Public Health Topics Research Articles

Teaching and learning lifestyle medicine during COVID-19: how has living during a pandemic influenced students’ understanding and attitudes to self-care and population health? A qualitative analysis

BackgroundIn 2019 a new Lifestyle Medicine (LM) module was introduced to the undergraduate medical curriculum at Imperial College London. Lifestyle Medicine is an emergent discipline which aims to tackle the increasing burden of non-communicable disease. Previous work has suggested that students value clinical teaching over traditional Public Health topics. Taking a constructivist view of learning, this paper assesses changes in medical students’ attitudes towards Public Health and LM in response to living through a pandemic. We then make suggestions as to how this lived experience might be useful in teaching LM, and discuss the interaction between teaching, behaviour, and experience with consideration of self-determination theories in learning.MethodsFirst-year medical students were surveyed at the end of their first year of teaching and asked if living during the COVID-19 pandemic had changed the value they place on LM and if so, how. Thematic analysis was conducted on responses representing 71% (n = 216) of the year group.ResultsFour themes were defined in the data: acknowledging importance; impact on behaviour; health inequalities and the wider determinants; and promoting Public Health and prevention. These themes highlight the distinct levels through which the pandemic has had an impact: from personal behaviour to population health.ConclusionsThis is the first study to look at the impact of living through a pandemic on attitudes to LM. Our results suggest that the pandemic has led to increased reflection on health behaviours. The lived-experience of COVID-19 may facilitate a better understanding of health inequalities and their impact, alongside the opportunities presented by effective LM interventions.

Learning from public health practice: the development of a library of community-centered practice examples.

Valuable learning derived from public health practice can be captured through practice-based case studies, also known as practice examples. Practice examples of participatory interventions supplement the evidence base by providing information on the complexities of implementation in communities. This paper reports on a Public Health England project to build a bank of community-centered practice examples based on robust processes of collection and curation. The multidisciplinary project had three phases: (i) development and piloting a process to collect practice examples, (ii) refining review processes and gathering further examples via national and regional teams (iii) maintenance of an accessible collection on the library platform. The project resulted in a searchable collection of 55 practice examples illustrating participatory approaches in public health practice. The collection shows diversity in terms of settings, population, focus and type of approach used to work with communities. A secondary outcome was the development of generic guidance and templates for further collections on public health topics. This project illustrates how information on the implementation of community-centered approaches in real-life contexts can be gathered and disseminated through a transferable process. Having collections of practice examples supports knowledge exchange in public health as learning is shared.

Prevalence and effect of misinformation on Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods social media analysis

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an upward trend of medical misinformation circulating on social media. With the large reach of platforms like Twitter, misinformation can shape the opinions of masses on public health topics and behaviors. This study aims to assess the prevalence of misinformation on Twitter and its impact on the public through a concurrent mixed-methods design. In the quantitative component, we investigated the prevalence of misinformation on Twitter related to COVID-19 transmission, alternative treatments, and vaccines. Twitter shares for the most popular articles were collected at four time periods and misinformation was analyzed for temporal and topical changes. The qualitative component assessed the impact of misinformation by analyzing perspectives towards vaccine acceptance, mask adherence, and lockdown compliance on Twitter. Twitter articles regarding alternative COVID-19 treatments had the most misinformation (47.5%), followed by transmission (20.0%) and vaccines (8.8%). The prevalence of misinformation decreased over time for both alternative treatments and transmission. Conversely, vaccines displayed an increase in misinformation over time. Vaccine acceptance and mask adherence had considerable support; however, some individuals questioned the effectiveness of these measures. Lockdown compliance had mixed support as some supported the enhanced measures while others displayed frustration. Individuals showcased varying opinions on Twitter regarding their willingness to obey public health regulations. Overall, there was a high prevalence of misinformation regarding COVID-19 transmission, alternative treatments, and vaccines during the pandemic.

