scholarly journals Offering nicotine patches to all households in a community with high smoking rates: Pilot test of a population-based approach to promote tobacco cessation

Author(s):  
John A Cunningham ◽  
Scott T Leatherdale ◽  
Michael Chaiton ◽  
Rachel Tyndale ◽  
Christina Schell ◽  
...  

BackgroundThe objective of this project is to determine the effectiveness of targeting a community with a high smoking rate with the distribution of free-of-charge nicotine patches in order to promote tobacco cessation. Methods/DesignOne small community with an elevated smoking rate (compared to national and provincial averages) has been identified. All households in the community will be sent a letter offering one smoker (18 years or older; 10 or more cigarettes per day) in the household a free-of-charge mailed five-week supply of nicotine patches (up to a total of 800 five-week kits will be available for distribution). Participants receiving nicotine patches will be asked to complete a six-month follow-up survey assessing tobacco cessation defined as 30-day point prevalence abstinence. In addition, attempts will be made to employ ongoing national population surveys containing cigarette smoking variables to compare changes in smoking prevalence in the target community to other communities with similar characteristics. DiscussionWe will examine whether the concentrated distribution of mailed nicotine patches will result in a measurable reduction in smoking rates in the target community. If demonstrated, this would provide support for the targeted population-level distribution of an effective individual-level public health intervention. Clinical Trials registrationNCT04534231

ESC CardioMed ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 873-882
Author(s):  
Eva Prescott ◽  
Torben Jørgensen ◽  
Maja-Lisa Løchen ◽  
Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard ◽  
Simon Capewell

Great health benefits can be achieved if preventive efforts are focused on whole populations rather than mainly on high-risk individuals. Tobacco smoking, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, alcohol abuse, and air pollution are responsible for a large proportion of global deaths and loss of disability-adjusted life years and there are documented effects of interventions at the population level on all of these factors. Population-based strategies include fiscal measures (i.e. taxation and subsidies), international, national, and regional policy regulations and legislation (e.g. smoke-free policies, rules for marketing, food production), and environmental changes (e.g. access to recreational areas, convenience stores), and have the advantages of addressing cardiovascular health over the entire life course, reducing health inequalities and saving costs when compared to individual-level interventions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 117 (3) ◽  
pp. 1621-1627 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron C. Miller ◽  
Alejandro P. Comellas ◽  
Douglas B. Hornick ◽  
David A. Stoltz ◽  
Joseph E. Cavanaugh ◽  
...  

Autosomal recessive diseases, such as cystic fibrosis (CF), require inheritance of 2 mutated genes. However, some studies indicate that CF carriers are at increased risk for some conditions associated with CF. These investigations focused on single conditions and included small numbers of subjects. Our goal was to determine whether CF carriers are at increased risk for a range of CF-related conditions. Using the Truven Health MarketScan Commercial Claims database (2001–2017), we performed a population-based retrospective matched-cohort study. We identified 19,802 CF carriers and matched each carrier with 5 controls. The prevalence of 59 CF-related diagnostic conditions was evaluated in each cohort. Odds ratios for each condition were computed for CF carriers relative to controls. All 59 CF-related conditions were more prevalent among carriers compared with controls, with significantly increased risk (P < 0.05) for 57 conditions. Risk was increased for some conditions previously linked to CF carriers (e.g., pancreatitis, male infertility, bronchiectasis), as well as some conditions not previously reported (e.g., diabetes, constipation, cholelithiasis, short stature, failure to thrive). We compared our results with 23,557 subjects with CF, who were also matched with controls; as the relative odds of a given condition increased among subjects with CF, so did the corresponding relative odds for carriers (P < 0.001). Although individual-level risk remained low for most conditions, because there are more than 10 million carriers in the US, population-level morbidity attributable to the CF carrier state is likely substantial. Genetic testing may inform prevention, diagnosis, and treatment for a broad range of CF carrier-related conditions.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sameer Desai

