Thesis (M.Ed. (Education Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Background: The global burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) is escalating as part of the rapid health transition that developing countries are experiencing. This increase is associated with shifts in demographics and economics, two of the major factors that affect diet and activity. The term social drift phenomenon (SDP) is used to describe the observations that: in the early stages of the epidemiological and nutrition transitions, it is usually the more affluent, higher socio–economic groups that are affected; in the later stages, it is the poor, lower socio–economic groups that display the consequences of these transitions. Therefore, in developing countries at the beginning of the transition, affluent people have higher prevalence of obesity and increased CVD risk. In developed countries, at much later stages of the transition, obesity and increased CVD risk is more prevalent in the lower socio–economic groups. In South Africa, the Transition and Health during Urbanisation of South Africans (THUSA) study which was done in 1996/1998 indicated that at that time, most of the risk factors for CVD were observed in the more urbanised (richer) subjects. It is not known if this pattern changed in any way due to the present rapid urbanisation of South African blacks. Therefore, in this study we explored the associations between socio–economic status (SES) (measured by level of urbanisation, education and employment) and CVD risk factors in an African population undergoing transition in the North–West Province of South Africa, that were prevalent in 2005 when the baseline data for in the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study were collected. Objectives: The main objective of this dissertation was to examine the SDP in an African population in a nutrition and health transition, by: (i) Reviewing the literature on associations between socio–economic variables and biological health outcomes focusing on CVD risk factors in developed and developing countries; (ii) Analysing the baseline data from the 2005 PURE study to examine the relationships between components of SES, namely level of iii urbanisation, education and occupation, and nutrition–related CVD risk factors in men and women participating in the PURE study; and (iii) Comparing results on these associations between CVD risk factors and SES from the PURE study with those found in the THUSA study, which was conducted almost 10 years earlier, to examine if social drift in these associations has taken place. Study design: The dissertation is based on a comparison of the CVD risk factors and socio–economic status of the THUSA and PURE studies. Secondary analysis of the baseline cross–sectional epidemiological data from the PURE study was executed. The South African PURE study is part of a 12–year Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology study which investigates the health transition in urban and rural subjects in 22 different countries. The main selection criterion was that there should be migration stability within the chosen rural and urban communities. The rural community (A) was identified 450 km west of Potchefstroom on the highway to Botswana. A deep rural community (B), 35 km east from A and only accessible by gravel road, was also included. Both communities are still under tribal law. The urban communities (C and D) were chosen near the University in Potchefstroom. Community C was selected from Ikageng, the established part of the township next to Potchefstroom, and D from the informal settlements surrounding community C. The baseline data for PURE were collected from October to December 2005. A total of 2010 apparently healthy African volunteers (35 years and older), with no reported chronic diseases of lifestyle, tuberculosis (TB) or known human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) were recruited from a sample of 6000 randomly selected households. Methods: A variety of quantitative and qualitative research techniques was used by multidisciplinary teams to collect, measure and interpret data generated from biological samples and validated questionnaires. For this study, the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) package (version 17.0, SPSS Inc) was used to analyze the data. Means and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of CVD risk and dietary factors were calculated. Participants of both genders were divided into different groups (according to urbanisation, education and employment levels) and compared. Estimated significant differences between rural and urban participants were determined with analysis of variance using the general linear model (GLM), multivariate procedure. Univariate analysis was used to explore further the influence of education on CVD risk factors and dietary intakes. Employment was used as a