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Background: Children and adolescents' physical inactivity is a global problem. Financial incentives are increasingly utilised to support children's participation in sport, with programs introduced in multiple jurisdictions globally, however few programs have comprehensive evaluations. This study used a Delphi methodology to develop evaluation recommendations for an existing population-wide financial incentive program based in South Australia., Methods: A three-round Delphi study was conducted from October 2022 to April 2023. A diverse range of stakeholders including end-users, government representatives, academics/researchers, and Non-Government Organisation representatives participated in the Delphi panel. Round 1 focussed on the perceived importance of various evaluation components, including reach, process, and effectiveness. Round 2 focussed on identifying evaluation approaches and tools, while Round 3 determined methodological priorities and timeframes. A consensus level of ≥ 70% was set a priori (rating 6 or 7 on 7-point scale). Round 3 results were used to formulate evaluation recommendations., Results: Sixty-seven stakeholders agreed to participate, with an average response rate of 76% (87%; 73% and 67% for each round, respectively). All evaluation components gained consensus in Round 1. In Round 2, consensus was gained on 14 evaluation measures, including measuring the cost of sport, awareness of the program amongst eligible families, and reasons for non-participation, with evaluation methods generated for each measure. Round 3 results determined participants' preferred methods of evaluation and informed the development of evaluation recommendations. Recommended evaluation methods included mixed method approaches for provider and user process evaluations and measuring program awareness using an epidemiological survey., Conclusion: This Delphi study sought the views and opinions from diverse stakeholders to create evaluation recommendations for a population-wide sports voucher program. Results suggested that a comprehensive evaluation strategy is needed to understand the reach, effectiveness, and impact of the program. Additionally, there was a consensus on reallocating program funds for this evaluation., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study was approved by the University of South Australia Human Research Ethics Committee (protocol no. 204705). All participants consented to participate as described in the methods. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Unfavourable changes occur in children's health behaviours and outcomes during the summer holidays. This systematic review aimed to determine the effectiveness of summer holiday programs in mitigating these changes., Methods: Six databases (MEDLINE, JBI, PsychINFO, Embase, ERIC and Scopus) were systematically searched for experimental controlled studies that investigated programs of at least 5 days' duration conducted exclusively during the summer holiday period on school-aged children (5-18 years). Primary outcomes were moderate-vigorous physical activity and energy intake. Secondary outcomes were sedentary behavior, diet quality, adiposity, and cardiorespiratory fitness. Risk of Bias was assessed using the PEDro tool. Effect sizes were calculated using random-effects meta-analysis with narrative synthesis of effects by student or program characteristics., Results: Ten studies (two randomised controlled trials, and eight non-randomised controlled trials) involving 1,446 participants were included. Summer programs had a significant moderate effect on reducing sedentary behaviour (g= -0.59, 95%CI= -1.16, -0.03) and significant small effects on improving moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (g = 0.35, 95%CI = 0.02, 0.67) and adiposity (g= -0.25, 95% CI = -0.39, -0.10). No significant change was detected for cardiorespiratory fitness (g = 0.43, 95%CI= -0.32, 1.17), energy intake (g= -0.06, 95% CI -2.33, 2.22), or diet quality (g = 0.20, 95%CI= -0.43, 0.83). Summer program effectiveness did not appear to differ by child sociodemographic or program characteristics. Concerns regarding bias and high heterogeneity impacted results., Conclusions: Summer programs show potential in promoting healthier movement behaviours in children and supporting healthy body weight during the summer months. Although evidence from the included studies has limitations, these programs produced small to moderate effect sizes and present promising health intervention opportunities for children. Future research with more rigorous study designs and comprehensive reporting is needed to confirm these findings and better understand the impact of summer programs on children's health., Prospero Registration: CRD42023409795., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Truck drivers are a vital workforce, but have higher rates of obesity and other chronic diseases than the general population. The occupation's sedentary nature, limited physical activity opportunities and access to healthy food, and irregular sleeping patterns contribute to poor health. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions on health behaviours and cardiometabolic biomarkers of health in truck drivers., Methods: A systematic search was conducted in February 2024, and reported according to PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Experimental studies targeting physical activity, sedentary behaviour, sleep, diet, weight loss, drug/alcohol use, and/or smoking were eligible. Two reviewers independently screened and completed data extraction and risk of bias assessment. Data were combined at the study level. Pooled statistics were calculated using mean differences (MD) or standardised mean differences (SMD) for outcomes that were reported in ≥2 studies. Pre- and post-intervention means and standard deviations (SD) for the intervention and control groups were used to compute effect sizes., Results: Nineteen studies (n=2137 participants) were included. Meta-analyses found a small-to-moderate increase in fruit and vegetable consumption (SMD 0.32, p=0.03) with no other significant effects on other outcome variables., Conclusions: Interventions are moderately effective in increasing truck drivers' fruit and vegetable consumption, but not other outcomes. There is a dearth of research in the driver population compared to other occupational groups. Future interventions should consider workplace and environmental factors to promote the health and wellbeing of truck drivers., Trial Registration: The study protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42021283423)., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Children's physical activity and screen time behaviours impact their physical health and well-being. In Australia, less than half of children meet daily physical activity recommendations and only one-third meet daily screen time recommendations. Nearly half a million Australian school children aged 5-12 attend Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) weekly, activities undertaken at OSHC play a key role in meeting these recommendations. Currently, physical activity and screen time practices in OSHC vary and lack policy guidance. The Activated OSHC program is a policy-based intervention that supports OSHC services to implement the physical activity and screen time guidelines., Methods: 192 OSHC services across Australia will be recruited. 