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Biomedical subjects

T Ostbye

Publications and source records attributed to T Ostbye.

97 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

[Public health education and health promotion in Hungary: the role of Canada. The TEMPUS consortium for a New Public Health in Hungary].

The economy of Hungary is undergoing a major transition. The prevalence of behavioural and environmental risk factors is high. The population's health status is among the worst in Europe, and has declined in recent years. The Prussian-style curriculum in the medical universities was rigid and dictated from Budapest and Moscow. The teaching of public health was didactic, there was an emphasis on subjects such as dialectic materialism and hygiene. "Development of Medical Education for a New Public Health in Hungary", a three-year project funded by the European Community's TEMPUS program, is established to develop undergraduate and graduate education. It is a joint program between the five Hungarian medical schools and ten universities in Western countries including Canada. The reformation includes a shift from didactic teaching methods to problem-based learning techniques and greater emphasis on health promotion and population health. Communication within the project is facilitated through an electronic 'list server' based in London, Ontario.

Canada↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Food and nutrition in Canadian "prime time" television commercials.

Television is, arguably, the most influential mass medium and "prime time" viewing attracts the largest audiences. To assess the type, number and nutritional content of foods advertised on TV, commercial breaks during "prime time" (7:00 to 11:00 p.m.) on five Canadian channels (CBC-English, CBC-French, CTV, CFPL, Much Music) were recorded and analyzed. A similar analysis of Saturday morning children's TV commercials was also performed. Commercials for foods and food products constituted between 24-35% of all commercials, the largest advertising output for any group of products. The combination of food presented in commercials reflected average current consumption patterns. Of special concern was the emphasis on low nutrition beverages, especially beer, as well as snacks and candy on Much Music. While further government intervention to restrict advertising practices may be an impractical option, there is scope for increasing the alternative promotion of healthy dietary choices.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Introducing problem-based learning into a traditional undergraduate medical curriculum.

Problem-based learning (PBL) has been introduced into the undergraduate curricula in most Canadian medical schools. In the University of Western Ontario model, we set aside 20% of time to PBL in the first two years of the programme and the rest for didactic methods. The objective of this article is to discuss 6 years of our experience with the model and the process and problems of introducing PBL into a traditional curriculum. The importance, and methods for developing good cases which are multidisciplinary and 'three-dimensional' (biological, behavioural/ psychosocial and population issues) are emphasized. The challenges have been to: integrate the underlying teaching/learning values of two different methods, develop a valid and reliable examination/evaluation procedure, and keep the faculty interested and continually improving their skills. Students have welcomed the break from lectures and the challenge to explore in-depth areas of special interest. The most positive outcomes of this curricular change have been an increased interest in medical education reform in general, and enhanced recognition of teaching in relation to appointments and promotions.

Education, Medical, Undergraduate↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Small area variation in low birthweight: looking beyond socioeconomic predictors.

The main objectives of this study were to determine the geographic distribution of low birthweight rates in London. Ontario and to identify small areas within the city that have low birthweight rates not adequately explained by the areas' socioeconomic characteristics. The following socioeconomic variables were used in a weighted, ecological, multiple regression analysis; % unwed mothers, % teen mothers, % low income, % low education, % unemployment and % immigrants. The overall variation in low birthweight rates was statistically significant and largely, but not entirely, explained by the socioeconomic characteristics of the areas. Two out of 31 census tract clusters were identified as having low birthweight rates which were higher than would be expected based on their socioeconomic profile. This methodologic approach may interest health planners as it draws attention to local factors other than socioeconomic ones which may be important when developing local strategies for low birthweight prevention.

Female↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Predictors of dietary intake in Ontario seniors.

This study determined the independent association of 24 risk factors with dietary intake in community-living seniors. The study sample was 5,073 seniors for whom complete data were available from the 1990 Ontario Health Survey. Risk factors were items completed on an interviewer-administered health questionnaire. Diet Score, Mean Adequacy Ratio and energy were the diet outcomes derived from a self-administered food frequency questionnaire. The independent association of risk factors with these diet outcomes was assessed with multiple linear regression analyses. Factors that were consistently and positively associated with diet outcomes included: education, income, social support, perceived health status, belief in the nutrition/health link, dependence in walking and vision. Factors that were consistently and negatively associated with diet outcomes included: chewing status, dentition, hearing, level of happiness and body mass index. These results provide a basis for the development of a screening tool for the identification of "at risk" subgroups of seniors.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The relationship between place of birth and certain health characteristics in Ontario].

The relationship between place of birth and some health characteristics of the population of Ontario was investigated using data from the 1990 Ontario Health Survey. Adult respondents were categorized according to their region, sub-region, and country of birth. Multiple logistic and linear regression analyses indicated that immigrants were less frequently obese than were Canadian-born respondents (odds ratio [OR] = 0.75, confidence interval [CI] 0.63, 0.90), and Asians particularly so (OR = 0.56, CI 0.34, 0.91). Asians also more often had a low body mass index (OR = 3.40, CI 2.11, 5.50). Immigrants less frequently reported a health problem (OR = 0.74, CI 0.62, 0.88) than did respondents born in Canada, but they perceived their health less positively. Place of birth influences some health characteristics of the Ontario population. The differences observed need to be investigated further to develop health services adapted to the needs of the multi-cultural population of Ontario.

Adult↗