American journal of preventive medicine
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In biomarker-driven clinical trials, translational strategies typically involve moving findings from animal experiments to human trials. Typically, the translation is static, using a fixed model derived from animal experiments for the duration of the trial. Bayesian designs, capable of incorporating information external to the experiment, provide a dynamic translational strategy. This article demonstrates an example of such a dynamic Bayesian strategy in a clinical trial. ⋯ A Bayesian design was effective in adaptively revising the dosing algorithm, resulting in a lower pill burden.
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The nutritional quality of restaurant foods in Canada is not monitored by government and limited research has evaluated the nutrient content of these foods. Given the increasing proportion of foods consumed outside the home, this study aims to assess levels of nutrients of public health concern in Canadian fast-food and sit-down restaurant menu items. ⋯ Levels of nutrients of concern in Canadian menu items are excessive among most food categories. As the frequency of eating out in restaurants rises, government policies to promote reformulation and increase transparency of the nutritional content of these items are required to reduce their negative impact on public health.
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Differences in Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Among U.S. Women by Nativity and Family History.
System-level factors such as poor access to health services can help explain differential uptake in breast and cervical cancer screening between U.S.- and foreign-born women. However, few studies have explored the roles of family history and perceived risk of these cancers on screening rates. To address these gaps, this study investigates whether a family history of cancer, perceived risk, and system-level factors independently and additively predict differential screening rates of breast and cervical cancer between U.S.-born and foreign-born women living in the U.S. ⋯ These findings are consistent with previous work. Access and healthcare utilization were associated with screening uptake. However, differences in risk perception, family history of breast and cervical cancers, and screening uptake were found between U.S.- and foreign-born women.
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Structural racism has attracted increasing interest as an explanation for racial disparities in health, including differences in adiposity. Structural racism has been measured most often with single-indicator proxies (e.g., housing discrimination), which may leave important aspects of structural racism unaccounted for. This paper develops a multi-indicator scale measuring county structural racism in the U.S. and evaluates its association with BMI. ⋯ The results confirm structural racism as a latent construct and demonstrate that structural racism can be measured in U.S. counties using publicly available data with methods offering a strong conceptual underpinning and content validity. Further study is necessary to determine whether addressing structural racism may reduce BMI among blacks.