96 services will be randomly allocated to receive the Activated OSHC program. OSHC coordinators will complete online surveys examining physical activity and screen time scheduling, cost, acceptability, and feasibility. Primary outcome; changes in the proportion of intervention and control services meeting OSHC sector physical activity and screen time guidelines, and secondary outcomes; changes in children's physical activity and screen time behaviours; changes in staff behaviour will be assessed using mixed-effects regression models., Discussion: The aim of this study is to examine the impact of the Activated OSHC program on children's physical activity and screen time., Impact: Recent Australian research in Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) has identified significant inconsistency in practices related to physical activity and screen time, compounded by an absence of explicit policy guidance. The Activated OSHC program is a policy-based intervention that supports OSHC services to implement the Australian OSHC physical activity and screen time guidelines. This study will assess the implementation and effectiveness of the Activated OSHC program in an effectiveness-implementation hybrid type 2 trial design. Implementation of outside school hours care sector physical activity and screen time guidelines may improve children's physical activity and screen time behaviours., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Poor youth mental health is an area of global concern. Summer holiday programs may provide environments that support mental health when the structures and supports of school are not available. The aim of this review was to determine the effectiveness of summer holiday programs in improving the mental health, social-emotional well-being, and cognitive (non-academic) outcomes of children and adolescents. Studies of summer holiday programs for school-aged children (5-18 years) were included if they measured any mental, socio-emotional or cognitive (non-academic) outcome. Studies were excluded if they were published prior to 2000, targeted clinical populations or lasted less than five days. Six databases were searched (April 2023). Risk of bias was assessed using the PEDro tool. Study outcomes were grouped according to three main constructs: mental health (psychological well-being, anxiety, depression, distress, and self-perception including self-esteem, self-worth, self-concept, confidence, and competence); social-emotional well-being (behavior and social skills, e.g., communication, bullying, conflict resolution, empathy, and social skills); and cognitive function (memory, selective attention, and executive function). A fourth "other" group captured substance use, personality traits, character skills, and values. Effect sizes were calculated as the standardized mean difference between pre- and post-intervention scores. The synthesis involved a random-effects meta-analysis (presented in forest plots), where possible, with the remaining outcomes narratively synthesized. Twenty-six studies (n = 6812 participants) were included. The results of the meta-analysis suggested that summer programs showed a statistically non-significant trend toward reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression (k = 2 studies, SMD = -0.17, 95% CI -2.94, 2.60), psychological distress (k = 2 studies, SMD -0.46, 95% CI -1.71, 0.79), and no effect on self-esteem (k = 6 studies, SMD = 0.02, 95% CI -0.02, 0.06) or self-worth (k = 3 studies, SMD = 0.05, 95% CI 0.00, 0.11). Narrative syntheses indicated a pattern toward improvements in general mental health, self-perception, social-emotional outcomes, and cognition. Studies were generally small, with a high risk of bias. Summer holiday programs for children and adolescents show trends toward improving mental, social, emotional, and cognitive outcomes. Programs targeting disadvantaged children showed stronger patterns of improvement related to mental health and self-perception than programs targeting the general population. While effect sizes are small to negligible, they consistently indicate improvements. Summer programs present a promising avenue to promote mental health in children; however, further rigorously designed, clearly reported control-group studies are required to more fully understand their effects.

Physical inactivity is a global health problem. Childhood is an opportune time to establish healthy physical activity behaviors, including the participation in organized physical activity, such as sports. We hypothesize that financial incentives can improve young people's participation in physical activity and sports. The design of the incentive and the context in which it operates are crucial to its success., (Copyright © 2024 by the American College of Sports Medicine.)

Background: The school day provides a supportive and stimulating environment that may protect children and adolescents (5-18 years) from behaviours that are adverse for health and wellbeing., Objective: To review the literature regarding changes in children's academic achievement or overall wellbeing during the extended school summer break and evaluate if the outcomes are different for children experiencing disadvantage., Methods: The peer-reviewed literature was searched across six electronic databases for studies tracking changes in any academic, health or wellbeing outcome in children over the summer holidays. Studies were screened in duplicate for inclusion. Data were extracted using a standardized data extraction form. Outcomes were coded as decline (suggestive or significant), increase (suggestive or significant) or mixed/neutral and then compared to the school year or according to disadvantaged., Results: Seventy-six studies ( n = 14,230,846 participants) were included. Strong evidence was found of a decline in academic outcomes and increases in adiposity, sedentary behaviour and screen time. There was moderate evidence of declines in cardiovascular fitness and physical activity. These patterns were magnified for disadvantaged children. Limited data were available on muscular fitness, sleep, diet quality and social, emotional or mental wellbeing. A total of 80% of studies were from the United States. Most data were from children 12 years of age and younger., Conclusions: Over the summer break, children's academic and health outcomes decline. Children experiencing disadvantage display magnified losses that warrant further investigation. The summer holidays present an opportunity to improve children's health and wellbeing.

