Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Dec 2023
Racial and ethnic disparities in influenza vaccination coverage among pregnant women in the United States: The contribution of vaccine-related attitudes.
Racial and ethnic disparities in influenza vaccination coverage among pregnant women in the United States have been documented. This study assessed the contribution of vaccine-related attitudes to coverage disparities. ⋯ In a setting with relatively high influenza vaccination coverage among pregnant women, racial and ethnic disparities in coverage were identified. Vaccine-related attitudes were associated with the disparities observed.
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Preventive medicine · Dec 2023
Changes in active commuting and changes in health: Within- and between-individual analyses among 16 881 Finnish public sector employees.
Active commuting, such as walking or cycling to work, can be beneficial for health. However, because within-individual studies on the association between change in active commuting and change in health are scarce, the previous results may have been biased due to unmeasured confounding. Additionally, prior studies have often lacked information about commuting distance. ⋯ An increase in active commuting may promote self-rated health. However, increase of tens of additional kilometers in commuting every day may be required to produce even a small effect on health.
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Preventive medicine · Dec 2023
A discrete choice experiment to understand public preferences and priorities for risk-stratified bowel cancer screening programmes in the UK.
Public acceptability of bowel cancer screening programmes must be maintained, including if risk stratification is introduced. We aimed to describe and quantify preferences for different attributes of risk-stratified screening programmes amongst the UK population, focussing on who to invite for bowel screening. ⋯ Bowel cancer screening programmes that improve cancer outcomes, particularly by preventing more deaths amongst those screened, are most preferred by the public. Optimising risk prediction models, developing public communication, and readying infrastructure should be prioritised for implementation.
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Preventive medicine · Dec 2023
Identifying disparities in suicidal thoughts and behaviors among US adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) became more common among racial and ethnic minorities and sexual and gender minorities (SGM) during the COVID-19 pandemic relative to White and non-SGM adolescents. This study examines associations between pandemic-related stressors and STBs among a nationally representative sample of adolescents to identify vulnerable subpopulations. ⋯ Study findings indicate that pandemic-related stressors are associated with STBs within the US adolescent population, particularly among male and SGM female adolescents. Researchers are encouraged to use this knowledge to ensure nationwide suicide prevention efforts adequately address inequities in suicide risk.
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Preventive medicine · Dec 2023
Exploring whether mental health crisis text conversations that include discussion of firearms differ from those without firearms.
Firearm violence represents a public health crisis in the United States. Yet, there is limited knowledge about how firearms are discussed in the context of mental health emergencies representing a major gap in the current research literature. This study addresses this gap by examining whether the content of mental health crisis text conversations that mention firearms differ from those that do not mention firearms in a large, unique dataset from a national crisis text line. ⋯ These results offer an initial glimpse of how firearms are mentioned in the context of acute mental health emergencies, which has been completely absent in prior literature. Our results are preliminary and help sharpen our understanding of contextual factors surrounding mental health emergencies where a firearm is mentioned.