American journal of preventive medicine
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This study aims to determine if and how the age distribution of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections in women evolved from 2010 to 2017, given changes in sexual practices over this time. ⋯ Healthcare providers may want to consider this positivity rate age shift in Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae to inform prevention and control strategies, including considering the potential for increased risk in women aged 25-30 years.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Results of a Family-Based Intervention Promoting Healthy Weight Strategies in Overweight Hispanic Adolescents and Parents: An RCT.
Hispanic adolescents in the U.S. are disproportionately affected by overweight and obesity compared with their White, non-Hispanic counterparts. This study examines the efficacy of an evidence-based family intervention adapted to target obesity-related outcomes among Hispanic adolescents who were overweight/obese compared with prevention as usual. ⋯ This intervention was not effective in improving overweight/obesity-related outcomes in adolescents. The intervention was effective in improving parents' dietary intake and BMI; however, the effects were not sustained in the long term. Other intervention strategies (e.g., booster sessions, increased nutritional information) may be necessary to sustain beneficial effects and extend effects to adolescent participants.
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Severe hypertension (≥180 mmHg systolic or ≥110 mmHg diastolic) is associated with a twofold increase in the relative risk of death. At the authors' Federally Qualified Health Center in the Southeast, 39% of adults (n=8,695) had hypertension, and 3% (n=235) were severe. The purpose of this project was to lower blood pressure and improve the proportion of patients achieving the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality goal for blood pressure. ⋯ Multidisciplinary outreach and use of evidence-based guidelines (Eighth Joint National Committee) were associated with lower blood pressure in patients with severe hypertension.
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A better understanding of the lawful use of guns and the symbolic meaning of guns to gun owners is essential to bridge the divide in public opinion regarding policies to reduce gun violence in the U.S. ⋯ For most of the gun owners, gun ownership plays a practical role as a method of self-protection and has a symbolic association with freedom. Public health practitioners must develop novel communication strategies that avoid alienating gun owners by creating a perception that the ultimate aim is to take their guns away.
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As policies legalizing nonmedical marijuana have increased in states, understanding the implications of marijuana use among adolescents is increasingly important. This study uses nationally representative data to assess behavioral risk factors among students with different patterns of marijuana use. ⋯ Both established and nonestablished patterns of adolescent marijuana use are associated with a number of other risky behaviors. In addition to interventions focused on preventing youth initiation of marijuana, clinicians and public health professionals should consider interventions to help adolescents who have nonestablished use patterns to avoid continued, established use.