In recent decades, health literacy has garnered increasing attention alongside a variety of public health topics. This study aims to explore trends in this area through a bibliometric analysis. A Random Forest Model was utilized to identify keywords and other metadata that predict average citations in the field. To supplement this machine learning analysis, we have also implemented a bibliometric review of the corpus. Our findings reveal significant positive coefficients for the keywords “COVID-19” and “Male”, underscoring the influence of the pandemic and potential gender-related factors in the literature. On the other hand, the keyword “Female” showed a negative coefficient, hinting at possible disparities that warrant further investigation. Additionally, evolving themes such as COVID-19, mental health, and social media were discovered. A significant change was observed in the main publishing journals, while the major contributing authors remained the same. The results hint at the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic and a significant association between gender-related keywords on citation likelihood, as well as changing publication strategies, despite the fact that the main researchers remain those who have been studying health literacy since its creation.

In recent years, weight gain and reduced physical activity in the general population have contributed to the development of obesity and other health problems; on the other hand, studies in behavioral sciences have been used to modify behaviors for a healthier life, so the objective of this study was to identify the evidence of interventions in behavioral sciences on adherence to physical activity and weight loss in obese patients. This systematic review study is based on a search of the electronic databases PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane. Studies assessed the evidence from intervention studies that assessed the influence of intervention studies of behavioral sciences on public health. The articles were published between 2013 and 2023. The systematic search of the databases identified 2951 articles. The review analyzed 10 studies. Behavioral science interventions presented evidence through strategies such as multicomponent interventions, lottery and financial incentives, message framing, message framing with financial incentive and physical activity, and psychological satisfaction, demonstrating results in weight loss and maintenance and increased physical activity. This study presents scientific evidence through healthy behavior change methodologies, and future studies can explore these strategies in conjunction with public health technologies in the search for public–private partnerships to promote physical activity in adults.

(1) Background: The aim of the present study is to analyze subjective happiness in relation to leisure time in 10-year-old boys and girls from Brazil, Chile and Spain and to determine which leisure time activity has a greater effect on their subjective happiness and whether there are differences according to gender. (2) Methods: Data from the third wave of the Children’s Worlds Project was used, which was collected by administering self-report measures to representative samples in each country. The sample was composed of 4008 early adolescents from Brazil (22.1%, n = 886), Chile (22.8%, n = 913) and Spain (55.1%, n = 2209). The mean age of the sample was 10.17 years (SD = 0.57), and 51.7% were girls. (3) Results: In terms of subjective happiness, moderate to high means were observed, with higher scores in boys and the Spanish sample. The results showed some differences in leisure time activities among children from Brazil, Chile and Spain. Furthermore, the results highlighted the importance of relaxation time with the family to promote happiness in pre-adolescence across genders and countries. Additionally, playing outdoors and doing homework were also found to be protective factors for subjective happiness. (4) Conclusions: In Brazil, Chile and Spain the most consistent result was the positive effect of spending time relaxing with the family on subjective happiness.

Studies have highlighted the importance of applying Behavioral Sciences interventions to develop equity in the prevention of chronic diseases in the public health domain. Our study aims to assess the evidence of this influence. We undertook a systematic review study using the electronic databases PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Cochrane, searching for work published between 2013 and 2023. The research analyzed the influence of Behavioral Sciences intervention studies on public health. This review was registered and published in PROSPERO, registration number CRD42023412377. The systematic search identified 2951 articles. The review analyzed 26 studies. The quality assessment of the articles showed an overall average of 74%, with the majority of studies being of high quality. The interventions with the best evidence for chronic diseases used framing messages, nudges and vouchers. Messages with incentives also showed satisfactory evidence. The most prevalent outcomes were related to screening tests and patient adherence to treatment. The current state of decision-making remains mainly at the patient level, with potential for further exploration of the roles of healthcare professionals and decision-makers in future research efforts. Limitations relate to the heterogeneity of the study sample, which hinders a more precise analysis of specific interventions and outcomes in chronic diseases.

Introduction: Physical exercise has shown evidence in the recovery of cancer treatment. Therefore, interventions that influence these patients to adhere to physical exercise may prove beneficial. This study aimed to identify the influence of physical exercise on health improvement in older adult cancer patients.Methods: The inclusion criteria are according to the PICOS strategy. We conducted this systematic review by searching the electronic databases PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane on February 21, 2024. The systematic review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42024508547). Each article included in the review was assessed for study quality using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Tools. The data was presented in tables and described qualitatively in the text.Results: The systematic search in the databases identified 3,593 articles. We filtered these articles and obtained 15 studies focused on our research question. Exercise interventions show evidence that individual, group, and home exercise, as well as multimodal exercise programs, have positive outcomes for the physical and mental health and quality of life (QL) of older adult cancer patients. However, the studies had limitations regarding polypharmacy and health literacy measures.Discussion: Physical exercise interventions showed positive results in the recovery of physical and mental health and the quality of life of older adult cancer patients. Future studies could explore physical activity interventions with polypharmacy and health literacy measurement tools to identify specific interventions that optimize the health and quality of life of older adult cancer patients.Systematic review registration: PROSPERO (CRD42024508547), https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD42024508547.

Introduction: Psychological distress is characterized by a set of signs and symptoms, as well as any kind of negative reaction to stressful events caused by everyday life. In the face of psychological distress, people often develop coping strategies. Objective: To identify the coping strategies used by university students in the face of psychological distress. Methodology: Quantitative, cross-sectional and descriptive study carried out using a stratified proportional and simple random sample of 276 students enrolled from the 1st to the 8th period of the medicine course. Results: Most of the students presented psychological distress, 58.70%. The most frequently used coping strategies were avoidance (10.48±5.09), self-control (10.20±3.78), positive reappraisal (9.76±4.16) and problem solving (9.58±4.12). Students with psychological distress used the coping strategies of avoidance-avoidance (12.23±4.72, p=0.000) and acceptance and responsibility (6.81±3.07, p=0.010), while those without psychological distress showed greater problem-solving (10.45±4.02, p=0.003) as a coping strategy. Conclusion: Students who experience psychological distress develop coping strategies. Research and interventions aimed at developing coping strategies in the face of psychological distress are suggested.