key issue for public health. This study assessed the extent to which a newly developed Superblock in St. Antoni Market Square was used by citizens to perform physical activities and for sedentary behaviour during the first year of implementation.

From Secondary School to University: Associations Between Domain-Specific Sedentary Behaviors and Lifestyle Risk Behaviors.

This study examined associations between changes in domain-specific sedentary behaviors and changes in health-related lifestyles of Spanish secondary school students (n = 113) to their first year of university. During the transitions from the end of high school to the beginning of university, engagement in sedentary behaviors have emerged as potential additional behavioral risk factors. Understanding how sedentary behaviors interconnect with other (un)healthy behaviors will inform interventions on multiple risk behaviors across this critical life period.

Fear of Falling in Older Adults Treated at a Geriatric Day Hospital: Results from a Cross-Sectional Study.

(1) Background: The fear of falling (FOF) is a geriatric syndrome that causes a decrease in daily activities and personal autonomy. Its prevalence is highly variable as are the methodologies used to assess it. This study aimed at estimating the prevalence and describing the main determinants of FOF in older adults attending a geriatric day hospital.

ActivPAL™ determined sedentary behaviour, physical activity and academic achievement in college students.

The aim of this study was to examine relationships between activPAL™-determined sedentary behavior (SB) and physical activity (PA) with academic achievement. A total of 120 undergraduates (N = 57 female; 20.6 ± 2.

The association of context-specific sitting time and physical activity intensity to working memory capacity and academic achievement in young adults.

Background: To examine combined associations between self-reported context-specific sitting time (ST) and physical activity (PA) with working memory capacity (WMC) and academic achievement in a sample of Spanish adults.

Design: Undergraduate students (n = 371; 21 years ± 3 years, 44% female) were recruited from University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia.

Methods: Participants completed a 54-item survey that assessed socio-demographic variables (e.

Improvements in hip fracture incidence counterbalanced by the rise of other fracture types: data from Spain 2000-2010.

Background: In recent years, the incidence of injury in older people has increased. The aim of this study is to address the hypothesis that this increase is due to an increase in the incidence of some injuries that, while less common than hip fractures, are sufficient jointly to counteract the decrease or stabilisation in hip fracture rates observed in most countries.

Methods: We performed a descriptive study of trends using data from the National Hospital Discharge Register.

Incidence trends of injury among the elderly in Spain, 2000-2010.

Background: The significant growth in the elderly population expected in the coming years demands a thorough and up-to-date understanding of the incidence of injuries in this group for purposes of prevention polices and their evaluation. The aim of this study was to describe the incidence of injuries in hospital inpatients over 64 years of age in Spain, stratified by sex, age group, and the severity and mechanism of injury, and to analyse trends in incidence during the period 2000-2010.

Methods: Descriptive trends study using data from the National Hospital Discharge Register.

Commentary: approaches, strengths, and limitations of avoidable mortality.

Publication of recent papers such as the one by Schoenbaum and colleagues entitled 'Mortality Amenable to Health Care in the United States: The Roles of Demographics and Health Systems Performance' has stimulated this commentary. We discuss strengths and limitations of amenable and avoidable mortality in health-care systems' performance and their contribution to health inequalities. To illustrate, we present a case study of avoidable and amenable mortality in Spain over 27 years.

[Definition of hospital discharge, serious injury and death from traffic injuries].

Road traffic injury surveillance involves methodological difficulties due, among other reasons, to the lack of consensus criteria for case definition. Police records have usually been the main source of information for monitoring traffic injuries, while health system data has hardly been used. Police records usually include comprehensive information on the characteristics of the crash, but often underreport injury cases and do not collect reliable information on the severity of injuries.

Incidence trends of traumatic spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury in Spain, 2000-2009.

Aims: The aim of the present study was to estimate the incidence of hospital discharges for traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Spain by injury circumstances (traffic crashes and others), injury severity, gender and age group and to describe its trends over the period 2000-2009.

Methods: It is a study of trends that includes hospital discharges with a primary diagnosis of TSCI or TBI. Crude and age-standardised rates were calculated per million inhabitants.

[Motor vehicle crash fatalities at 30 days in Spain].

Objectives: To assess level of fulfillment and utility of the hospital discharge register (HDR) as a complementary source of information for estimating the number of deaths at 30 days due to motor vehicle crashes in Spain.

Methods: It is a cross-sectional study were we compared the number of people injured due to motor vehicle crashes hospitalised in a public hospital (HDR), in Spain during 2001, with the number of people severely injured or killed due to motor vehicle crashes reported by the police database (Dirección General de Tráfico, DGT) for the same year. A descriptive analysis was carried out by age, sex and region (Autonomous Community), as well as an estimation of the percentage of under-reporting of deaths by the DGT based on two assumptions.

Stem cell transplantation: risk factors for psychiatric morbidity.

The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors for psychiatric disorder in haematological cancer patients during hospitalization for stem cell transplantation. In this 3-year prospective study, 220 patients received stem cell transplantation at a single institution. Structured psychiatric interviews applying standardized diagnostic criteria were performed at hospital admission and weekly during hospitalization until discharge or death, yielding a total of 1,062 interviews.

Clinical factors associated with fatigue in haematologic cancer patients receiving stem-cell transplantation.

