Associations between essential medicines and health outcomes for cardiovascular disease.

Background: National essential medicines lists are used to guide medicine reimbursement and public sector medicine procurement for many countries therefore medicine listings may impact health outcomes.

Methods: Countries' national essential medicines lists were scored on whether they listed proven medicines for ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and hypertensive heart disease. In this cross sectional study linear regression was used to measure the association between countries' medicine coverage scores and healthcare access and quality scores.

Advancing Optimal Development in Children: Examining the Construct Validity of a Parent Reflective Functioning Questionnaire.

Background: Parental reflective functioning (PRF) is the capacity parents have to understand their own mental states and those of their children, as well as the influence of those mental states on behavior. Parents with greater capacity for PRF are more likely to foster secure attachment with their children. The Parental Development Interview is a gold standard measure of PRF but is hampered by cost, training, and length of administration.

Network analysis of inter-organizational relationships and policy use among active living organizations in Alberta, Canada.

Background: Coordinated partnerships and collaborations can optimize the efficiency and effectiveness of service and program delivery in organizational networks. However, the extent to which organizations are working together to promote physical activity, and use physical activity policies in Canada, is unknown. This project sought to provide a snapshot of the funding, coordination and partnership relationships among provincial active living organizations (ALOs) in Alberta, Canada.

In the Palm of Your Hand - Normalizing the Use of Mobile Technology for Nurse Practitioner Education and Clinical Practice.

The use of mobile devices by nurse practitioners (NPs) to meet an evolving technological landscape is expanding rapidly. A longitudinal study of the ways NP students "normalize" the use of mobile devices in clinical education was completed. This study used researcher-designed survey tools, including sociodemographic questions, and the numerical picture was augmented and interpreted in light of the textual data in the form of selected interviews.

Examining the Promotion of Healthy Eating among Exercise Specialists: A Cross-sectional Study.

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to survey exercise specialists about nutrition counselling practices, their own dietary practices, and to identify potential relationships. An electronic survey was used to examine characteristics and strategies used for assessing and promoting healthy eating to clients. Exercise specialists (n = 94) were recruited through a public registry and through targeted advertising on 2 professional websites in Alberta, Canada.

Changes in dietary and physical activity risk factors for type 2 diabetes in Alberta youth between 2005 and 2008.

Objective: Unhealthy dietary and physical inactivity patterns inspired many initiatives promoting healthy youth and healthy schools in Alberta between 2005 and 2008. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in the prevalence of lifestyle risk factors for type 2 diabetes (T2D) between two province-wide samples of Alberta adolescents (2005 and 2008).

Methods: The dietary and physical activity (PA) patterns of Alberta youth were assessed in two cross-sectional studies of grade 7-10 students, one in 2005 (n=4936) and one in 2008 (n=5091), using a validated web-survey.

Physical trauma and risk of multiple sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.

Background: We aimed to examine physical trauma as a risk factor for the subsequent diagnosis of MS.

Methods: We searched for observational studies that evaluated the risk for developing MS after physical trauma that occurred in childhood (≤20 years) or "premorbid" (>20 years). We performed a meta-analysis using a random effects model.

Surgery and risk for multiple sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies.

Background: Although the precise etiology of multiple sclerosis is largely unknown, there is some speculation that a prior history of surgery may be associated with the subsequent risk for developing the disease. Therefore, we aimed to examine surgery as a risk factor for the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

Methods: We searched for observational studies that evaluated the risk for developing multiple sclerosis after surgery that occurred in childhood (≤ 20 years of age) or "premorbid" (> 20 years of age).

Anthropometric and dietary predictors of insulin sensitivity in 10- to 14-year-old boys and girls.

The high prevalence of pediatric obesity has made preventing chronic diseases through healthy lifestyle behaviours a priority within pediatrics. Examining the association between diet and insulin sensitivity (IS) in youth may provide important insights for tailoring preventative dietary interventions. The objective of this study was to explore the associations among anthropometry, diet, and IS in 10- to 14-year-olds.

Geography influences dietary intake, physical activity and weight status of adolescents.

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to assess rural and urban differences in the dietary intakes, physical activity levels and weight status of a large sample of Canadian youth in both 2005 and 2008. Materials and Methods.

Adolescent weight status and related behavioural factors: web survey of physical activity and nutrition.

Purpose. To identify whether non-overweight students were different from their overweight or obese peers with respect to diet, suboptimal meal behaviours, and physical activity using a self-administered web-based survey. Methods.

Exploring the relationship between socioeconomic status, control beliefs and exercise behavior: a multiple mediator model.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between control beliefs, socioeconomic status and exercise intentions and behavior. Specifically, we examined whether distal and proximal control beliefs mediated the association between socioeconomic status and exercise intentions and behavior. A one time, cross sectional mail out survey (N = 350) was conducted in a large urban Canadian city.