Background: Life satisfaction is considered a valid population-based indicator of health and well-being. Recently, many advances in life satisfaction and well-being have been made by improving social and health policies. However, several countries continue to report low levels of life satisfaction, even among many modern industrialized nations. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of private religious or spiritual activities (PRS) as a possible modifiable, individual-level factor to increase life satisfaction, with population-level health implications.Methods: The analytic sample included 9,627 respondents to the 2011-2012 Canadian Community Health Survey. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between self-reported PRS activities and life satisfaction, adjusted for confounders.Results: After adjusting for the confounders, daily PRS activities was associated with an increased odds of high satisfaction (AOR=1.22, 95% CI: 0.84, 1.78) compared to low satisfaction. Engaging in weekly PRS activities was also associated with an increased odds of high satisfaction (AOR = AOR=1.33, 95% CI: 0.87, 2.02) compared to low satisfaction. Monthly engagement in PRS activities was not associated with increases in life satisfaction. Conclusions: There is a moderate association between the odds of high satisfaction and engaging in PRS activities on a daily or weekly basis. The variability in the CIs of the AORs indicates imprecision in the data; however, the majority of the possible range of effects are beneficial. Countries and other relevant organizations should be cognizant of the possible role that religious and spiritual values may have on life satisfaction, as another factor to explore further for population-level health benefits.


Author(s):  
Amanda Marchant ◽  
Samantha Turner ◽  
Lloyd Balbuena ◽  
Evyn Peters ◽  
Dave Williams ◽  
...  

BackgroundAccurate data on self-harm is crucial to suicide prevention efforts. It has been previously found that around twice as many people who self-harm seek help in primary care than in secondary care. Little is known about how contacts for self-harm differ across settings at a population level. This study utilised individual-level linked data across GP, Emergency Departments (ED), outpatients and hospital admissions examining contacts across settings and time by sex for self-harm in 10-24 year olds. MethodsA whole-population based e-cohort study of routinely collected healthcare data was conducted. Rates of self-harm across settings over time by sex were examined. Individuals were categorised based on the service(s) to which they presented. ResultsA total of 937,697 individuals aged 10-24 years contributed 5,369,794 person years of data from the 01.01.2003-30.09.2015. There were differences in self-harm contacts by demographic variables particularly with regards to sex and admissions to hospital following ED attendance. ConclusionThis is the first study to compare self-harm in people aged 10-24 years across primary care, EDs, and hospital settings in the UK. The high rates of self-harm in primary care and for young men in EDs highlight these as important settings for intervention. Understanding patterns of presentation will inform service planning and configuration for follow-up care and could inform tailored support, for example for males in ED. Linked data provides important evidence to support the development of interventions across healthcare settings.


2004 ◽  
Vol 184 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Arseneault ◽  
Mary Cannon ◽  
John Witton ◽  
Robin M. Murray

BackgroundControversy remains as to whether cannabis acts as a causal risk factor for schizophrenia or other functional psychotic illnesses.AimsTo examine critically the evidence that cannabis causes psychosis using established criteria of causality.MethodWe identified five studies that included a well-defined sample drawn from population-based registers or cohorts and used prospective measures of cannabis use and adult psychosis.ResultsOn an individual level, cannabis use confers an overall twofold increase in the relative risk for later schizophrenia. At the population level, elimination of cannabis use would reduce the incidence of schizophrenia by approximately 8%, assuming a causal relationship. Cannabis use appears to be neither a sufficient nor a necessary cause for psychosis. It is a component cause, part of a complex constellation of factors leading to psychosis.ConclusionsCases of psychotic disorder could be prevented by discouraging cannabis use among vulnerable youths. Research is needed to understand the mechanisms by which cannabis causes psychosis.


