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OBJECTIVE--Differences in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk factors among occupational groups have been found in several studies. Certain types of workers (such as shift workers) may [...]

Background: Because of the relation between chronic disease and poor nutritional habits, the use of food labels and adherence to dietary recommendations are important for chronic disease populations. We explored whether persons with chronic disease read nutrient information on food labels and whether they were aware of dietary guidelines. Objective: This study aimed to assess dietary information use among persons with chronic disease by using a nationally representative sample of the US population. Design: A total of 5603 respondents aged [greater than or equal to] 17 y from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey participated in the study. This representative sample of US civilians were asked 17 questions regarding their awareness of federal nutrition information and their food label use and were given two 24-h recall dietary interviews. Participants were classified into 5 disease categories: 1) hypertension, 2) hypercholesterolemia, 3) diabetes/at risk of diabetes, 4) overweight, and 5) heart disease. Results: Subjects with chronic diseases were more aware of nutritional recommendations, checked more often for specific nutrients, and used nutrition information on food labels more often than did participants without such diseases. Label use behavior was inconsistently associated with dietary guideline compliance. Conclusions: People with chronic disease generally reported better nutrition awareness and food label use and checking behaviors compared with those without chronic disease, but this did not translate into unequivocally better eating behaviors. New strategies are needed to improve the actual nutritional behaviors of persons with chronic disease. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2009.27684.

ABSTRACT Background. Age-specific structured encounter forms for well-child examinations have been shown to improve thoroughness of documentation among pediatric house staff. This study evaluated the influence of such forms on [...]

The workplace provides a special source of information that aids in the identification and evaluation of disease clusters. These are: natural denominator boundaries (the population at risk is defined), shared exposures, the ability to form intermediate hypotheses, and the possibility of locating comparable study populations. A total of 87 original disease clusters were identified in a literature review from the year 1775 to 1990, which established occupational-related disease toxin connections. Cluster disease data appeared early in the history of occupational health; arsenic and lead intoxication data were among the earliest. Today, the employee, along with the physician, is a responsible source of information and is frequently the initiator of cluster investigations. The literature and methodology of cluster data collection are reviewed. An extensive appended bibliography is also included. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Protecting the ocean has become a major goal of international policy as human activities increasingly endanger the integrity of the ocean ecosystem, often summarized as “ocean health.” By and large, efforts to protect the ocean have failed because, among other things, (1) the underlying socio-ecological pathways have not been properly considered, and (2) the concept of ocean health has been ill defined. Collectively, this prevents an adequate societal response as to how ocean ecosystems and their vital functions for human societies can be protected and restored. We review the confusion surrounding the term “ocean health” and suggest an operational ocean-health framework in line with the concept of strong sustainability. Given the accelerating degeneration of marine ecosystems, the restoration of regional ocean health will be of increasing importance. Our advocated transdisciplinary and multi-actor framework can help to advance the implementation of more active measures to restore ocean health and safeguard human health and well-being.

The transient nature of construction work makes it difficult to conduct longitudinal worksite-based health promotion activities. As part of a workplace health assessment pilot study, we worked with a commercial lunch truck company to disseminate four types of health education materials including cancer screening, workplace injury prevention, fruit and vegetable consumption, and smoking cessation to construction workers purchasing food items from the truck during their job breaks. Two weeks following the worksite assessment, we followed up with these workers to ascertain their use of the health promotion materials. Of the 54 workers surveyed, 83% reported reviewing and sharing the cancer screening materials with their families, whereas 44% discussed the cancer screening materials with coworkers. Similar proportions of workers reviewed, shared, and discussed the other health promotion materials with their family. Lunch trucks may be an effective strategy and delivery method for educating construction workers on healthy behaviors and injury prevention practices.

Background: Significant challenges exist to investigating uncommon illnesses because too few patients are seen at any single clinical center to permit appropriate research studies. Recognizing this impediment to clinical research [...]

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The COVID-19 pandemic has considerable mental health impacts. Immersive nature-based interventions, such as swimming or snorkeling, may help mitigate the global mental health crisis caused by the pandemic. To investigate this, we collected cross-sectional data from residents of coastal villages (n = 308) in Kepulauan Selayar, Indonesia. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used with mental well-being as the outcome variable, operationalized as the Mental Component Summary (MCS) scores from the SF-12 (12-item Short Form Health Survey). After adjusting for covariates, the activity of sea swimming or snorkeling was found to be significantly associated with better mental well-being (η2 = 0.036; p < 0.01). Predictive margins analysis revealed that those who engaged in sea swimming or snorkeling for one to three days a week gained a 2.7 increase in their MCS scores, compared to those who did not. A non-linear dose-response relationship was detected: for those swimming or snorkeling more than three days per week, there was only an increase of 1.7 MCS score compared to the 0-day. Overall this study contributes to the expanding of evidence base, showing that interactions with blue spaces can be beneficial for mental health, especially in a potentially stressful time such as the current pandemic.