Objective: To synthesise the evidence on the effects of physical activity on symptoms of depression, anxiety and psychological distress in adult populations., Design: Umbrella review., Data Sources: Twelve electronic databases were searched for eligible studies published from inception to 1 January 2022., Eligibility Criteria for Selecting Studies: Systematic reviews with meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials designed to increase physical activity in an adult population and that assessed depression, anxiety or psychological distress were eligible. Study selection was undertaken in duplicate by two independent reviewers., Results: Ninety-seven reviews (1039 trials and 128 119 participants) were included. Populations included healthy adults, people with mental health disorders and people with various chronic diseases. Most reviews (n=77) had a critically low A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews score. Physical activity had medium effects on depression (median effect size=-0.43, IQR=-0.66 to -0.27), anxiety (median effect size=-0.42, IQR=-0.66 to -0.26) and psychological distress (effect size=-0.60, 95% CI -0.78 to -0.42), compared with usual care across all populations. The largest benefits were seen in people with depression, HIV and kidney disease, in pregnant and postpartum women, and in healthy individuals. Higher intensity physical activity was associated with greater improvements in symptoms. Effectiveness of physical activity interventions diminished with longer duration interventions., Conclusion and Relevance: Physical activity is highly beneficial for improving symptoms of depression, anxiety and distress across a wide range of adult populations, including the general population, people with diagnosed mental health disorders and people with chronic disease. Physical activity should be a mainstay approach in the management of depression, anxiety and psychological distress., Prospero Registration Number: CRD42021292710., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Importance: Little is known about temporal trends in children's well-being and how the COVID-19 pandemic may have influenced the well-being of young Australians. Certain demographic groups may be more vulnerable to experiencing declines in well-being., Objective: To examine well-being trends over 6 consecutive years among South Australian students and explore the influence of sociodemographic characteristics., Design, Setting, and Participants: Longitudinal analyses of annual (2017 to 2022) cross-sectional data of students in grades 4 through 9 (n = 40 392 to 56 897 per year) attending South Australian government schools from the Well-being and Engagement Collection (WEC) census., Exposures: Calendar year (2017-2022) and sociodemographic characteristics (sex, school grade, parental education, language spoken at home, residential region) from school enrollment records., Main Outcomes and Measures: Students self-reported life satisfaction, optimism, happiness, cognitive engagement, emotional regulation, perseverance, worry, and sadness., Results: Over 6 years (2017 to 2022), a total of 119 033 students (mean [SD] age, 12.1 y; 51.4% male) participated in this study. Most well-being measures declined over time, with consistent worsening of well-being from 2020 onward. For example, compared with 2017, sadness was 0.26 (95% CI, 0.25-0.27) points higher in 2020 (standardized mean difference [SMD], 0.27) and remained elevated by more than 0.26 points (SMD, 0.27) in 2021 and 2022. At almost every time point, greatest well-being was reported by students of male sex (except cognitive engagement and perseverance), in earlier school grades, with highest parental education, speaking a language other than English at home, and residing in outer regional and remote settings (for satisfaction, optimism, and emotional regulation). Sociodemographic differences in well-being were generally consistent over time; however, sex differences widened from 2020 for all indicators except cognitive engagement and perseverance. For example, between 2017 and 2022, sadness increased by 0.27 (95% CI, 0.25-0.29) more points among females than males (SMD, 0.28)., Conclusions and Relevance: In this longitudinal analysis of annual census data, there were downward trends in students' well-being, especially since 2020. The largest sociodemographic disparities were observed for students of female sex, those in later school grades, and those with lowest parental education. Urgent and equitable support for the well-being of all young people, particularly those facing disparity, is imperative.

