Special Collection on Women’s Heart Health

For American Heart Month 2015, the editorial team at Women’s Health Issues has assembled a special collection of research on women’s cardiovascular health published in the journal since mid-2011, following the release of updated American Heart Association guidelines on the prevention of cardiovascular disease in women. The articles address healthcare services for women at risk for cardiovascular disease; social determinants of health; and physical activity in specific populations of women.

 These articles will be accessible for free during the month of February 2015 so that they are available to a wider interested audience.

Source: Women's Health Issues

Link to collection of articles.

Online tool created by UCLA provides health information by ZIP code, city and legislative district

From the press release

For the first time, anyone can easily access comprehensive California health statistics by ZIP code, city and legislative district thanks to a new web tool created by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. The easy-to-use AskCHIS Neighborhood Edition, or AskCHIS NE, enables users to customize searches, compare and “pool” small geographic areas, and map and chart their results.

AskCHIS NE covers a wide range of health topics, including rates of health insurance, chronic conditions like asthma and diabetes, and behaviors like smoking and physical activity; quality of children’s health; and access to health care and mental health care; and much more.

Source:  UCLA Center for Health Policy Research

Visit AskCHIS NE (free registration required)

In States That Don’t Expand Medicaid, Who Gets New Coverage Assistance Under the ACA and Who Doesn’t?

From the introduction:

Uninsured adults ineligible for coverage assistance because of nonexpansion include 4.4 million with a high school degree or less, 3.1 million women, 1.6 million blacks, 1.5 million under age 25, and 1.3 million Latinos.

Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Download full pdf report

Ebola Virus Disease: Essential Public Health Principles for Clinicians

Abstract:

Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) has become a health emergency of international concern. The World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have developed guidance to educate and inform healthcare workers and travelers worldwide. Symptoms of EVD include abrupt onset of fever, myalgias, and headache in the early phase, followed by vomiting, diarrhea and possible progression to hemorrhagic rash, life threatening bleeding, and multi-organ failure in the later phase. The disease is not transmitted via airborne spread like influenza, but rather from person-to-person, or animal to person via direct contact with bodily fluids or blood. It is crucial that emergency physicians are well educated on disease presentation and how to generate a timely and accurate differential diagnosis that includes exotic diseases in the appropriate patient population. A patient should be evaluated for EVD with suggestive symptoms including unexplained hemorrhage; AND risk factors within 3 weeks prior, such as travel to an endemic area, direct handling of animals from outbreak areas, or ingestion of fruit or other uncooked foods contaminated with bat feces containing the virus. There are experimental therapies for treatment of the virus; however the mainstay of therapy is supportive care. Emergency department personnel on the frontlines must be prepared to rapidly identify and isolate febrile travelers if indicated. All healthcare workers involved in their care should wear personal protective equipment. Despite the intense media focus on EVD rather than other threats, emergency physicians must master and follow essential public health principles for management of all infectious diseases. This includes not only identification and treatment of individuals, but also protection of healthcare workers and prevention of spread, keeping in mind the possibility of other more common disease processes.

Source:  Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, Articles In Press [via eScholarship Repository]

Download full pdf publication | Read more about this article on eScholarship site

Ebola Updates from CDC, European Union, WHO Ebola Response Team

Recently released reports on the Ebola Outbreak:

CDC — 2014 Ebola Outbreak: Information and Updates

The 2014 Ebola outbreak is the largest Ebola outbreak in history and the first Ebola outbreak in West Africa. This outbreak is the first Ebola epidemic the world has ever known — affecting multiple countries in West Africa. Although the risk of an Ebola outbreak in the United States is very low, CDC and partners are taking precautions to prevent this from happening. Source: Center for Disease Control

The European Union’s response to Ebola

A number of West African countries are currently experiencing the worst Ebola epidemic in history. As the situation continues to deteriorate rapidly, the European Commission has stepped up its response since March 2014 and is now pledging more than €147 million in response to the devastating human, sanitary, economic and political effects of this crisis for the region. Since the beginning of the epidemic, the European Parliament has shown its concern as regards this critical situation. Source: European Parliamentary Research Service

WHO Ebola Response Team: Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa — The First 9 Months of the Epidemic and Forward Projections

