Publications by authors named "Wasantha Jayawardene"

 While laypersons can play a crucial role in administering naloxone in opioid overdoses, they must be recruited and trained to effectively manage overdose events as good Samaritans. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a technology-based intervention that recruited and trained laypersons to administer naloxone.  Opioid Rapid Response System (ORRS) was an online recruitment and training intervention which capitalized on social cognitive theory and a digital media engagement model to mobilize laypersons to administer intranasal naloxone.

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Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) cluster within children. In addition to standardized ACE measures, there exist "ACE-related" measures that are either directly or indirectly related to the standardized ACE constructs. This study aimed to identify ACE-related latent classes of adolescents and describe past-month substance use in each class by sex and race/ethnicity.

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Emergency responders face challenges in arriving timely to administer naloxone in opioid overdoses. Therefore, interest in having lay citizens administer naloxone nasal spray has emerged. These citizens, however, must be recruited and trained, and be in proximity to the overdose.

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Air pollution is considered a risk factor for several diseases, particularly respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. However, the effects of air pollution on neurobehavioral disorders have not been confirmed as of yet. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine whether there was an association between seven air pollutants and ADHD medication administration (ADHD-MA) in Pennsylvania-located elementary schools over a 3-year period.

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Background: Opioid overdoses require a rapid response, but emergency responders are limited in how quickly they can arrive at the scene for administering naloxone. If laypersons are trained to administer naloxone and are notified of overdoses, more lives can be saved.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the feasibility of the Opioid Rapid Response System (ORRS) that recruits, trains, and links citizen responders to overdose events in their community in real-time to administer naloxone.

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Article Synopsis
  • * A study analyzed data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2015-2019) to evaluate substance use and misuse among adults with varying asthma statuses, finding differing patterns between those with lifetime asthma and those with current asthma.
  • * Results indicated that adults with lifetime asthma tend to use fewer tobacco products and substances, while those with current asthma show increased use of pipe tobacco, cocaine, and non-prescribed tranquilizers, highlighting the need for targeted treatment and prevention programs.
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Background: Despite the advancements in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) treatment, complications related to COPD exacerbation remain challenging. One associated factor is substance use/misuse among adults with COPD. Fewer studies, however, examined the prevalence and association between COPD and substance use and misuse.

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Background: Childhood obesity disproportionately affects rural communities where access to pediatric weight control services is limited. Telehealth may facilitate access to these services.

Objective: This paper describes the rationale, curriculum, and methodology for conducting a randomized controlled pilot trial of a rural, family-based, telehealth intervention that aims to improve weight-related behaviors among children, compared to monthly newsletters.

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Randomization is an important tool used to establish causal inferences in studies designed to further our understanding of questions related to obesity and nutrition. To take advantage of the inferences afforded by randomization, scientific standards must be upheld during the planning, execution, analysis, and reporting of such studies. We discuss ten errors in randomized experiments from real-world examples from the literature and outline best practices for their avoidance.

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Dog-walkers are more likely to achieve moderate-intensity physical activity. Linking the use of activity trackers with dog-walking may be beneficial both in terms of improving the targeted behavior and increasing the likelihood of sustained use. This manuscript aims to describe the protocol of a pilot study which intends to examine the effects of simultaneous use of activity trackers by humans and their dogs on the physical activity level of humans and dogs.

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Prospective longitudinal data collection is an important way for researchers and evaluators to assess change. In school-based settings, for low-risk and/or likely-beneficial interventions or surveys, data quality and ethical standards are both arguably stronger when using a waiver of parental consent-but doing so often requires the use of anonymous data collection methods. The standard solution to this problem has been the use of a self-generated identification code.

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Background: Schools increasingly prioritize social-emotional competence and bullying and cyberbullying prevention, so the development of novel, low-cost, and high-yield programs addressing these topics is important. Further, rigorous assessment of interventions prior to widespread dissemination is crucial.

