Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Jun 2005
A population-based estimate of the prevalence of behavioral risk factors among adult cancer survivors and noncancer controls.
Behavioral risk factors have significant biomedical and psychosocial effects for cancer survivors. Representative data on the prevalence of a wide range of behavioral risk factors among cancer survivors are lacking. ⋯ This study provides benchmark estimates of the prevalence of multiple cancer-related behavioral risk factors among U.S. cancer survivors. The results reveal considerable opportunities for behavioral risk factor interventions among cancer survivors. We discuss implications of the results and outline directions for future research.
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Preventive medicine · Jun 2005
Do parents' perceptions of risks protect children engaged in farm work?
The purpose was to describe farm parents' perceptions of risks on their farms and determine if these perceptions were associated with (1) using of the North American Guidelines for Children's Agricultural Tasks (NAGCAT) and (2) making NAGCAT-recommended changes to enhance the safety of farm work for their children. ⋯ Even with voluntary safety guidelines in hand and the general perception of farming as a dangerous occupation, many farm parents were not actively using NAGCAT to reduce the exposure of their children to hazardous farm work. Together with the continuing morbidity and mortality among farm children, this suggests that voluntary guidelines alone may not be sufficient to protect children working on farms.
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Preventive medicine · May 2005
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyModulation of natural killer cell activity by supplementation of fermented milk containing Lactobacillus casei in habitual smokers.
Habitual smoking significantly reduces natural killer (NK) cell activity. To clarify whether the intake of fermented milk containing lactic acid bacteria restores NK cell activity in habitual smokers, we conducted a placebo-controlled double-blind test. ⋯ Intake of fermented milk containing lactic acid bacteria was considered effective for restoring the NK cell activity of habitual smokers.
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Preventive medicine · May 2005
Prevention and health promotion in clinical practice: the views of general practitioners in Europe.
Disease prevention and health promotion are important tasks in the daily practice of all general practitioners (GPs). The objective of this study was to explore the knowledge and attitudes of European GPs in implementing evidence-based health promotion and disease prevention recommendations in primary care, to describe GPs' perceived barriers to implementing these recommendations and to assess how GPs' own health behaviors affect their work with their patients. ⋯ Significant gaps between GP's knowledge and practices persist in the use of evidence-based recommendations for health promotion and disease prevention in primary care.
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This paper estimates the rates of lifetime nonreceipt of influenza immunization among elderly and examines variations in the lifetime nonreceipt of immunization by gender, race and ethnic group, socioeconomic status, access to health care, and health status. ⋯ Future campaigns to increase immunization rates should be tailored to target this hard-to-reach group of individuals.