Contribution of Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons to Health Sector and Medical Education in Bangladesh: A 50-year Perspective

Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS) was established in June 1972 through an Order revised in 2018 as an act with six functions which cover post-graduate education of all specialties of medical science. This commission report is to document the spectrum of contribution of BCPS in the health and education sector through its fellows and members. The data obtained for this report covers selected literature review, consultation with key official documents- Year Book of BCPS, Annual report of honorary secretary of BCPS, Health Bulletin of DGHS, various website, information from a brief quick Google survey on the fellows and focus group discussion (FGD) with senior present and past leaders of BCPS. BCPS is providing a skill based supervised comprehensive logbook based clinical training of five years’ duration through its recognized/accredited hospitals in different tiers of mostly public health system across the country. While undergoing clinical training the ‘would be fellows’ provide supervised quality clinical services to the patients attending the BCPS accredited hospitals. BCPS is producing specialists’ human resources by offering fellowship covering general and specialized subjects (n=59) and membership (n=16) in various branches of medicine. Immediately after independence there were 247 specialists altogether in the country. Since its inception, in 1972 after the liberation, 8266 fellows are entered as fellows, 7887 fellows with examinations, 111 without examinations and 268 honorary fellows; 3222 are entered as members of the College. The fellows of BCPS are engaged in providing specialized patient care in various fields of medical science as professor, associate professor, assistant professor and consultants in various public and non-government medical college hospitals, medical universities, post-graduate institutes, district hospital, and upazila health complexes. As a teacher most of the fellows are also heavily engaged in human resource development at both under-graduate and post-graduate level. Through their active voluntary engagement, the fellows of the College participate in the core activities of the College for HR development through activities related to monitoring & supervision, assessment, continuous professional development, skill development of the trainees and the fellows. Fellows are equally contributing in the armed forces medical services as clinical and para clinical specialists and development of specialist HRs. Additionally, fellows are contributing to various aspects of important public health topics relevant for SDG and Bangladesh. Fellows are also engaged in doing funded and non-funded quality researches and writing of scientific intellect at national and international publication system. Having achieved the various positions in academic, research and administrative arena BCPS fellows’ role in policy development and implementation, and scientific development deserve special appreciation. Future contribution of BCPS should prioritize quality assurance strategy for training-learning, enrich effectiveness of examination system, effective branding of BCPS, increase allocation and creating a conducive environment for conducting research. Conclusion: The glorious contribution of BCPS in the development of quality specialist health human resources over the last 50 years attained almost a self-sufficiency. Further ensuring quality assurance in training learning of future fellows and continued advanced training of the newly qualified fellows will help in branding of BCPS and technology transfer saving government exchequer. J Bangladesh Coll Phys Surg 2022; 40: 5-18

Creating Effective Infographics and Visual Abstracts to Disseminate Research and Facilitate Medical Education on Social Media.

Presenting information in a visual format helps viewers digest complex concepts in an efficient, effective manner. Recently, infographics have been used on social media and other digital platforms to educate health professionals, trainees, and patients about medical and public health topics. In addition, visual abstracts, visual representations of a research article's written abstract, have been increasingly used to disseminate new research findings to other health professionals. In this review article, we will define infographics and visual abstracts, describe why they are useful, outline how to create them, and explain how researchers, educators, and clinicians can use them effectively. We share resources and a stepwise approach that allows readers to create their own infographics and visual abstracts for research dissemination, medical education, and patient communication.

Integrating Google Trends Search Engine Query Data Into Adult Emergency Department Volume Forecasting: Infodemiology Study.

The search for health information from web-based resources raises opportunities to inform the service operations of health care systems. Google Trends search query data have been used to study public health topics, such as seasonal influenza, suicide, and prescription drug abuse; however, there is a paucity of literature using Google Trends data to improve emergency department patient-volume forecasting. We assessed the ability of Google Trends search query data to improve the performance of adult emergency department daily volume prediction models. Google Trends search query data related to chief complaints and health care facilities were collected from Chicago, Illinois (July 2015 to June 2017). We calculated correlations between Google Trends search query data and emergency department daily patient volumes from a tertiary care adult hospital in Chicago. A baseline multiple linear regression model of emergency department daily volume with traditional predictors was augmented with Google Trends search query data; model performance was measured using mean absolute error and mean absolute percentage error. There were substantial correlations between emergency department daily volume and Google Trends "hospital" (r=0.54), combined terms (r=0.50), and "Northwestern Memorial Hospital" (r=0.34) search query data. The final Google Trends data-augmented model included the predictors Combined 3-day moving average and Hospital 3-day moving average and performed better (mean absolute percentage error 6.42%) than the final baseline model (mean absolute percentage error 6.67%)-an improvement of 3.1%. The incorporation of Google Trends search query data into an adult tertiary care hospital emergency department daily volume prediction model modestly improved model performance. Further development of advanced models with comprehensive search query terms and complementary data sources may improve prediction performance and could be an avenue for further research.

