Preventive medicine
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Many adults accumulate considerable time in screen-based behaviours, some of which have been associated with negative physical and psychological health outcomes. The aims of this study were to characterise contemporary patterns of screen-based behaviours and describe their temporal trends by global region, age, sex and education. Data covering the period 2012-2019 were obtained in aggregated form from GWI (previously known as Global Web Index), a global market research company. ⋯ Internationally, daily screen time increased from approximately 9 h in 2012 to 11 h in 2019, with notable increases in mobile phone use (approx. 2 h), online television viewing (approx. 37 min) and games console use (approx. 26 min). Differences were seen in the duration of time spent engaging in screen-based behaviours across regions and between socio-demographic groups, with Latin America, the Middle East and Africa and younger age groups seeing greater increases in overall screen time. The findings have important implications for health behaviour surveillance and for research exploring the links between screen-based behaviours and health.
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An increasing body of evidence supports the validity of self-sampling as an alternative to clinician collection for primary Human Papillomavirus (HPV) screening. Self-sampling effectively reaches underscreened women and can be a powerful strategy in low- and high-resource settings for all target ages. This work aims to summarize the current use of HPV self-sampling worldwide. ⋯ The global use of self-sampling is likely to increase in the coming years. COVID-19's pandemic has prompted efforts to accelerate HPV self-sampling introduction globally, and it is now considered a key element in scaling up screening coverage. The information generated by the early experiences can be beneficial for decision-making in both new and existing programs.
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Preventive medicine · Jan 2022
Preventing opioid use disorder and misuse in asymptomatic primary care patients: A call for relevant primary prevention intervention research.
To contribute to the national effort to combat the opioid crisis, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) commissioned a scoping review to describe the state of evidence for the primary prevention of opioid misuse or use disorder in persons not yet prescribed opioids or not yet misusing opioids. (Patnode et al., 2021) As found by the scoping review, sparse direct evidence focusing on primary care-relevant prevention interventions exists. The purpose of the current commentary is to describe the relevant research needed to effectively inform primary care providers and patients about how to reduce the risk for future opioid use disorder and opioid misuse and improve health outcomes in those not yet exposed to or misusing opioid medications.
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Preventive medicine · Jan 2022
Density of alcohol-selling outlets and prices are associated with frequent binge drinking in Mexico.
Despite the increase in the prevalence of binge drinking in Mexico studies focus on sociodemographic factors and little attention is paid on contextual factors. We estimated the association between density of alcohol outlets, price of alcoholic beverages, and binge drinking in Mexico among the population aged 12 to 65 years old who consumed alcohol during the last 12 months. Data come from different sources for alcohol consumption; availability of bar, nightclubs, saloons and stores that sell alcohol and prices of alcoholic beverages. ⋯ Living in areas with a high density of alcohol-selling outlets was associated with a higher risk of binge drinking, at least once a year (RR 1.0, 95% CI: 1.0,1.1) at least once a month (RR 1.3, 95% CI: 1.2, 1.4) and weekly (RR 1.9, 95% CI: 1.6, 2.2). Living in States with lower alcohol prices was marginally associated to binge drinking at least once a year (RR 1.0, 95% CI: 1.0, 1.1) but more strongly associated to monthly (RR 1.2, 95% CI: 1.2, 1.4) and weekly binge drinking (RR 1.4, 95% CI: 1.3, 1.6). Along with strong fiscal policies, the implementation of spatial restrictions to the number of alcohol-selling outlets could help decrease binge drinking.
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Preventive medicine · Jan 2022
Mediation analysis of social isolation and mortality by health behaviors.
Social isolation associated with greater risk for mortality is well documented, however, it is unclear whether and the extent to which social isolation influences mortality through health behaviors. We therefore assessed the mediation between social isolation and mortality by health behaviors. 15,000 adults ages 18-89 years in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in the US (NHANES III) (1988-1994) were followed through 2015. The outcomes of overall and cause-specific mortality were assessed by linking with the National Death Index. ⋯ The associations between social isolation and CVD or other specific mortality were partly (about one-fifth) explained by unhealthy behaviors. In conclusion, the extent to which social isolation and mortality was mediated by healthy behaviors varies by causes of death. Given mounting evidence that social isolation is increasing in society, it is important to add social isolation to the list of public health concerns in addition to conventional risk factors.