Healthy urban environments for children and young people: A systematic review of intervention studies.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Audrey S
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4676191 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Healthy urban environments for children and young people: A systematic review of intervention studies.
Audrey Suzanne S Batista-Ferrer Harriet H
Health & place 20151027
This systematic review collates, and presents as a narrative synthesis, evidence from interventions which included changes to the urban environment and reported at least one health behaviour or outcome for children and young people. Following a comprehensive search of six databases, 33 primary studies relating to 27 urban environment interventions were included. The majority of interventions related to active travel. Others included park and playground renovations, road traffic safety, and multi ...[more]
Similar Datasets
Project description:Urban environments shape early childhood exposures, experiences, and health behaviors, including outdoor free play, influencing the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development of young children. We examined evidence for urban or suburban built environment influences on outdoor free play in 0-6-year-olds, considering potential differences across gender, culture, and geography. We systematically searched seven literature databases for relevant qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods studies: of 5740 unique studies, 53 met inclusion criteria. We assessed methodological quality and thematically synthesized findings from included studies. Three broad themes, features of spaces for play, routes, and social factors intersected to influence the availability, accessibility, and acceptability of neighborhoods for young children's outdoor free play across diverse cultural and geographic contexts. Proximity to formal or informal space for play, protection from traffic, pedestrian environment, green and natural environments, and opportunity for social connection supported outdoor free play. Family and community social context influenced perceptions of and use of space; however, we did not find consistent, gendered differences in built environment correlates of outdoor free play. Across diverse contexts, playable neighborhoods for young children provided nearby space for play, engaging routes protected from traffic and facilitated frequent interaction between people, nature, and structures.
| S-EPMC9762660 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveTo identify and compare the operating characteristics of existing prehospital stroke scales to predict true strokes in the hospital.MethodsWe searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL databases for articles that evaluated the performance of prehospital stroke scales. Quality of the included studies was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 tool. We abstracted the operating characteristics of published prehospital stroke scales and compared them statistically and graphically.ResultsWe retrieved 254 articles from MEDLINE, 66 articles from EMBASE, and 32 articles from CINAHL Plus database. Of these, 8 studies met all our inclusion criteria, and they studied Cincinnati Pre-Hospital Stroke Scale (CPSS), Los Angeles Pre-Hospital Stroke Screen (LAPSS), Melbourne Ambulance Stroke Screen (MASS), Medic Prehospital Assessment for Code Stroke (Med PACS), Ontario Prehospital Stroke Screening Tool (OPSS), Recognition of Stroke in the Emergency Room (ROSIER), and Face Arm Speech Test (FAST). Although the point estimates for LAPSS accuracy were better than CPSS, they had overlapping confidence intervals on the symmetric summary receiver operating characteristic curve. OPSS performed similar to LAPSS whereas MASS, Med PACS, ROSIER, and FAST had less favorable overall operating characteristics.ConclusionsPrehospital stroke scales varied in their accuracy and missed up to 30% of acute strokes in the field. Inconsistencies in performance may be due to sample size disparity, variability in stroke scale training, and divergent provider educational standards. Although LAPSS performed more consistently, visual comparison of graphical analysis revealed that LAPSS and CPSS had similar diagnostic capabilities.
| S-EPMC4113467 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Urbanization is one of the most prevalent drivers of biodiversity loss, yet few taxonomic groups are remarkably successful at adapting to urban environments. We systematically surveyed the global literature on the effects of urbanization on species of family Corvidae (crows, choughs, jackdaws, jays, magpies, nutcrackers, ravens, rooks, treepies) to assess the occurrence of corvids in urban environments and the factors affecting their success. We found a total of 424 primary research articles, and the number of articles has increased exponentially since the 1970s. Most studies were carried out in cities of Europe and North America (45.5% and 31.4%, respectively) and were directed on a single species (75.2). We found that 30 corvid species (23% of 133 total) regularly occur in urban environments. The majority (72%) of the studies reported positive effects of urbanization on corvids, with 85% of studies detecting population increases and 64% of studies detecting higher breeding success with urbanization. Of the factors proposed to explain corvids' success (availability of nesting sites and food sources, low predation and persecution), food availability coupled with diet shifts emerged as the most important factors promoting Corvidae to live in urban settings. The breeding of corvids in urban environments was further associated with earlier nesting, similar or larger clutches, lower hatching but higher fledging success, reduced home range size and limited territoriality, increased tolerance towards humans and increasing frequency of conflicts with humans. Despite geographic and taxonomic biases in our literature sample, our review indicates that corvids show both flexibility in resource use and behavioral plasticity that enable them to exploit novel resources for nesting and feeding. Corvids can thus be urban exploiters of the large-scale modifications of ecosystems caused by urbanization.