Chatbots (also known as conversational agents and virtual assistants) offer the potential to deliver healthcare in an efficient, appealing and personalised manner. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the efficacy of chatbot interventions designed to improve physical activity, diet and sleep. Electronic databases were searched for randomised and non-randomised controlled trials, and pre-post trials that evaluated chatbot interventions targeting physical activity, diet and/or sleep, published before 1 September 2022. Outcomes were total physical activity, steps, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), fruit and vegetable consumption, sleep quality and sleep duration. Standardised mean differences (SMD) were calculated to compare intervention effects. Subgroup analyses were conducted to assess chatbot type, intervention type, duration, output and use of artificial intelligence. Risk of bias was assessed using the Effective Public Health Practice Project Quality Assessment tool. Nineteen trials were included. Sample sizes ranged between 25-958, and mean participant age ranged between 9-71 years. Most interventions (n = 15, 79%) targeted physical activity, and most trials had a low-quality rating (n = 14, 74%). Meta-analysis results showed significant effects (all p < 0.05) of chatbots for increasing total physical activity (SMD = 0.28 [95% CI = 0.16, 0.40]), daily steps (SMD = 0.28 [95% CI = 0.17, 0.39]), MVPA (SMD = 0.53 [95% CI = 0.24, 0.83]), fruit and vegetable consumption (SMD = 0.59 [95% CI = 0.25, 0.93]), sleep duration (SMD = 0.44 [95% CI = 0.32, 0.55]) and sleep quality (SMD = 0.50 [95% CI = 0.09, 0.90]). Subgroup analyses showed that text-based, and artificial intelligence chatbots were more efficacious than speech/voice chatbots for fruit and vegetable consumption, and multicomponent interventions were more efficacious than chatbot-only interventions for sleep duration and sleep quality (all p < 0.05). Findings from this systematic review and meta-analysis indicate that chatbot interventions are efficacious for increasing physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption, sleep duration and sleep quality. Chatbot interventions were efficacious across a range of populations and age groups, with both short- and longer-term interventions, and chatbot only and multicomponent interventions being efficacious., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Around 40% of Australian children do not participate in sport. Cost is a major barrier to participation, particularly for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. This study aimed to evaluate the uptake of a population-level children's sports subsidy scheme, including sociodemographic differences in uptake., Methods: A state-wide cross-sectional analysis comparing sports voucher claimants (primary school-aged children with a valid Medicare or Australian visa number) from the 2019 financial year with population census data from South Australia. Chi-square was used to examine whether the percentage of eligible children who claimed a voucher differed based on age, sex, socioeconomic status (SES), and geographical remoteness. Subgroup analyses were conducted for the lowest 2 socioeconomic disadvantage deciles, split by gender. Scatterplots were used to compare sports between high and low SES children., Results: A total of 74,668 children claimed sports vouchers (45.5% of eligible children). Children who were relatively younger, female, from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and from major cities were least likely to claim the voucher. The 5 most common sports were Australian rules football (30.2%), netball (13.6%), soccer (13.1%), gymnastics (10.4%), and basketball (5.7%), with the popular sports similar for high and low SES children., Conclusions: Future work is needed to understand how Sports Voucher, and sport participation rates have changed over time, and to improve voucher uptake among girls, city dwellers, and low SES children.

Background: Meeting 24-h movement behavior guidelines for the early years is associated with better health and development outcomes in young children. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is a key intervention setting however little is known about the content and implementation of movement behavior polices in this context. To inform policy development this international scoping review examined the prevalence, content, development and implementation of ECEC-specific movement behavior policies., Methods: A systematic literature search of published and gray literature since 2010 was conducted. Academic databases ( EMBASE, Cinahl, Web of Science, Proquest, Scopus, EBSCO, PubMed ) were searched. A Google search was undertaken and limited to the first 200 results. The Comprehensive Analysis of Policy on Physical Activity framework informed data charting., Results: Forty-three ECEC policy documents met inclusion criteria. Most policies originated in the United States, were subnational and developed with government, non-government organizations and ECEC end-users. Physical activity was specified in 59% (30-180 min/day), sedentary time in 51% (15-60 min/day) and sleep in 20% (30-120 min/day) of policies. Daily outdoor physical activity was recommended (30-160 min/day) in most policies. No policy permitted screen time for children <2 years, with 20-120 min/day for children >2 years. Most policies (80%) had accompanying resources but few provided evaluation tools (e.g., checklists; action plan templates). Many policies had not been reviewed since the publication of 24-h movement guidelines., Conclusion: Movement behavior policies in the ECEC setting are often vaguely worded, missing a comprehensive evidence base, siloed in development and often not tailored for the 'real world.' A focus on evidence informed ECEC-specific movement behavior policies proportionally aligned with national/international 24-h Movement Behaviors Guidelines for the Early Years is needed., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Wenden, Virgara, Pearce, Budgeon and Christian.)

