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Abstract: Purpose: This article describes recruitment of a subpopulation of women in a rural area, extending an existing method of a 2‐phase address‐based sampling protocol to include a mixed‐mode approach. Methods: Phase 1 included a household enumeration questionnaire mailed to randomly selected households (n = 1,950) in 3 Ohio Appalachian counties to identify members of the eligible subgroup. The second phase of recruitment involved contacting 1 randomly selected eligible woman enumerated by each household, based on return of the questionnaire. These women (n = 599) were invited by field interviewers to participate in a one‐time in‐person health survey. Findings: Of the women invited to participate, a total of 408 completed the interview. Based on American Association for Public Opinion Research Response Rate 1 calculations, the response rates were 44.4% and 70.3% for phases 1 and 2, respectively. Response rates in this study were encouraging, especially for the second phase in‐person interview. Conclusion: We discuss implications for future research using a mixed‐mode approach in this subpopulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The states of California and Massachusetts are leading the effort to prohibit the sale of tobacco products in pharmacies in the United States. The process of adopting these tobacco-free pharmacy laws remains understudied. This study qualitatively explores the process of adopting and enforcing tobacco-free pharmacy laws.Methods: Researchers performed qualitative semistructured telephone interviews with 23 key informants who were involved in the effort to adopt and implement tobacco-free pharmacy laws in California and Massachusetts. A content analysis was used to study the process of adopting tobacco-free pharmacy laws as well as barriers and facilitators during the process. Two researchers independently coded the interview transcripts and written responses to identify key categories and themes that emerged from the interviews.Results: The qualitative study results suggest that the process of adopting the tobacco-free pharmacy laws was fairly smooth, with a few barriers. Local youth groups and independent pharmacies played an important role in raising public awareness and attracting media attention. The results also highlighted the need to regulate the sale of e-cigarettes as a part of tobacco-free pharmacy laws.Conclusion: As the number of cities that have adopted tobacco-free pharmacy laws grows, banning tobacco sales in pharmacies is becoming less controversial and more normative to both pharmacy retailers and the public. Our findings inform the ongoing discussion about tobacco-free pharmacy laws and are useful for decision-makers from communities that are considering such laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correction to: Addict Sci Clin Pract (2022) 17:11 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13722-022-00295-5 Following publication of the original article [[1]], minor errors were found in Fig. A cluster randomized controlled trial for a multi-level, clinic-based smoking cessation program with women in Appalachian communities: study protocol for the "Break Free" program. [Extracted from the article]

Objectives: California and Massachusetts are the only 2 states in the United States with municipalities that have local laws prohibiting the sale of tobacco products by pharmacies. The impacts of the tobacco-free pharmacy laws remain understudied. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the association between tobacco-free pharmacy laws and smoking prevalence among adults over time in California and Massachusetts.Design: This study used a series of cross-sectional surveys. The data source for this study was the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey for each year from 2005 to 2013.Setting: The longitudinal changes in smoking prevalence at the city or county level were estimated and comparisons were made between cities or counties with tobacco-free pharmacy laws and those without the laws.Participants: The participants used to estimate smoking prevalence were representative of adults within California and Massachusetts.Intervention: The implementation of tobacco-free pharmacy laws was considered to be the intervention in this study.Main Outcome Measures: The outcome measures were smoking prevalence among adults. Mixed-effects negative binomial models were performed primarily to examine longitudinal changes in outcome measures.Results: The prevalence of smoking decreased in both states over time. In Massachusetts, there was a statistically significant decrease in smoking prevalence among cities with tobacco-free pharmacy laws compared with those without such laws. Despite the presence of an 8.6% decrease in prevalence after the implementation of tobacco-free pharmacy laws, this reduction was not statistically significant after controlling for the negative trend in smoking rates overall and other factors.Conclusion: This study evaluated tobacco-free pharmacy laws with regard to the real-world impacts. Our findings highlight the need for future research on the effects of tobacco-free pharmacy laws with a prolonged time span and a comprehensive understanding of the law's implementation and enforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Football helmets used by high school athletes in the United States should meet the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment performance standards. Despite differences in interior padding and exterior shells, all football helmets should provide comparable protection against concussions. Yet, debate continues on whether differences in the rates or severity of concussions exist based on helmet age/recondition status, manufacturer, or model. Purpose: To investigate whether high school football concussion characteristics varied by helmet age/recondition status, manufacturer, and model. