American journal of preventive medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Telephone intervention to promote diabetic retinopathy screening among the urban poor.
Participation in diabetic retinopathy screening is suboptimal. The Vision is Precious study (2001-2005) tested the hypothesis that a tailored telephone intervention in urban minority diabetes populations, offered in English or Spanish, would result in greater screening for retinopathy than a standard print intervention. ⋯ A limited telephone intervention can improve significantly participation in retinopathy screening in a minority, low-income population. This intervention influenced risk perceptions about diabetes complications. Further research is needed to develop effective risk communications to prevent the complications of diabetes.
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Youth violence and related injury continue to be a serious public health problem and are identified as a major priority on the national health care agenda. Despite recommendations by numerous professional organizations to enhance healthcare professionals' roles in youth violence prevention efforts, there has been little documentation of effective training. ⋯ The personal stories these young people tell of the effect of violence on individuals is a valuable training tool and a powerful way of humanizing the situation. Their participation also highlights physicians' opportunities for intervention and responsibility in directly addressing adolescents at risk.
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Dietary guidelines, especially those designed to prevent the diseases of dietary excess, are a relatively new phenomenon in the United States. National dietary guidelines have been promulgated based on scientific reasoning and indirect evidence. In general, weak evidentiary support has been accepted as adequate justification for these guidelines. ⋯ Using guidelines against dietary fat as a case in point, an analysis is provided that suggests that harm indeed may have been caused by the widespread dissemination of and adherence to these guidelines, through their contribution to the current epidemic of obesity and overweight in the U. S. An explanation is provided of what may have gone wrong in the development of dietary guidelines, and an alternative and more rigorous standard is proposed for evidentiary support, including the recommendation that when adequate evidence is not available, the best option may be to issue no guideline.