Trends in California Cardiovascular Disease Mortality: Sex-Race/Ethnicity Disparity and Income Inequality.

Objective: To examine the cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related death trends and the relationship between CVD deaths and sex, race/ethnicity, and income in California from January 1, 1999, to December 31, 2021.

Methods: The age-adjusted death rate (AADR) per 100,000 population attributable to ischemic heart disease (IHD), hypertensive heart disease (HHD) and heart failure (HF), stroke, and CVD combined were calculated using CDC WONDER (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research) for California, 1999 to 2021. We used a joinpoint log-linear regression model to determine trends in CVD death.

Factors associated with stigma related to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use among men who have sex with men (MSM).

Background: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a noteworthy scientific development that increases the opportunities for men who have sex with men (MSM) to prevent HIV infection, but stigma is a major barrier to its uptake. This study aims to determine the associations between PrEP-related stigma and individual characteristics among MSM.

Methods: Self-reported cross-sectional data were collected from routine-collected electronic healthcare record data from 4084 MSM receiving PrEP in San Francisco, California, between July 2018 and June 2020.

Impact of Racial Categorization on Effect Estimates: An HIV Stigma Analysis.

Suboptimal racial categorization potentially introduces bias in epidemiologic analysis and interpretation, making it difficult to appropriately measure factors leading to racial health disparities. As part of an analysis focused on predictors of experiencing human immunodeficiency status (HIV)-related stigma among men who have sex with men living with HIV in San Francisco, we struggled with the most appropriate ways to categorize people who reported more than 1 racial identity, and we aimed to explore the implications of different methodological choices in this analysis. We fitted 3 different multivariable linear regression models, each utilizing a different approach to racial categorization: the "multiracial," "othering," and "hypodescent" models.

Psychosocial Determinants of HIV Stigma among Men Who Have Sex with Men in San Francisco, California.

Background: Stigma and discrimination are major challenges faced by people living with HIV (PLWH), and stigma continues to be prevalent among PLWH. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 584 men who have sex with men (MSM) living with HIV between July 2018 and December 2020, designed to better understand which demographic and behavioral characteristics of MSM living with HIV in San Francisco, California are associated with experience of stigma, so that programs and initiatives can be tailored appropriately to minimize HIV stigma's impacts.

Methods: This analysis was conducted with data from San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF) encompassing services from multiple different locations in San Francisco.

The proper approach to assessing the impact of the fact that e-cigarettes were not available before 2007.

In a cross-sectional study, one computes the association between exposures (in this case e-cigarette and cigarette use) and an outcome (in this case having had an acute myocardial infarction) among data observed at a fixed point in time. In this case the specific issue is whether the myocardial infarctions may have occurred before e-cigarette use. Rodu & Plurphanswat provided an alternative analysis of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) data set to one we published, that found an association between having had a myocardial infarction and e-cigarette use.

Defending Comprehensive Tobacco Control Policy Implementation in Nepal From Tobacco Industry Interference (2011-2018).

Introduction: Nepal passed a comprehensive tobacco control law in 2011. Tobacco control advocates successfully countered tobacco industry (TI) interference to force implementation of law.

Aims And Methods: Policy documents, news stories, and key informant interviews were triangulated and interpreted using the Policy Dystopia Model (PDM).

Association of E-Cigarette Use With Respiratory Disease Among Adults: A Longitudinal Analysis.

Introduction: E-cigarettes deliver an aerosol of nicotine by heating a liquid and are promoted as an alternative to combustible tobacco. This study determines the longitudinal associations between e-cigarette use and respiratory disease controlling for combustible tobacco use.

Methods: This was a longitudinal analysis of the adult Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Waves 1, 2, and 3.

Exceeding WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Obligations: Nepal Overcoming Tobacco Industry Interference to Enact a Comprehensive Tobacco Control Policy.

Background: The tobacco industry works to block, delay, and weaken national tobacco control legislation to implement the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). This article reviews how Nepal overcame industry opposition and to a comprehensive tobacco control law implementing the FCTC.

Methods: We triangulated newspaper articles and policy documents with key informant interviews.

Life expectancy and disparities in survival among HIV-infected people receiving antiretroviral therapy: an observational cohort study in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Introduction: The advent of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has dramatically slowed down the progression of HIV. This study assesses the disparities in survival, life expectancy and determinants of survival among HIV-infected people receiving ART.

Methods: Using data from one of Nepal's largest population-based retrospective cohort studies (in Kathmandu, Nepal), we followed a total of 3191 HIV-infected people aged 15 years and older who received ART over the period of 2004-2015.

Electronic Cigarette Use and Myocardial Infarction Among Adults in the US Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health.

Background E-cigarettes are popular for smoking cessation and as an alternative to combustible cigarettes. We assess the association between e-cigarette use and having had a myocardial infarction ( MI ) and whether reverse causality can explain the observed cross-sectional association between e-cigarette use and MI . Methods and Results Cross-sectional analysis of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Wave 1 for association between e-cigarette use and having had and MI .