We have evaluated risk factors associated with fatigue in 220 cancer patients during hospitalization for stem-cell transplantation (SCT). Fatigue was assessed using a validated one-item energy scale and a comprehensive set of fatigue predictors, at hospital admission (baseline), day of SCT, and 7 days and 14 days after SCT. In cross-sectional multivariate analysis, depression was the variable most consistently and strongly associated with fatigue; other factors significantly associated with fatigue at some time during the study included older age, higher education, smoking, lower Karnofsky performance status, loss of appetite, nausea/vomiting, pain, higher regimen-related toxicity, low hemoglobin level, requirement for red blood-cell transfusions, and third year of the study period.

Role of depression as a predictor of mortality among cancer patients after stem-cell transplantation.

Purpose: To determine the association between depression and survival among cancer patients at 1, 3, and 5 years after stem-cell transplantation (SCT).

Patients And Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of 199 hematologic cancer patients who survived longer than 90 days after SCT and who were recruited in a University-based hospital between July 1994 and August 1997. Patients received a psychiatric assessment at four consecutive time points during hospitalization for SCT, yielding a total of 781 interviews.

Patient-rated emotional and physical functioning among hematologic cancer patients during hospitalization for stem-cell transplantation.

In this 3-year prospective inpatient study, 220 patients received stem-cell transplantation (SCT) for hematologic cancer at a single institution. The objective of the study is to provide data on patient-rated emotional (depression and anxiety) and physical (overall physical status, energy level, and systemic symptomatology) functioning during hospitalization for SCT and to compare whether these differ between autologous and allogeneic SCT. Patients were assessed at hospital admission (T1), day of SCT (T2), and 7 days (T3) and 14 days (T4) after SCT, yielding a total of 852 evaluations.

Psychometric study of quality of life instruments used during hospitalization for stem cell transplantation.

Objective: To test the psychometric properties of four patient-rated quality of life (QoL) instruments devised by the authors: three single-item instruments measuring (1) overall physical status, (2) overall emotional status, and (3) energy level, and one eight-item instrument measuring systemic symptoms.

Method: In a prospective inpatient study conducted from July 1994 to August 1997, 220 patients aged 16-65 years received hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT) for hematologic cancer at a single institution. Patients were assessed at hospital admission and then on a weekly basis during hospitalization until discharge or death.

[Looking for a needle in a haystack: record linkage techniques in health information systems].

Linking records from two or more data sets with information on an issue allows us to identify those belonging to the same individual. The linkage process can be manual, deterministic, or probabilistic. Probabilistic linkage was developed for those situations where there is no single identifier, the number of identifying variables is limited, and they have little discriminating power.

Prevalence of urinary incontinence in Andorra: impact on women's health.

BACKGROUND: Urinary incontinence (UI) is a frequent public health problem with negative social consequences, particularly for women. Female susceptibility is the result of anatomical, social, economic and cultural factors. The main objectives of this study are to evaluate the prevalence of UI in the female population of Andorra over the age of 15 and, specifically, to determine the influence of socio-demographic factors.

Social inequalities in perinatal mortality in a Southern European city.

The objective of this study was to describe and explain inequalities in perinatal mortality by educational level and occupational social class in Barcelona for the years 1993-1997. This was a case-control study. Cases were singleton perinatal deaths, controls were singleton live births obtained from a 2% random sample of births.

Factors promoting colonization by legionellae in residential water distribution systems: an environmental case-control survey.

As part of a case-control study of community-acquired Legionnaires' disease, several factors related to residential water distribution systems and public drinking water systems were studied in the homes of 124 patients with community-acquired Legionnaire's disease and in the homes of 354 controls. The presence of water reservoirs and hot water tanks was studied in residential systems. Factors such as deficient chlorine levels, pipe repairs and other work, water flow interruptions, the use of alternative water sources, inadequate cleaning operations in public water reservoirs, and the position of the home within the public network (and whether this location constituted an endpoint) were studied in public water supply systems.

Psychiatric morbidity and impact on hospital length of stay among hematologic cancer patients receiving stem-cell transplantation.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of psychiatric disorders during hospitalization for hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (SCT) and to estimate their impact on hospital length of stay (LOS).

Patients And Methods: In a prospective inpatient study conducted from July 1994 to August 1997, 220 patients aged 16 to 65 years received SCT for hematologic cancer at a single institution. Patients received a psychiatric assessment at hospital admission and weekly during hospitalization until discharge or death, yielding a total of 1,062 psychiatric interviews performed.

Assessment of the efficacy of a cognitive-behavioural group psychotherapy programme for HIV-infected patients referred to a consultation-liaison psychiatry department.

Background: Most HIV-infected patients attending a consultation-liaison psychiatry service show symptoms of anxiety and depression. The present study sought to evaluate the immediate and long-term efficacy of a structured cognitive-behavioural group therapy reducing anxiety and depression in HIV-infected patients referred to a consultation-liaison psychiatry department, and to identify baseline variables predictive of greater improvement.

Methods: Repeated-measures ANOVA was used to analyse changes in the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the state subscale of the State/Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) administered to 39 participants at 4 time points: T1 (1 month before beginning the therapy), T2 (during the first session), T3 (during the last session) and T4 (3 months after the last session).

Factors associated with severity and hospital admission of motor-vehicle injury cases in a southern European urban area.

Objectives: To describe the characteristics of motor-vehicle (MV) injury cases admitted to Emergency departments (ED), and to assess factors related to injury severity and hospital admission.

Setting: Subjects were MV injury patients, aged 16 or more, admitted to four EDs in the city of Barcelona (Spain), from July 1995 to June 1996.

Methods: Cross-sectional design.