Frank Michael Amort | University of Applied Sciences Graz (original) (raw)
Papers by Frank Michael Amort
Gesundheitswesen, Dec 20, 2023
26. Jahrestagung der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Public Health (ÖGPH)
26. Jahrestagung der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Public Health (ÖGPH)
Research Square (Research Square), Sep 22, 2022
Background. The European Union defines a rare disease as a life-threatening or chronically debili... more Background. The European Union defines a rare disease as a life-threatening or chronically debilitating disease, with a prevalence of less than 5 per 10,000 persons. Whilst individually rare, there are over 6172 different forms of rare diseases, which together affect at least 18-30 million people in Europe. Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is one of those rare diseases, with a prevalence of about 1 in 15-20,000 persons and is associated with short stature and bone deformities. OI leads to a significant reduction in mobility, which influences daily life ranging from stair climbing, walking long distances or reaching items on the top shelves in grocery shops. However, there is an absence of published data about mobility challenges faced by individuals with OI in a real-world environment and the consequences of these challenges on an individual's quality of life (QoL). To explore the mobility challenges faced on a daily basis, the OI community was asked with photovoice online, which areas of daily living are influenced, which mobility challenges they face daily, and what solutions are perceived as helpful. Results: In total, six areas of life (living environment, cars and public transport, public spaces, grocery shopping, travelling, and sports), 40 daily mobility challenges and ten solutions proposed by the community could be identified with this approach. The discussion of these results throughout the project was conducted from three perspectives (environmental view, physiological/functional, and psychosocial view). Challenges related to environmental factors are, e.g. lack of accessibility, as well as a floor plan of apartments and can be mitigated mainly through universal and special design approaches. Physiological/functional problems arising from OI characteristics (e.g. high risk of falling due to balance issues, cardiovascular issues when covering long distances), have a high potential for developing assessments with wearables and specific exercise programmes. Challenges of a psychosocial nature, e.g. feelings of loneliness and avoiding a grocery store trip, can be mitigated by building an appropriate network. Conclusion: In summary, an understanding of daily mobility challenges provides a basis for the development of appropriate guidelines for universal design, assistive technologies as well as assessments in daily life.
European journal of public health, Aug 27, 2022
BACKGROUND In the industrialized world, between one and two per cent of adults worldwide are affe... more BACKGROUND In the industrialized world, between one and two per cent of adults worldwide are affected by Chronic Heart Failure (CHI) - i.e. in Austria, between 70,000 and 140,000 affected people can be assumed. OBJECTIVE The project aimed to identify the subjective needs and preferences of people affected by CHI in relation to interventions to empower them in different stages of the disease. METHODS Semi-structured interviews in different settings (clinical care, outpatient care, rehabilitation clinic, primary care, home care) were conducted with twelve (58% women) individuals. The focus was on other interventions for managing the condition, their content, and modalities regarding the various stages of the disease. RESULTS During the evaluation, a psychological process for internalising the diagnosis became visible. During the first year, the patients tried to generate knowledge about the disease and seek support. After this phase, people living with CHI got used to the condition and learned to deal with it. CHI was no longer perceived as an immediate threat and receded into the background of everyday life. In the beginning, the most important thing for them was theoretical information about heart failure (e.g. how the heart works, causes, complaints and symptoms of CHI) and how to deal with medication. In further progress, pragmatic questions about health-oriented behaviour in everyday life came to the fore. CONCLUSIONS To meet the needs of the people concerned educational measures such as education programmes, brochures and experiences of people with CHI were recommended at the beginning; afterwards, a telerehabilitation and thematically appropriate group courses (e.g. exercise classes, self-help groups, etc.), as well as a “lifestyle” patient app, can be considered for empowerment.
