The utility of physical activity questionnaires among African origin populations; lost in translation?

Background: Physical activity (PA) is an important preventive factor of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), particularly cardiovascular disease, yet progress towards reducing physical inactivity in populations is slow. Population-levels of PA are most often estimated using self-report questionnaires in population surveys, such as the Global PA Questionnaire (GPAQ), which may not accurately reflect objectively measured PA, such as accelerometers. The aim of the current study was to compare self-report vs objectively measured PA across 5 African-origin populations.

Preschool Vision Screening and Policy: Availability, Awareness and Perceptions of Stakeholders in Selected Locations in Harare and Mashonaland East Provinces.

Background: This study aimed to determine the availability, awareness and perceptions of preschool vision screening (PSVS) and policies among stakeholders in Zimbabwe.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was carried out, and a multi-stage sampling was used to select the schools from private and public schools. The study involved stakeholders (parents/guardians, teachers, principals, proprietors/owners and administrators) and data was collected using a validated questionnaire.

Dynamics of Myopia Progression in Ghana-Evidence From Clinical Practice: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background And Aim: To investigate the pattern of progression of myopia among a Ghanaian clinical cohort.

Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis of a clinical data set of all healthy myopic participants attending a tertiary eye care center was performed. Participants' biennial refraction examinations were tracked for refractive changes 4 years after the date of the first visit.

Multimodal Therapy in Multidrug-Resistant Prostatitis: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Chronic bacterial prostatitis is generally difficult to treat. It may involve multiple courses of antibiotics and may be difficult to eradicate with high rates of recurrence. We present the case of a 33-year-old male patient with a previous history of renal tract calculi, stent insertions, and perinephric abscess with percutaneous drainage, which then led to a right nephrectomy.

Stable isotope tempestology of tropical cyclones across the North Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Ocean basins.

Tropical cyclones (TCs) are one of the major natural hazards to island and coastal communities and ecosystems. However, isotopic compositions of TC-derived precipitation (P) in surface water (SW) and groundwater (GW) reservoirs are still lacking. We tested the three main assumptions of the isotope storm "spike" hypothesis (sudden spikes in isotopic ratios).

Enhancing Knowledge and Beliefs: The Impact of a Gender-transformative Training Program on Tuberculosis Care in Southern Nigeria.

Background: Gender-related barriers significantly impede care-seeking for tuberculosis (TB), leading to poor treatment outcomes. This study aimed to assess changes in knowledge and beliefs following a training program on gender-transformative TB programming among stakeholders in Southern Nigeria.

Methods: A cross-sectional pretest/posttest design was employed to evaluate the training's effectiveness among participants from September 2023 to March 2024.

Prevalence of Dirofilaria immitis in dogs in Jamaica.

Dirofilaria immitis is a zoonotic vector-borne parasite that causes heartworm disease most commonly in canines. Although present in the Caribbean, no published work exists from Jamaica. Therefore, the aim of our study was to evaluate the prevalence of D.

A landscape analysis and one health approach to an invasive species pathway: Pet and aquaria trade in the eastern Caribbean.

Background: The pet and aquaria trade is a pathway for the introduction of invasive alien species (IAS) into sensitive Caribbean ecosystems. This study aims to assess the impact of this trade on IAS management in the Caribbean.

Methods: A multipronged approach was used, involving stakeholder engagement, trade flow analysis, questionnaires, a regional IAS workshop, and a One Health Invasive Alien Species Prioritization (OHIASP) method, to examine the pet and aquaria trade in Barbados and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

Using data from routine health information systems as a public good in Trinidad and Tobago.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the use of data from routine health information systems (RHIS) as a public good in Trinidad and Tobago, the challenges faced in doing this and opportunities for strengthening the health information system.

Methods: For this descriptive qualitative study, purposive sampling was utilized to recruit 19 people who used or produced RHIS data. Online interviews were conducted via Zoom, and all interviews were recorded and transcribed.

The silent barrier: exploring data availability in Small Island Developing States.

Objective: To quantify three aspects of data-related developmental progress across 57 Small Island Developing States (SIDS) recognized by the United Nations: statistical capacity measured using the Statistical Performance Indicators (SPI), data availability using the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators, and gender-stratified indicators.

Methods: SIDS as a single country group were compared with other World Bank regions, using SPI, availability of SDG metrics, and availability of gender-stratified metrics. Using population size as a proxy for "smallness," its association with data capacity and availability was modeled.

Lessons for sustaining the elimination of measles, rubella, and congenital rubella syndrome in the Caribbean.

This study searched grey literature and PubMed for strategies to sustain the elimination of measles, rubella, and congenital rubella syndrome and prevent their reintroduction in the Caribbean. Strategies were categorized at the macro, meso, and micro health levels. Macro strategies include: strong, clear, unified political and technical leadership and support; country ownership and subregional coordination of resources, policies, and programs; government investment in national immunization programs; and timely payment to the Pan American Health Organization Revolving Fund for affordable, good-quality vaccines.

