Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Mar 2022
The impact of health literacy on psychosocial and behavioural outcomes among people at low risk of cardiovascular disease.
This study aimed to explore the impact of health literacy on psychosocial and behavioural outcomes for people who were not at high risk of cardiovascular disease receiving a hypothetical blood pressure reading of 135/85 mmHg. We performed a secondary analysis of data from a national sample of Australians aged 40 to 50 years (n = 1318) recruited online. Health literacy was measured using the validated Newest Vital Sign (inadequate: 0-3; adequate: 4-6). ⋯ However, they were more willing to accept medication (MD:0.20; 95%CI 0.07-0.34; p = .004; d = 0.17). Participants with inadequate health literacy also perceived the condition to have fewer negative impacts on aspects of life and work than individuals with adequate health literacy, but reported greater negative emotion and more negative illness perceptions (all p < .001). Tailored communication and behaviour change support may be needed when communicating blood pressure information to people with lower health literacy and not at high risk of cardiovascular disease given the differential impacts on medication (increased willingness) and healthy exercise and diet behaviours (decreased willingness) observed in this study.
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The global confrontation with COVID-19 has not only diverted current healthcare resources to deal with the infection but has also resulted in increased resources in the areas of testing and screening, as well as educating most of the global public of the benefits of vaccination. When the COVID-19 pandemic eventually recedes, the opportunity must not be missed to ensure that these newly created resources are maintained and redeployed for use in testing and immunisation against other vaccine-preventable infectious diseases. A notable example is infection by human papillomavirus (HPV), the commonest sexually transmitted human virus and the leading cause of a variety of cancers in both men and women, such as cervical, head and neck, anal, vaginal, vulvar and penile cancers. ⋯ As the campaigns to control SARS-CoV-2, the eradication of HPV-induced cancers also relies on effective prevention and control programs. The lessons learned and the technical, logistical and human resources which have been established to combat COVID-19 by vaccination and testing must be applied to the eradication of other infections which affect the global population. This commentary summarizes the opportunities that the COVID-19 pandemic has created for HPV prevention and control, lists the already available tools for HPV control, and emphasizes the potential public health threats amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
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Preventive medicine · Mar 2022
Valuing the cross-sector benefits from improving youth health to drive investment in place-based preventive interventions in the US: A simulation modeling study.
Healthcare payment reform has not produced incentives for investing in place-based, or population-level, upstream preventive interventions. This article uses economic modeling to estimate the long-term benefits to different sectors associated with improvements in population health indicators in childhood. This information can motivate policymakers to invest in prevention and provide guidance for cross-sector contracting to align incentives for implementing place-based preventive interventions. ⋯ The median over a 10-year time horizon was $242 (range: $14 to $1357). Benefits at effect sizes of 0.20 were approximately double. Policymakers may be able to build will for additional investment based on these cross-sector returns and communities may be able to capture these cross-sector benefits through contracting to better align incentives for implementing and sustaining place-based preventive interventions.
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Preventive medicine · Mar 2022
Cross-substance patterns of alcohol, cigarette, and cannabis use initiation in Black and White adolescent girls.
Characterizing variations in the timing of alcohol, cigarette, and cannabis use onset both among and between Black and White youth can inform targeted prevention. The current study aimed to capture cross-substance initiation patterns in Black and White girls and characterize these patterns with respect to substance use related socioeconomic, neighborhood, family, community, and individual level factors. Data were drawn from interviews conducted at ages 8 through 17 in an urban sample of girls (n = 2172; 56.86% Black, 43.14% White). ⋯ Class differences centered around cannabis for Black girls (e.g., preceding or following cigarette use) and alcohol for White girls (e.g., (in)consistency over time in greater likelihood of initiation relative to cigarette and cannabis use). Several factors distinguishing the classes were common across race (e.g., externalizing behaviors, friends' cannabis use); some were specific to Black girls (e.g., intentions to smoke cigarettes) or White girls (e.g., primary caregiver problem drinking). Findings underscore the need to recognize a more complex picture than a high-risk/low-risk dichotomy for substance use initiation and to attend to nuanced differences in markers of risky onset pathways between Black and White girls.
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Preventive medicine · Mar 2022
An examination of physical activity guidelines and health-related quality of life among U.S. older adults.
Physical activity can help improve the poor health-related quality of life in older adult population. Although the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend both aerobic and muscle strengthening activities for adults, previous studies predominantly focused on aerobic activity with limited research on muscle strengthening activities. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the relationships between meeting physical activity guidelines (i.e., aerobic activity, muscle strengthening activity) and health-related quality of life in the older adult population. ⋯ Binomial logistic regression was used to examine the relationships between meeting physical activity guidelines and health-related quality of life while adjusting for key covariates (i.e., age, sex, race, education, marital status, employment status, income, body mass index, smoking, drinking, and comorbidities). Participants meeting both or aerobic activity guideline only had significantly lower odds of reporting all components of health-related quality of life (i.e., general health, mental health, physical health, activity limitation) than those who met neither guideline (OR = 0.37-0.58) and those who met muscle strengthening activity guideline only (OR = 0.34 - 0.74). Given the stronger positive association between aerobic activity and health-related quality of life than that between muscle strengthening activity and health-related quality of life, future research should focus on promoting aerobic activity to increase health-related quality of life among older people.