The impact of behavioral and mental health risk assessments on goal setting in primary care.

Patient-centered health risk assessments (HRAs) that screen for unhealthy behaviors, prioritize concerns, and provide feedback may improve counseling, goal setting, and health. To evaluate the effectiveness of routinely administering a patient-centered HRA, My Own Health Report, for diet, exercise, smoking, alcohol, drug use, stress, depression, anxiety, and sleep, 18 primary care practices were randomized to ask patients to complete My Own Health Report (MOHR) before an office visit (intervention) or continue usual care (control). Intervention practice patients were more likely than control practice patients to be asked about each of eight risks (range of differences 5.

Pesticide-related poison center exposures in children and adolescents aged ≤19 years in Texas, 2000-2013.

Context: Although national poison center data show that pesticides were the 8th most commonly reported substance category (3.27%) for children aged ≤5 years in 2014, there is limited information on childhood and adolescent pesticide exposures.

Objective: This study assessed pesticide-related poison center exposures in children and adolescents aged ≤19 years from 2000-2013 in Texas to characterize the potential burden of pesticides.

Health Risk Factors and Desire to Change among Homeless Adults.

Objectives: The prevalence of smoking, at-risk alcohol use, overweight/obesity, inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption, and inadequate physical activity was examined among homeless adults. Desire to change these modifiable health risk factors and the association between desire to change and self-rated health also were examined.

Methods: A sample of 394 homeless adults completed computer-based questionnaires (read over headphones) that assessed sociodemographic characteristics, health risk factors, desire to address health risk factors, and self-rated health.

Trends regarding percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy: A nationwide population-based study from 1997 to 2010.

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is widely used in patients requiring long-term tube feeding. Traditional PEG studies usually focused on practical, technical, and ethical issues. There have been little epidemiological studies on PEG utilization and services in Asia.

Association between Body Powder Use and Ovarian Cancer: The African American Cancer Epidemiology Study (AACES).

Background: Epidemiologic studies indicate increased ovarian cancer risk among women who use genital powder, but this has not been thoroughly investigated in African American (AA) women, a group with a high prevalence of use. We evaluate the relationship between use of genital powder and nongenital powder in invasive epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).

Methods: Subjects are 584 cases and 745 controls enrolled in the African American Cancer Epidemiology Study (AACES), an ongoing, population-based case-control study of EOC in AA women in 11 geographic locations in the United States.

Depression, Mental Distress, and Domestic Conflict among Louisiana Women Exposed to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the WaTCH Study.

Background: Psychological sequelae are among the most pronounced effects in populations following exposure to oil spills. Women in particular represent a vulnerable yet influential population but have remained relatively understudied with respect to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DHOS).

Objective: To describe the relationship between oil spill exposure and mental health among women living in the southern coastal Louisiana parishes affected by the DHOS.

Prioritization of Louisiana Parishes based on Industrial Releases of Known or Suspected Carcinogens.

This investigation evaluated the geographic distribution of carcinogen releases by Louisiana industries to prioritize areas for regulatory oversight, research and monitoring, and to promote clinician awareness and vigilance. Data on estimated industry releases for the period between 1996 and 2011 were obtained from the US Environmental Protection Agency's Toxics Release Inventory. Chemicals associated with cancers of the prostate, lung, bladder, kidney, breast and non-Hodgkin lymphoma were identified.

Validity of the Emission Weighted Proximity Model in estimating air pollution exposure intensities in large geographic areas.

Background: Accurate estimates of air pollution exposure intensities are important to support environmental epidemiology analyses that require data covering large geographic areas over multiple years. The Emission Weighted Proximity Model (EWPM) and the National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) are two viable approaches for obtaining estimate exposure intensities. The advantages of the EWPM include its simplicity and significantly lower costs of implementation.

Factors Associated With the Performance of Extended Colonic Resection vs. Segmental Resection in Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer: A Population-Based Study.

Objectives: Early-onset colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence rates are rising. This group is susceptible to heritable conditions (i.e.

Obesity, weight gain, and ovarian cancer risk in African American women.

Although there is growing evidence that higher adiposity increases ovarian cancer risk, little is known about its impact in African American (AA) women, the racial/ethnic group with the highest prevalence of obesity. We evaluated the impact of body mass index (BMI) 1 year before diagnosis and weight gain since age 18 years on ovarian cancer risk in a population-based case-control study in AA women in 11 geographical areas in the US. Cases (n = 492) and age and site matched controls (n = 696) were identified through rapid case ascertainment and random-digit-dialing, respectively.

EpiAssist: Service-learning in public health education.

Background: Although public health degree programs typically require practica and other field experiences, service-learning courses, with a focus on civic engagement and the application of classroom learning in real world settings, can go beyond these requirements and provide benefits to students and community-based practice partners. The goal of this paper is to assess potential benefits of service-learning programs for both graduate-level public health students and state and local public health agency partners.

Methods: EpiAssist is a new service-learning program developed at the School of Public Health of the Texas A and M University Health Science Center, USA, in January 2015.

