Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Nov 2022
Social participation and mild cognitive impairment in low- and middle-income countries.
Social participation may theoretically decrease risk for mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, to date, no study has specifically investigated the association between social participation and MCI in LMICs, while the mediating role of loneliness is unknown. Thus, we investigated this association in a sample of adults aged ≥50 years from six low- and middle-income countries (LMICs; China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa) using nationally representative datasets. ⋯ Loneliness only explained 3.0% of the association. Greater levels of social participation were associated with a reduced odds for MCI, and this was not largely explained by loneliness. It may be prudent to implement interventions in LMICs to increase levels of social participation to aid in the prevention of MCI and ultimately dementia.
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Preventive medicine · Nov 2022
State-level unemployment and negative emotions throughout the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States.
Although prior research has assessed public mental health in the U. S. throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, it is unclear how area-level unemployment impacted psychological well-being; moreover, studies that examine potential effect heterogeneity of the impact of area-level unemployment on well-being by employment status are lacking. To address these shortcomings, this study utilized data from Gallup's repeated cross-sectional, nationally representative COVID-19 web survey collected between April 2020 and July 2021 (n = 132,971). ⋯ For sadness, worry, and stress, associations were strongest among full-time employed and retired individuals, and weakest among unemployed respondents and homemakers. Moreover, there was some evidence that state-level unemployment was negatively associated with the experience of anger in the early stages of the pandemic, and positively in its later stages. In sum, these findings suggest that Americans' emotional experience during the COVID-19 pandemic was considerably impacted by the state of the economy, highlighting the need for risk-buffering social policies.
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Preventive medicine · Nov 2022
Cardiovascular mortality risk prediction using objectively measured physical activity phenotypes in NHANES 2003-2006.
Increased physical activity (PA) has been associated with a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality. However, most previous studies use self-reported PA instead of objectively measured PA assessed by wearable accelerometers. To the best of our knowledge, there have not been studies that quantified the univariate and multivariate ability of objectively measured PA summaries to predict the risk of CVD mortality. ⋯ The addition of PA measures to the best traditional model was significantly better at predicting CVD mortality (P < 0.001). Accelerometer-derived PA measures have excellent cardiovascular mortality prediction performance. Wearable accelerometers have a potential for assessment of individuals' CVD mortality risks.
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Preventive medicine · Nov 2022
The association between vacant housing demolition and safety and health in Baltimore, MD.
We measured the association between vacant housing demolitions and changes in crime and emergency department (ED) visits in Baltimore, MD. We included 646 block groups in Baltimore, 224 of which experienced at least one demolition from 2012 to 2019. The exposure was the number of demolitions completed in a block group during the previous quarter. ⋯ Demolitions were associated with a small decrease in total ED visits (difference = -0.068 per 1000 people from the previous quarter to the current quarter, 95% CI -0.119, -0.018) but no significant change in crime. For each demolition, the rate of total child ED visits was 0.452 lower compared to the previous quarter (95% CI -0.777, -0.127). Demolitions were associated with small decreases in adult injury-related ED visits in the short term.
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Preventive medicine · Nov 2022
Characterizing delayed care among US older adults by self-rated health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Previous studies showed that older adults with fair or poor self-rated health (SRH) were more likely to experience delayed care during the COVID-19 pandemic. We aim to understand delayed care patterns by SRH during the COVID-19 pandemic among US older adults. ⋯ The results suggest that utilizing SRH as a simple indicator may help researchers and clinicians understand similarities and differences in care needs for older adults during the pandemic. Targeted interventions that address differences in healthcare needs among older adults by SRH during the evolving pandemic may mitigate the negative impacts of delayed care.