Wearable activity trackers offer an appealing, low-cost tool to address physical inactivity. This systematic review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses (umbrella review) aimed to examine the effectiveness of activity trackers for improving physical activity and related physiological and psychosocial outcomes in clinical and non-clinical populations. Seven databases (Embase, MEDLINE, Ovid Emcare, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science) were searched from database inception to April 8, 2021. Systematic reviews of primary studies using activity trackers as interventions and reporting physical activity, physiological, or psychosocial outcomes were eligible for inclusion. In total, 39 systematic reviews and meta-analyses were identified, reporting results from 163 992 participants spanning all age groups, from both healthy and clinical populations. Taken together, the meta-analyses suggested activity trackers improved physical activity (standardised mean difference [SMD] 0·3-0·6), body composition (SMD 0·7-2·0), and fitness (SMD 0·3), equating to approximately 1800 extra steps per day, 40 min per day more walking, and reductions of approximately 1 kg in bodyweight. Effects for other physiological (blood pressure, cholesterol, and glycosylated haemoglobin) and psychosocial (quality of life and pain) outcomes were typically small and often non-significant. Activity trackers appear to be effective at increasing physical activity in a variety of age groups and clinical and non-clinical populations. The benefit is clinically important and is sustained over time. Based on the studies evaluated, there is sufficient evidence to recommend the use of activity trackers., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests We declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Lower socioeconomic status is associated with poorer wellbeing among children. Identifying how children participate in after-school activities and how after-school activities are associated with wellbeing may inform interventions to improve wellbeing among children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. This study explored whether children's after-school activities varied by socioeconomic status and examined the associations between after-school activities and wellbeing in low socioeconomic status children., Methods: This study analysed cross-sectional data from 61,759 school students in years 4 to 9 who completed the 2018 South Australian Wellbeing and Engagement Collection. Students reported the number of days per week they participated in 12 activities (after-school care, homework, music lessons or practice, youth organisations, sports, television, videogames, social media, reading, chores, arts and crafts, and socialising with friends) during the after-school period (3-6 pm) and their wellbeing (happiness, sadness, worry, engagement, perseverance, optimism, emotion regulation, and life satisfaction). Socioeconomic status was measured by parents' highest education level obtained from school enrolment data. Linear multilevel models were used to examine whether frequency of after-school activities varied by socioeconomic status. Multilevel ordered logit models were used to analyse the association between after-school activities and wellbeing amongst participants in the low socioeconomic status category., Results: After-school activities differed according to socioeconomic status; high socioeconomic status children did more frequent sport, homework, and reading and low socioeconomic status children did more frequent screen-based activities (TV, videogames and social media). Among children from low socioeconomic status backgrounds, higher wellbeing was associated most consistently with more frequent sports participation, homework, reading and spending time with friends and less frequent videogames, social media and after-school care., Conclusions: Children's wellbeing is positively associated with socioeconomic status. Amongst children from disadvantaged backgrounds, participating in sport, spending time with friends and getting less screen time may be protective for wellbeing. The results suggest that programming targeted at increasing sports participation and reducing screen time amongst children from low socioeconomic status backgrounds may support their wellbeing., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Outside school hours care (OSHC) is accessed by millions of children internationally. Recently, physical activity and screen time guidelines in OSHC were developed. This study described the current physical activity and screen time scheduling in Australian OSHC, obtained sector feedback on the guidelines and compared current- with best-practice., Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was administered to n = 3551 Australian OSHC directors. Participants reported scheduling for physical activity and screen time opportunities in before- and after-school care. Feedback was sought on the new guidelines, including barriers and enablers for implementation. Scheduling data were used to evaluate whether services were currently meeting the new guidelines; that is if time allocated matched with time recommended., Results: Five hundred and sixty-six directors participated (response rate 16%). Physical activity and screen time practices varied widely (e.g., after-school physical activity opportunity ranged from 15 to 150 min, mean 74, SD 28; after-school screen time opportunity ranged from 15 to 195 min, mean 89, SD 43), with state (p = 0.002) and socioeconomic (based on postcode; p < 0.001) differences. Most participants (54-81%) agreed that the guideline's recommended physical activity and screen time durations were appropriate, however, only 40% of participants' OSHC services' programs actually met the guidelines., Conclusions: Physical activity and screen time scheduling in OSHC is highly variable. Despite support for the guidelines, current scheduling practice in the majority of OSHC services surveyed do not meet best practice guidelines., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Virtual assistants can be used to deliver innovative health programs that provide appealing, personalized, and convenient health advice and support at scale and low cost. Design characteristics that influence the look and feel of the virtual assistant, such as visual appearance or language features, may significantly influence users' experience and engagement with the assistant., Objective: This scoping review aims to provide an overview of the experimental research examining how design characteristics of virtual health assistants affect user experience, summarize research findings of experimental research examining how design characteristics of virtual health assistants affect user experience, and provide recommendations for the design of virtual health assistants if sufficient evidence exists., Methods: We searched 5 electronic databases (Web of Science, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, and ACM Digital Library) to identify the studies that used an experimental design to compare the effects of design characteristics between 2 or more versions of an interactive virtual health assistant on user experience among adults. Data were synthesized descriptively. Health domains, design characteristics, and outcomes were categorized, and descriptive statistics were used to summarize the body of research. Results for each study were categorized as positive, negative, or no effect, and a matrix of the design characteristics and outcome categories was constructed to summarize the findings., Results: The database searches identified 6879 articles after the removal of duplicates. We included 48 articles representing 45 unique studies in the review. The most common health domains were mental health and physical activity. Studies most commonly examined design characteristics in the categories of visual design or conversational style and relational behavior and assessed outcomes in the categories of personality, satisfaction, relationship, or use intention. Over half of the design characteristics were examined by only 1 study. Results suggest that empathy and relational behavior and self-disclosure are related to more positive user experience. Results also suggest that if a human-like avatar is used, realistic rendering and medical attire may potentially be related to more positive user experience; however, more research is needed to confirm this., Conclusions: There is a growing body of scientific evidence examining the impact of virtual health assistants' design characteristics on user experience. Taken together, data suggest that the look and feel of a virtual health assistant does affect user experience. Virtual health assistants that show empathy, display nonverbal relational behaviors, and disclose personal information about themselves achieve better user experience. At present, the evidence base is broad, and the studies are typically small in scale and highly heterogeneous. Further research, particularly using longitudinal research designs with repeated user interactions, is needed to inform the optimal design of virtual health assistants., (©Rachel G Curtis, Bethany Bartel, Ty Ferguson, Henry T Blake, Celine Northcott, Rosa Virgara, Carol A Maher. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 21.12.2021.)

