Influence of School-Based Smoking Prevention Education on Reducing Gap in Exposure to Anti-Tobacco Media Message among Korean Adolescents.

Korean adolescents at high risk for smoking are less exposed to anti-tobacco media messages. This study examines whether school-based smoking prevention education is related to media exposure and whether it can contribute to reducing the gap in exposure to anti-tobacco media messages between smoking vulnerable and non-vulnerable groups. A nationally representative dataset, the 2018 Korea youth risk behavior web-based survey, comprising 59,410 students from grades 7-12, was analyzed. Logistic regression models were designed to evaluate the association between school-based smoking prevention education and media messages exposure. Within-group differences in exposure levels based on sociodemographic characteristics were compared depending on participation or nonparticipation in school-based smoking prevention education. Experience of smoking prevention education within a year was significantly associated with exposure to anti-tobacco media messages. Among Korean adolescents who participated in smoking prevention education compared to those who did not, the media messages exposure rate was more than 20% higher, and the exposure gap within the subgroups by sociodemographic characteristics was narrower. Participation in school-based smoking prevention education was significantly related to media messages exposure. This relationship can be used to improve the overall media messages exposure rate and to reduce the differences in exposure rate based on sociodemographic traits.

Enquadramentos na medicina regenerativa: os relatos recentes na imprensa brasileira / Frames in regenerative medicine: recent news in the Brazilian press / Marcos referenciales de la medicina regenerativa: noticias recientes en la prensa brasileña

A mídia funciona como uma ponte entre a medicina e o público, e impacta como a informação é organizada e apresentada às pessoas. Realizou-se uma análise de conteúdo, quantitativo e qualitativo, dos enquadramentos principais nas matérias sobre medicina regenerativa publicadas pela Folha de São Paulo e O Globo, entre janeiro de 2012 e maio do 2019. A análise mostrou algumas limitações nas informações publicadas: um número bastante escasso de relatos, com poucas matérias sobre controvérsias sociais e regulatórias e matérias de tons otimistas demais sobre os benefícios das terapias celulares. Conclui-se que falta uma contribuição mais sistemática da imprensa à legitimação social e institucional desta área de ponta no país, desenvolvida com recursos públicos e que oferece uma oportunidade imperdível no aumento da consciência em saúde coletiva, assim como, na participação competitiva do Brasil no cenário global.

Mass media works as a bridge between medicine and the public and produces an impact according to how information is organized and presented. A quantitative and qualitative content analysis was developed on the main framings on regenerative medicine found in reports by the newspapers Folha de São Paulo and O Globo between January 2012 and May 2019. The analysis found limitations in the information published: a reduced number of stories, the presence of few articles on social and regulatory controversies and a portrayal of over-optimistic accounts on the benefits of cellular-based therapies. The article concludes that there is a lack of a more systematic contribution of the printed press to the social and institutional legitimation of the local area, one developed with public resources and that offers a valuable opportunity to raise awareness on collective health, as well as, for a competitive inclusion of Brazil at the global level.

Los medios de comunicación masiva funcionan como un puente entre la medicina y el público, e impactan en los públicos según cómo la información sea organizada y presentada. Se realizó un análisis de contenido, cuantitativo y cualitativo, de los encuadramientos principales en los diarios: Folha de S.Paulo y O Globo sobre la medicina regenerativa entre enero de 2012 y mayo de 2019. El análisis demostró las limitaciones de los contenidos: um número bastante escaso de reportajes, pocas noticias sobre debates y controversias sociales y de tono demasiado optimista acerca de los beneficios de las terapias celulares. Se concluye que falta una contribución sistemática de la prensa a la legitimación social e institucional de esta área de punta em el país, desarrollada com recursos públicos y que ofrece una valiosa oportunidad para un aumento de conciencia sobre la salud colectiva y una participación competitiva de Brazil en el escenario global.

[Relationship between prolonged media usage and lifestyle habits among junior and senior high school students].

