scholarly journals A comparison of recreational water illness awareness and frequency of swimming

Author(s):  
Elden Chan ◽  
BCIT School of Health Sciences, Environmental Health ◽  
Martin MacLeod

  Objective: Swimming pools have potential to create health hazards that range from physical, chemical to biological. Biological concerns center on communicable diseases which can be spread through poor hygiene practices. To prevent the spread of disease, swimmers must be informed and practice appropriate hygiene. This study aims to determine whether the frequency of swimming had an influence on swimming pool hygiene knowledge. Method: Survey questions focusing on risk factors for communicable disease spread, and personal hygiene practices were developed using the pool operation handbooks, input from environmental health instructors at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, as well as past surveys from other studies. Pool patrons were surveyed at Hillcrest Community Centre in Vancouver. Scores from these tests were then analyzed in NCSS9 using one-way ANOVA tests and Two-Sample t-tests. Results: 167 validated surveys were analyzed. The most often incorrectly answered questions were in regards to the duration of avoiding swimming after diarrheal illness, pre-swim hygiene, and after bathroom use hygiene. No statistically significant difference in mean test score was found in individuals that swam more than once a week, more than once a month, or less than once a month. Statistically significant differences in mean test scores were found for individuals that read signs, and age group. Conclusion: From the data, it is observed that those who swam more frequently were not more informed on pool hygiene issues than those who swam less. The sample size (n=167) for this conclusion may be too small, since beta value was 87.5%.  

2021 ◽  
pp. 194173812110322
Author(s):  
Kathryn D. McElheny ◽  
Dean Little ◽  
David Taylor ◽  
Joseph E. Manzi

Context: Transmission of communicable diseases observed in sporting organizations is often preventable. Early detection, isolation, and treatment can significantly diminish time lost. Until recently, there has been a paucity of standardized guidelines outlining feasible, preventable measures to protect both athletes and staff from contagious illnesses. Therefore, the purpose of this narrative was to highlight optimal prevention practices for transmission mitigation, with a particular focus on hygiene activity and travel considerations in professional sporting organizations. Evidence Acquisition: Current recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and peer-reviewed journals. Study Design: Clinical review. Level of Evidence: Level 5. Results: Communicable illness prevention strategies begin at the level of sufficient personal hygiene practices. Common area surface cleaning recommendations, including shared equipment sanitization between usage as well as designated equipment use to specific athletes, should be considered to minimize cross-contamination, in particular, for liked-position players. Intelligent design for shared areas can include redistributing the layout of communal spaces, most feasibly, spreading locker designation a minimum distance of 6 ft from one another. Travel considerations can include placing most susceptible passengers closest to window seating, boarding last and exiting first. Team physicians should have knowledge of essential personnel medical histories in an effort to risk stratify staff members and players in the setting of communicable disease. Conclusion: Providing a framework for illness management and prevention is important when considering the effects on player health, missed time, performance, and overall cost. Containment of commonly observed communicable illnesses can be optimized with sufficient personal hygiene practices, common area surface cleaning recommendations, intelligent design for shared areas, travel and hotel considerations, as well as appropriate screening tools and isolation techniques. Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy (SORT): B.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 246
Author(s):  
Ni Putu Wulan Purnama Sari ◽  
Jintana Artsanthia

<p>Due to increasing age, elderly are prone to non-communicable diseases (NCD), such as hypertension (HT) and diabetes mellitus (DM). Easy physical condition monitoring of people with HT and/or DM is by measuring their blood pressure (BP) and/or blood glucose level (BGL) periodically. This study aimed to compare and analyze the differences of BP and BGL among elderly with HT and/or DM in Bangkok and Surabaya. This cross-sectional study involved 100 and 96 elderly with HT and/or DM in communities of Bangkok and Surabaya respectively (n=196). There were three groups of samples which consisted of 60 DM, 68 HT, and 68 DM&amp;HT cases. Instruments used were demography questionnaire, sphygmomanometer, and glucometer. Test of one-way ANOVA, Least Significant Difference (LSD), Kruskal-Wallis, and Mann-Whitney U were used for data analysis (α&lt;.05). There was a significant difference of systolic and diastolic BP found between groups (p=.000 and p=.011 respectively), but no difference found between the groups of HT and DM&amp;HT (p=.657 and p=.330 respectively). There was a significant difference of BGL found between groups (p=.002), but no difference found between the groups of HT and DM (p=.075) and between the groups of DM and DM&amp;HT (p=.066). BP is significantly different between the group of HT and DM in term of systole and diastole, especially in elderly, but BGL is similar. The risk of being HT for elderly with DM is very high. Elderly with DM&amp;HT have high BP and BGL similarly to those with single disease of HT or DM. </p>


