American journal of preventive medicine
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Texting Older Sisters to Step to Manage Obesity in Older Black Women: A Feasibility Study.
Black women are disproportionately classified as overweight or obese and physically inactive. Social support and culturally relevant and age-appropriate physical active interventions are needed to reduce inactivity and to prevent weight gain among this group. Mobile-health text messages have shown to be an acceptable, feasible and interactive way to promote physical activity among older Black women. ⋯ Findings suggest that a mobile health physical activity intervention that uses self-monitoring techniques in conjunction with motivational cues, is an acceptable delivery method and a promising strategy to increase physical activity behaviors among this population, which is feasible, potentially efficacious, and low cost.
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Observational Study
Diet Quality and the Gut Microbiota in Women Living in Alabama.
The gut microbiota is associated with obesity and modulated by individual dietary components. However, the relationships between diet quality and the gut microbiota and their potential interactions with weight status in diverse populations are not well understood. This study examined the associations between overall diet quality, weight status, and the gut microbiota in a racially balanced sample of adult females. ⋯ Diet quality measured by the HEI was associated with alpha diversity of the gut microbiota among adult females. Abundances of phyla that have been linked with weight status (Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes) were positively associated with diet quality.
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Evidence suggests that U.S. dentists prescribe opioids excessively. There are limited national data on recent trends in opioid prescriptions by U.S. dentists. In this study, we examined trends in opioid prescribing by general dentists and dental specialists in the U.S. from 2012 to 2019. ⋯ Following national trends, dentists became more conservative in prescribing opioids. A greater magnitude of decline occurred post 2016 following the implementation of strategies aimed to further regulate opioid prescribing. Understanding the factors that influence prescribing trends can aid in development of tailored resources to encourage and support a conservative approach by dentists, to prescribing opioids.
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Whether diabetes is associated with hypertension risk remains controversial, potentially owing to the confounding effect of lifestyle. This study aims to analyze the association between diabetes and hypertension in adults and the mediating impacts of lifestyle. ⋯ Diabetes is positively and largely independently associated with hypertension risk. Yet, a healthy lifestyle can attenuate this association.
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In this study, we examined the association between telemedicine use before a disaster and utilization of emergency or hospital services for ambulatory care sensitive conditions post-disaster. ⋯ Telemedicine familiarity pre-fire was associated with decreased inpatient and emergency department utilization for certain ambulatory care sensitive conditions for 1-year post-fire. These results suggest a role for telemedicine in preventing unnecessary emergency and hospital utilization following disasters.