Health behavior research最新文献

Co-use of cannabis and cigarillos ("co-use") is prevalent among young adults. The United States Food and Drug Administration proposed a rule to ban flavored cigars, which could impact co-use, particularly blunt use (removing tobacco from cigar and mixing or replacing with cannabis). We sought to explore the impact of cigarillo flavor on cannabis/cigarillo co-use. The sample included 38 young adults (21-28) who smoked cigarillos and cannabis in the past month recruited from a non-probability sample of participants in the Cigarillos Flavor and Abuse Liability, Attention, and Substitution (C-FLASH) Study. Semi-structured phone interviews were conducted, double-coded, and analyzed for emergent themes. Most participants believed cigarillo flavor enhances the co-use experience, but participants mostly felt that a cigar flavor ban would not impact their cannabis use. They would continue using unflavored cigarillos to roll blunts or migrate to another method of consuming cannabis. Other influential cigarillo characteristics (e.g., burn time) and social-contextual factors (e.g., management of mental health, easy access) emerged. Banning flavored cigars may have a neutral to positive impact on co-users. To reduce co-use, policymakers should consider approaches to address psychosocial and structural determinants of use.

The introduction and discussion sections play pivotal roles in peer-reviewed manuscripts, yet many authors struggle with these sections. This commentary describes the significance of the introduction and discussion sections for successful publishing, identifies essential components of these sections, and provides recommendations for writing quality introductions and discussions. The introduction defines the problem to be addressed, identifies what is known and unknown about the problem, and states the study purpose. It begins broadly by introducing the area of interest, narrows to identify the specific focus and gap in knowledge, and finally ends with the aim of the present study, seamlessly leading to the methods and results sections. Discussion sections restate the study purpose, interpret the most compelling findings, situate them within the context of existing literature and frameworks, describe study limitations, and provide recommendations for future research and practice. The discussion ends with a brief conclusion paragraph explaining the study's relevance and implications to the field. The introduction and discussion sections are the "bookends" of the scientific manuscript. Successful bookends increase the chances of framing science, getting manuscripts published, and contributing to scientific literature.

Approximately 90% of African American patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer have multimorbidity - with obesity as one of the most common conditions. Obesity is related to negative impacts across all aspects of cancer care as well as more adverse side effects of cancer treatment. African American breast cancer survivors (BCS) show higher incidences of chronic conditions, like obesity, with barriers to body wellness. Lifestyle interventions can improve survivorship outcomes, but most have not been adapted to African American BCS needs. The purpose of this research is to explore and honor the lived experiences of breast cancer survivorship among African American women with obesity to better understand their experiences and perceptions of how their cancer journey intersects with other health behaviors and to identify barriers to health-promoting behaviors. A co-design approach with five participants was used to understand specific barriers to a healthy weight and lifestyle as well as potential solutions that would benefit African American or Black BCS entering an evidence-based lifestyle intervention that targeted weight and body wellness. Participants completed one co-design session for problem identification. This initial session identified the participants' most impactful cancer- and non-cancer-related barriers to building health behaviors. Cancer- and non-cancer-related barriers to a healthy lifestyle were identified from artifact creation and affinity diagramming for intensity and frequency. Top cancer-related barriers were pain and fatigue related to cancer treatment and its side effects. Non-cancer related barriers included time and responsibilities, lack of nutritional information and culturally, medically sensitive exercise resources, as well as restrictive definitions of health used by medical professionals. Both cancer-related and non-cancer-related barriers were identified as contributing to difficulty in maintaining health behaviors. Further research should examine how these barriers can be addressed in lifestyle interventions targeted to African American BCS.

With widely divergent state and federal regulations and a history of suspect brands and illicit markets, derived psychoactive cannabis products (DPCPs) face contested discourse as to their content, quality, and safety. We conducted exploratory research on public-health related factors related to brand quality including assessing potential counterfeit products, website and social media presence, third party laboratory testing, distribution practices, and consumer experiences on social media. Findings indicate the difficulty consumers face in finding information related to DPCP brands, and the questionable quality of popularly branded products. We recommend regulation and oversight to ensure product safety.

Weight loss, through a reduction in energy intake and increase in energy expenditure, can reduce diabetes risk in people with prediabetes. However, lifestyle change can be challenging even with positive intentions. The Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) theoretical framework bridges the intention-behavior gap by targeting planning behaviors and strengthening efficacious beliefs for behavioral change. In the current trial, an adaptive design was employed to examine differences in HAPA measures (i.e., planning and self-efficacy) regarding the target behaviors of dietary intake and physical activity (PA). Adults ≥ 21 years old with overweight or obesity and prediabetes (n = 185) received the standard Group Lifestyle Balance (GLB) intervention during the first month of treatment. Weight loss responders (lost > 2.5% of weight) at week five remained in GLB during weeks 5-16; slow responders (lost ≤ 2.5%) were stratified to the adaptive GLB Plus (GLB+) intervention during weeks 5-16. GLB+ augmented self-regulatory skills and practices consistent with HAPA. We conducted mixed model analyses with a group-by-time interaction for fixed effects at four months. GLB experienced greater improvement in behavioral intention for both diet and PA, planning behaviors (action and coping planning) for diet, and self-efficacy beliefs (action and maintenance self-efficacy) for PA compared to GLB+ (all ps < .0125). However, GLB+ also experienced statistically significant improvement in planning and self-efficacy and in energy intake and food group servings (all ps < .01). Whereas an adaptive intervention can be advantageous in improving HAPA measures and food choices, greater focus on increasing PA is needed. Additional research may help to determine effective PA strategies.

Sexual and gender minorities (SGM), including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+), communities, continue to face profound health disparities in the United States and globally. Although the terms SGM and LGBTQ+ are used as umbrella terms, the populations they describe are highly diverse. Currently, SGM persons are increasingly open and visible in the United States and many other parts of the world, and a modest body of knowledge on the health and well-being of some SGM subgroups currently exists. However, significant gaps exist in the emerging knowledge base, and there remains a profound need to promote health equity and reduce disparities. I am committed to advancing health behavior research to promote health equity and reduce disparities using community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches. In this paper, based on the address I gave at the Scientific Meeting of the American Academy of Health Behavior (AAHB) on April 14, 2024, I describe what inspires me, a few things I have learned so far, and my future directions as I continue to partner with SGM communities to address health equity and reduce health disparities.

Qualitative research serves a critical role in improving our understanding and delivery of healthcare. However, there are multiple barriers to the efficient practice of qualitative research, including conducting interviews. Advances in language processing technology, coupled with technocultural shifts spurred by the COVID pandemic, present opportunities to overcome many of these barriers. In mid-2021, we assessed the acceptability and application of implementation outcomes to the process of designing and implementing cancer clinical trials as perceived by physician stakeholders using semi-structured interviews. We were able to expand our interviews as we found remote interviews with automated rapid transcription provided by Zoom^™ through the Otter.ai platform to be efficient, highly accurate, and inexpensive. Thus, we were able to engage stakeholders from multiple specialties and perspectives. All interviews were conducted by a single interviewer via Zoom between July and September 2021. We found numerous benefits to video conference interviews with AI transcription, including addressing logistical barriers, improving on audio-only remote options, and cost and efficiency of transcription. Technological advances could improve the pace and cost-efficiency of general qualitative research that may be particularly valuable to implementation science and practice.