proxy for income, and pairwise comparisons using GLM, multivariate procedure were done for comparing the three groups (Not answered, employed and not employed). Tests were considered significant at P<0.05. Results: Comparison of urban with rural subjects participating in the PURE study showed that urban men had significantly higher systolic and diastolic blood pressures and lower fibrinogen levels than rural men. In women, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose and serum triglycerides were significantly higher in urban subjects whereas fibrinogen levels were significantly lower among urban subjects. After examining the relationship between the level of education and CVD risk factors, we observed that men with higher education levels had significantly higher BMI. In women, serum triglycerides and blood pressure were lower and BMI was significantly higher in the educated subjects. Because it was difficult to distinguish between reported household and individual income levels, we compared CVD risk factors of employed and unemployed subjects. Employed men had significantly higher BMI whereas the unemployed men had significantly higher fasting glucose and fibrinogen levels. Although mean blood pressure of employed men was higher than that of unemployed men, the difference did not reach significance. In women, the only significant difference seen was that employed women had lower high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, fasting glucose, triglycerides and fibrinogen levels, but they had a significantly higher BMI. Employed women had significantly higher BMI than unemployed women (27.9 [26.3–29.4] versus 26.5 [26.0–27.0] kg/m2). It seems that most of the nutrition related CVD risk factors were still higher in the higher socio–economic group, a situation similar to that reported in the THUSA study. v Conclusion: The results of this study showed little evidence of a major social drift in CVD risk factors from subjects participating in the 1996/1998 THUSA study to those in the 2005 PURE study. Most cardiovascular disease risk factors are still higher in the higher SES groups. However, there were some indications (increased fibrinogen in both men and women living in rural areas; higher triglyceride and fasting glucose levels in unemployed women; no significant differences in blood pressure and total cholesterol across different SES groups which existed in the THUSA study) that a social drift in CVD risk factors in our African population is on the way. This means that promotion of healthy, prudent diets and lifestyles should be targeted to Africans from all socio–economic levels for the prevention of CVD. / Thesis (M.Sc (Dietetics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Thesis (M.Ed. (Education Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Background: The global burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) is escalating as part of the rapid health transition that developing countries are experiencing. This increase is associated with shifts in demographics and economics, two of the major factors that affect diet and activity. The term social drift phenomenon (SDP) is used to describe the observations that: in the early stages of the epidemiological and nutrition transitions, it is usually the more affluent, higher socio–economic groups that are affected; in the later stages, it is the poor, lower socio–economic groups that display the consequences of these transitions. Therefore, in developing countries at the beginning of the transition, affluent people have higher prevalence of obesity and increased CVD risk. In developed countries, at much later stages of the transition, obesity and increased CVD risk is more prevalent in the lower socio–economic groups. In South Africa, the Transition and Health during Urbanisation of South Africans (THUSA) study which was done in 1996/1998 indicated that at that time, most of the risk factors for CVD were observed in the more urbanised (richer) subjects. It is not known if this pattern changed in any way due to the present rapid urbanisation of South African blacks. Therefore, in this study we explored the associations between socio–economic status (SES) (measured by level of urbanisation, education and employment) and CVD risk factors in an African population undergoing transition in the North–West Province of South Africa, that were prevalent in 2005 when the baseline data for in the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study were collected. Objectives: The main objective of this dissertation was to examine the SDP in an African population in a nutrition and health transition, by: (i) Reviewing the literature on associations between socio–economic variables and biological health outcomes focusing on CVD risk factors in developed and developing countries; (ii) Analysing the baseline data from the 2005 PURE study to examine the relationships