Category Archives: CDC

Almost Half of US Adults Get No Leisure Time Physical Activity in Typical Week

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Emily Neusel Ussery, MPH PhD Epidemiologist, Physical Activity and Health Branch CDC

Dr. Ussery

Emily N Ussery, PhD
Epidemiologist
LT, US Public Health Service
Physical Activity and Health Branch
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Sitting for too long and being physically inactive can have negative health consequences, and it is important to understand how common these behaviors are among US adults.

This study describes sitting time and leisure-time physical activity reported by US adults in a national survey. Continue reading →

Primary Care Providers Should Ask All Adults About Alcohol Use

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Carol Mangione M.D., M.S.P.H., F.A.C.P Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center Division Chief of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research Professor of Medicine. Barbara A. Levey, MD, and Gerald S. Levey, MD Endowed chair in medicine David Geffen School of Medicine University of California

Dr. Mangione

Dr. Carol Mangione M.D., M.S.P.H., F.A.C.P
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
Division Chief of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research
Professor of Medicine.
Barbara A. Levey, MD, and Gerald S. Levey, MD
Endowed chair in medicine David Geffen School of Medicine
University of California

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Unhealthy alcohol use is relatively common and is increasing among U.S. adults. Alcohol use is the third leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. and contributes to more than 88,000 deaths per year. In pregnancy, it also leads to birth defects and developmental problems in children. The Task Force found that screening tests and brief counseling interventions can help detect and reduce unhealthy alcohol use among adults, and in turn help prevent negative consequences related to alcohol use. For adolescents ages 12 to 17, clinicians should use their best judgment when deciding whether or not to screen and refer their patients to counseling, until we have better studies available.

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CDC Identifies Most Serious Norovirus Strains

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
"Day 19: Norovirus (stomach flu) visits our home." by Loren Kerns is licensed under CC BY 2.0Rachel M. Burke, PhD, MPH
Epidemiologist, Viral Gastroenteritis Branch
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta, GA 30329

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Noroviruses are the leading cause of vomiting and diarrhea from acute gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach or intestines) among people of all ages in the United States. Each year in the United States, norovirus illness is responsible for an estimated 19 to 21 million cases of acute gastroenteritis, and contributes to 56,000 to 71,000 hospitalizations and 570 to 800 deaths, mostly among children and the elderly.

CDC linked information from two different surveillance systems to analyze 3,747 norovirus outbreaks reported by health departments from 2009 to 2016. Our study provides a comprehensive description of norovirus outbreaks from the epidemiology and laboratory perspectives, using the National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS) and CaliciNet, respectively. 

Norovirus outbreaks caused by GII.4 strains occurred more often in healthcare settings, affected older adults, and caused more severe illness, leading to hospitalization or death.

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CDC Reports Decrease in Some Hospital Acquired Infections

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
"Hospital Room" by Kyle Taylor is licensed under CC BY 2.0Dr. Shelley Magill, MD
Medical Officer and CDC lead
for the hospital HAI (hospital acquired infections) and antimicrobial use prevalence survey

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: The prevalence survey effort began in 2009. The goal was to obtain a snapshot of all healthcare-associated infections affecting hospital patients, not limited to those commonly reported to the National Healthcare Safety Network. We conducted our first full-scale hospital prevalence survey in 2011, in collaboration with the Emerging Infections Program, a network of 10 state health departments and academic and other partners. Data from that survey showed that about four percent of patients had a healthcare-associated infection—or, on any given day, about 1 in 25 patients. We repeated the survey in a similar group of hospitals in 2015 to see whether changes had occurred.

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Vaccines Prevent Disease and Death – Why Are Some US Children Not Vaccinated?

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
"Vacuna influenza / Flu vaccine" by El Alvi is licensed under CC BY 2.0Kathryn M. Edwards, M.D.
Sarah H. Sell and Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in Pediatrics
Professor of Pediatrics
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Dr. Edwards discusses the statement from the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) regarding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new data on child vaccine rates across the United States.

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: To monitor the uptake of vaccines the CDC conducts a National Immunization Survey each year.  This survey is conducted by random-digit dialing (cell phones or landlines) of parents and guardians of children 19-35 months of age.  The interviewers ask the families who provides the vaccines for their children and if these providers can be contacted to inquire about the immunizations received.  The overall response rate to the telephone survey was 26% and immunization records were provided on 54% of the children where permission was granted.  Overall 15, 333 children had their immunization records reviewed.

When comparing immunization rates for 2017 and 2016, the last two years of the study, several new findings were discovered.

