Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Jun 2008
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialThe effect of a home-based walking program on risk factors for coronary heart disease in hypercholesterolaemic men. A randomized controlled trial.
Hypercholesterolaemia and physical inactivity significantly contribute towards risk of coronary heart disease. Increased physical activity may be an effective way to improve lipid profiles in hypercholesterolaemic individuals. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a home-based physical activity program meeting current guidelines improved the lipid profile of hypercholesterolaemic men. ⋯ Twelve weeks of moderate intensity walking was sufficient to improve TC/HDL-C in hypercholesterolaemic men, primarily through improvement in HDL-C.
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Preventive medicine · Jun 2008
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialCardiovascular Health Awareness Program (CHAP): a community cluster-randomised trial among elderly Canadians.
High blood pressure is an important and modifiable cardiovascular disease risk factor that remains under-detected and under-treated. Community-level interventions that address high blood pressure and other modifiable risk factors are a promising strategy to improve cardiovascular health in populations. The present study is a community cluster-randomised trial testing the effectiveness of CHAP (Cardiovascular Health Awareness Program) on the cardiovascular health of older adults. ⋯ This paper highlights considerations in design, implementation and evaluation of a large-scale, community-wide cardiovascular health promotion initiative.
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Preventive medicine · Jun 2008
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialAction Schools! BC: a school-based physical activity intervention designed to decrease cardiovascular disease risk factors in children.
Our primary objective was to determine whether a novel 'active school' model--Action Schools! BC--improved the cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk profile in elementary-school children. Our secondary objective was to determine the percentage of children with elevated CVD risk factors. ⋯ Action Schools! BC was an effective school-based physical activity model for improving the CVD risk profile of elementary-school children. Our multi-component intervention exposed children to fitness enhancing physical activity. It may be important for education stakeholders to adequately resource the delivery of the active school models if cardiovascular health benefits are to be achieved on a population basis.
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Preventive medicine · Mar 2008
Randomized Controlled TrialCancer prevention in primary care: predictors of patient counseling across four risk behaviors over 24 months.
Rates of preventive counseling remain below national guidelines. We explored physician and patient predictors of preventive counseling across multiple cancer risk behaviors in at-risk primary care patients. ⋯ More thorough risk behavior counseling can be delivered opportunistically across multiple visits; doing so is associated with more satisfaction with care.
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Preventive medicine · Mar 2008
Randomized Controlled TrialInitial efficacy of MI, TTM tailoring and HRI's with multiple behaviors for employee health promotion.
This study was designed to compare the initial efficacy of Motivational Interviewing (MI), Online Transtheoretical Model (TTM)-tailored communications and a brief Health Risk Intervention (HRI) on four health risk factors (inactivity, BMI, stress and smoking) in a worksite sample. ⋯ This was the first study to demonstrate that MI and online TTM could produce significant multiple behavior changes. Future research will examine the long-term impacts of each treatment, their cost effectiveness, effects on productivity and quality of life and process variables mediating outcomes.