Background: Insufficient physical activity is one of four primary risk factors for non-communicable diseases such as stroke, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease. As few as one in five children aged 5 to 17 years have the physical activity recommended for health benefits. The outside-school hours period contributes around 30% of children's daily physical activity and presents a key opportunity for children to increase their physical activity. Testing the effects of interventions in outside-school hours childcare settings is required to assess the potential to increase physical activity and reduce disease burden., Objectives: To assess the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and associated adverse events of interventions designed to increase physical activity in children aged 4 to 12 years in outside-school hours childcare settings., Search Methods: We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, ERIC and SportsDISCUS to identify eligible trials on 18 August 2020. We searched two databases, three trial registries, reference lists of included trials and handsearched two physical activity journals in August 2020. We contacted first and senior authors on articles identified for inclusion for ongoing or unpublished potentially relevant trials in August 2020., Selection Criteria: We included randomised controlled trials, including cluster-randomised controlled trials, of any intervention primarily aimed at increasing physical activity in children aged 4 to 12 years in outside-school hours childcare settings compared to usual care. To be eligible, the interventions must have been delivered in the context of an existing outside-school hours childcare setting (i.e. childcare that was available consistently throughout the school week/year), and not set up in the after-school period for the purpose of research. Two review authors independently screened titles and abstracts of identified papers with discrepancies resolved via a consensus discussion. A third review author was not required to resolve disagreements., Data Collection and Analysis: Two review authors independently extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included trials with discrepancies resolved via a consensus discussion; a third review author was not required to resolve disagreements. For continuous measures of physical activity, we reported the mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) in random-effects models using the generic inverse variance method for each outcome. For continuous measures, when studies used different scales to measure the same outcome, we used standardised mean differences (SMDs). We conducted assessments of risk of bias of all outcomes and evaluated the certainty of evidence (GRADE approach) using standard Cochrane procedures., Main Results: We included nine trials with 4458 participants. Five trials examined the effectiveness of staff-based interventions to change practice in the outside-school hours childcare setting (e.g. change in programming, activities offered by staff, staff facilitation/training). Two trials examined the effectiveness of staff- and parent-based interventions (e.g. parent newsletters/telephone calls/messages or parent tool-kits in addition to staff-based interventions), one trial assessed staff- and child-based intervention (e.g. children had home activities to emphasise physical activity education learnt during outside-school hours childcare sessions in addition to staff-based interventions) and one trial assessed child-only based intervention (i.e. only children were targeted).  We judged two trials as free from high risk of bias across all domains. Of those studies at high risk of bias, it was across domains of randomisation process, missing outcome data and measurement of the outcome. There was low-certainty evidence that physical activity interventions may have little to no effect on total daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity compared to no intervention (MD 1.7 minutes, 95% CI -0.42 to 3.82; P = 0.12; 6 trials; 3042 children). We were unable to pool data on proportion of the OSHC session spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in a meta-analysis. Both trials showed an increase in proportion of session spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (moderate-certainty evidence) from 4% to 7.3% of session time; however, only one trial was statistically significant. There was low-certainty evidence that physical activity interventions may lead to little to no reduction in body mass index (BMI) as a measure of cardiovascular health, compared to no intervention (SMD -0.17, 95% CI -0.44 to 0.10; P = 0.22; 4 trials, 1684 children). Physical activity interventions that were delivered online were more cost-effective than in person. Combined results suggest that staff-and-parent and staff-and-child-based interventions may lead to a small increase in overall daily physical activity and a small reduction or no difference in BMI. Process evaluation was assessed differently by four of the included studies, with two studies reporting improvements in physical activity practices, one reporting high programme satisfaction and one high programme fidelity. The certainty of the evidence for these outcomes was low to moderate. Finally, there was very low-certainty evidence that physical activity interventions in outside-school hours childcare settings may increase cardiovascular fitness. No trials reported on quality of life or adverse outcomes. Trials reported funding from local government health grants or charitable funds; no trials reported industry funding., Authors' Conclusions: Although the review included nine trials, the evidence for how to increase children's physical activity in outside-school hours care settings remains limited, both in terms of certainty of evidence and magnitude of the effect. Of the types of interventions identified, when assessed using GRADE there was low-certainty evidence that multi-component interventions, with a specific physical activity goal may have a small increase in daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and a slight reduction in BMI. There was very low-certainty evidence that interventions increase cardiovascular fitness. By contrast there was moderate-certainty evidence that interventions were effective for increasing proportion of time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and online training is cost-effective., (Copyright © 2021 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Background: Time spent in daily activities (sleep, sedentary behaviour and physical activity) has important