Health messages framed to be congruent with individuals' approach/avoidance motivations have been found to be more effective in promoting health behaviors than health messages incongruent with approach/avoidance motivations. This study examines the processes underlying this congruency effect. Participants (undergraduate students, N = 67) completed a measure of approach/avoidance orientation (th...

This paper examines the cultural interpretations and the perceived efficacy and side effects of antimalarials in Tanzania. Interviews with 56 mothers of children diagnosed with malaria revealed that they were nostalgic about chloroquine, a banned antimalarial. Additional findings indicated that a majority of the mothers had an overall negative disposition toward sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), ...

BACKGROUND To assess maternal confidence in her ability to cope with labor, a measure of childbirth self efficacy is necessary. OBJECTIVES This paper aims to assess the cultural adaptation and psychometric testing of the short form of childbirth self-efficacy Inventory among Iranian pregnant women. PATIENTS AND METHODS In this descriptive-methodological study, we investigated 383 Iranian pr...

BACKGROUND Sheeppox (SPP) is one of the priorities, high-impact animal diseases in many developing countries, where live attenuated vaccines are routinely used against sheeppox virus (SPPV). In an event of an SPP outbreak, historically disease-free countries would hesitate to use of live vaccines against SPPVdue to the safety and trade reasons. Currently no killed SPPV vaccines are commercially...

BACKGROUND Physical activity (PA) offers numerous benefits to health and well-being, but most adults are not sufficiently physically active to afford such benefits. The 10,000 steps campaign has been a popular and effective approach to promote PA. The Transtheoretical Model posits that individuals have varying levels of readiness for health behavior change, known as Stages of Change (Precontemp...

PURPOSE Anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) and the ketogenic diet (KD) are often used concomitantly in children with refractory epilepsy. It has been hypothesised that certain AEDs may interfere with KD. The purpose of this study was to elucidate relationships between efficacy of KD and use of specific AEDs. METHODS A retrospective study was performed in 71 children with refractory epilepsy starting...

The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between short-term and long-term treatment effects measured by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 50 responses and to assess the feasibility of predicting 6-month efficacy from short-term data. A rheumatoid arthritis (RA) database was constructed from 68 reported trials. We focused on the relationship between 3- and 6-month ACR5...

OBJECTIVES To test the effects of a school-based prevention programme on students' smoking-related behaviour, attitudes and knowledge 6 months after implementation over 2 school-years has ended. DESIGN Two-arm prospective cluster randomised controlled trial with a follow-up survey 6 months after end of programme implementation, that is, 26 months after baseline. SETTING 45 public secondary ...

BACKGROUND Social cognitive variables are often examined for their association with initial participation in colorectal cancer screening. Few studies have examined the association of these variables with adherence to multiple screening offers i.e., rescreening. This study aimed to describe patterns of participatory behaviour after three rounds of screening using faecal immunochemical tests (FIT...

BACKGROUND Congenital heart disease causes large expenditures as well as mental pressures for the parents and, consequently, endangers the mothers' quality of life and self efficacy. Thus, the present study aimed to determine the effect of educational program on the quality of life and self efficacy of the mothers of the infants with congenital heart disease. METHODS The present randomized co...