Effects of Physical Activity on Physical Fitness and Functional Ability in Older Adults.

A cross-sectional survey was done to investigate the pathways the physical activity acts in improving physical fitness and functional outcomes of older adults (60 years and above) using 880 community-dwelling older adults in Sri Lanka. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used. The final SEM model included five latent factors and 14 co-variances.

Impact of perceived social support and physical fitness on quality of life of institutionalized and non-institutionalized older adults in Sri Lanka.

Background And Aim: Quality of life (QoL) in old age contributes to enhance active aging. This study aimed to assess and compare QoL and associated factors of institutionalized and non-institutionalized older adults (aged 60+ years) in Southern Sri Lanka.

Methods: A total of 160 older adults (80 institutionalized and 80 non-institutionalized) were surveyed.

Evaluation of Intravenous Push Piperacillin-Tazobactam on Time to Antibiotic Administration in Emergency Department Patients with Sepsis.

The purpose of this study was to determine if intravenous push (IVP) administration of piperacillin-tazobactam reduced the time to antibiotic administration compared to intravenous piggyback (IVPB) in emergency department (ED) patients who present with sepsis. This was a retrospective cohort study of patients with sepsis who received piperacillin-tazobactam before and after implementation of an IVPB to IVP conversion protocol. A total of 486 charts were reviewed and the final analysis included 127 patients in each group.

Structural Factors and Quality of Diabetes Health Services in Hail, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The chronic disease burden in Saudi Arabia has created adverse health, social and economic consequences that require urgent attention from health and political authorities. Diabetes has become an epidemic in Saudi Arabia. Data on personal and structural factors associated with diabetes in the Hail region are scarce.

Longitudinal Trajectory of the Relationship Between Self-Esteem and Substance Use From Adolescence to Young Adulthood.

Background: We examined the longitudinal trajectory of substance use (binge drinking, marijuana use, and cocaine use) in relation to self-esteem from adolescence to young adulthood.

Methods: Generalized estimating equation models were fit using SAS to investigate changes in the relation between self-esteem and each substance use (binge drinking, marijuana use, and cocaine use) from adolescence to young adulthood. Data were drawn from the 3 waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative sample of middle and high school students in the United States (N = 6504).

Is waist circumference ≥102/88cm better than body mass index ≥30 to predict hypertension and diabetes development regardless of gender, age group, and race/ethnicity? Meta-analysis.

Between body mass index (BMI) ≥30 and waist circumference (WC) ≥102/88cm, we investigated which of the two measures is a better predictor of two of the most common chronic diseases - diabetes mellitus and hypertension while also examining differential association by gender, age group, and race/ethnicity. Meta-analysis was conducted for all longitudinal studies with at least 12months of follow-up published up to April 2015. Ratio of relative risk (rRR) and relative risk of diseases were computed and compared by baseline obesity measurement.

The longitudinal trajectory of post-surgical % total weight loss among middle-aged women who had undergone bariatric surgery.

Middle-aged women are at a higher risk of being obese. We examined the trajectory of post-surgical % total weight loss (%TWL) among middle-aged female bariatric patients. We fitted sequential generalized estimating equations models to analyze a sample of women who received bariatric surgery in 1995-2012, aged 40-65 years at the time of surgery (N = 158,292) whose pre-operative body mass index (BMI) was ≥ 30 kg/m in the Bariatric Outcomes Longitudinal Database.

Effects of preventive online mindfulness interventions on stress and mindfulness: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Empirical evidence suggested that mind-body interventions can be effectively delivered online. This study aimed to examine whether preventive online mindfulness interventions (POMI) for non-clinical populations improve short- and long-term outcomes for perceived-stress (primary) and mindfulness (secondary). Systematic search of four electronic databases, manuscript reference lists, and journal content lists was conducted in 2016, using 21 search-terms.

Population-Level Measures to Predict Obesity Burden in Public Schools: Looking Upstream for Midstream Actions.

Purpose: To estimate school-level obesity burden, as reflected in prevalence of obesity, based on the characteristics of students' socioeconomic and geographic environments.

Design: Secondary analysis of cross-sectional data.

Setting: Public schools (N = 504) from 43 of 67 counties in Pennsylvania.

Exercise in Young Adulthood with Simultaneous and Future Changes in Fruit and Vegetable Intake.

Objectives: Regarding weight management, changes in exercise behavior can also influence nutrition behavior by application of self-regulatory psychological resources across behaviors (transfer effect). This study aimed to determine: (1) if changes in exercise frequency in young adulthood predict simultaneous changes in fruit/vegetable intake (transfer as co-occurrence); and (2) if exercise frequency affects future fruit/vegetable intake (transfer as carry-over).

Methods: 6244 respondents of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 were followed at ages 18-22 (Time-1), 23-27 (Time-2), and 27-31 (Time-3).

Measuring outcome expectancy value of leisure-time physical activity for African Americans.