Author(s):  
Fatma Elsayed ◽  
Aram Alhammadi ◽  
Alanood Alahmad ◽  
Zahra Babiker ◽  
Abdelhamid Kerkadi

The prevalence of obesity has been increased in Qatar, with the transition from healthy to unhealthy dietary habits. Behavioral factors that are associated with obesity are, long-term imbalanced energy intake, high screen time, skipping breakfast and physical inactivity. Changes in body composition and percent body fat (PBF) increase the risk of non-communicable disease. This study is the first study conducted in Qatar to investigate the relationship between dietary patterns and body composition among young females at Qatar University. This cross-sectional study consisted of 766 healthy female students Qatari and non-Qatari aged from 18-26 years randomly selected from different colleges at Qatar University. A validate questionnaire was used in order to collect data about healthy and unhealthy dietary patterns. Anthropometric measurements involved body weight, height, waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI) and body composition using “Seca285”, “Seca203” and “InbodyBiospace 720”. Dietary patterns were identified by using factor loading. Linear regression was used to estimate confidence intervals and regression coefficient. More than half of the participants had a normal weight (65.1%), whereas 22.8 % and 12.0% were overweight and obese, respectively. Fat mass, BMI and PBF were slightly increased with age, but there was no significant difference. Factor analysis identified two dietary patterns: unhealthy patterns and healthy patterns. The frequent intake of vegetables and fruits was significant among high PBF female students (p=0.045 and p=0.001, respectively). The frequent intake of fast food was higher for overweight female students but there was no significant difference (p=0.289), whereas, the frequent intake of sweetened beverages was associated with higher significant rate of normal weight among female students (p = 0.009). No significant relation was found between dietary patterns, BMI and PBF. In conclusion, body composition is not significantly associated with healthy and unhealthy eating patterns among young females.


