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The purpose of this article is to present a system dynamic model for studying the interconnections between human weight and health problems which cause various problems throughout life.

The paper reviews key points about system thinking, its theories, and system dynamics. Models in the form of causal loops presenting the interconnections between weight factor and health problems are developed and discussed. Thereafter, a flow model of the problem is constructed and deaths caused by heart attack are studied under two situations of regular and taught cases. The paper identifies key health problems related to weight by using causal loops that demonstrate the whole picture of the situation.

With the aid of systems thinking and dynamic modeling researchers can study the impacts of weight on the generation of various health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, blood sugar, knee problems and more. This study shows that teaching people about their health will have a significant impact on the number of deaths related to heart attack.

With the model proposed here various studies can be carried out that relates weight to health issues. A sample situation is presented where deaths related to heart attack are simulated.

This article makes a significant contribution to the health study issues due to the fact that it shows how a factor such as weight can impact on hearth attacks, blood pressure, and blood sugar, to mention a few. To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first study that relates weight to health problems using systems thinking concepts and system dynamic and it therefore make a significant contribution to the health literature.

Although much is known about inequalities in the prevalence of CHD, less is known about the barriers experienced in self-managing it. Questionnaires, focus groups, and Internet forums were analyzed to explore obstacles in self-managing CHD. Most people found it difficult and costly to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Gender inequalities included women being more likely to live on their own and with a lower income. Marital status was an issue as several were either caring for an ill spouse or were coping with their recent death. Socio-demographic factors played a key role in influencing people's ability to manage their CHD.

Due to recent Affordable Care Act reforms, prevention of readmissions is a salient issue for hospitals that participate in Medicare, as they are now held accountable for patients who receive post-acute care in facilities over which hospitals have little influence to monitor care. Using resource dependence and transaction cost economics to describe the theoretical advantages of hospital ownership of post-acute care facilities (PACs), we empirically test whether hospitals that own PACs experience reduced readmissions. Our findings indicate partial support for the predicted relationship between PAC ownership and readmission rates. We found that hospital ownership of a skilled-nursing facility (SNF) was related to a lower readmissions rate for some patients, while ownership of other types of PACs did not result in significant findings. Our results offer support for the theoretical advantages of ownership, however, the savings realized by ownership may not merit the ownership investment.

A dynamic model of the evolution of health for those over the age of 50 is embedded in a structural, econometric model of retirement and saving. Effects of smoking, obesity, alcohol consumption, depression, and other proclivities on medical conditions are analyzed, including hypertension, diabetes, cancer, lung disease, heart problems, stroke, psychiatric problems, and arthritis. Compared to a population in good health, the current health of the population reduces retirement age by about one year. Including detailed health dynamics in a retirement model does not influence estimates of the marginal effects of economic incentives on retirement.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how two types of drivers, namely, executive compensation and market competition, can affect hospital quality in the USA. Recently, patients, insurers and regulators have increasingly focused on hospital quality. Understanding the interplay of incentives in this industry is important because in 2019, hospital treatment contributed $1.161bn to health-care costs in the USA. This study answers the call for more studies in the so-called “mixed” industry, where ownership differences can affect organizational objectives and operating constraints.

This study explores the roles of hospital executive compensation and industry competition as determinants of health-care quality. Specifically, the study probes the heterogeneity in the factors that influence quality across hospital types in the USA.

Using California hospital data from 2006 through 2020, the findings show that the effects of compensation and competition on hospital quality differ by ownership type. Executive compensation is positively associated with quality in for-profit hospitals but is not associated with that of nonprofit hospitals, suggesting for-profit hospitals are more likely to use higher levels of compensation to attract managers with higher ability, whereas the utility function for nonprofit managers may be multidimensional. Within the nonprofit hospital group, competition is more positively associated with quality for religious nonprofits relative to secular nonprofits, suggesting that competition provides more monitoring for religious hospitals.

Taken together, the findings provide evidence that the drivers of quality vary across hospitals in ways consistent with differences in constraints and objectives across ownership types. The findings are important for regulators seeking to incentivize higher quality. For example, Medicare in the USA has incorporated quality measures into its new hospital reimbursement scheme (value-based purchasing) to incentivize quality. This study proposes that regulators should consider differences across ownership types when evaluating the best ways to incentivize hospital quality.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework to detect adverse drug reactions (ADRs) using internet user search data, so that ADR events can be identified early. Empirical investigation of Avandia, a type II diabetes treatment, is conducted to illustrate how to implement the proposed framework.

Typical ADR identification measures and time series processing techniques are used in the proposed framework. Google Trends Data are employed to represent user searches. The baseline model is a disproportionality analysis using official drug reaction reporting data from the US Food and Drug Administration’s Adverse Event Reporting System.

Results show that Google Trends series of Avandia side effects search reveal a significant early warning signal for the side effect emergence of Avandia. The proposed approach of using user search data to detect ADRs is proved to have a longer leading time than traditional drug reaction discovery methods. Three more drugs with known adverse reactions are investigated using the selected approach, and two are successfully identified.

Validation of Google Trends data’s representativeness of user search is yet to be explored. In future research, user search in other search engines and in healthcare web forums can be incorporated to obtain a more comprehensive ADR early warning mechanism.

Using internet data in drug safety management with a proper early warning mechanism may serve as an earlier signal than traditional drug adverse reaction. This has great potential in public health emergency management.

The research work proposes a novel framework of using user search data in ADR identification. User search is a voluntary drug adverse reaction exploration behavior. Furthermore, user search data series are more concise and accurate than text mining in forums. The proposed methods as well as the empirical results will shed some light on incorporating user search data as a new source in pharmacovigilance.

Worksites have been targeted as an important setting for physical activity interventions. A recent emphasis for health promoters is the use of point-of-choice interventions to encourage stair climbing at work. The purpose of this paper is to explore three point-of-choice campaigns to increase stair climbing at work.

Ten focus groups and a rating task were conducted with 59 employees from a University and a University Hospital in the UK. Focus groups were structured around three messages and four prompts and sought to explore the motivational power of the resources, identify factors contributing to their effectiveness and provide recommendations to improve and optimize content. Benefits and barriers to stair climbing at work were also explored. Focus groups were recorded, transcribed and coded to identify key themes.

Intra-personal factors health, motivation, social norms and time management influence stair climbing at work. Critically, extra-personal factors associated with the worksite itself can also bias a traveler’s choice independently of any intervention. Results suggest that messages targeting heart health have the greatest impact on reported propensity to climb the stairs at work. Messages targeting rate of respiration for fitness, however, may have a negative effect given that most people want to avoid getting out of breath at work.

Qualitative research is essential for developing and refining the design detail of point-of-choice interventions and tailoring their components to address individuals’ needs in different settings but there is little evidence of this in practice.

The health problem commonly associated with consuming a diet rich in cholesterol – what is generally termed atherosclerosis – is widespread in the Western world and the single most prevalent cause of death. Public awareness about cholesterol is, however, patchy owing to conflicting and confusing information in the media. Attempts to give an understanding about chemical composition, the mode of presence, metabolism, and other general current information and practices about cholesterol and how it may be controlled to maintain safe levels in the body.