Author(s):  
Benjamin Mako Hill ◽  
Aaron Shaw

While the large majority of published research on online communities consists of analyses conducted entirely within individual communities, this chapter argues for a population-based approach, in which researchers study groups of similar communities. For example, although there have been thousands of papers published about Wikipedia, a population-based approach might compare all wikis on a particular topic. Using examples from published empirical studies, the chapter describes five key benefits of this approach. First, it argues that population-level research increases the generalizability of findings. Next, it describes four processes and dynamics that are only possible to study using populations: community-level variables, information diffusion processes across communities, ecological dynamics, and multilevel community processes. The chapter concludes with a discussion of a series of limitations and challenges.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Mehta ◽  
R Botelho ◽  
F Fernandez ◽  
F Feres ◽  
A Abizaid ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The Latin America Telemedicine Infarct Network (LATIN) has exploited the remarkable competence of telemedicine for remote guidance. In doing so, LATIN created a mammoth population-based AMI network that employed experts located several hundred miles away to guide the reperfusion strategies for almost 800,000 screened patients. In this pioneering project, telemedicine was initially utilized to guide AMI management within national confines. We speculated whether LATIN telemedicine navigation could outstrip countrywide borders. Purpose To maximally harness the vast possibilities of telemedicine for improving AMI care. Methods During its pilot phase, LATIN began as a hub and spoke, AMI system in Colombia where 20 spokes (small community health centers and rural clinics) were configured with 3 hubs that could perform Primary PCI. These sites were linked through web-based connectivity. Expert cardiologists, located 50–250 miles away in Bogota, Colombia, used sophisticated telemedicine platforms for urgent EKG diagnosis and teleconsultation of the entire AMI process. Based upon the duration of chest pain and travel time to the hub, these experts guided patients through guideline-based strategies of thrombolysis, pharmaco invasive management or primary PCI. Efficiency of the telemedicine process was measured with the new metric of time to telemedicine diagnosis (TTD). Cloud computing, GPS navigation, and numerous business intelligent tools were gradually incorporated into LATIN telemedicine. As systems became more scalable, the program was expanded to Brazil, where LATIN flourished. Over the last 18 months, LATIN telemedicine capabilities have been pressed across national boundaries. Presently, all 82 LATIN centers in Mexico are guided by experts located in Bogota, Colombia and the 7 Argentina centers channeled through Santiago, Chile. Results 784,947 patients were screened for AMI at 350 LATIN centers (Brazil 143, Colombia 118, Mexico 82, Argentina 7). Navigation pathways are depicted in the attached figure. TTD remains extremely low in all four countries, and comparable efficiency and tele-accuracy have been achieved. With expanded geographic reach, 8,448 (1.08%) patients were diagnosed with STEMI and 3,911 (46.3%) urgently reperfused, including 3,049 (78%) with Primary PCI. Time to TTD ranged between 2.8 to 5.8 minutes, with a mean of 3.5 min. Tele-accuracy was 98.5%, D2B 51 min, and in-hospital mortality 5.2%. Various other comparative metrics for the 4 countries are being gathered and will be available at the time of presentation. Conclusions LATIN demonstrates the robust ability of telemedicine to transcend national boundaries to guide AMI management. This strategy can be adopted in under-developed countries in Asia and Africa to provide an umbrella of AMI care for the millions of disadvantaged patients.


