Causal and Associational Language in Observational Health Research: A Systematic Evaluation.

We estimated the degree to which language used in the high-profile medical/public health/epidemiology literature implied causality using language linking exposures to outcomes and action recommendations; examined disconnects between language and recommendations; identified the most common linking phrases; and estimated how strongly linking phrases imply causality. We searched for and screened 1,170 articles from 18 high-profile journals (65 per journal) published from 2010-2019. Based on written framing and systematic guidance, 3 reviewers rated the degree of causality implied in abstracts and full text for exposure/outcome linking language and action recommendations.

Sex differences in nonmedical prescription tranquilizer and stimulant use trends among secondary school students in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.

Background: Little is known about recent nonmedical prescription tranquilizer and stimulant use trends in Latin America. We tested whether recent trends among students in three South American countries differed by sex over time.

Methods: Three countries independently collected National School Students Survey on Drugs.

Investigating how perceived risk and availability of marijuana relate to marijuana use among adolescents in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay over time.

Aims: Amid changing marijuana policies in the Southern Cone, we examined relationships between marijuana-related risk factors and marijuana use among adolescents in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay from 2001 to 2016.

Methods: Using cross-sectional surveys from 8, 10, and 12 graders and weighted time-varying effect models, we estimated associations between perceived risk (no/low risk versus moderate/great risk) and perceived availability (easy/very easy versus difficult/very difficult/not able to obtain) of marijuana, and any past-month marijuana use.

Results: In all countries, marijuana use increased over time and adolescents who perceived no/low risk and easy availability had higher odds of use.

Association Between Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs and Nonfatal and Fatal Drug Overdoses: A Systematic Review.

Background: Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are a key component of the president's Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Plan to prevent opioid overdoses in the United States.

Purpose: To examine whether PDMP implementation is associated with changes in nonfatal and fatal overdoses; identify features of programs differentially associated with those outcomes; and investigate any potential unintended consequences of the programs.

Data Sources: Eligible publications from MEDLINE, Current Contents Connect (Clarivate Analytics), Science Citation Index (Clarivate Analytics), Social Sciences Citation Index (Clarivate Analytics), and ProQuest Dissertations indexed through 27 December 2017 and additional studies from reference lists.

Constant Lethality of Gunshot Injuries From Firearm Assault: United States, 2003-2012.

Objectives: To investigate the validity of the apparent downward trend in the national case-fatality rate for gunshot wounds from assault.

Methods: We reanalyzed the estimated annual number of nonfatal firearm injuries the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System reported from 2003 to 2012. We adjusted the estimates for discontinuities created by the substitution of 1 hospital for another in the sample and for a downward trend in the percentage of gunshot injuries classified as "unknown circumstance.