between components of SES, namely level of iii urbanisation, education and occupation, and nutrition–related CVD risk factors in men and women participating in the PURE study; and (iii) Comparing results on these associations between CVD risk factors and SES from the PURE study with those found in the THUSA study, which was conducted almost 10 years earlier, to examine if social drift in these associations has taken place. Study design: The dissertation is based on a comparison of the CVD risk factors and socio–economic status of the THUSA and PURE studies. Secondary analysis of the baseline cross–sectional epidemiological data from the PURE study was executed. The South African PURE study is part of a 12–year Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology study which investigates the health transition in urban and rural subjects in 22 different countries. The main selection criterion was that there should be migration stability within the chosen rural and urban communities. The rural community (A) was identified 450 km west of Potchefstroom on the highway to Botswana. A deep rural community (B), 35 km east from A and only accessible by gravel road, was also included. Both communities are still under tribal law. The urban communities (C and D) were chosen near the University in Potchefstroom. Community C was selected from Ikageng, the established part of the township next to Potchefstroom, and D from the informal settlements surrounding community C. The baseline data for PURE were collected from October to December 2005. A total of 2010 apparently healthy African volunteers (35 years and older), with no reported chronic diseases of lifestyle, tuberculosis (TB) or known human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) were recruited from a sample of 6000 randomly selected households. Methods: A variety of quantitative and qualitative research techniques was used by multidisciplinary teams to collect, measure and interpret data generated from biological samples and validated questionnaires. For this study, the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) package (version 17.0, SPSS Inc) was used to analyze the data. Means and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of CVD risk and dietary factors were calculated. Participants of both genders were divided into different groups (according to urbanisation, education and employment levels) and compared. Estimated significant differences between rural and urban participants were determined with analysis of variance using the general linear model (GLM), multivariate procedure. Univariate analysis was used to explore further the influence of education on CVD risk factors and dietary intakes. Employment was used as a proxy for income, and pairwise comparisons using GLM, multivariate procedure were done for comparing the three groups (Not answered, employed and not employed). Tests were considered significant at P<0.05. Results: Comparison of urban with rural subjects participating in the PURE study showed that urban men had significantly higher systolic and diastolic blood pressures and lower fibrinogen levels than rural men. In women, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose and serum triglycerides were significantly higher in urban subjects whereas fibrinogen levels were significantly lower among urban subjects. After examining the relationship between the level of education and CVD risk factors, we observed that men with higher education levels had significantly higher BMI. In women, serum triglycerides and blood pressure were lower and BMI was significantly higher in the educated subjects. Because it was difficult to distinguish between reported household and individual income levels, we compared CVD risk factors of employed and unemployed subjects. Employed men had significantly higher BMI whereas the unemployed men had significantly higher fasting glucose and fibrinogen levels. Although mean blood pressure of employed men was higher than that of unemployed men, the difference did not reach significance. In women, the only significant difference seen was that employed women had lower high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, fasting glucose, triglycerides and fibrinogen levels, but they had a significantly higher BMI. Employed women had significantly higher BMI than unemployed women (27.9 [26.3–29.4] versus 26.5 [26.0–27.0] kg/m2). It seems that most of the nutrition related CVD risk factors were still higher in the higher socio–economic group, a situation similar to that reported in the THUSA study. v Conclusion: The results of this study showed little evidence of a major social drift in CVD risk factors from subjects participating in the 1996/1998 THUSA study to those in the 2005 PURE study. Most cardiovascular disease risk factors are still higher in the higher SES groups. However, there were some indications (increased