ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Cross-sectional studies have reported associations between social support and health, but prospective evidence is less conclusive. This study aims to investigate the associations of positive and negative experiences of social support with current and future lifestyle factors, biological risk factors, self-perceived health and mental health over a 10-year ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: In the Netherlands, as in many European countries, inequalities in health exist between people with a high and a low socioeconomic status (SES). From the perspective of the 'indirect selection hypothesis', this study was designed to expand our understanding of the role of Type D personality as an ...

An increasing number of university students are earning their degrees online. Thus far, the determinants of health among online university students have not been studied. The purpose of this cross-sectional internet survey was to test the association between behavioral risk factors and self-rated health in a diverse sample of online ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: There is controversy as to whether peripheral employment is related to poor health status or not. This study aims at examining whether 1) the accumulation of time in peripheral labour market positions is associated with psychological distress and poor or average self-rated health; 2) the proposed association is ...

Objective: The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) Cancer Genomics Program sought to increase the number of health plans with a written policy aligned with the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) Grade B Recommendation stating that women whose family history is associated with an increased risk for deleterious ...

Abstract Background: Disparities in women's health indicators exist throughout the Americas. Health data about indigenous women in the remote highland communities of Honduras are lacking. Our objective was to assess women's health indicators and to suggest potential interventions. Methods: An anonymous questionnaire was administered to women ≥age 18 in the ...

Previous research suggests that sexual minority youth have poorer health-related outcomes than their heterosexual peers. The purpose of this study is to determine whether sexual orientation disparities in mental health and substance use increase, decrease, or remain the same during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Data are from Waves ...

OBJECTIVE: Most professional organizations now provide patient information material, and not all of this material is appropriate for the average American adult to comprehend. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the United States Department of Health and Human Services recommend that patient education materials be written at the sixth-grade ...

PURPOSE: Background rates for common health problems have seldom been estimated to facilitate interpretation of signals that may occur after a new public health intervention. Background rates of diagnoses from general practitioners (GPs) and gynecologists (GYNs) were assessed before the implementation of human papillomavirus (HPV) immunization program. METHODS: This cross-sectional ...

BackgroundInvestigations on health differences within welfare states between low- and high-socioeconomic groups are mainly conducted in Europe. With the aim of gaining global insight on the extent welfare regimes influence personal disability for the most vulnerable, we explore how these health differences vary between low- and high-socioeconomic groups.MethodsThe World Health ...

The health of adolescents and the adults they will become can be linked to the health-related behaviors they adopt as children. To replicate a pilot study with a more culturally diverse population a descriptive, correlational study was undertaken with 379 seventh grade students. Key findings from this study include (a) ...

A retrospective cohort study finds that screening was documented for only a quarter of the veterans seeking treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder. BACKGROUND: Men seeking care for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are believed to have high rates of relationship conflict and intimate partner violence (IPV). But little is known about ...

To assess recent trends in obesity, health beliefs, and lifestyles in Swedish schoolchildren, with focus on socioeconomic disparities. The study was conducted in two areas with high and low socioeconomic status (SES). 340 11-12 year olds participated in three cross-sectional surveys assessing food-related behaviours, physical activity and health beliefs, together ...

Type D personality (the combination of negative affect and social inhibition) is associated with poor prognosis in cardiac patients. The current study aims to investigate the relationship between Type D and health-related behaviours. In a cross-sectional study, 200 healthy participants completed measures of Type D personality, and health-related behaviours. The ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) is a harmful traditional practice with severe health complications, deeply rooted in many Sub-Saharan African countries. In The Gambia, the prevalence of FGM/C is 78.3 % in women aged between 15 and 49 years. The objective of this study is to perform a first ...

Peter Chow-White and Troy Duster examine the question of whether the "digital divide" in health and forensic DNA databases is contributing to racial disparities.

Health literacy is understudied in Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders (AA/PI). We used a population-based sample in Hawai'i to consider if low health literacy is associated with poor health outcomes in Japanese, Filipino, Native Hawaiians, and other AA/PI groups compared with Whites. In data weighted and adjusted for population undercounts and complex ...

Health literacy research has concentrated on adults; there has been inadequate research on youth health literacy and the effect it may have on health outcomes. Low-income, minority populations have low levels of health literacy and are at higher risk of illness and disease. Building Wellness™ is a youth health literacy ...

