Workplace health promotion: what public-sector employees want, need, and are ready to change.

Objective: To examine whether employees selected appropriate health change targets (HCTs) compared with self-reported lifestyle factors (smoking, nutrition, alcohol, physical activity [PA], sedentariness, weight status, and psychological distress) and readiness to change their HCT.

Methods: Cross-sectional data of 3367 state-government employees from Tasmania, Australia, were collected in 2010.

Results: Overall, respondents chose HCTs relevant to their health behaviors.

The effect on behavior and bone mineral density of individualized bone mineral density feedback and educational interventions in premenopausal women: a randomized controlled trial [NCT00273260].

Background: Limited information is available on ways to influence osteoporosis risk in premenopausal women. This study tested four hypotheses regarding the effects of individualized bone density (BMD) feedback and different educational interventions on osteoporosis preventive behavior and BMD in pre-menopausal women, namely: that women are more likely to change calcium intake and physical activity if their BMD is low; that group education will be more efficacious at changing behavior than an information leaflet; that BMD feedback and group education have independent effects on behavior and BMD; and, that women who improve their physical activity or calcium intake will have a change in bone mass over 2 years that is better than those who do not alter their behavior.

Methods: We performed a 2-year randomized controlled trial of BMD feedback according to T-score and either an osteoporosis information leaflet or small group education in a population-based random sample of 470 healthy women aged 25-44 years (response rate 64%).

The design of a valid and reliable questionnaire to measure osteoporosis knowledge in women: the Osteoporosis Knowledge Assessment Tool (OKAT).

Background: Osteoporosis knowledge is an important contributor to improving exercise and calcium intake behaviour. However, there are few validated instruments for measuring osteoporosis knowledge levels. The aim of this study was to design a valid and reliable instrument to measure osteoporosis knowledge in Australian women.