Increasing rat numbers in cities are linked to climate warming, urbanization, and human population.

Urban rats are commensal pests that thrive in cities by exploiting the resources accompanying large human populations. Identifying long-term trends in rat numbers and how they are shaped by environmental changes is critical for understanding their ecology, and projecting future vulnerabilities and mitigation needs. Here, we use public complaint and inspection data from 16 cities around the world to estimate trends in rat populations.

Estimating mortality attributable to alcohol or tobacco - a cohort study from Germany.

Background: Little is known about mortality from four disorder combinations: fully attributable to alcohol or tobacco, partly attributable to both alcohol and tobacco, to tobacco only, to alcohol only.

Aim: To analyze whether residents who had disclosed risky alcohol drinking or daily tobacco smoking had a shorter time to death than non-risky drinkers and never daily smokers twenty years later according to the disorder combinations.

Methods: A random adult general population sample (4,075 study participants) of a northern German area had been interviewed in the years 1996-1997.

General hospital patients' attitude towards systematic health risk behavior screening and intervention.

Background: Systematic counseling on behavioral health risk factors (HRFs) may be suitable to promote health among general hospital patients. This study aimed to investigate the openness of patients towards systematic screening and intervention of HRFs, its relation to actual participation in a multi-behavioral intervention, and whether socio-economic characteristics, HRFs and health indicators are related to approval.

Methods: All 18- to 64-year-old patients hospitalized in five medical departments at the University Medicine Hospital Greifswald in Germany were asked between May and July 2022 to participate in a survey and in a subsequent pre-post intervention study.

[Long-term courses of alcohol dependence].

Background: Descriptions of long-term histories of alcohol dependence provide insight into the etiology, prevention and care.

Objective: Report of empirical findings about the development into and remission from alcohol dependence.

Method: Narrative literature review, analysis of findings from cohort studies in the general population.

Do in-person and computer-based brief alcohol interventions reduce tobacco smoking among general hospital patients? Secondary outcomes from a randomized controlled trial.

Background: At-risk alcohol use and tobacco smoking often co-occur. We investigated whether brief alcohol interventions (BAIs) among general hospital patients with at-risk alcohol use may also reduce tobacco smoking over 2 years. We also investigated whether such effects vary by delivery mode; i.

Behavior-related risk factors and time to death among persons with alcohol consumption versus persons without: A general population study with mortality follow-up after 20 years.

Background: Evidence shows that low to moderate alcohol consumers seem to live longer than abstainers. Insufficient consideration of subgroups among abstainers and of further behavior-related risk factors for death might be reasons. The aim of this study was to compare alcohol lifetime abstainers, former drinkers, and current consumers with regard to mortality considering tobacco smoking, body overweight, and physical inactivity.

Alcohol and Nicotine Dependence and Time to Death in a General Adult Population: A Mortality Cohort Study.

Introduction: Findings from general population studies are lacking in regard to the co-occurrence of alcohol and nicotine dependence in relation to later mortality. The aim of this study was to analyze potential interactions of risky alcohol drinking, tobacco smoking, alcohol and nicotine dependence, and time until the first cigarette is smoked in the morning after awakening in the prediction of mortality.

Methods: This study analyzed a random sample of the general population in Northern Germany, which comprised adults aged 18-64 years.

Behavior-related health risk factors, mental disorders and mortality after 20 years in a working aged general population sample.

Mortality is predicted by the sum of behavior-related health risk factors (BRFs: tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking, body overweight, and physical inactivity). We analyzed degrees and combinations of BRFs in their relation to mortality and adjusted for mental disorders. In a random sample of the general population in northern Germany aged 18-64, BRFs and mental disorders had been assessed in 1996-1997 by the Munich Composite International Diagnostic Interview.

[Alcohol as a health risk: new recommendations for dealing with alcohol].

Background: Chronic alcohol consumption is related to more than 200 disorders. Up until now, limits for low-risk use of alcohol were 24 g/ day for men and 12 g/ day for women. Recent epidemiologic studies have shown that any alcohol may be harmful.

Patient motivation and preferences in changing co-occurring health risk behaviors in general hospital patients.

Objectives: More than 60% of general hospital patients report ≥ 2 health risk behaviors (HRBs), i.e. tobacco smoking, at-risk alcohol use, unhealthy diet, and/or insufficient physical activity.

Internet Use Disorders: Subjective Importance of Online Friends in the Context of Real-Life Social Support and Comorbid Mental Disorders.

Introduction: Previous studies analyzing friendships with people only known through the Internet mainly focused on quantitative aspects (e.g., the number of online friends or the time spent with them).

Associations of accelerometer-based sedentary bouts with adiposity markers among German adults - results from a cross-sectional study.

Background: Long periods of uninterrupted sitting, i.e., sedentary bouts, and their relationship with adverse health outcomes have moved into focus of public health recommendations.

Health behaviors of general hospital patients with at-risk alcohol use: Change over two years after discharge.

Objective: Little is known about the natural course of health-related behaviors such as tobacco smoking, at-risk alcohol use, vegetable and fruit intake and physical activity in general hospital patients after discharge. The aim was to investigate whether patients identified with at-risk alcohol use change their health-related behaviors over two years.

Methods: Eighteen to 64-year-old patients with at-risk alcohol use were identified through systematic screening as part of a randomized controlled trial.

Three-year trajectories of alcohol use among at-risk and among low-risk drinkers in a general population sample of adults: A latent class growth analysis of a brief intervention trial.