Health Supervision for Children and Adolescents With Down Syndrome.

Health Supervision for Children and Adolescents With Down Syndrome.

A Successful Model for an Introductory Oncology Teaching Conference and Its Impact on Preclinical and Clinical Medical Students.

Oncology education at medical schools is often fragmented, under-represented, and nonstandardized. Medical students lack essential knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for them to provide optimal primary care to patients with cancer upon graduation. In this study, we designed and assessed the impact of a compact oncology teaching conference on medical students. The conference covered topics in cancer biology, public health, diagnosis, patient management, treatment, and communication skills. Medical students completed voluntary presurveys and postsurveys regarding their perceived knowledge, attitudes, and perspectives. The event was promoted by student groups, particularly our ASCO Oncology Student Interest Group, and took place online. A total of 228 responses from medical students representing 50 universities were analyzed. We revealed significant baseline confidence and perceived knowledge deficits especially in diagnosis and patient management, and treatment modalities. Our conference positively affected self-assessed knowledge acquisition among students, with the most pronounced differences seen in diagnosis and patient management (2.51 ± 1 v 3.87 ± 0.81) and treatment modalities (2.54 ± 0.96 v 3.79 ± 0.88), P < .001. Students believed the program was beneficial, felt more confident in applying their knowledge in the clinic and in delivering bad news, and were more interested in pursuing oncology-related fields, P < .001. We demonstrated that a compact teaching conference resulted in significant improvements in students' confidence and perceived knowledge about oncology. Our successful teaching model can be adapted and implemented at medical schools globally. Development and evaluation of teaching programs are important to urgently reform undergraduate medical education in oncology.

Exploratory Evaluation of Inclusion Wheel Model for Public Health Practice to Include People With Disabilities: Implications for Leadership and Training to Serve the Whole Community.

This study evaluated the presence of the Inclusion Wheel Model's factors and conditions across programs on a variety of public health topics, in which people with disabilities were intentionally included. We used an action research approach to facilitate three learning groups and two communities of practice, including participants from the national disability community, nonprofit, university, and government public health partners. We conducted a qualitative analysis using virtual meetings, meeting notes, and the series of feedback surveys as data sources. A primary coder and secondary coder reviewed, coded, and analyzed each data source according to preset coding schemes, using a previously developed codebook based on the Model. All supports and factors of the Inclusion Wheel were identified, including adaptive leadership supports, readiness for the change of including people with disabilities in public health efforts, capacity building activities, and capacity efforts across settings and topics. This examination has critical implications for public health trainers, leaders, and program designers on the inclusion of people with disabilities and other underserved populations in health promotion efforts. Public health practitioners must serve the whole community, including underserved and marginalized demographic groups, like the one in four Americans living with a disability. The Inclusion Wheel may be used as a model to guide disability inclusion training among public health partners and leaders in nonprofit, corporate, and government sectors, as well as to prioritize involvement of marginalized and underserved population groups in planning health promotion efforts.

Recent topics in public health in Japan 2022

Recent topics in public health in Japan 2022

Abstract PO-062: Flipping the switch to virtual community engagement: Strategies and future directions for online cancer education