| S-EPMC8614296 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundGiven the concerns about bullying via electronic communication in children and young people and its possible contribution to self-harm, we have reviewed the evidence for associations between cyberbullying involvement and self-harm or suicidal behaviors (such as suicidal ideation, suicide plans, and suicide attempts) in children and young people.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to systematically review the current evidence examining the association between cyberbullying involvement as victim or perpetrator and self-harm and suicidal behaviors in children and young people (younger than 25 years), and where possible, to meta-analyze data on the associations.MethodsAn electronic literature search was conducted for all studies published between January 1, 1996, and February 3, 2017, across sources, including MEDLINE, Cochrane, and PsycINFO. Articles were included if the study examined any association between cyberbullying involvement and self-harm or suicidal behaviors and reported empirical data in a sample aged under 25 years. Quality of included papers was assessed and data were extracted. Meta-analyses of data were conducted.ResultsA total of 33 eligible articles from 26 independent studies were included, covering a population of 156,384 children and young people. A total of 25 articles (20 independent studies, n=115,056) identified associations (negative influences) between cybervictimization and self-harm or suicidal behaviors or between perpetrating cyberbullying and suicidal behaviors. Three additional studies, in which the cyberbullying, self-harm, or suicidal behaviors measures had been combined with other measures (such as traditional bullying and mental health problems), also showed negative influences (n=44,526). A total of 5 studies showed no significant associations (n=5646). Meta-analyses, producing odds ratios (ORs) as a summary measure of effect size (eg, ratio of the odds of cyber victims who have experienced SH vs nonvictims who have experienced SH), showed that, compared with nonvictims, those who have experienced cybervictimization were OR 2.35 (95% CI 1.65-3.34) times as likely to self-harm, OR 2.10 (95% CI 1.73-2.55) times as likely to exhibit suicidal behaviors, OR 2.57 (95% CI 1.69-3.90) times more likely to attempt suicide, and OR 2.15 (95% CI 1.70-2.71) times more likely to have suicidal thoughts. Cyberbullying perpetrators were OR 1.21 (95% CI 1.02-1.44) times more likely to exhibit suicidal behaviors and OR 1.23 (95% CI 1.10-1.37) times more likely to experience suicidal ideation than nonperpetrators.ConclusionsVictims of cyberbullying are at a greater risk than nonvictims of both self-harm and suicidal behaviors. To a lesser extent, perpetrators of cyberbullying are at risk of suicidal behaviors and suicidal ideation when compared with nonperpetrators. Policy makers and schools should prioritize the inclusion of cyberbullying involvement in programs to prevent traditional bullying. Type of cyberbullying involvement, frequency, and gender should be assessed in future studies.
| S-EPMC5934539 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Current cognitive models of social anxiety disorder (SAD) in adults indicate that negative self-images play a pivotal role in maintaining the disorder. However, little is known about the role of negative imagery in the maintenance of social anxiety for children and young people. We systematically reviewed studies that have investigated the association between imagery and social anxiety in children and young people. Four databases were searched for 'social anxiety' and related terms (including 'social phobia' and 'performance anxiety') combined with 'imagery', 'representation*', and 'observer perspective'. The nine studies that met the inclusion criteria provided some evidence that children and young people with higher social anxiety report more negative, observer's perspective images, and some evidence to support the cognitive models of SAD's conceptualisation of imagery. Only two studies included samples with pre-adolescent children. The literature is limited by a number of methodological issues, including inconsistencies in, and a lack of good psychometric measures for, imagery in children and young people. More conclusive evidence is needed to develop significant and robust conclusions.
