Gender differences and health inequality: Evolution of cardiovascular risk in workers.

The aim was to find out if there are any such differences due to gender in a cohort of workers followed for ten years, comparing their lifestyles and following the evolution of the main cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) and their impact on cardiovascular risk. An observational longitudinal study of 698 civil servants workers (186 women and 512 men) of a local government office from Córdoba (Spain), was conducted over the period 2003-2014. We compared the initial and final prevalence of physical activity, smoking, obesity, hypertension, metabolic syndrome and diabetes. Cardiovascular risk was also assessed using the REGICOR (Registre Gironí del Cor) and SCORE (Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation) equations. There was a greater rise in the prevalence of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia in the cohort in women than in men (94.2% vs. 38% and 92% vs 21.1%), while the reduction in smoking also differed by gender (26.4% vs. 36.5%). It could be that since women present a lower cardiovascular risk profile, they are treated less or less effort is made to keep the risk factors low, resulting in a worse evolution of smoking, hypercholesterolemia and hypertension in women.

Women-centred workplace health promotion interventions: a systematic review.

AIM: To analyse workplace health promotion interventions implemented exclusively for the female population. BACKGROUND: The differences in biological, psychological and social characteristics, as well as the type of work carried out by men and women, make it necessary for workplace health promotion to be specific for each group. This study focussed on working women. INTRODUCTION: Workplace health promotion interventions are centred on increasing the well-being and health of the employees. Occupational health nurses play an essential role in the implementation of these interventions. METHODS: A systematic review was carried out using the MEDLINE and Scopus databases, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. RESULTS: Twelve articles met the inclusion criteria. Two lines of interventions were found: (1) promotion of breastfeeding (16.6%) and (2) promotion of physical activity and other healthy lifestyles (83.4%). The interventions studied underlined promoting breastfeeding, preventing a sedentary lifestyle, improving body composition, reducing cardiovascular risk, relieving premenstrual symptoms, time of breastfeeding after returning to work, and showing favourable results. DISCUSSION: The lack of studies on the subject and the medium-to-low quality of the articles included in the review have made it difficult to analyse workplace health promotion interventions, making it necessary to continue research in this area. CONCLUSION: There are very few occupational health promotion interventions targeting women (1.9%), and the majority of them focus on promoting physical activity. It is worrying that specific aspects of women's health are poorly addressed. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE AND HEALTH POLICY: The work of the occupational nurse essentially is to guarantee the health of women in the workplace, being the key figure in the research and development of gender-related policies in the field of public health.

Effectiveness of PUSH notifications from a mobile app for improving the body composition of overweight or obese women: a protocol of a three-armed randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: The penetration level of mobile technology has grown exponentially and is part of our lifestyle, at all levels. The use of the smartphone has opened up a new horizon of possibilities in the treatment of health, not in vain, around 40% of existing applications are linked to the mHealth segment. Taking advantage of this circumstance to study new approaches in the treatment of obesity and prescription of physical activity is growing interest in the field of health. The primary outcome (obese adult women) will be assessed according to age, fitness status, weight, and body composition status. Data will be collected at enrollment and weekly during 6 months of intervention on dietary practices, physical activity, anthropometry, and body composition. Analysis of effect will be performed comparing the outcomes between intervention and control arms. The message delivery is in progress. METHODS: A 3-arm clinical trial was established. A series of quantitative and qualitative measures were used to evaluate the effects of self-weighing and the establishment of objectives to be reached concerning the prescription of physical activity. At the end of this pilot study, a set of appropriate measures and procedures were identified and agreed upon to determine the effectiveness of messaging in the form of PUSH technology. The results were recorded and analyzed to begin a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. CONCLUSIONS: The study is anticipated to establish feasibility of using PUSH notifications to evaluate whether or not an intervention of 6 months, directed by a team formed by Dietician-Nutritionist and nursing professionals, by means of an application for Smartphone and a personal consultation, improves the body composition of adult women with a fat percentage equal to or higher than 30% at the beginning of the study. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Trials ID: NCT03911583. First Submitted: April 9, 2019. Ethical oversight is provided by the Bioethical Committee of Córdoba University and registered in the platform clinicaltrials.gov. The results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and analysis data will be made public.

