Prospective Analysis of Behavioral Economic Predictors of Stable Moderation Drinking Among Problem Drinkers Attempting Natural Recovery.

BACKGROUND: As interventions have expanded beyond clinical treatment to include brief interventions for persons with less severe alcohol problems, predicting who can achieve stable moderation drinking has gained importance. Recent behavioral economic (BE) research on natural recovery has shown that active problem drinkers who allocate their monetary expenditures on alcohol and saving for the future over longer time horizons tend to have better subsequent recovery outcomes, including maintenance of stable moderation drinking. This study compared the predictive utility of this money-based "Alcohol-Savings Discretionary Expenditure" (ASDE) index with multiple BE analogue measures of behavioral impulsivity and self-control, which have seldom been investigated together, to predict outcomes of natural recovery attempts. METHODS: Community-dwelling problem drinkers, enrolled shortly after stopping abusive drinking without treatment, were followed prospectively for up to a year (N = 175 [75.4% male], M age = 50.65 years). They completed baseline assessments of preresolution drinking practices and problems, analogue behavioral choice tasks (Delay Discounting, Melioration-Maximization, and Alcohol Purchase Tasks), and a Timeline Followback interview including expenditures on alcohol compared to voluntary savings (ASDE index) during the preresolution year. RESULTS: Multinomial logistic regression models showed that, among the BE measures, only the ASDE index predicted stable moderation drinking compared to stable abstinence or unstable resolutions involving relapse. As hypothesized, stable moderation was associated with more balanced preresolution allocations to drinking and savings (odds ratio = 1.77, 95% confidence interval = 1.02 to 3.08, p < 0.05), suggesting it is associated with longer-term behavior regulation processes than abstinence. CONCLUSIONS: The ASDE's unique predictive utility may rest on its comprehensive representation of contextual elements to support this patterning of behavioral allocation. Stable low-risk drinking, but not abstinence, requires such regulatory processes.

Optimizing falls risk prediction for inpatient stroke rehabilitation: A secondary data analysis.

BACKGROUND: Identifying individuals at risk for falls during inpatient stroke rehabilitation can ensure timely implementation of falls prevention strategies to minimize the negative personal and health system consequences of falls. OBJECTIVES: To compare sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of fallers and non-fallers; and evaluate the ability of the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and Morse Falls Scale (MFS) to predict falls in an inpatient stroke rehabilitation setting. METHODS: A longitudinal study involving a secondary analysis of health record data from 818 patients with stroke admitted to an urban, rehabilitation hospital was conducted. A fall was defined as having ≥1 fall during the hospital stay. Cut-points on the BBS and MFS, alone and in combination, that optimized sensitivity and specificity for predicting falls, were identified. RESULTS: Low admission BBS score and admission to a low-intensity rehabilitation program were associated with falling (p < .05). Optimal cut-points were 29 for the BBS (sensitivity: 82.4%; specificity: 57.4%) and 30 for the MFS (sensitivity: 73.2%; specificity: 31.4%) when used alone. Cut-points of 45 (BBS) and 30 (MFS) in combination optimized sensitivity (74.1%) and specificity (42.7%). CONCLUSIONS: A BBS cut-point of 29 alone appears superior to using the MFS alone or combined with the BBS to predict falls.

Measurement of burnout during the prolonged pandemic in the Chinese zero-COVID context: COVID-19 burnout views scale.

