Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and American Community Survey Estimates of Vision Difficulty Prevalence.

Importance: Inconsistent estimates of self-reported vision impairment across survey sources may cause confusion about the true size of the population with vision problems.

Objective: To explain why the American Community Survey (ACS) and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) produce different prevalence estimates for self-reported vision problems in the US, despite using the same question wording.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This was a cross-sectional analysis of the 2021 ACS and BRFSS using subgroup analysis and decomposition.

Prediabetes Progression and Reversion: Social Factors and Racial/Ethnic Differences.

Objective: Racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected by diabetes. Social characteristics, such as family structure, social support, and loneliness, may contribute to these health disparities. In a nationally representative sample of diverse older adults, we evaluated longitudinal rates of both progression from prediabetes to diabetes and reversion from prediabetes to normoglycemia.

Experimental evaluation of a neurophysiological intervention designed to increase student resilience: a pilot study.

Social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions have shown promise for building resilience and protecting youth from adverse outcomes. This study reports on an experimental pilot evaluation of the Smart Brain Wise Heart SEL intervention during the 2021-2022 school year. Smart Brain Wise Heart (SBWH) uses a neurophysiological approach among ninth-grade students to evaluate the intervention's impact on youth resiliency, self-compassion, peer violence exposure, internalising disorders, and hyperactivity.

Optimizing Professional Development for New York State Public Health Association Members: Findings From a Mixed Methods Assessment of Public Health Professionals.

The COVID-19 pandemic placed significant burden on public health professionals, with many experiencing burnout and leaving the profession. The New York State Public Health Association (NYSPHA) recognized the impact of the pandemic on the state's public health workforce and sought professional development opportunities to support current and future generations of public health professionals. To achieve this goal, NYSPHA solicited input from its members and potential members via survey and focus groups as part of its New Directions Initiative.

Scaling the Idea of Opinion Leadership to Address Health Misinformation: The Case for "Health Communication AI".

There is strong evidence of the impact of opinion leaders in health promotion programs. Early work by Burke-Garcia suggests that social media influencers are the opinion leaders of the digital age as they come from the communities they influence, have built trust with them, and may be useful in combating misinformation by disseminating credible and timely health information and prompting consideration of health behaviors. AI has contributed to the spread of misinformation, but it can also be a vital part of the solution, informing and educating in real time and at scale.

The women's health needs study among women from countries with high prevalence of female genital mutilation living in the United States: Design, methods, and participant characteristics.

Background: The Women's Health Needs Study (WHNS) collected information on the health characteristics, needs, and experiences, including female genital mutilation (FGM) experiences, attitudes, and beliefs, of women aged 18 to 49 years who were born, or whose mothers were born, in a country where FGM is prevalent living in the US. The purpose of this paper is to describe the WHNS design, methods, strengths and limitations, as well as select demographic and health-related characteristics of participants.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey from November 2020 -June 2021 in four US metropolitan areas, using a hybrid venue-based sampling (VBS) and respondent-driven sampling (RDS) approach to identify women for recruitment.

Patient Lung Cancer Screening Decisions and Environmental and Psychosocial Factors.

Importance: Screening for lung cancer using low-dose computed tomography is associated with reduced lung cancer-specific mortality, but uptake is low in the US; understanding how patients make decisions to engage with lung cancer screening is critical for increasing uptake. Prior research has focused on individual-level psychosocial factors, but environmental factors (eg, historical contexts that include experiencing racism) and modifying factors-those that can be changed to make it easier or harder to undergo screening-also likely affect screening decisions.

Objective: To investigate environmental, psychosocial, and modifying factors influencing lung cancer screening decision-making and develop a conceptual framework depicting relationships between these factors.

Compensation effect of mortality is a challenge to substantial lifespan extension of humans.

Despite frequent claims regarding radical extensions of human lifespan in the near future, many pragmatic scientists caution against excessive and baseless optimism on this front. In this study, we examine the compensation effect of mortality (CEM) as a potential challenge to substantial lifespan extension. The CEM is an empirical mortality regularity, often depicted as relative mortality convergence at advanced ages.

Longitudinal association of health behaviors and health-related quality of life with military spouse readiness.

Background: Unhealthy behaviors impose costs on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) reducing productivity and readiness among military members (Hoge et al., JAMA 295:1023-32, 2006; Mansfield et al. 362:101-9, 2010).

Buprenorphine Prescribing and Challenges Faced Among National Health Service Corps Clinicians.

Importance: The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Loan Repayment Program (LRP) expansion in fiscal year (FY) 2019 intended to improve access to medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) by adding more clinicians who could prescribe buprenorphine. However, some clinicians still face barriers to prescribing, which may vary between rural and nonrural areas.

Objective: To examine the growth in buprenorphine prescribing by NHSC clinicians for Medicaid beneficiaries during the NHSC LRP expansion and describe the challenges to prescribing that persist in rural and nonrural areas.