Author(s):  
Hanny Tioho ◽  
Maykel A.J Karauwan

The minimum size of coral transplants, Acropora formosa, was assessed to support their survival and growth. For this, 150 coral fragments of different sizes (5, 10, 15 cm) were transplanted close to the donor colony. Their survivorship and growth were observed for 12 months. At the end of the observation time, 90% of 15 cm-transplanted coral fragments survived, while the others (10cm and 5 cm) did 86% and 82% respectively. The average growth rate of 5 cm-coral fragments was 0.860 cm/month, while 10 and 15 cm-fragments were 0.984 cm/month and 1.108 cm/month respectively. One-way ANOVA showed that there was significant difference (p<0.05) among the three (5, 10, 15 cm) transplant initial sizes in which the longest fragment size tended to survive longer than the smaller one.  However, the smaller transplants grew better than the bigger one, 10.318 cm/year (206%) for 5 cm-transplant, 11.803 cm/year (118%) for 10 cm-transplant, and 13.299 cm/year (89%) for 15 cm-transplant, respectively. Ukuran minimal fragmen karang Acropora formosa yang ditransplantasi diduga untuk mendukung ketahanan hidup dan pertumbuhannya. Untuk itu, 150 fragmen karang ditransplantasi ke lokasi yang berdekatan dengan koloni induknya.  Ketahanan hidup dan pertumbuhan semua fragmen karang yang ditransplantasi diamati selama 12 bulan.  Pada akhir pengamatan, 90% dari fragmen karang berukuran 15 cm yang ditransplantasi dapat bertahan hidup, sedangkan yang lainnya (ukuran 10 cm dan 5 cm) masing-masing sebesar 86% dan 82%.  Rata-rata laju pertumbuhan fragmen karang dengan ukuran awal 5 cm adalah 0,860 cm/bulan, sedangkan ukuran fragmen 10 dan 15 cm masing-masing adalah 0,984 cm/bulan and 1,108 cm/bulan. ANOVA satu arah menunjukkan adanya perbedaan yang nyata (p<0.05) antara ketiga ukuran fragmen yang berbeda, di mana ukuran fragmen karang yang lebih panjang cenderung mempunyai ketahanan hidup yang lebih baik. Namun demikian, ukuran transplant yang lebih kecil memiliki pertumbuhan lebih baik dibandingkan dengan ukuran yang lebih besar, yakni10,318 cm/tahun (206%) untuk transplant berukuran 5 cm, 11,803 cm/tahun (118%) untuk 10 cm, dan 13,299 cm/tahun (89%) untuk ukuran 15 cm.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Fang ◽  
Jonathan Kia-Sheng Phua ◽  
Terrence Chiew ◽  
Daniel De-Liang Loh ◽  
Lincoln Ming Han Liow ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, community care facilities (CCF) were set up as temporary out-of-hospital isolation facilities to contain the surge of cases in Singapore. Confined living spaces within CCFs posed an increased risk of communicable disease spread among residents. OBJECTIVE This inspired our healthcare team managing a CCF operation to design a low-cost communicable disease outbreak surveillance system (CDOSS). METHODS Our CDOSS was designed with the following considerations: (1) comprehensiveness, (2) efficiency through passive reconnoitering from electronic medical record (EMR) data, (3) ability to provide spatiotemporal insights, (4) low-cost and (5) ease of use. We used Python to develop a lightweight application – Python-based Communicable Disease Outbreak Surveillance System (PyDOSS) – that was able perform syndromic surveillance and fever monitoring. With minimal user actions, its data pipeline would generate daily control charts and geospatial heat maps of cases from raw EMR data and logged vital signs. PyDOSS was successfully implemented as part of our CCF workflow. We also simulated a gastroenteritis (GE) outbreak to test the effectiveness of the system. RESULTS PyDOSS was used throughout the entire duration of operation; the output was reviewed daily by senior management. No disease outbreaks were identified during our medical operation. In the simulated GE outbreak, PyDOSS was able to effectively detect an outbreak within 24 hours and provided information about cluster progression which could aid in contact tracing. The code for a stock version of PyDOSS has been made publicly available. CONCLUSIONS PyDOSS is an effective surveillance system which was successfully implemented in a real-life medical operation. With the system developed using open-source technology and the code made freely available, it significantly reduces the cost of developing and operating CDOSS and may be useful for similar temporary medical operations, or in resource-limited settings.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 4417
Author(s):  
Veronica Vendramin ◽  
Gaia Spinato ◽  
Simone Vincenzi

Chitosan is a chitin-derived fiber, extracted from the shellfish shells, a by-product of the fish industry, or from fungi grown in bioreactors. In oenology, it is used for the control of Brettanomyces spp., for the prevention of ferric, copper, and protein casse and for clarification. The International Organisation of Vine and Wine established the exclusive utilization of fungal chitosan to avoid the eventuality of allergic reactions. This work focuses on the differences between two chitosan categories, fungal and animal chitosan, characterizing several samples in terms of chitin content and degree of deacetylation. In addition, different acids were used to dissolve chitosans, and their effect on viscosity and on the efficacy in wine clarification were observed. The results demonstrated that even if fungal and animal chitosans shared similar chemical properties (deacetylation degree and chitin content), they showed different viscosity depending on their molecular weight but also on the acid used to dissolve them. A significant difference was discovered on their fining properties, as animal chitosans showed a faster and greater sedimentation compared to the fungal ones, independently from the acid used for their dissolution. This suggests that physical–chemical differences in the molecular structure occur between the two chitosan categories and that this significantly affects their technologic (oenological) properties.


2020 ◽  
pp. 0192513X2094892
Author(s):  
Athira Amira Abd Rauf ◽  
Maizatul Akmar Ismail ◽  
Vimala Balakrishnan ◽  
Loh Sau Cheong ◽  
Novia Indriaty Admodisastro ◽  
...  