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiological study. Methods: High school football concussion and helmet data were collected from academic years 2008-2009 through 2012-2013 as part of the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study. The certified athletic trainers of participating schools submitted athlete-exposure (AE) and injury information weekly. Results: Participating schools reported 2900 football concussions during 3,528,790 AEs for an overall rate of 8.2 concussions per 10,000 AEs. Concussion rates significantly increased from 2008-2009 through 2012-2013 overall (P = .006) as well as in competition (P = .027) and practice (P = .023). Characteristics of concussed football players (ie, mean number of symptoms, specific concussion symptoms, symptom resolution time, and time until return to play) were similar among players wearing new helmets when compared with reconditioned helmets. Fewer players wearing an old/not reconditioned helmet had concussion symptoms resolve within 1 day compared with players wearing a new helmet. Despite differences in the manufacturers and models of helmets worn by all high school football players compared with players who sustained a concussion, the mean number of concussion symptoms, specific concussion symptoms, symptom resolution time, and time until return to play were similar for concussions sustained by football players wearing the most common helmet manufacturers and models. Conclusion: Overall, for new and reconditioned football helmets, the most common helmet manufacturers and models on the market today appear to provide high school football players with similar protection against concussions. Clinical Relevance: Concussions can have serious acute and long-term effects. An understanding of concussion patterns in high school athletes can drive targeted preventive measures, including improvements to and/or better use of protective equipment, to reduce the incidence and/or severity of sports-related concussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: While it is clear that tobacco use has been increasing in developing countries, it is unclear whether smokers in these countries utilize cessation assistance to quit. We examined the extent to which smokers in developing countries use assistance when making a cessation attempt.Methods: Data from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey of 16 low and middle income countries were analyzed. This nationally representative household survey collected data on assistance that smokers used to quit, such as provider advice, pharmacotherapy, and quit lines between 2008 and 2012.Results: Use of any of the recommended assistance in the past 12 months varied greatly in lower middle income countries (4% to 27%), and to a lesser extent in upper middle income countries (5% to 18%). Counseling and pharmacotherapy were more commonly used than other types of assistance, though the prevalence was low across countries (counseling: 1% to 15%; pharmacotherapy: 1% to 27%). Quit lines were rarely used (0.1% to 1.5%). The average age of assistance users and nonusers was both around 40. In general, past users of cessation assistance tended to have higher education levels than nonusers.Conclusions: Cessation assistance is underused in these low and middle income countries. Tobacco control advocates in these countries should work on ways to promote use of cessation assistance to enhance quit rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Compared to the majority of non-Hispanic white ("white") cigarette smokers, many African American smokers demonstrate a later age of initiation. The goal of the present study was to examine African American late-onset smoking (ie, regular smoking beginning at age 18 or later) and determine whether late-onset (vs. early-onset) smoking is protective in terms of quit rates and health outcomes.Methods: We used data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) because the wide age range of participants (20-75 at baseline) allowed the examination of smoking cessation and mortality incidence across the lifespan.Results: Consistent with previous research, results indicated a later average age of smoking onset among African Americans, compared to whites. Disentangling effects of race from age-of-onset, we found that the cessation rate among late-onset African American smokers was 33%, whereas rates for early-onset African American smokers and early- and late-onset white smokers ranged from 52% to 57%. Finally, results showed that among white, low-socioeconomic status (SES) smokers, the hazard rate for