STUDY OBJECTIVE To assist a purchasing district in the planning of services for low back pain by assessing the prevalence of symptoms and the current involvement of primary, secondary, and complementary care in the treatment of low back pain. In the light of these findings, to assess further the potential impact of a new system of open access to physical therapy, as recommended by the British C...

OBJECTIVE To explore diabetes-related behaviours and their influencing factors among elderly individuals with pre-diabetes in rural areas of China. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS A cross-sectional survey was conducted among elderly individuals (≥60 years) in rural communities in Yiyang City of China. Multistaged cluster random sampling was carried out to select 42 areas, and interviews were...

Ghanaian men who have sex with men (MSM) have high rates of HIV infection. A first step in designing culturally relevant prevention interventions for MSM in Ghana is to understand the influence that peer social networks have on their attitudes and behaviors. We aimed to examine whether, in a sample of Ghanaian MSM, mean scores on psychosocial variables theorized to influence HIV/STI risk differ...

BACKGROUND Child under-nutrition is a leading factor underlying child mortality and morbidity in Sub-Saharan Africa. Several studies from Uganda have reported impaired growth, but there have been few if any community-based infant anthropometric studies from Eastern Uganda. The aim of this study was to describe current infant growth patterns using WHO Child Growth Standards and to determine the ...

BACKGROUND Late presentation of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is associated with heterosexual transmission, particularly among heterosexual men in Asia. Although data on HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing behaviour is increasing, information is still lacking among heterosexual men who receive far lesser attention and are generally invisible in HIV/ STI prevention, particularl...

OBJECTIVES To examine secular and socioeconomic changes in biological cardiovascular disease risk factor and biomarker prevalences in the Scottish population. This could contribute to an understanding of why the decline in coronary heart disease mortality in Scotland has recently stalled along with persistence of associated socioeconomic inequalities. DESIGN Cross-sectional surveys. SETTING...

OBJECTIVES This paper examined trends over time in condom use, and the prevalences of HIV and syphilis, among female sex workers (FSWs) in South India. DESIGN Data from three rounds of cross-sectional surveys were analysed, with HIV and high-titre syphilis prevalence as outcome variables. Multivariable analysis was applied to examine changes in prevalence over time. SETTING Five districts i...

Abst rac t Objective: To analyze the association between the socioeconomic characteristics of individuals and common mental disorders. Method: A cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of the urban population, 14 years and older, in Campinas (Brazil) (n = 515) was conducted using a multipurpose instrument that included the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) to assess common mental ...

Baseline surveys were conducted in the Upper West Region of Ghana to assess the distribution and densities of tsetse species, as well as the prevalence of bovine trypanosomosis. The entomological survey was designed to cover the suitable tsetse habitats along the three main rivers in the study area (i.e. Black Volta, Kulpawn and Sissili). Results indicated the presence of Glossina tachinoides i...

BACKGROUND Many people with dementia exhibit some behavioral or psychological symptoms, e.g. aggressive or aberrant motor behavior, depression or hallucinations, at some time during the course of the disorder. The aim of the present study was to describe the probability of the occurrence of these symptoms of dementia in relation to the level of cognitive impairment. METHODS 3404 people with c...