Implementation Of Health Policies Research Articles

Effects of physical activity interventions on anthropometric indicators and health indices in Chilean children and adolescents: A protocol for systematic review and/or meta-analysis.

Physical activity interventions have been a proven effective means of preventing or treating overweight and obesity in children and adolescents. The results of these interventions in many cases are based on the determination of the effect they produce on anthropometric evaluations, which allow the calculation of health indices. However, the effects of physical activity interventions on anthropometric assessments in Chilean children and adolescents have not been systematized. The objective of this study is to provide a detailed protocol for a systematic review with meta-analysis that synthesizes the available evidence on the effect of physical activity interventions on anthropometric indicators and health indices in Chilean children and adolescents and identifies the field-based methods and health indices most used for body composition estimation. This protocol was performed according to the PRISMA declaration. MEDLINE (PubMed), Web of Science, Scopus, and Scielo databases will be systematically searched. Eligible studies will include randomized controlled trials (RCTs), non-RCTs and pre-post studies. This systematic review and meta-analysis protocol is designed to provide up-to-date evidence that could significantly assist public health policy makers and implementers of physical activity interventions through evidence-based guidance and recommendations.

Australians support for policy initiatives addressing unhealthy diet: a population-based study.

To inform public health policy implementation in Australia, our study investigated the level of public support for six policy initiatives addressing unhealthy diet. The policy initiatives included taxing soft drinks and energy drinks, taxing less healthy food and beverage purchases, zoning to restrict the supply of junk foods near schools, prohibiting advertising and promotion of less healthy food and beverages to children under the age of 16 and restricting sugar-sweetened beverages from vending machines in schools, and public places. Data from a cross-sectional population-based study for 4040 Australians aged 15+ years, were analysed. A high overall support across all policy initiatives was observed. Nearly three-quarter of public support was observed for policy initiatives targeting children (zoning to restrict the supply of junk food near schools, prohibiting advertising and promotion of less healthy food and beverages to children under the age of 16 and restricting sugars-sweetened beverages from vending machines in schools), and half of Australians supported policy initiatives of taxing soft drinks and energy drinks and taxing less healthy food and beverage purchases. Australian women and those with tertiary level of education were more likely to support public health initiatives targeting children and all policy initiatives respectively. Interestingly, young adults expressed low level of support for all policy initiatives. The study demonstrated considerable public support for policy initiatives focussed on protecting children from unhealthy diet in Australia. Framing, designing and implementing policies targeting children is potentially a good starting point for policymakers to create a health promoting food environment.

Understanding the role of context in health policy implementation: a qualitative study of factors influencing traditional medicine integration in the Indian public healthcare system

ABSTRACT India's public health system aims to foster pluralism by integrating AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy) with mainstream biomedical care. This policy change provides an opportunity to explore the complexity of health system innovation, addressing the relationship between biomedicine and complementary or alternative medicine. Implementing health policy depends on local, societal, and political contexts that shape intervention in practice. This qualitative case study explores contextual features that have influenced AYUSH integration and examines the extent to which practitioners are able to exercise agency in these contexts. Health system stakeholders were interviewed (n = 37) and integration activities observed. The analysis identifies contextual factors in health administration, health facilities, community, and wider society which influence the integration process. In the administrative and facility spheres, pre-existing administrative measures, resource and capacity deficits limit access to AYUSH medicines and opportunities to build relationships between biomedical and AYUSH doctors. At the community and society levels, rural AYUSH acceptance facilitates integration into formal healthcare, while professional organisations and media support integrative processes by holding health services accountable. The findings also demonstrate how, amid these contextual influences, AYUSH doctors navigate the health system hierarchies, despite issues with system knowledge against a background of medical dominance.

Telemedicine services in Russia: Regulation and diversification prospects

The social significance of telemedicine services is due to their effectiveness in combating the main challenges facing national health systems. The introduction of these services into medical care opens up new opportunities for cutting its costs and increasing accessibility, as well as reducing the risks inherent in the Russian healthcare system. The study aims to formulate proposals for regulating telemedicine services in the Russian Federation and identifying promising areas for their diversification. The theoretical framework includes the theories of servitization, digitalization and public health, as well as researchers’ views on health economics. The methods of comparative, system and functional analysis were used. The empirical evidence comes from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, and audit companies for the period of 2018–2022. Having analysed the global practice in forming and regulating the telemedicine market under healthcare digitalization, we emphasize the need to create a clear legislative framework, build intergovernmental relations, and exchange experience in this area. The research proposes a set of measures for developing these services, while taking into account the risks caused by the specificity of healthcare in Russia, i.e., the imperfection of national legislation, the lack of quality standards and clear rules for doctor-patient interaction. The authors’ recommendations provide for the use of economic, administrative, legal, information and communication methods for regulating telemedicine services. Realization of these recommendations will contribute to a more rational distribution of resources and effective implementation of health policy in accordance with national economic, financial and social interests.

