Mental Health

This chapter examines contemporaneous theories, methodologies, and applied interventions specific to mental health in sport. First, contributions in the field are summarized, including mental health awareness programs designed to destigmatize mental health disorders in athletes, screening instruments experimentally developed to identify athletes who are likely to benefit from mental health services, assessment methods that have been psychometrically validated to assist intervention planning, interventions that have been indicated to assist engagement of athletes into mental health interventions, and prevention and intervention programs that have been shown to prevent or decrease the severity of mental health symptomology. Five seminal readings that are specific to advancing mental health in athletes are offered. These readings complement five questions that are presented to stimulate clinical and experimental growth in the mental health of athletes, including the scientific development of cost-effective methods of addressing mental health in sport organizations and disseminating evidence-supported mental health interventions in athletes.

Increasing Physical Activity Amongst Overweight and Obese Cancer Survivors Using an Alexa-Based Intelligent Agent for Patient Coaching: Protocol for the Physical Activity by Technology Help (PATH) Trial (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Physical activity has established health benefits, but motivation and adherence remain challenging. OBJECTIVE We designed and launched a three-arm randomized trial to test artificial intelligence technology solutions to increase daily physical activity in cancer survivors. METHODS A single-center, three-arm randomized clinical trial with an allocation ration of 1:1:1: (A) control, in which participants are provided written materials about the benefits of physical activity; (B) text intervention, where participants receive daily motivation from a fully automated, data-driven algorithmic text message via mobile phone (Coachtext); and (C) Voice Assist intervention, where participants are provided with an in-home on demand autonomous Intelligent Agent using data driven Interactive Digital Voice Assist on the Amazon Alexa/Echo (MyCoach). RESULTS The study runs for 5 weeks: a one-week run-in to establish baseline, followed by 4 weeks of intervention. Data for study outcomes is collected automatically through a wearable sensor, and data are transferred in real-time to the study server. The recruitment goal is 42 participants, 14 in each arm. Electronic health records are used to prescreen candidates, with 39 participants recruited to date. DISCUSSION This study aims to investigate the effects of different types of intelligent technology solutions on promoting physical activity in cancer survivors. This innovative approach can easily be expanded and customized to other interventions. Early lessons from our initial participants are helping us develop additional advanced solutions to improve health outcomes. CLINICALTRIAL Retrospectively registered on July 10, 2017 at ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03212079; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03212079 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6wgvqjTji)

BODY MASS INDEX OF MARRIED BANGLADESHI WOMEN: TRENDS AND ASSOCIATION WITH SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS

SummaryBody mass index (BMI) is a good indicator of nutritional status in a population. In underdeveloped countries like Bangladesh, this indicator provides a method that can assist intervention to help eradicate many preventable diseases. This study aimed to report on changes in the BMI of married Bangladeshi women who were born in the past three decades and its association with socio-demographic factors. Data for 10,115 married and currently non-pregnant Bangladeshi women were extracted from the 2007 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS). The age range of the sample was 15–49 years. The mean BMI was 20.85±3.66 kg/m2, and a decreasing tendency in BMI was found among birth year cohorts from 1972 to 1992. It was found that the proportion of underweight females has been increasing in those born during the last 20 years of the study period (1972 to 1992). Body mass index increased with increasing age, education level of the woman and her husband, wealth index, age at first marriage and age at first delivery, and decreased with increasing number of ever-born children. Lower BMI was especially pronounced among women who were living in rural areas, non-Muslims, employed women, women not living with their husbands (separated) or those who had delivered at home or non-Caesarean delivery.