Background: Mobile technology uptake has increased exponentially in the past years; in 2009, mobile telephones could be found in more than 90% of Chilean homes and are widely distributed across all socioeconomic levels. Because of this technological explosion, mobile health (mHealth), or medical and public health practice supported by mobile devices, has gained potential in many health areas such as cancer prevention. Chile has a very well organized Cervical Cancer Prevention Program, with universal coverage, and a centralized registry. Despite all efforts, more than 500 Chilean women die of cervical cancer each year and Papanicolau (Pap) adherence is lower than 60%. Like many other cancers sites, cervical cancer affects the most vulnerable and under-served women. An intervention based on mobile health might be able to narrow this gap by increasing cervical cancer screening in vulnerable Latinas. The aim of this study is to assess mobile use and barriers, facilitators and acceptability to an intervention based on text messaging to increase cervical cancer-screening rates in three health care centers of Santiago Chile. Methods: We held 9 focus groups at 3 under-served health care centers in Santiago Chile; 6 focus groups among 27 women between 25-64 years old and 3 among 11 midwifes working at the health care centers. Focus groups were conducted in Spanish, recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Our research team analyzed and coded the data grouping findings into relevant themes. Results: Regarding mobile use, older women (44 to 65 years) in our study used their phones mainly to keep in touch and receive news from family and friends. Most women did not call or send messages for two main reasons: a. Most women owned prepaid phones and did not have the money to be able perform such tasks. b. Some women did not know how to check or answer a text message. Younger women (25 to 44 years) were more prone to use cell phones for different tasks such as navigating the Internet, using chat apps and making calls through Wi-Fi if they did not have the money to pay for their calls. Acceptability: Most women mentioned liking the idea of receiving messages regarding their health. They mentioned they would have to be written in simple language and the content be general enough to respect confidentiality. They would like the messages to have information regarding cervical cancer and days and hours for them to be able to get the Pap at their health care centers. They would also like to receive reminders of their scheduled Pap appointments. Older women mentioned they preferred to get phone calls from their provider or even automated calls rather than text messages. Providers were also very prone to the idea of a text message intervention since it would increase cervical cancer screening rates and would make their jobs easier. Facilitators to the implementation of a strategy based on text messages were easy access to the technology and better communication with the health care team. Potentials barriers were: Switching cell phone number rather frequently. They find it easier to buy prepaid cell phones each time rather than keep their number and get a cell phone plan. Also, male providers and the need to schedule an appointment for their Pap rather than getting it instantly whenever they arrive at the health care center were mentioned as organizational barriers. Conclusions: Cell phone use is widely spread in the Chilean population. An intervention based on text messaging might help increase cervical cancer-screening rates in Santiago, Chile. Women and providers were prone to accept an intervention using mHealth. Facilitators and barriers described such as availability of cell phones, difficulty to operate messages and use of prepaid phones need to be considered when planning an mHealth intervention for cancer prevention. Citation Format: Javiera Martinez-Gutierrez, Mauricio Soto, McKenzie Momany, Francis Ciampi, Daniel Capurro, Emilia Cea, Klaus Puschel. “Messages for your health”: Mobile use and cancer prevention for underserved Latinas in Santiago, Chile. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eighth AACR Conference on The Science of Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; Nov 13-16, 2015; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2016;25(3 Suppl):Abstract nr B77.
Background: the entrance of women in the workforce, due to a their growing cultural and, accordingly, social commitment, changed many aspects of their lives; the research or the maintenance of a job, especially during periods of severe economic crisis, leads to a delay of many physiological stage, maternity at first.The aim of this study is to verify and, if it really happened, to quantify an increasing age of first-time mothers in a sample of mothers in the province of Agrigento in the last 20 years, correlating any positive response to the work task performed.Material and Methods: we have enrolled all primiparous women who gave birth in a hospital in the province of Agrigento, from January 1993 to December 2012; through retrospective analysis of medical records, prepared during hospitalization, we have assessed the following parameters: a history (family, physiological, pathological remote and proximate, pharmacological and work), nationality, age at first birth, the task being performed, mode of delivery, days of hospitalization and possible fetal pathologies occuring in newborns.Then we have processed statistically data calculating mean, median, range and standard deviation.To assess statistical significance of the difference in the average age of the first pregnancy by professional category and decade, it was used the two-way anova test.Results: the results show an overall increase in age of first-time mothers, especially in women workers with high profile professional tasks.Discussion: the increase in the age at first pregnancy can't be considered a positive event, because of the increasing risk of complications and maternal-fetal pathologies that is directly proportional to aging.
Background: The necessity to help hospitalized subjects with reduced or absent walking abilities exposes the workers to the risk of lesions, above all spinal lesions. It is essential therefore to reduce the risk through the introduction of correct procedures and devices as well as health surveillance and training. The Mapo index is a synthetic index to estimate the manual handling of patients assessment and it allows to give a quantitative valuation of risk level of health workers.
