Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Jun 2021
Disparities in the distribution of COVID-19 testing sites in black and Latino areas in new York City.
In New York City (NYC), there are disproportionately more cases and deaths from COVID-19 for Blacks and Latinos compared to Whites. Using data from the NYC coronavirus data repository and the 2018 American Community Survey 5-year census estimates, we examined the distribution of testing sites across NYC areas (zip code tabulation areas) by race in May 2020. ArcGIS was used to create majority race zip code-level maps showing the distribution of testing sites on May 1, 2020 and May 17, 2020 in NYC. t-tests were used to determine whether significant differences existed in the number of testing sites by the majority race of zip codes. ⋯ Black (M = 1257.7) and Latino (M = 1662.3) areas had significantly more COVID-19 cases (p < 0.05) compared to White areas. Nonetheless, White (n = 70; 38.9%) areas had most of the 180 testing sites on May 17, 2020, compared to Black (n = 31;17.2%) and Latino (n = 31;17.2%) areas. Due to the socio-economic and underlying health conditions that may place Blacks and Latinos at high risk for COVID-19, it is imperative that access to testing is improved for vulnerable groups.
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Preventive medicine · Jun 2021
Disparities in maternal influenza immunization among women in rural and urban areas of the United States.
Pregnant women and their infants are at high risk of influenza-associated complications. Although maternal immunization offers optimal protection for both, immunization rates remain low in the U. S. ⋯ The greatest difference in rural vs. urban immunization rates were observed for Hispanic women and women with no health insurance. Our results indicate that pregnant women residing in rural communities have lower rates of immunization. To prevent maternal and infant health disparities, it is important to better understand the barriers to maternal immunization along with efforts to overcome them.
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Preventive medicine · Jun 2021
Prediction of cardiovascular events with traditional risk equations and total plaque area of carotid atherosclerosis: The Arteris Cardiovascular Outcome (ARCO) cohort study.
A large number of cardiovascular events occur in seemingly healthy individuals. Atherosclerosis imaging can improve the outcome and treatment regime of such subjects. We aim to assess the predictive value of atherosclerosis imaging beyond traditional risk calculators in subjects aged 40-65 years. ⋯ Model performance was statistically improved regarding model fit in all models using TPA and AA. Net reclassification improvement (NRI) for PROCAM and SCORE using TPA tertiles or AA age groups increased significantly between 30% to 48%. TPA and AA added prognostic information to conventional risk equations, supporting the assessment of ASCVD risk with carotid ultrasound in subjects aged 40-65 years.
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Preventive medicine · Jun 2021
A spatial analysis of the effect of neighborhood contexts on cumulative number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in U.S. Counties through October 20 2020.
COVID-19 has become a nationwide public health crisis in the United States and the number of COVID-19 cases is different by U. S. counties. Also, previous studies have reported that neighborhood contexts have an influence on health outcomes. ⋯ In conclusion, there exist geographical differences in cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in U. S. counties, which is influenced by various neighborhood contexts. Hence, these findings emphasize the need to take various neighborhood contexts into account when planning COVID-19 prevention.
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Preventive medicine · Jun 2021
Is the ongoing obesity epidemic partly explained by concurrent decline in cigarette smoking? Insights from a longitudinal population study. The Tromsø Study 1994-2016.
The increase of obesity coincides with a substantial decrease in cigarette smoking. We assessed post-cessation weight change and its contribution to the obesity epidemic in a general population in Norway. A total of 14,453 participants (52.6% women), aged 25-54 years in 1994, who attended at least two of four surveys in the Tromsø Study between 1994 and 2016, were included in the analysis. ⋯ The scenario where none quit smoking would imply a 13% reduction in BMI gain in the population, though substantial age-related differences were noted. We conclude that smoking cessation contributed to the increase in obesity in the population, but was probably not the most important factor. Public health interventions should continue to target smoking cessation, and also target obesity prevention.