Journal of transport and health, Jun 1, 2017
Results: N¼ 1086 participants (61% females, mean age 47 years) walked or cycled to work or school... more Results: N¼ 1086 participants (61% females, mean age 47 years) walked or cycled to work or school in the past months. Of those people, 56% passed through natural outdoor environments on a daily basis. Preliminary analysis showed that participants commuting daily through natural outdoor environments have on average a 5.09 (95% confidence interval 3.24-6.94) higher score on the SF-36 mental health subscale than those who commute less frequently through natural outdoor environments. Conclusions: Active commuting through natural outdoor environments may be related to better mental health. These findings could have implications for urban spatial planning policies targeted at improving commuting routes for walking and cycling.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Aug 14, 2021
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Journal of transport and health, Jun 1, 2016
Aktuelle demographische und epidemiologische Entwicklungen sind zentrale Determinanten des zukunf... more Aktuelle demographische und epidemiologische Entwicklungen sind zentrale Determinanten des zukunftigen Gesundheitstourismus. Konkret sind dies Anderungen in der gesellschaftlichen Alterszusammensetzung und damit auch in der Krankheitslast der Bevolkerungsgesundheit. Die Gruppe der alteren chronisch erkrankten Personen wird wachsen, und daraus sind Potenziale fur den Gesundheitstourismus ableitbar. Jedoch werden sowohl Reisefahigkeit als auch – motivation im Zuge des Alterungsprozesses beeinflusst, und zu optimistische Prognosen sind daher kritisch zu hinterfragen. Jungere Altere werden gesundheitstouristische Angebote vermehrt praventiv nutzen, und somit stellt sich die Frage, ob nicht die heute 35 bis 50jahrigen Personen die zentralen Zielgruppen des Gesundheitstourismus 2030 sein werden. Letztlich werden aber nicht nur demographischer und epidemiologischer Wandel, sondern aktuelle gesellschaftliche Prozesse, wie die zunehmende gesellschaftliche Diversitat und Bedurfnisse unterschi...
Health Promotion International, 2021
Summary The design of the built environment in communities influences active transport and physic... more Summary The design of the built environment in communities influences active transport and physical activity levels of citizens. Existing instruments for quantitatively assessing built environments were developed for use in urban areas and mainly by experts. Participative assessment of built environment modifications (PABEM) is a needs assessment tool that involves citizens and community decision-makers within a structured process for identifying needed changes to promote walking and cycling in rural areas. This article describes the development of the PABEM process and evaluates its initial use in three rural towns in Austria. PABEM consists of the following seven steps: (i) qualitative interviews; (ii) expert assessment of the built environment; (iii) citizen assessment of the built environment; (iv) social media interaction; (v) household questionnaire; (vi) participatory workshop; and (vii) evaluation and scoring workshop. The main modifications identified as necessary in rural ...
Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz, 2007
Zusammenfassung Der Aufsatz reflektiert praktisch und pragmatisch den HIV/AIDS-Prventionsdiskurs... more Zusammenfassung Der Aufsatz reflektiert praktisch und pragmatisch den HIV/AIDS-Prventionsdiskurs im Kontext der aktuellen Herausforderungen. Die Autoren argumentieren, dass das Potenzial fr eine Verbesserung der HIV/AIDS-Prvention in den erprobten und bewhrten Arbeitsprinzipien der best practice der vergangenen Jahre liegt. Diese Prinzipien werden bersichtlich dargestellt und ausgefhrt.
Eurosurveillance, Nov 25, 2021
Background: In Europe, HIV disproportionately affects men who have sex with men (MSM), people who... more Background: In Europe, HIV disproportionately affects men who have sex with men (MSM), people who inject drugs (PWID), prisoners, sex workers, and transgender people. Epidemiological data are primarily available from national HIV case surveillance systems that rarely capture information on sex work, gender identity or imprisonment. Surveillance of HIV prevalence in key populations often occurs as independent studies with no established mechanism for collating such information at the European level. Aim: We assessed HIV prevalence in MSM, PWID, prisoners, sex workers, and transgender people in the 30 European Union/ European Economic Area countries and the United Kingdom. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed studies published during 2009-19, by searching PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library. Data are presented in forest plots by country, as simple prevalence or pooled across multiple studies. Results: Eighty-seven country-and population-specific studies were identified from 23 countries. The highest number of studies, and the largest variation in HIV prevalence, were identified for MSM, ranging from 2.4-29.0% (19 countries) and PWID, from 0.0-59.5% (13 countries). Prevalence ranged from 0.0-15.6% in prisoners (nine countries), 1.1-8.5% in sex workers (five countries) and was 10.9% in transgender people (one country). Individuals belonging to several key population groups had higher prevalence. Conclusion: This review demonstrates that HIV prevalence is highly diverse across population groups and countries. People belonging to multiple key population groups are particularly vulnerable; however, more studies are needed, particularly for sex workers, transgender people and people with multiple risks.
Background. The European Union defines a rare disease as a life-threatening or chronically debili... more Background. The European Union defines a rare disease as a life-threatening or chronically debilitating disease, with a prevalence of less than 5 per 10,000 persons. Whilst individually rare, there are over 6172 different forms of rare diseases, which together affect at least 18–30 million people in Europe. Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is one of those rare diseases, with a prevalence of about 1 in 15-20,000 persons and is associated with short stature and bone deformities. OI leads to a significant reduction in mobility, which influences daily life ranging from stair climbing, walking long distances or reaching items on the top shelves in grocery shops. However, there is an absence of published data about mobility challenges faced by individuals with OI in a real-world environment and the consequences of these challenges on an individual's quality of life (QoL). To explore the mobility challenges faced on a daily basis, the OI community was asked with photovoice online, which ar...
