Health-Promotion Intervention Increases Self-Reported Physical Activity in Sub-Saharan African University Students: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study.

To evaluate the efficacy of a health-promotion intervention in increasing self-reported physical activity among university students in Sub-Saharan Africa. Randomly selected second-year students at a university in South Africa were randomized to an intervention based on social cognitive theory: health-promotion, targeting physical activity and fruit, vegetable, and fat consumption; or HIV risk-reduction, targeting sexual-risk behaviors. Participants completed assessments via audio computer-assisted self-interviewing pre-intervention and 6 and 12 months post-intervention.

Multiple partners and condom use among students at a South African University.

The prevalence of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa is the highest in the world. Young people, including university students, are at risk. Many sexually active young people have multiple partners, but little is known about how university students who have multiple partners differ from those who do not.

HIV/STI risk-reduction intervention efficacy with South African adolescents over 54 months.

Objective: Little research has tested HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk-reduction interventions' effects on early adolescents as they age into middle and late adolescence. This study tested whether intervention-induced reductions in unprotected intercourse during a 12-month period endured over a 54-month period and whether the intervention reduced the prevalence of STIs, which increase risk for HIV.

Method: Grade 6 learners (mean age = 12.

Wake-Up. A Health Promotion Project for Sub-Saharan University Students: Results of Focus Group Sessions.

HIV/AIDS is seen as the major killer in developing countries however, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), also referred to as chronic diseases, are the leading causes of death worldwide. University students are an important target for health promotion programmes because they are exposed to a new lifestyle where they have to determine on their own which diet to follow, whether or not to exercise, how much they drink alcohol or smoke, whether to have sex or abstain, as well as whether to practice safe sex or not Focus group sessions were held at a rural Sub-Saharan African University to assess students' knowledge on how to lead a healthy lifestyle. The results suggest a need for a health promotion intervention programme which should be culture-sensitive and considerate of the needs of university students.

Caregivers' intentions to disclose HIV diagnosis to children living with HIV in South Africa: a theory-based approach.

When children know their HIV serostatus, they are more likely to cooperate with steps to manage their health and the risk of transmitting HIV to others. Mounting evidence indicates that caregivers often do not disclose to HIV-positive children that the children are living with HIV, but little is known about the modifiable determinants of pediatric HIV disclosure. The present study examined theory-of-planned-behavior predictors of the intention to disclose to children their HIV diagnosis.

Assessing clustering of metabolic syndrome components available at primary care for Bantu Africans using factor analysis in the general population.

Background: To provide a step-by-step description of the application of factor analysis and interpretation of the results based on anthropometric parameters(body mass index or BMI and waist circumference or WC), blood pressure(BP), lipid-lipoprotein(triglycerides and HDL-C) and glucose among Bantu Africans with different numbers and cutoffs of components of metabolic syndrome(MS).

Methods: This study was a cross-sectional, comparative, and correlational survey conducted between January and April 2005, in Kinshasa Hinterland, DRC. The clustering of cardiovascular risk factors was defined in all, MS group according to IDF(WC, BP, triglycerides, HDL-C, glucose), absence and presence of cardiometabolic risk(CDM) group(BMI,WC, BP, fasting glucose, and post-load glucose).

Health Promotion Project for University Students at a South African University: Results of a Pilot Survey.

Globally, chronic diseases place a tremendous burden on health care systems all over the world. The increased prevalence of chronic diseases is mainly influenced by industrialization and decreased levels of physical activity. A cross-sectional qualitative and quantitative pilot survey, using a self-administered questionnaire and focus group discussions, was conducted with 73 students to assess the need for and feasibility of a health promotion program for university students at a rural South African university.

Adoption, acceptability, and accuracy of an online clinical trial matching website for breast cancer.

Background: Less than 5% of breast cancer patients participate in clinical trials. To increase patients' awareness and access to trials, we created BreastCancerTrials.org, a clinical trial matching website.

A randomized controlled pilot study of an HIV risk-reduction intervention for sub-Saharan African university students.

This pilot study used a randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of an HIV risk-reduction intervention for university students in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Randomly selected second-year students were randomized to one of two interventions based on social cognitive theory and qualitative research: HIV risk-reduction, targeting sexual-risk behaviors; health-promotion control, targeting health behaviors unrelated to sexual risks. Participants completed behavioral assessments via audio computer-assisted self-interviewing pre-intervention, 6, and 12 months post intervention, with 97.

Sexual attitudes and behaviour of university students at a rural South African University: Results of a Pilot Survey.

A cross sectional qualitative and quantitative pilot survey, using self administered questionnaire and focus group discussions, was conducted to assess the need for, and feasibility of, a health promotion programme for university students at a South African University. We examined the gender and cultural effects on sexual attitudes and behaviour, as well as condom use. A total of 73 students, age's between 18 and 30 years, participated in the pilot survey.

Cattle for Wives and Extramarital Trysts for Husbands? Lobola, Men, and HIV/STD Risk Behavior in Southern Africa.

Lobola is in many Southern African countries a tradition, which is expected to be adhered by anyone who is part or want to be part of the community. It is about paying respect to the elders, the family and the community. It is a significant element of marriage among many tribes and there are strict rules to adhere.

Cognitive-behavioural health-promotion intervention increases fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity among South African adolescents: a cluster-randomised controlled trial.

Rates of chronic diseases are high among Black South Africans but few studies have tested cognitive-behavioural health-promotion interventions to reduce this problem. We tested the efficacy of such an intervention among adolescents in a cluster-randomised controlled trial. We randomly selected 9 of 17 matched pairs of schools and randomised one school in each pair to the cognitive-behavioural health-promotion intervention designed to encourage health-related behaviours and the other to a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/sexually transmitted disease (STD) risk-reduction intervention that served as the control.

School-based randomized controlled trial of an HIV/STD risk-reduction intervention for South African adolescents.

Objective: To test the efficacy of a school-based human immunodeficiency virus/sexually transmitted disease (HIV/STD) risk-reduction intervention for South African adolescents.

Design: A cluster-randomized, controlled design with assessments of self-reported sexual behavior collected before intervention and 3, 6, and 12 months after intervention.

Setting: Primary schools in a large, black township and a neighboring rural settlement in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.

Sub-Saharan African university students' beliefs about condoms, condom-use intention, and subsequent condom use: a prospective study.

Whether certain behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs predict the intention to use condoms and subsequent condom use was examined among 320 undergraduates at a university in South Africa who completed confidential questionnaires on two occasions separated by 3 months. Participants' mean age was 23.4 years, 47.

Theory-based predictors of condom use among university students in the United States and South Africa.

This study compared the predictive value of the theory of planned behavior in university students in South Africa (N = 251) and the United States (N = 160) who completed an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses revealed that condom use and intention were significantly predicted by positive condom attitude, subjective norm, self-efficacy, and attending university in South Africa. Significant interactions between country and predictors indicated that subjective norm predicted condom use and intention more strongly in the American sample than in the South African sample; attitude predicted intention more strongly in the American sample than in the South African sample; but self-efficacy predicted intention more strongly in the South African sample than in the American sample.

Agricultural chemical exposures and birth defects in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa: a case-control study.

Background: South Africa is one of the major users of pesticides on the African continent. The Eastern Cape is the second largest province in South Africa. There has been growing concern about the occurrence of certain birth defects which seemed to have increased in the past few years.