1,720,982 research outputs found
Nutrition outcomes and interventions in older people in Africa: a systematic umbrella and scoping review
No full textAfrica's older population is rapidly increasing, necessitating the development of healthy aging interventions. Nutrition is a key component of healthy aging. Evidence synthesis on nutrition outcomes of older adults in Africa is emerging but a synthesis on interventions is lacking. The aim was to synthesize evidence from reviews on older people in Africa to determine the prevalence of nutrition outcomes and associated factors (phase 1) and implemented interventions (phase 2). Literature searches using Medline, EMBASE, Web of Science, African Index Medicus, and African Journals Online were conducted up to May 9, 2024. After screening, 25 reviews (for phase 1) and 22 articles (for phase 2) were selected for inclusion. Most reviews (n = 16; 64%) were systematic, with 8 having a meta-analysis, and published between 2020 and 2023 (n = 20; 80%). The pooled prevalence of malnutrition (being underweight) was 21% (evidence from 5 reviews), 26% for sarcopenia (1 review), 27% for obesity (3 reviews), 32% for constipation (1 review), 39% for food insecurity (2 reviews), 49% for dental caries (1 review), and 64% for vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency (2 reviews). The 22 articles on nutritional interventions represented only 6 countries, mostly South Africa (64%; 14/22), evaluated using randomized trials (n = 10; 45%) and educational interventions (n = 10; 45%). Reported interventions were not typically underpinned by supporting systematic reviews or a contextual evidence base, did not account for the minimally important clinical difference, lacked evidence of community engagement, and were not reported transparently. Nutritional research is needed on older adults outside of South Africa and beyond malnutrition. Future nutritional interventions (ideally, multicomponent) for older people in Africa should consider targeting the multiple nutritional and practical needs (eg, dietary counseling, supplementation) of older adults. Intervention development should be evidence-based, include engagement with older people, and follow complete and transparent reporting.</p
The burden of poor mental health on parenting in mothers living with HIV in Zimbabwe
Full text linkBackground
Mothers living with HIV are at increased risk of comorbidities, including mental health
conditions. Mental health condition rates may be high yet often undiagnosed and
untreated. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and factors associated with
mental health conditions in mothers living with HIV and their association with parenting
behaviour.
Methods
Firstly, the 8-item Shona Symptom Questionnaire (SSQ-8), which identifies the risk of
common mental disorders (CMD), was validated in a sample of 264 primary care clinic
attendees compared to a gold standard, using a receiver operating characteristic curve
to identify the optimal cut point of 6. The next phase used data from 485 mothers living
with HIV, participating in a cluster-randomised controlled trial evaluating parenting and
income interventions, to explore the prevalence of and risk factors for CMD, defined
as a 3-category ordinal variable (no CMD, CMD at one timepoint, CMD at both
timepoints). I also investigated the association of CMD with parenting stress, parenting
sense of competence and discipline. Lastly, a comprehensive parenting intervention
was evaluated using mixed methods and guided by the MRC guidance to evaluate
complex interventions.
Results
The SSQ-8 was found to have good validity when compared to the clinical
assessments conducted by psychologists using the gold standard, Structured Clinical
Interview for DSM-V (SCID). In the sample living with HIV, the optimal cut-off was ≥6
with an area under the curve of 89% (95% CI: 83%–93%). A quarter (N=127, 25.7%)
of the 495 mothers in our sample experienced repeat CMD symptoms and a further
33.5% experienced CMD symptoms at one timepoint, with no difference by trial arm.
Associated risk factors for CMD included food insecurity (aOR=2.23 (1.32, 3.78)
p=0.003); domestic violence (aOR=3.12 (95% CI: 1.71, 5.70) p<0.001); mobility problems (aOR=2.71 (1.55, 4.72) p<0.001); increased pain and discomfort (aOR=1.61
(0.19, 2.43) p=0.015), low resilience (aOR=0.61 (0.42, 0.89) p=<0.010) and low
postpartum bonding (aOR=3.13 (1.78, 5.52) p<0.001). CMD was associated with
increased parenting stress. Mean parenting stress (total score) standard deviation
scores (SD) were higher among mothers with repeat CMD symptoms (97.1, SD 15.0)
compared to those with CMD symptoms at one timepoint (84.8, SD 14.8) and those
without CMD symptoms (78.0, SD 12.8). Children of parents with repeat CMD were
almost three times as likely to have been spanked >20 times as opposed to children
with no CMD symptoms (14.2% vs 5.0%). A multivariate model found no association
between repeat CMD symptoms and harsh discipline after adjusting for parenting
stress. The process evaluation provided evidence that complex parenting
interventions are feasible, but there is a need to foresee and address potential
contextual and individual barriers to uptake. A major learning point was that future
interventions targeting mothers living with HIV should consider lessons learnt from the
CHIDO intervention and seek to comprehensively address risk factors not only
affecting their parenting outcomes but their mental health.
Conclusion
The SSQ-8 has been shown to be valid for the use of screening common mental
disorders in a population with high HIV prevalence. There is a high burden of mental
health conditions in mothers living with HIV. These mothers have been shown to be at
risk of experiencing depressive symptoms at different trajectories of their parenting
journey, with several risk factors identified. Therefore, there is a need for interventions
aimed at improving parenting and child outcomes and also to target addressing the
risk factors associated with poor maternal mental health
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Types, design, implementation, and evaluation of nutrition interventions in older people in Africa:A scoping review protocol
No full textIntroductionAfrica’s older population is increasing and this, necessitates the development of interventions to promote healthy ageing. Nutrition is a key determinant of healthy ageing and local contextual evidence is needed to inform nutritional intervention development in Africa. There are already reviews on nutritional status and food insecurity in older adults in Africa. However, a synthesis of nutrition interventions targeting older people specifically, is lacking. Therefore, this protocol describes a scoping review that aims to systematically synthesise current evidence on nutrition interventions for older people in Africa.MethodsThe review will involve: a review of available reviews on nutrition in older people in Africa (Phase 1); a review of nutrition interventions developed or implemented among older people in Africa (Phase 2); and consultation with local nutrition stakeholders in Zimbabwe, and The Gambia to contextualise Phase 1 and 2 findings and solicit insights not in the published literature (Phase 3). Searches for Phases 1 and 2 will include bibliographic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, African Journals Online, African Index Medicus) and grey literature sources (i.e. relevant websites). Title, abstract, and full-text screening will be conducted in duplicate, data extracted using piloted tools and findings summarised using descriptive statistics and narrative text. Phase 3 will be conducted using hybrid workshops, audio-recorded, detailed notes taken, and findings combined with those from Phases 1 and 2.ConclusionThe findings of this review will summarise current evidence on nutrition in older people in Africa and inform nutrition intervention development. The findings will be presented in conferences, meetings, and published open access
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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