Health-seeking behavior and its associated technology utilization among community-dwelling older adults in Singapore: Qualitative study.

Understanding older people's health-seeking behavior (HSB) is crucial to uncovering their health needs and priorities, as well as developing appropriate policies to address these needs and avert their disease progression. Technologies play an active role in our daily lives, and they have been incorporated into health activities to support the aging population and facilitate their HSB. However, prior research in HSB has mainly focused on behaviors during illness, and there is limited research on how technologies have been utilized in older people's health-seeking activities. This study aimed to investigate the HSB and associated technology utilization among the older population, ultimately proposing implications for practice to address their unmet health needs. This paper presented partial data from a larger qualitative study, which has been approved by the Institutional Review Board and employed a phenomenological approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted between April 2022 and July 2022, either on Zoom or face-to-face. Inclusion criteria included being aged 50 and above, long-term residing in Singapore, and being able to speak English or Mandarin. The interviews were manually transcribed verbatim, and a thematic analysis was performed with the individual as the unit of analysis to understand group phenomena. Fifteen interviews were conducted to reach thematic saturation. We identified five main consequences of HSB, which were aligned with Poortaghi et al.'s model. Regarding technology utilization in health-seeking, four themes were extracted: 1) the most widely used digital technologies are the mobile health apps and wearable devices with associated wellness programs launched by the government and local companies, and they have the potential to enhance health communication, promote health maintenance, and increase access to health services; 2) information communication technologies and social media, though not primarily designed for health purposes, play a significant role in easing the process of seeking health information and managing symptoms; 3) while the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in some alterations to older adults' well-being, it has catalyzed the adoption of telehealth as a complement to access healthcare services; and 4) older adults have different considerations when selecting technologies to facilitate their health-seeking and fulfill their health needs. Four archetypes were also proposed based on our findings and the insights gained from our participants' observations in their social networks. These findings led to several implications for practice regarding health communication and promotion, health education, technology design and improvement, telemonitoring service implementation, and solutions to address the needs of each proposed archetype. Unlike the commonly held belief that older adults resist technologies and lack technological proficiency, our findings showed that technologies could play a promising role in facilitating older adults' health-seeking. Our findings have implications for the design and implementation of health services and policies.

Identification of neighborhood clusters on data balanced by a poset-based approach

The identification of territorial clusters where the population suffers from worse health conditions is an important topic in social epidemiology, in order to identify health inequalities in cities and provide health policy interventions. This objective is particularly challenging because of the mechanism of self-selection of individuals into neighborhoods, which causes selection bias. The aim of this paper consists in the identification of neighborhood clusters where elderly people living in Turin, a city in north-western Italy, are exposed to an increased risk of hospitalized fractures. The study is based on administrative data and is a retrospective, observational cohort study. It is composed by a first phase, in which the individual confounding variables are balanced across neighborhoods in order to make them comparable, and a second phase in which the neighborhoods are aggregated into clusters characterized by significantly higher health risk. In the first phase we exploited a balancing technique based on partially ordered sets (poset), called Matching on poset based Average Rank for Multiple Treatments (MARMoT). On the balanced dataset, we used a spatial scan to identify the presence of clusters and we checked whether the risk of fracture is significantly higher in some contiguous areas. The combination of both MARMoT procedure and spatial scan makes it possible to highlight two clusters of neighborhoods in Turin where the risk of incurring hospitalized fractures for elderly people is significantly higher than the mean. These results could have important implications for the implementation of health policies.

The role of community-based approaches in achieving universal health coverage: addressing the Nigerian narrative.