| S-EPMC7366604 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundPhysical inactivity is a preventable risk factor for several chronic diseases and one of the driving forces behind the growing global burden of disease. Recent evidence has shown that interventions using mobile smartphone apps can promote a significant increase in physical activity (PA) levels. However, the accuracy and reliability of using apps is unknown.ObjectiveThe aim of our review was to determine the accuracy and reliability of using mobile apps to measure PA levels in young people. We conducted a systematic review guided by PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses).MethodsStudies published from 2007 to 2020 were sourced from 8 databases-Ovid MEDLINE, Embase (Elsevier), Cochrane Library (Wiley), PsychINFO (EBSCOhost), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), Web of Science (Clarivate), SPORTDiscus (EBSCOhost), and IEEE Xplore Digital Library database. Studies were conducted in young people aged 10-24 years and without chronic illnesses, who evaluated a mobile app's ability to measure PA. Primary outcomes included validity, reliability, and responsiveness of the measurement approach. Duplicate screening was conducted for eligibility, data extraction, and assessing the risk of bias. Results were reported as a systematic review. The main physical activity measures evaluated for each study were the following: total PA time (min/day or min/week), total moderate to vigorous PA per week, daily step count, intensity measure (heart rate), and frequency measure (days per week).ResultsOf the 149 identified studies, 5 met the inclusion criteria (322 participants, 176 female; mean age 14, SD 3 years). A total of 3 studies measured criterion validity and compared PA measured via apps against PA measured via an Actigraph accelerometer. The 2 studies that reported on construct validity identified a significant difference between self-reported PA and the objective measure. Only 1 of the 5 apps examined was available to the public, and although this app was highly accepted by young people, the app recorded PA to be significantly different to participants' self-reported PA.ConclusionsOverall, few studies assess the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of mobile apps to measure PA in healthy young people, with studies typically only reporting on one measurement property. Of the 3 studies that measured validity, all concluded that mobile phones were acceptable and valid tools. More research is needed into the validity and reliability of smartphone apps to measure PA levels in this population as well as in populations with other characteristics, including other age groups and those with chronic diseases.Trial registrationPROSPERO CRD42019122242; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=122242.
| S-EPMC9636527 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Promoting active and healthy aging in urban spaces requires environments with diverse, age-friendly characteristics. This scoping review investigated the associations between urban characteristics and active and healthy aging as identified by citizen science (CS) and other participatory approaches. Using a systematic scoping review procedure, 23 articles employing a CS or participatory approach (participant age range: 54-98 years) were reviewed. An inductive and deductive thematic analysis was completed to (a) identify local urban barriers and facilitators and (b) map them against the World Health Organization (WHO) Checklist of Essential Features of Age-Friendly Cities. A new Citizen Science Appraisal Tool (CSAT) was developed to evaluate the quality of CS and other participatory approaches included in the reviewed articles. A range of interconnected urban barriers and facilitators was generated by residents across the personal (e.g. perceived safety), environmental (e.g. unmaintained infrastructure), socio-cultural (e.g. cross-cultural activities), economic (e.g. affordable housing) and political (e.g. governmental support to migrant communities) domains. Mapping the barriers and facilitators to the WHO age-friendly checklist underscored the checklist's relevance and elucidated the need to explore barriers for migrant and cross-cultural communities and neighborhood development and alterations. The CSAT demonstrated strengths related to active engagement of residents and study outcomes leading to real-world implications. To advance the potential of CS to enrich our understanding of age-friendly environments, employing co-production to enhance relevance and sustainability of outcomes is an important strategy. Overall, employing CS highlighted the value of systematically capturing the experiences of older adults within studies aimed at promoting active and healthy aging.