Objective　In recent years, the long-term use of media (including the Internet, video games, and social networking services) at a young age has been regarded as a problem. It has been pointed out that prolonged media usage may have an undesirable effect on the growth of adolescents from the physical, mental, and social perspectives. Junior and senior high school students are in a particularly important period of self-management of the basic lifestyle habits acquired thus far. Additionally, they must cultivate the ability to interact appropriately with media used daily. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the time expended on media usage and lifestyle habits among junior and senior high school students.Methods　A sample of 1,633 students was extracted from all junior and senior high schools in Fukushima City. Principals of the schools distributed a self-administered questionnaire to their students. In total, 1,589 responses were obtained; as surveys of 30 students were missing values for gender and grade, they were excluded from the analysis, and data from 1,559 respondents were ultimately analyzed. A binomial logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the relationship between an independent variable (media usage time) and dependent variables (subjective health, lifestyle habits, and drinking and smoking experience) while controlling for gender and grade.Results　Among junior high students, media usage for more than three hours was significantly related to "no breakfast," "no exercise habits," "irregular sleep," "lack of rest," and "feeling stressed." Among high school students, media usage for three hours or more was significantly related to "poor subjective health status," "eating only one or two meals a day," "no breakfast," "low food diversity," "obesity," "no exercise habits," "irregular sleep," "late bedtime," "waking up late," "drinking," and "smoking."Conclusion　Our findings indicate that three or more hours of daily media usage is related to unhealthy lifestyles in terms of sleeping, eating, physical activity, drinking, and smoking. Junior and senior high school students who responded to the survey indicated that prolonged usage was also adversely related to their subjective health. Because the overuse of media is associated with students' lifestyles and health, it is important to develop an educational system that helps junior and senior high school students use media properly.

Breadth of Media Scanning Leads to Vaping among Youth and Young Adults: Evidence of Direct and Indirect Pathways from a National Longitudinal Survey.

Electronic cigarette use among youth and young adults has reached an epidemic proportion of growth. This study examined the direct and indirect effects of the breadth of media scanning about e-cigarette use on subsequent vaping behavior through interpersonal communication and changes in descriptive norm perceptions. We conducted a nationally representative longitudinal phone survey of 13- to 25-year-olds from June 2014 to March 2017, with 11,013 respondents who completed a baseline survey, among which 3,212 completed a follow-up 6 months later. The results from both cross-sectional and lagged analyses provided robust evidence to suggest that passive routine exposure to e-cigarette use content from more media outlets predicted increased likelihood of vaping among youth and young adults. High scanners were about twice as likely to vape as non-scanners (17% versus 9%). Mediation models using bootstrapping procedures found that breadth of scanning predicted higher descriptive norm perceptions which were associated with subsequent vaping; in addition, interpersonal communication mediated the relationship between breadth of scanning and changes in descriptive norm perceptions. These findings highlight the important roles of scanning, norm perceptions and interpersonal discussions in shaping cognition and behavior changes. The results also suggest an overall pro-e-cigarette public communication environment, which warrants further examination.

Spreading Ideas: TED Talks' Role in Cancer Communication and Public Engagement.

Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) Talks have represented a broad source of health communication since 1984. However, to date, no studies exist on how this tool addresses the question of cancer. In this paper, we aim to illuminate two major issues: (1) Are TED Talks a good source for cancer communication? (2) How does the public respond to cancer-related TED Talk lectures? To this end, we searched for the keyword 'cancer' on the TED.com website in January 2018. All transcripts were obtained along with related information such as numbers of views, like and dislike rates. We also analysed a sample of 938 comments, corresponding to the 10 most relevant (if existing) regarding each video on TED.com and YouTube platforms. From the 49 videos pertaining to cancer, 33 were scientific-related, whereas 11 focused on speakers' personal experiences. Only three videos approached prevention themes of major relevance for cancer communication to broad audiences. Instead, they brought more therapy (16) and diagnosis (12) issues and often promoted exaggerated extrapolations of research results (20). Scientific lectures also made frequent use of a 'bad vs. good' duality discourse by criticizing current science/policies and then offering a solution/hope. Regarding the public response, non-scientific lectures had more negative votes than scientific counterparts. Moreover, the audience exhibited two major motivations to provide a comment: to judge the lectures and to share personal stories. We believe that our observations are of considerable relevance for helping in enhancing this tool as a substantial cancer communication source.

