Association of education and feedback on hypertension management with risk for stroke and cardiovascular disease.

Purpose: Education and feedback on hypertension management has been associated with improved hypertension control. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of such interventions to reduce the risk of stroke and cardiovascular events.

Materials And Methods: Individuals ≥18 years with a blood pressure (BP) recording in Västerbotten or Södermanland County during the study period 2001 to 2009 were included in 108 serial cohort studies, each with 24 months follow-up.

Sustainable Behavior Change for Health Supported by Person-Tailored, Adaptive, Risk-Aware Digital Coaching in a Social Context: Study Protocol for the STAR-C Research Programme.

The Västerbotten Intervention Programme (VIP) in the Region Västerbotten Sweden is one of the very few cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention programmes globally that is integrated into routine primary health care. The VIP has been shown as a cost-effective intervention to significantly reduce CVD mortality. However, little is known about the effectiveness of a digital solution to tailor risk communication strategies for supporting behavioral change.

Working with national quality registries in older people care: A qualitative study of perceived impact on assistant nurses' work situation.

Aim: The aim was to investigate assistant nurses' perceptions of how working with national quality registries affected their work situation in care of older people.

Design: Qualitative interview study.

Methods: Sixteen semi-structured interviews were conducted at four special housing units in Sweden, and a conventional content analysis, with elements of thematic analysis, was applied.

Gender differences and determinants of prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension among adults in China and Sweden.

Background: Failure to promote early detection and better management of hypertension will contribute to the increasing burden of cardiovascular diseases. This study aims to assess the gender differences in the prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension, together with its associated factors, in China and Sweden.

Methods: We used data from two cross-sectional studies: the Västerbotten Intervention Program in northern Sweden (n = 25,511) and the Shanghai survey in eastern China (n = 25,356).

The STAR-C Intelligent Coach: A Cross-Disciplinary Design Process of a Behavior Change Intervention in Primary Care.

A broad range of aspects are needed to be taken into consideration in the design and development of personalized coaching systems based on artificial intelligence methodologies. This research presents the initial phase of joining different professional and stakeholder perspectives on behavior change technologies into a flexible design proposal for a digital coaching system. The diversity and sometimes opposed views on content, behavior, purposes and context were managed using a structured argument-based design approach, which also feed into the behavior of the personalized system.

Association of Physician Education and Feedback on Hypertension Management With Patient Blood Pressure and Hypertension Control.

Importance: Elevated systolic blood pressure (SBP) is the most important risk factor for premature death worldwide. However, hypertension detection and control rates continue to be suboptimal.

Objective: To assess the association of education and feedback to primary care physicians with population-level SBP and hypertension control rates.

Living alone and mortality among older people in Västerbotten County in Sweden: a survey and register-based longitudinal study.

Background: Living alone is increasingly common and has been depicted as an important cause of mortality. We examined the association between living alone and mortality risks among older men and women in northern Sweden, by linking two unique longitudinal datasets.

Methods: We used the Linnaeus database, which links several population registers on socioeconomic and health.

Prevalence and the Association of Body Mass Index and Other Risk Factors with Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes Among 50,867 Adults in China and Sweden: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Introduction: Understanding socioeconomic differences for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) can offer guidance for the most effective development of both prevention and intervention programmes in different settings. This study aims to determine the prevalence and risk factors for prediabetes and T2DM and to explore the effect of high body mass index (BMI) on the probability of T2DM being present among adults in China and Sweden.

Methods: This study enrolled 25,356 adults (35-64 years old) from the Shanghai Survey in China and 25,511 adults (aged 40, 50, 60) from the Västerbotten Intervention Programme in Sweden.

An exploration of rollover protective structures (ROPS) rebate program media coverage: strategies for implementation and sustainment.

Background: Media advocacy plays an important role in public health initiatives, as it can provide vital information to target populations, policy makers, or other relevant stakeholders. Unfortunately, little is currently known about the use of media advocacy to promote occupational safety and health programs. This study explores media coverage related to the Rollover Protection Structure (ROPS) Rebate Programs, which were designed to encourage the use of rollover protection on agricultural tractors, thus reducing the risk of tractor overturn fatalities.

Flawed conclusions on the Västerbotten Intervention Program by San Sebastian et .al.

An evaluation of Västerbotten Intervention Programme (VIP) was recently conducted by San Sebastian et al. (BMC Public Health 19:202, 2019). Evaluation of health care interventions of this kind require 1) an understanding of both the design and the nature of the intervention, 2) correct definition of the target population, and 3) careful choice of the appropriate evaluation method.

Health-Care Administrator Perspectives on Prevention Guidelines and Healthy Lifestyle Counseling in a Primary Care Setting in New York State.

Introduction: The incidence of chronic disease and treatment costs have been steadily increasing in the United States over the past few decades. Primary prevention and healthy lifestyle counseling have been identified as important strategies for reducing health-care costs and chronic disease prevalence. This article seeks to examine decision-makers' experiences and self-perceived roles in guideline and lifestyle counseling implementation in a primary care setting in the United States.

Key factors for successful implementation of the National Rollover Protection Structure Rebate Program: A correlation analysis using the consolidated framework for implementation research.

Objectives On US farms, tractor overturns are the leading cause of death; however, these fatalities are preventable with the use of a rollover protection structure (ROPS). A ROPS rebate program was established in New York in 2006 to address these fatalities. Due to its success, the program expanded to six additional states before being implemented as the National ROPS Rebate Program (NRRP) in 2017.

