Development of the Movement Pattern Observation Tool (MPOT)-An Observational Tool to Measure Limb Movements during Elementary School Recess.

BACKGROUND: The US Center for Disease Control estimates that only 24% of American elementary-aged children participate in the recommended 60 min of daily physical activity. As activity levels decline, elementary schools should consider increasing movement opportunities. Activity-driven school days, where children can move their limbs freely, may increase memory retention performance, behavioral impulse control, as well as bone density, and muscle strength. Unstructured, outdoor play (recess) may provide an opportunity for the brain, bone, and muscle-stimulating limb movements to be utilized. To date, no research has focused on whether the modern child actively uses limb movements during recess, nor to what degree. The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable assessment tool (Movement Pattern Observation Tool, MPOT) to observe and record limb movements (unilateral, bilateral, and contralateral movements) of elementary children during recess, defined in this study as unstructured, outdoor play. METHODS: Three observers used the MPOT to complete thirty-five observations at one elementary school during kindergarten through fifth-grade recess breaks. RESULTS: Interrater reliability approached excellent, being that excellent is above 0.90. The ICC of the master observer and observer 3 value was 0.898 (95% CI 0.757-0.957), and the ICC of the master observer and observer 2 was 0.885 (95% CI 0.599-0.967), p < 0.03. CONCLUSION: Inter-rater reliability was achieved through a three-phase process. This reliable recess observation tool will contribute to the body of research linking recess to physical and cognitive health.

Hospital entrance smoking is reduced by broadcasting recorded antitobacco messages from Australian primary school children over entrance public address system.

ISSUE ADDRESSED: Smoking near hospital entrances occurs frequently despite smoke-free policies, resulting in multiple issues including second-hand smoke exposure (SHS) to vulnerable populations. Primary school children were engaged through their health curriculum to produce antismoking audio recordings for broadcast over a hospital entrance loudspeaker system to determine if this reduced smoking. METHOD: Students produced original recordings against hospital grounds smoking during class workshops, from which a collection (n = 16) was selected. Episodes of entrance smoking and total entrance traffic were recorded using security camera infrastructure over a 5-week period. A computer-controlled entrance loudspeaker played a message which was followed by silence until a new (different) message was played. Intensity of messaging was moderate in week 3 (every 5 minutes), increasing to high in week 4 (3 minutely) and compared to no messages (weeks 1-2 preintervention) and week 5 (postintervention). RESULTS: Smokers presented 316 times, smoking 523 cigarettes over 155 hours of observation (patients 70.6%, visitors 29.4%). SHS exposure was high given 172 others used the entrance/hour. Smoking was highest in the preintervention period (weeks 1-2), median five cigarettes/hr [IQR,3-7 (min = 0, max = 12)], falling to four cigarettes/hr during 5-minutely broadcasts [IQR,2-5 (min = 1, max = 14)] (P = .06), but zero cigarettes/hr during 3-minutely broadcasts [IQR,0-1(min = 0, max = 7)] (P < .0001). Postintervention (no broadcasts), smoking increased from zero to 1 cigarette/hr [IQR,0-3 (min = 0, max = 5)]; (P = .052). Nonsmoker movements did not change significantly between each period. CONCLUSION: Intensive (3 minutely) broadcasting of short antismoking messages significantly reduced hospital entrance smoking. SO WHAT?: Health services can positively interact with the health curriculum of primary schools against tobacco use while developing low-cost strategies to effectively deter entrance smoking.

The effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions prior to surgery: a systematic review.

The objective of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions prior to surgery and examine smoking cessation rates at 6 months follow-up. The Cochrane Library Database, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Medline, and Cinahl databases were searched using the terms: smok$, smoking cessation, tobacco, cigar$, preop$, operati$, surg$, randomi*ed control$ trial, intervention, program$, cessation, abstinen$, quit. Further articles were obtained from reference lists. The search was limited to articles on adults, written in English and published up to December 2006. Only randomized control trials (RCTs) that incorporated smoking cessation interventions to patients awaiting elective surgery were included. Seven studies met the inclusion criteria. Methodological quality was assessed by all the authors. The findings revealed that short-term quit rates (or a reduction by more than half of normal daily rate) ranged from 18% to 93% in patients receiving a smoking intervention (mean 55%), compared with a range of 2%-65% of controls (mean = 27.7%). Two studies examined smoking status at 6 months but these revealed no significant difference in abstinence rates between patients who had received an intervention and those that had not. Studies that incorporated counseling in addition to nicotine replacement therapy appeared to show greater benefits. It is concluded that smoking cessation interventions prior to surgery are effective in helping patients to quit smoking. However, such effects appear to be short-lived. Future research needs to examine intervention and patient factors to see whether tailoring the smoking cessation intervention specifically to the patient improves overall abstinence rates.