Talking about a nanny nation: investigating the rhetoric framing public health debates in Australian news media.

Objectives and importance of study: News media portrayal of public health issues influences public opinion, policy action and decision making. This study aimed to analyse the use of 'nanny state' frames in Australian news media coverage; identify the stakeholders invoking this frame; determine which public health-related policies attract such framing; and investigate whether 'nanny state' framing is directly challenged in news coverage. STUDY TYPE: A qualitative framing analysis. METHODS: Articles featuring the term 'nanny state' that were published in Australian print newspapers during matched periods between March and September in 2017 and 2018 were sourced through Factiva, coded and analysed for content and 'nanny state' framing. Content analysis was used to identify any public health-related issues that the terminology nanny state was applied to, and who was portrayed as imposing the nanny state. Frame analysis was used to analyse what meanings are co-presented with the phrase nanny state. RESULTS: Out of 81 print newspaper articles that included the term 'nanny state', 19% linked the term to restricting personal choice or creating dissatisfaction with too many health-related rules and regulations broadly, across a range of issues, including: bike helmets, e-cigarettes, firearm restrictions, seatbelts, pool fences and smoking bans. The next most frequent links were to regulations on alcohol (17%), road safety (14%), obesity-related issues (7%) and tobacco control (6%). Of the 81 articles, 53% appeared in news publications owned by News Corporation Australia, 20% in Fairfax Media (Nine Entertainment) publications, 17% in Daily Mail and General Trust and 10% in publications owned by other organisations. Governments were the entity most frequently framed as imposing the nanny state. Most nanny state framings (73%) were negative towards public health controls and focused on policies and regulations. Nanny state was portrayed as an assault on freedom and choice (14%) and used to attack proponents of nanny state controls (11%), while few articles framed the nanny state (7%) in a favourable light. CONCLUSIONS: 'Nanny state' is a rhetorical device commonly used in Australian news media that may contribute to discrediting of the regulation of a range of health-related issues. News Corp publications are a major propagator of nanny state rhetoric in Australian newspaper media. Public health advocates are not commonly represented within nanny state debates within the news media.

Quality of Service Class Identifier (QCI) radio resource allocation algorithm for LTE downlink.

The increasing demand for network applications, such as teleconferencing, multimedia messaging and mobile TV, which have diverse requirements, has resulted in the introduction of Long Term Evolution (LTE) by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). LTE networks implement resource allocation algorithms to distribute radio resource to satisfy the bandwidth and delay requirements of users. However, the scheduling algorithm problem of distributing radio resources to users is not well defined in the LTE standard and thus considerably affects transmission order. Furthermore, the existing radio resource algorithm suffers from performance degradation under prioritised conditions because of the minimum data rate used to determine the transmission order. In this work, a novel downlink resource allocation algorithm that uses quality of service (QoS) requirements and channel conditions to address performance degradation is proposed. The new algorithm is formulated as an optimisation problem where network resources are allocated according to users' priority, whereas the scheduling algorithm decides on the basis of users' channel status to satisfy the demands of QoS. Simulation is used to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, and results demonstrate that it performs better than do all other algorithms according to the measured metrics.

Implementing a small media intervention to increase colorectal cancer screening in primary care clinics.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers in the USA. In 2017, an estimated 135,420 people were diagnosed with CRC and 50,260 people died from CRC. Several screening modalities are recommended by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), including annual stool tests that are usually completed at home and under-used compared with colonoscopy despite stated patient preferences for an alternative to colonoscopy. The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends use of small media interventions (SMIs) to increase CRC screening and calls for a greater understanding of its independent impact on screening participation. This study tested whether a SMI increased the likelihood of participant return of a USPSTF recommended Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT). In total, 804 individuals participated in a two-group, prospective randomized controlled trial. Descriptive statistics with chi-square tests compared differences in participant characteristics and return rates. Multivariable log-binomial modeling estimated combined effects of patient characteristics with FIT return rates. No differences in return rates were observed overall or by participant characteristics other than the year of enrollment. A multivariable model controlling for all covariates, found gender, insurance type, and regular place for healthcare to be significantly associated with return rates. Receipt of the SMI did not independently increase overall return rates but it may have improved the ease of completing the FIT by some participants, particularly women, those with insurance, and those with a regular place for healthcare.

