Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Serve Sizes Of Grain Based Foods In Australia, P. G. Williams, B. Gibson, N. Smith

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

A survey was conducted of the recommended serve sizes used on the labelling of 807 grain based foods sold in Sydney stores in 2000. These values were compared with the serve sizes used in a variety of food selection guides, including the Australian Guide to Health Eating (AGHE). In most food categories there was a great deal of variation in the serve sizes recommended, sometimes up to 20 fold. The most consistent recommendations were for sliced breads, with most manufacturers recommending two slices as a serve, and ready-to-eat breakfast cereals (one cup). The median values for cereal products were mostly …

Food Service Trends In New South Wales Hospitals, 1993-2001, R. Mibey, P. G. Williams

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

A survey of the food service departments in 93 hospitals throughout NSW Australia (covering 51% of hospital beds in the state) was conducted using a mailed questionnaire and the results compared with those from similar surveys conducted in 1986 and 1993. Over the past eight years there has been a significant increase in the proportion of hospitals using cook-chill food service production systems, from 18% in 1993 to 42% in 2001 (p<0.001). Hospitals with cook-chill systems had lower staff ratios than those with cook-fresh systems (8.3 vs 6.4 beds/full time equivalent staff; p<0.05), but there was no significant difference in the ratio of meals served per FTE. There was no difference between public and private hospitals in terms of ratios of beds or meals to food service staff. Managers using cook-chill systems reported significantly lower levels of satisfaction with the food service system compared to those using cook-fresh. Two aspects of the services have not changed since the last survey: approximately a quarter of food service departments are still managed by staff without formal qualifications and meal times remain the same, with more than 90% of hospitals serving the evening meal before 5.30pm and a median of 14.25 hours gap between the evening meal and breakfast.

Syllable Frequency Effects On Phonological Short-Term Memory Tasks, L. M. Nimmo, Steven Roodenrys

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Recent evidence suggests that phonological short-term memory (STM) tasks are influenced by both lexical and sublexical factors inherent in the selection and construction of the stimuli to be recalled. This study examined whether long-term memory (LTM) influences STM at a sublexical level by investigating whether the frequency with which one-syllable nonwords occur in polysyllabic words influences recall accuracy on two phonological STM tasks, nonword repetition and serial recall. The results showed that recall accuracy increases when the stimuli to be recalled consist of one-syllable nonwords that occur often in polysyllabic English words. This result is consistent with the notion that …

What Australians Eat For Breakfast: An Analysis Of Data From The 1995 National Nutrition Survey, P. G. Williams

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective To analyse data on the patterns of food consumption at breakfast reported in the 1995 National Nutrition Survey.

Design The Australian Bureau of Statistics was commissioned to undertake additional analysis of data on food intake collected using 24-hour recall interviews, a food frequency questionnaire and a food habits questionnaire.

Subjects Nationally representative sample of 13 858 Australians, from age 2 years, surveyed in the 1995 National Nutrition Survey.

Main outcome measures Percentage of people eating breakfast regularly, mean amount of food groups consumed at breakfast, the percentage of respondents consuming each food item, and the mean serve sizes.

Statistical …

Changing Staff Attitudes And Empathy For Working With People With Psychosis, H. J. Mcleod, F. P. Deane, B. Hogbin

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Seventy-seven mental health professionals completed a 3-day cognitive behavioural training course for managing hallucinations and delusions in schizophrenia. A questionnaire measuring attitudes and empathy towards working with people who have these symptoms was administered before and after the course. Significant increases in feelings of adequacy, legitimacy, employment related self-esteem, and expectations of work satisfaction were observed after the course and participants displayed high levels of motivation for working with this clinical population at both time points. In addition, the participants showed significant increases in perceived empathy for the experience of hallucinations and delusions. This was a predicted outcome as the …

Promotion Of Prescription Medicines: A Critical Review And Research Agenda, Janet Hoek, Philip Gendall, Judith Holdershaw, Sandra C. Jones, John Rossiter

