Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remain the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Public health responses to CVD require complex, multisectoral strategies that combine population-wide preventive interventions with individualised approaches. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have emerged as transformative tools in this field, enabling more accurate diagnosis, prognosis and treatment personalisation. However, most AI applications remain confined to clinical domains, with limited translation into public health policy modelling.

This review aims to identify and synthesise recent evidence on the application of AI and ML systems for cardiovascular risk prediction and management, with a specific focus on their potential use in public health policy design and decision-making.

A systematic review will be conducted, registered in PROSPERO and reported following PRISMA guidelines. Searches will be performed in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Bireme and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers using standardised Descriptores en Ciencias de la Salud, Medical Subject Headings and Emtree terms. Eligible studies will include AI-based or ML-based models for cardiovascular risk prediction applied at a population, territorial or public health management level, published in English, Spanish or Portuguese within the last 5 years. Data extraction will consider article characteristics, health condition, AI/ML purpose, system features, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development classification, validation and performance and applicability to public health policy. Quality appraisal will use MINIMAR, DECIDE-AI or PROBAST-AI, depending on the study type. Data will be synthesised qualitatively, with descriptive frequencies and graphical summaries.

Ethical approval is not required as this study will be based on previously published data. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and policy-oriented forums involving the European Union and Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) academic stakeholders, with relevance for public health decision-making in Colombia and the LAC region.

CRD420251163276.

Assessing and understanding communicative health literacy (COM-HL) in healthcare settings is essential, as it constitutes a fundamental tool of public health and health promotion. Despite its importance, COM-HL remains an underinvestigated topic in Africa. Consequently, the development and validation of a Portuguese COM-HL scale could be regarded as a significant contribution to the assessment of the COM-HL in Portuguese-speaking African countries. Therefore, the aims of this study were to assess the psychometric properties of the Portuguese COM-HL instruments, to describe the COM-HL of Angolan adults and investigate its determinants.

Cross-sectional survey.

Purposively selected recruitment sites within the municipality/district in seven provinces of Angola across the North, South and East regions.

1839 Angolan adults from 3041 invited persons, predominantly females (53.6%). Quota sampling was used to ensure representation across key sociodemographic strata. Within each quota, recruitment sites, data collection time points and participants were randomly selected. The inclusion criteria were age 18 years or above, Angolan nationality, permanent residence in Angola, the ability to speak the language of the questionnaire and the absence of mental disabilities or any other incapacity to perform the interview.

Measurement properties of the six-item and 11-item versions of the COM-HL instrument assessed through Cronbach’s alpha and Spearman-Brown coefficient, construct validity of the questionnaire investigated by principal component analysis (PCA), the relationship between COM-HL and independent variables measured with linear regression analyses.

The Cronbach’s alpha of the 11-item COM-HL scale was 0.92, and the Spearman-Brown correlation was 0.89. The items belonged to one factor, and 56.7% of the total variance was explained by this factor based on the PCA. The mean score was 52.4 (95% CI 51.42 to 53.45). For the six-item version, the Cronbach’s alpha was 0.86, and the Spearman-Brown correlation was 0.83. The items belonged to one factor, and 58.1% of the total variance was explained by this factor based on the PCA. The mean score was 49.9 (95% CI 48.83 to 50.97). In both versions of the scale, getting enough time in the consultation with your doctor was rated as the most difficult task. The absence of financial deprivation (p

The questionnaires can be characterised by good internal consistency and seem to be an appropriate tool to assess COM-HL in Portuguese-speaking countries. Angolan adults scored relatively low for COM-HL. People found it difficult to get enough time during consultations. Therefore, it is recommended to improve the communication skills of physicians and facilitate communication among healthcare users.