Media Use and Physical Activity Behaviour of Adolescent Participants in Obesity Therapy: Impact Analysis of Selected Socio-Demographic Factors.

BACKGROUND: To address the challenge of juvenile obesity, effective therapeutic concepts focusing on lifestyle changes are necessary. A relevant aspect is the media use, which is associated with nutrition and physical activity patterns and is influenced by socio-demographic factors. To optimise obesity therapy, the use of media depending on these socio-demographic factors needs to be analysed to adjust the aims, content and methods of interventions as well as to harness the potential of media use in obesity therapy. The question considered in this research is: What media and physical activity patterns show 11- to 17-year-old obesity therapy participants in dependence on socio-demographic factors? METHODS: A national multicentre study was conducted in 2015. A questionnaire was used to survey 432 participants' aged 13.75 ± 1.4 years. Standardised instruments were used to assess the variables: physical activity, media use and socio-demographic factors. RESULTS: The participants were 1-hour physically active for 3.9 ± 1.9 days/week, 14.1% daily. Televisions, mobile phones and computers were available in all socio-demographic groups and used for 2 h/day. Socio-demographic differences emerged in the duration of media use (h/day). Girls were found to use mobile phones for longer (2.49 vs. 1.90; p < 0.01) and spend less time on game consoles than boys (0.55 vs. 1.65; p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Compared to current recommendations, the sample shows reduced physical activity and increased media use, which vary between the groups. Hence, differentiated therapy approaches appear recommendable. Future research needs to evaluate, how media (despite its risks) can facilitate therapy, training and aftercare concepts.

Representations of electronic cigarettes in Chinese media.

BACKGROUND: Electronic cigarettes (E-cigarettes) have become a debated issue for tobacco control over recent years. In this study we investigate how Chinese newspapers have covered E-cigarettes over the past ten years. METHODS: The study analyses the salience, patterns and content of news articles pertaining to E-cigarettes in regional and national Chinese outlets. A total of 476 articles are examined via content analysis and supervised automatic text analysis. The manual content analysis generates a coding scheme, which is then validated and applied to machine learning. The whole research methodology demonstrates satisfying human-human and human-to-computer reliabilities. RESULTS: The study reveals that E-cigarettes have not received enough attention in terms of its salience in the media, though the amount of coverage has been growing. A large share of the articles is published around May of each year - which is when the No Tobacco Day of the WHO takes place. The results point to four major themes on E-cigarettes: nicotine/constituents/features, tobacco control/regulation, children's use of E-cigarettes, and tobacco market/industry. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, E-cigarettes have not been a topic at the top of media agenda; however, we have identified a considerable growth of coverage about the potential concerns regarding young people's adoption of E-cigarettes advocated by parents and educators.

Are digital interventions for smoking cessation in pregnancy effective? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Smoking in pregnancy remains a global public health issue due to foetal health risks and potential maternal complications. The aims of this systematic review and meta-analysis were to explore: (1) whether digital interventions for pregnancy smoking cessation are effective, (2) the impact of intervention platform on smoking cessation, (3) the associations between specific Behaviour Change Techniques (BCTs) delivered within interventions and smoking cessation and (4) the association between the total number of BCTs delivered and smoking cessation. Systematic searches of 9 databases resulted in the inclusion of 12 published articles (n = 2970). The primary meta-analysis produced a sample-weighted odds ratio (OR) of 1.44 (95% CI 1.04-2.00, p = .03) in favour of digital interventions compared with comparison groups. Computer-based (OR = 3.06, 95% CI 1.28-7.33) and text-message interventions (OR = 1.59, 95% CI 1.07-2.38) were the most effective digital platform. Moderator analyses revealed seven BCTs associated with smoking cessation: information about antecedents; action planning; problem solving; goal setting (behaviour); review behaviour goals; social support (unspecified); and pros and cons. A meta-regression suggested that interventions using larger numbers of BCTs produced the greatest effects. This paper highlights the potential for digital interventions to improve rates of smoking cessation in pregnancy.

