Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Mar 2022
The relationship between cannabis use and legalization frameworks: A cross-sectional analysis using a nationally representative survey.
State policies related to cannabis have rapidly evolved but the impact of current legislative frameworks on usage is not well characterized. This study explored cannabis use patterns under different legalization statuses in the United States. The dataset included individuals from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey in 2017 and 2018. ⋯ Users were more likely to use non-smoking methods in the full legalization group compared to the limited medical use group (1.77, 95%CI:1.41-2.22). A greater proportion of users in the full legalization group reported medical usage than in the other two groups. Policymakers should consider these findings in order to allow for use while safeguarding public health.
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Preventive medicine · Mar 2022
Cannabis legalization and cannabis-involved pregnancy hospitalizations in Colorado.
The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the association between presence of recreational cannabis dispensaries and prevalence of cannabis-involved pregnancy hospitalizations in Colorado. This was a retrospective cohort study of pregnancy-related hospitalizations co-coded with cannabis diagnosis codes in the Colorado Hospital Association from January 1, 2011, through December 31, 2018 (recreational cannabis began January 1, 2014). Our primary outcome was cannabis-involved pregnancy hospitalizations per 10 k live births per county. ⋯ When comparing counties with different densities of baseline medical cannabis market, low and high exposure counties had fewer hospitalizations than those counties with no exposure (low: IRR 0.97, CI: 0.96-0.99; high: 0.98, CI: 0.96-0.99). In Colorado, there was more than a two-fold increase in cannabis-involved pregnancy hospitalizations between 2011 and 2018. Counties with no baseline exposure to medical cannabis had a greater increase than other counties, suggesting the recreational market may influence cannabis use among pregnant individuals.
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Preventive medicine · Mar 2022
Maternal smoking during pregnancy and intelligence quotient of offspring aged 18 and 30 years: Evidence from two birth cohorts in southern Brazil.
Maternal smoking during pregnancy causes several harmful effects, including deficits in the intelligence quotient (IQ), a measure associated with academic achievements and higher socioeconomic position. We aimed to measure the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring's IQ in two birth cohorts from Pelotas, Brazil. Data from the 1982 and 1993 birth cohorts were analyzed. ⋯ Neither cohort showed association with paternal smoking (negative controls) after adjustment. Breastfeeding's mediated effects accounted for 26.2% and 23.9% of the association in the 1982 and 1993 cohorts, respectively, while birth weight's accounted for 6.8% and 30.1%, respectively; indirect effects were not significant. The inverse association between maternal smoking and IQ and the lack of association with paternal smoking reinforces our findings of a negative association between exposure and outcome.
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Preventive medicine · Mar 2022
Forgoing healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic in Geneva, Switzerland - A cross-sectional population-based study.
Health systems around the world continue to navigate through operational challenges surfaced by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic; these have implications for access to healthcare. In this study, we estimate the prevalence and reasons for forgoing healthcare during the pandemic in Geneva, Switzerland; a country with a universal and mandatory private health insurance coverage. ⋯ Our paper highlights the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to healthcare and identifies population sub-groups at-risk for forgoing healthcare. These results necessitate public health efforts to ensure equitable and accessible healthcare as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
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Preventive medicine · Mar 2022
Decreases in smoking and vaping during COVID-19 stay-at-home orders among a cohort of young adults in the United States.
In Spring 2020, most US states and territories implemented stay-at-home orders to slow transmission of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV2, the cause of COVID-19. Little is known about the impact of stay-at-home orders on tobacco and nicotine use including among young adults. The current study examined participants (N = 1727) completing three recent survey waves from a longitudinal cohort of young adults recruited in 2010 from North Carolina and Virginia, USA: Wave 13 (Spring 2019), Wave 14 (Fall 2019), and Wave 15 (Spring 2020) to assess changes in cigarette and e-cigarette use. ⋯ However, when comparing tobacco use at Wave 15 to Wave 14, participants had 40% lower odds of reporting past 30-day cigarette use (p = 0.02) and 50% lower odds of reporting past 30-day e-cigarette use (p < 0.01). The current study provides initial evidence that young adults may have reduced their tobacco and nicotine use during the stay-at-home orders. However, more work is needed to determine the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tobacco use and cessation in this population.