| S-EPMC9187804 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background:In recent years, a number of initiatives aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles in health-friendly environments have been implemented. The purpose of this review is to synthesize initiatives conducted in Canada and documented in publications for the period 1995-2015 in order to gain a better understanding of their objectives and impacts. Methods:A systematic review of Canadian initiatives published over the past 20 years was conducted from multiple databases (i.e., Scopus, SPORTDiscus, PubMed, Academic search complete, Reseausante.com, Cairn, and Erudit). In total, 264 publications were identified and retained for the final analysis based on 5 criteria: (1) publication between 1995 and 2015, (2) online availability, (3) research conducted in Canada, (4) main topic related to environments favorable to healthy lifestyles (EFHL), and (5) publication in French or English. Results:A sharp increase in the number of studies on EFHL was observed between 2010 and 2015 (57%). Two major lifestyle components-physical activity and nutrition-and 2 environmental aspects-neighborhood and built environment-were the elements most frequently examined regarding adults (48%), young people (34%), and seniors (9%), using quantitative (60%) and qualitative (18%) methods. Furthermore, the analysis reveals a greater focus on the municipal (53%) than the national or provincial levels (31%). Conclusion:This work is a first map of Canadian studies related to EFHL. It clarifies the definition of EFHL and classifies its components. As well, it documents the issues raised, the research methods employed, and the role of stakeholders, while outlining a new research agenda that includes dimensions of EFHL formerly neglected by researchers, namely, political and sociocultural spheres of action.
| S-EPMC6180562 | biostudies-other
Project description:BackgroundWhile there are mental health treatment programs for children and young people in secure settings (i.e., secure treatment programs) in many countries, there is a lack of transparency and consistency across these that causes confusion for stakeholders and challenges for the design and delivery of high-quality, evidence-based programs. This systematic review addresses two questions: What do mental health treatment programs for children and young people in secure community settings look like across jurisdictions? What is the evidence underlying the various components of these programs?MethodsTwelve databases were searched in November 2021: CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Academic Search Complete, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, Google Scholar, OpenDOAR, and GreyLit.org. To be included, publications had to be empirical literature or a report on mental health treatment within a secure setting for people under the age of 25; contain pre-identified keywords; be based on a research or evaluation study conducted since 2000; and be assessed as low risk of bias using an adaptation of the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme qualitative research checklist. The systematic review included 63 publications. Data were collected and analyzed in NVivo qualitative software using a coding framework.ResultsThere are secure treatment programs in Australia, Belgium, Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, England and Wales, Scotland, and the United States. Although there are inconsistencies across programs in terms of the systems in which they are embedded, client profiles, treatments provided, and lengths of stays, most share commonalities in their governance, definitions, designs, and intended outcomes.ConclusionsThe commonalities across secure treatment programs appear to stem from them being designed around a need for treatment that includes a mental disorder, symptom severity and salience involving significant risk of harm to self and/or others, and a proportionality of the risks and benefits of treatment. Most share a common logic; however, the evidence suggested that this logic may not to lead to sustained outcomes. Policymakers, service providers, and researchers could use the offered recommendations to ensure the provision of high-quality secure treatment programming to children and young people with serious and complex mental health needs.
| S-EPMC10571471 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveTo evaluate the agreement between temperature measured at the axilla and rectum in children and young people.DesignA systematic review of studies comparing temperature measured at the axilla (test site) with temperature measured at the rectum (reference site) using the same type of measuring device at both sites in each patient. Devices were mercury or electronic thermometers or indwelling thermocouple probes.Studies reviewed40 studies including 5528 children and young people from birth to 18 years.Data extractionDifference in temperature readings at the axilla and rectum.Results20 studies (n=3201 (58%) participants) had sufficient data to be included in a meta-analysis. There was significant residual heterogeneity in both mean differences and sample standard deviations within the groups using different devices and within age groups. The pooled (random effects) mean temperature difference (rectal minus axillary temperature) for mercury thermometers was 0.25 degrees C (95% limits of agreement -0.15 degrees C to 0.65 degrees C) and for electronic thermometers was 0. 85 degrees C (-0.19 degrees C to 1.90 degrees C). The pooled (random effects) mean temperature difference (rectal minus axillary temperature) for neonates was 0.17 degrees C (-0.15 degrees C to 0. 50 degrees C) and for older children and young people was 0.92 degrees C (-0.15 degrees C to 1.98 degrees C).ConclusionsThe difference between temperature readings at the axilla and rectum using either mercury or electronic thermometers showed wide variation across studies. This has implications for clinical situations where temperature needs to be measured with precision.
| S-EPMC27359 | biostudies-literature