The parents of children with dyslexia often experience more parenting stress and depressive symptoms compared to other parents. Studies have shown that supporting and encouraging such parents help in reducing their frustrations, fear, anger, and low self-esteem towards their children. The purpose of this study was to identify and examine the different types of support needed by the parents of children with dyslexia and to explore the relationships between the required support with the parents’ marital status. Fifty questionnaires were distributed to the parents of children with dyslexia and analyzed. The findings showed that the type of support needed for parents of children with dyslexia could be grouped into social, peer-to-peer, financial, and government support. Furthermore, the analysis indicated that there were no significant differences between the social (p = 0.4014), peer-to-peer (p = 0.5020), and government (p = 0.7121) support with parents’ marital status. However, based on one-way ANOVA analysis, there was a significant difference found between the parents’ marital status and financial support (p = 0.0241). Accordingly, it is anticipated that the implication of this research could be used as a guide and a reference for supporting and encouraging parents of children with dyslexia and other learning disabilities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Mieth ◽  
Maike M. Mayer ◽  
Adrian Hoffmann ◽  
Axel Buchner ◽  
Raoul Bell

Abstract Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, billions of people have to change their behaviours to slow down the spreading of the virus. Protective measures include self-isolation, social (physical) distancing and compliance with personal hygiene rules, particularly regular and thorough hand washing. Prevalence estimates for the compliance with the COVID-19 measures are often based on direct self-reports. However, during a health crisis there is strong public pressure to comply with health and safety regulations so that people’s responding in direct self-reports may be seriously compromised by social desirability. Methods In an online survey, an indirect questioning technique was used to test whether the prevalence of hygiene practices may be lower than in conventional surveys when confidentiality of responding is guaranteed. The Extended Crosswise Model is an indirect questioning technique that guarantees the confidentiality of responding. To the degree that direct self-reports are biased by social desirability, prevalence estimates of hygiene practices such as thorough hand washing based on the Extended Crosswise Model should be lower than those based on direct self-reports. Results We analysed data of 1434 participants. In the direct questioning group 94.5% of the participants claimed to practice proper hand hygiene; in the indirect questioning group a significantly lower estimate of only 78.1% was observed. Conclusions These results indicate that estimates of the degree of commitment to measures designed to counter the spread of the disease may be significantly inflated by social desirability in direct self-reports. Indirect questioning techniques with higher levels of confidentiality seem helpful in obtaining more realistic estimates of the degree to which people follow the recommended personal hygiene measures. More realistic estimates of compliance can help to inform and to adjust public information campaigns on COVID-19 hygiene recommendations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 204589402097151
Author(s):  
Dawit Kebede Huluka ◽  
Desalew Mekonnen ◽  
Sintayehu Abebe ◽  
Amha Meshesha ◽  
Dufera Mekonnen ◽  
...  

Globally, non-communicable diseases are increasing in people living with HIV. Pulmonary hypertension is a rare non-communicable disease in people living with HIV with a reported prevalence of <1%. However, data on pulmonary hypertension in people living with HIV from Africa are scarce and are non-existent from Ethiopia. This study aimed to examine the prevalence and severity of echocardiographic pulmonary hypertension and risk factors associated with pulmonary hypertension in people living with HIV in Ethiopia. A total of 315 consecutive adult people living with HIV followed at the Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital HIV Referral Clinic were enrolled from June 2018 to February 2019. Those with established pulmonary hypertension of known causes were excluded. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on demographics, respiratory symptoms, physical findings, physician-diagnosed lung disease, and possible risk factors. Pulmonary hypertension was defined by a tricuspid regurgitant velocity of ≥2.9 m/sec on transthoracic echocardiography. A tricuspid regurgitant velocity ≥3.5, which translates into a pulmonary arterial pressure/right ventricular systolic pressure of ≥50 mmHg, was considered moderate-to-severe pulmonary hypertension. The mean age of the participants was 44.5 ± 9.8 years and 229 (72.7%) were females. Pulmonary hypertension was diagnosed in 44 (14.0%) of participants, of whom 9 (20.5%) had moderate-to-severe disease. In those with pulmonary hypertension, 17 (38.6%) were symptomatic: exertional dyspnea, cough, and leg swelling were seen in 12 (27.3%), 9 (20.5%), and 4 (9.1%), respectively. There was no significant difference in those with pulmonary hypertension compared to those without the disease by gender, cigarette smoking, previous history of pulmonary tuberculosis treatment, physician-diagnosed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or bronchial asthma, duration of anti-retroviral therapy therapy or anti-retroviral regimen type. Pulmonary hypertension looks to be a frequent complication in people living with HIV in Ethiopia and is often associated with significant cardiopulmonary symptoms. Further studies using right heart catheterization are needed to better determine the etiology and prevalence of pulmonary hypertension in people living with HIV in Ethiopia compared to other countries.


