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A Bauman

Publications and source records attributed to A Bauman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Twelve-month effects of Canada on the Move: a population-wide campaign to promote pedometer use and walking.

Canada on the Move is a national campaign to promote pedometer use and walking among adult Canadians. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the initiative's impact on sufficient walking, defined here as at least an hour daily in the week prior to the survey. Data were collected via the national Canadian Physical Activity Monitor's rolling monthly sample throughout 2004. Population prevalence rates of walking were compared using Bonferroni-adjusted confidence intervals. Correlates of sufficient walking were estimated using odds ratios adjusted for age, sex, income and education. Message recall and pedometer ownership were associated with increased odds of self-reported walking. There was evidence of a campaign effect on walking behavior independent of secular trends. The increased likelihood of sufficient walking suggests an ongoing role for nationally funded public awareness campaigns. The effectiveness of health promotion to increase walking may be enhanced by combining motivational health-related messages with the dissemination and adoption of an easy-to-use tool for self-monitoring purposes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Long-term changes in leisure time walking, moderate and vigorous exercise: were they influenced by the National Physical Activity Guidelines?

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics three cross-sectional National Health Surveys, conducted in 1989-1990, 1995-1996 and 2000, were used to examine long-term population responses to the 1996 physical activity (PA) recommendations. Past 2-week recall of the number of times and total minutes spent walking for recreation or sport, and doing moderate and vigorous exercise, were averaged for 1 week to create a measure of 'sufficiently active': >or=5 weekly sessions of >or=150 min/week of at least moderate-intensity activity. With the exception of adults aged>60 years, from 1989 to 2000, there were increases in the prevalence of walking (+8%) and in moderate-intensity exercise (+4%), resulting in a significant decline (-6%) in the proportion of those reporting no leisure-time exercise. Participation in vigorous exercise remained unchanged. There was a 'population shift' in median minutes and sessions of walking from 1995 to 2000, but the prevalence of regular walking (>or=5 times and >or=150 min/week) remained unchanged. A small but significant increase (+2%) in the proportion of adults who met the PA recommendations was noted mainly for men under 60 years and for women aged 45-59 years. The proportion meeting the PA recommendations declined significantly in the most socioeconomically disadvantaged area. These data provide evidence contrary to the observed declines in PA documented by the Active Australia surveillance in the late 1990s. The population may have responded to the 1996 concept of moderate-intensity exercise mainly by walking, but sustainable promotional efforts will be required to build on these gains in the forthcoming decades.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Engagement and retention of participants in a physical activity website.

BACKGROUND: Websites have the potential to deliver enhanced versions of targeted and tailored physical activity programs to large numbers of participants. We describe participant engagement and retention with a stage-based physical activity website in a workplace setting. METHODS: We analyzed data from participants in the website condition of a randomized trial designed to test the efficacy of a print- vs. website-delivered intervention. They received four stage-targeted e-mails over 8 weeks, with hyperlinks to the website. Both objective and self-reported website use data were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: Overall, 327 were randomized to the website condition and 250 (76%) completed the follow-up survey. Forty-six percent (n = 152) visited the website over the trial period. A total of 4,114 hits to the website were recorded. Participants who entered the site spent on average 9 min per visit and viewed 18 pages. Website use declined over time; 77% of all visits followed the first e-mail. CONCLUSIONS: Limited website engagement, despite the perceived usefulness of the materials, demonstrates possible constraints on the use of e-mails and websites in delivering health behavior change programs. In the often-cluttered information environment of workplaces, issues of engagement and retention in website-delivered programs require attention.

Australia↗
PubMed2005

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of novel glibenclamide derivatives as imaging agents for the non-invasive assessment of the pancreatic islet cell mass in animals and humans.

Pancreatic islet cell mass (PICM) is a major determinant of the insulin secretory capacity in humans. Currently, the only method for accurate assessment of the PICM is an autopsy study. Thus, development of a technique allowing the non-invasive quantification of PICM is of great interest. The aim of this study was to develop such a non-invasive technique featuring novel fluorine- and (99m)Tc-labelled glibenclamide derivatives. Despite the structural modifications necessary to introduce fluorine into the glibenclamide molecule, all derivatives retained insulin stimulating capacity as well as high affinity binding to human SUR1 when compared to the original glibenclamide. Contrastingly, the lipophilicity of the fluorine-labelled derivatives was altered depending on the particular modification. In the human PET-study a constant but weak radioactive signal could be detected in the pancreas using a fluorine-labelled glibenclamide derivative. However, a reliable assessment and visualisation of the PICM could not be obtained. It can be assumed that the high uptake of the fluorine-labelled tracer e.g. into the the liver and the high plasma protein binding leads to a relatively low signal-to-noise ratio. In case of the presented fluorine-labelled glibenclamide based compounds this could be the result of their invariably high lipophilicity. The development of a (99 m)Tc-labelled glibenclamide derivative with a lower lipophilicity and differing in vivo behaviour, glibenclamide based compounds for non-invasive imaging of the pancreatic islet cell mass may be possible.

ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters↗
PubMed2005

Factors that influence special care nursery admissions to a district hospital in South-western Sydney.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the socio-demographic factors and maternal characteristics that influence special care nursery (SCN) admission for infants of more than 34 weeks' gestation. Particularly, this paper aims (i) to estimate the incidence of SCN admission by various mothers' socio-demographic factors; and (ii) to investigate the relationship between SCN admission and mothers' socio-demographic and obstetric and gynaecological factors. METHODS: This was a cohort study of 10,148 pregnant women who accessed the birthing unit within a public district hospital in south-western Sydney in New South Wales, between 1998 and 2001. The main outcome measure was risk factors for SCN admission. RESULTS: The incidence of SCN admission was 11.7%. Multivariate analysis revealed that the risk factors for SCN admission were diabetes, gestational diabetes, high parity, pregnancy induced hypertension, living in suburbs with low education and occupation index, and no private health insurance status. CONCLUSIONS: The results from this large population-based study suggest that, apart from clinical/medical factors, admission to a special care nursery at a District Hospital was significantly affected by maternal insurance status and level of education and occupation.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Mental disorders, disability and health service use amongst Vietnamese refugees and the host Australian population.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence of common mental disorders, disability and health service utilization amongst Vietnamese refugees resettled in Australia for 11 years, with data obtained from a national survey of the host population. METHOD: A stratified multistage probability household survey of 1611 Vietnamese undertaken in the state of New South Wales was compared with data from 7961 Australian-born respondents. Measures included the CIDI 2.1 and the MOS SF-12. RESULTS: The 12-month prevalence of anxiety, depression and drug and alcohol dependence amongst Vietnamese was 6.1% compared with 16.7% amongst Australians. Vietnamese with a mental illness reported higher disability but exhibited similar levels of mental health consultation. The overall service burden of mental disorders was lower for the Vietnamese. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that refugee groups resettled for some time in Western countries may show sound mental health adaptation and do not necessarily impose a burden on general or mental health services.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Test-retest reliability of four physical activity measures used in population surveys.

Accurate monitoring of prevalence and trends in population levels of physical activity (PA) is a fundamental public health need. Test-retest reliability (repeatability) was assessed in population samples for four self-report PA measures: the Active Australia survey (AA, N=356), the short International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ, N=104), the physical activity items in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS, N=127) and in the Australian National Health Survey (NHS, N=122). Percent agreement and Kappa statistics were used to assess reliability of classification of activity status as 'active', 'insufficiently active' or 'sedentary'. Intraclass correlations (ICCs) were used to assess agreement on minutes of activity reported for each item of each survey and for total minutes. Percent agreement scores for activity status were very good on all four instruments, ranging from 60% for the NHS to 79% for the IPAQ. Corresponding Kappa statistics ranged from 0.40 (NHS) to 0.52 (AA). For individual items, ICCs were highest for walking (0.45 to 0.78) and vigorous activity (0.22 to 0.64) and lowest for the moderate questions (0.16 to 0.44). All four measures provide acceptable levels of test-retest reliability for assessing both activity status and sedentariness, and moderate reliability for assessing total minutes of activity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

The public health usefulness of the exercise recreation and sport survey (ERASS) surveillance system.