consequences for health and wellbeing. The amount of time spent varies from day to day, yet little is known about the temporal nature of daily activity patterns in adults. The aim of this review is to identify the annual rhythms of daily activity behaviours in healthy adults and explore what temporal factors appear to influence these rhythms., Methods: Six online databases were searched for cohort studies exploring within-year temporal patterns (e.g. season effects, vacation, cultural festivals) in sleep, sedentary behaviour or physical activity in healthy 18 to 65-year-old adults. Screening, data extraction, and risk of bias scoring were performed in duplicate. Extracted data was presented as mean daily minutes of each activity type, with transformations performed as needed. Where possible, meta-analyses were performed using random effect models to calculate standardised mean differences (SMD)., Results: Of the 7009 articles identified, 17 studies were included. Studies were published between 2003 and 2019, representing 14 countries and 1951 participants, addressing variation in daily activities across season (n = 11), Ramadan (n = 4), vacation (n = 1) and daylight savings time transitions (n = 1). Meta-analyses suggested evidence of seasonal variation in activity patterns, with sleep highest in autumn (+ 12 min); sedentary behaviour highest in winter (+ 19 min); light physical activity highest in summer (+ 19 min); and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity highest in summer (+ 2 min) when compared to the yearly mean. These trends were significant for light physical activity in winter (SMD = - 0.03, 95% CI - 0.58 to - 0.01, P = 0.04). Sleep appeared 64 min less during, compared to outside Ramadan (non-significant). Narrative analyses for the impact of vacation and daylight savings suggested that light physical activity is higher during vacation and that sleep increases after the spring daylight savings transition, and decreases after the autumn transition., Conclusions: Research into temporal patterns in activity behaviours is scarce. Existing evidence suggests that seasonal changes and periodic changes to usual routine, such as observing religious events, may influence activity behaviours across the year. Further research measuring 24-h time use and exploring a wider variety of temporal factors is needed., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Background: Children's activity patterns in the periods before and after school make a key contribution to achieving 24-h movement guidelines. There are currently no national-level guidelines informing physical activity and screen time practices in Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) programs anywhere in the world. This study aimed to work with industry, government and academic stakeholders to develop draft physical activity and screen time guidelines for use in Australian OSHC., Methods: A 4-round online Delphi survey was conducted from May 2019 to January 2020. The Delphi participants included national and international experts and stakeholders from academia, education, government, health and the OSHC sectors. Round 1 consisted of open-ended questions exploring physical activity, screen time and sedentary behaviour in various periods of OSHC (before school, after school and vacation care). In rounds 2 and 3, participants rated the importance of items generated from the first round for inclusion in national guidelines using a Likert scale (1-9). Consensus was defined a priori as ≥80% of respondents rating an item as "critically important" (score 7-9). Between rounds 3 and 4, the guideline development panel used the consensus items, systematic review evidence, and followed the GRADE process, to draft the guidelines. In round 4, participants were invited to provide feedback on the draft guidelines and comment on barriers and enablers to implementation., Results: Sixty-seven stakeholders agreed to participate, with response rates 61, 81, 54 and 72% for the four rounds respectively. Of the 123 items generated across the three rounds, 48 statements achieved consensus agreement as critically important for inclusion in the guidelines. These included offering a variety of physical activities (free play, playground and equipment) and restriction of screen time. The final round provided feedback on the draft guidelines. The wording of the guidelines was found to be appropriate and preliminary enablers and barriers to implementation were identified., Conclusions: This world-first expert and stakeholder consultation has underpinned the development of the draft Australian guidelines for physical activity and screen time in OSHC. Ongoing work is needed to further refine the guidelines, determine current rates of compliance with the guidelines and implement the guidelines into practice.

Background: Globally, millions of children attend Outside School Hours Care. Children's activity in this setting is critical to meeting daily physical activity recommendations. Guidelines are evidence-based statements intended to optimise practice. This study aimed to identify guidelines used in Outside School Hours Care for physical activity and screen time and summarise their content and methods of development., Methods: Outside School Hours Care guidelines for children aged 5 to 12 years were identified by systematically searching Medline, Emcare, Embase, Scopus, ERIC, Sportsdiscus, TROVE, ProQuest, UpToDate, NICE, SIGN and Google in accordance with PRISMA-ScR guidelines. The search was conducted in March 2019 and results screened independently by two authors. Data were synthesized narratively., Results: Nine guideline documents were identified from grey literature only (n = 8 USA, n = 1 Canada). The included guidelines focused predominantly on the after school care period (n = 9 vs n = 2 for the before school period). All had recommendations for physical activity, whilst 7 included screen time recommendations. There was considerable variability across the physical activity and screen time recommendations, though taken together, they recommended 30-60 min of moderate- to- vigorous physical activity and less than 60 min of recreational screen time per session. All guidelines were developed by expert/stakeholder panels, but none followed rigorous guideline development methods., Conclusions: Limited published guidelines for physical activity and screen time in Outside School Hours Care exist. There is a variation in duration and intensity of physical activity recommended, whilst screen time recommendations are more consistent. Guidelines designed with rigorous tools and for other world regions are warranted.

