Journal of public health (Oxford, England)最新文献

Background: The health impacts of wildfire events are a significant public health concern. Media coverage plays a central role in shaping public understanding, guiding risk perception, and influencing policy responses. However, the extent to which health-related dimensions of wildfires are integrated into media narratives remains underexplored.

Methods: This study examined global newspaper coverage of wildfire-related health impacts from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives, using the Nexis Uni (LexisNexis) database and its SmartIndexing Technology. The indexed terms included 'forest fires,' 'public health,' and 'mental health' (i.e. Subject[Forest Fires AND Public Health AND Mental Health]), with no limits or language restrictions applied. Thematic content analysis was used to investigate how health impacts of wildfire events were framed and communicated.

Results: A total of 317 newspaper articles covering wildfire events and health were published between 12 August 1993 and 24 April 2025, with media coverage increasing substantially since the late 2010s. Articles increasingly portray wildfire events as public health crisis, incorporating both physiological and psychological health risks. Narrative strategies range from technocratic framings to justice-oriented approaches highlighting Indigenous knowledge. Notably, significant disparities were observed in tone, epistemic grounding, and policy orientation between outlets. Biomedical framings were prevalent, with limited engagement with structural determinants such as climate change.

Conclusions: Media coverage of wildfires has increased and shifted towards a public health framing, but remains uneven and geographically concentrated, raising questions about whether prolonged events in high-net-worth areas disproportionately drive media attention.

Objective: To examine gender-specific associations of four economic stressors and self-reported changes in food intake during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design: Four rounds of a nationally representative cross-sectional survey (n = 9207) in Canada (May 2020 to December 2021). Stratified multilevel logistic regression models conditioned on provincial and individual confounders to examine main and independent associations between stress over financial concerns, having enough food, accessing benefits, or losing one's job and self-reported eating more or less than usual.

Results: Overall, 36.4% of respondents increased or decreased their usual food intake since the pandemic. Stress over financial concerns was independently associated with higher odds of eating more among women (OR 1.63 [CI95: 1.33, 2.01]) and men (1.66 [1.32, 2.08]), and also eating less among women (1.64 [1.14, 2.36]) and men (1.76 [1.21, 2.56]). Stress over having enough food was independently associated with higher odds of eating less among women (1.59 [1.11, 2.28]) and men (1.82 [1.21, 2.75]). Stress over losing one's job was independently associated with higher odds of both eating more and eating less among men only (1.49 [1.17, 1.89] and 1.61 [1.11, 2.34], respectively).

Conclusion: Four types of economic stressors affected self-reported altered food intake in both genders, with stronger associations in men, and the job-loss stressor was only associated with men's reported food intake.

Introduction: Green spaces are increasingly recognized as critical to public health. This study examines English local planning authorities' green infrastructure strategies, evaluating how health improvement and inequality reduction goals are integrated.

Methods: A quantitative content analysis was conducted on publicly accessible green infrastructure strategy documents. Of 305 potential authorities, 133 (44%) were included based on eligibility criteria. Only strategies published from 2012 onwards were included. Data were coded across themes: health policy and actors, health outcomes, demographics and inequalities, environmental change and health. A scoring system quantified consideration of health and inequality, with descriptive statistics summarizing thematic presence, frequency, regional variation, and temporal trends.

Results: The integration of health and inequality varied substantially. Most strategies referenced general health outcomes, but fewer detailed actions targeting health inequalities or specific demographic groups. Regional differences were observed, and methods for monitoring health impacts were limited.

Conclusion: Local green infrastructure strategies in England increasingly recognize their health improvement potential, but inconsistent integration of health and inequality may limit impact. Stronger collaboration between planning and public health is needed to create equitable, accessible, health-promoting environments. Future research should explore longitudinal health impacts and identify best practices for integrating health equity in spatial planning.

Background: Overweight and obesity rates have skyrocketed over the last three decades, particularly in developing countries. This study examines the prevalent trends, and spatial and temporal patterns of overweight/obesity among India's adult women.

Methods: Using unit-level data from the National Family Health Surveys (NFHSs), this study examines the extent of overweight/obesity among adult women. Majority of the extant studies in the Indian context focus on a single metric, i.e. headcount ratio. This approach only considers a single cut-off point and ignores the differences beyond this threshold. However, the obesity burden is unlikely to be evenly distributed. To address this, I incorporate measures that explicitly take this into consideration and resort to a distribution-sensitive metric, i.e. the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke index (FGT), to identify the underlying changes in the body mass index (BMI) distribution.