European Journal of Public Health
Background An appropriate level of Physical Activity (PA) is important for both physical and ment... more Background An appropriate level of Physical Activity (PA) is important for both physical and mental health and has also been suggested as a protective element against COVID-19. However, even before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were already a high number of physically inactive people in Austria. Due to ongoing pandemic-related social restrictions, not only a further increase of inactivity is suspected, but also the promotion of PA is currently a major challenge. Therefore, the project “MOVEluencer” which has been running since July 2021, follows a multidimensional PA promotion approach that is less affected by the presence of any social restrictions. Methods The project was realized in six rural communities in Styria (a province of Austria), which were selected based on inequality factors related to health and PA. The target groups are physically inactive residents, particularly families and elderly. Overall, the project measures are based on a participatory approach ...
Descriptive characteristics of the IG subsamples (DOCX 15 kb)
Physical Literacy Questionaire (English Version) (DOCX 62 kb)
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a major public health burden in Europe, with an incidence r... more Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a major public health burden in Europe, with an incidence rate of 5.7 per 100,000 population in the European Union (EU) / European Economic Area (EEA) countries in 2013 [1]. HIV prevention plays a crucial role in combating the HIV epidemic. However, Quality Improvement (QI) and Quality Assurance (QA) approaches have not been applied or documented widely in HIV prevention research. Instead, most research centers have commonly used more traditional approaches to quality control like checklists completed by staff members. These approaches mostly document what has been done but not the quality of what has been done [2]. This review has been conducted as a subcontract with the EU-funded “Joint Action on Improving Quality in HIV Prevention” and was commissioned by the Work Package 7. The so called “Quality Action” aims to increase the effectiveness of HIV prevention in Europe by using practical QA and QI tools and approaches. Quality Action has valida...
Gesundheitswesen, Dec 20, 2023
26. Jahrestagung der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Public Health (ÖGPH)
26. Jahrestagung der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Public Health (ÖGPH)
Research Square (Research Square), Sep 22, 2022
Background. The European Union defines a rare disease as a life-threatening or chronically debili... more Background. The European Union defines a rare disease as a life-threatening or chronically debilitating disease, with a prevalence of less than 5 per 10,000 persons. Whilst individually rare, there are over 6172 different forms of rare diseases, which together affect at least 18-30 million people in Europe. Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is one of those rare diseases, with a prevalence of about 1 in 15-20,000 persons and is associated with short stature and bone deformities. OI leads to a significant reduction in mobility, which influences daily life ranging from stair climbing, walking long distances or reaching items on the top shelves in grocery shops. However, there is an absence of published data about mobility challenges faced by individuals with OI in a real-world environment and the consequences of these challenges on an individual's quality of life (QoL). To explore the mobility challenges faced on a daily basis, the OI community was asked with photovoice online, which areas of daily living are influenced, which mobility challenges they face daily, and what solutions are perceived as helpful. Results: In total, six areas of life (living environment, cars and public transport, public spaces, grocery shopping, travelling, and sports), 40 daily mobility challenges and ten solutions proposed by the community could be identified with this approach. The discussion of these results throughout the project was conducted from three perspectives (environmental view, physiological/functional, and psychosocial view). Challenges related to environmental factors are, e.g. lack of accessibility, as well as a floor plan of apartments and can be mitigated mainly through universal and special design approaches. Physiological/functional problems arising from OI characteristics (e.g. high risk of falling due to balance issues, cardiovascular issues when covering long distances), have a high potential for developing assessments with wearables and specific exercise programmes. Challenges of a psychosocial nature, e.g. feelings of loneliness and avoiding a grocery store trip, can be mitigated by building an appropriate network. Conclusion: In summary, an understanding of daily mobility challenges provides a basis for the development of appropriate guidelines for universal design, assistive technologies as well as assessments in daily life.