BACKGROUND: There is a public health need to monitor habitual participation in physical activity (PA). This report evaluates the usefulness of routine sport and recreation sector collected 'Exercise Recreation and Sport Survey (ERASS)' data from a public health perspective. METHODS: The ERASS telephone surveys collected information about participation in any PA undertaken for exercise, recreation or sport and the frequency of participation during the previous 12 months from a random sample of 3,400 Australians (aged > or = 15) each quarter. Activities were categorised as Health Enhancing Physical Activities (HEPA) if the activity was of sufficient intensity (METs > or = 3.5). 'Sufficiently active' people reported HEPA > or = 5 days/week and the sedentary group reported HEPA < 0.5 day/week. The total person-days of PA were calculated and main PA types that contributed to HEPA were highlighted. RESULTS: In 2001, walking accounted for 58% of all HEPA person-days. For females walking (66%), swimming (5.7%) and gym (4.7%) combined accounted for 75% of HEPA days while for males, walking (50%), cycling (8.1%), football (6.2%), jegging (5.6%) and swimming (4.5%) were main contributors. The mean days walked was 2.20 days/week (95% CI; 2.16-2.25) while all other HEPA combined totalled 1.56 days/week (95% CI; 1.52-1.60). Over 12-month period 15.8% of Australians were defined as sedentary and 31% were 'sufficiently active' including 16.8% who reported frequent walking (> or = 5 days/week). CONCLUSION: ERASS could supplement informational gaps in current PA surveillance. It provides estimates of long-term PA behavioural habits and informs policy makers about the types of activities that contribute to population health.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Reliability of moderate-intensity and vigorous physical activity stage of change measures for young adults.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability of stage of change (SOC) measures for moderate-intensity and vigorous physical activity in two separate samples of young adults. Staging measures have focused on vigorous exercise, but current public health guidelines emphasize moderate-intensity activity. METHOD: For college students in the USA (n=105) and in Australia (n=123), SOC was assessed separately on two occasions for moderate-intensity activity and for vigorous activity. Test-retest repeatability was determined, using Cohen's kappa coefficient. RESULTS: In both samples, the reliability scores for the moderate-intensity physical activity staging measure were lower than the scores for the vigorous exercise staging measure. Weighted kappa values for the moderate-intensity staging measure were in the "fair to good" range for both studies (0.50 and 0.45); for the vigorous staging measure kappa values were "excellent" and "fair to good" (0.76 and 0.72). CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to standardize and improve methods for staging moderate-intensity activity, given that such measures are used in public health interventions targeting HEPA (health-enhancing physical activity).

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Risk factors for low birth weight in a socio-economically disadvantaged population: parity, marital status, ethnicity and cigarette smoking.

Low birth weight (LBW) is a public health problem, because it is associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality. The principal aim of this study was to assess risk factors for LBW in a large multi-ethnic and socio-economically disadvantaged population. Data from 3242 mothers, who attended the Well Baby Clinic (Southwestern Sydney, Australia) for the first time, were analysed in relation to their demographic characteristics and socio-economic indices. The overall birthweight was 3377 +/- 577 g (mean +/- SD). In multiple linear regression analysis, smoking during pregnancy, marital status, parity, and country of birth were independently associated with birth weight. According to this analysis, lower birth weight was associated with mothers who had smoked during pregnancy (by 215.2 +/- 18.6 g), who were single (46.9 +/- 21 g), and of Asian background (108.5 +/- 38.2 g). However, higher parity was associated with significantly higher birth weight. The presence of each factor was coded as 1 and the absence, 0. A 'risk score' was then derived by summing up the individual scores. When birth weight was classified as 'low birth weight' (defined as those with birth weight being less than 2500 g) or normal birth weight, the overall prevalence of LBW was 1.9%. Each unit increase in the risk score was associated with a 1.9-fold (95% confidence interval: 1.5-2.6) increase in the risk of LBW. These data suggest that apart from marital status, ethnicity and parity, maternal smoking is the single most important preventable risk factors for LBW.

Female↗
PubMed2002

Perceptions of the physical environment, stage of change for physical activity, and walking among Australian adults.

Data for this study were from a population survey of 1,200 adults ages 40-60 years, sampled from the Illawarra region of New South Wales. Questionnaire items on perceptions of the environment were factor analyzed into: Aesthetic Environment and Practical Environment. For both factors, those in the Contemplation stage had more negative views of the environment than those in Maintenance. Those who walked for 0-20 min/week held more negative perceptions of their environment than those who walked for 21-120 min/week and those who walked for > 120 min/week. The health promotion implications of these findings are that environments perceived as attractive and as providing convenient access to services and facilities may influence motivational readiness for physical activity and time spent walking.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Asthma knowledge and medication compliance among parents of asthmatic children in Nanjing, China.