Abstract History The University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center's HealthyU program started as a health education initiative to reach University of Chicago Medicine employees from across a variety of sections and departments. HealthyU consisted of weekly workshops, called Workshop Wednesdays and pledge cards for cancer screenings. HealthyU programming was only done during awareness months for the “screenable” cancers: breast, cervix, colon, and lung. Attendance at our workshops was sporadic and completed pledge cards usually did not meet programmatic goals. Making the Switch to Virtual Programming Beginning in October 2020, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we took the HealthyU program online for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Our breast cancer programming consisted of four educational webinars to encourage breast cancer screening, a digital screening pledge card, and a mammogram toolkit with printable resources to promote mammography. We had 50% more webinar participants and 23% more pledge cards signed virtually than we did in October of 2019 during our in-person programming. The success of our virtual Breast Cancer Awareness Month programming prompted us to expand HealthyU dramatically. Cutting out the logistics of on-campus programming has allowed us to broaden the scope of the HealthyU program in the following ways: 1. The target audience has grown beyond UChicago Medicine employees to include a variety of community partners across greater geographic areas both within and outside of our catchment area. 2. We host webinars on a weekly basis and for a wide range of cancer-related topics. 3. Our physical pledge cards are virtual and have grown to include pledge cards for other cancer screenings and risk-associated behaviors. 4. We created online toolkits to share with our community and UCM partners with information and shareable resources that can be used online or printed and distributed. 5. We have incorporated virtual contests to encourage cancer screening advocacy and awareness. 6. We designed self-guided cancer education modules and an online video library to supplement our programming. 7. We leveraged our social media presence to engage in real-time cancer-focused conversations online. 8. We developed other online webinar series, including documentary short screenings, survivorship storytelling, researcher/survivor summits, and singular webinars on public health topics. Outcomes &amp; Future Directions Through the HealthyU program, we've connected over 100 UCM employees and community partners with 64 different University of Chicago faculty experts and 26 community experts. We plan to use the techniques and outreach strategies learned to expand our reach in other areas, including an online training course for cancer investigators and community members on the principles of community-based participatory research, and a community-scientist virtual summit on Cancer and the Microbiome. We have leveraged the success of this program to secure device donations to expand our outreach to communities with inadequate technology access. Citation Format: Alia Poulos, Gina Curry. Flipping the switch to virtual community engagement: Strategies and future directions for online cancer education [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Conference: 14th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2021 Oct 6-8. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2022;31(1 Suppl):Abstract nr PO-062.

Identifying Research Priorities in Musculoskeletal Trauma Care in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Background:In low and middle-income countries (LMICs), individuals suffer from a disproportionately higher number of musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries compared with those living in a high-income setting. However, despite the higher burden of death and disability from MSK injuries in LMICs, there has been little policy, research, and funding invested in addressing this distinctly overlooked problem. Using a consensus-based approach, the aim of this study was to identify research priorities for clinical trials and research in MSK trauma care across sub-Saharan Africa.Methods:A modified Delphi technique was utilized; it involved an initial scoping survey, a 2-round Delphi process, and, finally, review by an expert panel with members of the Orthopaedic Research Collaboration in Africa. This study was conducted among MSK health-care practitioners treating trauma in sub-Saharan Africa.Results:Participants from 34 countries across sub-Saharan Africa contributed to the 2 rounds of the Delphi process, and priorities were scored from 1 (low priority) to 5 (high priority). Public health topics related to trauma care ranked higher than those focused on clinical effectiveness, with the top 10 public health research questions scoring higher than the top 10 questions for clinical effectiveness. Ten public health and 10 clinical effectiveness questions related to MSK trauma care were identified; the highest-ranked questions in the respective categories were related to education and training and to the management of femoral fractures.Conclusions:This consensus-driven research priority study will guide health-care professionals, academics, researchers, and funders to improve the evidence on MSK trauma care across sub-Saharan Africa and inform funders about priority areas of future research.

Literature searching methods or guidance and their application to public health topics: A narrative review.

BackgroundInformation specialists conducting searches for systematic reviews need to consider key questions around which and how many sources to search. This is particularly important for public health topics where evidence may be found in diverse sources.ObjectivesThe objective of this review is to give an overview of recent studies on information retrieval guidance and methods that could be applied to public health evidence and used to guide future searches.MethodsA literature search was performed in core databases and supplemented by browsing health information journals and citation searching. Results were sifted and reviewed.ResultsSeventy‐two papers were found and grouped into themes covering sources and search techniques. Public health topics were poorly covered in this literature.DiscussionMany researchers follow the recommendations to search multiple databases. The review topic influences decisions about sources. Additional sources covering grey literature eliminate bias but are time‐consuming and difficult to search systematically. Public health searching is complex, often requiring searches in multidisciplinary sources and using additional methods.ConclusionsSearch planning is advisable to enable decisions about which and how many sources to search. This could improve with more work on modelling search scenarios, particularly in public health topics, to examine where publications were found and guide future research.

Reaching Consensus on Politicized Topics: A Convening of Public Health Professionals to Discuss Appropriate Abortion Activities for US Health Departments.

