Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Nov 2022
Wildfire smoke and symptoms affecting mental health among adults in the U.S. state of Oregon.
The physical and mental health impacts of wildfires are wide-ranging. We assessed associations between exposure to wildfire smoke and self-reported symptoms affecting mental health among adults living in Oregon. We linked by interview date and county of residence survey responses from 5807 adults who responded to the 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System's depression and anxiety module with smoke plume density, a proxy for wildfires and wildfire smoke exposure. ⋯ Medium or heavy smoke for 6 or more weeks in the past year, compared to ≤4 weeks in the past year, was associated with a 30% higher prevalence of being unable to stop or control worrying more than half the time during the past two weeks (prevalence ratio: 1.30, 95% confidence interval: 1.03, 1.65). Among adults in Oregon, selected symptoms affecting mental health were associated with extended durations of medium and heavy smoke. These findings highlight the burden of such symptoms among adults living in communities affected by wildfires and wildfire smoke.
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Preventive medicine · Nov 2022
Association of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke at home and risk of mortality among US never smokers by race/ethnicity, education, and income.
Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) increases the risk of mortality among nonsmokers. Yet, few studies have examined this association among racial/ethnic minorities or among people with less education or income. We assessed self-reported ETS exposure at home among never smoking participants (n = 110,945) of the 1991-2010 National Health Interview Surveys. ⋯ Relative to no ETS at home, every day exposure was associated with higher risk of all-cause mortality (HR = 1.33, 95%CI: 1.23, 1.45), with similar HRs observed across strata of education and income. HRs were similar among non-Hispanic Black (HR = 1.28, 95%CI: 1.08, 1.53) and non-Hispanic White adults (HR = 1.34, 95%CI: 1.21, 1.48) although somewhat higher among Hispanic adults (HR = 1.65, 95%CI: 1.29, 2.10; P for pairwise comparison = 0.04). ETS exposure at home is an important contributor to mortality across strata of race/ethnicity, education, and income in the US.
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Preventive medicine · Nov 2022
Curiosity, use, and perceptions of "tobacco-free nicotine" E-cigarettes among U.S. young adults.
This study determined whether young adults perceptions of how tobacco free nicotine (TFN) compared to tobacco-derived nicotine (TDN) were associated with curiosity to try or use TFN e-cigarettes. U. S. young adults aged 18-25 years (n = 1176) completed an online survey in October 2021. ⋯ Adjusted models did not show differences in perceptions between those who had tried TFN and those who were curious to try TFN. Young adults who were curious to try or had used TFN had more positive perceptions of TFN. As it is currently unclear whether synthetic nicotine carries the same health risks as TDN, ongoing surveillance of TFN uptake among young adults is warranted.
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Preventive medicine · Nov 2022
Associations of connectedness and parental behaviors with adolescent physical activity and mental health during COVID-19: A mediation analysis using the 2021 adolescent behaviors and experiences survey.
The purpose of this study was to examine the associations of connectedness and parental behaviors with adolescent physical activity (PA) and mental health during COVID-19. Participants were a representative sample of US high school students who completed the 2021 Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES; N = 7705; 50.4% female). ABES was completed online during the spring of 2021 and data were analyzed during the spring of 2022. ⋯ Parental emotional abuse directly associated with poorer mental health in Model 1 (β = -0.43, p < 0.001). Standardized indirect effects to better mental health mediated through higher PA were observed for school connectedness (IE = 0.017, p < 0.001) and virtual connectedness (IE = 0.007, p < 0.001) and indirect effects to lower PA mediated through poorer mental health were observed for parental emotional abuse (IE = -0.050, p < 0.001). Perceptions of school and virtual connectedness and parental emotional abuse both directly and indirectly impacted adolescent PA and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Preventive medicine · Nov 2022
Body image distortion among Brazilian and Portuguese women with children: A comparative study between the ELSA-Brasil and Generation XXI cohorts.
Solid evidence indicates that body image distortion is associated with various physical and mental health problems in women (e.g. Lee and Lee, 2016; Mölbert et al., 2017; Raj and Ploriya, 2020; Sagar, 2005; Shin et al., 2015). Furthermore, body image has been shown to vary according to life context and stage, particularly after a woman has had children. ⋯ In cases of distorted self-perception, the likelihood of the Brazilian women perceiving themselves as being heavier was greater if they had had cancer, whereas the Portuguese women were less likely to perceive themselves as heavier when they had less schooling. Perceiving themselves as thinner than they actually are, was associated with poorer self-perception of their own state of health in the Brazilian women and with poorer schooling in both the Brazilian and Portuguese women. The present findings contribute towards improving understanding of the influence of body image distortion on the health and wellbeing of Brazilian and Portuguese women, possibly leading to the implementation of health-promoting policies in both countries.