Preventive medicine
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Children on Canadian farms are at high risk for fatal injury. Ongoing surveillance of these deaths is required to affirm recurrent patterns of injury, and to determine whether historical approaches to prevention have resulted in declines in the occurrence of these traumatic events. We analyzed epidemiological patterns and trends in the occurrence of fatal pediatric farm injuries over 23 years. ⋯ Our findings call into question the effectiveness of pediatric farm safety initiatives that primarily focus on education. Second, while CAIR fatality data are maintained, surveillance of hospitalized injuries has been disbanded and the fatality records require updating. Only by doing so will such surveillance findings provide comprehensive information to inform prevention.
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2020
Barriers to eating are associated with poor physical function in older women.
Older adults have physical and social barriers to eating but whether this affects functional status is unknown. We examined associations between eating barriers and physical function in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI). In 2012-14, a subset of alive and participating women (n = 5910) completed an in-home examination including the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) (grip strength, balance, timed walking speed, chair stand). ⋯ Models additionally adjusting for Healthy Eating Index-2010 had little influence on scores. As barriers increased, scores declined further for grip strength (16.10 kg for 4-5 barriers, p = .001), timed walk (0.58 m/s for 4-5 barriers, p = .001) and total SPPB (7.27 for 4-5 barriers, p < .0001). In conclusion, in this WHI subset, eating barriers were associated with poor SPPB scores.
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2020
Behavioral economics informed message content in text message reminders to improve cervical screening participation: Two pragmatic randomized controlled trials.
The objective of the reported research was to assess the impact of text message (SMS) reminders and their content on cervical screening rates. Women invited for cervical screening in Northwest London from February-October 2015 were eligible. 3133 women aged 24-29 (Study 1) were randomized (1, 1) to 'no SMS' (control), or a primary care physician (PCP) endorsed SMS (SMS-PCP). 11,405 women aged 30-64 (Study 2), were randomized (1, 1:1:1:1:1:1) to either: no SMS, an SMS without manipulation (SMS), the SMS-PCP, an SMS with a total or proportionate social norm (SMS-SNT or SMS-SNP), or an SMS with a gain-framed or loss-framed message (SMS-GF and SMS-LF). The primary outcome was participation at 18 weeks. ⋯ The results from this trial have already been used to designing effective policy for cervical cancer screening. The NHS Cervical Screening Programme started running a London-wide screening SMS campaign which was based on the cervical screening trial described here. According to figures published by Public Health England, after six months attendance increased by 4.8%, which is the equivalent of 13,400 more women being screened at 18 weeks.
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2020
ReviewThe mediating role of school connectedness in the associations between dating and sexual violence victimization and substance use among high school students.
Dating and sexual violence victimization affect a significant portion of teenagers and result in a wide array of negative health and behavioral outcomes, including increased alcohol and drug use. In some cases, students who have been victimized may develop feelings of being unsupported by or disconnected from peers and adults in their school community, placing them at even higher risk for negative health outcomes. ⋯ Furthermore, school connectedness was negatively associated with both forms of substance use at T1 and T2, and partially mediated the effects of DV and SV victimization on heavy drinking at T1, and marijuana use at T1 and T2. These findings elucidate the importance of addressing intermediary cognitive processes such as perceptions of school connectedness in order to improve health and functional outcomes among high school victims of dating and sexual violence.