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: Equity in access to and utilization of health services is a common goal of policy-makers in most countries. The current study aimed to evaluate the distribution of need and access to health care services among Iran's rural population between 2006 and 2009. METHODS: Census data on population's characteristics ...

BACKGROUND: The California Department of Public Health received serial spirometry data for flavoring manufacturing workers at 20 companies at risk of bronchiolitis obliterans. METHODS: We graded spirometry quality; identified individual workers with excessive decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1) ) using relative longitudinal limits of decline based on ...

OBJECTIVE:: To explore cardiovascular fitness in 40 occupations using a nationally representative sample of the US population. METHODS:: Respondents aged 18 to 49 years (N = 3354) from the 1999 to 2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were evaluated for cardiovascular fitness and classified into low, moderate, and high ...

The Sept 11, 2001 (9/11) World Trade Center (WTC) disaster has been associated with several subacute and chronic health effects, but whether excess mortality after 9/11 has occurred is unknown. We tested whether excess mortality has occurred in people exposed to the WTC disaster. In this observational cohort study, deaths ...

We examined the disparities in health-care coverage between low- and high-income workers in Washington State (WA) to provide support for possible policy decisions for uninsured workers. We examined data from the WA Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2003-2007 and compared workers aged 18-64 years of low income (annual household income ...

We examined trends and epidemiology of tuberculosis (TB) across racial/ethnic groups to better understand TB disparities in the United States, with particular focus on American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) and Native Hawaiians/other Pacific Islanders (NH/PIs). We analyzed cases in the U.S. National Tuberculosis Surveillance System and calculated TB case rates among ...

To identify predictors of breakfast consumption among adolescents. Five-year longitudinal study Project EAT (Eating Among Teens). Baseline surveys were completed in Minneapolis-St. Paul schools and by mail at follow-up by youth (n = 800) transitioning from middle to high school. Linear regression models examined associations between baseline predictors and follow-up ...

Aquacultural tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus L.) and shrimp (Penaeus monodon L.) from groundwater-cultured ponds in southwestern Taiwan were analyzed to estimate arsenic (As) bioaccumulation and the potential health risk to human intake. Most of aquacultural ponds exhibited higher arsenic than maximum allowed concentrations (50 μg L(-1)) in pond water of Taiwan. ...

The aim of this study was to examine the self-reported health status of road traffic accident victims and the predictors of self-assessed recovery 1 year after major trauma in a French population. A follow-up study. The cohort comprised 276 seriously injured victims of road traffic accidents, aged > 16 years from ...

Abstract Background There is little information available related to the reproductive health of people with intellectual disability (ID). The aims of the present study are to describe caregiver attitudes and to examine determinants of gynaecological health for women with ID. Method We recruited 1152 caregivers (response rate = 71.87%) and ...

The objective of this study was to describe situations related to sexual health of adolescents, according to the National Survey of School Health (PeNSE). It is a cross-sectional study performed by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), in partnership with the Ministry of Health that involved 60,973 students ...

We examined differences in health indicators and associated factors across countries according to the proportion of the population who are Muslim. Of 190 UN countries, 48 were classified as Muslim-majority countries (MMC) and 142 as non-MMC. Data on 41 potential determinants of health were obtained from 10 different data sources, ...

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the association of self-reported health with residential area type defined by the population density in individual's local environment using a population-based cohort in Finland. METHODS: Young adults of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (4,201 women and 3,835 men), surveyed by a postal questionnaire in 1997, were ...

OBJECTIVE: Although numerous studies have demonstrated a socio-economic gradient in health, there is still a lack of research about the mechanisms behind this gradient. The aim of this study was to analyse possible mechanisms from adolescence to adulthood to explain the socio-economic gradient in somatic symptoms among men and women ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: To determine a) proportions of behavior related health risk factors among job-seekers and b) to what extend these are related to self-rated health. Methods: Over 12 months, job-seekers were recruited at three job-agencies in northeastern Germany. Among all individuals eligible for study inclusion, 7,906 (79.8%) provided information on ...

Objectives. People near major transportation emissions sources experience higher exposure to hazardous pollutants. We present population size and demographic composition estimates for exposure to diesel particulate matter (DPM) exhaust from US harbor activities. Methods. We examined 43 US marine harbor areas to determine outdoor, ambient concentrations from port-related DPM emissions ...

The presence of an immune-risk phenotype (IRP) has been correlated with survival rates in elderly people. The aim of this study is to characterize the inverted CD4:CD8 ratio as a possible marker of IRP in a sample of oldest old (85 years) by assessing differences in gender and health status. ...