Abstract: A total of 4507 confirmed and probable EVD cases were reported to the WHO between December 30, 2013, and September 14, 2014 — a 37-week period. A total of 718 confirmed and probable cases and 289 deaths were reported in the week of September 8 through September 14 alone. The numbers of confirmed and probable cases reported by each country over time are shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2. Detailed information was available on 3343 confirmed and 667 probable cases; these cases were used in all our analyses, with the exception of projections (results of analyses based on confirmed, probable, and suspected cases are provided in Supplementary Appendix 1). The median age of persons with EVD was 32 years (interquartile range, 21 to 44), and there were no significant differences in the age distribution of persons with EVD among countries. The majority of persons with EVD (60.8%) were between 15 and 44 years of age (this age group makes up only 44% of the population) (Table 1Table 1Demographic Characteristics and Signs and Symptoms in Confirmed and Probable Ebola Case Patients with a Definitive Clinical Outcome in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.). There were also no significant differences among countries in the total numbers of male and female persons with EVD reported (49.9% of the total were male patients; within-country differences have not yet been fully investigated). EVD has taken a heavy toll among health care workers in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. By September 14, a total of 318 cases, including 151 deaths, had been reported among health care workers. Source: New England Journal of Medicine

World Alzheimer Report 2014: Dementia and Risk Reduction

Description:

The World Alzheimer Report 2014, Dementia and Risk Reduction: An analysis of protective and modifiable factors critically examines the evidence for the existence of modifiable risk factors for dementia.

It focuses on sets of potential modifiable risk factors in four key domains: developmental, psychological and psychosocial, lifestyle and cardiovascular conditions. The report makes recommendations to drive public health campaigns and disease prevention strategies.

The report which was researched and authored by Prof Martin Prince, Prof Emiliano Albanese, Dr Maëlenn Guerchet and Dr Matthew Prina on behalf of the Global Observatory for Ageing and Dementia Care which is hosted at the Health Service and Population Research Department, King’s College London.

Source: Alzheimer’s Disease International

Download full pdf publication | Alzheimer’s Disease International Press Release

The State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America 2014

Key Findings

• Race and Ethnicity: Obesity rates remain higher among blacks and Latinos than among whites. Rates among blacks topped 40 percent in 11 states; rates among Latinos exceeded 35 percent in 5 states; for whites, 10 states had rates over 30 percent.
• Socioeconomic Status: More than 33 percent of adults 18 and older who earn less than $15,000 per year are obese, compared with 25.4 percent who earn at least $50,000 per year.
• Geography: 9 out of the 10 states with the highest obesity rates are in the South.
• Age: Baby Boomers (45-to 64-year-olds) have the highest obesity rates of any age group – topping 35 percent in 17 states.
• Severity: More than 6 percent of adults are severely** obese; the number of severely obese adults has quadrupled in the past 30 years.

Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)

Download full pdf publication | Learn more on RWJF website

Integrating Environmental and Human Health

From the introduction:

Recognizing the importance of sustainable health care to the well-being of patients, the industry and the environment, Wharton’s Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership (IGEL) and Johnson & Johnson co-sponsored a recent conference titled, “Metrics that Matter, Messages that Motivate.” Drawing on information gathered at that conference and interviews with Wharton faculty and industry experts, this special report focuses on how organizations can find the path to best practices in health care sustainability.

Source: Knowledge at Wharton

Download pdf report
Read full introduction

How Neighborhoods Affect Health, Well-being, and Young People’s Futures

Description:

Among the many potential factors reviewed in this brief, the evidence most consistently points to neighborhood social cohesion, informal social control, spatial mismatch, and exposure to environmental hazards, including violence, as important factors in how neighborhood affects personal outcomes.

Source: Wayne State University [via MacArthur Foundation]

Download pdf of Research Brief

Adolescent Indoor Tanning Use and Unhealthy Weight Control Behaviors

From the abstract:

Youth indoor tanning rates remain high despite the potential for increased melanoma risk. No previous study has assessed the prevalence of unhealthy weight control behaviors in both male and female adolescent indoor tanning users using a nationally representative survey.

Methods:
Pooled data on high school students from the 2009 and 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey were used (n = 26,951). Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess associations between the recent indoor tanning use and recently doing the following to lose weight: fasting for more than 24 hours; taking a pill, powder, or liquid without a doctor's consent; and vomiting or taking a laxative.