SHARE: An ethical framework for equitable data sharing in Caribbean health research.

Data sharing increasingly underpins collaborative research to address complex regional and global public health problems. Advances in analytic tools, including machine learning, have expanded the potential benefits derived from large global repositories of open data. Participating in open data collaboratives offers opportunities for Caribbean researchers to advance the health of the region's population through shared data-driven science and policy.

Islands of data: cultivating an open data landscape for sustainable development in the Caribbean.

The widespread digitization of information, advances in data processing and the emergence of internet-connected devices have led to a proliferation of data, often loosely referred to as big data. With this digital transformation, offering open data - that is, data freely available for modification and reuse - has emerged as a key strategy for encouraging transparency and innovation. Data reuse holds particular importance in the small island developing states of the Caribbean, which have a limited resource pool from which to tackle the landscape of social priorities.

Caribbean data-sharing initiatives: activities of the Eastern Caribbean Health Outcomes Research Network.

The dissemination of biomedical research data beyond academia remains limited. In response, funding agencies now regularly require that the projects they fund make research data openly available for reuse. This emerging open data movement aims to democratize data access, often guided by the FAIR data technical standards, requiring that data should be findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable.

Data journey map: a process for co-creating data requirements for health care artificial intelligence.

The Caribbean small island developing states have limited resources for comprehensive health care provision and are facing an increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases which is driven by an aging regional population. Artificial intelligence (AI) and other digital technologies offer promise for contributing to health care efficiencies, but themselves are dependent on the availability and accessibility of accurate health care data. A regional shortfall in data professionals continues to hamper legislative recognition and promotion of increased data production in Caribbean countries.

Mining social media data to inform public health policies: a sentiment analysis case study.

In the face of growing health challenges, nontraditional sources of data, such as open data, have the potential to transform how decisions are made and used to inform public health policies. Focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic, this article presents a case study employing sentiment analysis on unstructured social media data from Twitter (now X) to gauge public sentiment regarding pandemic-related restrictions. Our study aims to uncover and analyze Jamaican citizens' emotions and opinions surrounding COVID-19 restrictions following an outbreak at a call center in April 2020.

Data for population-based health analytics: the Cohorts Consortium of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Objective: We describe the daily operations of the Cohorts Consortium of Latin America and the Caribbean (CC-LAC), detailing the resources required and offering tips to Caribbean researchers so this guide can be used to start a data pooling project.

Methods: The CC-LAC began by developing a steering committee - that is, a team of regional experts who guided the project's set up and operations. The Consortium invites investigators who agree to share individual-level data about topics of interest to become members and they then have input into the project's goals and operations; they are also invited to coauthor papers.

Computer vision syndrome and associated factors among urban and rural bankers in Trinidad and Tobago.

Background: Modern workplace requirements in the banking sector require bankers to work on screens for more than 6 h a day, putting much stress and strain on their eyes, which leads to computer vision syndrome. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of computer vision syndrome and associated factors among urban and rural bankers in Trinidad and Tobago.

Methods And Materials: A cross-sectional design was applied to collect data from 399 bankers between April and June 2023.

Page kidney in a solid-organ transplant recipient with acute renal failure and arterial hypertension.

Page kidney (Page phenomenon) is a rare and treatable cause of hypertension which can occur if a haematoma, leading to extrinsic compression, occurs after renal transplant biopsy. The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system is activated leading to hypertension. This case report is that of a male in his 70s who had a renal transplant biopsy of his transplanted kidney and subsequently developed Page phenomenon as a result of an expanding haematoma.

A Global Survey to Assess Urologists' Attitudes Towards Suction Technology in Endourology by the European Association of Urology Section of Endourology and Progressive Endourological Association for Research and Leading Solutions.

Objective: To assess urologists' perceptions and current practices of using suction-based techniques and technologies in percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) and retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) for kidney stones.

Materials And Methods: A customized web-based 28-item questionnaire was created. All participation was voluntary.

Five year follow -up of a university initiated national voluntary non remunerated blood donation programme in a developing country.

International bodies continue to recommend blood services based on voluntary non remunerated blood donation as an essential prerequisite for blood safety and adequacy. Trinidad and Tobago is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, high income developing country with a long history of family replacement and remunerated blood donation. Delivery of blood services is fragmented across five autonomous Regional Health Authorities and policy is established by the National Blood Transfusion Service in the Ministry of Health.

Consecutive Evaluation of Systematic Community-Based COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Diagnostic Testing in Three Different Populations in Jamaica during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The rise in COVID-19 cases in late 2021 posed a grave threat to the public health system and the economy of Jamaica. A key pillar of controlling COVID-19 includes rapid diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals and their contacts. Hence, we evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of weekly deployment of antigen rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) by conducting three 6-week studies within high-risk populations in Jamaica.