BackgroundAlthough animal and human studies have demonstrated interactions between dietary choline and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, dietary choline deficiency in pregnancy is common in the US and worldwide. We sought to develop and validate a quantitative food frequency questionnaire (QFFQ) to estimate usual daily choline intake in pregnant mothers.MethodsA panel of nutrition experts developed a Choline-QFFQ food item list, including sources with high choline content and the most commonly consumed choline-containing foods in the target population. A data base for choline content of each item was compiled. For reliability and validity testing in a prospective longitudinal cohort, 123 heavy drinking Cape Coloured pregnant women and 83 abstaining/light-drinking controls were recruited at their first antenatal clinic visit. At 3 prenatal study visits, each gravida was interviewed about alcohol, smoking, and drug use, and administered a 24-hour recall interview and the Choline-QFFQ.ResultsAcross all visits and assessments, > 78% of heavy drinkers and controls reported choline intake below the Dietary Reference Intakes adequate intake level (450 mg/day). Women reported a decrease in choline intake over time on the QFFQ. Reliability of the QFFQ across visits was good-to-acceptable for 2 of 4 group-level tests and 4 of 5 individual-level tests for both drinkers and controls. When compared with 24-hr recall data, validity of the QFFQ was good-to-acceptable for 3 of 4 individual-level tests and 3 of 5 group-level tests. For controls, validity was good-to-acceptable for all 4 individual-level tests and all 5 group-level tests.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the first quantitative choline food frequency screening questionnaire to be developed and validated for use with both heavy and non-drinking pregnant women and the first to be used in the Cape Coloured community in South Africa. Given the high prevalence of inadequate choline intake and the growing evidence that maternal choline supplementation can mitigate some of the adverse effects of prenatal alcohol exposure, this tool may be useful for both research and future clinical outreach programs.
BACKGROUND The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has impacted every country globally, infecting almost 7 million people. The respiratory disease is spread through oral and nasal droplets and fomites (surface contact). Preventative measures to slow the transmission includes social distancing, wearing masks, and hygiene practices. Contact tracing has been identified as an essential preventative measure in the management of COVID-19. Digital health solutions are being used in the management and prevention of COVID-19. OBJECTIVE The aim of the scoping review is to: (1) identify the types of digital health solutions used for COVID-19 contact tracing (2) assessing the impact of the solution and (3) determining the research and innovation gaps. METHODS This review utilized scoping review methodologies to effectively, efficiently, and rapidly gather evidence related to COVID-19, contact tracing and digital health. The framework to evaluate the evidence consisted of five stages. A search strategy was developed, and relevant articles was retrieved from PubMed, EBSCO and Web of Science. Articles was screened for eligibility using the research question as a guide. RESULTS A total of 33 was found from the various databases, 16 duplicates was removed. The title and abstract of 17 articles was screened, 3 articles was removed. The full-text articles were screened, and 9 articles was excluded as they did not include any data as they were presented in the form of editorials, commentary or viewpoints. The results highlighted the use of digital technology to aid in contact tracing. The primary focus of the applications was finding the geographical location of the contacts. CONCLUSIONS Although the COVID-19 pandemic is a recent ongoing event, the limited articles published provides key information to strengthen future digital health contact tracing initiatives. The readiness checklist could assist with the current and future contact tracing initiatives.
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