Preventive medicine
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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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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.
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Preventive medicine · Feb 2025
Binge drinking and subsequent health and well-being among middled-aged Spanish adults: An outcome-wide analysis.
Binge drinking has been associated with higher risks of adverse physical health outcomes. Motivations behind binge drinking may involve seeking pleasure and social connectedness, which are important aspects of life that constitute well-being. However, studies that apply a holistic framework of well-being to understand binge drinking remain limited, especially in non-English speaking populations. ⋯ Our study provides novel insights into the complex and multifaceted relationship of binge drinking with health and well-being. Further research will enhance our understandings of binge drinking and inform culturally appropriate interventions that effectively mitigate its negative consequences.
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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.
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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.