Results:
Pooled data showed 23.3% of females reported indoor tanning within the past year; 6.5% of males did so as well. Adjusted multivariate results show that females who indoor tan were, on average, more likely to have fasted (odds ratio [OR], 1.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0–1.5), taken a pill, powder, or liquid (OR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.9–3.0), and vomited or taken a laxative to lose weight (OR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.1–1.7) within the past 30 days than those who did not. Males who indoor tanned within the past year were, on average, more likely to have fasted (OR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.7–3.1), taken a pill, powder, or liquid (OR, 4.4; 95% CI, 3.3–6.0), and vomited or taken a laxative to lose weight (OR, 7.1; 95% CI, 4.4–11.4) within the past 30 days.

Conclusions:
Significant associations between indoor tanning use and unhealthy weight control behaviors exist for both male and female adolescents, with a stronger association observed among males.

Source: Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics

Download full pdf publication: Adolescent Indoor Tanning Use and Unhealthy Weight Control Behaviors

Read abstract and publication online

A Smartphone Application to Support Recovery From Alcoholism

From the abstract:

This article describes a randomized clinical trial of a smartphone application called the Addiction–Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System (A-CHESS), which was designed to improve continuing care for AUDs by offering emotional and instrumental support at almost any time and place. The theoretical basis of A-CHESS is self-determination theory, which posits that meeting needs contributes to an individual’s adaptive functioning: being perceived as competent, feeling related to others, and feeling internally motivated and not coerced in one’s actions. Self-determination theory was chosen because evidence suggested that its constructs could be causal mechanisms that would affect A-CHESS targets, and because self-determination theory is broad and fundamental enough to cover a complex, multifaceted eHealth intervention such as A-CHESS. This study reports the primary outcome from a trial that hypothesized that patients leaving residential care for AUDs who received treatment as usual plus a multifeatured smartphone application would have fewer risky drinking days over 12 months than patients receiving only treatment as usual. We also report on 2 secondary outcomes: abstinence and negative consequences of drinking.

Source: JAMA Psychiatry
Read Abstract
Download pdf:  A Smartphone Application to Support Recovery From Alcoholism

Public Health Approaches to Violence Prevention

From the introduction:

Most people may not think of jogging and biking as crime reduction strategies, but in neighborhoods in East Palo Alto, Calif., with the highest levels of shootings, law enforcement officers and residents are coming together and engaging in these types of outdoor activities to combat crime.

The East Palo Alto Police Department's Fitness Improvement Training (FIT) Zones are part of an innovative initiative aimed at testing whether improvements in community health can help increase community safety in the city's most dangerous neighborhoods. The FIT Zones implement health-related programs in public spaces that have been underused by residents and overtaken by gang members. The idea is that as residents increase outdoor physical activities like power walking, yoga and Zumba dancing, they will increase their presence in public spaces, improve their health, and regain control and ownership of their neighborhoods.

Source: National Institute of Justice (United States)

Read online: Healthy Communities May Make Safe Communities: Public Health Approaches to Violence Prevention 

The Health Consequences of Senior Hunger in the United States

Description:

The National Foundation to End Senior Hunger (NFESH) has released a study entitled The Health Consequences of Senior Hunger in the United States: Evidence from the 1999-2010 NHANES conducted by Dr. James P. Ziliak and Dr. Craig G. Gundersen. This NFESH commissioned report is the first to examine trends in health outcomes across food security status for the entire first decade of the 21st century in order to document whether there are health consequences attendant to the dramatic increase in food insecurity among seniors during that period.

Source: National Foundation to End Senior Hunger

Download pdf report: The Health Consequences of Senior Hunger in the United States
Download pdf executive summary of The Health Consequences of Senior Hunger in the United States

New Database: Diversity Data Kids: public access to measures of child wellbeing and equity throughout the U.S.

From the press release:

The Institute for Child, Youth and Family Policy (ICYFP) at Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management has launched a new online data and analysis tool, providing unprecedented insight into wellbeing and equity among the ever- more diverse child population in the United States.

The site, diversitydatakids.org, allows users to create customized profiles, rankings and maps that make data visual and digestible. It also features a neighborhood-level child opportunity index, the first of its kind, developed in partnership with the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University. This index allows users to view interactive maps of the opportunities that are available to children in their own neighborhoods; a story that is often strikingly different by race/ethnicity. In addition to providing this index and hundreds of standard data indicators broken down by race and ethnicity, this site generates unique, equity- focused indicators of known structural factors that influence disparities in healthy child development. It also allows users to drill down from the national level to smaller levels of geography such as metropolitan areas and school districts, and in some cases, down to the neighborhood level, providing pinpoint views of the often nuanced inequities present among children of various racial and ethnic groups.

