Research

As the national university, we champion and support innovative research that addresses the country’s most pressing challenges.

22 Jan 2025

UP Manila

Women experienced higher levels of psychological distress than men during the Covid-19 pandemic

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had a deleterious impact on human health since its beginning in 2019. The purpose of this...

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21 Jan 2025

UP Diliman

Adolescents tend to focus on photos and facial features when judging strangers’ trustworthiness on social media

In our social interactions, we make quick and fairly accurate impressions of other people. Of great importance is identifying who...

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20 Jan 2025

UP Los Baños

The novel Gerilya demonstrates how literature can help us understand political struggles

In this article, I analyze Norman Wilwayco’s award-winning novel Gerilya (2008) and its representation of the revolution. I argue that...

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15 Jan 2025

UP Diliman

Using a multimodal approach in teaching literacy to Deaf college students enhances their comprehension

This study explored the perceptions of five Deaf college students regarding the use of a multimodal approach in teaching literacy....

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12 Dec 2024

UP Diliman, UP Manila

A virtual reality therapy game for persons with dementia in the Philippines was developed and tested

Immersive technologies such as virtual reality (VR) had rapidly gained interest as part of the technological evolution in healthcare. Because...

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06 Dec 2024

UP Cebu

The Philippines may have limited engagement with cause-and-effect concepts in social sciences

This paper examines the role of causal inference in the on-going methodological debate in political science research. Here, we critically...

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05 Dec 2024

UP Diliman

Advising in Language Learning complements the Flipped Classroom in teaching foreign language

The Flipped Classroom Approach is a novel methodology used in language learning. In this set-up, students are tasked to study...

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04 Dec 2024

UP Open University

Artificial intelligence allows detection of heart problems using only sound

This paper explores a new way to detect heart disease by using sound. Just like a doctor listens to your...

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03 Dec 2024

UP Diliman

Public school teachers in the Philippines perform various tasks that can be considered health work

While the chronically overburdened state of public school teachers in the Philippines is well-established, little is known about how they...

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19 Nov 2024

UP Manila

BPO workers are prone to physical and mental stress which could cause other health problems

This study looked at how to keep people healthy and safe while working in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry...

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22 Oct 2024

UP Diliman

An active learning system which generates training sequences comparable to randomly labeled video sequences has potential use in vehicle tracking

The development of an efficient and reliable transport system has a direct impact on the economy of the country. One...

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12 Sep 2024

UP Mindanao

Tarsiers need small forest fragments to survive, making it crucial to protect these isolated environments

The Philippine tarsier Carlito syrichta (Linnaeus, 1758) is considered a specially protected flagship species in the Philippines. However, the species is threatened...

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Research

Extensive research reveals the close relationship between food insecurity and the occurrence of sleep problems due to mental health. In the case of older persons, it is also essential to consider whether, in addition to poor mental health, physical health also acts as a mediator between food insecurity and sleep deficiency. Using the baseline data of the Longitudinal Study of Ageing and Health in the Philippines (LSAHP), the study analyzed whether poor physical health or frailty and depressive symptoms in older persons mediated the association of food insecurity with sleep deficiency. In the study, frailty was defined according to Fried’s criteria, and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) Scale. Indicators for sleep deficiency were conceptualized using items on self-reported sleep of less than 6 hours, difficulty falling asleep, and difficulty staying asleep. Food insecurity was operationalized as being hungry and not having enough food over the past three months within the household. Using mediation analysis, the study revealed that frailty and depressive symptoms fully mediate the effects of food insecurity on sleep deficiency among community-dwelling older Filipinos. This finding showing the interplay between physical and mental health can shed light on specific program interventions to ensure better health, particularly addressing sleep deficiencies among the lower economic categories of the older population.

Authors: Tuo-Yu Chen (Taipei Medical University), Grace Cruz (University of the Philippines Diliman) and Yasuhiko Saito (Nihon University)

Read the full paper: https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igac059.3130