American journal of preventive medicine
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Individuals with obesity are vulnerable to low rates of preventive health screening. Veterans with obesity seeking bariatric surgery are also hypothesized to have gaps in preventive health screening. Evaluation in a multidisciplinary bariatric surgery clinic is a point of interaction with the healthcare system that could facilitate improvements in screening. ⋯ Rates of preventive health screening in Veterans with obesity are low. A multidisciplinary bariatric surgery clinic is an opportunity to improve preventive health screening in Veterans referred for bariatric surgery.
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Lower perceived risk is a well-established risk factor for initiating substance use behaviors and an integral component of many health behavior theories. Established literature has shown that many substance use behaviors are more prevalent among individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual than among those who identify as heterosexual. However, potential differences in perceived risk by sexual identity among individuals with no lifetime use have not been well characterized to date. ⋯ This novel investigation among never users provides evidence that lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults perceive significantly lower risks associated with multiple substance use behaviors than heterosexual adults, which may indicate important sexual identity differences in susceptibility to substance use initiation.
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The main objective of this study was to test the longer-term and differential efficacy of a mobile phone‒based life-skills training program designed to prevent substance use among adolescents. ⋯ An automated mobile phone‒based life-skills training program produced longer-term effectiveness in preventing tobacco smoking and cannabis use, whereas no effects were observed for problem drinking. These results suggest that digitally delivered life-skills training programs are similarly effective and are an easy-to-implement alternative to training conducted within a school curriculum.
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Little is known about how the drivers of COVID-19 vaccination vary across the U.S. To inform vaccination outreach efforts, this study explores geographic variation in correlates of COVID-19 nonvaccination among adults. ⋯ Contributors to nonvaccination showed substantial geographic heterogeneity. Strategies to improve COVID-19 vaccination uptake may need to be tailored regionally.