National Center for Health Statistics Data Presentation Standards for Proportions.

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) disseminates information on a broad range of health topics through diverse publications. These publications must rely on clear and transparent presentation standards that can be broadly and efficiently applied. Standards are particularly important for large, cross-cutting reports where estimates cannot be individually evaluated and indicators of precision cannot be included alongside the estimates.

Racial and Ethnic Differences in a Linkage with the National Death Index.

Objectives: Differences in the availability of a Social Security Number (SSN) by race/ethnicity could affect the ability to link with death certificate data in passive follow-up studies and possibly bias mortality disparities reported with linked data. Using 1989-2009 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data linked with the National Death Index (NDI) through 2011, we compared the availability of a SSN by race/ethnicity, estimated the percent of links likely missed due to lack of SSNs, and assessed if these estimated missed links affect race/ethnicity disparities reported in the NHIS-linked mortality data.

Methods: We used preventive fraction methods based on race/ethnicity-specific Cox proportional hazards models of the relationship between availability of SSN and mortality based on observed links, adjusted for survey year, sex, age, respondent-rated health, education, and US nativity.

Characteristics of Physician Office Visits for Obesity by Adults Aged 20 and Over: United States, 2012.

In 2011–2014, current asthma prevalence was higher among adults with obesity compared with adults in lower weight categories. This pattern was consistent across most demographic subgroups, except among men, for whom no statistically significant difference in current asthma prevalence by weight status was observed. Other epidemiologic studies of asthma prevalence have shown conflicting results about whether obesity is a risk factor for asthma among males.

Pathways That Affect Wives' HIV Risk Among Serodiscordant Couples in India: Results From the Positive Jeevan Saathi Study.

This study examined factors that mitigate or heighten HIV risk among HIV-negative wives in serodiscordant relationships in Gujarat, India. Grounded theory was used to analyze 46 interviews (23 couples) where husbands were HIV-positive and wives were HIV-negative. A conceptual framework emerged from analysis from which we identified five pathways and four key behaviors: (a) safer sex, (b) no sex, (c) coercive sex, and (d) unprotected sex.

Racial disparities in prostate cancer incidence rates by census division in the United States, 1999-2008.

Background: Black men have a higher incidence of prostate cancer than white men in the U.S., but little is known whether incidence or racial differences vary geographically.

Factors related to rural young adolescents' participation in outdoor, noncompetitive physical activity.

Purpose: Young adolescents who have little interest in participating in competitive team sports are at an increased risk for physical inactivity. Noncompetitive outdoor physical activity can provide young adolescents with increased opportunities to participate in physical activities that appeal to them and have positive health effects. The purpose of this study was to examine factors related to rural young adolescents' participation in noncompetitive outdoor physical activity to inform intervention design.

Perpetration of physical and sexual abuse and subsequent fathering of pregnancies among a cohort of young South African men: a longitudinal study.

Background: Young men's involvement in fathering pregnancies has been substantially neglected in unintended pregnancy research. Gender norms give men substantial power and control over sexual encounters, suggesting that understanding men's role is imperative. We tested the hypothesis that young, unmarried South African men who had perpetrated intimate partner violence (IPV) have a greater incidence of fathering pregnancies.

Risk factors for unplanned and unwanted teenage pregnancies occurring over two years of follow-up among a cohort of young South African women.

Background: Although teenage pregnancies in South Africa have declined, the short and longer term health and social consequences are a potential public health concern. This longitudinal study aimed to describe the range of risk and protective factors for incident unwanted and unplanned pregnancies occurring over 2 years of follow-up among a cohort of adolescent women in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It also investigated the relationship between gender inequality and gender-based violence and subsequent unplanned and unwanted pregnancies among the cohort.

Characteristics associated with genetic counseling referral and BRCA1/2 testing among women in a large integrated health system.

Background: Evidence shows underutilization of cancer genetics services. To explore the reasons behind this underutilization, this study evaluated characteristics of women who were referred for genetic counseling and/or had undergone BRCA1/2 testing.

Methods: An ovarian cancer risk perception study stratified 16,720 eligible women from the Henry Ford Health System into average-, elevated-, and high-risk groups based on family history.

Cognitive and affective influences on perceived risk of ovarian cancer.

Introduction: Studies suggest that both affective and cognitive processes are involved in the perception of vulnerability to cancer and that affect has an early influence in this assessment of risk. We constructed a path model based on a conceptual framework of heuristic reasoning (affect, resemblance, and availability) coupled with cognitive processes involved in developing personal models of cancer causation.

Methods: From an eligible cohort of 16 700 women in a managed care organization, we randomly selected 2524 women at high, elevated, and average risk of ovarian cancer and administered a questionnaire to test our model (response rate 76.

Individual and interpersonal characteristics that influence male-dominated sexual decision-making and inconsistent condom use among married HIV serodiscordant couples in Gujarat, India: results from the positive Jeevan Saathi study.

Approximately 40 % of new infections occur among married women. No studies have examined the factors that may contribute to HIV transmission among HIV-negative wives in HIV serodiscordant relationships in Gujarat, India. In 2010, a cross-sectional survey with 185 HIV serodiscordant, married couples (i.