Changes in body composition with a hypocaloric diet combined with sedentary, moderate and high-intense physical activity: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: There is evidence showing the effectiveness of a hypocaloric diet and the increase in physical activity on weight loss. However, the combined role of these factors, not only on weight loss but also body composition, remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a hypocaloric diet on the body composition of obese adult women throughout different degrees of physical activity during a weight loss program. METHODS: One hundred and seventeen healthy female volunteers were randomly assigned to one of the experimental groups: a control group with a low-level prescription of physical activity (1-4 METs), moderate physical activity group that performed 10.000 steps walking (5-8 METs) and intense physical activity group that trained exercises by at least 70% of VO2max three times a week (> 8 METs). All subjects followed a hypocaloric diet designed with a reduction of 500 kcal/day. Nutritional counseling was provided throughout the study period to help ensure dietary adherence. RESULTS: We found no differences in body weight compared to moderate and intense physical activity (ßstand. = - 0.138 vs. ßstand. = - 0.139). Body fat was lower in women following an intense activity (ßstand. = - 0.436) than those with moderate exercise (ßstand. = - 0.231). The high-intense activity also increased muscle mass at the end of the intervention, standing out above the moderate activity (ßstand. = 0.182 vs. ßstand. = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that a hypocaloric diet, without prescription of physical activity, is adequate to lose weight in the short term (12 weeks), but physical activity is vital to modify the body composition in women with obesity. Body fat was lower when women practiced a moderate exercise compared to hypocaloric diet only, but an intense physical activity was the most effective protocol to obtain a reduction of body fat and maintain muscle mass. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study protocol complied with the Declaration of Helsinki for medical studies, it was approved by the bioethical committee of Córdoba University, in the Department of Health at the Regional Government of Andalusia (Act n°284, ref.4156) and retrospectively registered in clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03833791). Registered 2 January 2019.

Riesgo biológico accidental entre trabajadores de un área sanitaria / Accidental exposure to biological risk among health care workers of a sanitary area

Objetivos: Los accidentes biológicos se han convertido en el más frecuente de los riesgos laborales entre el personal sanitario. Con este trabajo se pretende realizar una revision de la incidencia de accidentes biológicos en nuestro ámbito: así como de la actuación de los profesionales sanitarios. Procedimientos básicos: Hemos realizado un estudio descriptivo, recogiendo los accidentes biológicos en el Área sanitaria de Puertollano (Ciudad Real) desde el 01/01/99 al 31/12/03. Se han incluído todas aquellas personas que tras sufrir un accidente por exposición a material biológico completaron la ficha del sistema de vigilancia EPINet. Se llevó a cabo un seguimiento con controles analíticos en el momento del accidente biológico, a los 3, 6 y 12 meses de la exposición. Hallazgos principales: En este periodo de tiempo se registraron 188 casos. La tasa de exposición accidental por cada 100 trabajadores fue de 5,1 y de 21,8/100 camas/año. El estamento más afectado fue el personal de enfermería; en el área médica se produjeron mayor número de accidentes. La exposición tipo fue aquella producida durante la mañana, al recoger material usado, provocando inoculación accidental con una aguja contaminada con sangre o hemoderivados en las manos. Conclusiones: Es necesario instaurar programas de salud laboral en nuestras áreas de salud para disminuir la exposición ocupacional a agentes biológicos, que incluyan: medidas educativas, medidas administrativas de control (recogida completa de información), uso correcto de equipos de protección y realizar prácticas de trabajo seguras

Background: The biological accidents have become the most frequent in the occupational risks among the health care workers. The objective of the study was to quantity the importance in our environment. Methods: The descriptive study was carried out in the Sanitary Area of Puertollano (Ciudad Real) between January 99 and December 2003. All reported cases of accidental exposure to biological samples completed the record of the surveillance EPINet, and analytic controls with follow-up in the moment of the biological accident, to the 3, 6 and 12 months of the exposure. Results: In this period, 188 cases were registered. The rate of accidental exhibition for each 100 workers was of 5,1 and of 21,8 per 100 beds per year. The affected was the nursing staff; in the medical area they took place bigger number of accidents. The exposuretype was that taken place during the morning, when picking upused material, needlestick injuries to infected with blood or other biological fluids in the hands. Conclusions: It is necessary to establish programs of occupational health in our areas of health to: promotion aimed at trainingand informing workers in order to modify their habits in the work place and therapy lower the risk of exposure to biological hazards; to prevent the harmful effects of exposure to hazards; and Control Programs for the monitoring and surveillance of health care workers after an exposure has occurred

Determination of the sensory attributes of a Spanish dry-cured sausage.

A lexicon for describing the sensory attributes of a Spanish dry-cured sausage (salchichón) was developed in order to characterise this product. A highly trained, descriptive sensory panel generated, defined, selected and referenced the main sensory characteristic of commercial salchichón elaborated from meat of white pig. This language was not only descriptive but also discriminative. Panellists initially produced a vocabulary of 108 terms that were later modified to 15 attributes: four for appearance (luminance, presence of crust, fat/lean connection and exudate); four for odour (black pepper, lactic acid, mould and other spices); two for texture (hardness and initial juiciness) and five for flavour (black pepper aroma, mould aroma, other spices aroma, acid taste and salty taste). The Kruskal-Wallis test showed that all attributes were significantly different between samples (p<0.001). Three different groups of Salchichones were separated by principal component analyses: group I was characterised by strong other spices smell and aroma and higher juiciness than the other groups. Salchichones from group II had a high mould smell and aroma, a notable fat/lean connection and exhibited a great amount of exudate. Salchichones from group III were characterised by an acid and salty taste.