Research has increasingly underscored the impact of factors such as socioeconomic status, education, healthcare access, housing and environmental conditions in shaping population health outcomes. These factors, collectively called social determinants of health (SDOH), provide crucial context for understanding drivers of health outcomes. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the study of SDOH is critical due to the region’s unique sociocultural and economic conditions. Understanding how SDOH interacts with health systems and capturing SDOH in data is crucial for informing modelling efforts and policies improving population health more effectively. This scoping review aims to map the types of data used to capture SDOH in research conducted in SSA, to identify research gaps and to summarise key findings.

This scoping review will follow the Arksey and O’Malley methodological framework, enhanced by Levac et al, providing best practices for identifying, selecting and analysing eligible studies. Key steps include (1) identifying the research question, (2) identifying relevant studies, (3) selecting eligible studies via a locally curated search, (4) extracting information, (5) collating, summarising and reporting results and (6) consultation with stakeholders.

Ethical approval is not required, as this review relies solely on published literature. Findings will be disseminated across academic channels (journals, conferences) and through targeted stakeholder engagement efforts, such as policy briefs and public health workshops, to reach policymakers, healthcare practitioners and community health organisations. This dissemination strategy aims to inform health policy and drive programme development in SSA.

To translate and validate the HLS-Child-Q15, a relatively short questionnaire for assessing health literacy in children originally validated in German, into English to make it accessible to a large population of English-speaking children.

We translated the HLS-Child-Q15 into English following established methods, including forward and backward translation, using multiple translators. We incorporated clinician and consumer input into the translation process. We conducted a qualitative pre-test to assess comprehension and a validation to assess psychometric properties and test-retest reliability.

Perth Children’s Hospital, Perth, Western Australia

We recruited English-speaking children aged 8 to 15 years.

Qualitative analysis of pre-test interviews, Cronbach’s α coefficient for internal consistency and intraclass correlation coefficient for test-retest reliability.

The translation process yielded an acceptable translation. A qualitative pre-test conducted with 10 children demonstrated good comprehension of questionnaire items and resulted in small changes to increase item clarity. Validation with 207 participants demonstrated that questionnaire output score increased with age, school year, self-efficacy score, parental educational level and home literacy environment score. Internal consistency was assessed, with a Cronbach’s α coefficient of 0.854 (95% CI 0.812 to 0.887). Test-retest reliability was moderate, with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.612 (95% CI 0.402 to 0.761).

The translated HLS-Child-Q15 was well understood by children. Validation of the translated questionnaire demonstrated adequate psychometric properties, consistent with the original German questionnaire. The translated HLS-Child-Q15 is suitable for use with English-speaking children.

Data are available on reasonable request and in compliance with institutional ethics and governance requirements.

ACTRN12622001499774

COVID-19 in children is generally of short duration, but some may take longer to recover. This study investigated the time to symptom resolution following SARS-CoV-2 infection among children in a community setting on the outskirts of an urban centre in Brazil.

Prospective cohort study.

This is a community-based cohort of children living in Manguinhos, a favela in Rio de Janeiro. The cohort was followed through home visits and telephone monitoring of symptoms. The analysis focused on symptomatic children from this cohort with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Recovery time was defined as the interval between the first date with symptoms and the first date without symptoms following a positive SARS-CoV-2 test.

A total of 1276 children (boys and girls aged 2–

COVID-19 recovery time, assessed based on change points on the symptom persistence probability curve (Kaplan-Meier).

Among children who tested positive, 148 (60%) were symptomatic. The median recovery time was 11 days (IQR: 7–16). Two inflection points were identified on the Kaplan-Meier curve: days 16 and 34. Children who were ill during the Omicron wave took longer to recover. More boys became asymptomatic within the first 15 days; about 93% of girls recovered by day 33, and boys were more common among those who recovered in ≥34 days. Children aged 6–

Among children from a vulnerable area in Rio de Janeiro, recovery time was longer than that reported in other countries, with 9.5% of children experiencing persistent symptoms for more than 33 days. These findings are crucial for understanding the implications of COVID-19 in specific socioeconomic contexts and the dynamics of paediatric recovery in community settings.