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BackgroundAlthough information and communication technology interventions appear to be a promising means of reducing the health inequality gap in overweight and obesity prevention, research on information and communication technology interventions is lacking outside the Anglo-Saxon world. ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to assess the reach and acceptability of 2 information and communication technology interventions delivered as part of a French nutritional program: an SMS text messaging (short message service, SMS) attendance-reminder for collective sessions strategy and a Facebook challenge group. MethodsThis study sample comprised 262 socially less advantaged overweight adolescents aged between 13 and 18 years. The information and communication technology interventions were carried out during the 2013-2014 academic year in 33 French state-run schools. For the SMS attendance-reminder for collective sessions strategy, at the start of the academic year, adolescents were asked to give their mobile number. SMS attendance-reminders were sent shortly before each of the 5 collective sessions. For the Facebook challenge group, adolescents were invited to join a closed Facebook group in which challenges on physical activity and on diet were posted weekly. Process data and 2 sets of face-to-face interviews were also used to interpret participation rates and access to Facebook. Appreciation for both interventions was evaluated by a questionnaire at the end of the academic year. ResultsOf the recruited adolescents, 79.0% (207/262) gave their mobile number, reflecting high access to a mobile phone. Giving a number was significantly more likely for girls (odds ratio [OR] 2.1, 95% CI 1.1-3.9; P=.02) and adolescents in a vocational or general high school as opposed to middle school (OR 1.0, 95% CI 0.4-2.7; OR 0.2, 95% CI 0.1-0.5; P

Quality of life (QOL) of adolescents has been scarcely documented in a general population sample. The study was aimed at translating and adapting the Adolescent Duke Health Profile to Vietnamese, validating the questionnaire, determining reference value, and identifying determinants of poor QOL. Following a cross-cultural methodology, the Adolescent Duke Health Profile (ADHP) had content adapted to Vietnamese by alteration of 2 out of 17 items. Test-retest validity was checked in 408 adolescents. Construct validity and internal consistency were assessed in a 1408 probability sample of adolescents in Vietnam, and determinants were analysed by multiple linear regression. The ADHP showed satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's @a=0.87-0.92) and satisfactory construct validity in relation with drug abuse or not, or with parent situation living in couple or alone. Test-retest reliability was acceptable (ICC=0.7-0.8) and major determinants were age, sex, education, chronic disease, alcohol and drug use. This works provide a validated, simple health related QOL scale suited to adolescent population with reference values. Taking into account determinants identified will help program prevention and intervention health policy and to evaluate the effect of these actions.

This research aimed to test whether supplementation with a combination of antioxidant vitamins and minerals could reduce the risk of skin cancers (SC). It was performed within the framework of the Supplementation in Vitamins and Mineral Antioxidants study, a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, primary prevention trial testing the efficacy of nutritional doses of antioxidants in reducing incidence of cancer and ischemic heart disease in the general population. French adults (7876 women and 5141 men) were randomized to take an oral daily capsule of antioxidants (120 mg vitamin C, 30 mg vitamin E, 6 mg [beta]-carotene, 100 [micro]g selenium, and 20 mg zinc) or a matching placebo. The median time of follow-up was 7.5 y. A total of 157 cases of all types of SC were reported, from which 25 were melanomas. Because the effect of antioxidants on SC incidence varied according to gender, men and women were analyzed separately. In women, the incidence of SC was higher in the antioxidant group [adjusted hazard ratio (adjusted HR) = 1.68; P = 0.03]. Conversely, in men, incidence did not differ between the 2 treatment groups (adjusted HR = 0.69; P= 0.11). Despite the small number of events, the incidence of melanoma was also higher in the antioxidant group for women (adjusted HR = 4.31 ; P = 0.02). The incidence of nonmelanoma SC did not differ between the antioxidant and placebo groups (adjusted HR = 1.37; P = 0.22 for women and adjusted HR = 0.72; P = 0. 19 for men). Our findings suggest that antioxidant supplementation affects the incidence of SC differentially in men and women.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relation between iron status and cancer in a population of middle-aged adults living in France where iron supplementation and iron-fortified foods are rarely used. The SU.VI.MAX study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled primary prevention trial evaluating the effect of antioxidant supplementation on chronic diseases in women aged 35-60 and men aged 45-60 y. At baseline, concentrations of hemoglobin, serum transferrin and serum ferritin were measured in 10,197 subjects. Data on dietary intake were estimated from six 24-h dietary records completed during the first 2 study years and available for 5287 subjects. All cancer cases that occurred during the 7.5-y follow-up were validated. In men, baseline serum transferrin and serum ferritin concentrations did not differ between subjects with cancers (n = 467) and those without. In women, serum ferritin was higher (P < 0.0001) and serum transferrin tended to be lower (P < 0.08) in cancer cases. Iron status was not related to cancer risk in men, but women with serum ferritin concentrations > 160 [micro]g/L had an increased risk of cancer (odds ratio = 1.88, 95% CI: 1.05,3.35). No relation was found between dietary iron intake and risk of all cancer sites combined for either men or women. Our results suggest that iron status is not a predictor of cancer risk in men, whereas a serum ferritin concentration > 160 [micro]g/L may be associated with an increase in cancer risk in women. KEY WORDS: * iron * serum ferritin * transferrin * iron intake * cancer * prospective study