Public health professionals, particularly those in state and local health departments, do not always have clear understandings of their roles related to politically controversial public health topics. A process of consensus development among public health professionals that considers the best available evidence may be able to guide decision making and lay out an appropriate course of action. In May 2020, a group of maternal and child health and family planning professionals working in health departments, representatives of schools of public health, and members of affiliated organizations convened to explore values and principles relevant to health departments' engagement in abortion and delineate activities related to abortion that are appropriate for health departments. The convening followed a structured consensus process that included multiple rounds of input and opportunities for feedback and revisions. Convening participants came to consensus on principles to guide engagement in activities related to abortion, a set of activities related to abortion that are appropriate for health departments, and next steps to support implementation of such activities. The experience of the convening indicates that consensus processes can be feasible for politically controversial public health topics such as abortion.

Healthy People and Interested Students: Medical and Pharmacy Students' Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Public Health.

Little is known about health professions students’ awareness and attitudes regarding public health in the United States. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess medical and pharmacy students’ knowledge and interest in the Healthy People initiative as well as perceptions of public health content in their curricula. An electronic survey was distributed in March 2021 in seven schools across Ohio; participation was incentivized through a USD 5 donation to the Ohio Association of Foodbanks to aid in COVID-19 relief efforts (maximum USD 1000) for each completed survey. A total of 182 medical students and 233 pharmacy students participated (12% response rate). Less than one-third of respondents reported familiarity with Healthy People and correctly identified the latest edition. However, nearly all respondents agreed public health initiatives are valuable to the American healthcare system. Almost all students expressed a desire to practice interprofessionally to attain public health goals. Both medical and pharmacy students recognized core public health topics in their curricula, and nearly 90% wanted more information. These findings indicate that the majority of medical and pharmacy students in Ohio believe public health initiatives to be important, yet knowledge gaps exist regarding Healthy People. This information can guide curricular efforts and inform future studies of health professions students.

Educating Medical Students for Practice in a Changing Landscape: An Analysis of Public Health Topics within Current Indonesian Medical Programs.

Medical curricula need to prepare doctors for emerging health issues and increased public health roles. With medical schools spread over a vast geographical region of Indonesia, ensuring that all schools meet appropriate standards in the quality of subjects, course delivery, and performance is challenging. This paper explores the inclusion of public health subjects in medical education across the country. A search of all subjects (n = 388) who were taught in 28 representative medical schools was undertaken and categorized by geographical region, accreditation grade, and according to the Indonesian National Standard of Medical Competency. Basic biomedicine subjects had the highest representation in the curricula (49.2 ± 8.7%) and public health was generally well represented (14.3 ± 5.0%). All medical schools complied with the minimum of 144 credits required for the bachelor stage. No statistically significant difference was found between school accreditation grades, or when an overall comparison of programs in Eastern and Western regions was undertaken. The Indonesian medical schools included have relatively good curriculum transparency, and public health is an important feature in their curricula. Further research is critical to identify the materials taught, the relevance and the applicability of the specific public health content, and the assessment of public health competency of graduates.

Digital health literacy and online information queries in Portuguese university students

BackgroundWorldwide there is an overwhelming amount of information about COVID-19 circulating online, also named infodemic. Misinformation (the unintentional) and disinformation (the intentional) spreading of false information have proven to be very dangerous to public health. Hence, more than ever, people need skills for searching, evaluating and integrating information related to health in daily life, i.e., health literacy. Until now, little is known about the digital health literacy of university students and their information-seeking behaviour. Hence, this study aimed to analyse the associations between university students' digital health literacy and online information queries during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic (and infodemic) in Portugal.MethodsA cross-sectional study of 3.084 Portuguese university students (75.7% females), with an average age of 24.2 (SD = 7.5), was conducted using an online survey. We used sociodemographic data (sex, age, subjective social status) and the digital health literacy questionnaire adapted to the specific COVID-19 context. Online information queries included the topics related to SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 searched by students. Logistic regression models were performed.ResultsOnline information queries (e.g., individual measures to protect against infection, current spread of the virus, current situation assessments and recommendations) were associated with an increased odds of achieving sufficient digital health literacy.ConclusionsOnline information queries related to epidemiological and public health topics are significantly associated with digital health literacy in times of COVID-19. Further studies are needed, including programs that improve digital health literacy among university students and increase the availability of high-quality content information.