Exposure to household tobacco smoke and risk of cancer morbidity and mortality: Analysis of data from the Afghanistan Demographic and Health Survey 2015.

Active and secondhand tobacco exposures are major causes of cancer. Cancer prevention efforts are particularly relevant in resource-constrained settings in which significant barriers to early detection and cancer treatments contribute to poor outcomes. We assess the associations between exposure to household tobacco smoke and cancer morbidity and mortality.

Parental tobacco use and child death: analysis of data from demographic and health surveys from South and South East Asian countries.

Background: Child mortality is a public health challenge in developing countries, and exposure to second-hand smoke and prenatal exposure to smokeless tobacco are risk factors for child death. We determined the associations between parental tobacco use and child death under the age of five in eight South and South East Asian countries.

Methods: We analysed cross-sectional demographic and health survey data collected between 2005 and 2016, using multiple logistic regressions to estimate the unadjusted and adjusted associations between parental tobacco use and child death, accounting for demographic and economic covariates.

Tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking among HIV infected people using antiretroviral therapy.

Introduction: Tobacco smoking, common in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), is associated with increased mortality and morbidity. This study aimed to determine the proportion of current smokers, as well as assess the factors associated with tobacco smoking and drinking alcohol, among people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Nepal.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at an antiretroviral therapy (ART) clinic in Kathmandu, Nepal between September and December 2014.

Does women's caste make a significant contribution to adolescent pregnancy in Nepal? A study of Dalit and non-Dalit adolescents and young adults in Rupandehi district.

Background: Adolescent pregnancy is a public health concern worldwide. There are disparities in the occurrence of adolescence pregnancy in different social groups and settings; however, few studies have focused on the contribution of a woman's caste in early pregnancy in Nepal. This study aimed to examine the association between caste and adolescent pregnancy; and investigate factors that influence this among women of Dalit and non-Dalit caste groups.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Among Children of Kathmandu 1 Year After the 2015 Earthquake in Nepal.

Objective: The 2015 earthquake in Nepal affected the country in terms of economy, and by causing damage and stress reactions. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and determine individual child- and family-level predictors of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.

Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out in Kathmandu district 15 months after the earthquake.

A cluster-randomized evaluation of an intervention to increase skilled birth attendant utilization in mid- and far-western Nepal.

Skilled birth attendant (SBA) utilization is low in remote and rural areas of Nepal. We designed and implemented an evaluation to assess the effectiveness of a five-component intervention that addressed previously identified barriers to SBA services in mid- and far-western Nepal. We randomly and equally allocated 36 village development committees with low SBA utilization among 1-year intervention and control groups.

Social and behavioral interventions for improving quality of life of HIV infected people receiving antiretroviral therapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Improvement in quality of life is crucial for HIV infected people. Social and behavioral interventions have been implemented in different contexts to improve the quality of life among HIV infected people. This review appraises the evidence for available interventions that focused on quality of life of HIV infected people receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Efficacy of a Social Self-Value Empowerment Intervention to Improve Quality of Life of HIV Infected People Receiving Antiretroviral Treatment in Nepal: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

We developed a comprehensive and culturally applicable empowerment intervention social self-value package with an aim to assess its efficacy in order to improve the quality of life (QoL) of HIV infected people receiving antiretroviral treatment. Participants were randomly allocated to receive either six weekly intervention sessions or standard care. Nonlinear mixed-effects models were performed to compare changes in empowerment scores over time.

Social self-value intervention for empowerment of HIV infected people using antiretroviral treatment: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Prevention and antiretroviral therapy (ART) management for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected people need to have long-term health care. An empowerment focused intervention is a procedure by which HIV infected people obtain combined possession of programs to attain mainly cost-effective HIV outcomes and deal with social and structural difficulties related to their universal health access and human rights. Empowerment is a key approach for addressing HIV related issues that focuses on addressing a broader context.

Design and feasibility of a social self-value intervention package to empower people living with HIV.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection affects the quality of life of infected people. It is well known that empowerment is important for appropriate access to health care and quality of care. However, there is currently limited availability of explicit methods to increase the empowerment of HIV-infected people.

Assessment of nicotine dependence among smokers in Nepal: a community based cross-sectional study.

Background: The Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) and Heaviness of Smoking Index (HSI) are extensively used methods to measure the severity of nicotine dependence among smokers. The primary objective of the study was to assess the nicotine dependence amongst currently smoking Nepalese population.

Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted between August and November 2014.

Perceived benefits and health risks of cigarette smoking among young adults: insights from a cross-sectional study.

Background: Perceptions of smoking-related health risks and benefits among young adults (18-24 years) and their smoking behaviour have not been adequately studied in low-income countries like Nepal. This study has examined the perceived risks and the benefits of smoking among young adults who smoke vs. don't smoke.