Universal health coverage (UHC) is aimed at ensuring that individuals and communities have affordable access to essential health care services without facing financial hardship. Achieving UHC and the third sustainable development goal of the United Nations requires that health systems transition from a vertical, top-down, curative approach toward one that puts people at the core of health care services, such as community-centered health interventions. Nigeria operates a decentralized health care system with the least focus on primary health care, making access to quality, and affordable health care for several citizens a challenge as the major percentage of the Nigerian population relies on primary health care services. The limited number of health care workers, the poor economic state, the inadequate health financing structures and high illiteracy rates have led to challenges such as low health service availability, hesitancy to utilize health interventions, high out-of-pocket expenditure rates, and health misinformation. These can be effectively tackled at the community level by revamping primary health care services, adequate and sustainable health financing, establishing Ward Development Committees, and the involvement of community stakeholders in health policy implementation. Employing such community-based approaches will ensure continuous progress of the Nigerian health care system toward UHC.

Model‐informed health system reorganization during emergencies

The COVID‐19 pandemic presented the world to a novel class of problems highlighting distinctive features that rendered standard academic research and participatory processes less effective in properly informing public health interventions in a timely way. The urgency and rapidity of the emergency required tight integration of novel and high‐quality simulation modeling with public health policy implementation. By introducing flexibility and agility into standard participatory processes, we aligned the modeling effort with the imposed reality of the emergency to rapidly develop a regional system dynamics (SD) model integrating diverse streams of data that could reliably inform both health system restructuring and public health policy. Using Lombardy data, our SD model was able to generate early projections for the diffusion of the pandemic in neighbor Ticino. Later, it projected the timing and size of peak patient demand. Our work also supported the need for reorganization of the healthcare system and volume flexibility strategies increasing hospital capacity (e.g., intensive care unit [ICU] and ward beds, medical and nursing staff, and oxygen supply) in Ticino. Counterfactual analyses quantify the impact of the decisions supported by our interventions. Our research contributes to our understanding of volume flexibility strategies used by healthcare organizations during emergencies, highlighting the critical role played by available response time in the deployment of strategies that either prioritize critical services or leverage available resources. It also contributes to the literature on participatory systems modeling by describing a flexible and agile participatory process that was successfully deployed in a rapidly evolving high‐stakes emergency.

A cross sectional study, for risk assessment of non-communicable disease in urban slum of South India

Background: Non communicable diseases (NCDs) contribute to around 5.87 million deaths that account for 60% of all deaths in India. India shares more than two-third of the total deaths due to NCDs in the south-east Asia region (SEAR) of WHO. Objective was to monitor the trends and determinants of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the study population in slum of Telangana. Methods: The cross-sectional community-based study, was conducted in the urban field practice area of Apollo Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Hyderabad. Sample size was estimated, data was collected in WHO STEPS questionnaire (STEP 1 and STEP 2) after obtaining informed consent from the participants. The performa included anthropometric measurements, blood pressure and questions related to tobacco use, alcohol consumption, dietary pattern, physical exercise. Microsoft Excel 2007 was used for data entry, SPSS version 24 for data analysis. Results: Tobacco smoking use in any form was seen in 22.1% males of the study population and 1.8% of females. The means waist hip ratio amongst male is 0.92 cm. The mean waist hip ratio amongst 113 voluntary participants was 0.89. Conclusions: NCDs in the urban slum that requires appropriate early actions to prevent risk factors, reducing the disease burden. Health education among households through behaviour change, formulation and implementation of health policy for urban slums will go a long way in lessening the burden.

Towards the implementation of the first National Health Policy in Tunisia

Towards the implementation of the first National Health Policy in Tunisia

Analysis of disease burden of occupational pneumoconiosis in Gansu Province from 2010 to 2020

Objective: Through comparative analysis of the disease burden of occupational pneumoconiosis in Gansu Province from 2010 to 2020, the main influencing factors are screened, and scientific basis is provided for rational allocation of limited health resources, precise management and policy implementation. Methods: In August 2021, survey and collect information on surviving occupational pneumoconiosis patients and dead occupational pneumoconiosis patients diagnosed in Gansu Province from 2010 to 2020, and analyze and calculate indicators such as morbidity, mortality, and disability adjusted of life years (DALY). Analyzing the influencing factors of disease burden usirrg multiple linear regression. Results: From 2010 to 2020, the average annual incidence of occupational pneumoconiosis in Gansu Province was 0.9992/100000, the average annual mortality was 0.897/100000, the cumulative case fatality rate was 25.75%, and the cumulative DALY was 28932.96 person-years. The first stage of occupational pneumoconiosis was the highest among DALY loss (19920.14 person-years), and the DALY loss was positively correlated with the stage of occupational pneumoconiosis. Among occupational pneumoconiosis in Gansu Province, silicosis (13753.66 person-years) and coal worker's pneumoconiosis (13414.73 person-years) caused the highest disease burden, followed by cement pneumoconiosis and asbestos lung. Period, length of service, type of disease, and region are all influencing factors of DALY loss (P<0.05). Conclusion: From 2010 to 2020, the DALY losses caused by occupational pneumoconiosis in Gansu Province showed a fluctuating decrease, with the composition of DALY mainly changing from the loss of life years due to premature death to the loss of years due to injury and disability.

