American journal of preventive medicine
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Observational Study
Community Health Centers' Performance in Cancer Screening and Prevention.
Little is known about what clinic-level factors differentiate community health centers that achieve high performance on cancer-preventive care metrics. This study aims to describe the longitudinal trends in the delivery of 3 cancer-preventive care metrics (cervical and colorectal cancer screenings and tobacco-cessation intervention) and define and compare community health centers with high cancer-preventive care performance with those with low cancer-preventive care performance. ⋯ Very few community health centers meet all Healthy People 2020 goals in cancer screenings and may struggle to achieve the 2030 goals. Very few indicators differentiated high performers from low performers.
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A total of 21 states have enacted laws that extend the types of firearm transfers that require the prospective purchaser to undergo a background check, often referred to as comprehensive background check laws. Utilizing a national representative survey of gun owners, this study estimates the proportion of firearm transfers that occur without background checks in states with and without these laws. ⋯ Fewer gun owners acquired their most recent firearm without a background check when the transfer occurred in a state with, relative to without, comprehensive background check laws. Private firearm sales that do not occur at traditional retail locations continue to be the type of sale least likely to have a background check.
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Discontinuation of long-term opioid therapy has increased in recent years, but whether this trend extends to patients with Alzheimer disease and related dementia remains unclear. ⋯ Discontinuation of long-term opioid therapy was consistently higher in patients with than in patients without Alzheimer disease and related dementia, with the gap between the 2 groups widening over time. The reasons for these differences and the risk-benefit of increased long-term opioid therapy discontinuation among patients with Alzheimer disease and related dementia warrant further investigation.
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Lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals have elevated suicide risk, but there is little information available about how this risk may vary by gender, age, and race/ethnicity. ⋯ In light of consistently elevated rates of suicide thoughts and behaviors, lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults may expressly benefit from enhanced prevention, identification, and treatment of suicide risk. Additional research is needed to assess the associations between sexual identity and suicide mortality as well as to understand the heterogeneity in suicide risk among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth, particularly by race/ethnicity.
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Alcohol use increases cancer risk, yet awareness of this association is low. Alcohol control policies have the potential to reduce alcohol-caused cancer morbidity and mortality. Research outside the U.S. has found awareness of the alcohol-cancer link to be associated with support for alcohol control policies. The purpose of this study is to estimate the prevalence of support for 3 communication-focused alcohol policies and examine how awareness of the alcohol-cancer link and drinking status are associated with policy support among U.S. residents. ⋯ Awareness of the alcohol-cancer link was associated with policy support. Increasing public awareness of the alcohol-cancer link may increase support for alcohol control policies.