Source:  Institute for Child, Youth and Family Policy (ICYFP) at Brandeis University

Link to site: http://www.diversitydatakids.org/

The State of Health + Urbanism

Description:

A newly published research report from MIT’s Center for Advanced Urbanism (CAU) highlights the complexity of the issue. Produced in collaboration with the American Institute of Architects, the document examines an array of public health matters in eight major metropolitan areas in the United States, and suggests a wide array of possible remedies, from better mass transit to extensive tree-planting. The report was principally authored by Alan Berger, a professor of landscape architecture and urban design, along with Andrew Scott, an associate professor of architecture; about a dozen graduate students from MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning and researchers at CAU also worked on the project.

Source: Center for Advanced Urbanism, M.I.T.

Read an interview with Alan Berger

Download full pdf report: The State of Health + Urbanism

A Demographic Snapshot of Disconnected Low-Income Men

Abstract:

In 2008-10, 16.5 million civilian men nationwide age 18-44 lived in families with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level; 15 million of these men lacked college degrees. Low-income men are more likely to have never married than men the same age nationwide, and they are disproportionately African American or Hispanic. Using data from the American Community Survey, this brief presents estimates of the number of low-income men in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, focusing on metropolitan areas with at least 50,000 low-income men.

Source: Urban Institute
Download complete pdf publication: A Demographic Snapshot of Disconnected Low-Income Men

Related publication: The Health of Disconnected Low-Income Men

Risking Your Health : Causes, Consequences, and Interventions to Prevent Risky Behaviors

From the description:

Changing behaviors is tricky — public health interventions via legislation with strong enforcement mechanisms can be more effective than simple communication campaigns informing consumers about the risks associated with certain behaviors, since translating knowledge into concrete changes in behavior seems to be hard to achieve. Economic mechanisms such as taxes (especially on alcohol and tobacco products), subsidies (such as free condoms), and conditional/unconditional cash transfers are also used to reduce risky behaviors (for example in HIV prevention). Of great interest to policy makers, academics and practitioners, this book assesses the efficiency of those interventions designed to reduce the prevalence of behaviors that endanger health. 

Source: World Bank


Download pdf: Risking Your Health : Causes, Consequences, and Interventions to Prevent Risky Behaviors

The State of Women in America: A 50-State Analysis of How Women Are Faring Across the Nation

From the overview:

In this report, we examine both the progress made and the challenges remaining for women across the country. We do so by reviewing three categories that are critical to women’s overall well-being: economics, leadership, and health. Within each of those three categories, we analyze multiple factors—36 factors overall. In selecting the factors, we were unable to include every metric available but strove to include a broad array of factors that would help illustrate the multitude of issues facing women. We also included data on women of color in order to show the challenges that different communities face.

Source: Center for American Progress

Download full pdf:  The State of Women in America: A 50-State Analysis of How Women Are Faring Across the Nation

The Effects of the Great Recession on Health Insurance: Changes in the Uninsured Population from 2007 to 2009

Abstract:

The economic recession that began in California in 2008 did not affect all counties equally. Using data from several years of the California Health Interview Survey, this policy brief examines the differences between 2007 and 2009 for the populations who were uninsured "for all or part of the prior year." During this time period, counties with high unemployment and lower household income saw the highest growth in the uninsured population, due to a large drop in job-based coverage and only a small increase in public coverage. Compared to the uninsured population in California in 2007, Californians who were uninsured for all or part of 2009 were older, more likely to be U.S.-born citizens, had lower household incomes, and were more likely to be unemployed and looking for work.
 

Source: Recent Work, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, UCLA

Download The Effects of the Great Recession on Health Insurance

Substance Use Disorders in the U.S. Armed Forces

Like many sectors of society, the U.S. military has a long history of alcohol and other drug misuse and abuse. In recent years, the face of the issue has been transformed by increasing rates of prescription drug abuse among service members. Heavy alcohol use and binge drinking continues to be a concern within the military.


To better understand the current substance use problems within the U.S. military, the Department of Defense (DoD) asked the IOM to analyze policies and programs that pertain to prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment of substance use disorders for active duty service members in all branches, members of the National Guard and Reserve, and military families. The IOM concludes that to deal with this public health crisis, the DoD will need to consistently implement evidence-based prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment services and take leadership for ensuring that these services expand and improve.

Source: Board on the Health of Select Populations, National Academies, Institute of Medicine