First the overall coverage rate for 3 doses of polio vaccine, one dose of MMR, 3 doses of Hepatitis b, and 1 dose of chickenpox vaccine was 90%, a high rate of coverage.  Children were less likely to be up to date on the hepatitis A vaccine (70%) and rotavirus vaccine (73%). Coverage was lower for children living in rural areas when compared with urban areas and children living in rural areas had higher percentages of no vaccine receipt at all (1.9%) compared with those living in urban areas (1%).

There were more uninsured children in 2017 at 2.8% and these children had lower immunization rates.  In fact 7.1% of the children with no insurance were totally unimmunized when compared with 0.8% unimmunized in those with private insurance. Vaccine coverage varies by state and by vaccine. Continue reading →

Skyrocketing JUUL Sales Especially Popular Among Youth

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
"Electronic Cigarette/E-Cigs/E-Cigarettes" by Chris F is licensed under CC BY 2.0Brian King, PhD
Lead author and Deputy Director for Research Translation
Office on Smoking and Health.
CDC

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Since first entering the U.S. marketplace in 2007, e-cigarettes have been a rapidly evolving product class. Typically, national surveys provide annual, self-reported estimates of e-cigarette use among adults and youth. However, given the dynamic nature of the e-cigarettes landscape, data collected at a sub-annual level can be useful for identifying rapid changes and patterns. For example, retail sales data, which is available at more frequent intervals, such as weekly, can complement annual surveys and help keep a pulse on emerging trends. This study assessed e-cigarette retail sales data in the United States from 2013 through 2017.

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Puppies From Commercial Dog Industry Source of Multistate Diarrhea Infections

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
"Siberian Husky Puppies 2013-05-25" by Jeffrey Beall is licensed under CC BY 2.0Mark Laughlin, DVM
Veterinary Medical Officer
CDC

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

How common are Campylobacter infections?  How does a Campylobacter infection typically present? 

Response: Campylobacter is one of the most common causes of diarrheal illness in the United States, causing an estimated 1.3 million illnesses each year. Most people with Campylobacter infection usually have diarrhea (often bloody), fever, and abdominal cramps. The diarrhea may be accompanied by nausea and vomiting. These symptoms usually start within 2 to 5 days after exposure and last about a week.

Most illnesses from Campylobacter likely occur due to eating raw or undercooked poultry, or from eating something that touched raw or undercooked poultry. Some illnesses can occur from contact with contaminated water, contact with animals, or from drinking raw (unpasteurized) milk.

Since 2009, 13 outbreaks of human Campylobacter infections linked to contact with dogs have been reported to CDC. These outbreaks account for a reported 47 illnesses and 2 hospitalizations.

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Almost 2 Million Children Suffer Traumatic Brain Injury Each Year

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Juliet Haarbauer-Krupa, PhD Senior Health Scientist Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention CDC

Dr. Haarbauer-Krupa

Juliet Haarbauer-Krupa, PhD
Senior Health Scientist
Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention
CDC

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

  • Traumatic brain injury in children results in a large number of emergency department visits each year and can result in long term difficulties
  • The purpose of this study was to estimate lifetime prevalence of TBI in children based on a nationally representative sample of U.S. parents/adults and to describe the association between TBI and other childhood health conditions.
  • CDC researchers examined the National Survey of Children’s Health, a cross-sectional telephone survey of U.S. households, to provide a national estimate of TBI in children.

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Gender Nonconformity Strongly Associated With Substance Abuse Among Male Students

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Michelle M Johns, MPH, PhD Health Scientist Division of Adolescent and School Health CDC

Dr. Johns

Michelle M Johns, MPH, PhD
Health Scientist
Division of Adolescent and School Health
CDC

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Gender nonconformity is an under-researched area of adolescent health that is often linked to negative health outcomes. To address this gap, we analyzed Youth Risk Behavior Survey data to describe the associations between gender nonconformity and risk behaviors, including mental distress, and substance use.

Gender nonconformity was associated with feeling sad and hopeless, as well as suicidal thoughts and/or behaviors among female and male students. In addition, gender nonconformity was strongly associated with substance use among male students.

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CDC: Homicide Rates At Least 10 Times Higher For Young Adult Blacks Than Whites

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Kameron Sheats PhD Licensed Psychologist; Behavioral Scientist Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Dr. Sheats

Dr. Kameron Sheats PhD
Licensed Psychologist; Behavioral Scientist
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: This study updates literature on racial disparities in violence between black and white youth using data capturing different severity levels in violent outcomes such as homicide versus assault. This study also seeks to increase the understanding of the impact of these disparities by examining associations between disparities in childhood adversity (e.g., child abuse and neglect, exposure to violence, household challenges) and adult health conditions.