mortality was greater among early- versus late-onset smokers; in contrast, among African American smokers (both low- and high-SES) hazard rates for mortality did not significantly differ among early- versus late-onset smokers.Conclusions: Although late (vs. early) smoking onset may be protective for whites, the present results suggest that late-onset may not be similarly protective for African Americans. Tobacco programs and regulatory policies focused on prevention should expand their perspective to include later ages of initiation, in order to avoid widening tobacco-related health disparities.Implications: This study indicates that late-onset smoking is not only the norm among African American adult smokers, but that late- versus early-onset smoking (ie, delaying onset) does not appear to afford any benefits for African Americans in terms of cessation or mortality. These results suggest that prevention and intervention efforts need to consider individual groups (not just overall averages) and that tobacco control efforts need to be targeted beyond the teenage years. Tobacco programs and regulatory policies focused on prevention should expand their perspective to include later ages of initiation, to avoid widening tobacco-related health disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/aim: Risk of dental injuries is present in a variety of sports. Mouthguards are effective yet underutilized. This study aimed to estimate the rate of dental injuries among high school athletes and investigate the utilization of mouthguards across multiple high school sports.Materials and Methods: Athlete exposure and dental injury data were collected during the 2008/2009 through 2013/2014 academic years from a large sample of high schools in the United States as part of the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study.Results: There were 222 dental injuries sustained during 24,787,258 athlete exposures for a rate of 0.90 per 100,000 athlete exposures. The rate of dental injuries in competition (1.8) was three times higher than the rate in practice (0.6) (RR: 3.1, 95% CI: 2.3-4.0). Rates of dental injuries varied by sport with the highest rates in girls' field hockey (3.9) and boys' basketball (2.6). Dental injuries most commonly occurred as a result of contact with another player (61.3%) and contact with a playing apparatus (31.5%). For the majority of dental injuries, the athlete was not wearing a mouthguard (72.5%). Among injuries where athletes were wearing mouthguards, the majority were self-fitted (95.9%).Conclusions: Although dental injuries were relatively uncommon, the majority occurred while the athlete was not wearing a mouthguard. As previous studies have shown that mouthguards are effective in preventing injuries, all high school athletes participating in a sport that places them at risk of sustaining a dental injury should wear a mouthguard consistently in both competition and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. To examine the impact of local laws prohibiting tobacco sales in pharmacies in California and Massachusetts, the only 2 US states in which such municipal laws exist. Methods. We analyzed longitudinally the tobacco retailer density at the city level from tobacco retailer license data in California (2005-2013) and Massachusetts (2004-2014). Results. After adjustments, the reduction in tobacco retailer density over time was 1.44 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.37,1.51) to 3.18 (95% CI = 1.11,5.25) times greater in cities with a tobacco-free pharmacy law than in cities without such a law. Conclusions. Tobacco-free pharmacy laws are associated with a greater reduction in tobacco retailer density over time in California and Massachusetts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Little is known about the relationship between national tobacco control policies and implementation of private home smoking bans. Objective To determine the relationship between the Tobacco Control Scale (TCS), a score measuring national- level strength of tobacco control policies, and the prevalence of in-home smoking bans and beliefs on other tobacco control policies, among the Member States (MS) of the European Union (EU) that participated in the Pricing Policy And Control of Tobacco in Europe (PPACTE) project. Methods A face-to-face representative survey, based on 18 056 individuals aged ≥15 years, from 18 European countries--including 16 EU MS--was conducted in 2010. Multilevel logistic regression models were fit to examine the relationship between the TCS score and in-home smoking ban prevalence and beliefs that other policy approaches are useful. Results In 2010, the TCS scores ranged from 32 in Austria and Greece to 77 in England. The TCS score correlated with the prevalence of in-home smoking bans (rsp=0.65). A 10-unit increase in the TCS score significantly increased the odds of in-home smoking ban (OR=1.33; 95% CI 1.01 to 1.76). The odds of believing that providing cessation services (OR=1.21), raising prices (OR=1.01) and extending bans is useful (OR=0.93) were not significant. Conclusions Government tobacco control policies are positively related to the individual-level tobacco policy of having an in-home smoking ban. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]