Writing good English: is scientific English a Latin language in disguise? / Escrever ciência com qualidade: seria o inglês científico uma língua latina disfarçada?

BACKGROUND: English is the lingua franca of science; it is the language of the two last world superpowers and the language of four out of the world's ten greatest producers of science; it is a fairly simple language and the most hybridized language in history, with Latin and French contributing 60% of the entire English lexicon. The object of this study is to determine whether the frequency of use of imported words is a function of literary genre. METHOD: Texts were randomly selected from (a) medical scientific original articles, (b) newspaper financial reports, (c) sport reportages, (d) literary texts and (e) colloquial English; for comparison a collection of similarly distributed texts were selected from Portuguese; the frequency of occurrence of Latin or Neo-Latin words was determined in the English texts as well as the occurrence of non-Latin or non-Neo-Latin words in the Portuguese texts; a oneway analysis of variance was used to determine whether significant differences occurred between genres in the two languages. RESULTS: The frequency of occurrence of Latin/French words in English text was significantly dependent on the literary genre, being maximal in medical scientific texts and minimal in colloquial English; in contrast, the frequency of occurrence of non-Latin words in Portuguese was constant throughout the same literary genres. CONCLUSION: The use of Latin/French words in English is directly proportional to the complexity of the literary genre, a phenomenon not observed in Portuguese, a typical Neo-Latin language.

CONTEXTO: O inglês é a língua franca da ciência; é a língua das duas mais recentes superpotências mundiais e a língua de quatro dos dez maiores produtores de ciência do mundo; é uma língua bastante simples e o idioma mais hibridizado da história, com o latim e o francês contribuindo com aproximadamente 60% do léxico inglês. O objetivo deste estudo é determinar se a frequência de uso de palavras importadas é uma função do gênero literário. MÉTODO: os textos foram selecionados aleatoriamente de (a) artigos científicos médicos, (b) relatórios financeiros dos jornais, (c) reportagens desportivas, (d) textos literários, (e) inglês coloquial; Para comparação, uma coleção de textos distribuídos de forma semelhante foi selecionada a partir do português; a frequência de ocorrência de palavras latinas ou neolatinas foi determinada nos textos em inglês e na ocorrência de palavras não latinas ou não neolatinas nos textos portugueses; uma análise de variância unidirecional foi utilizada para determinar se diferenças significativas ocorreram entre gêneros nas duas línguas. RESULTADOS: A frequência de ocorrência de palavras latinas / francesas em textos ingleses foi significativamente dependente do gênero literário, sendo máxima em textos científicos médicos e mínima em inglês coloquial; em contraste, a frequência de ocorrência de palavras não latinas em português foi constante ao longo dos mesmos gêneros literários. CONCLUSÃO: O uso de palavras de origem latina ou francesa em inglês é diretamente proporcional à complexidade do gênero literário, fenômeno não observado em português, uma língua neolatina típica.

A comment on "Writing Good English: Is scientific English a Latin Language in Disguise?"

Dear Editor I have read an article recently published in "Medical Express", "Writing Good English: Is scientific English a Latin Language in Disguise?" With respect to the statistical analyses, I have some comments. I would like to point out that ANOVA, the statistical treatment used to compare the incidence of Latin/Greek words in English against Portuguese texts, is not appropriate for the data analyzed. The reason is very simple: the sample space of a normal distribution is the whole real set of numbers extending from −∞ to +∞. In contrast, the sample space of a proportion π extends from zero to one. Another point is that the beta distribution is symmetric only when (π = ½ - beta). The beta distribution, considered here, is one of the adequate distributions to analyze proportions. Asymmetry grows as π moves away from ½. The author kindly provided me with the raw data allowing me to reanalyze the results within his focus. I came up with the results shown in Figure 3A which may be advantageously compared with Figure 3 of the article. Adding another technical argument and having adopted the beta distribution, I found that the log-odds, ln (π / 1 - π ),are normally distributed allowing us to apply standard statistical methods. My decision was to use confidence intervals to clearly illustrate the differences between English and Portuguese on the use of Latin/Greek words. I call the attention to the fact that the intervals for Portuguese are more asymmetric than the ones for English which are close to ½. To obtain the intervals for proportions the inverse transformations were taken from log-odds to proportions. These transformations through the log-odds made the distribution of the proportions be described as Logistic-Normal, as painstakingly discussed in: Aitchison J. (2003), The Statistical Analysis of Compositional Data, Blackburn Press.

