Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Jan 2025
Heart failure and cardiomyopathy mortality trends and disparities among obese populations: A 20-year United States study.
Our study aimed to assess the heart failure/cardiomyopathy-related population-level mortality trends among patients with obesity in the United States and disparities across demographics. ⋯ Heart failure/cardiomyopathy mortality in individuals with comorbid obesity was rising. Males, African Americans, and individuals from rural regions had higher AAMR than their counterparts.
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Preventive medicine · Jan 2025
Health-related social needs screening, reporting, and assistance in a large health system.
National mandates require screening for and addressing health-related social needs (HRSNs) in healthcare settings. However, differences in HRSN screening process (i.e., completed screenings, screening results, documented offer of assistance, documented assistance request) have been reported by population subgroup. Knowledge of the most effective HRSN screening and intervention methods is limited. We sought to describe differences in completed HRSN screenings, screening results, and assistance request rates across patient and healthcare visit characteristics. ⋯ This study is one of the first to investigate various steps of a population-wide HRSN screening program. Our findings suggest that examining differences in HRSN screening process by population subgroup is key to addressing HRSNs through a health equity lens.
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Preventive medicine · Jan 2025
Procrastination and preventive health-care in the older U.S. population.
Maintaining health preventive behaviours in later life reduces the risk of non-communicable diseases. However, these behaviours often require effort and discipline to adopt and may be prone to procrastination. This study examined whether procrastination affected engagement in health preventive behaviours among older adults. ⋯ Procrastination may be a behavioral risk factor for maintaining optimal health in older adults. Given that procrastination is a potentially modifiable behaviour, interventions aimed at reducing procrastination, such as simplifying tasks or providing default appointment, could improve engagement in critical health preventive behaviours.