A scale was adapted from existing scales to measure the outcome expectancy value (EV) as one of contributory factors to leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and was administered to 649 African American adults. The eligible participants (N = 569) for the analysis were split into three subsamples (rate = 0.5 : 0.

Alcohol use behavior among undergraduates: a cross-cultural comparison between the United States and Sri Lanka.

In this study, the alcohol use behaviors and associated factors of US and Sri Lankan undergraduates were compared. A sample of 515 US (63% female) and 583 Sri Lankan (54% female) undergraduates were surveyed using a self-administered, anonymous questionnaire. Significant variations by gender and country existed.

Smoking among East Asian college students: prevalence and correlates.

Objectives: To compare the prevalence and correlates of cigarette smoking among East Asian college students.

Methods: Data were collected from college students (N=16,558) in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan (response rate: 78%).

Results: Religion was independently associated with college students' smoking in China (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.

Social-ecological factors of leisure-time physical activity in Black adults.

Objectives: To develop and test an explicative model of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA), including 6 selected contributory factors: self-efficacy, self-regulation, social support, perceived physical environment, outcome-expectancy value, and policy beliefs.

Methods: A social-ecological model of LTPA using the structural equation modeling technique was estimated in a regional, church-going sample of 649 African Americans.

Results: The results indicated this model is good fit to the data.

A decade of sustaining best practices for tobacco control: Indiana's story.

The Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Agency (ITPC) was created in 2000 to address high tobacco use rates. This independent state agency, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs, administered a comprehensive program that supported community health coalitions and evidence-based public policy changes. From 2000 to 2011, ITPC operated in difficult budgetary and political environments and with less than 20% of the funding recommended by CDC.

The effect of a smoke-free campus policy on college students' smoking behaviors and attitudes.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of a smoke-free campus policy on college students' smoking behaviors and attitudes.

Methods: The current study utilized repeated cross-sectional surveys with a nested 4-wave longitudinal cohort design. Data were collected from undergraduate students at two large matched public universities in Indiana before and after one of the campuses went smoke-free in January 2008.

A cross-sectional survey on the inclusion of tobacco prevention/cessation, nutrition/ diet, and exercise physiology/fitness education in medical school curricula.

Chronic diseases are currently the major cause of death and disability worldwide. Addressing the main causes of chronic diseases from a preventive perspective is imperative for half ing a continual increase in premature deaths. Physicians occupy a unique position to assist individuals with chronic disease prevention.

A comparison of factors associated with physical inactivity among East Asian college students.

Background: Little is known on the level of physical inactivity and its behavioral and cultural correlates among East Asian college students.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine and compare the level and behavioral and cultural correlates of physical inactivity among college students in Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia.

Method: Data were collected from a representative sample of college students (N = 12,137) in five East Asian economies during the 2008-2009 academic year.

Leisure-time physical activity and obesity in black adults in Indianapolis.

Objective: To examine the relationship between the total volume of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and obesity among African American adults in Indianapolis.

Methods: Logistic regression analysis with 649 African American adults.

Results: The data show an inverse graded relationship between the total volume of LTPA and obesity for African American women, but not for men.

Correlates of college students' physical activity: cross-cultural differences.

This study examined cross-cultural differences in personal and behavioral determinants of vigorous-intensity and moderate-intensity physical activity (PA) among college students living in distinctly different cultures, that is, the United States, Costa Rica, India, and South Korea. Participants of this study were recruited from randomly chosen public universities in the 4 countries during the 2006-2007 academic year. A total of 4685 students participated in the study (response rate 90%).

Cross-cultural comparison of lack of regular physical activity among college students: Universal versus transversal.

Purpose: This study examined cultural influence on personal and behavioral correlates of lack of regular physical activity (PA) among college students in four countries, i.e., the United States, Costa Rica, India, and South Korea.

Salient environmental and perceptual correlates of current and established smoking for 2 representative cohorts of Indiana adolescents.

Purpose: A secondary analysis of 2000 and 2004 Indiana Youth Tobacco Survey (IYTS) data was conducted to investigate salient environmental and perceptual correlates of adolescents' current and established smoking while controlling for demographic variables such as gender, grade, and race/ethnicity and to compare the pattern of significant correlates between the years.

Methods: The IYTS was an anonymous school-based survey regarding tobacco use; familiarity with pro- and anti-tobacco media messages; exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS); minors' access to tobacco products; and general knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about tobacco. In 2000, a representative sample of 1416 public high school students in grades 9-12 and 1516 public middle school students in grades 6-8 (71.

Factors influencing openness to future smoking among nonsmoking adolescents.

Background: To investigate the correlates of youth tobacco use in terms of nonsmoking adolescents' openness to future smoking, a secondary analysis of the 2000 and 2004 Indiana Youth Tobacco Survey (IYTS) was conducted.

Methods: A representative sample of 1416 public high school students in grades 9-12 and 1516 public middle school students in grades 6-8 (71.44% and 72.