Biomedical subjects

Gloria Coronado

Publications and source records attributed to Gloria Coronado.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

[Smoking interventions in primary health care: smoking profile of women and beliefs and attitudes of local health care teams].

BACKGROUND: Chile has one of the highest prevalence rate of smoking in the world. Brief counseling interventions for smoking cessation at the primary health care level are effective. Compliance with counseling intervention is strongly associated with beliefs and attitudes of the primary health care team that deliver it. The effectiveness of these interventions improve if they are applied to smoking populations with higher motivation of change and high self-efficacy for quitting. AIM: To study the smoking profile of a group of smoking women in Santiago and to identify beliefs and attitudes of the primary health care team members to implement smoking cessation interventions. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional design that included 306 women smokers attending two primary health care clinics in Santiago. Perceptions, beliefs and attitudes of 34 primary care team members from three clinics in Santiago were explored using a qualitative methodology. RESULTS: The study identified a subgroup of 18% of women highly motivated to quit (decisional stage of change) and a 58% with a high self-efficacy. Beliefs and attitudes of staff at the clinics were characterized by invisibility, ambivalence and fatalism regarding the effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions. CONCLUSIONS: There is a subgroup of smoking women with a high probability of quitting if they receive an appropriate counseling. Developing a systematic approach for smoking cessation intervention at the primary care setting in Chile should consider the invisibility, ambivalence and fatalism of primary health care team members towards this topic.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Celebremos la salud! a community randomized trial of cancer prevention (United States).

BACKGROUND: Compared to non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics in the United States are at higher risk for certain types of cancer. METHODS: In a randomized controlled trial of 20 communities, we examined whether a comprehensive intervention influenced cancer screening behaviors and lifestyle practices in rural communities in Eastern Washington State. Cross-sectional surveys at baseline and post-intervention included interviews with a random sample of approximately 100 households per community. The interview included questions on ever use and recent use of Pap test, mammogram, and fecal occult blood test (FOBT) and sigmoidoscopy/colonoscopy, fruit and vegetable consumption and smoking practices. RESULTS: We found few significant changes in use of screening services for cervical (Pap test), breast (mammogram) or colorectal cancer (fecal occult blood test (FOBT) or sigmoidoscopy/colonoscopy) between intervention and control communities. We found no significant differences in fruit and vegetable consumption nor in smoking prevalence between the two groups. We found more awareness of and participation in intervention activities in the treatment communities than the control communities. CONCLUSIONS: Our null findings might be attributable to the low dose of the intervention, a cohort effect, or contamination of the effect in non-intervention communities. Further research to identify effective strategies to improve cancer prevention lifestyle behaviors and screening practices are needed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Colorectal carcinoma screening among Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites in a rural setting.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal carcinoma ranks as the second most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Hispanics are less likely than their non-Hispanic white counterparts to have ever received a fecal occult blood test (FOBT) or sigmoidoscopy/colonoscopy. Little is known about the barriers to screening in the Hispanic population. METHODS: The authors used baseline data from a community randomized trial of cancer prevention to compare screening prevalence and the associations between reported barriers and screening participation between Hispanics (n = 137) and non-Hispanic whites (n = 491) age > or = 50 years. RESULTS: Hispanics were less likely than non-Hispanic whites to have ever received an FOBT (P = 0.003) or sigmoidoscopy/colonoscopy (P = 0.001). No significant difference across ethnic groups was observed in the prevalence of recent screening using FOBT (29.8% for Hispanics vs. 34.5% for non-Hispanic whites; P = 0.41), but recent use of sigmoidoscopy/colonoscopy was lower for Hispanics (24.1% for Hispanics vs. 33.7% for non-Hispanic whites; P 0.06). Lacking health care coverage or having few years of education were directly associated with failure to ever receive an FOBT or sigmoidoscopy/colonoscopy. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions to improve adherence to colorectal carcinoma screening recommendations among Hispanics should target initial screening examinations, particularly among those lacking health care coverage or having low levels of education.

Aged↗

PubMed2005

Improving physical fitness and emotional well-being in adolescents of low socioeconomic status in Chile: results of a school-based controlled trial.

