A model for changing human health behavior: application to asthma management.

L'etude menee aupres des enfants d'un village rural sur la cote orientale de Dominique montre la relation entre le stress et la composition du groupe domestique (âge, sexe, relation intergenerationnelle, nombre de personnes). Les enfants vivant dans des foyers ou prendre soin d'eux est une attitude frequente et stable ont un niveau de cortisol modere contrairement aux enfants connaissant des evenements familiaux traumatiques

The suppression of reproductive function is known to occur in women engaging in activities that require high energetic expenses, such as sport participation and subsistence work. It is still unclear, however, if reproductive suppression is a response to high levels of energy expenditure, or only to the resulting state of negative energy balance. To our knowledge, this study provides the first evidence that work-related energy expenditure alone, without associated negative energy balance, can lead to the suppression of reproductive function in women. We document suppression of ovarian function expressed as lowered salivary progesterone levels in women from an agricultural community who work hard, but remain in neutral energy balance. We propose two alternative evolutionary explanations (the 'pre-emptive ovarian suppression' hypothesis and the 'constrained down-regulation' hypothesis) for the observed results.

Using smartphone-GPS data to understand pedestrian-scale behavior in urban settings: A review of themes and approaches

Applications of predictive modelling early in the COVID-19 epidemic

The authors evaluated characteristics of patients whom clinicians accurately assessed as being at high or low risk for violence and patients for whom clinicians overestimated or underestimated the risk. At admission, physicians estimated the probability that each of 226 psychiatric inpatients would physically attack someone during the first week of hospitalization. Nurses rated assaultive behavior in the hospital with the Overt Aggression Scale. Acute symptoms were rated with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. For the group as a whole, assessed levels of risk were substantially related to later physical aggression (sensitivity = 67%, specificity = 69%). Multinomial logit analysis showed that patients with psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, organic psychotic conditions, and mania were more likely to be accurately assessed by clinicians as being at high risk (true positives) than to be true negatives or false positives. A recent history of violence was associated with higher estimated risk but did not distinguish true positives from false positives. An admission mental status characterized by low levels of hostility, uncooperativeness, and suspiciousness and high levels of depression, guilt, and anxiety differentiated true negative patients from others, but symptom profiles did not differ among true positives, false positives, and false negatives. Clinical judgments emphasizing gender and race/ethnicity were associated with predictive errors: nonwhite and male patients tended to be false positives. While clinicians can accurately classify the potential for violence in the majority of patients at admission, systematic errors characterize inaccurate assessments of the risk. Awareness of these patterns may help improve assessment of the risk of violence in clinical practice.

The future of human health and that of all other species depends on the viability and sustainability of a host of environments and ecosystems. Human behaviours have profound effects (both positive and negative) on such ecosystems. Despite the obviousness of these statements, there remains a lack of clarity around the mechanisms for altering specific behaviours related to sustainability and their impact on environments. This paper offers a conceptual framework for identifying relations between human behaviour and ecosystem health and sustainability. We also discuss strategies for changing target behaviours in the context of a programme or policy planning. Finally, we draw on research that applies this adaptation to a small island community near Vancouver, Canada.

Dr. Charles Dukes is an Aerospace psychiatrist working with NASA’s behavioral health and performance operations group under the human health and performance contract at Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas....

Health and human behavior: areas of interest common to the social and medical sciences.

The rising use of the Internet and information technology has made computerized interventions an attractive channel for providing advice and support for behaviour change. Health behaviour and behaviour change theories are a family of theories which aim to explain the mechanisms by which human behaviours change and use that knowledge to promote change. Among the best-known of these theories are the Social Learning and Social Cognitive theories, the Health Belief Model, the Theory of Reasoned Action and its successors the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Reasoned Action Approach, and the Transtheoretical model. We discuss three examples of how behaviour change theories have been applied in computer-based interventions: a system to aid users to quit smoking, a decision aid for choice of breast cancer therapy, and an internet-based exercise program for reducing cardiovascular risk. We also discuss misapplication of theory, and reflect on how these theories can best be used. Behaviour change theory can be applied in health informatics interventions in several ways; for example, to select participants for a particular intervention, to shape the content of the intervention to effectively influence behaviour, or to tailor content to individual needs. Application of these theories to provide personalized advice ("decision support") is a young but promising area of research, and could inform other decision support interventions, including those that provide support for clinicians.

Pokémon Go, go, go, gone?