This study investigated newspaper coverage of Florida red tide blooms in four metropolitan areas of Southwest Florida during a 25-year period, 1987–2012. We focused on how journalists framed red tide stories with respect to environmental risk, health risk, and economic risk. We determined risk to be a key factor in this news coverage, being an aspect of coverage of red tide itself in terms of environmental risk, tourism risk, and public health risk. The study found that red tide news coverage is most often framed as an environmental story.

The aims of this study were to estimate the prevalence of Ménière’s disease and investigate its relationship with: demographic factors; symptoms and conditions that are known or hypothesized to be associated with Ménière’s disease; other physical diseases; mental health.

To evaluate the association between secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure and depression. Tobacco smoking and depression are strongly associated, but the possible effects of SHS have not been evaluated.

Earlier age at menopause onset has been associated with increased all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality risks. The risk of earlier age at menopause associated with primary and secondary tobacco smoke exposure was assessed.

Healthy People 2010 oral health objectives call for an increase in the proportion of adults who use the oral health care system annually. To assess progress toward this goal, the authors evaluated dental care utilization and the extent of unmet dental care needs of U.S. workers and their families.

Objective. Ciguatera fish poisoning is a potentially life-threatening disease caused by eating coral reef fish contaminated with ciguatoxins and is the most common marine poisoning. However, existing surveillance systems capture few cases. To improve regional ciguatera surveillance in South Florida, this study compared ciguatera illnesses in the Florida Poison Information Center–Miami (FPICM) call database to ciguatera cases in the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) disease surveillance systems.Methods. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to identify predictors of when FPICM reported ciguatera illnesses to FDOH and whether FDOH confirmed reported ciguatera cases.Results. FPICM staff preferentially reported ciguatera illnesses that were of shorter duration (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=0.84 per additional illness day; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.74, 0.97); outbreak-associated (AOR=7.0; 95% CI 2.5, 19.5); and clinically more severe (AOR=21.6; 95% CI 2.3, 198.5). Among ciguatera illnesses reported to FDOH, outbreak-associated illnesses were more likely than single, sporadic illnesses to become confirmed surveillance cases (crude OR=11.1; 95% CI 2.0, 62.5).Conclusions. The over-representation of outbreak-associated ciguatera cases underestimates the true contribution of sporadic illnesses to ciguatera disease burden. This bias should be considered when evaluating surveillance systems that include both outbreak-associated and sporadic illness reports.

Breast‐conserving surgery combined with radiation (BCSR) is the recommended alternative treatment to mastectomy for local breast carcinoma. However, limited access to healthcare may result in more extensive surgical treatment. The effect of distance to radiation therapy facilities on the likelihood of receiving BCSR was examined in Florida.Local breast carcinomas reported to Florida's statewide registry between July, 1997, and December, 2000 were linked to the Agency of Healthcare Administration inpatient and outpatient databases to supplement the registry's treatment data, resulting in 18,903 local breast carcinoma cases treated with BCSR or mastectomy. The odds of receiving BCSR were modeled as a function of distance to the closest radiation therapy facility, adjusting for health insurance, age, race/ethnicity, and marital status.Distance to the closest radiation therapy facility was negatively associated with BCSR, with the odds ratio (OR) decreasing by 3% per 5‐mile increase in distance. Compared with the uninsured, privately insured women were 49% more likely to receive BCSR (OR of 1.49; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.20–1.86) and Medicare patients were 37% more likely (OR of 1.37; 95% CI, 1.09–1.72). Age at diagnosis was negatively associated, reducing the odds of BCSR by 1% per year increase in age. Compared with white non‐Hispanic, Hispanic women were 38% less likely to receive BCSR (OR of 0.62; 95% CI, 0.55–0.71). Married women were 23% more likely to receive BCSR compared with singles (OR of 1.23; 95% CI, 1.09–1.40); women who were separated, divorced, or widowed did not differ significantly from single women.Distance to radiation therapy facilities may negatively impact the likelihood of BCSR in Florida. Age at diagnosis, insurance type, race/ethnicity, and marital status were associated with BCSR. Future efforts should target the uninsured, Hispanics, the elderly, and the unmarried women to reduce disparities in the administration of BCSR for local breast carcinoma. Cancer 2006. © 2005 American Cancer Society.