The use of complementary and alternative medicines among a sample of Canadian menopausal-aged women.

Introduction: Despite questionable efficacy and safety, many women use a variety of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies to relieve menopause symptoms.

Methods: We examined the determinants and use of CAM therapies among a sample of menopausal-aged women in Canada by using a cross-sectional Web-based survey.

Results: Four hundred twenty-three women who were contacted through list serves, e-mail lists, and Internet advertisements provided complete data on demographics, use of CAM, therapies, and menopausal status and symptoms.

An examination of psychosocial correlates of exercise tolerance in cardiac rehabilitation participants.

This study explored the influence of psychosocial factors on an important prognostic indictor among heart patients, exercise tolerance (ET). Prior to attending cardiac rehabilitation (CR), 100 men and 24 women completed a survey assessing social support and self-efficacy for exercise in CR followed by an ET test (ETT) measured in metabolic equivalents (METS) 1 month later. Regression analyses showed that age was the strongest predictor of METS, but that income and the psychosocial variables also significantly impacted on METS.

Dietary patterns associated with glycemic index and glycemic load among Alberta adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to assess the dietary glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) of adolescents, based on a Web-based 24-h recall, and to investigate dietary predictors of GI and GL. In addition, the relationship between GI and GL and weight status was examined. A Web-based 24-h recall was completed by 4936 adolescents, aged 9-17 years; macronutrient and food group intakes were assessed using the ESHA Food Processor, the Canadian Nutrient File, and Canada's Food Guide.

Diet quality, nutrition and physical activity among adolescents: the Web-SPAN (Web-Survey of Physical Activity and Nutrition) project.

Objective: To assess the overall diet quality of a sample of adolescents living in Alberta, Canada, and evaluate whether diet quality, nutrient intakes, meal behaviours (i.e. meal skipping and consuming meals away from home) and physical activity are related.

Determinants of diet quality among Canadian adolescents.

Purpose: Dietary intakes and nutrition behaviours were examined among different diet quality groups of Canadian adolescents.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 2850 Alberta and Ontario adolescents aged 14 to 17, who completed a self-administered web-based survey that examined nutrient intakes and meal behaviours (meal frequency and meal consumption away from home).

Results: Mean macronutrient intakes were within Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges; however, micronutrient intakes and median food group intakes were below recommendations based on Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating (CFGHE).

The enduring impact of social factors on exercise tolerance in men attending cardiac rehabilitation.

Purpose: This study explored the influence of social support on a prognostic indicator among cardiac patients, exercise tolerance. The relationship of sociodemographic factors to social support was examined, as well as the role of social support as a potential mediator between sociodemographic factors and exercise tolerance.

Methods: Archival data were collected from a sample of 254 men referred to cardiac rehabilitation.

Relationships between exercise regulations and motivational consequences in university students.

The aim of this study was to examine propositions stemming from Self-Determination Theory (SDT) that contend motivational consequences vary as a function of different regulations in the exercise domain. Participants (N = 276; n = 98 men; n = 178 women) completed inventories assessing exercise regulations, current exercise behavior, and behavioral intentions to continue exercising for the next 4 months and the effort and importance associated with exercise participation. Bivariate analyses indicated autonomous exercise regulations (identified and intrinsic) were the strongest correlates of each motivational consequence across both sexes, and introjected regulation was positively associated with exercise consequences in women.

Is the theory of planned behavior a useful framework for understanding exercise adherence during phase II cardiac rehabilitation?

Purpose: This study evaluated the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as a framework for understanding exercise adherence during phase II cardiac rehabilitation (CR).

Methods: A total of 215 patients completed a baseline questionnaire that included the TPB constructs and past exercise. Exercise adherence was measured via program attendance during phase II CR.

An experimental investigation of the relation between catastrophizing and activity intolerance.

The present study examined the value of a measure of catastrophizing as a predictor of activity intolerance in response to delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). A sample of 50 (17 men, 33 women) sedentary undergraduates participated in an exercise protocol designed to induce muscle soreness and were asked to return 2 days later to perform the same physical maneuvers. Participants performed five strength exercises that emphasized the eccentric component of the muscle contraction in order to induce DOMS.

Examining the role of social support and group cohesion in exercise compliance.

The present study sought to examine the role of social support and group cohesion in the compliance behavior of females required to exercise for health-related reasons. Compliance behavior was assessed as attendance and dropout behavior. Participants (N = 49) drawn from a clinical exercise group completed questionnaires to assess cohesion and social support.