Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Feb 2025
Trends in modifiable risk factors for dementia among midlife adults in the United States: The National Health and nutrition examination survey 1999-2018.
Dementia has a large public health burden, and modifiable risk factors, particularly in midlife, may provide an opportunity for early prevention. We aimed to examine trends in age-adjusted prevalence of modifiable risk factors for dementia and the number of modifiable risk factors among midlife adults from 1999 to 2018. ⋯ The prevalence of diabetes and obesity increased in this large, nationally representative U.S. study population, while the prevalence of smoking decreased. More effective public health interventions are needed to mitigate the impact of these risk factors and ultimately reduce the burden of dementia in aging populations.
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Preventive medicine · Feb 2025
Associations between short-term exposure to air pollution and acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis: A time-stratified case-crossover study.
This study aimed to explore the associations between short-term air pollution exposure and acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis (AECB). ⋯ This study demonstrates that short-term exposure to air pollution was significantly associated with higher risk of AECB. O3 might contribute the most to AECB. Policymakers should pay more attention to air pollution control.
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Preventive medicine · Feb 2025
Adverse childhood experiences and adult alcohol use during pregnancy - 41 U.S. jurisdictions, 2019-2023.
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are preventable, potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood. Alcohol use during pregnancy can result in miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm birth, and a range of lifelong behavioral, intellectual, and physical disabilities in the child. Limited research has examined the relationship between ACEs and alcohol use in pregnancy; available studies might not reflect current trends in this relationship. ⋯ Higher ACE exposure was associated with alcohol use during pregnancy. Steps can be taken to mitigate their potential harms. Clinical and community-level interventions can address ACEs, which might reduce alcohol use during pregnancy.
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Preventive medicine · Feb 2025
Passive exposure to opioid crisis information and public attitudes: Effects on local policy support, discrimination, and stigma in a United States national survey.
To examine associations between passive exposure to opioid crisis information and public attitudes toward opioid use disorder (OUD) policies and stigma among United States (US) adults. ⋯ Despite widespread media coverage of the opioid crisis, passive information exposure was only associated with increased support for local, not national, harm-reduction policies. The modest exposure rate (59.4 %) suggests an attention gap between information availability and public engagement. The differential effectiveness of information channels suggests that communication strategies emphasizing community-level initiatives and leveraging specific sources like healthcare providers and interpersonal networks may be particularly important for building public support for evidence-based OUD prevention policies.
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Preventive medicine · Feb 2025
Self-reported chronic rhinosinusitis diagnoses and symptoms in World Trade Center-exposed and non-World Trade Center-exposed United States firefighters.
Greater World Trade Center (WTC) exposure levels have been associated with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) diagnoses and symptoms. We aimed to determine whether self-reported CRS is elevated in WTC-exposed Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) firefighters when compared with non-WTC-exposed/non-FDNY firefighters and with the general population. ⋯ WTC-exposure was associated with self-reported CRS diagnoses and symptoms in firefighters. Higher CRS diagnosis prevalence in the WTC-exposed cohort could be a result of exposure to irritants present at the WTC site, and may also be explained, in part, by the enhanced surveillance and healthcare WTC-exposed firefighters receive via the WTC Health Program. Elevated levels of CRS in firefighters overall could be due to routine, non-WTC-related firefighting exposures.