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CDC Identifies Risk Factors for Adverse Childhood Experiences

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Melissa T. Merrick, PhD Behavioral Scientist, Surveillance Branch, Division of Violence Prevention CDC

Dr. Merrick

Melissa T. Merrick, PhD
Behavioral Scientist,
Surveillance Branch, Division of Violence Prevention
CDC

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Childhood experiences build the foundation for health throughout a person’s life. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic experiences, which occur in childhood. Exposure to ACEs, especially for young people without access to safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments, can impact health in many ways, including increased risk of chronic disease, engagement in risky behaviors, limited life opportunities, and premature death.

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More Than 2 Million High School Students Have Used Marijuana in an E-Cigarette

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Katrina Trivers, PhD, MSP Lead author and lead epidemiologist Office on Smoking and Health CDC

Dr. Trivers

Katrina Trivers, PhD, MSP
Lead author and lead epidemiologist
Office on Smoking and Health
CDC

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Although we’ve seen considerable declines in the use of regular cigarettes among U.S. youth over the past several decades, the tobacco product landscape is evolving, and the use of other tobacco products have become increasingly popular. For example, as of 2014, e-cigarettes have become the most commonly used tobacco product among US youth. During 2011-2015, e-cigarette use increased 900% among U.S. high school students before declining in 2016. No change was observed in 2017, with about 2 million youth, including 12% of high school students and 3% of middle school students, reporting they had used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days.

This is a public health concern because the use of any form of tobacco product is unsafe among youth, irrespective of whether it’s smoked, smokeless, or electronic. The U.S. Surgeon General has concluded that the aerosol emitted from e-cigarettes is not harmless. It can contain harmful ingredients, including nicotine, carbonyl compounds, and volatile organic compounds known to have adverse health effects. The nicotine in these products is of particular concern given that nicotine exposure during adolescence can cause addiction and can harm the developing adolescent brain.

In recent years, many youth have also been using other psychoactive substances in e-cigarettes, including cannabinoids and other illicit drugs. This could have been fueled, in part, by shifts in the social acceptability and access to cannabis as several states have or are considering legalized cannabis sales for adults. A previous CDC study found that in 2015, almost 1 in 3 students reported using e-cigarettes with non-nicotine substances. However, it wasn’t possible to identify what exactly those substances were based on the question. Given the high concurrent use of tobacco and other substances, including cannabis, a more detailed question was added to a future survey to assess the use of cannabis in e-cigarettes among U.S. youth. This study presents the findings from that question.

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CDC Finds Millions Still Have Heart Disease Risk Factors

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
“Cardiovascular Disease” by Sharon Sinclair is licensed under CC BY 2.0Hilary K. Wall, MPH
Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention
CDC 

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Despite decades-long reductions in cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, CVD mortality rates have recently plateaued and even increased in some subgroups, and the prevalence of CVD risk factors remains high. Million Hearts 2022, a 5-year initiative with a goal of preventing one million heart attacks, strokes and other acute cardiovascular events by 2022, was launched in 2017 to address this burden. This report establishes a baseline for the CVD risk factors targeted for reduction by the initiative during 2017–2021 and highlights recent changes over time.

These risk factors include: the “ABCS” of cardiovascular disease prevention: Aspirin when appropriate, Blood pressure control, Cholesterol management, and Smoking cessation; combustible tobacco product use; physical inactivity; and mean daily sodium intake.

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Medicaid Expansion May Increase Access to Birth Control and Family Planning Services

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Michelle H. Moniz, MD, MSc Assistant Professor Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2800

Dr. Moniz

Michelle H. Moniz, MD, MSc
Assistant Professor
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2800

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: We wanted to examine whether Medicaid expansion in Michigan was associated with improved access to birth control/family planning services in our state.  We conducted a survey of enrollees in the Michigan Medicaid expansion program (called “Healthy Michigan Plan”).

We found that 1 in 3 women of reproductive age reported improved access to birth control/family planning services after joining HMP.  Women who were younger, who were uninsured prior to joining HMP, and those who had recently seen a primary care clinician were most likely to report improved access.  Continue reading →

CDC Guidelines for Diagnosis and Management of Mild Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Matt Breiding, PhD Team Lead, Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Dr. Breiding

Matt Breiding, PhD
Team Lead, Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention
Center for Disease Control and Prevention

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Caused by a bump, blow or jolt to the head or body, a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) can lead to short- or long-term problems that can affect how a child thinks, acts, feels, and learns. CDC’s Pediatric mTBI Guideline is based on the most comprehensive review of the science on pediatric mTBI diagnosis and management to date—covering 25 years of research.