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Direct to consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription medicines has generated considerable controversy in both New Zealand and the United States, the only two countries that currently permit promotion ofrestricted medicines. Arguments against DTCA include the effect this may have on doctor-patient relationships, its implications for drug costs, and the extent to which it fully informs potential patients. Conversely, proponents of DTCA claim that it increases knowledge of a variety of common medical conditions, thus fostering earlier diagnosis and better compliance with treatments. However, although arguments for and against DTCA have merit, neither side has supported its position with empirical evidence. …

Adolescent Barriers To Seeking Professional Psychololgical Help For Personal-Emotional And Suicidal Problems, Coralie J. Wilson, Debra Rickwood, Joseph V. Ciarrochi, Frank P. Deane

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

A number of cognitive and affective barriers reduce the likelihood that young people will seek professional psychological help for either personal-emotional or suicidal problems. This paeer describes a study that has examined tbe relationship between helpseeking barriers and intentions in a highschool sample. Six hundred and eight high school students completed a questionnaire measunring help-seeking intetions and barriers to professional mental health source. Barriers related to Iower intentions to seek professional psychological help for suicidal and non-suicidal problems. Findings are discussed in terms of barrier reduction. Strategies for prevention and early intervention are suggested.

The Nature Of Human Adaptation To Cold, Alun Rees, Clare Eglin, Nigel Taylor, Mark Hetherington, Igor Mekjavic, Michael Tipton

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Human adaptation to repeated short term exposure to cold appears to be characterised by a decreased shivering threshold and unchanged sweating threshold, producing a widening of the inter-threshold zone (1). As a consequence, deep body temperature may fall more rapidly in cold habituated individuals on exposure to cold. This 'hypothermic adaptation' (2) may contribute to a range of problems, from hypothermia in the elderly to insidious hypothermia in occupational groups such as divers.

Although a reduction in the metabolic response to cold is probably the most widely and frequently reported alteration with cold habituation in humans (3), the nature of …

Comparative Analysis Of The Its Rdna Sequence And Nutrient Compositions Of An Un-Named Ganoderma Species In Australia, Li-Xia Liu, Peter Howe, Chen-Wei Su, Fei Sun, Ren Zhang

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

An Australian species of Ganoderma genus (temporally named Ganoderma nt) mistaken for Garoderma lucidum, a well-known herbal medicine, was examined with internal transcribed spacer ribosomal DNA (ITS rDNA) sequence as an aid to the taxonomy. Variation between G. nt and G. lucidum in the ITS rDNA sequence was 2% - 4 %. Also nutrient value in this species was analyzed compared with G. lucidum. G. nt had similar contents to G. lucidum in polysaccharides and monosaccharides on dry mass base in fruit body. However, G. nt fruit body had higher soluble protein (14 mg/g dry mass) and fatty acids (5.6 …

Increased Post-Immersion Afterdrop Following B-Adrenergic Blockade, Annerieke Zeyl, Cassandra Haley, Pornkamon Thoicharoen, Laura Welschen, Nicole Sinnema, Nigel A. S Taylor, Arthur Jenkins

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

It is well established that, during the initial rewarming from mild hypothermia, core temperature continues to decrease before returning towards its pre-immersion state (I). This phenomenon is known as the afterdrop, and has been ascribed to circulatory changes at the periphery, as well as to continued core-to-periphery thermal conduction, both of which may account for continued central-body heat loss after removal from the cold (2,3,4). In a recent series of experiments, in which we studied interactions between cold-water immersion, B-adrenergic blockade, plasma leptin concentration, rewarming and skin blood flow control, we also investigated the afterdrop. Our observations have revealed that …

Is Experience With One Illicit Drug Associated With Perceptions Of The Believability Of Anti-Drug Messages?, Sandra C. Jones, John R. Rossiter