Background: Few studies have assessed trajectories of alcohol use in the general population, and even fewer studies have assessed the impact of brief intervention on the trajectories. Especially for low-risk drinkers, it is unclear what trajectories occur, whether they benefit from intervention, and if so, when and how long. The aims were first, to identify alcohol use trajectories among at-risk and among low-risk drinkers, second, to explore potential effects of brief alcohol intervention and, third, to identify predictors of trajectories.

Association between Alcohol Consumption and Health-Related Quality of Life among Hospital and Ambulatory Care Patients with Past Year Depressive Symptoms.

Background: Little is known about how substance use affects health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in depressed individuals. Here, associations between alcohol consumption and HRQOL in hospital and ambulatory care patients with past-year depressive symptoms are analyzed.

Method: The sample consisted of 590 participants (26.

Investigating the Association Between the Co-Occurrence of Behavioral Health Risk Factors and Sick Days in General Hospital Patients.

To investigate the co-occurrence of 4 behavioral health risk factors (BHRFs), namely tobacco smoking, alcohol at-risk drinking, physical inactivity and unhealthy diet and their association with sick days prior to hospitalization in general hospital patients. Over 10 weeks (11/2020-04/2021), all 18-64-year-old patients admitted to internal medicine, general and trauma surgery, and otorhinolaryngology wards of a tertiary care hospital were systematically approached. Among 355 eligible patients, 278 (78.

Sensitivity analyses for data missing at random versus missing not at random using latent growth modelling: a practical guide for randomised controlled trials.

Background: Missing data are ubiquitous in randomised controlled trials. Although sensitivity analyses for different missing data mechanisms (missing at random vs. missing not at random) are widely recommended, they are rarely conducted in practice.

Proactive automatised lifestyle intervention (PAL) in general hospital patients: study protocol of a single-group trial.

Introduction: The co-occurrence of health risk behaviours (HRBs, ie, tobacco smoking, at-risk alcohol use, insufficient physical activity and unhealthy diet) increases the risks of cancer, other chronic diseases and mortality more than additively; and applies to more than half of adult general populations. However, preventive measures that target all four HRBs and that reach the majority of the target populations, particularly those persons most in need and hard to reach are scarce. Electronic interventions may help to efficiently address multiple HRBs in healthcare patients.

The Role of Sex and Age in Moderating the Outcome of In-Person and Computer-Based Brief Alcohol Interventions at General Hospitals: Reanalysis of a Brief Intervention Study.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to test whether brief alcohol interventions at general hospitals work equally well for males and females and across age-groups.

Methods: The current study includes a reanalysis of data reported in the PECO study (testing delivery channels of individualized motivationally tailored alcohol interventions among general hospital patients: in PErson vs. COmputer-based) and is therefore of exploratory nature.

The Moderating Effect of Educational Background on the Efficacy of a Computer-Based Brief Intervention Addressing the Full Spectrum of Alcohol Use: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: The alcohol-attributable burden of disease is high among socially disadvantaged individuals. Interventional efforts intending to have a public health impact should also address the reduction of social inequalities due to alcohol.

Objective: The aim was to test the moderating role of educational background on the efficacy of a computer-based brief intervention addressing the full spectrum of alcohol use.

The Role of Tobacco Smoking in the Efficacy of Brief Alcohol Intervention: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial.

This study investigated whether tobacco smoking affected outcomes of brief alcohol interventions (BAIs) in at-risk alcohol-drinking general hospital patients. Between 2011 and 2012 among patients aged 18−64 years, 961 patients were allocated to in-person counseling (PE), computer-based BAI containing computer-generated individual feedback letters (CO), and assessment only. PE and CO included contacts at baseline, 1, and 3 months.

Behavioral Health Risk Factors and Motivation to Change among Cardiovascular General Hospital Patients Aged 50 to 79 Years.

Little is known about the (co-)occurrence of smoking, alcohol at-risk drinking, physical inactivity and overweight, and the motivation to change these behavioral health risk factors (HRFs) in older general hospital patients with cardiovascular disease. Between October and December 2016, all consecutively admitted patients aged 50 to 79 years were proactively recruited on 3 cardiology wards and asked to participate in a survey on HRFs and behavior change motivation. Of the eligible patients, 80.

Severity of alcohol dependence and mortality after 20 years in an adult general population sample.

Objectives: To estimate mortality on grounds of the severity of alcohol dependence which has been assessed by two approaches: the frequency of alcohol dependence symptoms (FADS) and the number of alcohol dependence criteria (NADC).

Methods: A random sample of adult community residents in northern Germany at age 18 to 64 had been interviewed in 1996. Among 4075 study participants at baseline, for 4028 vital status was ascertained 20 years later.

Social Equity in the Efficacy of Computer-Based and In-Person Brief Alcohol Interventions Among General Hospital Patients With At-Risk Alcohol Use: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Social equity in the efficacy of behavior change intervention is much needed. While the efficacy of brief alcohol interventions (BAIs), including digital interventions, is well established, particularly in health care, the social equity of interventions has been sparsely investigated.

Objective: We aim to investigate whether the efficacy of computer-based versus in-person delivered BAIs is moderated by the participants' socioeconomic status (ie, to identify whether general hospital patients with low-level education and unemployed patients may benefit more or less from one or the other way of delivery compared to patients with higher levels of education and those that are employed).