American journal of preventive medicine
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Environmental Noise Exposure and Mental Health: Evidence From a Population-Based Longitudinal Study.
Exposure to environmental noise from within homes has been associated with poor mental health. Existing evidence rests on cross-sectional studies prone to residual confounding, reverse causation, and small sample sizes, failing to adequately consider the causal nature of this relationship. Furthermore, few studies have examined the sociodemographic distribution of noise exposure at a country level. ⋯ The study provides strong evidence of a negative mental health effect of perceived residential noise, and the results have implications for healthy home design and urban planning. These findings should be validated with further studies that measure noise intensity and housing quality.
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It is unknown how U.S. adults' relative harm perceptions of E-cigarettes versus cigarettes and associated behaviors changed during the E-cigarette or vaping product use‒associated lung injury epidemic (late 2019) and COVID-19 pandemic (since early 2020). ⋯ Perceptions of E-cigarettes as more harmful than cigarettes increased sharply between 2019 and 2020. Increases in tobacco product use were potentially guided by product-specific relative harm perceptions because changes occurred primarily in individuals who perceived their preferred product as relatively less harmful, suggesting the need for accurate messaging of relative and absolute product risks.
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Transgender veterans have a high prevalence of substance use disorder and physical and mental-health comorbidities, which are associated with prescription opioid use and overdose risk. This study compares receipt of outpatient opioids, high-risk opioid prescribing, and opioid poisoning between transgender and cisgender (i.e., nontransgender) veterans. ⋯ Transgender veterans had a greater risk of being prescribed an outpatient opioid than cisgender veterans but did not have different risks of high-risk opioid prescribing.
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Post-stroke physical activity has widespread health benefits. Environmental exposures may shape post-stroke physical activity behavior. This study investigates the relationships between environmental exposures and post-stroke physical activity. ⋯ Environmental exposures may facilitate physical activity participation among stroke survivors. This study found that weather, neighborhood SES, and proximity to destinations for intellectual stimulation were associated with physical activity over and above individual factors.
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Women suffer from depression at higher rates than men. This difference is well established, although a consolidated explanation remains elusive. This study examines the role played by medications with depression or suicidality as a potential side effect in explaining the sex difference in depression. ⋯ Findings suggest a significant sex difference in pharmaceutical treatment and the potential consequences of pharmaceutical side effects on distress and depression. These results highlight the importance of pharmaceutical side effects in understanding health and health disparities.