Ideal cardiovascular health in urban Jamaica: prevalence estimates and relationship to community property value, household assets and educational attainment: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: Ideal cardiovascular health (ICH) is associated with greater longevity and reduced morbidity, but no research on ICH has been conducted in Jamaica. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of ICH in urban Jamaica and to evaluate associations between ICH and community, household, and individual socioeconomic status (SES).

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Skin Bleaching Among African and Afro-Caribbean Women in New York City: Primary Findings from a P30 Pilot Study.

Introduction: The application of skin bleaching products to inhibit melanogenesis is a common practice within the African diaspora. Despite the adverse health effects of skin bleaching, rigorous studies investigating skin bleaching behavior among these populations in the United States are limited. In our P30 pilot study, we explored predictors of skin bleaching practice intensity among African and Afro-Caribbean women.

Reliance on medicinal plant therapy among cancer patients in Jamaica.

Purpose: Patients' perspective of their treatment regime plays a vital role in its success. Recognizing the high prevalence of medicinal plant usage among Jamaicans at large, we investigated the engagement of such remedies by cancer patients, with the aim of uncovering self-medicating habits, perceptions and details of utilized plants.

Methods: A structured, interviewer-based questionnaire was administered to 100 patients attending the oncology and urology clinics at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica.

Associations between neighborhood effects and physical activity, obesity, and diabetes: The Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey 2008.

Objective: To examine the impact of neighborhood disorder, perceived neighborhood safety, and availability of recreational facilities on prevalence of physical activity (PA), obesity, and diabetes mellitus (DM).

Study Design And Setting: Multilevel analyses were conducted among 2,848 respondents from the 2007-08 Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey. Neighborhood effects were based on aggregated interviewer responses to systematic social observation questions.

Risky behaviours of Jamaican adolescents with sickle cell disease.

Objectives: To describe the risky behaviours of Jamaican teens with sickle cell disease (SCD) and compare them to a national sample of Jamaican youth.

Methods: One hundred twenty two SCD adolescents, 15-19 years old, completed the standardized questionnaire used in the Jamaican Youth Risk and Resiliency Behaviour Survey (JYRRBS), which was a nationally representative survey of 1317 Jamaican youths. Information was obtained on socio-demographics, smoking, alcohol use, and sexual activity.

Excess Cardiovascular Risk Burden in Jamaican Women Does Not Influence Predicted 10-Year CVD Risk Profiles of Jamaica Adults: An Analysis of the 2007/08 Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey.

Background: Black Caribbean women have a higher burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors than their male counterparts. Whether this results in a difference in incident cardiovascular events is unknown. The aim of this study was to estimate the 10 year World Health Organization/International Society for Hypertension (WHO/ISH) CVD risk score for Jamaica and explore the effect of sex as well as obesity, physical activity and socioeconomic status on these estimates.

Foot care and footwear practices among patients attending a specialist diabetes clinic in Jamaica.

This study aimed to estimate the proportion of patients at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) Diabetes Clinic who engage in recommended foot care and footwear practices. Seventy-two participants from the UHWI Diabetes Clinic completed an interviewer-administered questionnaire on foot care practices and types of footwear worn. Participants were a subset of a sex-stratified random sample of clinic attendees and were interviewed in 2010.

Asthma and allergies in Jamaican children aged 2-17 years: a cross-sectional prevalence survey.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and severity of asthma and allergies as well as risk factors for asthma among Jamaican children aged 2-17 years.

Design: A cross-sectional, community-based prevalence survey using the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire. The authors selected a representative sample of 2017 children using stratified, multistage cluster sampling design using enumeration districts as primary sampling units.

Reported hours of sleep, diabetes prevalence and glucose control in jamaican adults: analysis from the Jamaica lifestyle survey 2007-2008.

Background. There are limited data on sleep duration and diabetes from developing countries. We therefore examined the relationship between reported hours of sleep, diabetes prevalence and glucose control in Jamaican adults.

Screening for hypogonadism in diabetes 2008/9: results from the Cheshire Primary Care cohort.

Aim: There is increasing awareness of hypogonadism in men with type 2 diabetes but limited data from Primary Care.

Subjects And Methods: The anonymised records of 6457 male patients aged 18-80 years with diabetes were accessed. Within the last 2 years 391 men (6.

The prevalence of herbal medicine home use and concomitant use with pharmaceutical medicines in Jamaica.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: The work described in this paper aimed to study the prevalence of herbal medicine use in treating illness and concomitant use with pharmaceutical medicines in Jamaica.

Materials And Methods: A survey using a structured questionnaire was administered by a trained interviewer to randomly selected adults in systematically selected households within randomly selected urban and rural clusters. Categorical data analysis was performed using Stata version 10 software.