The guideline consists of 19 sets of clinical recommendations that cover diagnosis, prognosis, and management and treatment. These recommendations are applicable to healthcare providers who care for pediatric patients with mTBI in all practice settings and outline actions healthcare providers can take to improve the health of their patients with this injury.

The CDC Pediatric mTBI Guideline outlines specific actions healthcare providers can take to help young patients and includes 5 key recommendations.  Specifically, they recommend that physicians:

  1. Refrain from routinely imaging pediatric patients to diagnose mTBI.
  2. Use validated, age-appropriate symptom scales to diagnose mTBI.
  3. Assess for risk factors for prolonged recovery, including: history of mTBI or other brain injury, severe symptom presentation immediately after the injury, and personal characteristics and family history (such as learning difficulties and family and social stressors).
  4. Provide patients with instructions on returning to activity customized to their symptoms.
  5. Counsel patients to return gradually to non-sports activities after no more than a 2-3 days of rest.

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Opioid Prescriptions Drop After 2016 CDC Guidelines Released

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Gery P. Guy Jr., PhD, MPH Senior Health Economist Division of Unintentional Injury CDC

Dr. Gery Guy

Gery P. Guy Jr., PhD, MPH
Senior Health Economist
Division of Unintentional Injury
CDC

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: In response to the increasing harms and adverse outcomes from prescription opioids, the CDC released the Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain in March 2016. The CDC Guideline recommends evidence-based practices for opioid use for patients age 18 years and older in primary care settings in treating chronic pain outside of active cancer treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care.

This report analyzed the temporal changes in opioid prescribing following the release of the CDC Guideline.

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Antibiotics Leading Cause of Pediatric Adverse Drug Events in ER

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Maribeth C. Lovegrove, MPH
Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta, GA 30333).

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: There has been a lot of recent attention on reducing unnecessary antibiotic prescribing in order to reduce antibiotic resistance (a longer-term harm).  However, antibiotic use also can lead to shorter-term harms like allergic reactions and other side effects.  With this analysis, we wanted to focus on the acute harms to individual pediatric patients from antibiotic use in order to help target prevention efforts.  Specifically, we used data from two national data sources to identify the antibiotics with the highest numbers of emergency department visits for adverse drug events and the highest rates of emergency department visits for adverse drug events (accounting for amount of antibiotic prescriptions dispensed) and to identify the pediatric patients with the highest risks.

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CDC: Multiple States Report Salmonella Infections From Backyard Poultry

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/backyard-flocks-06-18/index.html

Dr. Megin Nichols

Dr. Megin Nichols DVM, MPH, DACVPM
Lead , Enteric Zoonoses Activity
Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases
National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases
CDC Veterinarian

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this announcement?

Response: Each year, CDC and multiple states investigate several multistate outbreaks of Salmonella infections linked to contact with live poultry in backyard flocks. Seventy outbreaks of Salmonella infections have been linked to contact with poultry in backyard flocks since 2000.

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CDC Reports Salmonella Reading Outbreak: Urges Food Preparation Precautions

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
wash-hands-well . CDC wellAaron E. Glatt, MD, FACP, FIDSA, FSHEA
Chairman, Department of Medicine & Hospital Epidemiologist
South Nassau Communities Hospital
Clinical Professor of Medicine
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Oceanside, NY 11572 

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for the CDC alert regarding a multistate outbreak of multidrug-resistant Salmonella Reading infections linked to raw turkey products?   Is this Salmonella strain different or more dangerous than other Salmonella food poisoning outbreaks? 

Response: The CDC has reported that as of yesterday, there have been 90 people infected with Salmonella Reading from 26 states. No deaths have been reported, but 40 patients to date required hospitalization. There was a previous outbreak of S. Reading in 2016 related to contaminated alfalfa sprouts, but this organism is not that much different nor is it more virulent than many other salmonella strains.  Continue reading →

Antibiotics Still Overprescribed in Many Outpatient Settings

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Katherine Fleming-Dutra, MD, senior author Deputy Director Office of Antibiotic Stewardship CDC

Dr. Fleming-Dutra

Dr. Katherine Fleming-Dutra MD
Deputy Director
Office of Antibiotic Stewardship
CDC

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Antibiotics are life-saving medications that treat bacterial infections. Any time antibiotics are used, they can lead to antibiotic resistance and could cause side effects such as rashes and adverse events, such as Clostridium difficile infection, which is a very serious and sometimes even fatal diarrheal disease. This is why it is so important to only use antibiotics when they are needed. When antibiotics aren’t needed, they won’t help you and the side effects could still hurt you.

