Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Gender Differences in Impacts of Place-Based Neighborhood Greening Interventions on Fear of Violence Based on a Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial.
Maintained green space in underserved urban neighborhoods may be an important environmental pathway to improving community health and safety, though effects may vary across population subgroups and by time of day. We examined survey responses from 442 participants (178 men and 264 women), living near vacant lots in a cluster-randomized controlled trial of a cleaning and greening intervention, on perceived safety during the day and at night. At the intervention sites after the intervention, only men reported feeling less unsafe during the day. ⋯ The clean-and-green intervention may have allayed fears for men during the day and supported their ease of movement throughout their neighborhoods. However, at night, it may have had the opposite effect on women. Though our study was under-powered, not designed to test associations stratified by gender, directions and magnitudes of associations differed substantially, indicating a need for further investigations into potential gender differences in the benefits of green space, to inform and better tailor interventions to improve perceived safety for all.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Recruitment, Retention, and Intervention Outcomes from the Dedicated African American Dad (DAAD) Study.
A significant proportion of African American (AA) fathers live in households apart from their young children. This living arrangement can have detrimental effects for children, families, and fathers. One hundred seventy-eight (n = 178) AA fathers, not residing with their 2-6-year-old children, were enrolled in a randomized trial to test the Building Bridges to Fatherhood (BBTF) program against a financial literacy comparison condition. ⋯ Program satisfaction was high in both conditions. Even so recruitment and retention challenges influenced the ability to detect father and child outcomes. This study informs the participation of vulnerable urban AA fathers in community-based fatherhood intervention research and provides insight into bolstering engagement in studies focused on this population.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Jail and Emergency Department Utilization in the Context of Harm Reduction Treatment for People Experiencing Homelessness and Alcohol Use Disorder.
People experiencing homelessness are disproportionately affected by alcohol use disorder (AUD). Abstinence-based treatment, however, does not optimally engage or treat this population. Thus, Harm Reduction Treatment for Alcohol (HaRT-A) was developed together with people with the lived experience of homelessness and AUD and community-based agencies that serve them. ⋯ Exploratory analyses showed that 2-week frequency of alcohol use was positively correlated with number of jail bookings in the 12 months surrounding their study participation. Additionally, self-reported alcohol-related harm, importance of reducing alcohol-related harm, and perceived physical functioning predicted more ED visits. Future studies are needed to further assess how harm-reduction treatment may be enhanced to move the needle in criminal justice and healthcare utilization in the context of larger samples, longer follow-up timeframes, and more intensive interventions.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Calibrating Local Population-Based Blood Pressure Data from NYC HANES 2013-2014.
New York City Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NYC HANES) was a population-based cross-sectional survey of NYC adults conducted twice, in 2004 and again in 2013-2014, to monitor the health of NYC adults 20 years or older. While blood pressure was measured in both surveys, an auscultatory mercury sphygmomanometer was used to measure blood pressure in clinics in 2004, and an oscillometric LifeSource UA-789AC monitor was used in homes in 2013-2014. To assess comparability of blood pressure results across both surveys, we undertook a randomized study comparing blood pressure (BP) readings by the two devices. ⋯ The Bland-Altman graphs showed that the between-device difference did not vary as a function of the average of the two devices for systolic blood pressure and was larger in the lower and upper ends for diastolic blood pressure. Given the observed differences in systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings between the two blood pressure measurement approaches, we calibrated NYC HANES 2013-2014 blood pressure data by predicting mercury blood pressure values from LifeSource blood pressure values. The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure in NYC HANES 2013-2014 were lower when data were calibrated.