
Olga L SarmientoLos Andes University (Colombia) | UNIANDES · Faculty of Medicine
Olga L Sarmiento
MD MPH PhD
About
340
Publications
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Introduction
Additional affiliations
February 2017 - January 2020
June 2003 - present
January 2009 - present
Publications
Publications (340)
We present findings from the Our Voice in Barú project, examining adolescent engagement in citizen science to address environmental and social factors affecting well-being in a semi-rural Afro-descendant community in Latin America. The project aimed to identify barriers and enablers of well-being, informing adolescent-led actions for sustainable en...
Purpose
This paper aims to enrich understanding of the obesity transition among socioeconomic status (SES) strata by gender and age in cities of Colombia and Mexico. The study uses harmonized data from the Salud Urbana en América Latina (SALURBAL) study.
Methods
A population-level system dynamics model was developed using 2010 and 2015 data from C...
The Care Block of Bogotá, Colombia, is an urban program that offers services for low-income unpaid caregivers. This study aimed to (i) characterize unpaid caregivers’ subjective well-being, mental health symptoms, physical activity levels, and use of public spaces linked to the Care Block; (ii) identify caregivers’ perceived built and social enviro...
Background
Using harmonized aggregated data on health and socioeconomic environments in Latin American cities (from the Salud Urbana en América Latina (SALURBAL) study), we assessed the association of city‐level contextual factors with the prevalence of the double burden of malnutrition (DBM) in urban settings.
Methods
This ecological study used a...
Background: Large informal or precarious settlements at cities' peripheries embody the inequalities in Latin America. The measurement and assessment of the social capital could help understand the social implication of transport interventions such as cable cars, intended to better connect peripheral settlements. The aim of this study was to measure...
In highly urbanized and unequal Latin America, urban health and health equity research are essential to effective policymaking. To ensure the application of relevant and context-specific evidence to efforts to reduce urban health inequities, urban health research in Latin America must incorporate strategic research translation efforts. Beginning in...
Objectives
Research trends concerning hearing loss within teen rural populations are limited and current evidence suggests that extended high-frequency audiometry can be a sensitive tool to detect subclinical hearing loss. Moreover, current research emphasises the importance of representing different ethnic populations in science. This study aimed...
Norm-based accounts of social behavior in economics typically reflect tradeoffs between maximization of own consumption utility and conformity to social norms. Theories of norm-following tend to assume that there exists a single, stable, commonly known injunctive social norm for a given choice setting and that each person has a stable propensity to...
Background
Health-focused research funders increasingly support multi-country research partnerships that study health, urban development and equity in global settings. To develop new knowledge that benefits society, these grants require researchers to integrate diverse knowledges and data, and to manage research-related aspects of coloniality, such...
Travel time savings have been the most important benefit included in transport project assessments over the last decades. However, understanding how individuals allocate this saved time after implementing transport projects is crucial, as time is a finite resource and performing more pleasant activities may impact their well-being. Large urban inte...
The assessment of urban transport interventions is complex, multi-faceted, and context-dependent. This study proposes a multi-methodology approach called systems analytics to evaluate the potential impact of the implementation of temporary bike paths during the COVID-19 pandemic on Bogotá’s bicycle complex system. The proposed methodology applies s...
Objectives
The objective was to investigate the benefits of the ‘weekend warrior’ physical activity pattern in Latin America, where many people take part in high levels of non-exercise physical activity.
Methods
Participants in the Mexico City Prospective Study were surveyed from 1998 to 2004 and resurveyed from 2015 to 2019. Those who exercised u...
The community restrictions during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic adversely impacted older adults’ physical activity levels. This convergent mixed-method study assessed the adaptation of the Recreovía, a community-based physical activity program in Bogotá, and characterized physical activity levels among older adult participants. Our results...
The MECHANISMS study investigates how social norms for adolescent smoking and vaping are transmitted through school friendship networks, and is the first study to use behavioral economics methodology to assess smoking-related social norms. Here, we investigate the effects of selection homophily (the tendency to form friendships with similar peers)...
Background
Adolescent smoking is associated with significant health and social risks. Previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of interventions based on behavior change theories in preventing adolescent smoking uptake. However, evidence from the theory-based perspective of evaluation is limited, especially for how such complex intervent...
The current study analyzes individual and social network correlates of adolescent engagement in physical intimate partner violence (IPV) utilizing socio-centric data from a high-school population of 242 adolescents from rural Colombia. We studied self-reported victimization and perpetration for boys and girls. First, we used logistic regression to...