Background: This study aimed to describe, and identify predictors of, physical activity and screen time in children attending out of school hours care (OSHC)., Method: Twenty-three randomly selected OSHC centres (n = 1068 children) participated in this observational, cross-sectional study. Service directors completed interviews regarding policy, training, scheduling and equipment related to physical activity and screen time. Children's activity behaviours (moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), light physical activity, sedentary time and screen time) were measured using standardised direct observation., Results: Directors' interviews revealed a lack of formal policy guiding physical activity and screen time. Time spent in activity behaviours varied widely among OSHC services; for example, average time spent in MVPA ranged from 4 to 49% of the session, time spent sedentary ranged from 31 to 79%, and screen time accounted for 0 to 41%. MVPA was inversely associated with total sedentary time (p < 0.001). Higher screen time was associated with OSHC services being larger in size (p = 0.04), offering screen activities on a daily basis (as opposed to less than daily; p = 0.001), offering screen activities prior to 5 pm (as opposed to offering screen activity 5 pm or later; p = 0.02), and having a larger number of screen devices available (p = 0.08)., Conclusion: Physical activity and screen time practices in OSHC services are currently ad hoc and variable. In future, development of guidelines, policy and intervention programs may help improve physical activity and screen time in the OSHC setting.

Background: Approximately 50% of Australian women experience low back pain in pregnancy, with somewhere between 8 and 36% of women suffering from pregnancy related depression/anxiety. Both low back and pelvic pain and depression and anxiety are associated with poor maternal health outcomes, including increased sick leave, higher rates of functional disability, and increased access to healthcare. It also impacts upon time and mode of delivery with an increase in inductions and elective caesarean sections. For babies of women with depression and anxiety preterm birth, low birth weight and intrauterine growth restriction are all common complications. Given these poor health outcomes, it is important to determine the co-morbidity of low back and pelvic pain and depression/anxiety in pregnancy., Methods: A cross sectional study of a hospital based sample of 96 nulliparous women were assessed at 28 weeks as part of their routine antenatal appointment. Data was collected via interview and clinical records and included the Edinburgh Depression Scale (EDS), the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) and the Modified Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire (MODQ). Spearman's correlation co-efficients, prevalence ratios and ANOVA were used to determine comorbidity., Results: 96 women consented to participation in the study. All study outcomes were moderately correlated. There were three main findings: One, there was a positive correlation between low back and pelvic girdle pain (LBPP) and depression/anxiety was rho = 0.39, p < 0.001, between LBPP and functional disability was rho = 0.51, p < 0.001 and between risk of depression/anxiety and functional disability was rho = 0.54, p < 0.001. Two, a woman with LBPP was 13 times more likely to have increased risk of depression/anxiety, whilst a woman with increased risk of depression/anxiety was 2.2 times more likely to have LBPP and finally three, amongst women who reported LBPP, the level of disability experienced was significantly higher in women who had concurrent increased risk of depression/anxiety (p = 0.003). This occurred even though the severity of pain did not differ between groups (NRS score mean p = 0.38)., Conclusions: This study found a high level of co-occurrence of LBPP, functional disability and depression/anxiety in women in their third trimester of pregnancy. Importantly women who reported higher depression/anxiety symptoms appeared to experience higher levels of functional disability in relation to their LBPP, than women with lower depression/anxiety symptoms and LBPP.

Objective: A systematic review was undertaken to update the understanding of the available evidence for antenatal physical therapy interventions for low back or pelvic pain in pregnant women to improve functional outcomes when compared with other treatments or no treatment., Data Sources: Seven electronic databases were systematically searched and supplemented by hand searching through reference lists., Methods of Study Selection: Two reviewers independently selected trials for inclusion and independently assessed the internal validity of the included trials using the Clinical Appraisal Skills Program tool., Results: Four trials with 566 participants were identified that met the inclusion criteria. The validity of the trials was moderate. Exercise, pelvic support garments and acupuncture were found to improve functional outcomes in pregnant women with low back or pelvic pain. No meta-analysis was performed because of the heterogeneity of functional outcome measures., Conclusions: While there is some evidence that physical therapy using exercise, acupuncture and pelvic supports may be useful, further research needs to consider other treatment modalities used by physical therapists and establish an appropriate, reliable and valid functional outcome measure to assess low back and pelvic pain in pregnancy., (© 2012 The Authors  Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica© 2012 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology.)