Almost universally, women with higher levels of education have fewer children. Better education is associated with lower mortality, better health, and different migration patterns. Hence, the global population outlook depends greatly on further progress in education, particularly of young women. By 2050, the highest and lowest education scenarios--assuming identical education-specific ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: : The complicity of the South African health sector in apartheid and the international relevance of human rights as a professional obligation prompted moves to include human rights competencies in the curricula of health professionals in South Africa. A Train-the-Trainers course in Health and Human Rights was established ...

BACKGROUND: The economic evaluation of any human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination strategy requires the measurement of clinical benefits (quality-adjusted life-years [QALY]) gained to reflect both the increase in life expectancy and the economic benefits associated with an effective intervention. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the feasibility ...

Objectives. We investigated associations among racial discrimination, psychological distress, and self-rated health among US-born and immigrant Black Americans. Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of a cohort of employed working-class Black Americans (193 US-born, 275 foreign-born). Results. Both US-born and foreign-born Black participants had high levels of exposure to poverty ...

BACKGROUND: We hypothesized that low socioeconomic status, employer-provided health insurance, low wages, and overtime were predictors of reporting workers compensation indemnity claims. We also tested for gender and race disparities. METHODS: Responses from 17,190 (person-years) Americans participating in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, 1997-2005, were analyzed with logistic regressions. ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Associations between measures of subjective health and mortality risk have previously been shown. We assessed the impact and comparative predictive performance of a multi-biomarker panel on this association. METHODS: Data from 4,261 individuals aged 20-79 years recruited for the population-based Study of Health in Pomerania was used. During ...

We examined 3 questions surrounding the undercontrolled, overcontrolled, and resilient-or Asendorpf-Robins-Caspi (ARC)-personality types originally identified by Block (1971). In analyses of the teacher personality assessments of over 2,000 children in 1st through 6th grade in 1959-1967 and follow-up data on general and cardiovascular health outcomes in over 1,100 adults recontacted ...

BACKGROUND:: Health literacy (HL) is an established independent predictor of cardiovascular outcomes. Approximately 90 million Americans have limited HL and read at the fifth grade level or lower. Therefore, we sought to determine the suitability and readability level of common cardiovascular patient education materials (PEM) related to heart failure and ...

Japan's health promotion volunteers (HPVs) are individuals who act as a natural helping resource in the community. This study explored the factors associated with vigorous community health outreach by HPVs who promote healthy lifestyles. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in December 2009 that included 822 HPVs in 2 areas. Multiple ...

To estimate and compare EuroQol instrument (EQ-5D) health states' values for pneumoccocal and human papillomavirus (HPV) diseases in Argentina, Chile, and the United Kingdom. Twelve vignettes were designed, pilot-tested, and administered to a convenience sample in a cross-sectional design to elicit descriptive EQ-5D state data. Country-specific EQ-5D time-trade-off-based weights were ...

To assess self-reported human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing practices by health care providers and clinics, including nonrecommended practices such as low-risk HPV testing, HPV cotesting in women younger than age 30 years, and HPV reflex testing for high-grade abnormal Pap test results. We analyzed responses to a cross-sectional survey of ...

To apply the proposed Sociocultural Health Behavior Model to determine association of factors related to hepatitis B virus (HBV) screening among Asian Americans. A cross-sectional design of 1312 Asian men and women 18 years and older. The frequency distribution analysis and chi square analysis were used for the initial screening ...

STUDY OBJECTIVE: In this study, we examined whether mother-daughter sexuality communication in midadolescence contributes to young women's self-efficacy to consult with family members about sexual health problems, and to talk with physicians about the human papillomavirus (HPV). PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Young European American, Latina, and Asian Pacific Islander college women ...

BACKGROUND: This study explored the interplay between work stress and socioeconomic position and investigated if the interaction of work stress and low socioeconomic position is associated with poorer health. METHODS: A representative sample of the Swedish working population, including 2,613 employees (48.7% women) aged 19-64 years, was analyzed. The health ...

OBJECTIVES: We investigated inequalities in self-rated health between immigrants, their descendants, and ethnic Danes and explored mediation by socioeconomic position and interactions between country of origin and socioeconomic position. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey data on self-rated health from 4,985 individuals aged 18-66 years including immigrants from seven non-Western countries, their descendants, and ...