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Cannabis (marijuana) use is on the increase in many countries, particularly among teenagers. Information dissemination is likely to become the main vehicle for minimising the harms associated with cannabis use. Thus there is a clear need to develop informative and convincing communication strategies to target young (potential and incipient) cannabis users. Cognitive dissonance theory, as well as research with warning labels on other products, suggests that young people who currently use cannabis will find the information about cannabis and the infonnation about other drugs (with which they have no experience) less believable than will non-users. This study finds support for …

Breast Cancer Detection Messages In Australian Print Media Advertising - Are They Promoting Correct Information?, Sandra C. Jones, John R. Rossiter

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

With breast cancer now the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the western world, correct information about detection and treatment is vitally important. The media are often accused of conveying inaccurate information in their editorial coverage of health issues, but few studies have examined the accuracy of information in media advertising. In this study of breast cancer detection ads in Australian magazines and newspapers, many instances of misleading information were found. As the print media have a major influence on women's health beliefs, these findings have serious implications for health communication policy regarding socially responsible advertising.

Is The Technology Acceptance Model A Valid Model Of User Satisfaction Of Information Technology In Environments Where Usage Is Mandatory?, Dave Mather, Peter Caputi, Rohan Jayasuriya

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The validity of the two models based on the extended Technology Acceptance Model (Venkatesh and Davies, 2000) in predicting user satisfaction of an incident reporting system in a mandated setting was tested using 84 employees from a large manufacturing company. The models differed in how the construct, subjective norm was represented. Although the results indicated that both models fitted the data, the anticipated relationship between subjective norms and user satisfaction was not supported. Furthermore, some of the antecedent factors did not predict perceived usefulness as anticipated.

Help-Seeking Patterns For Suicidal And Non-Suicidal Problems In Two High School Samples, Coralie J. Wilson, Joseph V. Ciarrochi, Debra Rickwood, Frank P. Deane

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Few distressed young people seek professional psychological help for either personal-emotional problems or suicidal ideation. This paper describes two studies that have examined help-seeking patterns in two contrasting high school populations. Two hundred and sixty four Il1awarra public high school students and 307 Queensland private high school students completed a questionnaire measuring intentions to seek help from a variety of fonnal and informal sources, in addition to no-one for personal-emotional and suicidal problems. Students in both samples indicated they would seek help from different sources of help for different problem types, but friends were rated as the most likely source …

Profiles Of Underreporting In Healthy Adults And Adults With Type Ii Diabetes Mellitus Participating In A Dietary Intervention Trial, Gina Martin, Linda C. Tapsell, Marijka Batterham

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract from The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society of Australia, 2002.

Relative Bias In Diet History Measurements: A Quality Control Technique For Dietary Intervention Trials, Gina S. Martin, Linda C. Tapsell, Marijka Batterham, Kenneth G. Russell

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: Investigation of relative bias in diet history measurement during dietary intervention trials.

Design: Retrospective analysis of human dietary data from two randomised controlled trials examining modified fat diets in the prevention and treatment of type II diabetes mellitus.

Setting: Wollongong, Australia.

Subjects: Thirty-five overweight, otherwise healthy subjects in trial 1 and 56 subjects with diabetes in trial 2.

Interventions: Diet history interviews and three-day weighed food records administered at one-month intervals in trial 1 and three-month intervals in trial 2.

Results: In a cross-sectional bias analysis, graphs of the association between bias and mean dietary intake showed that bias …

Consistent Stereoscopic Information Increases The Perceived Speed Of Vection In Depth, Stephen A. Palmisano

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Previous research found that adding stereoscopic information to radially expanding optic flow decreased vection onsets and increased vection durations (Palmisano S, 1996 Perception & Psychophysics 58 1168-1176). In the current experiments, stereoscopic cues were also found to increase perceptions of egospeed and self-displacement during vection in depth - but only when these cues were consistent with monocularly-available information about self-motion. Stereoscopic information did not appear to be improving vection by increasing the perceived maximum extent of displays or by making displays appear more three-dimensional. Rather, it appeared that consistent patterns of stereoscopic optic flow provided extra, purely binocular information about …

