American journal of preventive medicine
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Healthcare personnel influenza vaccination can reduce influenza illness and patient mortality. State laws are one tool promoting healthcare personnel influenza vaccination. ⋯ State laws moderate the effect of facility-level vaccination mandates and may help increase healthcare personnel influenza vaccination coverage in facilities with or without vaccination requirements.
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The association between peer crowd identification and substance use is well documented among adolescents, but less is known about substance use among young adult peer crowds. ⋯ Peer crowd identification is associated with substance use among young adults. These findings can help identify target populations for prevention and cessation interventions and inform intervention design and delivery.
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Weight management is an effective strategy for controlling chronic disease and maintaining physical health, and research on this topic has risen dramatically over the past four decades. The present systematic literature review aimed to identify existing evidence on the efficacy of mobile health technology in facilitating weight management behaviors, such as healthy food consumption and physical activity. ⋯ Mobile health apps are widely considered as satisfactory, easy to use, and helpful in the pursuit of weight loss goals by patients. The potential of mobile health apps in facilitating weight loss lies in their ability to increase treatment adherence through strategies such as self-monitoring. These findings indicate that satisfactory treatment adherence and consequent weight loss and maintenance are achieved in the presence of high levels of engagement with a mobile health app. The research quality assessment of RCTs reveals a great need for following international standards both when conducting and reporting research.
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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a food assistance program that helps Americans afford a healthy diet. However, its influence on children's weight status is unclear. This review examined the evidence of the relationship between SNAP participation and child weight. ⋯ SNAP participation may help boys maintain a healthy body weight but can be a contributing factor in being overweight or obese in girls who are long-term participants, or who are already overweight. Food security and participation in multiple food assistance programs may be important modifiers. These findings are relevant to policymakers who are considering reducing SNAP funding or restructuring the program. Further research that utilizes strong designs is needed.