A trial of family partnership and education interventions in heart failure.

Background: Lowering dietary sodium and adhering to medication regimens are difficult for persons with heart failure (HF). Because these behaviors often occur within the family context, this study evaluated the effects of family education and partnership interventions on dietary sodium (Na) intake and medication adherence (MA).

Methods And Results: HF patient and family member (FM) dyads (n = 117) were randomized to: usual care (UC), patient-FM education (PFE), or family partnership intervention (FPI).

Recruiting women for a study on perceived risk of cancer: influence of survey topic salience and early versus late response.

Introduction: Understanding the characteristics of early and late survey responders has implications for recruitment efforts and for informing potential response bias. The main objective of this analysis was to examine survey responder status (ie, early vs late response) by sociodemographic characteristics and by salience of study variables among respondents.

Methods: We analyzed data from a survey on family cancer history and perceived cancer risk among women at a large managed health-care organization.

Measuring the degree of closeness to the cancer experience: development and initial validation of the CONNection to the Experience of Cancer Scale (CONNECS).

Objective: To describe the development and psychometric testing of items measuring connection to the cancer experience through a close friend or relative.

Methods: Ten items assess four aspects of connection to cancer: emotional and cognitive involvement, kind and amount of shared experience, perceived similarity to the affected person, and negative change witnessed. Interviews were conducted with 2200 women close to someone with cancer.

Feasibility study of social media to reduce intimate partner violence among gay men in metro atlanta, georgia.

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a major public health issue occurring in the United States and globally. While little is known in general about IPV, understanding about the prevalence of physical IPV among gay men is even more obscure. There is a clear disparity in violence research attention focused on this vulnerable segment of society.

Condoms "contain worms" and "cause HIV" in Tanzania: Negative Condom Beliefs Scale development and implications for HIV prevention.

Condom promotion remains a key component of HIV prevention programs, complimenting recent successes in biomedical HIV prevention. Although condom use has increased in much of East Africa, it remains substantially below optimal levels. Negative rumors about condoms have been documented in East Africa, yet the prevalence and effects of belief in the negative rumors have not been explored.

Excessive drinking among African American men: individual and contextual correlates.

In this article, the authors explored associations of multiple domains with regular drinking and getting drunk among adult African American men. Questionnaire-based, computer-assisted interviews were conducted with 484 men in Atlanta, Georgia. Data analysis involved multivariate logistic regression analyses.

Prevalence and predictors of complementary and alternative medicine use in African-Americans with acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

BACKGROUND: The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-positive individuals is becoming increasingly widespread. Unfortunately, some CAM therapies may jeopardize the efficacy of conventional HIV medication, making it critical to understand CAM use among this population. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence and predictors of CAM use in a theory-driven, multidimensional manner.

A qualitative study examining the perceived barriers and facilitators to medical healthcare services among women with a serious mental illness.

Objective: This qualitative study investigates the barriers and facilitators to accessing and utilizing healthcare services among women with a serious mental illness (SMI).

Methods: A purposive sample of 30 poor, urban, predominantly African-American women with a diagnosis of an SMI was recruited. Interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim.

A survey of georgia adult protective service staff: implications for older adult injury prevention and policy.

Background: The aging population is a rapidly growing demographic. Isolation and limited autonomy render many of the elderly vulnerable to abuse, neglect and exploitation. As the population grows, so does the need for Adult Protective Services (APS).

Adherence, sexual risk, and viral load in HIV-infected women prescribed antiretroviral therapy.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a connection between adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and use of risk reduction behaviors (RRB) in HIV-infected women who were prescribed antiretroviral therapy. The sample consisted of 193 predominately African American women with an average age of 44 who had been on ARV for approximately 9 years and had low annual incomes. All women were participating in a behavioral clinical trial focused on these dual outcomes.

A day in the life of women with a serious mental illness: a qualitative investigation.

Purpose: Few studies have taken a holistic perspective to the lives of women with a serious mental illness (SMI). This qualitative study of women with an SMI describes and interprets women's experiences and provides a new understanding about the nature and needs of these women.

Methods: A convenience sample of 30 poor, urban, predominantly African-American women with a diagnosis of an SMI was recruited from an ongoing National Institutes of Mental Health study.

Serum vitamin D concentrations are related to depression in young adult US population: the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Background: Vitamin D receptors have been mapped throughout the brain suggesting a role for vitamin D in psychosomatic disorders. Results from previous epidemiological studies on relation between vitamin D status and depression are equivocal. Also, limited information is available relating vitamin D status with depression in young adult US population.

Validity of self-reported solar UVR exposure compared with objectively measured UVR exposure.

Background: Reliance on verbal self-report of solar exposure in skin cancer prevention and epidemiologic studies may be problematic if self-report data are not valid due to systematic errors in recall, social desirability bias, or other reasons.

Methods: This study examines the validity of self-reports of exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) compared to objectively measured exposure among children and adults in outdoor recreation settings in 4 regions of the United States. Objective UVR exposures of 515 participants were measured using polysulfone film badge UVR dosimeters on 2 days.