Recommendations on routine screening pelvic examination: Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care adoption of the American College of Physicians guideline.

OBJECTIVE: To review the 2014 American College of Physicians (ACP) guideline on the use of pelvic examinations to screen for cancer (other than cervical), pelvic inflammatory disease, or other benign gynecologic conditions to determine whether the ACP guideline on routine pelvic examinations was consistent with Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (CTFPHC) standards and could be adapted or adopted. METHODS: The SNAP-IT (Smooth National Adaptation and Presentation of Guidelines to Improve Thrombosis Treatment) method was used to determine whether the ACP guideline was consistent with CTFPHC standards and could be adapted or adopted. RECOMMENDATIONS: The CTFPHC recommends not performing a screening pelvic examination to screen for noncervical cancer, pelvic inflammatory disease, or other gynecological conditions in asymptomatic women. This is a strong recommendation with moderate-quality evidence. CONCLUSION: The CTFPHC adopts the recommendation on screening pelvic examination as published by the ACP in 2014.

Physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep in Canadian children: parent-report versus direct measures and relative associations with health risk.

BACKGROUND: The accurate measurement of time devoted to physical activity, sedentary pursuits and sleep is difficult and varies considerably between surveys. This has implications for population surveillance and understanding how these variables relate to health. METHODS: This sample of children (n = 878) was from the 2007 to 2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey. Moderate- to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), sedentary behaviour and sleep duration were assessed using both a questionnaire and an accelerometer. This article compared parent-reported and directly measured physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep, and examined their associations, alone or in combination, with selected health markers in children aged 6 to 11. RESULTS: According to parent reports, the children in this study had an average of 105 minutes of MVPA, 2.5 hours of screen time and 9.7 hours of sleep per day; accelerometers recorded 63 minutes of MVPA, 7.6 hours of sedentary time and 10.1 hours of sleep per day. MVPA, measured by parent-report or accelerometry, was significantly associated with body mass index. In a regression model, directly measured MVPA and sleep were significantly associated with body mass index, and directly measured MVPA was significantly associated with waist circumference. Parent-reported screen time approached a significant association with body mass index. INTERPRETATION: Time estimates and associations with health markers varied between parent-reported and directly measured physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep in children. These differences are important to understand before the two measurement techniques can be used interchangeably in research and health surveillance.

Canadian Health Measures Survey: rationale, background and overview.

The Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) was developed to address important data gaps and limitations in existing health information by collecting directly measured indicators of health and wellness on a representative sample of approximately 5,000 Canadians aged 6 to 79 years. The survey entails an in-home general health interview followed by a visit to a mobile clinic, where direct physical measures of health are taken (anthropometry, spirometry, blood pressure, fitness, physical activity, oral health examination, blood and urine specimens). Reference laboratories analyze biological specimens for indicators of general health, chronic disease, infectious disease and environmental biomarkers. This important and ambitious survey provides comprehensive and robust health information to advance health surveillance and research in Canada, while providing training opportunities to enhance research capacity.

Canadian health measures survey: brief overview.

The Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) was developed to address important data gaps and limitations in existing health information by collecting directly measured indicators of health and wellness on a representative sample of approximately 5,000 Canadians aged 6-79 years. The CHMS includes an in-home general health interview and a subsequent clinic visit where direct physical measures of health are taken (anthropometry, spirometry, blood pressure, fitness, physical activity, oral health examination, blood and urine specimens) in mobile clinics. Reference laboratories are used to analyze biological specimens for indicators of general health, chronic disease, infectious disease and environmental biomarkers and to store biospecimens for future research. This paper provides a brief overview of the survey sampling, methodological, operational, logistical, ethical, legal and social issues and procedures related to the CHMS.