American journal of preventive medicine
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Menthol cigarettes account for 25% of the market in the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration currently is considering regulatory action on tobacco products, including a ban on menthol cigarettes. With 39% of menthol smokers reporting that they would quit smoking if menthol cigarettes were banned, there is a need to better understand whether existing cessation programs, such as quitlines, are serving menthol smokers. ⋯ Quitlines appear to be adequately serving menthol smokers who call for help. Cessation outcomes for menthol smokers are comparable to nonmenthol smokers. However, if a menthol ban motivates many menthol smokers to quit, quitlines may have to increase their capacity to meet the increase in demand.
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Downtown Wilkes-Barre, a town of 40,000 residents in Northeast Pennsylvania, and the hub of a planned urban, suburban, and rural trail network, was the site of a number of changes to improve walkability during the Active Living by Design (ALbD) grant period. ⋯ The Bike-Ped Count illustrates patterns of bicycling and walking downtown and allows comparisons of bicycling and walking among locations, including different cities. In the future, counts will help show how ongoing changes to the downtown environment affect walking and bicycling.
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Increased attention has been focused on health disparities among racial/ethnic groups in the U.S. ⋯ Findings indicate overall decreases in racial/ethnic disparities in AIDS diagnoses except in young men, particularly young black men aged 13-24 years where the burden of AIDS is increasing. HIV testing, prevention, treatment and policy-making should be a priority for this group.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Social media-delivered sexual health intervention: a cluster randomized controlled trial.
Youth are using social media regularly and represent a group facing substantial risk for sexually transmitted infection (STI). Although there is evidence that the Internet can be used effectively in supporting healthy sexual behavior, this has not yet extended to social networking sites. ⋯ Social networking sites may be venues for efficacious health education interventions. More work is needed to understand what elements of social media are compelling, how network membership influences effects, and whether linking social media to clinical and social services can be beneficial.