Using Walk Score™ and Neighborhood Perceptions to Assess Walking Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults.

We aimed to determine the relationship between neighborhood characteristics (walkability, cohesion/safety) and recommended activity levels among community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults. Subjective and objective data on 394 individuals aged ≥50 years were used to assess the likelihood of walking ≥150 min/week. Environmental factors associated with a greater likelihood of any walking ≥150 min/week included living in a neighborhood with high perception of cohesion/safety versus low, living in walkable areas versus car-dependent, and living in an area with a low-moderate median income versus the lowest.

Recreational physical activity and ovarian cancer risk in African American women.

The literature on recreational physical activity (RPA) and ovarian cancer risk is inconclusive and most studies of RPA and ovarian cancer have been conducted in white populations. This study is the first to investigate the association between RPA and ovarian cancer in an exclusively African American (AA) population. We analyzed data from an ongoing U.

Refusal to participate in heart failure studies: do age and gender matter?

Aims And Objectives: The objective of this retrospective study was to evaluate reasons heart failure patients decline study participation, to inform interventions to improve enrollment.

Background: Failure to enrol older heart failure patients (age > 65) and women in studies may lead to sampling bias, threatening study validity.

Design: This study was a retrospective analysis of refusal data from four heart failure studies that enrolled 788 patients in four states.

Analgesic medication use and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer in African American women.

Background: Existing literature examining analgesic medication use and epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) risk has been inconsistent, with the majority of studies reporting an inverse association. Race-specific effects of this relationship have not been adequately addressed.

Methods: Utilising data from the largest population-based case-control study of EOC in African Americans, the African American Cancer Epidemiology Study, the relationship between analgesic use (aspirin, non-aspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and acetaminophen) and risk of EOC was estimated by multivariate logistic regression.

Comparison of cancer survival trends in the United States of adolescents and young adults with those in children and older adults.

Background: With prior reports indicating a lack of progress in survival improvement in older adolescents and young adults (AYAs) aged 15 to 39 years with cancer compared with both younger and older patients with cancer, the current analysis provides an update of survival trends of cancers among AYAs, children, and older adults.

Methods: Data from the National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database for 13 regions were used to ascertain survival trends of the 34 most frequent cancers diagnosed in AYAs compared with children and older adults.

Results: As of 2002 through 2006, the 5-year relative survival rate for all invasive cancers in AYAs was 82.

The role of health literacy and communication habits on previous colorectal cancer screening among low-income and uninsured patients.

Objective: To determine the association between health literacy, communication habits and colorectal cancer (CRC) screening among low-income patients.

Methods: Survey responses of patients who received financial assistance for colonoscopy between 2011 and 2014 at a family medicine residency clinic were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression (n = 456). There were two dependent variables: (1) previous CRC screening and (2) CRC screening adherence.

Lay health supporters aided by a mobile phone messaging system to improve care of villagers with schizophrenia in Liuyang, China: protocol for a randomised control trial.

Introduction: Schizophrenia is a severe, chronic and disabling mental illness. Non-adherence to medication and relapse may lead to poorer patient function. This randomised controlled study, under the acronym LEAN (Lay health supporter, e-platform, award, and iNtegration), is designed to improve medication adherence and high relapse among people with schizophrenia in resource poor settings.

Weight-loss diets and 2-y changes in circulating amino acids in 2 randomized intervention trials.

Background: Circulating amino acids, such as branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) and aromatic amino acids (AAAs), have been associated with diabetes risk; however, little is known about how a long-term dietary intervention for weight loss affects circulating amino acids.

Objectives: We examined the effects of weight-loss diets on long-term changes in plasma amino acids and the associations of these changes with weight loss and the improvement of insulin resistance.

Design: We repeatedly measured plasma amino acid profiles over 2 y in overweight or obese participants from 2 randomized, dietary intervention, weight-loss trials [774 subjects from the POUNDS LOST (Preventing Overweight Using Novel Dietary Strategies Trial) and 318 subjects from the DIRECT (Dietary Intervention Randomized Controlled Trial)].

Two Decades of ICU Utilization and Hospital Outcomes in a Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Objective: To investigate ICU utilization and hospital outcomes of oncological patients admitted to a comprehensive cancer center.

Design: Observational cohort study.

Setting: The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Food Insecurity, Not Stress is Associated with Three Measures of Obesity in Low-Income, Mexican-American Women in South Texas.

Objective: To determine the relationship between obesity, food insecurity and perceived stress in very low income Mexican American women.

Design: Cross-sectional baseline data analysis of a randomized clinical trial.

Setting: Texas-Mexico border region of South Texas.

Dietary carbohydrate intake, glycaemic load, glycaemic index and ovarian cancer risk in African-American women.

Epidemiological evidence regarding the association between carbohydrate intake, glycaemic load (GL) and glycaemic index (GI) and risk of ovarian cancer has been mixed. Little is known about their impact on ovarian cancer risk in African-American women. Associations between carbohydrate quantity and quality and ovarian cancer risk were investigated among 406 cases and 609 controls using data from the African American Cancer Epidemiology Study (AACES).