Avdeling for samfunnsmedisin og global helse

• Sarker, Tanwne; Sarkar, Apurbo; Ghulam Rabbany, Md.; Barmon, Milon; Roy, Rana & Rahman, Md. Ashfikur [Vis alle 9 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2021). Evaluation of preventive, supportive and awareness building measures among international students in China in response to COVID-19: a structural equation modeling approach. Global health research and policy. ISSN 2397-0642. 6. doi: 10.1186/s41256-021-00192-5. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Background Education institutions promptly implemented a set of steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among international Chinese students, such as restrictive physical exercise, mask wear, daily health reporting, etc. Success of such behavioral change campaigns largely depends on awareness building, satisfaction and trust on the authorities. The purpose of this current study is to assess the preventive, supportive and awareness-building steps taken during the COVID-19 pandemic for international students in China, that will be useful for planning such a behavioral change campaign in the potential pandemic situation in other parts of the world. Methods We conducted an online-based e-questionnaire survey among 467 international students in China through WeChat. The data collection duration was from February 20, 2020 to March 10, 2020 and we focused on their level of awareness, satisfaction, and trust in authorities regarding pandemic measures. Simple bivariate statistics was used to describe the background characteristics of the respondents along with adoption of the partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) as the final model to demonstrate the relationship between the variables. Results In our study, the leading group of the respondents were within 31 to 35 years’ age group (39.82%), male (61.88%), living single (58.24%) and doctoral level students (39.8%). The preventive and supportive measures taken by students and/or provided by the respective institution or authorities were positively related to students’ satisfaction and had an acceptable strength (β = 0.611, t = 9.679, p < 0.001). The trust gained in authorities also showed an acceptable strength (β = 0.381, t = 5.653, p < 0.001) with a positive direction. Again, the personnel awareness building related to both students’ satisfaction (β = 0.295, t = 2.719, p < 0.001) and trust gain (β = 0.131, t = 1.986, p < 0.05) in authorities had a positive and acceptable intensity. Therefore, our study clearly demonstrates the great impact of preventive and supportive measures in the development of students’ satisfaction (R2 = 0.507 indicating moderate relationship). The satisfied students possessed a strong influence which eventually helped in building sufficient trust on their institutions (R2 = 0.797 indicating above substantial relationship). Conclusions The worldwide student group is one of the most affected and vulnerable communities in this situation. So, there is a profound ground of research on how different states or authorities handle such situation. In this study, we have depicted the types and magnitude of care taken by Chinese government and educational institutions towards international students to relieve the panic of pandemic situation. Further research and such initiatives should be taken in to consideration for future emerging conditions.

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• Lie, Anne Helene Kveim (2021). Studio 2 om penicillinens historie. [Radio]. NRK P2.
• Johansson, Jonas; Morseth, Bente; Scott, David; Strand, Bjørn Heine; Hopstock, Laila Arnesdatter & Grimsgaard, Sameline (2021). Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity modifies the relationship between sedentary time and sarcopenia: The Tromsø Study 2015-2016. Vis sammendrag

  Background: Sarcopenia is an age-related muscle disease primarily characterized by reductions in muscle strength that increases the risk of falls, fractures, cognitive impairment and mortality. Exercise is currently preferred in prevention and treatment, but it is unknown how different habitual physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns associate with sarcopenia status. Methods: aged 60-84 years from the seventh survey of the Tromsø Study, we assessed 8-day objective physical activity and sedentary behavior (ActiGraphwGT3X-BT Accelerometer), grip strength (Jamar+ Digital Dynamometer), five-repetition chair stands, and self-reported disease. We combined tertiles of sedentary (SED) time and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) to create nine different activity profiles (SEDHIGH, MOD, LOW combined with either MVPAHIGH, MOD, LOW). These were analyzed in multiple logistic regression models for associations with probable sarcopenia, defined by low hand grip strength and/or slow chair stands time according to the revised European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2) criteria. Results: Probable sarcopenia was present in 227 (6.2%) participants. Compared to the SEDHIGH-MVPALOW(714.2 min SED/day, 10.4 min MVPA/day) reference activity profile, SEDHIGH-MVPAMOD(697.1 min SED/day, 31.5 min MVPA/day) had significantly lower odds ratio (OR) for probable sarcopenia (OR 0.17, 95% CI 0.08-0.35), while SEDLOW-MVPALOW (482.9 min SED/day, 11.0 min MVPA/day) did not (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.47-1.11). These findings were not influenced by age, sex, smoking or self-reported disease, and higher levels of MVPA did not further decrease ORs for probable sarcopenia. Conclusions: Older adults who achieve moderate amounts of MVPA have reduced odds for probable sarcopenia, even when they have high sedentary time. Those with low sedentary time did not have reduced odds for probable sarcopenia when they also had low amounts of MVPA. These findings needs confirmation in longitudinal studies but suggest that interventions for preventing sarcopenia should prioritize increasing MVPA over reducing sedentary behaviour.

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