Cancer Risk-Promoting Information: The Communication Environment of Young Adults.

Young adulthood represents a time of myriad transitions, which leave young adults (YAs) more susceptible to the influences of cancer risk-promoting information. The tobacco, alcohol, indoor tanning, and food and beverage industries engage in aggressive marketing strategies through both traditional and social media to target this age group to consume their products, which have known links to cancer. Despite this barrage of messaging, detailed data are lacking on the communication behaviors of subgroups of this diverse age group, particularly those from low SES. This paper explores the available data on media usage among YAs and describes the cancer risk-promoting information environment, with a focus on communication inequalities and their implications for cancer research and control. Nationally representative data on media consumption patterns indicate that the majority of YAs access a diverse range of traditional and social media platforms, but these data do not fully describe differences at the intersection of age and important factors such as SES, gender, race/ethnicity, or urban/rural residence. Meanwhile, risk-promoting information is heavily marketed to YAs across media, with an increasing focus on using social media sites to normalize products and evade marketing restrictions. Gaps in the available data on YAs' media consumption behaviors, coupled with aggressive risk-promoting marketing strategies toward YAs, may impede cancer control efforts. Relationships between exposure to various cancer risk-promoting information, concurrent risk behaviors, SES disparities, and communication inequalities should be investigated to develop innovative and effective control programs and policies to promote cancer control in this important group.

Video Material as an Effective Educational Tool to Address Informational and Educational Needs of Cancer Patients Undergoing Radiation Therapy.

With increasing rates of cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy, the treatment itself can cause patients significant amounts of anxiety and distress. This can be attributed to the diagnosis of the disease, lack of knowledge of what radiation therapy is, expectations and management of side effects, and the lack of knowledge of supportive care for patients and their families. Providing patients with effective educational tools to meet the informational needs of cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy can empower patients and allow them to participate in treatment decision-making and their own healthcare. This discussion paper will evaluate several studies on the psychological impact of cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy and how video material can effectively meet the informational and educational needs of this patient population group.

The problematic use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in adolescents by the cross sectional JOITIC study.

BACKGROUND: The emerging field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has brought about new interaction styles. Its excessive use may lead to addictive behaviours. The objective is to determine the prevalence of the problematic use of ICT such as Internet, mobile phones and video games, among adolescents enrolled in mandatory Secondary Education (ESO in Spanish) and to examine associated factors. METHODS: Cross sectional, multi-centric descriptive study. POPULATION: 5538 students enrolled in years one to four of ESO at 28 schools in the Vallès Occidental region (Barcelona, Spain). DATA COLLECTION: self-administered socio-demographic and ICT access questionnaire, and validated questionnaires on experiences related to the use of the Internet, mobile phones and video games (CERI, CERM, CERV). RESULTS: Questionnaires were collected from 5,538 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 20 (77.3 % of the total response), 48.6 % were females. Problematic use of the Internet was observed in 13.6 % of the surveyed individuals; problematic use of mobile phones in 2.4 % and problematic use in video games in 6.2 %. Problematic Internet use was associated with female students, tobacco consumption, a background of binge drinking, the use of cannabis or other drugs, poor academic performance, poor family relationships and an intensive use of the computer. Factors associated with the problematic use of mobile phones were the consumption of other drugs and an intensive use of these devices. Frequent problems with video game use have been associated with male students, the consumption of other drugs, poor academic performance, poor family relationships and an intensive use of these games. CONCLUSIONS: This study offers information on the prevalence of addictive behaviours of the Internet, mobile phones and video game use. The problematic use of these ICT devices has been related to the consumption of drugs, poor academic performance and poor family relationships. This intensive use may constitute a risk marker for ICT addiction.