Objective: This study assesses the effectiveness and implementation fidelity of the ACT Out! Social Issue Theater program, a 1-hour psychodramatic intervention by professional actors; it also measures students' receptiveness to the intervention.

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This cross-sectional, secondary data analysis examines the association between cigarette smoking and self-reported health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adult survivors of Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer. Pooled data for survivors of Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer (N = 1495) were drawn from the 2016 and 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey. Binary logistic regression models were utilized to examine independent associations between each of the four HRQoL domains (i.

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Background: Students in the United States spend a meaningful portion of their developmental lives in school. In recent years, researchers and educators have begun to focus explicitly on social and emotional learning (SEL) in the school setting. Initial evidence from meta-analyses suggests that curricula designed to promote SEL likely produce benefits in terms of social-emotional competence (SEC) and numerous related behavioral and affective outcomes.

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Background: School-based alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use (ATOD) surveys are a common epidemiological means of understanding youth risk behaviors. They can be used to monitor national trends and provide data, in aggregate, to schools, communities, and states for the purposes of funding allocation, prevention programming, and other supportive infrastructure. However, such surveys sometimes are targeted by public criticism, and even legal action, often in response to a lack of perceived appropriateness.

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Article Synopsis
  • It's important to understand childhood obesity research to help fight against it.
  • Sometimes this research has mistakes that make it less accurate, so the article points out 10 common errors.
  • The authors suggest ways to avoid these mistakes in order to improve how studies about childhood obesity are done and reported.
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Background/aim: We aimed to develop an instrument that can assess the perceptions and opinions of young people regarding the causes and consequences of obesity and the role of individuals, families, communities, and government in addressing obesity.

Materials And Methods: A 36-question (101-item) survey was developed by adopting, translating, and revising multiple-choice or Likert-scale questions from existing surveys to assure construct cross-cultural validity. A two-factor mixed-effects model estimated the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) to measure the test-retest reliability of questions administered 2 weeks apart to a convenient sample of İstanbul high school and university students, aged 15–25 years (n = 122).

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Article Synopsis
  • - Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) significantly lowers the risk of acquiring HIV by over 90% for high-risk individuals, but the willingness of advanced practice nurses (APNs) to prescribe it varies based on several factors.
  • - An online survey conducted among APNs in Indiana identified key variables influencing their readiness to prescribe PrEP, including sexual risk assessment and perceived barriers.
  • - The study found that APNs' knowledge and willingness to learn about PrEP were critical in predicting their likelihood to prescribe it, demonstrating the importance of educating healthcare providers on this preventative measure.
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Purpose: The number of pediatric cancer survivors has increased dramatically over recent decades. Prior studies involving pediatric cancer survivors have reported reduced physical activity and fitness levels. Thus, the aim of this meta-analysis was to synthesize previous findings on physical activity and fitness levels of pediatric cancer survivors, who had completed cancer treatment and are in complete remission compared with age-matched, non-athletic healthy controls with no history of cancer diagnosis.

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Purpose: Prior studies established significant associations between e-cigarette use and combustible cigarette smoking in the general population; however, little is known about such associations among cancer survivors. Thus, the current study examined possible associations between e-cigarette use and combustible cigarette smoking among U.S.

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Aims: To identify associations among agency, community, personal and attitudinal factors that affect advanced practice nurses' uptake of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, an intervention consists of emtricitabine/tenofovir once-daily pill, along with sexual risk reduction education.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Methods: During March-May 2017, randomly selected Indiana advanced practice nurses were invited to complete an online survey, consisted of several validated self-rating measures (N = 1,358; response = 32.

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Introduction: Cervical cancer is the most prevalent cancer among women in Kenya. Although cervical cancer screening could reduce illness and death, screening rates remain low. Kenyan women's individual characteristics and intimate partner factors may be associated with cervical cancer screening; however, a lack of nationally representative data has precluded study until recently.

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