Can Motivational Signs Prompt Increases In Incidental Physical Activity In An Australian Health-Care Facility?, A L. Marshall, A E. Bauman, C Patch, J Wilson, J Chen

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This study aimed to evaluate whether a stairpromoting signed intervention could increase the use of the stairs over the elevator in a health-care facility. A time-series design was conducted over 12 weeks. Data were collected before, during and after displaying a signed intervention during weeks 4–5 and 8–9. Evaluation included anonymous counts recorded by an objective unobtrusive motion-sensing device of people entering the elevator or the stairs. Self-report data on stair use by hospital staff were also collected. Stair use significantly increased after the first intervention phase (P 0.02), but after the intervention was removed stair use decreased back towards …

P300 Amplitude Is Determined By Target-To-Target Interval, C. J. Gonsalvez, J. Polich

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

P300 event-related brain potential (ERP) measures are affected by target stimulus probability, the number of nontargets preceding the target in the stimulus sequence structure, and interstimulus interval (ISI). Each of these factors contributes to the target-to-target interval (TTI), which also has been found to affect P300. The present study employed a variant of the oddball paradigm and manipulated the number of preceding nontarget stimuli (0, 1, 2, 3) and ISI (1, 2, 4 s) in order to systematically assess TTI effects on P300 values from auditory and visual stimuli. Number of preceding nontargets generally produced stronger effects than ISI in …

Marlboro''S Marketing In Western Europe: Is It Ethical?, Sandra C. Jones

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

There has been considerable publicity in the United States and Australia opposing the cigarette marketing efforts of British and U.S. tobacco companies in Eastern Europe. However, little attention has been paid to the marketing campaigns ofthe same companies in Western Europe, perhaps on the assumption that Western Europeans are too sophisticated to fall for the marketing tricks that have worked elsewhere over the last several decades. However, smoking rates are on the increase in many Western European countries, where tobacco advertising is largely unregulated. This paper analyzes magazine advertising for the Marlboro brand targeted at young adults in The Netherlands …

The Effect Of Fire Simulation On Clothing And Tissue Temperatures, Alison L. Fogarty, Karen A. Armstrong, Brian F. Woods, Nigel A. S Taylor

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

A series of field trials was undertaken to evaluate the thermal properties of five different personal protective ensembles, under more realistic experimental conditions. This project was designed to address the following applied questions, which could assist in the selection of suitable ensembles for the New South Wales Fire Brigades: (a) Are there between-ensemble differences in the storage of metabolically-produced heat? (b) Are there between-ensemble differences in physiological strain during real-task simulations? (c) Are there between-ensemble differences in the penetration of external heat? These field trials included two simulated fire exposures (Hot Fire Cell and Flashover Simulator), during which, from a …

The Effect Of Individual Psychological Characteristics In The Use Of Computerised Information Systems, Farideh Yaghmaie, Peter Caputi, Rohan Jayasuriya

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Investments in computerised information systems in the health industry in evident in most parts of the world. In hospitals and other Healthcare settings, increasingly, hands-on computer use is becoming an important behaviour for effective job perfonnance for health professionals. As the pre-employment (professional) training is provided at a number of different settings the exposure health workers have to computing will vary. Providing training and support to such end-users becomes a complex problem. In addition, based on their prior exposure to computer technology in their work place individuals will have different experiences that make implementation of such systems more complex. Individual …

Fat In Food And The Obesity Epidemic, Linda C. Tapsell

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Dietary fat is strongly implicated in the development of insulin resistance and obesity, both major public health problems today. While the amount of dietary fat is relevant, the type of fat is important in fuel utilisation, storage and appetite regulatory mechanisms. Human calorimetry research confirms the importance of dietary fat in energy balance, but more work needs to be done to uncover the impact of type of dietary fat in weight control. Population and intervention research confirm the importance of fat in dietary interventions, bearing in mind the contribution of physical activity to energy balance. The food industry has an …