Data on persons known to have committed homicide during a 13-year period were studied to determine factors associated with increased risk of repeating homicide. Between 1981 and 1993, a total of 1,649 homicides were committed in Finland. In 1,089 cases (66 percent), the offenders received an exhaustive forensic psychiatric examination. Data from reports of these examinations were analyzed to determine whether mental disorder and other factors were associated with homicide recidivism. Thirty-six homicide recidivists were identified. Twenty-four were alcoholics, 23 had a personality disorder, in most cases combined with alcoholism, four had schizophrenia, and two had major depression. Homicidal behavior was ten times more likely in men who had committed a previous homicide than in the general male population. Alcoholism increased the odds ratio of additional homicidal behavior in male homicide offenders about 13 times, and schizophrenia increased the odds ratio more than 25 times. During their first year after release from prison, male homicide offenders were about 250 times more likely to commit homicide than members of the general male population. The data suggest that mentally abnormal offenders are overrepresented among homicide recidivists in Finland. The risk of repeat homicide appears to be very high during the first year after release from prison.

Education is a life long journey for every person. Education in its general sense is a form of learning in which the knowledge, skills and habits of a group of people are transformed from one generation to the next generation. Education and health behaviour are two parts of the same coin where educated mother takes healthy behaviour. Education could affect the mother's health behaviours. Level of health is determined through human behavior; especially behavior is shaped through life style, culture, religion, education, and other multiple factors. Out of them education is one of the most important variable. This research entitled "Role of Education in Changing Health Behaviour of Mothers" has been prepared. The objective of this research is to find out health behaviours and to assess the role of education in changing health behaviour of the mothers. This study was based on descriptive research design and its nature was quantitative. The collected data were analyzed and interpreted using simple statistical tools like numerical and percentage with the help of cross sectional table. This study was found that highest (98.33%) of the respondents regularly cleaned teeth. Majority (51.67%) of the respondents had first child birth at the age of less than twenty. The least (7.50%) of the respondents had taken smoking who had illiterate and low level education. Education has some role on teeth cleaning and education has major role on using nail cutting devises, first child bearing and smoking. So, education has vital role in changing health behaviour of mothers.

Global climate change and environmental toxicology: Characterizing interactions between chemicals, species sensitivity, and human behavior

• BACKGROUND AND AIM With people in developed countries spending 70% of their time at home, the impact of the built environment on human health is vital. Although there has been ample epidemiological evidence on the relationship between high/low outdoor temperature exposures and adverse health impacts, there is a paucity of research investigating how residential characteristics and human behaviours might affect temperature-related health risks. This research aims to fill this gap. • METHODS A health risk matrix was obtained by applying a four-stage spatiotemporal health risk assessment framework (comprising hazard identification, exposure assessment, exposure-response assessment and risk characterization) to estimate the temperature-cardiovascular mortality relationship in Greater Taipei, Taiwan, using paired observations of outdoor-indoor temperatures and PM2.5 concentrations in dwellings. • RESULTS Residential characteristics and household energy use acted as moderators, and indoor temperature functioned as a mediator in the temperature-mortality relationship. A three-dimensional matrix projected outdoor temperature, human vulnerability and dwelling type along three axes to visualise the cardiovascular mortality risk. Human vulnerability represents the interaction between outdoor temperature and household energy use. By multiplying the risk levels (1-3) of each of the three axes, a total of 27 levels of health risk are obtained. • CONCLUSIONS This study encourages carefully-planned climate change mitigations and adaptations to achieve healthier indoor environments: (1) Strategies for reducing temperature-related cardiovascular mortality should incorporate the energy use for heating/cooling, which may affect human vulnerability and be affected by the household income, prevalence of air conditioning systems, green area, and population rate of older people. (2) Building retrofits for improving energy efficiency should carefully consider dwelling thermal types, which may vary with occupants’ behaviours and cause unintended health consequences when indoor temperature closely follows outdoor temperature and makes dwellings overheat or excessively cold. • KEYWORDS Health risk assessment, Health matrix, Temperature-related mortality, Dwellings, Human behaviours

Millions of individuals around the world are sixty years of age or older. Global concerns about aging populations have been impacting social welfare and healthcare systems. As people get older, people find it more difficult to carry out their daily tasks, which affects their mental and physical health. Additionally, there are increasing events affecting the elderly, especially in and around their homes, with serious consequences including hospitalization. The most prevalent cause of injuries among the elderly is falls. Human Activity Recognitions (HARs) are techniques that use (ML ) algorithms to identify human activities from sensor data and categorize human behaviors such as standing, walking, and running. HARs are crucial for human behavior analysis and human-computer interaction in applications related to serious illness identification, patient rehabilitation, and healthy lifestyles. A growingly useful use of ML is the prediction of human behavior, where computers that keep an eye on routines and step in when there is a crisis or a shift in behavior may be very helpful to the elderly. Despite the fact that many academics use ML approaches, only few studies about HARs of elderly people exist. By concentrating on tracking human motions utilizing perceived accelerometer and gyroscope data, this effort aims to close the aforementioned gap. According on the results of experiments, this paper proposes the Scaled Regressive Human Activity Detection Model (SRHADM), an ML -based schema that can accurately identify human activities 90% of the time. Human centered applications such as actively supported living and home monitors can be properly utilized with the help of SRHADM implementations. Since it could shed light on the possible therapeutic or research uses of HARs, this knowledge might be important for clinical applications.