Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Jul 2023
A healthier retail food environment around the home is associated with longer duration of weight-loss maintenance among successful weight-loss maintainers.
Few studies have examined associations between the retail food environment and weight maintenance. This study examined the residential Retail Food Environment Index (RFEI) of weight loss maintainers and associations with weight maintenance duration, perceived effort and difficulty managing weight, and coping and monitoring strategies. Participants were 6947 members of the WW Success Registry (enrolled January 2018-February 2020), a nationwide (United States) convenience sample of individuals who lost weight using Weight Watchers (WW) and maintained a ≥ 9.1 kg weight loss for ≥1 year (Mean 24.7 kg loss for 3.4 years). ⋯ Compared to individuals living in the healthiest food environments (RFEI<1.6), those in the least healthy food environments (RFEI ≥4.0) maintained weight loss for 0.5 years less (3.2 vs 3.7 years; 95% CI between-group difference = 0.20, 0.80), reported statistically higher scores but not clinically relevant differences on perceived effort (4.6 vs. 4.5; 95% between-group difference = 0.01, 0.21) and difficulty managing their weight (3.1 vs. 3.0; 95% CI between-group difference = 0.01, 0.17) and practice of self-monitoring (2.7 vs. 2.6; 95% CI between-group difference = 0.01, 0.14). No differences in psychological coping were observed. Weight loss maintainers living in the least healthy retail food environments maintained weight loss for a shorter duration compared to those in the healthiest food environments.
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Preventive medicine · Jul 2023
Racial disparities in cascade testing for cancer predisposition genes.
We sought to determine whether there are racial disparities in cascade testing rates and whether providing testing at no-charge impacts rates in Black and White at-risk-relatives (ARR). Probands with a pathogenic/likely pathogenic germline variant in a cancer predisposition gene were identified up to one year before and up to one year after cascade testing became no-charge in 2017. Cascade testing rates were measured as the proportion of probands who had at least one ARR obtain genetic testing through one commercial laboratory. ⋯ Rates of an ARR undergoing cascade testing were low overall, and significantly lower in Black versus White probands. The magnitude of difference in cascade testing rates between Blacks and Whites did not significantly change with no-charge testing. Barriers to cascade testing in all populations should be explored in order to maximize the benefits of genetic testing for both treatment and prevention of cancer.
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Preventive medicine · Jul 2023
Application value of structured psychological nursing combined group health education in blood purification patients: Assisted by the purification of a nanofiber composite.
To explore the research value of structured psychological nursing combined with group health education in patients with blood purification. From May 2020 to March 2022, 96 pure-blood patients in the hospital were selected and divided into research group and control group according to simple random classification, with 48 patients in each group. ⋯ The disease cognitive ability, negative emotions, blood purification adequacy rate, nutritional status qualification rate and complication rate of the two groups before and after intervention were counted. (1) The number of disease points with unclear status in the study group after intervention was 10.39 ± 1.87, complications were 13.88 ± 2.27, lack of disease information was 12.36 ± 2.16, and unpredictability was 9.58 ± 1.38, which were lower than 13.12 ± 2.53, 17.56 ± 2.53, 15.83 ± 3.0411.67 ± 1.71; (2) After the intervention, the values of SDS of 40.77 ± 3.69 and SAS of 41.52 ± 4.06 were lower than those of 45.82 ± 5.01 and 46.35 ± 4.81 in the control group. (3) The blood adequacy rate of the study group was 91.67%, and the nutritional qualification rate was 93.75%, and the data of both groups were higher than that of 77.08% and 79.17% of the control group. (4) The incidence of complications in the study group was 4.17%, and the control group was 16.67%. Group health education and structured psychological care can effectively alleviate patients' negative emotions and deepen their awareness of diseases, thereby improving blood purification rate and nutrient absorption.
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When the body damages its own tissues in response to an infection, sepsis develops. Medical treatments are limited. It's important to understand the molecular mechanism behind sepsis pathogenesis and identify potential molecular treatment targets. ⋯ In the end, ANKRD22 and VNN1 were singled out as crucial genes. This study used WGCNA to investigate sepsis-associated susceptibility modules and genes. Our study identified two modules and two key genes as essential components in sepsis etiology, which may improve our understanding of its molecular mechanisms.
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Preventive medicine · Jul 2023
Political variations in pandemic lifestyles and COVID-19 vaccination by age cohort in the United States.
While recent scholarship suggests that political affiliation is a robust predictor of pandemic behaviors and COVID-19 vaccination status, research has yet to examine whether the impact of political affiliation on these outcomes vary by age. Drawing on health lifestyles theory, we contribute to the social epidemiology of infectious disease behaviors by testing whether the impact of political affiliation on risky pandemic health lifestyles and COVID vaccination varies by age cohort. We employ data collected from the 2021 Crime, Health, and Politics Survey (CHAPS), a national study of adults from the United States, to formally assess this understudied association. ⋯ Further, the impact of political affiliation on vaccination status varied by age cohort, such that the impact of political affiliation was stronger among the oldest adults in our sample. Our analyses contribute to the growing study of politics and health lifestyles by challenging theoretical perspectives and cultural narratives that claim that older adults are less swayed by political influence when it comes to healthcare decisions. Our results help better our understanding of the ways in which political discourse shapes adopting public health recommendations.