Mask Adherence and the Relationship Between Masking and Weather-Related Metrics.

Little is known about adherence to COVID-19 masking mandates on college campuses or the relationship between weather-related variables and masking. This study aimed to (1) observe students' adherence to on-campus mask mandates and (2) estimate the effect of weather on mask-wearing. Temple University partnered in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's observational Mask Adherence Surveillance at Colleges and Universities Project.

Tobacco advertisement, promotion and sponsorship in Arabic media between 2017 and 2019.

Nineteen out of 22 countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region, including the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, have ratified the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) treaty. One of FCTC's provisions prohibits tobacco advertisement, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS). The TAPS provision requires nations to ban direct and indirect tobacco ads in media, as exposure to tobacco use in the media encourages smoking initiation.

Youth susceptibility to tobacco use in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries, 2001-2018.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2006. Yet, GCC countries predict a slight reduction in tobacco use compared to the Eastern Mediterranean region's significant downward trend. The purpose of this study was to examine changes in self-reported intention to initiating tobacco use (susceptibility) among youth over time in five GCC countries and the relationship between susceptibility and key FCTC provisions.

Association between insurance-mandated precertification criteria and inpatient healthcare utilization during 1 year after bariatric surgery.

Background: Insurance-mandated precertification requirements are barriers to bariatric surgery. The value of their prescription, based on insurance type rather that the clinical necessity, is unclear.

Objectives: To determine whether there is an association between insurance-mandated precertification criteria for bariatric surgery and short-term inpatient healthcare utilization.

The role of health insurance characteristics in utilization of bariatric surgery.

Background: Bariatric surgery is underutilized in the United States.

Objective: To examine temporal changes in patient characteristics and insurer type mix among adult bariatric surgery patients in southeastern Pennsylvania and to investigate the associations between payor type, insurance plan type, cost-sharing arrangements (among traditional Medicare beneficiaries), and bariatric surgery utilization.

Setting: Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council's databases in southeastern Pennsylvania during 2014-2018.

Do Insurance-mandated Precertification Criteria and Insurance Plan Type Determine the Utilization of Bariatric Surgery Among Individuals With Private Insurance?

Background: Access to bariatric surgery is restricted by insurers in numerous ways, including by precertification criteria such as 3-6 months preoperative supervised medical weight management and documented 2-year weight history.

Objectives: To investigate if there is an association between the aforementioned precertification criteria, insurance plan type, and the likelihood of undergoing bariatric surgery, after controlling for potential sociodemographic confounders.

Research Design: The study was conducted using the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council's data in 5 counties of Pennsylvania in 2016 and records of preoperative insurance requirements maintained by the Temple University Bariatric Surgery Program.

Mapping medical marijuana: state laws regulating patients, product safety, supply chains and dispensaries, 2017.

Aims: (1) To describe open source legal data sets, created for research use, that capture the key provisions of US state medical marijuana laws. The data document how state lawmakers have regulated a medicine that remains, under federal law, a Schedule I illegal drug with no legitimate medical use. (2) To demonstrate the variability that exists across states in rules governing patient access, product safety and dispensary practice.

Supporting a Culture of Evidence-Based Policy: Federal Funding for Public Health Law Evaluation Research, 1985-2014.

Objective: Law powerfully influences health and can be a critical tool for promoting population well-being. Evaluation research is needed to measure the health effects of law and guide policy making and implementation. The purpose of this study was to assess trends in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for scientific public health law research (PHLR).

Critical opportunities for public health law: a call for action.

Although legal interventions are responsible for many sentinel public health achievements, law is underutilized as a tool for advancing population health. Our purpose was to identify critical opportunities for public health lawmaking. We articulated key criteria and illustrated their use with 5 examples.

Public health law research: exploring law in public health systems.

The importance of law in the organization and operation of public health systems has long been a matter of interest to public health lawyers and practitioners, but empirical research on law as a factor in health system performance has been limited in quantity and sophistication. The emergence of Public Health Law Research and Public Health Systems and Services Research within a coordinated effort to strengthen public health research and practice has dramatically changed matters. This article introduces Public Health Law Research as an integral part of Public Health Systems and Services Research, discusses the challenges of integrating the 2 fields, and highlights 2 examples of current research that demonstrate the benefits of an integrated approach to improve the use of law in public health practice.

