Preventive medicine
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Driving under the influence of cannabis is a growing public health concern among young people. This study assessed the prevalence of cannabis-impaired driving and its related sociodemographic, psychological, and knowledge-based correlates among Canadian adolescents. The sample for this study were drawn from the 2017 Ontario Student Health and Drug Use Survey (OSDUHS), consisting of high school students with valid driver's licenses (mean age = 16.8, SD = 0.71) who were asked about their driving behaviors, drug use, and attitudes regarding cannabis use (N = 1161). ⋯ Other correlates of driving after cannabis user were risky driving behaviors, including past-year texting and driving and driving after alcohol use. There are various correlates of driving under the influence of cannabis, including attitudes related to cannabis which may be amenable to intervention. Future efforts should continue to monitor the prevalence of cannabis-impaired driving in this population and determine whether changes in students' attitudes surrounding cannabis are linked to behavioural changes.
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Preventive medicine · Sep 2021
Supplemental nutrition assistance program 2009 expansion and cardiometabolic markers among low-income adults.
A 2009 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) policy change that expanded eligibility and increased benefit amounts has been associated with reduced food insecurity. This study tests the hypothesis that the SNAP policy change corresponds with improved stress- and nutrition-sensitive cardiometabolic markers. This study included non-pregnant participants aged 18-59 with annual family incomes ≤185% of the federal poverty guideline from the repeated cross-sectional NHANES study. ⋯ This study found less of an upward trend in hemoglobin A1c levels for young and middle aged adults and decreased total cholesterol for young adults. These results highlight the potential role of SNAP to prevent costly chronic conditions among low-income U. S. adults.
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Preventive medicine · Sep 2021
Associations between neighbourhood built characteristics and sedentary behaviours among Canadian men and women: findings from Alberta's Tomorrow Project.
Evidence of associations between neighbourhood built characteristics and sedentary behaviours is mixed. The study aim was to investigate the associations between objectively-derived neighbourhood built characteristics and self-reported sedentary behaviours among Canadian men and women. This study sourced survey data from Alberta's Tomorrow Project (2008; n = 14,785), in which sitting and motor vehicle travel times during the last 7 days was measured. ⋯ Among women, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index was negatively associated with sitting time. Interventions to reduce sedentary behaviours may need to target neighbourhoods that have built characteristics which might support these behaviours. More research is needed to disentangle the complex relationships between different neighbourhood built characteristics and specific types of sedentary behaviour.
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Preventive medicine · Sep 2021
Using big data to gauge effectiveness of breast cancer awareness month.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM) has been used for decades to increase awareness and screening for breast cancer, but its geographic reach and effectiveness is difficult to judge. Using Internet Search Interest (ISI) could allow for better evaluation of BCAM effects. Using Google Trends, we evaluated the ISI for "breast cancer" and "mammogram" for each state and metropolitan area from 2006 to 2019. ⋯ ISI suggests that BCAM is effective at increasing breast cancer related internet searches, with significant heterogeneity across states and metro areas. Google Trends is a publicly available free tool that can be used to assess penetrance of awareness campaigns in a time sensitive and location specific manner for future targeting of populations with low breast cancer awareness. Future research is needed to assess relationships between preventive outcomes and ISI scores.
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Preventive medicine · Sep 2021
Vulnerable patients forgo health care during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
During the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, access to health care was limited, and patients encountered important delays for scheduled appointments and care. Empirical data relying on patients' reports of forgoing health care are scarce. This study investigated Covid-19-related self-reports of forgoing health care in a sample of vulnerable outpatients in Geneva, Switzerland. ⋯ Forgoing health care was more frequent for younger patients, women, patients with a low level of education, and patients with a chronic disease (p < .001). There was no significant association between the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and forgoing health care (p = .983). As the decrease in routine management of patients might have important and unpredictable adverse health consequences, avoiding delayed health care is crucial.