Author(s):  
M Kate Grabowski ◽  
Eshan U Patel ◽  
Gertrude Nakigozi ◽  
Victor Ssempijja ◽  
Robert Ssekubugu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background There are limited data on individual HIV viral load (VL) trajectories at the population-level following the introduction of universal test and treat (UTT) in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods HIV VLs were assessed among HIV-positive participants at three population-based surveys in four Ugandan fishing communities surveyed between November 2011 and August 2017. The unit of analysis was a visit-pair (two consecutive person-visits), which were categorized as exhibiting durable VL suppression, new/renewed suppression, viral rebound, or persistent viremia. Adjusted relative risks (adjRRs) and 95%CIs of persistent viremia were estimated using multivariate Poisson regression. Results There were 1,346 HIV-positive participants (n=1,883 visit-pairs). The population-level prevalence of durable VL suppression increased from 29.7% to 67.9% during UTT rollout, viral rebound declined from 4.4% to 2.7%, and persistent viremia declined from 20.7% to 13.3%. Younger age (15-29 vs. 40-49 years, adjRR=1.80 [95%CI=1.19-2.71]), male sex (adjRR=2.09 [95%CI=1.47-2.95]), never being married (vs. currently married; adjRR=1.88 [95%CI=1.34-2.62]), and recent migration to the community (vs. long-term resident; adjRR=1.91 [95%CI=1.34-2.73]) were factors associated with persistent viremia. Conclusions Despite increases in durable VL suppression during roll-out of UTT in hyperendemic communities, a substantial fraction of the population, whose risk profile tended to be younger, male, and mobile, remained persistently viremic.


Author(s):  
Hui-Ju Tsai ◽  
Chia-Ying Li ◽  
Wen-Chi Pan ◽  
Tsung-Chieh Yao ◽  
Huey-Jen Su ◽  
...  

This study determines whether surrounding greenness is associated with the incidence of type 2 diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) in Taiwan. A retrospective cohort study determines the relationship between surrounding greenness and the incidence of T2DM during the study period of 2001–2012 using data from the National Health Insurance Research Database. The satellite-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from the global MODIS database in the NASA Earth Observing System is used to assess greenness. Cox proportional hazard models are used to determine the relationship between exposure to surrounding greenness and the incidence of T2DM, with adjustment for potential confounders. A total of 429,504 subjects, including 40,479 subjects who developed T2DM, were identified during the study period. There is an inverse relationship between exposure to surrounding greenness and the incidence of T2DM after adjustment for individual-level covariates, comorbidities, and the region-level covariates (adjusted HR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.79–0.82). For the general population of Taiwan, greater exposure to surrounding greenness is associated with a lower incidence of T2DM.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Jimenez ◽  
M Cainzos-Achirica ◽  
D Monterde ◽  
L Garcia-Eroles ◽  
C Enjuanes ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Prevalence of congestive heart failure (CHF) and predisposing conditions has described previously. Most of these studies evaluated centre-European or north-American populations. However, the prevalence and evolutionary changes of Heart Failure stages A, B and C has not been fully elucidated in Mediterranean cohorts. Purpose To estimate the prevalence of CHF (HF Stage C) and four additional key chronic cardiovascular, metabolic and renal conditions predisposing to the development of CHF (HF Stages A and B) at a population level in a south-European healthcare area. We analysed the evolutionary changes in the prevalence in these five conditions. Methods In a healthcare area of 1,3Millions inhabitants, we extracted health related information of all individuals ≥55 years old. We analysed data of 375,233 individuals included in the population-based healthcare database of a public Institute of Health between 2015 and 2017. The conditions of interest were CHF, chronic kidney disease (CKD), diabetes mellitus (DM), ischemic heart disease (IHD) and hypertension (HTN). Results The prevalence of chronic conditions was high, particularly of HTN (48.2–48.9%) and DM individuals (14.6–14.8%). The other conditions were less frequent, with prevalence around 2–4% for IHD, 5–9% for CKD and 2–4% for CHF (Table). However, the less frequent conditions had a striking upward trend with over 1,500 new prevalent cases per year between 2015 and 2017 for CHF (45% relative increase), more than 2,500 new prevalent cases for IHD (67% relative increase) and more than 4,000 new prevalent cases per year for CKD (44% relative increase). Conclusion In this south European cohort, there were a high prevalence of HTN and DM as risk factors and a significant trend of increasing prevalence in high cost chronic conditions such as CHF, IHD and CKD. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: Private company. Main funding source(s): The present study was funded by an unrestricted research grant from Vifor Pharma.


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