Burnout is an important public health issue at times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Current measures which focus on work-based burnout have limitations in length and/or relevance. When stepping into the post-pandemic as a new Norm Era, the burnout scale for the general population is urgently needed to fill the gap. This study aimed to develop a COVID-19 Burnout Views Scale (COVID-19 BVS) to measure burnout views of the general public in a Chinese context and examine its psychometric properties. A multiphase approach including literature review, expert consultation, and pilot testing was adopted in developing the scale. The scale was administered to a sample of 1,078 of the general public in Hong Kong with an average age of 34.45 years (SD = 12.47). Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses suggested a 5-item unidimensional model of COVID-19 BVS. The CFA results indicated that the COVID-19 BVS had a good model fit, as χ2 (10.054)/5 = 2.01, SRMR = 0.010, CFI = 0.998, RMSEA = 0.031. Five items were maintained in EFA with high internal consistency in terms of Cronbach's α of 0.845 and McDonald's ω coefficient of 0.87, and the corrected item-to-total correlations of 0.512 to 0.789 are way above the acceptable range. The KMO values of 0.841 and Bartlett's Test of Sphericity (p < 0.01) verified the normal distribution of the EFA and the adequacy of the EFA sampling. The analyses suggest that the COVID-19 BVS is a promising tool for assessing burnout views on the impacts of the epidemic on the Chinese general populations.

Effectiveness of an adapted physical activity intervention for weight management in adolescents with intellectual disability: A randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of a 9-month school-based adapted physical activity (APA) program for reducing weight among adolescents with intellectual disability (ID). METHODS: In this randomized controlled trial, adolescents with ID, aged 12-18 years, who were overweight/or with obesity were randomly assigned into intervention and control groups. The APA intervention consisted of aerobic and resistance exercises with an overall moderate intensity and was delivered at a frequency of two sessions per week for 9 months. Changes in body mass index (BMI, primary outcome) and changes in BMIz, weight, percent body fat, waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio (secondary outcomes) were examined using general linear models. RESULTS: In total 61 subjects (39 in the intervention and 22 in the control) completed the study and were included in the analyses. At 9 months, the intervention group exhibited a reduced BMI of -0.66 kg/m2 (95% CI -1.06 to -0.25 kg/m2 , p = 0.002), while a significant increase in BMI was observed in the control group. A significant post-intervention between-group difference in change in BMI (-1.31 kg/m2 [95% CI -1.99 to -0.63], p < 0.01) was found in favour of the intervention group. Similar results were also observed for all secondary outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence that a 9-month APA intervention induced clinically meaningful effects on weight loss in adolescents with ID.

Physical-Activity-Related Injuries and Risk Factors among Secondary School Students in Hong Kong.

Increase in physical activity (PA) might elevate risks for physical-activity-related injuries (PARIs). This study aimed to investigate the incidence rate and risk factors for PARIs among secondary school students in Hong Kong. All eligible students from three secondary schools were invited to participate in the study from November to December 2014. Information on PARI occurrences in the past 12 months, PA participation, and sociodemographics was collected. Multivariate and hierarchical logistic regression models were performed to estimate the risk of potential factors for PARIs. In total, 1916 students in forms 1-6 (aged 14.3 ± 1.7 years) completed valid questionnaires, with an overall yearly PARI incidence rate of 32.1% (boys: 34.3%; girls: 29.3%). There were sex differences in the risk factors identified, except that family size was associated with PARIs for all participants. Longer duration and higher intensity of PA increased the risk for PARI occurrences in both sexes. In conclusion, PARIs were prevalent among secondary school students in Hong Kong, and different sexes had different PARI incidence rates and were influenced by different risk factors. There is an urgent call for effective sex-specific interventions to prevent PARIs in this population.

Children with Intellectual Disability Are Vulnerable to Overweight and Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Study among Chinese Children.

BACKGROUND: The epidemic of childhood obesity has been well documented in typically developing child populations, while situations among children with intellectual disabilities (ID) remain unclear. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 524 Chinese children with ID (males: 68.9%, mean age: 12.2 years) in Hong Kong in 2015. Children's height and weight were measured at school. Parents, in the presence of their children, completed a self-administered questionnaire at home about the children's physical activity (PA), eating habits, and sleep duration in a typical week as well as parenting practices regarding children's eating, PA, and their sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS: Of the participants, 31.3% were overweight or obese, which was higher than their typical counterparts (18.7%-19.9%). Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that overweight and obesity in children with ID were linked to their comorbidity with autism, maternal overweight and obesity, parenting practices with less pressure to eat more, children having shorter sleep duration, longer periods of sedentary behavior, and higher intake frequencies of sweetened beverages, fried food, meats, fish, and eggs. CONCLUSIONS: Children with ID are vulnerable to being overweight or obese. Identified risk factors in this study highlight a multifaceted approach to the involvement of parents as well as the modification of some children's questionable behaviors to help them achieve a healthy weight.