European journal of public health, Aug 27, 2022
BACKGROUND In the industrialized world, between one and two per cent of adults worldwide are affe... more BACKGROUND In the industrialized world, between one and two per cent of adults worldwide are affected by Chronic Heart Failure (CHI) - i.e. in Austria, between 70,000 and 140,000 affected people can be assumed. OBJECTIVE The project aimed to identify the subjective needs and preferences of people affected by CHI in relation to interventions to empower them in different stages of the disease. METHODS Semi-structured interviews in different settings (clinical care, outpatient care, rehabilitation clinic, primary care, home care) were conducted with twelve (58% women) individuals. The focus was on other interventions for managing the condition, their content, and modalities regarding the various stages of the disease. RESULTS During the evaluation, a psychological process for internalising the diagnosis became visible. During the first year, the patients tried to generate knowledge about the disease and seek support. After this phase, people living with CHI got used to the condition and learned to deal with it. CHI was no longer perceived as an immediate threat and receded into the background of everyday life. In the beginning, the most important thing for them was theoretical information about heart failure (e.g. how the heart works, causes, complaints and symptoms of CHI) and how to deal with medication. In further progress, pragmatic questions about health-oriented behaviour in everyday life came to the fore. CONCLUSIONS To meet the needs of the people concerned educational measures such as education programmes, brochures and experiences of people with CHI were recommended at the beginning; afterwards, a telerehabilitation and thematically appropriate group courses (e.g. exercise classes, self-help groups, etc.), as well as a “lifestyle” patient app, can be considered for empowerment.
Journal of transport and health, Jun 1, 2017
Results: N¼ 1086 participants (61% females, mean age 47 years) walked or cycled to work or school... more Results: N¼ 1086 participants (61% females, mean age 47 years) walked or cycled to work or school in the past months. Of those people, 56% passed through natural outdoor environments on a daily basis. Preliminary analysis showed that participants commuting daily through natural outdoor environments have on average a 5.09 (95% confidence interval 3.24-6.94) higher score on the SF-36 mental health subscale than those who commute less frequently through natural outdoor environments. Conclusions: Active commuting through natural outdoor environments may be related to better mental health. These findings could have implications for urban spatial planning policies targeted at improving commuting routes for walking and cycling.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Aug 14, 2021
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Journal of transport and health, Jun 1, 2016
Aktuelle demographische und epidemiologische Entwicklungen sind zentrale Determinanten des zukunf... more Aktuelle demographische und epidemiologische Entwicklungen sind zentrale Determinanten des zukunftigen Gesundheitstourismus. Konkret sind dies Anderungen in der gesellschaftlichen Alterszusammensetzung und damit auch in der Krankheitslast der Bevolkerungsgesundheit. Die Gruppe der alteren chronisch erkrankten Personen wird wachsen, und daraus sind Potenziale fur den Gesundheitstourismus ableitbar. Jedoch werden sowohl Reisefahigkeit als auch – motivation im Zuge des Alterungsprozesses beeinflusst, und zu optimistische Prognosen sind daher kritisch zu hinterfragen. Jungere Altere werden gesundheitstouristische Angebote vermehrt praventiv nutzen, und somit stellt sich die Frage, ob nicht die heute 35 bis 50jahrigen Personen die zentralen Zielgruppen des Gesundheitstourismus 2030 sein werden. Letztlich werden aber nicht nur demographischer und epidemiologischer Wandel, sondern aktuelle gesellschaftliche Prozesse, wie die zunehmende gesellschaftliche Diversitat und Bedurfnisse unterschi...
Health Promotion International, 2021
Summary The design of the built environment in communities influences active transport and physic... more Summary The design of the built environment in communities influences active transport and physical activity levels of citizens. Existing instruments for quantitatively assessing built environments were developed for use in urban areas and mainly by experts. Participative assessment of built environment modifications (PABEM) is a needs assessment tool that involves citizens and community decision-makers within a structured process for identifying needed changes to promote walking and cycling in rural areas. This article describes the development of the PABEM process and evaluates its initial use in three rural towns in Austria. PABEM consists of the following seven steps: (i) qualitative interviews; (ii) expert assessment of the built environment; (iii) citizen assessment of the built environment; (iv) social media interaction; (v) household questionnaire; (vi) participatory workshop; and (vii) evaluation and scoring workshop. The main modifications identified as necessary in rural ...
Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz, 2007
Zusammenfassung Der Aufsatz reflektiert praktisch und pragmatisch den HIV/AIDS-Prventionsdiskurs... more Zusammenfassung Der Aufsatz reflektiert praktisch und pragmatisch den HIV/AIDS-Prventionsdiskurs im Kontext der aktuellen Herausforderungen. Die Autoren argumentieren, dass das Potenzial fr eine Verbesserung der HIV/AIDS-Prvention in den erprobten und bewhrten Arbeitsprinzipien der best practice der vergangenen Jahre liegt. Diese Prinzipien werden bersichtlich dargestellt und ausgefhrt.