Use of a food frequency questionnaire to assess diets of Jamaican adults: validation and correlation with biomarkers.

Background: Assessment of habitual diet is important in investigations of diet-disease relationships. Many epidemiological studies use the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to evaluate dietary intakes but few studies validate the instrument against biological markers. The aim of this study was to assess the validity and reproducibility of a previously validated 70-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) that was expanded to 120-items to assess diet-cancer relations.

Nutrient intakes and dysglycaemia in populations of West African origin.

Examining the relationship between glucose intolerance and dietary intake in genetically similar populations with different dietary patterns and rates of type 2 diabetes may provide important insights into the role of diet in the pathogenesis of this disease. The objective of the present study was to assess the relationship between dietary variables and dysglycaemia/type 2 diabetes among three populations of African origin. The study design consists of a cross-sectional study of men and women of African descent aged 24-74 years from Cameroon (n 1790), Jamaica (n 857) and Manchester, UK (n 258) who were not known to have diabetes.

Appropriate waist circumference cut points for identifying insulin resistance in black youth: a cross sectional analysis of the 1986 Jamaica birth cohort.

Background: While the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) has ethnic specific waist circumference (WC) cut-points for the metabolic syndrome for Asian populations it is not known whether the cut-points for black populations should differ from those for European populations. We examined the validity of IDF WC cut points for identifying insulin resistance (IR), the underlying cause of the metabolic syndrome, in predominantly black, young Jamaican adults.

Methods: Participants from a 1986 birth cohort were evaluated between 2005 and 2007 when they were 18-20 years old.

Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its components in relation to socioeconomic status among Jamaican young adults: a cross-sectional study.

Background: The metabolic syndrome has a high prevalence in many countries and has been associated with socioeconomic status (SES). This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its components among Jamaican young adults and evaluate its association with parental SES.

Methods: A subset of the participants from the 1986 Jamaica Birth Cohort was evaluated at ages 18-20 years between 2005 and 2007.

The Jamaica asthma and allergies national prevalence survey: rationale and methods.

Background: Asthma is a significant public health problem in the Caribbean. Prevalence surveys using standardized measures of asthma provide valid prevalence estimates to facilitate regional and international comparisons and monitoring of trends. This paper describes methods used in the Jamaica Asthma and Allergies National Prevalence Survey, challenges associated with this survey and strategies used to overcome these challenges.

The effect of psychosocial stimulation on cognition and behaviour at 6 years in a cohort of term, low-birthweight Jamaican children.

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine whether psychosocial stimulation up to the age of 2 years benefits cognition and behaviour at age 6 years in low-birthweight, term-born (LBW-T) children (gestational age > or =37 wk, birthweight <2500g), and to compare LBW-T and normal-birthweight (NBW) children.

Method: LBW-T Jamaican infants were randomized at birth to a control group or an intervention group. Children in the intervention group received psychosocial stimulation for 2 years.

The prevalence of herbs use in conjunction with conventional medicines in Jamaica.

Unlabelled: Due to the global rise in the popularity of herbal medicines, adversities resulting from concomitant use of both prescription drugs and herbs are becoming an increasingly important public health issue.

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of the use of herbal medicines among persons on prescription medicines in Jamaica. Findings are thought to aid in estimates of the risk of adversities from drug-herb interactions through laboratory investigations and to provide awareness among policy makers responsible for the design of appropriate pharmacovigilance systems in the country.

Detecting depression during pregnancy and associated lifestyle practices and concerns among women in a hospital-based obstetric clinic in Jamaica.

Objective: Antenatal depression, despite its association with increased maternal morbidity risks, is understudied in the developing world. We determined the rate and predictors of depression throughout pregnancy and the use of medication in women attending an obstetric clinic.

Method: Prospective longitudinal study of 452 women newly registered at the antenatal clinic at the University Hospital of the West Indies between September 2005 and February 2006.

Fast-food and sweetened beverage consumption: association with overweight and high waist circumference in adolescents.

Objective: Overweight and obesity have increased to epidemic proportions among adolescents and are associated with chronic non-communicable diseases and excess mortality in adulthood. The association of overweight/obesity with poor dietary habits has not been studied in adolescents in middle-income developing countries. The present study aimed to estimate the prevalence of overweight, obesity and high waist circumference (WC) in 15-19-year-old Jamaican adolescents and to investigate the association with fast-food and sweetened beverage consumption.

High-risk and multiple human papillomavirus (HPV) infections in cancer-free Jamaican women.

Background: Vaccines, that target human papillomavirus (HPV) high risk genotypes 16 and 18, have recently been developed. This study was aimed at determining genotypes commonly found in high-risk and multiple-HPV infections in Jamaican women. Two hundred and fifty three (253) women were enrolled in the study.