Results: The analysis reveals a consistent increase in most FGT index measures, particularly among urban women. The results suggest that interventions should preferably be group-specific and targeted in nature.

Conclusions: The findings highlight that a distribution-sensitive metric provides a more nuanced understanding of the prevalent inequalities in the BMI distribution. It helps to capture the non-linear health and economic dimensions of the growing overweight or obesity burden in India.

Background: Multi-cancer detection tests (MCDs) have the potential to reduce cancer-related deaths by identifying cancers early when they can be more effectively treated. While initial studies show promise in detecting multiple cancer types, there is a lack of large-scale, prospective trials evaluating their clinical utility and real-world impact.

Methods: We conducted 23 focus groups with 158 participants to identify and describe key stakeholders' perspectives on the benefits and risks of MCD tests. Participants included clinicians (n = 58), patients (n = 17), and community members recruited from partner community advisory boards (n = 83).

Results: Participants recognized the benefits of early cancer detection and the convenience of a single blood test in reducing barriers to cancer screening. However, they shared concerns about insufficient clinical validation for MCD tests and the potential physical and psychological harm that false positives, overdiagnosis, and overtreatment may cause. They also expressed concerns about the financial costs and time burden associated with follow-up care, as well as potential inequities in access and outcomes in underserved communities.

Conclusions: Patients and clinicians want better evidence before routine use of MCD testing for cancer screening. Future research should prioritize rigorous randomized controlled trials that evaluate cancer-mortality, quality of life, diagnostic workup, and potential harms.

Background: The associations and mediation pathways between child maltreatment and incident irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) remain unclear.

Methods: We carried out the Cox proportional hazard models to explore the associations of child maltreatment and its five subtypes with hazard ratios (HRs) of IBS, and mediation analyses were conducted to assess the roles of obesity, lifestyles, and mental disorders in such associations among participants with different genetic susceptibilities.

Results: Participants who reported two or more subtypes of child maltreatment exhibited the greatest risk of IBS with HR of 1.63 (95% CI: 1.56, 1.70), compared to those who did not suffer child maltreatment. All five subtypes of child maltreatment were associated with elevated incident IBS, particularly emotional abuse with HR of 1.56 (95% CI: 1.49, 1.63). Also, such associations were more evident in those with high genetic risk score (GRS) than the low GRS. Further, obesity, lifestyles (such as smoking, sedentary behavior, sleep duration, and physical activity), and mental disorders mediated the associations of child maltreatment with the incident IBS. Anxiety and depression showed larger mediated proportions, ranging from 10.79% to 22.21% than the mediation of lifestyles.

Conclusion: Child maltreatment and its five subtypes were associated with increased incident IBS, particularly in those with higher genetic predisposition. Obesity, lifestyles and mental disorders played mediated role in such association.

Background: This systematic review and meta-regression analysis assessed the impact of human papillomavirus 16/18 (HPV16/18)-AS04 vaccine (Cervarix®) on advanced cervical lesions, including grade 3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or worse (CIN3, CIN3+), or cervical cancer, highlighting age-at-vaccination-dependent vaccine efficacy and effectiveness.

Methods: Studies reporting HPV16/18-AS04 vaccine efficacy or effectiveness were included with an intervention group receiving HPV16/18-AS04 vaccine and comparator group receiving placebo, another vaccine or being unvaccinated. Of 53 articles identified, nine were selected. Meta-analysis and meta-regression models with random effects and data-driven model selection determined vaccine effects (VEs) and impactful covariates.

Results: HPV16/18-AS04 vaccine effectively prevented advanced cervical premalignant lesions and cancer in adolescent girls and women vaccinated at 12-25 years. Combined randomized controlled trials and observational studies VEs on CIN3+ ranged between 76.78% (95% CI 28.15-92.49) for HPV16/18 and 56.19% (95% CI 24.76-74.49) irrespective of HPV type. Vaccine effectiveness was greatest in those vaccinated at the youngest ages.

Conclusions: HPV16/18-AS04 vaccine provides long-term protection against cervical premalignant lesions and cervical cancer in both controlled and real-world settings, particularly when administered at younger ages. The evidence urges policymakers and the community to ensure HPV vaccination begins at the youngest recommended ages.