Background
Cable cars are part of the transport system in several cities in Latin America, but no evaluations of their effects on physical activity are available. TransMiCable is the first cable car in Bogotá, Colombia, and the wider intervention includes renovated parks and playgrounds. We assessed the effects of TransMiCable and the wider interve...
Cable cars represent an integral element of urban transport systems designed to connect underserved communities in Latin America. However, evaluations of the liveability impacts of cable cars are scarce. The TransMiCable cable car in Colombia connects the peripheral neighbourhoods of Ciudad Bolívar with the integrated public transport system of Bog...
Los estudios sobre la satisfacción con la movilidad diaria y con la vida en países en desarrollo son escasos. El objetivo esta investigación es analizar cómo la satisfacción con los viajes diarios, la satisfacción con el barrio y el capital social, se relacionan con la satisfacción con la vida en una comunidad de bajos ingresos en Bogotá (Colombia)...
The SALURBAL (Urban Health in Latin America) Project is an interdisciplinary multinational network aimed at generating and disseminating actionable evidence on the drivers of health in cities of Latin America. We conducted a temporal multilayer network analysis where we measured cohesion over time using network structural properties and assessed di...
A R T I C L E I N F O Keywords: Breast cancer survivors Community-based program Physical activity promotion Social network analysis Social support Ego-network analysis A B S T R A C T Physical activity (PA), social networks, and social support have been associated with decreased mortality and improved quality of life among breast cancer survivors (...
Background Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is one of the most urbanized and violent regions worldwide. Homicides in youth (15-24 years old, yo) and young adults (25-39yo) are an especially pressing public health problem. Yet there is little research on how city characteristics relate to homicide rates in youth and young adults. We aimed to de...
Background:
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is one of the most urbanized and violent regions worldwide. Homicides in youth (15-24 years old, yo) and young adults (25-39yo) are an especially pressing public health problem. Yet there is little research on how city characteristics relate to homicide rates in youth and young adults. We aimed to...
Background:
Childhood obesity is a rising global health problem. The rapid urbanization experienced in Latin America might impact childhood obesity through different pathways involving urban built and social features of cities. We aimed to evaluate the association between built and social environment features of cities and childhood obesity across...
Commuters in Bogotá (Colombia) are exposed to high concentrations of air pollutants, in part, due to their proximity to mobile sources. This paper analyzes current inequalities in the potential daily inhaled dose of particulate matter (PM2.5), black carbon (BC), and carbon monoxide (CO) that commuters experience in transport microenvironments accor...
Background Interventions to promote physical activity among women breast cancer survivors (BCS) in low- to
middle-income countries are limited. We assessed the acceptability and preliminary efectiveness of a theory-driven,
group-based dance intervention for BCS delivered in Bogotá, Colombia.
Methods We conducted a quasi-experimental study employing...
We know little about how smoking prevention interventions might leverage social network structures to enhance protective social norms. In this study we combined statistical and network science methods to explore how social networks influence social norms related to adolescent smoking in school-specific settings in Northern Ireland and Colombia. Pup...
Latin America is the world’s most urbanized region and its heterogeneous urban development may impact chronic diseases. Here, we evaluated the association of built environment characteristics at the sub-city —intersection density, greenness, and population density— and city-level —fragmentation and isolation— with body mass index (BMI), obesity, an...
Background
Santa Ana is home to an Afro-descendant rural population of the island of Barú in Cartagena, Colombia. While a popular area for tourism, Santa Ana’s population is affected by multidimensional poverty, precarious work conditions, homelessness, broken streets and sewer systems, limited quality education, and a lack of recreation and sport...
The SALURBAL (Urban Health in Latin America) Project is an interdisciplinary multinational network aimed at generating and disseminating actionable evidence on the drivers of health in cities of Latin America. We conducted a temporal multilayer network analysis where we measured cohesion over time using the structural properties of the network and...
Given its origins in high-income countries, the field of physical activity and public health research and promotion has broadly followed a choice-based model. However, a substantial amount of the physical activity occurring routinely in many settings, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), is the result of economic necessity and...
There is growing evidence that longer travel time by private car poses physical and mental risks. Individual-level obesity and diabetes, two of the main public health challenges in low- and middle-income contexts, could be associated to city-level travel times by car. We used individual obesity and diabetes data from national health surveys from in...