Some characteristics of infective endocarditis have changed since 1991, according to a study of 390 patients. Different types of people are affected, different microorganisms are responsible for the infection, and mortality rates have decreased slightly. Infective endocarditis is a bacterial infection in the heart that usually affects the heart valves., Context: Since the first modern clinical description of infective endocarditis (IE) at the end of the 19th century, the profile of the disease has evolved continuously, as highlighted in epidemiological studies including a French survey performed in 1991. Objective: To update information gained from the 1991 study on the epidemiology of IE in France. Design and Setting: Population-based survey conducted from January through December 1999 in all hospitals in 6 French regions representing 26% of the population (16 million inhabitants). Patients: Three hundred ninety adult inpatients diagnosed with IE according to Duke criteria. Main Outcome Measures: Incidence of IE; proportion of patients with underlying heart disease; clinical characteristics; causative microorganisms; surgical and mortality outcomes. Results: The annual age- and sex-standardized incidence was 31 (95% confidence interval [CI], 28-35) cases per million, not including the region of New Caledonia, which had 161 (95% CI, 117-21 6) cases per million. There was no previously known heart disease in 47% of the cases. The proportion of prosthetic-valve IE was 16%. Causative microorganisms were: streptococci, 48% (group D streptococci, 25%; oral streptococci, 17%, pyogenic streptococci, 6%); enterococci, 8%; Abiotrophia species, 2%; staphylococci, 29%; and other or multiple pathogens, 8%. Blood cultures were negative in 9% and no microorganism was identified in 5% of the cases. Early valve surgery was performed in 49% of the patients. In-hospital mortality was 16%. Compared with 1991, this study showed a decreased incidence of IE in patients with previously known underlying heart disease (20.6 cases per million vs 15.1 cases per million; P Conclusion: Although the incidence of IE has not changed, important changes in disease characteristics, treatment, and outcomes were noted.

