Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Apr 2021
Unhealthy environments are associated with adverse mental health and psychological distress: Cross-sectional evidence from nationally representative data in New Zealand.
This study combines data on the location of health-constraining 'bads' (i: fast-food outlets, ii: takeaway outlets, iii: dairy outlets and convenience stores, iv: alcohol outlets, and v: gaming venues) and health-promoting 'goods' (i: green spaces, ii: blue spaces, iii: physical activity facilities, and iv: fruit and vegetable outlets) into a nationwide Healthy Living Index. This was applied to pooled (2015/16-2017/18) nationally representative New Zealand Health Survey data, with mental health conditions (depression, bipolar, and anxiety) and psychological distress as population-level outcomes. Mental health was associated with proximity to environmental 'goods' and 'bads'. Compared to those individuals who reside within the unhealthiest environments, there was a steady reduction in the odds of adverse mental health outcomes and psychological distress as the environment became more health-promoting.
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Preventive medicine · Apr 2021
Looking to the empirical literature on the potential for financial incentives to enhance adherence with COVID-19 vaccination.
COVID-19 vaccination efforts are underway offering hope for saving lives and eliminating the pandemic. The most promising vaccines require two injections separated 3-4 weeks apart. To achieve heard immunity, 70-90% of the population or perhaps more must be inoculated. ⋯ Financial incentives were most effective resulting in a 7-fold increase in adherence to the vaccination regimen relative to no financial incentives (OR, 7.01; 95% CI, 2.88-17.06). Additional reviews provide further support for the efficacy of financial incentives for promoting adherence with vaccination (HBV & influenza). Overall, this literature suggests that financial incentives could be helpful in promoting the high levels of adherence to COVID-19 vaccines that experts project will be necessary for herd immunity.
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Preventive medicine · Apr 2021
Applying social norms interventions to increase adherence to COVID-19 prevention and control guidelines.
Despite widespread national, state, and local guidelines for COVID-19 prevention, including social distancing and mask orders, many people continue to not adhere to recommendations, including congregating in groups for non-essential activities, putting themselves and others at risk. A social psychological perspective can be used to understand reasons for lack of adherence to policies and methods for increasing adherence based on successes from other behavior change campaigns. This manuscript seeks to describe some of the social psychological research that may be relevant to COVID-19 prevention and behavior change, describe how these theories have been previously applied in various domains to change behavior, and provide examples of how these approaches might be similarly applied to control the pandemic. We provide concrete examples of actions that can be taken based on social psychological research that might help to increase adherence to COVID-19 recommendations and improve prevention and control of the virus.
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Preventive medicine · Apr 2021
Physical inactivity from youth to adulthood and adult cardiometabolic risk profile.
Adults with a low physical activity (PA) level are at increased risk for cardiometabolic diseases, but little is known on the association between physical inactivity since youth and cardiometabolic health in adulthood. We investigated the association of persistent physical inactivity from youth to adulthood with adult cardiometabolic risk factors. Data were drawn from the ongoing Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study with seven follow-ups between 1980 and 2011 (baseline age 3-18 years, n = 1961). ⋯ The results remained essentially similar after adjustment for education, diet, smoking, and BMI. Persistently physically inactive lifestyle since youth is associated with an unfavorable cardiometabolic risk profile in adulthood. Importantly, even minor increase in PA lowers the cardiometabolic risk.
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Preventive medicine · Apr 2021
Role of community pharmacies in a population-based colorectal cancer screening program.
In Catalonia (Spain), population-based colorectal cancer (CRC) screening offers biennial fecal occult blood testing to men and women aged 50-69 years old. The program is organized in screening hubs, most of which use a pharmacy-based model to distribute and collect fecal immunochemical test (FIT) kits The comprehensive evaluation of CRC screening programs, which include the role and implications of pharmacy involvement, is essential to ensure program quality and identify areas for further improvement. The present study aimed to assess the adherence of community pharmacies to the CRC screening program and to analyze data on FIT kit distribution and collection in the Metropolitan area of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain). ⋯ From those who completed a FIT, the median time to return the kit was 3 days. FIT completion time was significantly lower among women, older age, high deprivation score index and previous CRC screening (p < 0.005). Our findings highlight the large involvement of community pharmacists with CRC screening program as well as a high quality in the process of FIT distribution and collection.