HL6 - Health risk and health enhancing behaviours Flashcards
What is stigma?
A mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality or individual
What is the process of stigma?
How does stigma apply to health?
Health risk behaviours → Smoking, alcohol consumption, unsafe sex
What is health behaviour (behavioural pathogens vs behavioural immunogens) ?
- Matarazzo (1984) distinguished between:
- behavioural pathogens:
- the health damaging/health risk behaviours such as
excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, fatty diet.
- the health damaging/health risk behaviours such as
- behavioural immunogens:
- the health protective/health enhancing behaviours
such as exercise, health screening uptake, breast self-
examination, and low-fat diets
- the health protective/health enhancing behaviours
- behavioural pathogens:
How can chronic diseases impact health?
- heart disease, stroke, cancer and other chronic diseases looming epidemics that will take the greatest toll in deaths and disability” (WHO, 2005)
- Chronic diseases impact heavily on:
- Burden upon patients/carers
- Rates of death/disability
- Use of health services
- Healthcare expenditure
What are behavioural contributors to illness in Australia?
Can use this to see how to improve health by implementing health enhancing behaviours
What are the primary causes of death in Australia?
- Coronary heart disease
- Stroke
- Cancer
- Dementia
What are the risks of smoking as a health behaviour?
- Australia was the first country to introduce plain packaging, also introduced tobacco taxes
- Increases risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, cancer
- Prevalence - 2001 (19%) & 2019 (9.9%)
- People who have never smoked have increased between 2001 (51%) and 2019 (63%)
What are the factors associated with smoking?
- Location
- Remote and very remote areas (2x more likely than major cities)
- Indigeneity
- Indigenous Australians (2.5x more likely than non-indigenous)
- SES
- Lower SES (3.6x more likely than highest SES)
- Sexual orientation
- ## Homosexual and bisexual more likely to smoke daily than heterosexual
What is the current usage of E-cigarettes like?
- Lifetime & current use of e-cigarettes increased among smokers and non-smokers between 2016 and 2019
- Although 82% of secondary school students had never tried smoking in 2017 compared to 77% in 2011 but almost 2 in 5 aged 14 had used an e-cig
- Most common reason was curiosity through seeing it modelled by others
- Social learning and reinforcement
Why might people start smoking?
- Modelling (peers, siblings, parents)
- Social pressure, social learning, and
reinforcement - Weight control
- Risk-taking or problem behaviours
- Health cognitions (unrealistic optimism)
Why do people continue smoking?
- Enjoyment (behaviour, taste, effects)
- Habit
- Physical and/or psychological addiction
- Stress/anxiety management
- Low self-efficacy
What are the recommendations for alcohol consumption?
- No more than 2 units per day
- Alcohol is the second most used psychoactive substance
- Standard drink = 10g alcohol
What are the short-term risks of alcohol consumption?
- Pedestrian, road and other accidents
- Domestic and public violence
- Crime
What are the long term risks of alcohol consumption?
- Liver disease
- Cancer (oral, oesophagus, larynx)
- High blood pressure
- Pancreatitis
- Brain damage
What is the prevalence of alcohol consumption?
21% (2001) → 16.8% (2019)
What are the factors associated with risky drinking?
- Location
- Remote areas (1.5x more than cities)
- Indigeneity
- More abstinence but more risky if they do drink
- SES
- Higher SES (more likely to drink in riskier quantities)
- Sexual orientation
- Homosexual and bisexual - more likely to drink in risky quantities
- Why?
- Negative reactions to disclosure of orientation
- Experience of bisexual-negativity
What are the recommendations for safer sex?
- Regular STI checks
- Covering potentially infectious areas
- Preventing/reducing the transfer of bodily fluids between partners
- Use of
- Internal or external condoms or gloves
- Condoms and dental dams for oral sex
- Lubricant to reduce breakage
How does protection reduce the risk?
- Unplanned pregnancy
- Infections - HIV, HPV, Chlamydia, herpes simplex, genital warts
Why do people not use protection?
- Social:
- Difficulty/embarrassment in raising issue
- Anticipated objection
- Worry about STI implications
- Lack of self-efficacy for correct use
- Attitudes:
- Reduced spontaneity
- Unrealistically positive
What is the prevalence and factors associated with condom-use?
- 2002 (41%) - 2013 (49%)
- Amongst women:
- Age (less likely after 30)
- Excessive alcohol consumption (less likely after >
alcohol) - Amongst men:
- Number of sexual partners (more likely with more
than one partner)
What are the recommendations for exercise?
- Moderate activity at least 150-300 min/week
- Vigorous activity at least 75-150 min/week
What are the benefits of exercise?
- Physical
- Reduces cardiovascular disease
- Type II diabetes
- Cancer
- Psychological
- Reduces anxiety
- Major depressive disorder
- Stress
What is the prevalence?
- of meeting guidelines
- 2005 (30%) → 2018 (45%)
What are the factors associated with exercising?
- Age
- Younger
- SES
- Higher
- Education
- Higher
- Location
- Major cities
Why do we exercise or not exercise?
- Internal
- Self-efficacy
- Lack of interest
- Enjoyment
- External
- Time constraints
- Modelling from family - if part of self-perception, more likely
- Social support
- Number of active neighbours
What are the recommendations for a healthy diet?
- Women
- At least 2 fruits
- At least 5 veg
- Male
- 2 fruits
- 6 veg
- Serving size
- Veg - 75g
- Fruit - 150g
What are the benefits of a healthy diet?
- Reduced risk
- Coronary heart disease
- Stroke
- Lung cancer
What is the prevalence of meeting fruit and vegetable guidelines?
Fruit - Gone from 54% to 43%
Veg - From 14% to 9%
What are the factors associated with F&V consumption?
- SES
- Higher (more likely to meet guidelines)
- Age
Why do we not eat fruit and vegetables?
- Parental socialisation
- Permissiveness; feeding practices (Vereecken, Rovner, & Maes, 2010)
- Perceived and/or actual barriers:
- Lack of knowledge and skills
- Length of preparation time (Lea, Worsley & Crawford, 2005)
- Cost and availability (e.g. rural areas) (Lee et al., 2002)
- Misinformation:
- Consumers reluctant to eat vegetarian diet because of
concerns about lack of nutrients and iron (Lea & Worsley, 2001)
-
Why do young Australians not eat fruit and veg?
What are the recommendations for HPV vaccination?
- Ideally before sexually active
- Free nationally for 12-13 year olds
What are the benefits of HPV vaccination?
- Protects against HPV types 16 and 18. Amongst other cancers attributable to HPV. Causes
- 75% of cervical cancers
- 85% of vulvar and vaginal cancers
- 90% of cancers of the mouth/throat
- 75% of penile cancer
- 95% of anal cancers
- 45-90% of tonsil & base of tongue cancers
- Also protects against HPV types 6 and 11, which cause:
- 90% of genital warts
What is the prevalence of vaccination?
What are the factors associated with uptake?
- Health insurance status (may not be issue in Australia)
- Program location (higher for school-based population)
- Recommendation by health care professional
- Parental concern about:
- Safety and side-effects
- Initiation of early sexual behaviour (? Although unlikely to be a founded concern)