Communication technologies have brought sweeping changes to contemporary society and the way we interact. Social media in particular is enjoying unprecedented popularity among Australian consumers, who actively engage with it on a regular basis.Quick to capitalise on this is the alcohol industry, whose innovative use of social media presents a challenge to health promoters. Fortunately social media also offers health promoters many opportunities to target audiences with more precision and connect with them more convincingly.Through a growing selection of social media platforms, health promoters have a chance to collaborate with their audiences as they interact with their networks, upload images, ‘like’ and share stories, express personal sentiments and ‘check in’ at various geographic locations.This publication primarily focuses on research and case studies relating to health promotion targeted at alcohol consumption by young people, as most resources have been invested in this area. This is not to say social media doesn’t provide opportunities to target other audiences. It also could provide opportunities for harm reduction related to illegal drugs. However, the discussion of illicit drugs through social media is more complex. When someone engages with content on most social media platforms it is visible to their peers. There are therefore cultural, privacy and legal impediments to using public forms of engagement to discuss illegal drugs.
Introduzione: Molti disturbi e patologie degli arti superiori presentano un’elevata correlazione con la frequenza di microtraumi e l’assunzione di posture incongrue a carico degli arti superiori, dovute ad attività eseguite con ritmi continui e ripetitivi. Obiettivi: Scopo dello studio è valutare la presenza di sintomi a livello dell’arto superiore correlati con i movimenti ripetitivi e la tensione muscolare. Metodi: E’ stato somministrato un questionario clinico-anamnestico ad un gruppo di lavoratori. Le differenze tra le medie ottenute sono state valutate mediante il test t di Student e la frequenza delle singole variabili è stata poi confrontata usando il test del Chi-quadrato di Peason di Yates, utilizzando il programma Solo BMDP Statistical Software. Risultati: Gli operai hanno mostrato una maggiore incidenza di malattie rispetto agli impiegati. E’ stata notata inoltre una differenza significativa tra i parametri registrati prima del turno di lavoro e quelli registrati alla fine tra gli operai, ma non tra gli impiegati. Conclusioni: Dai risultati ottenuti si evidenzia che lo svolgimento di attività richiedenti uno sforzo fisico elevato e caratterizzate da ripetitività e assunzione di posture incongrue può effettivamente portare allo sviluppo di sintomi a livello degli arti superiori. Mechanical overload of the upper extremity and exposed workers www.preventionandresearch.com 124 Apr-Jun 2012|P&R Scientific|Volume 2|N°2 Background Since the beginning of the’ 80s occupational diseases of the upper limbs, known in literature as WMSDs (Work Related Muscle Skeletal Diseases), have become a widely studied phenomenon (1). According to INAIL tables, reported in GU n. 134,10/06/2004, there are many diseases with a high correlation between micro traumas awkward postures of upper limbs and activities performed with continuous and repetitive rhythms for at least half of the work shift (2, 3). Surface electromyography (SEMG) can help Occupational Physician (4). Surface technique seems favorable because it shows moment, duration and importance of muscle activation during the same activation or when an indication of the overall activity of one or more muscles is necessary. Objectives Aim of the study is to assess the presence of upper limb symptoms correlated with repetitive movements and muscle strain. Methods A clinical-anamnestic questionnaire with particular attention to upper limb symptomatology (5), the familiarity and the carpal tunnel syndrome story was administered to 39 automotive industry workers and 17 white collars employed in the same company. From the initial group, 12 production line workers and 13 white collars, comparable for age, seniority, smoking habit, coffee consumption and BMI were selected. They were asked to indicate through a score from 1 to 10 the muscle strain for every performed action according to Borg CR10 (6). The differences between averages were evaluated through the Student T test. The frequency of the single variables was compared using Yates’ Peason Chi Square test, realizing a 2x2 table, using the Solo BMDP Statistical Software Program. 6 random selected subjects between the production line workers and 6 controls underwent SEMG. Recording was carried out during 20 sec of maximal contraction, during the work shift, at the beginning and at the end. Results The number of workers with wrist pain, nocturnal and diurnal paresthesia, right or both hands pain resulted significantly higher (p<0.001) than the number of white collars, as well as the number of laborers with right or both hands weakness (p<0.01) and shoulder pain (p<0.05). The comparison of answers obtained at the Borg scale showed a higher average score in automotive industry workers compared with white collars (p<0.0001); strain perceived by white collars was scored between 0 and 5 (absent-high), while production line workers’ one was scored between 5 and 10 (high-maxim). As for SEMG, before the work shift there was no difference between the groups, while there were differences at the end of the work shift (p<0.01). The comparison of data resulting from the questionnaire did not show a higher prevalence among the workers: neck and trapezius pain or discomfort by the left or right side, left and right elbow pain; however a significant difference was evident between the parameters recorded before the work shift and the ones recorded at the end of the work shift among workers and not among white collars. Conclusions The presence of specific symptoms among workers suggest that these diseases and the activities characterized by repetitiveness, incongruent postures and strength are correlated. The effort of assembly line workers is higher than the effort of white collars. Statistically significant results between values recorded by SEMG at the beginning and at the end of the work shift among the group of workers confirm the presence of upper limb muscle strain, which mainly involves forearm muscles according to the kind of movement and its frequency. On the contrary, this strain is not recorded among white collars, because no significant difference appears in the 3 recordings. From these results we infer that the airbag production activity requires a strain perceived from “high” to “maximal” Mechanical overload of the upper extremity and exposed workers www.preventionandresearch.com 125 Apr-Jun 2012|P&R Scientific|Volume 2|N°2 (5 and 10 according to Borg scale) and that can lead to developing upper limb symptomatology, with particular regard to the district-hand wrist. Due to SEMG, it was possible to highlight how, performing their duties, assembly line workers really present muscle strain in the recording performed at the beginning and at the end of the work shift, which doesn’t occur among white collars.