Are socioeconomic disparities in health behavior mediated by differential media use? Test of the communication inequality theory.

OBJECTIVE: Communication inequality has been offered as one potential mechanism through which social determinants influence multiple health behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine the underlying mechanisms between communication inequality and health behaviors. METHODS: Data from a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of 18,426 people aged 18 years and above in the United States were used for secondary analysis. Measures included socio-demographic characteristics, social participation (structural social capital), health media use (TV, print, and the Internet), and five health behaviors (physical activity, cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and intake of fruit and vegetable). Path analysis was performed to examine the linkages between social determinants, health media use, social participation, and social gradients in health behaviors. RESULTS: Path analysis revealed that socioeconomic gradients in health behaviors is mediated by: 1) inequalities in health media use; 2) disparities in social participation, which leads to differential media use; and 3) disparities in social participation that are not mediated by media use. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with the theory of communication inequality, socioeconomic disparities in media use partially mediate disparities in multiple health behaviors. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: To address health inequalities, it is important to utilize health media to target populations with low socioeconomic statuses.

Insatisfação corporal e influência da mídia em mulheres submetidas à cirurgia plástica / Body dissatisfaction and influence of media in women who undergo plastic surgery

Introdução: O Brasil encontra-se no primeiro lugar do ranking mundial de realizações de cirurgias plásticas. A insatisfação corporal e a influência sociocultural são os principais fatores que levam esses indivíduos a optarem pela realização do procedimento. Dessa maneira, objetivou-se comparar os níveis de insatisfação corporal e influência sociocultural entre mulheres que já foram submetidas a algum tipo de cirurgia plástica e aquelas que nunca passaram por este procedimento. Método: Participaram da amostra 115 voluntárias divididas em grupos quanto ao número de cirurgias. Foram utilizados o Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ - insatisfação corporal) e o Questionário de Atitudes Socioculturais em Relação à Aparência (SATAQ-3 - influência sociocultural). Realizou-se o teste de normalidade, estatística descritiva e inferencial. O teste de Kruskal Wallis foi realizado para comparação entre os grupos quanto as variáveis analisadas. Resultados: Verificou-se insatisfação corporal em 25,71% do grupo de não cirurgiadas, 17,78% das mulheres que passaram por uma cirurgia plástica e em 20% no grupo com mais de uma cirurgia. Quanto ao SATAQ-3, não houve diferença estatisticamente significativa quanto às suas subescalas e escores. Conclusão: A insatisfação corporal de mulheres que realizaram cirurgias plásticas não foi diferente daquelas que não realizaram. Ademais, a influência sociocultural não foi diferente entre os grupos. Acredita-se que a participação da satisfação corporal e influência da mídia na decisão de realização da cirurgia plástica pode ser modulada por outros fatores.

Introduction: Brazil is the world leader in the number of plastic surgeries being performed. Body dissatisfaction and sociocultural influence are the main factors that lead persons to undergo these procedures. Thus, in this study, we aimed to compare the levels of body dissatisfaction and sociocultural influence among women who have already undergone some type of plastic surgery and those who have never undergone such procedures. Method: A total of 115 volunteers were divided into groups according to the number of surgeries. The Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ, for body dissatisfaction) and the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ-3, for sociocultural influence) were used. A normality test was performed, and descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated. The Kruskal- Wallis test was performed for the comparison between groups in terms of the analyzed variables. Results: Body dissatisfaction was observed in 25.71% of the unoperated group, in 17.78% of women who had undergone one plastic surgery, and in 20% of the group with more than one surgery. In SATAQ-3, no statistically significant difference was found in the subscale scores. Conclusion: The body dissatisfaction of women who had undergone plastic surgeries was not different from those who have not undergone such procedures. Moreover, the sociocultural influence was not different between the groups. The contribution of body satisfaction and the influence of media on the decision to undergo plastic surgery may be modulated by other factors.