Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2000
Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical TrialSmokers ages 50+: who gets physician advice to quit?
Smoking-related morbidity and mortality, and benefits associated with quitting, extend across the life span. Health care provider interventions enhance quitting. The present study examined perceived influence of physician advice to quit and characteristics of subjects receiving this advice. ⋯ Midlife and older smokers reacted generally favorably to physician advice to quit. Physicians were more likely to advise patients with commonly recognized smoking-related diseases. Discrepancies were noted in advice given to sicker vs healthier patients. Additional physician training in less commonly recognized smoking-related illnesses, intervening with healthier patients to prevent disease, and enhancing patients' confidence in quitting may improve outcomes.
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2000
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical TrialPsychosocial influences on older adults' interest in participating in bowel cancer screening.
As part of a multicenter, randomized controlled trial of the efficacy of flexible sigmoidoscopy for the prevention of bowel cancer, an investigation of the predictors of screening interest was carried out in a subsample of older adults. ⋯ This community study in older adults showed a high level of interest in participating in screening. The large sample size provided the opportunity to test the value of the HBM model and to examine mediation of demographic and health variables. The HBM proved to be a good model of screening interest. These results further our understanding of the decision processes in participating in cancer screening and point to directions to increase the level of participation in community samples.
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Preventive medicine · Sep 2000
Increasing taxes as a strategy to reduce cigarette use and deaths: results of a simulation model.
The aim of this study was to develop a simulation model to predict the effects of taxes on the smoking rate and smoking-attributable deaths. ⋯ Tax hikes have the ability to substantially affect smoking rates in the near term. These effects grow over time and lead to substantial savings in lives and health care costs.
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Preventive medicine · Sep 2000
The importance of health insurance as a determinant of cancer screening: evidence from the Women's Health Initiative.
Amid current changes in health care access across the United States, the importance of health insurance status and insurance type relative to demographic, actual, and perceived health variables as determinants of screening for breast, colorectal, and cervical cancer is uncertain. This analysis evaluates the hypothesis that health insurance independently predicts cancer screening in the Women's Health Initia tive Observational Study cohort. ⋯ In the Women's Health Initiative Obser vational Study, a large, diverse group of older women, health insurance type and status were among the most important determinants of cancer screening indepen dent of demographics, chronic health conditions, and self-perceived health characteristics.
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Preventive medicine · Aug 2000
Prevalence and co-occurrence of health risk behaviors among high-risk drinkers in a primary care population.
Approximately 10% of patients seen in the primary care setting meet criteria for high-risk (HR) drinking. Little data are available about the co-occurrence of other risk behaviors (RBs) in this population. This study examines the co-occurrence of smoking, poor diet, and sedentariness, and several change-related variables, among 479 HR drinkers participating in Project Health, a NIAAA-funded study testing the effectiveness of a provider-delivered intervention to reduce HR drinking. ⋯ Additional RBs are common among HR drinkers and may increase their already elevated health risks. Implications of these findings for interventions integrating multiple RBs into primary care settings are discussed.