American journal of preventive medicine
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Homicide is a leading cause of death across the U.S., and it disproportionally affects Blacks in urban areas. This study fills a gap in the literature by examining homicide mortality and Black-White homicide disparities in the 30 biggest U.S. cities and for the entire U.S. across 2 time periods (2008-2012 and 2013-2017). ⋯ Homicide mortality increased slightly across the U.S. and most cities from 2008 to 2017. The majority of cities faced high homicide mortality rates and large inequities. Black-White disparities in homicide remain substantial at the national and city levels. These findings can inform city leaders in their efforts to address the homicide, violence, and racial inequities associated with them through the implementation of policies and programs.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effectiveness of Minimal Contact Interventions: An RCT.
Around 23% of adults worldwide are insufficiently active. Wearable devices paired with virtual coaching software could increase physical activity. The effectiveness of 3 minimal contact interventions (paper-based physical activity diaries, activity trackers, and activity trackers coupled with virtual coaching) in increasing physical activity energy expenditure and cardiorespiratory fitness were compared over 12 weeks among inactive adults. ⋯ Coupling activity trackers with virtual coaching may facilitate increases in physical activity energy expenditure compared with a traditional paper‒based physical activity diary intervention and improve some secondary outcomes compared with a traditional paper‒based physical activity diary intervention or no intervention.
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This study examines the separate and combined relationships between occupational physical activity (characterized by nonaerobic activities such as heavy lifting and prolonged standing) and leisure time physical activity on future diabetes incidence. ⋯ This study suggests that physical activity recommendations exclusively recommending increased physical activity may only be effective for the sedentary part of the working population in reducing diabetes risk. Findings await confirmation in comparable prospective studies in other populations.
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Given the dangers posed by tobacco use and tobacco smoke exposure, pediatricians should address tobacco use and exposure with patients and parents at every opportunity, but this is not consistently done in practice. One reason may be that many medical residents do not receive education on how to address tobacco use and tobacco smoke exposure with patients and their parents. In a 2012 survey of U. ⋯ Moreover, a minority of the residents assessed themselves as effective at counseling parents (19%) or adolescents (23%), and their perceived effectiveness was related to small group learning and active learning workshops, modalities that were infrequently implemented in training. Respondents also reported infrequent use of electronic health record prompts regarding tobacco and the absence of prompts about critical issues (e.g., addressing tobacco smoke exposure in vehicles or other settings or offering treatment or referrals to parents who smoke). This paper provides recommendations about augmenting pediatric resident training in simple ways.
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Although there is evidence of disparities in breast cancer screening for women with mental illness in the U.S., there is a dearth of studies examining this association in the United Kingdom, where health care is provided free at the point of access. This population-based study examines the influence of mental illness, as assessed by the uptake of psychotropic medications, on breast screening uptake in the United Kingdom. ⋯ These findings confirm the existence of significant disparities in breast screening uptake for women with mental illness. Targeted interventions are warranted to prevent avoidable breast cancer deaths in these individuals, especially given the increasing prevalence of mental illness.