Bupropion for smokers hospitalized with acute cardiovascular disease.

Purpose: Smoking cessation after myocardial infarction reduces cardiovascular mortality, but many smokers cannot quit despite state-of-the-art counseling intervention. Bupropion is effective for smoking cessation, but its safety and efficacy in hospitalized smokers with acute cardiovascular disease is unknown.

Methods: A five-hospital randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial assessed the safety and efficacy of 12 weeks of sustained-release bupropion (300 mg) or placebo in 248 smokers admitted for acute cardiovascular disease, primarily myocardial infarction and unstable angina.

Field evaluation of the Welch Allyn SureSight vision screener: incorporating the vision in preschoolers study recommendations.

Introduction: The prospective Vision in Preschoolers (VIP) study evaluated 11 methods of screening and proposed referral criteria for the Welch Allyn SureSight(trade mark) Vision Screener with 90% and 94% specificity. The SureSight had a higher sensitivity than most other screening techniques when these criteria were applied. We evaluated the usefulness of these criteria in a field study of healthy preschool children.

Quality of life after bilateral prophylactic mastectomy.

Background: Bilateral prophylactic mastectomy in women with increased breast cancer risk dramatically reduces breast cancer occurrence but little is known about psychosocial outcomes.

Methods: To examine long-term quality of life after bilateral prophylactic mastectomy, we mailed surveys to 195 women who had the procedure from 1979 to 1999 and to a random sample of 117 women at increased breast cancer risk who did not have the procedure. Measures were modeled on or drawn directly from validated instruments designed to assess quality of life, body image, sexuality, breast cancer concerns, depression, health perception, and demographic characteristics.

Uncovering differences across the cancer control continuum: a comparison of ethnic and mainstream cancer newspaper stories.

Objective: The use of the news media to disseminate control research could play a pivotal role in reducing the cancer burden. An important first step is to understand how newspapers cover cancer and if differences exist between mainstream and ethnic newspapers.

Methods: Cancer news in the major U.

Perceptions of health promotion and cancer prevention among adults in working-class occupations and neighborhoods.

A social-contextual approach to cancer prevention among participants associated with the working class may result in behavior-change messages that are more relevant to them and contribute to a reduction in health disparities among classes. This article reports findings from a qualitative study of adults in working-class occupations and/or living in predominantly working-class neighborhoods that was designed to explore the circumstances influencing perceptions of health promotion, disease prevention, and cancer-risk reduction. Participants made only a weak connection between cancer prevention and general health-promotion behaviors.

Television viewing and pedometer-determined physical activity among multiethnic residents of low-income housing.

Objectives: We evaluated the association between television viewing and pedometer-determined physical activity among predominantly racial/ethnic minority residents of low-income housing in metropolitan Boston in 2005.

Methods: We used mixed models to analyze the association between reported hours of television viewing and pedometer-determined steps per day among 486 adults. We also examined whether television viewing was associated with the achievement of 10000 steps per day.

A randomized trial to improve early detection and prevention practices among siblings of melanoma patients.

Background: Identifying high-risk individuals for melanoma education and risk reduction may be a viable strategy to curb the incidence of melanoma, which has risen precipitously in the past 50 years. The first-degree relatives of melanoma patients represent a risk group who may experience a 'teachable moment' for enhanced education and risk reduction.

Methods: We report a randomized trial testing an intervention that provided personalized telephone counseling and individually tailored materials to siblings of recently-diagnosed melanoma patients.

Does race/ethnicity moderate the association between job strain and leisure time physical activity?

Background: Racial/ethnic minorities report myriad barriers to regular leisure time physical activity (LTPA), including the stress and fatigue resulting from their occupational activities.

Purpose: We sought to investigate whether an association exists between job strain and LTPA, and whether it is modified by race or ethnicity.

Methods: Data were collected from 1,740 adults employed in 26 small manufacturing businesses in eastern Massachusetts.

An Evaluation of Multiple Behavioral Risk Factors for Cancer in a Working Class, Multi-Ethnic Population.

Behavioral risk factors for cancer tend to cluster within individuals, which can compound risk beyond that associated with the individual risk factors alone. There has been increasing attention paid to the prevalence of multiple risk factors (MRF) for cancer, and to the importance of designing interventions that help individuals reduce their risks across multiple behaviors simultaneously. The purpose of this paper is to develop methodology to identify an optimal linear combination of multiple risk factors (score function) which would facilitate evaluation of cancer interventions.

Social influences, social context, and health behaviors among working-class, multi-ethnic adults.

Little research has explored the relationship between social influences (e.g., social networks, social support, social norms) and health as related to modifying factors that may contribute to health disparities.

Pedometer-determined physical activity among multiethnic low-income housing residents.

Purpose: We sought to characterize pedometer-determined physical activity among a predominantly racial and ethnic minority sample of adults residing in low-income housing.

Methods: Data were collected from 433 participants at baseline in a randomized colon cancer prevention intervention trial conducted within low-income housing communities. Using random effects models to control for clustering within housing sites, we examined variation in daily steps by several sociodemographic characteristics.

Views of female breast cancer patients who donated biologic samples regarding storage and use of samples for genetic research.

Although social and ethical issues related to the storage and use of biologic specimens for genetic research have been discussed extensively in the medical literature, few empiric data exist describing patients' views. This qualitative study explored the views of 26 female breast cancer patients who had consented to donate blood or tissue samples for breast cancer research. Participants generally did not expect personal benefits from research and had few unprompted concerns.