The highest-cost Medicaid enrollees with sickle cell disease had annual health care expenditures nearing $200 000.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a painful chronic blood disorder that causes serious complications and comorbidities, often leading to premature death. SCD impacts millions of people worldwide, including an estimated 100 000 in the United States, most of whom are Black or Latino. We analyzed Medicaid enrollment, claims, and encounter data via the Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS) to examine the 2021 health care utilization and spending of Medicaid enrollees with SCD.

What Explains Inequalities in Telehealth Utilization Among North Carolina Medicaid Beneficiaries?

Increased availability of telehealth can improve access to health care. However, there is evidence of persistent disparities in telehealth usage, as well as among people from minoritized racial and ethnic groups and rural residents. The objective of our work was to explore the degree to which disparities in telehealth use for behavioral health (BH) and musculoskeletal (MSK) related services during the COVID-19 pandemic are explained by observed beneficiary- and area-level characteristics.

Corrigendum to "Stigma towards persons who use methamphetamine: Results from a nationally representative survey of U.S. Adults" [Pre. Med. Rep. 36 (2023) 102496].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.pmedr.

Identifying priority areas to support primary care engagement in breast cancer survivorship care: A Delphi study.

Introduction: Existing approaches in cancer survivorship care delivery have proven to be insufficient to engage primary care. This study aimed to identify stakeholder-informed priorities to improve primary care engagement in breast cancer survivorship care.

Methods: Experts in U.

Changes in Partner-Seeking and Sexual Behavior Among US Adults During the First 2 Years of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic may have influenced partner-seeking and sexual behaviors of adults.

Methods: We examined cross-sectional survey data collected at the end of the first year (n = 1161) and second year (n = 1233) of the COVID-19 pandemic by the National Opinion Research Center's nationally representative, probability-based AmeriSpeak panel. Data were analyzed to (1) quantify behavioral changes across pandemic years, (2) examine changes of in-person dating prevalence during year 2, and (3) assess risk perception for acquiring COVID-19 or HIV/STIs through new partnerships during year 2.

Improving Data Infrastructure for Person-Centered Outcomes Research on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) continue to experience disparities in health and well-being despite improved provisions of person-centered care. Patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) translates evidence into practice for meaningful outcomes. This piece describes findings from an environmental scan and stakeholder outreach to identify and prioritize opportunities to enhance IDD PCOR data infrastructure.

The Longitudinal Measurement of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: A Study of Identity Change in a Nationally Representative Sample of U.S. Adults and Adolescents.

Research and lived experience demonstrate that sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) can change over the life course; however, little empirical work exists to understand the prevalence of such changes. To address this gap, we used data from a large nationally representative panel of adults and adolescents to assess changes in self-reported SOGI over time and identify trends by sex assigned at birth, age, race and ethnicity, and survey mode. We reviewed SOGI data collected between 2014 and 2022 for a sample of 19,469 adults and 970 adolescents.

"I wouldn't have felt so alone": The sexual health education experiences of transgender and gender diverse youth living in the southeastern United States.

Background: Transgender and gender diverse youth experience multiple disproportionate adverse sexual health outcomes. Sexual health education teaches knowledge, attitudes, and skills for promoting sexual health, including reducing risk for sexually transmitted infection, HIV acquisition, and unintended pregnancy. Provision of sexual health education may be protective, but research remains scarce.

Exploring Patterns of Human Mortality and Aging: A Reliability Theory Viewpoint.

The most important manifestation of aging is an increased risk of death with advancing age, a mortality pattern characterized by empirical regularities known as mortality laws. We highlight three significant ones: the Gompertz law, compensation effect of mortality (CEM), and late-life mortality deceleration and describe new developments in this area. It is predicted that CEM should result in declining relative variability of mortality at older ages.

Police Use of Discretion in Encounters with People with Opioid Use Disorder: a Study of Illinois Police Officers.

Police frequently encounter people with opioid use disorder (OUD), having a profound effect on their risk environment and health outcomes. Officers retain significant discretionary authority in their response to these encounters. To explore the factors that underlie these decisions, we surveyed a sample of Illinois police officers.

Identifying promising themes and messages for youth vaping prevention: A national study.

Use of e-cigarettes and vapes among adolescents continues to be a major public health concern. Health communication efforts can discourage e-cigarette use among adolescents by influencing beliefs and behavior. However, to do so, studies need to identify the most promising themes and messages based on the latest evidence about the harms of e-cigarettes and vaping.

Race/ethnicity and the measurement of cognition in NSHAP: Recommendations for robustness.

Objectives: In this study, we examine the measurement of cognition in different racial/ethnic groups to move towards a less biased and more inclusive set of measures for capturing cognitive change and decline in older adulthood.

Methods: We use data from Round 2 (N=3377) and Round 3 (N=4777) of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) and examine the study's Survey Adjusted version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-SA). We employ exploratory factor analyses to explore configural invariance by racial/ethnic group.