Preventive medicine
-
The age-standardised rate of cervical cancer is 8.5 per 100,000 in England, double the WHO "elimination" goal of 4.0 per 100,000, despite England being close to the target coverage for both HPV vaccination and cervical screening. Our aim was to see whether trends in mortality and incidence rates suggest that England is on the path to elimination. ⋯ Raising the age of starting screening from 20 to 25 transiently increased incidence and mortality in women born 1984-1990. Vaccination may enable the NHS to reach its target for cervical cancer incidence of 4.0 per 100,000 by 2040. Whether the switch from cytology to primary HPV testing in 2019 will reduce rates among unvaccinated women born before 1991 is not yet clear.
-
Preventive medicine · Feb 2025
ReviewAdherence to recommended blood-based screening tests for cancer and chronic diseases: A systematic literature review.
Blood-based tests represent a compelling option for early detection and management of cancers and other chronic diseases. While they may increase patient engagement, assumptions about greater adherence in clinical practice need further evaluation. This systematic review aimed to evaluate real-world adherence to established blood-based tests for commonly recommended screening indications to inform expectations for average-risk colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. ⋯ Real-world adherence to recommended blood-based screening is suboptimal. Future research is needed to determine whether these findings are generalizable to blood-based CRC screening and to assess how such a strategy could impact clinical, economic, and health equity outcomes.
-
Preventive medicine · Feb 2025
Proximity to public transportation and incidence of depression risk among older adults: A three-year longitudinal analysis from the Japan Gerontological evaluation study.
Depression in older adults has been associated with environmental factors, such as green spaces and walkable neighborhoods; however, evidence on the relationship between proximity to public transportation and mental health is scarce. This multi-municipality longitudinal study examined the association between proximity to public transportation and risk of depression among older adults and considered car usage. ⋯ Subjective limited access to public transport was significantly associated with the risk of depression among older adults without car usage. Hence, improving and maintaining transportation infrastructure may mitigate the risk of depression.
-
Preventive medicine · Feb 2025
Relationship between self-rated health, physical frailty, and incidence of disability among Japanese community-dwelling older adults: A longitudinal prospective cohort study.
Poor self-rated health (SRH) and physical frailty are both significant predictors of disability in older adults, but their joint association on health outcomes remain unclear. This study aimed to examine the relationship between SRH, physical frailty, and incidence of disability among community-dwelling older adults. ⋯ Frail older adults who report good health were associated with the risk of disability, suggesting that discrepancies between subjective and objective health assessments may lead to adverse outcomes. Recognizing and addressing these discrepancies is crucial to promote successful aging.
-
Preventive medicine · Feb 2025
Positive association of large alcohol intake per occasion with vision-threatening severe diabetic retinopathy or diabetic macular edema in Japanese men with type 2 diabetes.
Differing from the overall consumption of alcohol, whether consuming large quantities of alcohol per drinking occasion is associated with higher risk of developing severe diabetic retinopathy remains unknown. ⋯ In addition to the total amount of ethanol, these findings imply the necessity of avoiding the consumption of large amounts of alcohol on a single occasion to prevent severe diabetic retinopathy or DME.