Commuters in urban settlements are frequently exposed to high concentrations of air pollutants due to their proximity to mobile sources, making exposure to traffic-related air pollutants an important public health issue. Recent trends in urban transport towards zero- and low-tailpipe emission alternatives will likely result in decreased exposure to...
Background
Mild cognitive impairment often precedes dementia. The purpose of this analysis was to estimate the population attributable fraction for physical activity in Colombia, which is the reduction in cases that would occur if all participants were physically active.
Methods
The sample included 20,174 men and women aged 70.04 ± 7.68 years (mea...
We investigated the association of urban landscape profiles with health and environmental outcomes, and whether those profiles are linked to environmental and health co-benefits. In this ecological study, we used data from 208 cities in 8 Latin American countries of the SALud URBana en América Latina (SALURBAL) project. Four urban landscape profile...
While income gradients and gender inequalities in excess weight have been noted elsewhere, data from Latin American cities is lacking. We analyzed gender-specific associations between city-level women’s empowerment and income inequality with individual-level overweight/obesity, assessing how these associations vary by individual education or living...
Este módulo del proyecto busca comprender cómo TransMiCable y sus transformaciones urbanas asociadas impactan la salud, la movilidad y la calidad de vida de la comunidad en la zona de influencia del cable aéreo en Ciudad Bolívar en Bogotá, Colombia.
Esta evaluación de impacto hace parte del proyecto "Desarrollo de un simulador para modelar la ocupa...
Background and objective
More research is required to understand associations of body mass index (BMI) and sarcopenia with cognition, especially in Latin America. The objective of this study was to investigate associations of BMI and sarcopenia with mild cognitive impairment in Colombia.
Design, setting, and participants
Data were from the Nationa...
RESUMEN
La Ciclovía es un programa multisectorial en el que se cierran las calles a los automóviles para que las personas tengan un espacio seguro e inclusivo para la recreación y la actividad física en Bogotá, Colombia. Este estudio tuvo como objetivos a) determinar en qué medida el método de ciencia ciudadana con participación comunitaria, Nuestr...
Little is known about the personality and cognitive traits that shape adolescents’ sensitivity to social norms. Further, few studies have harnessed novel empirical tools to elicit sensitivity to social norms among adolescent populations. This paper examines the association between sensitivity to norms and various personality and cognitive traits us...
Abstract: Background and Objectives: Particulate Matter (PM), particles of variable but small diameter
can penetrate the respiratory system via inhalation, causing respiratory and/or cardiovascular
diseases. This study aims to evaluate the association of environmental particulate matter (PM2.5)
and black carbon (BC) with respiratory health in users...
Background:
Understanding how urban environments influence people's health, especially as individuals age, can help identify ways to improve health in the rapidly urbanizing and rapidly aging populations.
Objectives:
To investigate the association between age and self-reported health (SRH) in adults living in Latin-American cities and whether ge...
An essential characteristic of a healthy and sustainable city is a physically active population. Effective policies for healthy and sustainable cities require evidence-informed quantitative targets. We aimed to identify the minimum thresholds for urban design and transport features associated with two physical activity criteria: at least 80% probab...
Introducción. La actividad física durante el embarazo puede ser útil para la prevención de complicaciones gestacionales.
Objetivo. Estimar la prevalencia de actividad física en mujeres gestantes adultas en Colombia y evaluar los factores asociados con su práctica.
Materiales y métodos. Se hizo un análisis secundario de la información recolectada en...
Benefits of physical activity (PA) in breast cancer survivors (BCS) are well established. However, programs to promote PA among BCS tailored to real-world contexts within low- to middle-income countries are limited. Cross-sector co-creation can be key to effective and scalable programs for BCS in these countries. This study aimed to evaluate the ne...
RESUMEN
Las transformaciones urbanas tienen el potencial de impactar la salud de las personas; particularmente el transporte, como determinante social de la salud, es fundamental para la mejora de la equidad y la salud en las ciudades. El TransMiCable de Ciudad Bolívar en Bogotá fue acompañado por una transformación urbana integral aumentando el ac...
Background
Community-based physical activity (PA) programs are appealing to women in Latin America and show potential for improving women’s health. This study aimed to engage healthy middle-aged women, breast cancer survivors and local stakeholders participating in two publicly funded community-based PA programs in Bogotá, Colombia ( Recreovía and...
Massive molecular testing for COVID-19 has been pointed out as fundamental to moderate the spread of the pandemic. Pooling methods can enhance testing efficiency, but they are viable only at low incidences of the disease. We propose Smart Pooling, a machine learning method that uses clinical and sociodemographic data from patients to increase the e...