Physical activity-related injuries among university students: a multicentre cross-sectional study in China.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the epidemiological characteristics and preliminarily explore possible risk factors of physical activity-related injury (PARI) occurrences among Chinese university students via a multicentre mixed survey. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 4758 undergraduates graded 1-3 in nine universities in three Chinese cities were enrolled via cluster random sampling and completed the self-administered online questionnaires during March and April 2017. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: PARI in the past 12 months. RESULTS: Of the 4758 participants, 1081 sustained PARI in the past 12 months, with an overall PARI incidence rate of 22.7% (27.3% (367/1343) in males and 20.9%(714/3415) in females). Around one-quarter of the injured (26.4%) suffered from PARI over at least three episodes. More than half of the injured subjects experienced physical activity (PA) absenteeism and sought medical attention. All PA indicators were significantly and positively associated with PARI, with a frequency of sports and leisure-time vigorous-intensity PA (VPA) participation being the strongest (adjusted OR: 1.079, 95% CI: 1.018 to 1.144). Moreover, males (OR=1.199), Shantou students (OR=4.239), year 1 students (OR=1.287), university and other sports team members (OR=1.717-2.360) and those with insufficient sleep time (OR=1.262-1.333) were also at a higher risk of PARI. CONCLUSIONS: PARI is prevalent among university students in China. The frequency of sports and leisure-time VPA participation was most strongly associated with PARI among all PA indicators. These data can inform future programmes for injury intervention among university students. Safety issues should also be emphasised when promoting PA among the public to reduce PARI.

Behavioral economic indicators of drinking problem severity and initial outcomes among problem drinkers attempting natural recovery: a cross-sectional naturalistic study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Research using different behavioral economic (BE) and time perspective (TP) measures suggests that substance misusers show greater sensitivity to shorter-term contingencies than normal controls, but multiple measures have seldom been investigated together. This study evaluated the extent to which multiple BE and TP measures were associated with drinking problem severity, distinguished initial outcomes of natural recovery attempts and shared common variance. Hypotheses were (1) that greater problem severity would be associated with greater impulsivity and demand for alcohol and shorter TPs; and (2) that low-risk drinking would be associated with greater sensitivity to longer-term contingencies compared with abstinence. DESIGN: Cross-sectional naturalistic field study. SETTING: Southern United States. PARTICIPANTS: Problem drinkers, recently resolved without treatment [n = 191 (76.44% male), mean age = 50.09 years] recruited using media advertisements. MEASUREMENTS: Drinking practices, dependence levels and alcohol-related problems prior to stopping problem drinking were assessed during structured field interviews. Measures included the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory; BE analogue choice tasks [delay discounting (DD), melioration-maximization (MM), alcohol purchase task (APT)]; and the Alcohol-Savings Discretionary Expenditure (ASDE) index, derived from real spending on alcohol and voluntary savings during the year before problem cessation. FINDINGS: Measures of demand based on real (ASDE) and hypothetical (APT) spending on alcohol were associated with problem severity (Ps < 0.05), but DD, MM and TP measures were not. More balanced pre-resolution spending on alcohol versus saving for the future distinguished low-risk drinking from abstinent resolutions (ASDE odds ratio =5.59; P < 0.001). BE measures did not share common variance. CONCLUSIONS: Two behavioral assessment tools that measure spending on alcohol, the Alcohol Purchase Task and the Alcohol-Savings Discretionary Expenditure index, appear to be reliable in assessing the severity of drinking problems. The ASDE index also may aid choices between low-risk and abstinent drinking goals.