Bmc Public Health
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Some previous studies have suggested that area-level characteristics have effects on smoking. The aim of this study was to evaluate the associations between household income and area income on smoking in Korean adults. ⋯ The results showed that smoking is strongly associated with household income status in both men and women, and area-level income is partly associated with smoking. Effects of area-level income on smoking differed by sex and region. These findings suggest that area characteristics have contextual effects on health related behavior independent of individual characteristics.
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As a specific male occupational group, underground coal miners have been commonly found to have a high prevalence of cigarette smoking. It is of urgent need to explore some factors that could be intervened to reduce smoking from personal or internal perspective. The purpose of the present study was to examine the associations of psychological capital (PsyCap), demographic and occupational factors with smoking among Chinese underground coal miners. ⋯ More than half of the underground coal miners were current smokers, which indicated that cigarette smoking might be a common health risk behavior in this occupational population. High resilience and PPE, together with low education were the risk factors of smoking, whereas high optimism was a protective factor. Consequently, PsyCap had mixed effects on cigarette smoking. Investment in resilience and optimism should be given more attention for the purposes of the prevention and reduction of smoking among occupational populations.
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This study was conducted to investigate awareness of clinical trials (CTs) including perceptions of favorable feelings about, necessity for, and safety of CTs, the ultimate beneficiary of CTs and the factors associated with willingness to participate in CTs among the general population in South Korea. ⋯ An awareness of CTs and the perceptions toward CTs were associated with general public willingness to participate in a CT. Findings from this study can be used in planning outreach and recruitment strategies, and to understand the predictors of CT participation.
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Worldwide, a total of 6.282 million deaths occurred among children aged less than 5 years in 2013. About 47.4 % of those were borne by the 47 Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region. Sadly, even as we approach the end date for the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), only eight African countries are on track to achieve the MDG 4 target 4A of reducing under-five mortality by two thirds between 1990 and 2015. The post-2015 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 target is "by 2030, end preventable deaths of new-borns and children under 5 years of age". There is urgent need for increased advocacy among governments, the private sector and development partners to provide the resources needed to build resilient national health systems to deliver an integrated package of people-centred interventions to end preventable child morbidity and mortality and other structures to address all the basic needs for a healthy population. The specific objective of this study was to estimate expected/future productivity losses from child deaths in the WHO African Region in 2013 for use in advocacy for increased investments in child health services and other basic services that address children's welfare. ⋯ It is estimated that the African Region will incur a loss of approximately 6 % of its non-health GDP from the future years of life lost among the 2 976 000 child deaths that occurred in 2013. Therefore, countries and development partners should in solidarity sustainably provide the resources essential to build resilient national health systems and systems to address the determinants of health and meet the other basic needs such as for clothing, education, food, shelter, sanitation and clean water to end preventable child morbidity and mortality.
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Behavioral risk factors such as tobacco use, unhealthy diet, insufficient physical activity and the harmful use of alcohol are known and modifiable contributors to a number of NCDs and health mediators. The purpose of this paper is to describe the distribution of main risk factors for NCDs by socioeconomic status (SES) among adults aged 50 years and older within a country and compare these risk factors across six lower- and upper-middle income countries. ⋯ There were substantial variations across countries and settings, even between upper-middle income countries and lower-middle income countries. The baseline information on the magnitude of the problem of risk factors provided by this study can help countries and health policymakers to set up interventions addressing the global non-communicable disease epidemic.