Better health through better housing - Current impact and future prospects of randomized trials.

Safe and stable housing in integrated neighborhoods with access to basic amenities and social elements is indispensable for good health. Recent randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that improvements in the built environment have positive impacts on malaria, fall injuries, and gun violence outcomes. There are several challenges associated with performing studies that assess house improvement as an intervention for advancing human health and well-being, including ethical issues, lack of blinding, spillover effects, and differential behavior. Future research is warranted to evaluate the clinical benefits and cost-effectiveness of prototype houses or energyefficient prefabricated modular homes by employing more holistic strategies, such as integration of data analytics, peer support, and whole health coaching, addition of social contextual perspectives on mobile technology-supported community-based interventions, and combination of digital technology-informed community-engaged citizen science and participatory action programs with multi-sector partnerships. Gleaning stronger evidence from clinical trials and model-based economic analyses that ascertain the effects of multiple intersecting factors on individuals and communities would illuminate effective policymaking options in healthy housing and guide successful implementation of sustainable public health policies. Straightforward and cost-effective pathways should therefore be created based on highest-quality scientific data to lead the scaling up of novel housing interventions and capacity building for health-in-all-policies to support population health equity, thereby ensuring that everyone has access to housing and the chance to live a healthy and productive life.

Epidemiological Survey of Human Alphaherpesvirus 2 (HSV-2) Infection in Indigenous People of Dourados Municipality, Central Brazil.

Sexually transmitted Human alphaherpesvirus 2 (HSV-2) causes genital ulcers, especially among sexually active adolescents and adults. We estimated the exact prevalence of anti-HSV-2 antibodies and correlated it with the demographic and behavioral aspects of the Indigenous population of the Jaguapirú and Bororó villages (Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), Brazil). In total, 1360 individuals (>18 years old) were administered serologic tests. The prevalence of anti-HSV-2 IgM was 12.9%, that of anti-HSV-2 IgG was 57.2%, and 8.5% cases tested positive for both HSV-2 IgM and IgG. The prevalence of anti-HSV-2 antibodies was higher in females (59.5%) compared to males (49%), with an OR of 0.64 (0.49-0.83). Anti-HSV-2 antibodies were found in 14.2%, 12.3%, 15.4%, and 14.5% of participants with urinary problems, genital wounds, genital warts, and urethral discharge, respectively. In summary, the seroprevalence of HSV-2 in the Indigenous population was five times higher than that reported in the general adult Brazilian population. Educational level, income level, smoking, condom use, incarceration, illicit drug abuse, the sharing of used needles and syringes without adequate disinfection, homosexual relationships, prostitution, the sexual practices among drug users, and avoidance of contraceptive methods could contribute to the facilitation of HSV-2 transmission in the Indigenous population. Our results may help develop culturally appropriate intervention programs that eliminate health-access barriers and improve the implementation of public health policies aimed at promoting information regarding and preventing, treating, and controlling HSV-2 infection in Brazilian Indigenous populations.

Advanced practice nursing initiatives in Africa, moving towards the nurse practitioner role: Experiences from the field.

