American journal of preventive medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Telephone intervention to promote diabetic retinopathy screening among the urban poor.
Participation in diabetic retinopathy screening is suboptimal. The Vision is Precious study (2001-2005) tested the hypothesis that a tailored telephone intervention in urban minority diabetes populations, offered in English or Spanish, would result in greater screening for retinopathy than a standard print intervention. ⋯ A limited telephone intervention can improve significantly participation in retinopathy screening in a minority, low-income population. This intervention influenced risk perceptions about diabetes complications. Further research is needed to develop effective risk communications to prevent the complications of diabetes.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Nicotine replacement and behavioral therapy for smoking cessation in pregnancy.
This study examines whether adding nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for pregnant smokers increases rates of smoking cessation. ⋯ The addition of NRT to CBT promoted smoking cessation in pregnant women. This effect did not persist postpartum. More data are needed to determine safety parameters and to confirm the efficacy of NRT use during pregnancy.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Health-related quality of life in older adults at risk for disability.
The number of older adults living in the United States continues to increase, and recent research has begun to target interventions to older adults who have mobility limitations and are at risk for disability. The objective of this study is to describe and examine correlates of health-related quality of life in this population subgroup using baseline data from a larger intervention study. ⋯ Older adults who are at risk for disability had reduced HRQOL. Surprisingly, however, mobility was a stronger correlate of HRQOL than an index of comorbidity, suggesting that interventions addressing mobility limitations may provide significant health benefits to this population.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Low-literacy interventions to promote discussion of prostate cancer: a randomized controlled trial.
Professional organizations recommend that physicians discuss prostate cancer with patients to make individual screening decisions. However, few studies have tested strategies to encourage such discussions, particularly among high-risk populations. We examined the effects of two low-literacy interventions on the frequency of prostate cancer discussion and screening. ⋯ Two simple low-literacy interventions significantly increased discussion of prostate cancer and PSA test orders but not performance of DRE. Both interventions were effective in empowering low-literacy patients to initiate conversations about prostate cancer with their physician.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Melanoma early detection with thorough skin self-examination: the "Check It Out" randomized trial.
Monthly thorough skin self-examination (TSSE) is an important practice for early melanoma detection that is performed by a small minority of the population. ⋯ The TSSE intervention was effective in increasing performance of TSSE, in that it resulted in increased surgery on the skin, and that increase in skin procedures only persisted for 6 months. Intervention to increase TSSE may result in long-term benefit in early detection of melanoma while causing only a short-term excess of skin surgeries.