fibrinogen in both men and women living in rural areas; higher triglyceride and fasting glucose levels in unemployed women; no significant differences in blood pressure and total cholesterol across different SES groups which existed in the THUSA study) that a social drift in CVD risk factors in our African population is on the way. This means that promotion of healthy, prudent diets and lifestyles should be targeted to Africans from all socio–economic levels for the prevention of CVD. / Thesis (M.Sc (Dietetics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The injuries happening to children in the household or during leisure time activities constitute the most frequent injury types. The injuries caused by shaking constitute a specific group. The information of lay public in the Czech Republic with regard of the Shaken Baby Syndrome is almost at zero level. The basic precondition to reduce the injury rate consists in identification of risk factors causing the origination of the injury or making the individual vulnerable. The factors include environment, health, behaviour, socio-demographic and social factors. The goal of the thesis consists in mapping children injuries in the household and during leisure time activities. A partial goal consists in mapping the use of protective devices for injury prevention. Another goal of the thesis consists in mapping the information of the parents on the Shaken Baby Syndrome, as well as in mapping the techniques of comforting crying babies and the related parents' feelings. The research method consists in quantitative prospective research; two structured questionnaires are used for data collection. The data collection took place in 2009-14. The first questionnaire is focused on acquisition of information on child injuries in the household and during leisure time activities. The goal of the study consists in analyzing children's injuries in ages from 0 to 18 years. The second questionnaire is focused on the Shaken Baby Syndrome and consists of several partial areas: child crying, techniques of managing and comforting child crying, parents' feelings and level of information on Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS). Based on the research results, the approach to primary prevention of children's injuries can be improved by increased observation of the child, by increased efficiency of preventive procedures, by increased dispensarization, control or increased efficiency of implemented primary injury prevention.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:20:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 KaioCF_TESE.pdf: 2055508 bytes, checksum: af97c934fb8084a910e093ed34d79c49 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-09-30 / The aim of this thesis was to investigate the evolution of the socio-occupational status in Rio Grande do Norte from 2001 to 2008, based on the characterization of the socio-economic status of this State from the analysis of labor market norte-rio-grandense . The study, specifically, drew a comparison between the dynamics of the labor market in Rio Grande do Norte and the capital city, Natal. From this perspective, the purpose was to make a relationship between the social division of labor and its effects on the socio-spatial division, represented in the "macro scale" by the federal unit and the "micro level" for the capital; locus of economic and population concentration. The collection of data on the labor market had as a major source PNAD/IBGE, characterizing the labor market in many ways: people of working age, economically active population and employed and unemployed people, classified by age, sex, color, education, income and social protection condition. However, as for the socio-occupational division, we follow the methodology used by the research group on national television, based in IPPUR /UFRJ, called Monitoring of the Metropolis," which rallied twenty-four groups that aggregate the occupations found in the PNAD/IBGE, in eight groups of socio-occupational categories, according to the similarity between them. It was used in the socio-spatial cutting two relevant discussions, which are inter-related and were characterized as crucial points in developing the research problem: the former was related to the influence of the hegemony of merchant capital in the labor market in Rio Grande North and, the latter, it referred the socio-economic relations between the territory and the variable occupation. Lastly, the results all indicated that in Rio Grande do Norte, as a peripheral state, has suffered the devastating influence of the hegemony of capital purely commercial basis, where "wealth" of capitalism is generated through the sphere of mere movement of goods and services rather than a productive process due to the social relations of production more advanced. We have a little advanced economic structure, with a tertiary sector that