Asthma knowledge and medication compliance among parents of 150 asthmatic children in Nanjing were assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. The results showed that 54.7% of parents had poor knowledge of asthma and its management. Parental compliance with medication was also suboptimal as only 43.3% of parents reported adherence with prescribed anti-asthmatic medication for their children. Reasons for non-compliance included fear of medication side-effects and tolerance, and forgetting to give the child's medication. Education and occupation were found to be associated with asthma knowledge, however there was no association between age or income with knowledge. Income was associated with compliance with asthma medication, however no association was found between parents' age, education, occupation, or asthma knowledge with compliance. This study has identified the need for accurate and up-to-date information on asthma for parents of asthmatic children as well as programs aimed at teaching parents skills in managing their child's asthma. There is also the need for strategies aimed at improving communication between the health provider and parents of asthmatic children.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Perceived environmental aesthetics and convenience and company are associated with walking for exercise among Australian adults.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate relationships between environmental aesthetics, convenience, and walking companions and walking for exercise or recreation and to investigate differences in these relationships by sex and by reported physical and mental health. METHODS: Analyses of cross-sectional self-report data from a statewide population survey of 3,392 Australian adults were used. RESULTS: Men and women reporting a less aesthetically pleasing or less convenient environment were less likely to report walking for exercise or recreation in the past 2 weeks. Those respondents, particularly women, reporting no company or pet to walk with were also less likely to walk for exercise or recreation. Associations with environmental and social influences were observed for men and women reporting both good and poor physical and mental health. CONCLUSIONS: Perceived environmental aesthetics and convenience and walking companions are important correlates of walking for exercise among urban Australians. Acknowledging the cross-sectional nature of these data, findings support a case for evaluation of environmental policies to promote physical activity.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

The importance of the social environment for physically active lifestyle--results from an international study.

Physically active lifestyles are regularly associated with improved health and quality of life. Differences in lifestyles in society can partly be understood through the differences in the social and physical environment. This study examines the relationships between reported physical activity, and the extent of perceived support for physical activity in the physical and policy environment (e.g. facilities, programmes and other opportunities), and in the social environment. The data for the study come from a cross-cultural health policy study called MAREPS. In total, 3342 adults, 18 years or older, from six countries (Belgium, Finland, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland) were interviewed via telephone. Respondents were categorised as active or inactive according to self-reported physical activity. Social environmental factors and physical and policy environmental factors were also assessed. The analysis of the data was informed by social cognitive theory, although the study was not originally designed for this purpose. Sixty-eight percent of females and 70% of males were active. The proportions of active and inactive varied by countries to a great extent. The strongest independent predictor of being physically active was social environment. Those who perceived low social support from their personal environment (i.e. family, friends, school and workplace) were more than twice as likely to be sedentary compared to those who reported high social support from their personal environment. Specific knowledge of the programmes and actions for physical activity and sport was also a strong predictor of being active. A supportive physical and policy environment was not associated with participation in physical activity as strongly as had been anticipated. The variation between countries was stronger predictor of being active than the physical and policy environment variables. This study generates the hypotheses and raises the questions that in a preliminary way, there appears to be some relationships between aspects of physical and social environment and physical activity participation. However, future research is needed to refine and clarify this.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Associations of physical activity with body weight and fat in men and women.

OBJECTIVE: Increasing physical activity is strongly advocated as a key public health strategy for weight gain prevention. We investigated associations of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and occupational/domestic physical activity with body mass index (BMI) and a skinfold-derived index of body fat (sum of six skinfolds), among normal-weight and overweight men and women. DESIGN: Analyses of cross-sectional self-report and measured anthropometric data. SUBJECTS: A total of 1302 men and women, aged 18-78 y, who were part of a randomly selected sample and who agreed to participate in a physical health assessment. MEASUREMENTS: Self-report measures of physical activity, measured height and weight, and a skinfold-derived index of body fatness. RESULTS: Higher levels of LTPA were positively associated with the likelihood of being in the normal BMI and lower body fat range for women, but few or no associations were found for men. No associations were found between measures of occupational/domestic activity and BMI or body fat for men or women. CONCLUSION: By using a skinfold sum as a more direct measure of adiposity, this study extends and confirms the previous research that has shown an association between BMI and LTPA. Our results suggest gender differences in the relationship of leisure-time physical activity with body fatness. These findings, in conjunction with a better understanding of the causes of such differences, will have important public health implications for the development and targeting of weight gain prevention strategies.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed2001

A framework for monitoring maternal and infant health status.

The Mother and Infant Network (MINET) Program was established in South Western Sydney Area Health Service (SWSAHS) in 1997. MINET developed and implemented an integrated clinical data network as a key strategy to support and inform a Continuum of Care comprising hospital and community based services. There are good data sources within the MINET program. Its scope spans care for mothers and children, which begins with the first antenatal attendance and ends at school entry. This paper has three interrelated aims: to describe the development of the MINET program; to demonstrate the benefits of a sustainable Information Culture which can assist an Area Health Services in adopting a health outcomes based approach to service delivery; and to describe how MINET has the capacity to support Health Services Research.

Female↗