Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2020
Widening disparities in cigarette smoking by race/ethnicity across education level in the United States.
Reducing tobacco use is an important public health objective. It is the largest preventable cause of death and disease, yet inequalities remain. This study examines combined educational and racial/ethnic disparities in the United States related to cigarette smoking for the three largest racial/ethnic groups (African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, and non-Hispanic Whites). ⋯ College graduates had the highest quit ratios for all racial/ethnic groups from 1992 to 2018, with quit ratios significantly increasing for Hispanics/Latinos and non-Hispanic Whites, but not African Americans. In conclusion, educational disparities in smoking have worsened over time, especially among African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos. Targeted tobacco control efforts could help reduce these disparities to meet public health objectives, although racial/ethnic disparities may persist regardless of educational attainment.
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2020
Exploring gender differences in the longitudinal association between bullying and risk behaviours with Body Mass Index among COMPASS youth in Canada.
The purpose of this study was to identify gender differences in the association between bullying and Body Mass Index (BMI) longitudinally. Longitudinal data (2013-2015) from 4510 youth (Ontario, Canada) were used to model BMI with consecutive bullying status prospectively, adjusting for previously identified gender-specific health risk behaviour latent classes. To assess for gender differences, these mixed-effects models were stratified by gender. ⋯ I. = 1.11, 2.29)] at follow-up. In contrast with previous literature that measured BMI during adulthood (i.e., years after school victimization), our study adds a unique contribution to the literature that across one year (while youth are still in secondary school), bullying is associated with higher odds of weight status and BMI among female and male youth. Since this increase occurs during secondary school, school-based programs aimed at decreasing youth bullying behaviours and addressing increases in BMI before youth leave school are of paramount importance.
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2020
A quality improvement collaborative to increase human papillomavirus vaccination rates in local health department clinics.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates are well below the Healthy People 2020 goal of 80%. Vaccinating in settings other than primary care, such as local health departments (LHDs), may help achieve higher HPV immunization rates. We tested the effect of a quality improvement (QI) collaborative to reduce missed opportunities (MOs) for HPV vaccine in LHDs. ⋯ This project shows that strategies effective in reducing MO for HPV vaccine in primary care settings are also effective in LHD settings. Training LHD staff on these strategies may help the U. S. approach national goals for HPV vaccine coverage.
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Children on Canadian farms are at high risk for fatal injury. Ongoing surveillance of these deaths is required to affirm recurrent patterns of injury, and to determine whether historical approaches to prevention have resulted in declines in the occurrence of these traumatic events. We analyzed epidemiological patterns and trends in the occurrence of fatal pediatric farm injuries over 23 years. ⋯ Our findings call into question the effectiveness of pediatric farm safety initiatives that primarily focus on education. Second, while CAIR fatality data are maintained, surveillance of hospitalized injuries has been disbanded and the fatality records require updating. Only by doing so will such surveillance findings provide comprehensive information to inform prevention.