Journal of epidemiology and community health
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J Epidemiol Community Health · Mar 2017
Randomized Controlled TrialImpact of a child stimulation intervention on early child development in rural Peru: a cluster randomised trial using a reciprocal control design.
Stimulation in early childhood can alleviate adverse effects of poverty. In a community-randomised trial, we implemented 2 home-based interventions, each serving as an attention control for the other. One group received an integrated household intervention package (IHIP), whereas the other group received an early child development (ECD) intervention. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of IHIP on diarrhoea and respiratory infections, the details of which are described elsewhere. Here, we present the impact of the ECD intervention on early childhood development indicators. ⋯ The home-based ECD intervention effectively improved child development overall across domains and separately by investigated domain. Home-based strategies could be a promising component of poverty alleviation programmes seeking to improve developmental outcomes among rural Peruvian children.
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J Epidemiol Community Health · Oct 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialText-messaging to reduce missed appointment in a youth clinic: a randomised controlled trial.
To assess the effectiveness of text-messages in reducing the proportion of non-attendance in a youth clinic of a University Hospital. ⋯ In our primary care youth clinic, text-message reminders are not effective in reducing the proportion of missed appointments. This may in part be due to the fact that most patients are referred by a professional or by their parents and do not initiate appointments themselves.
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J Epidemiol Community Health · Apr 2012
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyEffects of Smokefree Class Competition 1 year after the end of intervention: a cluster randomised controlled trial.
The Smokefree Class Competition, a school-based smoking prevention intervention, is widely disseminated in Europe. Participating classes commit themselves to be smoke-free and self-monitor their smoking status. Classes that remain smoke-free for 6 months can win prizes. Effects of the intervention on current smoking, initiation and progression of smoking were investigated. ⋯ Trial registration ISRCTN27091233 in Current Control Trial Register.
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J Epidemiol Community Health · Oct 2009
Randomized Controlled TrialInclusion of indigenous and ethnic minority populations in intervention trials: challenges and strategies in a New Zealand supermarket study.
The Supermarket Healthy Options Project (SHOP) is a large, randomised, controlled trial designed to evaluate the effect of tailored nutrition education and price discounts on supermarket food purchases. A key objective was to recruit approximately equal numbers of Māori, Pacific and non-Māori, non-Pacific shoppers. This paper describes the recruitment strategies used and evaluates their impact on recruitment of Māori, Pacific and non-Māori, non-Pacific trial participants. ⋯ The findings demonstrate considerable challenges and cost in recruiting indigenous and minority ethnic participants into intervention trials. Researchers and funding organisations should allocate more resources to recruitment of indigenous and minority populations than to recruitment of majority populations. Community recruitment and networks appear to be better ways to recruit these populations than passive strategies like mailouts.
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J Epidemiol Community Health · Sep 2009
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyIs universal prevention against youths' substance misuse really universal? Gender-specific effects in the EU-Dap school-based prevention trial.
Studies of effectiveness of school-based prevention of substance misuse have generally overlooked gender differences. The purpose of this work was to analyse gender differences in the effectiveness of a new European school-based curriculum for prevention of substance misuse among adolescents. ⋯ Comprehensive social influence school curricula against substance misuse in adolescence may perform differently among girls and boys, owing to developmental and personality factors.