Sex-specific associations between body mass index and death before life expectancy: a comparative study from the USA and Sweden.

Background: Understanding the impact of obesity on premature mortality is critical, as obesity has become a global health issue.

Objective: To contrast the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and premature death (all-cause; circulatory causes) in New York State (USA) and Northern Sweden.

Methods: Baseline data were obtained between 1989 and 1999 via questionnaires (USA) and health exams (Sweden), with mortality data from health departments, public sources (USA) and the Swedish Death Register.

Visualization of asymptomatic atherosclerotic disease for optimum cardiovascular prevention (VIPVIZA): a pragmatic, open-label, randomised controlled trial.

Background: Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease often fails because of poor adherence among practitioners and individuals to prevention guidelines. We aimed to investigate whether ultrasound-based pictorial information about subclinical carotid atherosclerosis, targeting both primary care physicians and individuals, improves prevention.

Methods: Visualization of asymptomatic atherosclerotic disease for optimum cardiovascular prevention (VIPVIZA) is a pragmatic, open-label, randomised controlled trial that was integrated within the Västerbotten Intervention Programme, an ongoing population-based cardiovascular disease prevention programme in northern Sweden.

A cost-effectiveness analysis of a community based CVD program in Sweden based on a retrospective register cohort.

Background: Several large scale community-based cardiovascular disease prevention programs were initiated in the 80s, and one was the Västerbotten Intervention Programme, Sweden. As an initial step in 1985, a pilot study was introduced in the Norsjö municipality that combined individual disease prevention efforts among the middle-aged population with community-oriented health promotion activities. All citizens at 30, 40, 50, and 60 years of age were invited to a physical examination combined with a healthy dialogue at the local primary health care centre.

Implementation of clinical practice guidelines on lifestyle interventions in Swedish primary healthcare - a two-year follow up.

Background: Implementation of interventions concerning prevention and health promotion in health care has faced particular challenges resulting in a low frequency and quality of these services. In November 2011, the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare released national clinical practice guidelines to counteract patients' unhealthy lifestyle habits. Drawing on the results of a previous study as a point of departure, the aim of this two-year follow up was to assess the progress of work with lifestyle interventions in primary healthcare as well as the uptake and usage of the new guidelines on lifestyle interventions in clinical practice.

Lifestyle counseling in primary care in the United States and Sweden: a comparison of patients' expectations and experiences.

Background: Despite various guidelines, shortcomings in lifestyle counseling in primary care have been demonstrated. Comparisons between countries may provide insight on how to improve such counseling. To the best of our knowledge, studies comparing patients' views of lifestyle counseling beween the United States (US) and European countries have not been reported.

Socioeconomic inequality in abdominal obesity among older people in Purworejo District, Central Java, Indonesia - a decomposition analysis approach.

Background: Obesity has become a global health challenge as its prevalence has increased globally in recent decades. Studies in high-income countries have shown that obesity is more prevalent among the poor. In contrast, obesity is more prevalent among the rich in low- and middle-income countries, hence requiring different focal points to design public health policies in the latter contexts.

Adapting the T0-T4 implementation science model to occupational health and safety in agriculture, forestry, and fishing: A scoping review.

Background: Despite much research to develop life-saving innovations for the agriculture, forestry, and fishing workforce, these populations continue to face the highest fatal and non-fatal injury rates in the United States, as many of these solutions are not fully adopted.

Methods: A scoping review was conducted to provide an overview of research to practice efforts in this field. The language used to describe these initiatives, the utility of the NIH T0-T4 model, and the progress along the research to practice continuum were examined.

A roadmap for the implementation of mHealth innovations for image-based diagnostic support in clinical and public-health settings: a focus on front-line health workers and health-system organizations.

Background: Diagnostic support for clinicians is a domain of application of mHealth technologies with a slow uptake despite promising opportunities, such as image-based clinical support. The absence of a roadmap for the adoption and implementation of these types of applications is a further obstacle.

Objectives: This article provides the groundwork for a roadmap to implement image-based support for clinicians, focusing on how to overcome potential barriers affecting front-line users, the health-care organization and the technical system.

Policymakers and mHealth: roles and expectations, with observations from Ethiopia, Ghana and Sweden.

The rapid increase in mobile phone use and other telecommunication technologies in health care during the past decade has paved the way for optimism. mHealth (mobile health) initiatives need to be integrated into national health systems and priorities and fit into the system that the country has already invested in. Partnership between government, regional governments, health care systems, Community Health Workers, the private sector and universities is considered as a precondition for success.

Screening for type 2 diabetes: do screen-detected cases fare better?

Aims/hypothesis: We aimed to investigate whether diabetes cases detected through screening have better health outcomes than clinically detected cases in a population-based cohort of adults who were eligible to be screened for diabetes at 10 year intervals.

Methods: The Västerbotten Intervention Programme is a community- and individual-based public health programme in Västerbotten County, Sweden. Residents are invited to clinical examinations that include screening for diabetes by OGTTs at age 30, 40, 50 and 60 years (individuals eligible for screening, n = 142,037).

How is Indonesia coping with its epidemic of chronic noncommunicable diseases? A systematic review with meta-analysis.

Background: Chronic noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) have emerged as a huge global health problem in low- and middle-income countries. The magnitude of the rise of NCDs is particularly visible in Southeast Asia where limited resources have been used to address this rising epidemic, as in the case of Indonesia. Robust evidence to measure growing NCD-related burdens at national and local levels and to aid national discussion on social determinants of health and intra-country inequalities is needed.