Recently, a new instrument was developed to measure social support. It consists of two parts; the Social Support Questionnaire for Transactions (SSQT) and the Social Support Questionnaire for Satisfaction with the supportive transactions (SSQS). The SSQT measures the number of supportive interactions and has proved to have good psychometric properties. From the taxonomy that was used for the present study, it results that social support in general consists of two aspects. These are, on the one hand, actual supportive transactions and, on the other hand, the perception of being supported or the satisfaction with the social support provided. In the present study, two research questions were addressed. The first concerned the psychometric properties of the SSQS, measuring the individual's satisfaction with the supportive interactions provided. Secondly, the relative contribution of both supportive interactions (the SSQT) and the satisfaction with the support provided (the SSQS) were assessed, in explaining the level of health related quality of life outcome. The data of 744 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients from four different countries (116 French, 238 Norwegian, 98 Swedish and 292 Dutch patients) were used in the present study. At the entry of the study, all patients fulfilled four out of seven American Rheumatism Association (ARA) criteria and had a disease duration of 4 years or less. The results of the study indicate that the SSQS has good psychometric properties across countries. Cronbach's [Alpha] for the emotional support scales was 0.80 or more, and for the instrumental support subscales around 0.60. The standardized regression coefficients demonstrated that, compared to supportive interactions, support satisfaction was more relevant in explaining health related quality of life measures, although it is recommended that the SSQT and SSQS be used to complement each other. Key words - social support, supportive interactions, support satisfaction, quality of life

Social support is supposed to have a beneficial effect on the health and wellbeing of people. It is a central concept in the European Research on Incapacitating DIseaes and Social Support' (EURIDISS). In general, two main distinctions concerning social support are made in the literature, providing four basic dimensions or types of social support: a social-emotional vs an instrumental type of social support, and a 'crisis' or 'problem-oriented' vs 'everyday' or 'daily' type of social support. Based on these types of social support, a series of items were formulated to measure actual supportive interactions or exchanges of resources. The items were spread over five scales. The social-emotional type of social support comprised three scales: daily emotional support: problem-oriented emotional support: and social companionship, while the instrumental type of social support consisted of two scales: the daily instrumental support and the problem-oriented instrumental support. Together, these items and scales constitute the so-called 'Social Support Questionnaire for Transactions' (SSQT). The main objective of this paper is to investigate whether one and the same instrument, i.e. the SSQT, allows for meaningful comparisons between patients with rheumatoid arthritis from different countries. More specifically, the dimensionality and invariance of the dimensions across countries of the SSQT are explored. To this end, patients from four different European countries (France, Norway, The Netherlands and Sweden) were asked to fill in the SSQT. The analysis of the data using principal component analysis (PCA) and simultaneous component analysis (SCA), did yield the intended scales, although the internal consistency of one of them, the daily instrumental support scale, is questionable. It is concluded that, particularly in the area of social-emotional support, the SSQT is a useful instrument for international comparative research. Key words - rheumatoid arthritis, social support, SSQT

Objectives. The Gronigen Activity Restriction Scale (GARS) is a non-disease-specific instrument to measure disability in activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL): It was developed in studies of Dutch samples consisting of elderly or chronically ill people. The psychometric properties of the GARS demonstrated in these studies were highly satisfactory. This paper addresses the psychometric properties of the GARS across countries. Methods. Data of 623 patients with recently diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis from four European countries were analyzed by means of a principal components analysis and a Mokken scale analysis for polychotomous items. Results. The results of the analyses were highly satisfactory: there was one strong and reliable general factor representing one underlying dimension of disability in ADL and IADL, and there was a clear hierarchical ordering of the items included in the GARS. The validity of the GARS was strongly suggested by the pattern of associations of the GARS with age, sex, and other existing health status measures. Conclusions. The psychometric characteristics of the GARS, which measures disability in ADL and IADL simultaneously. make this instrument very useful for comparative research across countries. (Am J Public Health. 1994;84: 1270-1273), The Groningen Activity Restriction Scale (GARS) may be a valid tool for measuring disability in activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). ADL comprises self-care tasks such as washing and dressing. IADL refers to self-reliant functioning such as shopping and cooking. A study of 623 rheumatoid arthritis patients was conducted in four European countries (the Netherlands, France, Sweden, and Norway). Patients reported their responses to the GARS questions on their ability to take care of themselves. GARS was compared to several other psychometric instruments on physical problems and self-reported health. GARS was found to be a strong one-dimensional, hierarchical scale. GARS may be administered to persons living in community settings and is not disease-specific. GARS may be useful for comparative and longitudinal research across countries and by disease.