This paper discusses the development and progression of the advanced practice nurse practitioner role in Africa. Providing adequate primary health care is problematic in Africa. The World Health Organization and International Council of Nurses proposed that nurses, specifically advanced practice nurse practitioners with the requisite skills in disease prevention, diagnosis and management, can be key to solving the primary care issue. This paper utilized publications from PUBMED, CINAHL, policy papers, websites, workgroups, conferences, and the experiences and knowledge of authors involved in leading and moving forward key events and projects. Four African countries have formally adopted the advanced practice nurse practitioner role, with significant interest from countries throughout Africa, and ever-increasing requests for assistance regarding initiation, development and integration of advanced practice roles. Initiatives to advance the roles have been supported by the International Council of Nurses Nurse Practitioner/Advanced Practice Nurse Network and Global Academy of Research and Enterprise. Next steps and projects for future role development are discussed. There is a progression towards the adoption of the advanced practice nurse practitioner role in Africa, and further mechanisms are suggested to allow full uptake and utilization. Prioritization and investment in initiatives implementing nurse practitioner/advanced practice nurse roles in Africa allows nurses to pursue further education, advanced role and leadership opportunities consistent with Nursing Now goals. Implementation of nurse practitioner/advanced practice nurse roles increases the primary care workforce, consistent with recommendations and priorities in the World Health Organization Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery 2021-2025 helping countries ensure that nurses optimally contribute to achieving universal health coverage and other population health goals.

Implementation of Concussion Management Policies in High Schools: The Critical Role of School Nurses.

Evidence-based practices in concussion management (CM) have been codified into legislation. However, legislation is varied, and implementation is narrowly evaluated. School nurses hold a unique position to assess the implementation of health policies. The implementation of concussion management policies across Massachusetts high schools was evaluated by the school nurse. A cross-sectional survey was sent to school nurses (N = 304), and responses (n = 201; 68.1% response rate) were tallied whereby higher scores indicated more practices being implemented. One open-text question was included to encourage nurses to provide context regarding implementation in their school. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to assess current implementation and nursing perspectives. Findings indicate that the degree of implementation varies, and some nurses reported difficulty with mobilizing clinical uptake of concussion management practices in their schools. Further implementation research is needed, and school nurses are an important stakeholder to include when assessing the clinical uptake of concussion management policies in schools.

Factors associated with women diagnosed with syphilis who received prenatal care in a primary healthcare unit.

To estimate the prevalence of syphilis and its associated factors in women who were treated at public maternity hospitals and received prenatal care in a primary healthcare unit. This cross-sectional study included 399 postpartum women. Interviews were conducted, and additional data were extracted from the pregnant woman's booklet, medical records, and printed tests. The dependent variable was a gestational syphilis diagnosis. The independent variables were grouped into socioeconomic and demographic, behavioral, reproductive, and prenatal blocks. The prevalence, prevalence ratios, and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were calculated. The χ 2 test was also performed (p≤0.05). Multivariate analysis was performed using Poisson regression models. The prevalence of gestational syphilis was 9.61% (95%CI: 7.14-12.83). We identified the following determining factors (adjusted prevalence ratios): history of sexually transmitted infections (2.3), first sexual intercourse by the age of 15 (2.42), partner having a history of syphilis (5.98), partner using crack/cocaine (6.42) and marijuana and others (3.02), not having a partner (3.07), low income (2.85), history of stillbirth (5.21), beginning prenatal care in the third trimester (3.15), and prenatal care received in a primary healthcare unit (without a Family Health Strategy team) (0.35). Individual and prenatal factors were associated with gestational syphilis. To control congenital syphilis, targeted interventions are needed to control syphilis in the adult population including expansion of access to quality prenatal care with identification of risks for syphilis and connection between prevention and treatment actions, implementation of strategies focused on early sexual education, effective establish prenatal care involving both partners, and effective implementation of the National Men's Health Policy (PNAISH - Política Nacional de Atenção Integral à Saúde dos Homens ).

Assessing the neonatal health policy landscape in low- and middle-income countries: Findings from the 2018 WHO SRMNCAH policy survey.

We aimed to describe the availability of newborn health policies across the continuum of care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and to assess the relationship between the availability of newborn health policies and their achievement of global Sustainable Development Goal and Every Newborn Action Plan (ENAP) neonatal mortality and stillbirth rate targets in 2019. We used data from World Health Organization's 2018-2019 sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (SRMNCAH) Policy Survey and extracted key newborn health service delivery and cross-cutting health systems policies that align with the WHO health system building blocks. We constructed composite measures to represent packages of newborn health policies for five components along the continuum of care: antenatal care (ANC), childbirth, postnatal care (PNC), essential newborn care (ENC), and management of small and sick newborns (SSNB). We used descriptive analyses to present the differences in the availability of newborn health service delivery policies by World Bank income group in 113 LMICs. We employed logistic regression analysis to assess the relationship between the availability of each composite newborn health policy package and achievement of global neonatal mortality and stillbirth rate targets by 2019. In 2018, most LMICs had existing policies regarding newborn health across the continuum of care. However, policy specifications varied widely. While the availability of the ANC, childbirth, PNC, and ENC policy packages was not associated with having achieved global NMR targets by 2019, LMICs with existing policy packages on the management of SSNB were 4.4 times more likely to have reached the global NMR target (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 4.40; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.09-17.79) after controlling for income group and supporting health systems policies. Given the current trajectory of neonatal mortality in LMICs, there is a dire need for supportive health systems and policy environments for newborn health across the continuum of care. Adoption and implementation of evidence-informed newborn health policies will be a crucial step in putting LMICs on track to meet global newborn and stillbirth targets by 2030.

