American journal of preventive medicine
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In 2012, the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention's Research Prioritization Task Force (RPTF) released a series of Aspirational Goals (AGs) to decrease suicide deaths and attempts. The RPTF asked experts to summarize what was known about particular AGs and to propose research pathways that would help reach them. This manuscript describes what is known about the benefits of access to health care (AG8) and continuity of care (AG9) for individuals at risk for suicide. Research pathways are proposed to address limitations in current knowledge, particularly in U.S. healthcare-based research. ⋯ Evidence exists to support optimism regarding future suicide prevention, but knowledge is limited. Future research is needed on U.S. healthcare services and system enhancements to determine which of these approaches can provide empirical evidence for reducing suicide.
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The Research Prioritization Task Force of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention conducted a comprehensive literature review of suicide prevention/intervention trials to assess the quality of the scientific evidence. ⋯ There are many promising suicide prevention/intervention trials, but research findings are often inconclusive because of methodologic problems. Methodologic problems across systematic reviews include not conducting hand searches, not surveying gray literature, and being unable to aggregate data across studies. Methodologic problems with the scientific quality of the prevention/intervention trials include paucity of information on sample demographic characteristics, poorly defined outcomes, and excluding actively suicidal participants. Suggestions for ways to improve the quality of the systematic reviews and suicide preventions/interventions are provided.
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Follow-up services are an important component of a comprehensive, national strategy for suicide prevention. Increasing our knowledge of effective follow-up care has been identified as an Aspirational Goal by The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention's Research Prioritization Task Force. ⋯ This paper identifies several breakthroughs that would be helpful for advancing this area of research and describes a comprehensive research pathway for achieving both short- and long-term research objectives.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A randomized trial of Text2Quit: a text messaging program for smoking cessation.
Text messaging programs on mobile phones have shown some promise in helping people quit smoking. Text2Quit is an automated, personalized, interactive mobile health program that sends text messages to offer advice, support, and reminders about quitting smoking. ⋯ These results provide initial support for the relative efficacy of the Text2Quit program.
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The objective of this systematic review was to determine the costs, benefits, and overall economic value of communication campaigns that included mass media and distribution of specified health-related products at reduced price or free of charge. ⋯ Economic merits of the intervention could not be determined for health communication campaigns associated with use of recreational helmets, child car seats, and pedometers, primarily because available economic information and analyses were incomplete. There is some evidence that campaigns with free condom distribution to promote safer sex practices were cost-effective among high-risk populations and the cost per quit achieved in campaigns promoting tobacco cessation with nicotine replacement therapy products may translate to a cost per quality-adjusted life-year less than $50,000. Many interventions were publicly funded trials or programs, and the failure to properly evaluate their economic cost and benefit is a serious gap in the science and practice of public health.