Search

Background: Risky alcohol consumption is responsible for a variety of chronic and acute harms. Individuals involved in organised sport have been identified as one population group who consume risky amounts of alcohol both at the elite and the non-elite level. 'Good Sports', an alcohol management intervention focused on the community sports setting has been successful in addressing risky alcohol use and alcohol-related harm amongst players and sports fans. Sustaining such implementation effects is a common challenge across a variety of community settings. The primary aim of this trial was to assess the effectiveness of a web-based program in sustaining the implementation of best-practice alcohol management practices by community football clubs, relative to usual program care (i.e. control clubs)., Methods: Non-elite, community football clubs in the Australian states of New South Wales and Victoria, that were participating in an alcohol management program (Good Sports) were recruited for the study. Consenting clubs were randomised into intervention (N = 92) or control (N = 96) groups. A web-based sustainability intervention was delivered to intervention clubs over three consecutive Australian winter sports seasons (April-September 2015-2017). The intervention was designed to support continued (sustained) implementation of alcohol management practices at clubs consistent with the program. Control group clubs received usual support from the national Good Sports Program. Primary outcome data was collected through observational audits of club venues and grounds., Results: A total of 92 intervention clubs (574 members) and 96 control clubs (612 members) were included in the final analysis. At follow-up, sustained implementation of alcohol management practices was high in both groups and there was no significant difference between intervention or control clubs at follow-up for both the proportion of clubs implementing 10 or more practices (OR 0.53, 95%CI 0.04-7.2; p = 0.63) or for the mean number of practices being implemented (mean difference 0.10, 95%CI -0.23-0.42; p = 0.55). There were also no significant differences between groups on measures of alcohol consumption by club members., Conclusions: The findings suggest that sustained implementation of alcohol management practices was high, and similar, between clubs receiving web-based implementation support or usual program support., Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12614000746639. Prospectively registered 14/7/2014.

Issues Addressed: To: (i) describe the prevalence of policies and practices promoting healthy eating implemented by sports clubs with junior teams; (ii) examine differences in such practices across geographic and operational characteristics of clubs; and (iii) describe the attitudes of club representatives and parents regarding the acceptability of sports clubs implementing policies and practices to promote healthy eating., Methods: Cross-sectional telephone surveys of junior community football club management representatives and parents/carers of junior players were conducted in the states of New South Wales and Victoria, Australia in 2016., Results: Seventy-nine of the 89 club representatives approached to participate completed the telephone survey. All clubs (100%; 95% CI 96.2-100.0) reported recommending fruit or water be provided to players after games or at half-time, 24% (95% CI 14.4-33.7) reported promoting healthy food options through prominent positioning at point of sale and only 8% (95% CI 1.6-13.6) of clubs had a written healthy eating policy. There were no significant differences between the mean number of healthy eating policies and practices implemented by club socio-economic or geographic characteristics. Club representatives and parents/carers were supportive of clubs promoting healthy eating for junior players., Conclusions: While there is strong support within sporting clubs with junior teams for policies and practices to promote healthy eating, their implementation is highly variable. SO WHAT?: A considerable opportunity remains for health promotion policy and practice improvement in clubs with junior teams, particularly regarding policies related to nutrition., (© 2018 Australian Health Promotion Association.)

Purpose: Use of the Distress Thermometer (DT) as a screening tool is increasing across the cancer trajectory. This study examined the accuracy and optimal cut-off score of the DT compared to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) for detecting possible cases of psychological morbidity among adults in early survivorship., Methods: This study is a cross-sectional survey of 1,323 adult cancer survivors recruited from two state-based cancer registries in Australia. Participants completed the DT and the HADS at 6 months post-diagnosis., Results: Compared to the HADS subscale threshold ≥8, the DT performed well in discriminating between cases and non-cases of anxiety, depression and comorbid anxiety-depression with an area under the curve of 0.85, 0.84 and 0.87, respectively. A DT cut-off score of ≥2 was best for clinical use (sensitivity, 87-95 %; specificity, 60-68 %), ≥4 was best for research use (sensitivity, 67-82 %; specificity, 81-88 %) and ≥3 was the best balance between sensitivity (77-88 %) and specificity (72-79 %) for detecting cases of anxiety, depression and comorbid anxiety-depression. The DT demonstrated a high level of precision in identifying non-cases of psychological morbidity at all possible thresholds (negative predictive value, 77-99 %)., Conclusions: The recommended DT cut-off score of ≥4 was not supported for universal use among recent cancer survivors. The optimal DT threshold depends upon whether the tool is being used in the clinical or research setting. The DT may best serve to initially identify non-cases as part of a two-stage screening process. The performance of the DT against 'gold standard' clinical interview should be evaluated with cancer survivors.