has propagated under-employment or disguised unemployment. Similarly, the agricultural sector has been presented as an example of greater social degradation of working conditions in the state. The secondary sector, in turn, also was not behind this uncertainty; on the contrary, confirmed that condition, with poor levels of income, low education of the workforce and a high degree of social helplessness, even in the state capital, space full urban area, which although always appear with a favorable condition compared to Province, in practically most of the variables studied, was also reflected at the same time the author of a structurally underdeveloped condition / O objetivo da tese foi verificar a evolu??o da estrutura s?cio-ocupacional no Rio Grande do Norte no per?odo de 2001 a 2008, tendo por base a caracteriza??o da estrutura s?cio-econ?mica do estado a partir da an?lise do mercado de trabalho norte-rio-grandense. O estudo, mais especificamente, tra?ou um comparativo entre a din?mica do mercado de trabalho no Rio Grande do Norte com a da capital, Natal. A finalidade a partir dessa perspectiva foi fazer uma rela??o entre a divis?o social do trabalho e seus efeitos sobre a divis?o s?cio-espacial, representado na escala macro pela unidade federativa e na escala micro pela capital; l?cus de concentra??o econ?mica e populacional. A coleta de dados sobre o mercado de trabalho teve como fonte principal de pesquisa a PNAD/IBGE, caracterizando o mercado de trabalho em diversos aspectos: pessoas em idade ativa, popula??o economicamente ativa e pessoas ocupadas e desocupadas, classificadas por faixa de idade, sexo, cor, escolaridade, renda e condi??o de prote??o social. Por?m, quanto a divis?o s?cio-ocupacional, seguimos a metodologia utilizada pelo grupo de pesquisa em rede nacional, com sede no IPPUR/UFRJ, denominado de Observat?rio das Metr?poles , que reagrupou vinte quatro grupos que agregam as ocupa??es encontradas na PNAD/IBGE, em oito grupos de categorias s?cio-ocupacionais, segundo a semelhan?a existentes entre elas. Utilizou-se no corte s?cio-espacial duas discuss?es relevantes, que se inter-relacionaram e se caracterizaram como pontos cruciais na elabora??o da problem?tica de pesquisa: a primeira, foi em rela??o ? influ?ncia da hegemonia do capital mercantil no mercado de trabalho no Rio Grande do Norte e, a segunda, se referiu justamente ? rela??o s?cio-econ?mica entre o territ?rio e a vari?vel ocupa??o. Finalmente, quanto aos resultados obtidos, tudo nos indicou que o Rio Grande do Norte, como um estado perif?rico, sofre a influ?ncia devastadora da hegemonia do capital de base meramente mercantil, onde a riqueza do capitalismo ? gerada por meio da esfera da mera circula??o de mercadorias e servi?os e n?o de um processo produtivo decorrente de rela??es sociais de produ??o mais avan?adas. Temos uma estrutura econ?mica pouca avan?ada, com um setor terci?rio que propaga sub-empregos ou desempregos disfar?ados. Da mesma forma, o setor agr?cola se apresentou como exemplo maior de degrada??o social das condi??es trabalhistas no estado. O setor secund?rio, por sua vez, tamb?m n?o ficou atr?s dessa precariza??o, muito pelo contr?rio, ratificou aquela condi??o, com prec?rios n?veis de rendimentos, baixa escolariza??o da m?o de obra e elevado grau de n?o prote??o social; mesmo na capital do estado, espa?o plenamente urbano, que apesar de aparecer sempre com uma condi??o favor?vel em compara??o a unidade federativa, em praticamente boa parte das vari?veis estudadas, foi tamb?m reflexo e ao mesmo tempo autora de uma condi??o estruturalmente subdesenvolvida.

Socio-spatial differentiation is natural phenomenon observable in almost all scales. However, the causes and consequences of this phenomenon can be different in particular areas or the era. Income inequality has increased in the Czech Republic since 1989, as well as unemployment and various social problems, which are reflected in the social environment of villages and towns as well as in municipal decision-making. The aim of the diploma thesis is to identify social (educational) diferentiation at several spatial hierarchy levels. The main part of the thesis emphasizes understanding the evolution of socio-spatial differentiation at local level in micro-region České Budějovice from 1989 to the present using the education level of the population and identifies areas with positive and negative development. The education is considered as the indicator of socio- economic status, human capital or relative income. The intention of the thesis is to identify the areas with higher concentration of people with higher and lower socio-economic status and also find the main factors and mechanisms that create these spatial patterns. This thesis works primarily with the cencus data. The diploma thesis also provides basic development maps of the population patterns with lower and higher social status from the...