Screenings for the genetic disorder alpha1 antitrypsin deficiency (AAT Deficiency) have been one of two models: large screenings of general populations and small targeted detection programs in high-risk groups. The most appropriate screening and detection methodologies in terms of target populations, subject participation and yield of positive tests, however, have not been well defined. The major objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the effectiveness in terms of participation of two different AAT Deficiency detection programs using a self-administered fingerstick blood test. Individuals ages 30–60 under the care of a pulmonary physician and with a diagnosis of emphysema, COPD, chronic bronchitis, or bronchiectasis were the targeted population. Participants were offered AAT Deficiency testing in the pulmonary physician's office compared with testing offered through mail. Participation (i.e., frequency of subject participation in the detection program) of two different AAT Deficiency detection programs. Non-participation was due to fear of self-administered testing and research studies; women were more likely to participate than men. Eligible subjects were significantly more likely to participate when offered testing by their pulmonary physician in-office (83%) than mail-only (42%) (P &lt; 0.02). Although self-administered genetic testing is available, highest participation in AAT Deficiency detection program was found when offered directly by the physician. This finding may have implications for screening and detection of other genetic diseases. Future studies need to evaluate the yield (i.e., frequency of positive tests) of these detection methodologies in highly targeted populations. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Investigators must often rely on self‐reported work history information collected with questionnaires. However, little is known about the agreement between self‐reported estimates of exposure and records kept by companies. As part of a cross‐sectional medical study of structural fumigation workers, self‐reported work history information was collected on both duration and frequency of exposure using an interviewer‐administered questionnaire. All company records available on these workers were also collected. Only 15 of 81 structural fumigation companies identified by study participants as current or past structural fumigation employers had records suitable for comparison. These 15 companies employed 32 of the workers who participated in the cross‐sectional medical study. The exposure information provided by the 32 workers was compared to information obtained from company records. By examining the agreement between these two data sources, potential limitations were identified in both the self‐reported and company‐recorded exposure data. By recognizing these limitations in the exposure data, we identified the most appropriate exposure measures to be used in subsequent data analyses. This exercise also demonstrated the difficulties in undertaking these exposure comparisons in an industry consisting of many small, independent companies. Similar difficulties with assessing exposures may be experienced by investigators studying other service industries consisting of many small, independent companies (e.g., dry cleaning, auto repair). Am. J. Ind. Med. 32:364–368, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

To review and evaluate whether the investigation of disease clusters continues to play an important role in establishing diseasetoxin connections in the workplace, 87 original disease cluster reports were identified that established diseasetoxin connections in occupational medicine from 1775 to 1990. Four advantages of the workplace with regard to cluster discovery and investigation were identified natural denominator boundaries, shared exposures, the ability to form intermediate hypotheses, and the possibility of locating comparable populations in which to study these hypotheses. Because new products, intermediate products, and procedures are introduced into working environments faster than epidemiologic and toxicologic studies can be designed to evaluate their potential risks, disease cluster investigations will remain central to the understanding of disease, and to protecting workers.

Objective. To directly compare cancer incidence among Hispanic children and non-Hispanic white children in California and Florida, two states in the United States of America that include nearly one in three Hispanic children in the country. Methods. Cross-sectional data for 1988 through 1998 pertaining to all incident pediatric cancer cases (age < 15 years) with race/ethnicity coded as either Hispanic or non-Hispanic white came from the Florida Cancer Data System database and the California Cancer Registry database. The results were expressed as age-standardized incidence rates, standardized to the world standard million population. Hispanic rates and non-Hispanic white rates were compared using standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs.). Results. The SIR for all cancers for Hispanic children compared to non-Hispanic white children was 1.02 (95% CI: 0.99, 1.05). For selected tumor types, SIRs indicated higher incidences among Hispanic children for leukemia (SIR = 1.26; 95% CI: 1.19, 1.34), Hodgkin's lymphoma (SIR = 1.29; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.54), and germ cell tumors (SIR = 1.62; 95% CI: 1.34, 1.96). There were lower incidences for the Hispanic children for central nervous system tumors (SIR = 0.72; 95% CI: 0.66, 0.78) and for sympathetic nervous system tumors (SIR = 0.76; 95% CI: 0.66, 0.87). In terms of interstate differences, the incidence of lymphoma, central nervous system tumors, sympathetic nervous system tumors, and malignant bone tumors was highest among Hispanic youth in Florida; the incidence of hepatic tumors was highest among Hispanic youth in California. Conclusions. While the overall cancer incidence rate among Hispanic children was similar to that for non-Hispanic white children, significant differences for specific tumor types were identified. Since Hispanic ethnicity may be a confounder for other cancer risk factors (e.g., familial, socioeconomic, or environmental), it is recommended that future research into Hispanic pediatric cancer risk investigate these risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]