Regular physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality, and mortality due to cardiovascular disease and cancer. Among adolescents, physical activity is associated with benefits in the prevention and control of emotional distress, and improvement of self-esteem. Countries in transitional epidemiological scenarios, such as Chile, need to develop effective strategies to improve physical activity as a way to face the epidemic of chronic diseases. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of a school-based physical activity program on physical fitness and mental health status of adolescents living in a low socioeconomic status area in Santiago, Chile. A quasi-experimental design was used to evaluate the effects of the program over one academic year. The study included 198 students aged 15 years old. Two ninth grade classes were randomly selected as the intervention group, with two classes of the same grade as controls. A social planning approach was used to develop the intervention. The program was designed and implemented based on student preferences, teachers' expertise and local resources. Changes in physiological and mental health status were assessed. After the intervention, maximum oxygen capacity achieved a significant increase of 8.5% in the intervention versus 1.8% in the control group (p < 0.0001). Speed and jump performance scores improved significantly more in the intervention versus the control group (p > 0.01). Anxiety score decreased 13.7% in the intervention group versus 2.8% in the control group (p < 0.01), and self-esteem score increased 2.3% in the intervention group and decreased 0.1% in the control group after the end of the program (p < 0.0001). No significant change was observed in the depressive score. Student participation and compliance with the program was > 80%. To conclude, a school-based program to improve physical activity in adolescents of low socioeconomic status, obtained a high level of participation and achieved significant benefits in terms of physical fitness and mental health status.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Community-based participatory research: lessons learned from the Centers for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research.

Over the past several decades there has been growing evidence of the increase in incidence rates, morbidity, and mortality for a number of health problems experienced by children. The causation and aggravation of these problems are complex and multifactorial. The burden of these health problems and environmental exposures is borne disproportionately by children from low-income communities and communities of color. Researchers and funding institutions have called for increased attention to the complex issues that affect the health of children living in marginalized communities--and communities more broadly--and have suggested greater community involvement in processes that shape research and intervention approaches, for example, through community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnerships among academic, health services, public health, and community-based organizations. Centers for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research (Children's Centers) funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were required to include a CBPR project. The purpose of this article is to provide a definition and set of CBPR principles, to describe the rationale for and major benefits of using this approach, to draw on the experiences of six of the Children's Centers in using CBPR, and to provide lessons learned and recommendations for how to successfully establish and maintain CBPR partnerships aimed at enhancing our understanding and addressing the multiple determinants of children's health.

Child↗

PubMed2002

Evaluation of take-home organophosphorus pesticide exposure among agricultural workers and their children.

We analyzed organophosphorus pesticide exposure in 218 farm worker households in agricultural communities in Washington State to investigate the take-home pathway of pesticide exposure and to establish baseline exposure levels for a community intervention project. House dust samples (n = 156) were collected from within the homes, and vehicle dust samples (n = 190) were collected from the vehicles used by the farm workers to commute to and from work. Urine samples were obtained from a farm worker (n = 213) and a young child (n = 211) in each household. Dust samples were analyzed for six pesticides, and urine samples were analyzed for five dialkylphosphate (DAP) metabolites. Azinphosmethyl was detected in higher concentrations (p < 0.0001) than the other pesticides: geometric mean concentrations of azinphosmethyl were 0.53 micro g/g in house dust and 0.75 micro g/g in vehicle dust. Dimethyl DAP metabolite concentrations were higher than diethyl DAP metabolite concentrations in both child and adult urine (p < 0.0001). Geometric mean dimethyl DAP concentrations were 0.13 micro mol/L in adult urine and 0.09 micro mol/L in child urine. Creatinine-adjusted geometric mean dimethyl DAP concentrations were 0.09 micro mol/g in adult urine and 0.14 micro mol/g in child urine. Azinphosmethyl concentrations in house dust and vehicle dust from the same household were significantly associated (r2 = 0.41, p < 0.0001). Dimethyl DAP levels in child and adult urine from the same household were also significantly associated (r2 = 0.18, p < 0.0001), and this association remained when the values were creatinine adjusted. The results of this work support the hypothesis that the take-home exposure pathway contributes to residential pesticide contamination in agricultural homes where young children are present.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Methodologic advances and ongoing challenges in designing community-based health promotion programs.

Community intervention trials continue to attract researchers as potential ways to achieve widespread, long-term change in health behaviors. The first generations of community studies were somewhat unsophisticated in design and analysis, and their promise may have been overstated. As design and analysis issues were better defined, as secular trends caught up with the behaviors that researchers were trying to change, or as other unknown variables affected community studies, small effects of interventions were observed in community trials. Discussions were held in professional meetings and reported in the literature: Should community trials be discontinued? In general, the answer was a qualified no. In this paper, we briefly review some of the many advances made in community intervention trials, and address in more detail the challenges ahead.

Chronic Disease↗