American journal of preventive medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Clinical skills and self-efficacy after a curriculum on care for the underserved.
Despite calls for medical school curricula that address care for the underserved, published evaluations of such curricula are few and often do not assess clinical skills. This study assesses the changes in self-efficacy and clinical skills resulting from faculty-led or web-based curricula on care for the underserved. ⋯ Web-based and faculty-led curricula improve medical student self-efficacy and clinical skills. Results from specific self-efficacy and skill items facilitate targeted curricular improvement.
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Recent national surveys document racial and ethnic disparities in receipt of smoking-cessation advice. This study updates and expands prior analyses using survey data for 2005, and evaluates the association between smokers' race and ethnicity and three separate measures of healthcare-encounter-based tobacco interventions: screening, smoking-cessation advice, and use of smoking-cessation aids. ⋯ Despite progress in smokers' being advised to quit during healthcare encounters in the past 5 years, black and Hispanic smokers continue to be less likely than whites to receive and use tobacco-cessation interventions, even after control for socioeconomic and healthcare factors. Further actions are needed to understand and eliminate this disparity.
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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the U.S. However, little is known about the influence of childhood stressors on its occurrence. ⋯ Decades after they occur, adverse childhood experiences increase the risk of COPD. Because this increased risk is only partially mediated by cigarette smoking, other mechanisms by which ACEs may contribute to the occurrence of COPD merit consideration.
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Physical activity behavior is influenced by a person's physical environment, but few studies have used objective measures to study the influences of the physical environment on physical activity behavior in youth. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between selected neighborhood physical activity resources and physical activity levels in high school girls. ⋯ Multiple physical activity resources within a 0.75-mile street-network buffer around adolescent girls' homes are associated physical activity in those girls. Several types of resources are associated with vigorous physical activity and total activity in adolescent girls. Future studies should examine the temporal and causal relationships between the physical environment, physical activity, and health outcomes related to physical activity.