Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Jun 2021
Combustible and electronic cigarette use and insufficient sleep among U.S. high school students.
The study aimed to investigate the relationships between current exclusive e-cigarette use, exclusive combustible cigarette smoking, and dual use of e-cigarettes and combustible cigarettes, and insufficient sleep among U. S. adolescents. We conducted a secondary data analysis of the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey including 11,296 U. ⋯ When comparing current use groups, exclusive e-cigarette users were at 3.20 increased odds (95%CI = 1.65-6.22) and dual-product users were at 3.26 increased odds (95%CI = 1.51-7.03) to report insufficient sleep <8 h/night when compared with exclusive combustible cigarette smokers after covariate adjustment. Dual-product users were 1.89 times more likely (95%CI = 1.01-3.51) to report insufficient sleep <7 h/night when compared with exclusive combustible cigarette smokers. School-based prevention efforts for tobacco use may promote sufficient sleep in youth.
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Preventive medicine · Jun 2021
Pre-and postnatal maternal smoking and offspring smoking trajectories: Evidence from a 20-year birth cohort.
Maternal smoking is associated with increased risk of smoking in the offspring. However, it remains unclear whether this association depends on the timing of exposure to maternal smoking. We investigated the association between prenatal and/or postnatal maternal smoking and offspring smoking during adolescence. ⋯ We also found that only youth whose mothers were persistent smokers had an increased risk of late-onset smoking. Regardless of timing, offspring exposure to maternal smoking is associated with increased risk of smoking during adolescence. More research is needed on how to create effective smoking cessation campaigns that span preconception, prenatal, and postnatal periods to help prevent intergenerational transmission of smoking behaviors.
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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
Influenza vaccine community outreach: Leveraging an interprofessional healthcare student workforce to immunize marginalized populations.
Vulnerable populations such as the uninsured, unemployed, and unhoused face significant morbidity and mortality from influenza but are less likely to receive the annual vaccine and have limited access to medical care. We describe an interprofessional, student-run vaccine outreach program (VOP) in Davidson County, Tennessee that lowers barriers to vaccination through free vaccination events in nontraditional community locations. We provide this framework as a model to expand novel, seasonal, or outbreak-oriented vaccine outreach to resource-poor populations. ⋯ The VOP can be adapted to meet community needs, funding, and volunteer interest. The VOP model may be applicable to a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, especially since the economic impact of COVID-19 has increased unemployment rates and housing instability. Healthcare students serve as an eager, underutilized resource who can be leveraged to disseminate vaccines to individuals with limited access to care.
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Preventive medicine · Jun 2021
Increasing knowledge on dementia risk reduction in the general population: Results of a public awareness campaign.
Strategies to reduce dementia risk are needed to minimize the burden of this growing public health concern. Most individuals are not aware that dementia risk reduction is possible, let alone how this could be achieved. Health education, such as public awareness campaigns on the topic of dementia risk reduction, can meet this need. ⋯ More than half (54%) also believed that they lacked the necessary knowledge to make brain-healthy behavior changes. In conclusion, effective public awareness campaigns on the topic of dementia risk reduction are feasible and timely, given the state of the evidence. Special efforts need to be made to develop effective campaigns, tailored towards low-educated individuals.