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / Substance abuse is recognised as one of the greatest health and social problems in South Africa (SA). There is a need to explore the problem of substance use in the South African context in terms of the Bio-ecological Systems Theoretical Framework. All of the reviewed local and international studies on instruments that are used to measure factors associated with adolescent substance use, while yielding useful information; do not adequately address the issues of an instrument that successfully includes all the levels of the Bio-ecological Systems Theoretical Framework at the dimension level. As a result, a need for an applicable instrument exists. The overall purpose of the current study was to evaluate the content validity of the dimensions of the proposed self-administered questionnaire in terms of the Bio-ecological Systems Theoretical Framework, which will assist the factors associated with youth at risk of substance abuse in low socio economic status communities in the South African context. The study was framed in psychometric test theory focusing specifically on the procedures for content validation. It is being increasingly recognized that the development of a valid test requires multiple procedures, which are employed sequentially, at different stages of test construction. Validity is thus built into the test development from the outset. Participants were selected by means of purposive sampling. The sampling method was appropriate since the participants were required to meet certain inclusive criteria. The participants comprised of two groups of community leaders within two different communities on the Cape Flats. An adapted version of the Nominal Group Technique method was employed to collect data. The data for aim one was collected using a self administered questionnaire (Content Validity Questionnaire) consisting of two sections. The first section was presented in the form of a ranking scale with all relevant factors associated with adolescent substance use. The second section of part 1 was in the form of open-ended questions. The second aim was collected in the form of focus groups. Data was analysed quantitatively and qualitatively in the relevant sections. Data collected from the Content Validity Questionnaire (CVQ) was analysed quantitatively by means of statistical analysis making use of frequencies, and the open-ended questions of the content validity and data from the focus groups was analysed qualitatively by means of thematic analysis. The study concluded that all factors presented in the CVQ are important factors associated with adolescent substance use in the two low socio-economic statuses communities that were analysed in both the quantitative and qualitative components of the study.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The purpose of the study was to gather validity evidence for a South African developed instrument designed to measure individual and contextual factors associated with adolescent substance use in low socio-economic status communities in the Western Cape, South Africa. Studies report high rates of substance use in these communities. This possibly points towards the impact of typical post-apartheid contextual factors on the development of adolescent substance use. The South African Substance Use Contextual Risk Questionnaire (SASUCRQ) measures adolescents’ subjective experiences of their own psycho-social and their communities’ functioning.

Introduktion Hälsan har förbättrats för hela världens befolkning. Ekonomiska och sociala förutsättningar såsom socioekonomi påverkar möjligheten till god hälsa. Även självkänsla har en koppling till god hälsa, men också till boendeform och socioekonomiskt status.  Syfte Att undersöka om, och i så fall hur, självkänsla påverkas av självskattad hälsa, boendeform, utbildning (objektiv socioekonomisk status) och självskattad ekonomi (subjektiv socioekonomi), och dessutom om en sådan association finns, om det finns en skillnad i dessa associationer mellan könen. Metod som använts är kvantitativ metod, med tvärsnittsdesign från data som insamlats av LSH-studien (Livsvillkor, Stress, Hälsa) i Östergötland 2012/2013. För att analysera data har logistiska regressioner tillämpats. Resultat Självkänslan påvisar en stark korrelation med självskattad hälsa, men även med självskattad ekonomi och kön. Att vara man, eller att ange bra ekonomi ökar sannolikheten att ha hög självkänsla. Att äga sitt boende har även det en positiv relation med självkänsla. Konklusion Att vara man och att äga sitt boende medför ökad sannolikhet för hög självkänsla. Samma faktorer har också en samvariation med hälsa. Dessutom har subjektiv socioekonomi en starkare relation till hälsa och självkänsla, än objektiv socioekonomi. / Introduction Health has improved for the entire world population. Economic and social conditions, such as socioeconomic status, influence the possibility of good health. Self-esteem is also associated with good health, as well as housing tenure and socioeconomic status.  Purpose To investigate whether, and to what extent, self-esteem is influenced by self-rated health, housing tenure, education (objective socioeconomic status) and self-rated economic status (subjective socioeconomic status), and if there is such an association, whether there is a difference between sexes.  Method This study was quantitative, with cross-sectional design, using results from the LSH-study questionnaires 2012/13 in Östergötland. The relationship between self-esteem and independent variables was analysed using logistic regressions.  Results High self-esteem demonstrates a strong correlation with self-rated health, as well as with self-rated economic status and sex. Being a man, or indicating good economic status increases the probability of high self-esteem. Owning one’s own housing also has a positive association with high self-esteem. Conclusion Being a man who owns his own housing increases the possibilities for high self-esteem. The same variables also covariate with health. Likewise, subjective socioeconomic status has a stronger relationship with health as well as self-esteem than objective socioeconomic status does.