2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 207
Author(s):  
Irwan Jatmiko ◽  
Bram Setyadji ◽  
Arief Wujdi

Madidihang/yellowfin tuna merupakan salah satu jenis ikan tuna ekonomis penting bagi industri perikanan di Indonesia dengan kontribusi hasil tangkapan yang terbanyak. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh fase bulan terhadap waktu mulai tebar pancing dan laju tangkap madidihang pada armada rawai tuna. Pengumpulan data dilakukan oleh pemantau ilmiah pada armada rawai tuna yang sebagian besar berbasis di Pelabuhan Benoa, Bali mulai Agustus 2005 hingga Juni 2014. Daerah penangkapan ikan dari armada rawai tuna yang diambil datanya berada di lokasi (lintang dan bujur) 9°-16° LS hingga 109°-120° BT. Analisis anova satu arah dan tes Tukey dilakukan untuk mengetahui pengaruh fase bulan terhadap waktu mulai tebar pancing dan laju tangkap madidihang. Total sebanyak 60 trip dan 1.467 hari operasi penangkapan armada rawai tuna dilakukan dalam penelitian ini. Analisis statistik anova satu arah menunjukkan bahwa terdapat pengaruh yang nyata pada fase bulan terhadap waktu mulai tebar pancing (p<0,05). Selanjutnya, tes Tukey menunjukkan bahwa waktu mulai tebar pancing pada saat bulan purnama dimulai pada pukul 9:00 pagi hari. Waktu ini lebih lambat sekitar 2 jam dari pada waktu mulai tebar pancing pada ketiga fase bulan lainnya (perbani awal, perbani akhir dan bulan baru) yang dilakukan sekitar pukul 7:00 pagi hari. Analisis statistik anova satu arah juga menunjukkan terdapat perbedaan yang nyata antar fase bulan terhadap laju tangkap madidihang (p<0,05). Selanjutnya, tes Tukey menunjukkan bahwa laju tangkap pada saat bulan baru dan perbani awal sebesar 0,13 ekor/100 mata pancing atau lebih besar dibandingkan nilai laju tangkap pada saat purnama dan perbani akhir yang hanya sebesar 0,09 ekor/100 mata pancing. Yellowfin tuna is one of the most economically important species for fisheries industry in Indonesia. The objectives of this study are to investigate the effect of lunar phase to the set time start and catch rate of yellowfin tuna on tuna longline vessels. Data collected by scientific observer on tuna longline vessels mainly based in Benoa Port, Bali from August 2005 to June 2014. Fishing ground of sampled longline tuna located from 9°-16° S to 109°-120° E. One-way anova analysis and Tukey test conducted to examine the effect of lunar phase to the set time start and catch rate of yellowfin tuna. A total of 60 trips and 1,467 fishing days of longline tuna fishing vessels operation have been sampled for in this study. One-way anova analysis showed that there was a significant difference of lunar phase to the set time start (p<0.05). Furthermore, Tukey test showed that the starting time for setting during the full moon begins at 9:00 am. Its time was around 2 hours slower than the start of setting of the other three moon phase (first quarter, last quarter and new moon) which start around 7:00 am. One-way anova analysis also showed that there was a significant difference of lunar phase to catch rate of yellowfin tuna (p<0.05). Furthermore, Tukey test confirmed that hook rate on new moon and first quarter was 0.13/100 hooks or 0.4 bigger than hook rate on full moon and last quarter with only 0.09/100 hooks.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document