Electromyography-based fatigue assessment of an upper body exoskeleton during automotive assembly.

The purpose of this study was to assess an upper body exoskeleton during automotive assembly processes that involve elevated arm postures. Sixteen team members at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada were fitted with a Levitate Airframe, and each team member performed between one and three processes with and without the exoskeleton. A total of 16 assembly processes were studied.

Factors predicting the mental health of adolescents attending a faith-based Australian school system: a multi-group structural equation analysis.

Adolescents attending Seventh-day Adventist schools (Adventist) in Australia tend to experience good health and exhibit better health behaviors than national norms, however few studies have investigated factors predicting their mental health. The aim of this study was to explore the complex network of factors that predict the mental health status (MHS) of adolescents attending Adventist schools in Australia. A survey instrument was used to collect data from 1527 secondary school students attending Adventist schools across Australia.

The association between self-rated health and social environments, health behaviors and health outcomes: a structural equation analysis.

Background: The factors shaping the health of the current generation of adolescents are multi-dimensional and complex. The purpose of this study was to explore the determinants of self-rated health (SRH) of adolescents attending a faith-based school system in Australia.

Methods: A total of 788 students attending 21 Seventh-day Adventist schools in Australia responded to a health and lifestyle survey that assessed SRH as well as potential determinants of SRH including the health outcomes mental health, vitality, body mass index (BMI), select health behaviors, social factors and personal demographics.

Religious Affiliation Influences on the Health Status and Behaviours of Students Attending Seventh-Day Adventist Schools in Australia.

Students attending Seventh-day Adventist (Adventist) schools in Australia have been shown to have better health status and behaviours compared to secular norms, yet these schools cater for a high percentage of non-Adventist students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of religious affiliation (Adventist/non-Adventist) on the health status and behaviours of students attending Adventist secondary schools in Australia. The sample included 1734 students who responded to a health and lifestyle survey that captured demographic details, self-reported height and weight, self-reported health status, mental health and select health behaviours.

The Body Mass Index of Adolescents Attending Seventh-Day Adventist Schools in Australia: 2001-2012.

Background: We examined the body mass index (BMI) of students attending Seventh-day Adventist (Adventist) schools in Australia in 2001 and 2012.

Methods: A total of 3069 students attending Adventist schools in Australia responded to a health and lifestyle survey in 2001 (N = 1335) and 2012 (N = 1734). The survey captured self-reported height and weight, demographics (age, sex, year level, religion), and select health behaviors.

Are strict vegetarians protected against prostate cancer?

Background: According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer accounts for ∼27% of all incident cancer cases among men and is the second most common (noncutaneous) cancer among men. The relation between diet and prostate cancer is still unclear. Because people do not consume individual foods but rather foods in combination, the assessment of dietary patterns may offer valuable information when determining associations between diet and prostate cancer risk.

Vegetarian dietary patterns and the risk of colorectal cancers.

Importance: Colorectal cancers are a leading cause of cancer mortality, and their primary prevention by diet is highly desirable. The relationship of vegetarian dietary patterns to colorectal cancer risk is not well established.

Objective: To evaluate the association between vegetarian dietary patterns and incident colorectal cancers.

Recruiting and motivating black subjects to complete a lengthy survey in a large cohort study: an exploration of different strategies.

Background: The effectiveness of multiple innovative recruitment strategies for enrolling Black/African American participants to the Adventist Health Study-2 (AHS-2) is described. The study's focus is diet and breast, prostate and colon cancer.

Methods: Promotions centered on trust, relationship building and incentives for increasing enrollment and questionnaire return rate.

Recruiting black Americans in a large cohort study: the Adventist Health Study-2 (AHS-2) design, methods and participant characteristics.

Objective: The goal of the prospective Adventist Health Study-2 (AHS-2) was to examine the relationship between diet and risk of breast, prostate and colon cancers in Black and White participants. This paper describes the study design, recruitment methods, response rates, and characteristics of Blacks in the AHS-2, thus providing insights about effective strategies to recruit Blacks to participate in research studies.

Design: We designed a church-based recruitment model and trained local recruiters who used various strategies to recruit participants in their churches.

Type of vegetarian diet, body weight, and prevalence of type 2 diabetes.

Objective: We assessed the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in people following different types of vegetarian diets compared with that in nonvegetarians.

Research Design And Methods: The study population comprised 22,434 men and 38,469 women who participated in the Adventist Health Study-2 conducted in 2002-2006. We collected self-reported demographic, anthropometric, medical history, and lifestyle data from Seventh-Day Adventist church members across North America.

Missing data in a long food frequency questionnaire: are imputed zeroes correct?

Background: Missing data are a common problem in nutritional epidemiology. Little is known of the characteristics of these missing data, which makes it difficult to conduct appropriate imputation.

Methods: We telephoned, at random, 20% of subjects (n = 2091) from the Adventist Health Study-2 cohort who had any of 80 key variables missing from a dietary questionnaire.

Stages of sexual readiness and six-month stage progression among African American pre-teens.

We examined the range of sexual intentions and behaviors preceding sexual initiation among 211 African-American pre-teens assigned to the control arm of a longitudinal community-based intervention trial. Stage of sexual readiness was assessed using the stage of change construct from the Transtheoretical Model, and patterns of stage movement during a 6-month period were examined. Overall, 90% of participants were in precontemplation at baseline, with the proportion of participants in this stage declining with each year of age.

Comparing self-reported disease outcomes, diet, and lifestyles in a national cohort of black and white Seventh-day Adventists.

Introduction: Few epidemiologic cohort studies on the etiology of chronic disease are powerful enough to distinguish racial and ethnic determinants from socioeconomic determinants of health behaviors and observed disease patterns. The Adventist Health Study-2 (AHS-2), with its large number of respondents and the variation in lifestyles of its target populations, promises to shed light on these issues. This paper focuses on some preliminary baseline analyses of responses from the first group of participants recruited for AHS-2.

Recruiting blacks to the Adventist health study: Do follow-up phone calls increase response rates?

Purpose: To determine whether follow-up phone calls improve response rates to a long questionnaire among black and white subjects.

Methods: Forty black and 39 white Seventh-day Adventist churches were randomized to experimental or control status in a 2:1 ratio favoring the intervention, which is a follow-up phone call to certain church members. Subjects selected from each church were those who had signed up for the Adventist Health Study-2 but not returned a questionnaire 3 months after promotion began.