American journal of preventive medicine
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Cigarette Smoking and Mortality in Adults Aged 70 Years and Older: Results From the NIH-AARP Cohort.
Tobacco use remains a leading modifiable cause of cancer incidence and premature mortality in the U.S. and globally. Despite increasing life expectancy worldwide, less is known about the effects of cigarette smoking on older populations. This study sought to determine the effects of smoking on mortality in older age. ⋯ As among younger people, lifetime cigarette smoking history is a key determinant of mortality after age 70 years.
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Shingles (herpes zoster) causes substantial morbidity, especially among older adults. The shingles vaccine has been recommended for people aged ≥60 years since 2006. This study assessed recent shingles vaccination at national and state levels among adults aged ≥60 years. ⋯ Coverage varied dramatically by state. State-level comparisons may aid in designing tailored intervention programs through sharing of best practices. Strategies are needed to mitigate financial barriers for both provider and patients, improve awareness, and increase provider recommendation of the vaccine.
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Review Meta Analysis
Preventive Health Behavior Change Text Message Interventions: A Meta-analysis.
Existing evidence shows that text message interventions can produce short-term health behavior change. However, understanding is limited regarding intervention characteristics moderating this effect or the long-term effectiveness of text message interventions on behavior change after contact stops. ⋯ Text message interventions are capable of producing positive change in preventive health behaviors. Preliminary evidence indicates that these effects can be maintained after the intervention stops. The moderator analysis findings are at odds with previous research, suggesting a need to examine moderators at the behavior-specific level.
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Understanding what influences where food outlets locate is important for mitigating disparities in access to healthy food outlets. However, few studies have examined how neighborhood characteristics influence the neighborhood food environment over time, and whether these relationships differ by neighborhood-level income. ⋯ Socioeconomically disadvantaged and minority populations may attract "unhealthy" food outlets over time. To support equal access to healthy food outlets, the availability of "less healthy" food outlets types may be relatively more important than the potential lack of supermarkets or full-service restaurants.
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Early sexual debut, sexual risk taking, substance use, violent victimization, and suicidal behaviors are more prevalent among sexual minority than sexual nonminority youth. Although associations between early sexual debut and these risk behaviors exist, little is known about such associations among sexual minority youth. This study examined these associations among sexual minority U.S. high school students and their sexual nonminority peers. ⋯ School-based sexual health programs might appropriately utilize strategies that are inclusive of sexual minority students, encourage delay of sexual intercourse, and coordinate with violence and substance use prevention programs.