American journal of preventive medicine
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Kentucky leads the nation in adult and teen smoking prevalence. Even though Kentucky is one of the most tobacco-dependent states, tobacco policy is subject to change in light of possible national tobacco legislation. ⋯ Kentucky legislators were highly supportive of reducing the state's dependence on tobacco and more supportive of tobacco control policies than expected. The policy Delphi method has the potential for shifting opinions about tobacco policies among state legislators. The findings of this study identify opportunities for public health policy change in one of the most tobacco-dependent states in the United States.
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Review Comparative Study
Effects of physical activity interventions in youth. Review and synthesis.
Physical inactivity has been identified as an important public health concern for youth. School and community settings can be important infrastructures for promoting physical activity (PA). This paper reviews studies of physical activity in school and community settings among preschool through college-aged persons to determine characteristics and effects of interventions. Studies in progress are included. ⋯ The collection of school and community studies is limited for several age groups with none below third grade and only three at college age. There are few community studies. The most is known about upper-elementary-age-students, including the first multicenter randomized trial to report significant results for increasing moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in physical education (PE) and increase vigorous PA outside of school. A number of older study designs were weak and assessments less than optimal, but studies in progress are stronger. Special attention is needed for girls, middle schools, and community settings for all youth. More objective assessments are needed for measuring PA outside of school and in younger children, since they cannot provide reliable self-report.
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Surveillance data on nonfatal weapon-related injuries--particularly those treated only in the emergency department (ED)--have been largely unavailable. ⋯ The system has proven timely (1996 ED data were available for release in March 1997), flexible (the reporting form has been revised several times), useful (DPH responds to 150 weapon injury data requests annually), acceptable (reporting is voluntary and no hospital declined participation), and sustainable (state funding is currently supporting the ED reporting system).
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Over half of all breast cancer deaths occur among women 65 years of age or older. However, mammography screening decreases with increasing age, despite better survival rates for tumors detected early. ⋯ Despite dual coverage, Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicaid had few mammograms. African-American Medicare beneficiaries, with and without Medicaid, had low mammography rates. Intervention efforts should be targeted toward these women.
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Firearm-related injuries rank second only to motor vehicle-related injuries as a cause of injury death in Wisconsin. ⋯ With minimal resources and time, the Wisconsin Firearm-Related Injury Surveillance System uses existing state government databases to describe and report the burden of firearm-related injuries. Additional information on circumstances, perpetrators, and weapons involved are available but additional resources are needed to integrate this information with existing data.