Eurosurveillance, Nov 25, 2021
Background: In Europe, HIV disproportionately affects men who have sex with men (MSM), people who... more Background: In Europe, HIV disproportionately affects men who have sex with men (MSM), people who inject drugs (PWID), prisoners, sex workers, and transgender people. Epidemiological data are primarily available from national HIV case surveillance systems that rarely capture information on sex work, gender identity or imprisonment. Surveillance of HIV prevalence in key populations often occurs as independent studies with no established mechanism for collating such information at the European level. Aim: We assessed HIV prevalence in MSM, PWID, prisoners, sex workers, and transgender people in the 30 European Union/ European Economic Area countries and the United Kingdom. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed studies published during 2009-19, by searching PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library. Data are presented in forest plots by country, as simple prevalence or pooled across multiple studies. Results: Eighty-seven country-and population-specific studies were identified from 23 countries. The highest number of studies, and the largest variation in HIV prevalence, were identified for MSM, ranging from 2.4-29.0% (19 countries) and PWID, from 0.0-59.5% (13 countries). Prevalence ranged from 0.0-15.6% in prisoners (nine countries), 1.1-8.5% in sex workers (five countries) and was 10.9% in transgender people (one country). Individuals belonging to several key population groups had higher prevalence. Conclusion: This review demonstrates that HIV prevalence is highly diverse across population groups and countries. People belonging to multiple key population groups are particularly vulnerable; however, more studies are needed, particularly for sex workers, transgender people and people with multiple risks.
Background. The European Union defines a rare disease as a life-threatening or chronically debili... more Background. The European Union defines a rare disease as a life-threatening or chronically debilitating disease, with a prevalence of less than 5 per 10,000 persons. Whilst individually rare, there are over 6172 different forms of rare diseases, which together affect at least 18–30 million people in Europe. Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is one of those rare diseases, with a prevalence of about 1 in 15-20,000 persons and is associated with short stature and bone deformities. OI leads to a significant reduction in mobility, which influences daily life ranging from stair climbing, walking long distances or reaching items on the top shelves in grocery shops. However, there is an absence of published data about mobility challenges faced by individuals with OI in a real-world environment and the consequences of these challenges on an individual's quality of life (QoL). To explore the mobility challenges faced on a daily basis, the OI community was asked with photovoice online, which ar...
European Journal of Public Health
Background An appropriate level of Physical Activity (PA) is important for both physical and ment... more Background An appropriate level of Physical Activity (PA) is important for both physical and mental health and has also been suggested as a protective element against COVID-19. However, even before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were already a high number of physically inactive people in Austria. Due to ongoing pandemic-related social restrictions, not only a further increase of inactivity is suspected, but also the promotion of PA is currently a major challenge. Therefore, the project “MOVEluencer” which has been running since July 2021, follows a multidimensional PA promotion approach that is less affected by the presence of any social restrictions. Methods The project was realized in six rural communities in Styria (a province of Austria), which were selected based on inequality factors related to health and PA. The target groups are physically inactive residents, particularly families and elderly. Overall, the project measures are based on a participatory approach ...
Descriptive characteristics of the IG subsamples (DOCX 15 kb)
Physical Literacy Questionaire (English Version) (DOCX 62 kb)
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a major public health burden in Europe, with an incidence r... more Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a major public health burden in Europe, with an incidence rate of 5.7 per 100,000 population in the European Union (EU) / European Economic Area (EEA) countries in 2013 [1]. HIV prevention plays a crucial role in combating the HIV epidemic. However, Quality Improvement (QI) and Quality Assurance (QA) approaches have not been applied or documented widely in HIV prevention research. Instead, most research centers have commonly used more traditional approaches to quality control like checklists completed by staff members. These approaches mostly document what has been done but not the quality of what has been done [2]. This review has been conducted as a subcontract with the EU-funded “Joint Action on Improving Quality in HIV Prevention” and was commissioned by the Work Package 7. The so called “Quality Action” aims to increase the effectiveness of HIV prevention in Europe by using practical QA and QI tools and approaches. Quality Action has valida...
In Austria annually approximately 500 new HIV cases are diagnosed, half of them in men who have s... more In Austria annually approximately 500 new HIV cases are diagnosed, half of them in men who have sex with men (MSM). Chemsex, the impact of recreational drug use on sexual behaviour is recently discussed in various European studies. Aids Hilfe Vienna has been implementing since 2014 a community-based campaign in Vienna aiming to sensitize MSM for the topic. FH JOANNEUM, as academic institution, offered a multilevel scientific support. In iterative communication, scientific knowledge and community experience has been exchanged aiming to combine participatory generated evidence and scientific evidence.
Dokumentation D/A/CH Netzwerktagung Gesundheitsförderung 2014.