The Particulate Matter (PM), particles of variable but small diameter could penetrate the respiratory system via inhalation, causing respiratory and/or cardiovascular diseases. This study aims to evaluate the association of environmental particulate matter (PM2.5) and black carbon (BC) with respiratory health and physical activity in users travelin...
Objectives: Excessive recreational screen time (RST) is associated with detrimental effects for physical, psychological and cognitive development. This article aims to describe the prevalence of excessive RST among Colombian preschoolers, children and adolescents and explore its factors associated.
Methods: We analyzed data from the National Survey...
Background
Road-traffic injuries are a key cause of death and disability in low-income and middle-income countries, but the effect of city characteristics on road-traffic mortality is unknown in these countries. The aim of this study was to determine associations between city-level built environment factors and road-traffic mortality in large Latin...
Despite unprecedented progress in developing COVID-19 vaccines, global vaccination levels needed to reach herd immunity remain a distant target, while new variants keep emerging. Obtaining near universal vaccine uptake relies on understanding and addressing vaccine resistance. Simple questions about vaccine acceptance however ignore that the vaccin...
Cable cars are a viable alternative to improve citizens’ accessibility in zones with limitations on urban public transport supply due to the topography. In Latin America, such systems have recently been implemented in zones with high levels of poverty and vulnerability. Although the social implications of their implementation are relevant, individu...
Background: Interventions to promote physical activity among women breast cancer survivors (BCS) in low to middle-income countries are limited. We assessed the acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of a theory-driven group dance intervention for BCS delivered in Bogotá, Colombia.
Methods: We conducted a quasi-experimental study employing a mi...
Background
Despite a steady decline in adolescent smoking globally, it remains a prevalent risk factor for non-communicable disease. Previous research points to differences in socio-environmental and psychosocial risk factors for smoking and how they vary across different settings with disparate social and cultural characteristics. As a result, smo...
Introducción. Bogotá cuenta con una red de monitoreo de la calidad del aire que
registra las condiciones atmosféricas de la ciudad. No obstante, no hay datos
disponibles sobre la exposición a contaminantes desde la perspectiva de los
microambientes de transporte.
Objetivo. Analizar la relación entre la exposición a contaminantes del aire en
diferen...
The built environment of cities is complex and influences social and environmental determinants of health. In this study we, 1) identified city profiles based on the built landscape and street design characteristics of cities in Latin America and 2) evaluated the associations of city profiles with social determinants of health and air pollution. La...
The characteristics of urban green space have context-dependent associations with socioeconomic status (SES). Latin American cities provide a unique but understudied context to assess the green space-SES associations. We measured the quantity and quality of green space as greenness from satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, and...
Resumen
Prevenir la obesidad entre los jóvenes latinos que viven en Estados Unidos y en países latinoamericanos requiere reconocer la especificidad de los contextos y las interacciones entre actividad física (AF) y entorno construido (EC). El objetivo de este artículo es avanzar en la agenda de investigación sobre el EC y la AF con el fin de preven...
Resumen
Aunque se han hecho avances en el desarrollo y aplicación a gran escala de intervenciones eficaces contra la obesidad infantil, los retos siguen siendo importantes. Nuestro objetivo era comprender las causas del éxito de Estados Unidos y los países latinoamericanos en la implementación de políticas y programas (PYP) contra la obesidad e ide...
Background:
Little is known about the effect of changes in mobility at the subcity level on subsequent COVID-19 incidence, which is particularly relevant in Latin America, where substantial barriers prevent COVID-19 vaccine access and non-pharmaceutical interventions are essential to mitigation efforts. We aimed to examine the longitudinal associa...
Background:
In Colombia, active transportation has been assessed in multiple local and regional studies, but national data on active transportation are scarce. This study aims to describe the prevalence and factors associated with active transportation to/from school among Colombian children and adolescents.
Methods:
The authors analyzed nationa...
Massive molecular testing for COVID-19 has been pointed out as fundamental to moderate the spread of the pandemic. Pooling methods can enhance testing efficiency, but they are viable only at low incidences of the disease. We propose Smart Pooling, a machine learning method that uses clinical and sociodemographic data from patients to increase the e...
Cross-impact balance (CIB) analysis leverages expert knowledge pertaining to the nature and strength of relationships between components of a system to identify the most plausible future ‘scenarios’ of the system. These scenarios, also referred to as ‘storylines’, provide qualitative insights into how the state of one factor can either promote or r...