Media coverage of evidence outputs during the COVID-19 pandemic: findings from one national agency

BackgroundThe COVID-19 Evidence Synthesis Team within the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) in Ireland produced a range of evidence-based reports on a broad range of public health topics related to COVID-19. These evidence outputs (EO) arose directly from questions posed by policy makers and clinicians supporting Ireland's National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET). Findings from these EOs informed the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland and influenced international public health guidance. How research findings are presented through domestic news can influence behaviour and risk perceptions.MethodsWe investigated traditional media coverage of nine COVID-19 EOs and associated press releases, published (April to July 2020) by HIQA. NVivo was used for conceptual content analysis of manifest content. ‘Core messages' from each evidence output were proposed and 488 sources from national and regional broadcast, print, and online media were coded at the phrase level. The presence of political and public health actors in coverage were also coded.ResultsCoverage largely did not distort or misrepresent the results of the EOs, however, there was variability in terms of what content was reported on and to what extent different stakeholders were involved in the contextualization of the findings of the EOs. Coverage appeared to focus more on ‘human-interest' stories as opposed to more technical reports (e.g. focusing on viral load, antibodies, testing, etc.). Selective reporting and the variability in the use of quotes from governmental and public health stakeholders changed and contextualized results in different manners than perhaps originally intended in the press release.ConclusionsOur findings provide a case-study of European media coverage of evidence reports produced by a national agency. Results highlighted several strengths and weaknesses of current communication efforts.

Twenty-Year Trajectory-Patterns of Percentage Energy From Dietary Fat vs. Carbohydrate Throughout Adult Life and Associations With Cardio-Metabolic Disease and All-Cause Mortality.

Background: The health impacts of dietary fat-to-energy ratio (FER) compared to carbohydrate-to-energy ratio (CER) are widely discussed topics in public health. This study aimed to assess the health impacts of FER and CER by establishing trajectory-patterns of FER and CER over the course of adult life.Methods: This study used the weighted longitudinal data of the China Health and Nutrition Survey, including eight surveys from 1991 to 2011. The trajectories of FER and CER were determined via latent class trajectory modeling. The trajectories were then cross-grouped into different trajectory-patterns. Multivariate Cox regression models were used to assess the relationship between these trajectory-patterns and cardio-metabolic diseases and all-cause mortality. Ten thousand nine hundred and twenty-six adults with a total of 50,693 observations across eight surveys were included.Results: Compared to the trajectory-pattern of persistently low-FER (increased from 10 to 20%) and moderate-CER (stable and ranging from 55 to 65%) over the adult life-course, the two trajectory-patterns that showed changing to high-FER and low-CER were significantly associated with obesity [HR 1.83 [95% CI, 1.10–3.04]; HR 1.46 [95% CI, 1.02–2.17]], diabetes [HR 1.80 [95% CI, 1.03–3.16]; HR 1.49 [95% CI, 1.01–2.25]], and all-cause mortality [HR 2.29 [95% CI, 1.35–3.87]; HR 1.62 [95% CI, 1.18–2.22]]. In contrast, the trajectory-pattern of a persistently low-FER and high-CER diet was not associated with obesity [HR 1.19 [95% CI, 0.82–1.17]], diabetes [HR 1.41 [95% CI, 0.98–2.02]], cardiovascular-disease [HR 1.48 [95% CI, 0.91–2.39]], and all-cause mortality [HR 1.23 [95% CI, 0.94–1.61]].Conclusions: This study indicates that changing to a high-FER and low-CER diet over the course of adult life was significantly associated with obesity, diabetes, and all-cause mortality in the Chinese adult population. In addition, low-FER and high-CER were not associated with cardio-metabolic disease and all-cause mortality. These observations may provide insights into nutritional policy and dietary guidelines.

Features and contents of master programs in public health in Chile

In Chile, public health training grew both in enrollment and in the number of universities offering programs on the subject. To compare the academic characteristics and the contents of the master's programs in public health offered by Chilean universities. A search of all master's programs that include the word "public health " in their title was made, excluding those that did not declare current students in 2020. The academic characteristics and content of each program were compiled according to the information declared by each university. The contents were grouped according to the list of core competencies for the public health professional of the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER). Eleven programs were included, most of them are carried out in face-to-face modality. The academic load is expressed in Transferable Credit System credits (62-71), credits (87-125) or teaching hours (1252-2048). All programs declare to have a graduation activity, with a heterogeneous academic load. All programs have basic subjects in epidemiology and more than 60% include introductory topics in public health, research methodology, and health services management. No program declares demography or food safety as compulsory subjects. There is heterogeneity in the academic load and the contents between the programs. It is necessary to establish common criteria in the training of future public health professionals, at least in the compulsory subjects and the minimum academic load.