Annual review of public health
-
Annu Rev Public Health · Mar 2015
ReviewFocused deterrence and the prevention of violent gun injuries: practice, theoretical principles, and scientific evidence.
Focused deterrence strategies are a relatively new addition to a growing portfolio of evidence-based violent gun injury prevention practices available to policy makers and practitioners. These strategies seek to change offender behavior by understanding the underlying violence-producing dynamics and conditions that sustain recurring violent gun injury problems and by implementing a blended strategy of law enforcement, community mobilization, and social service actions. ⋯ This article reviews the practice, theoretical principles, and evaluation evidence on focused deterrence strategies. Although more rigorous randomized studies are needed, the available empirical evidence suggests that these strategies generate noteworthy gun violence reduction impacts and should be part of a broader portfolio of violence prevention strategies available to policy makers and practitioners.
-
Annu Rev Public Health · Mar 2015
The epidemiology of firearm violence in the twenty-first century United States.
This brief review summarizes the basic epidemiology of firearm violence, a large and costly public health problem in the United States for which the mortality rate has remained unchanged for more than a decade. It presents findings for the present in light of recent trends. ⋯ As with other important health problems, most cases of fatal firearm violence arise from large but low-risk subsets of the population; risk and burden of illness are not distributed symmetrically. Compared with other industrialized nations, the United States has uniquely high mortality rates from firearm violence.
-
Energy use is central to human society and provides many health benefits. But each source of energy entails some health risks. This article reviews the health impacts of each major source of energy, focusing on those with major implications for the burden of disease globally. ⋯ Lack of access to clean fuels and electricity in the world's poor households is a particularly serious risk for health. Although energy efficiency brings many benefits, it also entails some health risks, as do renewable energy systems, if not managed carefully. We do not review health impacts of climate change itself, which are due mostly to climate-altering pollutants from energy systems, but do discuss the potential for achieving near-term health cobenefits by reducing certain climate-related emissions.
-
Annu Rev Public Health · Jan 2013
ReviewStrategies and resources to address colorectal cancer screening rates and disparities in the United States and globally.
Colorectal cancer is a significant cause of mortality in the United States and globally. In the United States, increased access to screening and effective treatment has contributed to a reduction in colorectal cancer incidence and mortality for the general population, though significant disparities persist. ⋯ This article provides an overview of colorectal cancer incidence, mortality, screening, and disparities in the United States and other world populations. Promising strategies and resources are identified to address colorectal cancer screening rates and disparities in the United States and worldwide.
-
Annu Rev Public Health · Apr 2012
ReviewQuitlines and nicotine replacement for smoking cessation: do we need to change policy?
In the past 20 years, public health initiatives on smoking cessation have increased substantially. Randomized trials indicate that pharmaceutical cessation aids can increase success by 50% among heavier smokers who seek help, and use of these aids has increased markedly. Quitlines provide a portal through which smokers can seek assistance to quit and are promoted by tobacco control programs. ⋯ Pharmaceutical marketing strategies may have reduced expectations of the difficulty of quitting, reducing success per attempt. Some policies actively discourage unassisted smoking cessation despite the documented high success rates of this approach. There is an urgent need to revisit public policy on smoking cessation.