Can an intervention program that is highly effective in reducing the prevalence of an unhealthy behavior in the general population also reduce the disparity among its subgroups? That depends on what measure of disparity is used. Using simple algebraic models, this study demonstrates that disparity measured in terms of relative difference between two groups tends to increase when the prevalence ...

BACKGROUND Self-rated health (SRH) and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) are two outcome measures used to assess health status. However, little is known about population-based SRH and HRQOL in China. METHODS Data from the 2010 China Chronic Disease and Risk Factor Surveillance, a nationally representative sample of 98,658 adults (≥18-year-old) residing in China, were analyzed. SRH was as...

The text analyses critically the polarity between discourses about healthy life styles and the sedentariness in the context of new technologies for health information research and dissemination. We argue that the techno-scientific rationality has grown an 'economy of trues' which, on the perspective of conducting to safe life styles, has prescribed a normative ideal of self discipline which ten...

The tendency to make unhealthy choices is hypothesized to be related to an individual's temporal discount rate, the theoretical rate at which they devalue delayed rewards. Furthermore, a particular form of temporal discounting, hyperbolic discounting, has been proposed to explain why unhealthy behavior can occur despite healthy intentions. We examine these two hypotheses in turn. We first syste...

Background Use of social networking services (SNS) is on the rise. While many users sign in for personal purposes, it is not uncommon for professionals to connect over SNSs with clients, students, and patients. Methods The present study used an experimental approach to examine how medical doctors' SNS profiles impacted potential patients' impressions of professionalism. Participants (N=250 stud...

Although both low socioeconomic status and cigarette smoking increase health problems and mortality, their possible combined or interactive influence is less clear On one hand, the health of low status groups may be harmed least by unhealthy behavior such as smoking because, given the substantial health risks produced by limited resources, they have less to lose from damaging lifestyles. On the...

Introduction: Due to more than 1.7 million population, many vehicles and large industries around Isfahan, it has become one of the most polluted cities in Iran. The aim of this study was a spatial analysis of the concentrations of air pollutants and the air quality index (AQI). Materials and Methods: In this descriptive and evaluative study, the air quality data of 7 monitoring stations in 201...

In the current global economy, chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have become the leading cause of death and a major health concern for both developed and developing countries. Among other factors, the worldwide spread of NCDs is driven by the globalisation of unhealthy habits. The purpose of this paper is to develop a simple statistic to measure, at the national level, the average popula...