Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Dec 2021
Do predictors of adherence to pandemic guidelines change over time? A panel study of 22,000 UK adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the absence of a vaccine, governments have focused on behaviour change (e.g. social distancing and enhanced hygiene procedures) to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Existing research on the predictors of compliance with pandemic measures has often produced discrepant results. One explanation for this may be that the determinants of compliance are context specific. ⋯ Low compliance was strongly related to younger age and also to risk attitudes, empathic concern, and high income, among other factors. The size of some of these associations was larger in later months when less stringent lockdown and household mixing measures were in place. The results showed that compliance was lower and fell faster across some groups, suggesting the importance that public health communications adopt a plurality of messages to maximize broad adherence.
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Preventive medicine · Dec 2021
Risk of hypertension in school-aged children undergoing a long-term community-based lifestyle intervention: Tehran lipid and glucose study.
Childhood hypertension which increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases in adulthood is becoming more prevalent. For the first time in the Middle-East region, this study aimed to assess the long-term effectiveness of a community-based lifestyle intervention on the incidence of hypertension in school-aged children during 16 years of follow-up. This study was conducted within the framework of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (TLGS). ⋯ Although the risk of hypertension in boys was more than twice that observed in girls, the effectiveness of the recent community-based healthy lifestyle intervention was observed only in girls and not in boys. Further studies are needed to understand gender differences in promoting the effectiveness of similar future programs. The TLGS is registered at Iran Registry for Clinical Trials, a WHO primary registry (http://irct.ir; IRCTID: IRCT138705301058N1).
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Preventive medicine · Dec 2021
Should physical activity calorie equivalent (PACE) labelling be introduced on food labels and menus to reduce excessive calorie consumption? Issues and opportunities.
PACE food labelling seeks to provide kilocalorie information with an interpretation of what the kilocalorie content of the food item or meal means for energy expenditure. For example, "the kilocalories in this pizza require 110 minutes of walking to expend". ⋯ However, several criticisms of this labelling system have been raised. This commentary explores both the issues and opportunities related to PACE food labelling, arguing that the benefits of implementation outweigh potential unintended consequences.
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Preventive medicine · Dec 2021
The association between three key social determinants of health and life dissatisfaction: A 2017 behavioral risk factor surveillance system analysis.
Poor health outcomes disproportionately impact certain populations in the United States owing to the inequitable distribution of social determinants of health (SDOH). Using the 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), we estimated the association of three adverse SDOH (housing insecurity, food insecurity, and financial instability) with life dissatisfaction. Participants were from Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ohio, the only states that included the SDOH and Emotional Support and Life Satisfaction modules (n = 25,850). ⋯ Participants with frequent mental distress (FMD) had greater prevalence differences than those without FMD (for housing insecurity, food insecurity, and financial instability, respectively: with FMD, PD = 15.4 [7.5, 23.3], 10.7 [4.7, 16.7], 14.4 [9.6, 19.3]; without FMD, PD = 6.1 [-0.5, 12.5], 5.3 [1.6, 9.0], 2.5 [2.0, 3.0]). Social determinants may not only influence physical health but also have an impact on psychological well-being. This impact may be altered by levels of emotional support and FMD.
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Preventive medicine · Dec 2021
Re-evaluating Perinatal Group B Streptococcal screening in Israel - Is it time for a change in policy?
Group B streptococcal early-onset disease (EOGBSD) is a significant cause of morbidity and fatality in newborns. Current policy in Israel is risk-based management. Our aim was to re-evaluate the current screening policy for Group B Streptococcus (GBS), considering colonization and prevalence rates and costs estimates. ⋯ Universal culture-based screening was found to be 50% less costly than the current risk-based policy, and would have prevented 20.29 per 100,000 cases. Universal GBS culture-based screening was found to be more cost-effective, compared to the current policy and screening behaviors. Due to the clinical and economic benefits, we recommend that a change in policy should be considered.