The Role of Wellness Teams in Promoting Health and Wellness Implementation Strategies in Elementary Schools in Chicago.

Strategies used by wellness teams (WTs) to foster local wellness policy (LWP) implementation have been documented, yet there remains a need to better understand how WTs respond to district-level LWP requirements, particularly when bundled with additional health-related policies. This study's goal was to explore how WTs implement Healthy Chicago Public School (CPS), a district-led initiative focused on both LWP and other health policy implementation in the CPS district, one of the most diverse in the nation. Eleven discussion groups were conducted with WTs in CPS. Discussions were recorded, transcribed, and thematically coded. Six overarching strategies used by WTs in working to achieve Healthy CPS include: (1) using district guides and resources to support planning, progress monitoring, and reporting; (2) under the leadership of wellness champions, as required by the district, facilitating engagement among staff, students, and/or families; (3) taking district guidance and adapting and integrating it into their schools' existing structures, curricula, and practices, often taking a holistic approach; (4) fostering linkages in the communities surrounding their schools to supplement internal school capacities; and (5) stewarding resources, time, and staff for sustainability. Strategies for LWP implementation by WTs in urban and diverse schools include planning for staff turnover, integrating health and wellness into existing curricula and structures, and leveraging relationships with the local community. WTs can play a critical role in supporting schools in diverse, urban districts to implement district-level LWP and the plethora of related policies that schools are subject to at the federal, state, and district levels.

PREVALENCE AND DETERMINANTS OF EATING DISORDER RISK AMONG TUNISIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

IntroductionThe transition to college life can be a stressful period for young adults, and coping strategies can involve changes in eating behaviors.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and correlates of eating disorder risk among Tunisian university students.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional descriptive and analytical study among 144 university students in Tunisia. Data were collected using an online questionnaire spread throughout social media (Facebook), using the Google Forms® platform.Attitudes, feelings and behaviors related to eating were measured using “Eating Attitudes Test” (EAT-26) in order to assess the eating disorder risk.ResultsThe mean age of our population was 23.38±3.27 years. More females (73.6%) than males (26.4%) participated in the study. Among them, 10.4% were followed for chronic somatic disease while 11.1% suffered from mental illness. Tobacco, alcohol and cannabis use was noted respectively in 12.5%, 3.5% and 3.5% of cases.The mean score EAT-26 was 20.45. According to this scale, 32,6% of participants were at high risk of eating disorders.EAT-26 scores were higher in females (21.23) than males (16.95%), without a significant relationship.Users of psychoactive substances were more likely to present higher EAT-26 scores (p=0.012), especially the use of alcohol (p=0.005) and weed (p=0.024).EAT-26 scores were significantly higher among students with a prior history of depression.ConclusionsOur study highlighted a high prevalence of eating disorder risk in university students. Implementation of public health policies are required, and psychological intervention and health awareness programs would effectively prevent the eating disorder risk.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Analyzing Health of Forcibly Displaced Communities through an Integrated Ecological Lens.

Health care among forcibly displaced persons is frequently driven by siloed approaches. Aspects of the built environment, social factors, and the bidirectional relationship between the changing ecosystem and residents are often ignored in health policy design and implementation. While recognizing factors that create a preference for siloed approaches and appreciating the work of humanitarian agencies, we argue for a new data-driven and holistic approach to understand the health of the forcibly displaced. It should be rooted in the realities of the emergence of new diseases, dynamic demographics, and degrading environments around the displaced communities. Such an approach envisions refugee and internally displaced camps as dynamic, complex ecosystems that alter, and are altered by, spatial and temporal factors. At the root of this approach is the necessity to work across disciplines, to think holistically, to go beyond treating single ailments, and to develop ethical approaches that provide dignity to those who are forcibly displaced.