State tobacco control plans: who falls outside the plans?

Purpose: To review published state tobacco control plans (STCPs) to determine the extent to which the needs of the states' populations are being addressed.

Design: A qualitative cross-sectional comparison of states' strategic plans for tobacco control as of March 2010.

Setting: Online searches.

Moving from intersection to integration: public health law research and public health systems and services research.

Context: For three decades, experts have been stressing the importance of law to the effective operation of public health systems. Most recently, in a 2011 report, the Institute of Medicine recommended a review of state and local public health laws to ensure appropriate authority for public health agencies; adequate access to legal counsel for public health agencies; evaluations of the health effects and costs associated with legislation, regulations, and policies; and enhancement of research methods to assess the strength of evidence regarding the health effects of public policies. These recommendations, and the continued interest in law as a determinant of health system performance, speak to the need for integrating the emerging fields of Public Health Law Research (PHLR) and Public Health Systems and Services Research (PHSSR).

State laws restricting driver use of mobile communications devices distracted-driving provisions, 1992-2010.

Background: State laws limiting the use of mobile communications devices (MCDs) by drivers are being enacted at an accelerating pace. Public health law research is needed to test various legislative models and guide future legal innovation.

Purpose: To define the current state of the law, facilitate new multi-state evaluations, and demonstrate the utility of systematic, scientific legal research methods to improve public health services research.

Comparing intervention strategies among rural, low SES, young adult tobacco users.

Objective: To evaluate 3-month tobacco quit rates of young adult tobacco users randomized to 2 intervention conditions.

Methods: Overall 192 non-treatment-seeking 18-to-24-year-old tobacco users received educational information and advice to quit smoking. Participants were then block randomized to 2 brief intervention conditions: (1) a telephone quitline (TQ) N = 90; or (2) a brief direct treatment intervention (BDTI) N = 102.

Residential smoking restrictions are not associated with reduced child SHS exposure in a baseline sample of low-income, urban African Americans.

Second hand smoke exposure (SHSe) relates to many chronic and acute illnesses. Low income African American (AA) maternal smokers and their children have disproportionately higher tobacco-use and child SHSe-related morbidity and mortality than other populations. While public health officials promote residential smoking restrictions to reduce SHSe and promote smoking cessation, little is known about the impact of restrictions in changing smoking behavior and SHSe in this population.

Making the case for laws that improve health: a framework for public health law research.

Context: Public health law has received considerable attention in recent years and has become an essential field in public health. Public health law research, however, has received less attention.

Methods: Expert commentary.

State health department structure and pandemic planning.

Pandemic influenza is an imminent threat, with the April/May 2009 A(H1N1) outbreak as a testament to the potential for rapid transmission and spread of a novel influenza strain. Research has shown that there are great disparities in state pandemic planning; however, little work has been done to assess how health department structure impacts pandemic preparedness. The purpose of this article was to examine the impact of state health department structure on state pandemic influenza plan integration of federal recommendations.

The rise and fall of tobacco control media campaigns, 1967 2006.

Extensive research has demonstrated that public education through media campaigns is an effective means to reduce smoking prevalence and tobacco consumption. Aggressive media campaigns that confront the tobacco industry's deceptive practices are most effective and are therefore a prime target for attack. The tobacco industry has attacked public tobacco control media campaigns since 1967, when the first public tobacco control media advertisements ran.

Physician and enrollee knowledge of Medicaid coverage for tobacco dependence treatments.

Background: The 2000 Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guideline, Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence, recommends health insurance coverage for tobacco-dependence treatments proven effective in helping smokers to quit. Two states with comprehensive coverage for tobacco-dependence treatments in their Medicaid programs were selected to document awareness of coverage for tobacco-dependence treatments among primary care physicians who treat Medicaid enrollees and Medicaid-enrolled smokers.

Methods: In 2000, surveys were conducted among Medicaid smokers (n =400) and physicians (n =160) to document knowledge of covered tobacco-dependence treatments under state Medicaid programs in two states with comprehensive coverage.