A process evaluation of a telephone-based peer-delivered smoking cessation intervention for adult survivors of childhood cancer: the partnership for health study.

Objective: We report on the process evaluation of an efficacious national smoking cessation intervention for adult survivors of childhood cancer. We examine associations between intervention implementation characteristics and study outcomes, as well as participant characteristics related to level of involvement in the intervention.

Methods: The study was conducted at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, from 1999-2001.

Contentment with quality of life among breast cancer survivors with and without contralateral prophylactic mastectomy.

Purpose: To understand psychosocial outcomes after prophylactic removal of the contralateral breast in women with unilateral breast cancer.

Methods: We mailed surveys to women with contralateral prophylactic mastectomy after breast cancer diagnosis between 1979 and 1999 at six health care delivery systems, and to a smaller random sample of women with breast cancer without the procedure. Measures were modeled on instruments developed to assess contentment with quality of life, body image, sexual satisfaction, breast cancer concern, depression, and health perception.

Biomarker validation of dietary intervention in two multiethnic populations.

Introduction: Intervention studies have been designed to change dietary and lifestyle factors associated with chronic diseases, but self-reported behavior change may incorporate intervention-related bias. This study examines plasma nutrient concentration and correlations with self-reports in the Healthy Directions intervention study. The Healthy Directions intervention studies were designed to increase multivitamin use, fruit and vegetable consumption, and physical activity in working-class, multiethnic populations.

Formats for improving risk communication in medical tradeoff decisions.

To make treatment decisions, patients should consider not only a treatment option's potential consequences but also the probability of those consequences. Many laypeople, however, have difficulty using probability information. This Internet-based study (2,601 participants) examined a hypothetical medical tradeoff situation in which a treatment would decrease one risk but increase another.

Acculturation and physical activity in a working class multiethnic population.

Background: Determinants of physical activity in minority populations remain under-explored. Acculturation is one proposed mechanism for the disparities that exist between racial and ethnic groups in health outcomes.

Methods: This cross-sectional study evaluated the relation of language acculturation and generation in the US since migration with leisure-time and occupational activity.

Complementary medicine use before and 1 year following genetic testing for BRCA1/2 mutations.

Purpose: We explored change in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use by unaffected women and cancer survivors from enrollment into a randomized BRCA1/2 testing program to CAM use 1 year following results disclosure.

Methods: A cohort of 243 high-risk women completed questionnaires at enrollment into a BRCA1/2 randomized trial and 1 year post results disclosure. Uses of several CAMs for cancer prevention were explored, including ingestible, behavioral, and physical modalities.

Accessibility of web sites containing colorectal cancer information to adults with limited literacy (United States).

Objective: The Internet could be a key channel for disseminating information about colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. Little research, however, has systematically examined factors other than writing style related to the reading difficulty of cancer information on the Internet. In the present study we assessed the reading difficulty of 19 CRC Web sites.

Attitudes Regarding Overweight, Exercise, and Health among Blacks (United States).

Objective: To investigate Blacks'views regarding the connections among overweight, exercise, and health.

Methods: A national randomized telephone survey of 986 US Blacks, conducted between 6 July 2004 and 15 July 2004.

Results: The majority (65%) of respondents reported their weight as average or underweight.

Health insurance coverage in survivors of childhood cancer: the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

Purpose: To examine the prevalence and predictors of health insurance coverage and the difficulties obtaining coverage in a large cohort of childhood cancer survivors.

Patients And Methods: This study included 12,358 5-year survivors of childhood cancer and 3,553 sibling controls participating in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. Data were collected by surveys distributed in 1994 (baseline) and 2000 (follow-up).

Race and ethnicity: comparing medical records to self-reports.

Understanding and eliminating health disparities requires accurate data on race/ethnicity. To assess the quality of race/ethnicity data, we compared medical record classifications to self-report of a study of prophylactic mastectomy. A total of 788 women had race/ethnicity from both sources; 69.

Women's decision-making roles regarding contralateral prophylactic mastectomy.

Background: Contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) is the removal of a nonaffected breast in a woman with unilateral breast cancer and is effective in reducing the risk of recurrences. Little is known about women's decision-making roles regarding CPM.

Methods: Women aged 18-80 years with CPM performed at one of six health maintenance organizations between 1979 and 1999 were surveyed.

Environmental tobacco smoke: association with cardiovascular function at rest and during stress.

Chronic exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) contributes to cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality, and ETS alters cardiovascular performance during exercise stress. However, no study has examined whether those with ETS exposure have altered cardiovascular functioning during psychological stress, relative to those with no substantial ETS exposure. Seventy-eight healthy, nonsmoking adult men with either high levels of current ETS exposure at home and work or no current or significant lifetime ETS exposure were tested in a stress reactivity protocol.

Understanding the decisions of cancer clinical trial participants to enter research studies: factors associated with informed consent, patient satisfaction, and decisional regret.

Objective: To understand the psychosocial outcomes related to decision-making processes of individuals eligible for participation in clinical trials.

Methods: Individuals eligible to participate in selected clinical trials were contacted to complete two surveys; one shortly after participants were identified, and the second 6 weeks after the first survey was completed (N=50). Measures included subjective informed consent; satisfaction with decision-making; decisional regret; and timing of consent (early versus late signers).