A previous study* reported at least 30% of antibiotic prescriptions written in doctor’s offices and emergency departments were unnecessary. However, the data from that study did not include urgent care centers or retail health clinics. We conducted the current analysis to examine antibiotic prescribing patterns in urgent care centers, retail health clinics, emergency departments, and medical offices.

*Fleming-Dutra, K., et al. (2016). “Prevalence of Inappropriate Antibiotic Prescriptions Among US Ambulatory Care Visits, 2010-2011.” JAMA: the Journal of the American Medical Association 315(17): 1864-1873. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2518263

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CDC’s Change in HIV Policy Impacted Providers’ Role in Prevention

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Rogério M. Pinto, LCSW, Ph.D. Associate Professor Associate Dean for Research School of Social Work University of Michigan Ann Arbor, USA

Dr. Pinto

Rogério M. Pinto, LCSW, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Associate Dean for Research
School of Social Work
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: This research, published in Health Education & Behavior (https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198118760681),highlights the crucial role of providers of social and public health services in helping patients to access lifesaving HIV services. Before 2012, providers were encouraged and trained to link patients to behavioral interventions to help patients modify their behaviors to protect themselves against HIV transmission and infection. A shift in policy from targeting anyone at risk to those at highest risk (called “High Impact Prevention”) made these interventions less available (they were actually discontinued) and new policy dictated that providers should have as many people as possible access HIV testing and link them to HIV primary care in order to receive antiretroviral medication.

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Severe Obesity More Common in Rural or Urban Areas in US?

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Cynthia L. Ogden, PhD, MRP Chief, NHANES Analysis Branch Epidemiologist, NCHS/CDC Hyattsville, MD 20782

Dr. Ogden

Cynthia L. Ogden, PhD, MRP
Chief, NHANES Analysis Branch
Epidemiologist, NCHS/CDC
Hyattsville, MD 20782

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? 

Response: 40% of adults and over 18% of youth in the US have obesity. Disparities in obesity have been reported by demographics and urbanization.

We looked at the prevalence of obesity and severe obesity by demographics and by level of urbanization – rural, small/medium metro and large urban. We also looked at trends over time in urban and rural areas.

Obesity and severe obesity rates were higher in rural areas than large urban areas among adults. Among youth, severe obesity rates were higher in rural areas compared to large urban areas.

Differences in age, smoking, education or race/ethnicity between urban and rural areas did not explain the differences we found between urban and rural areas.

Between 2001-2004 and 2013-2016 severe obesity among men in rural areas more than tripled and among women more than doubled. Increases in severe obesity also occurred in urban areas in men and women but they were not nearly as large.

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Guillain-Barré Syndrome With and Without Zika

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Emilio Dirlikov, PhD Office of Epidemiology and Research, Puerto Rico Department of Health Epidemic Intelligence Service Division of Scientific Education and Professional Development CDC

Dr. Dirlikov

Dr. Emilio Dirlikov, PhD
Office of Epidemiology and Research, Puerto Rico Department of Health
Epidemic Intelligence Service
Division of Scientific Education and Professional Development
CDC

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: After reporting local Zika transmission in December 2015, the Puerto Rico Department of Health (PRDH), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and University of Puerto Rico began identifying cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), testing specimens, and conducting follow-up telephone interviews after patients left the hospital.

Through these efforts, we were able to characterize acute clinical features and long-term disability of GBS associated with Zika infection by analyzing data from GBS patients with and without evidence of Zika infection.

This investigation increases scientific and medical understanding of Guillain-Barré syndrome following Zika infection, provides insight into the disease processes involved in GBS following Zika infection, and adds to growing evidence of a causal association between Zika and GBS.  Continue reading →

Fewer US Children Taking Prescription Medications

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Craig M. Hales, MD, MPH, MS CDR, U.S. Public Health Service Division of Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys National Center for Health Statistics Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Dr. Hales

Craig M. Hales, MD, MPH, MS
CDR, U.S. Public Health Service
Division of Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys
National Center for Health Statistics
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Monitoring trends in prescription medication use among children and adolescents is an important part of understanding the health of youth in the U.S. and the healthcare they receive.

For this study we used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey or NHANES, which is a nationally representative survey of the US population and as part of this face-to-face survey in the home, we ask participants about their prescription medication use in the last 30 days and collect information about the prescription directly from the medication package.

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Over 2.5 Million US Kids Diagnosed With Anxiety and Depression

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Rebecca H. Bitsko, PhD
National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities(https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/index.html) (NCBDDD) is committed to helping children who have mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. Anxiety and depression are both internalizing mental disorders that often start during childhood, and that frequently occur together.

In this study, we show that more than 1 in 20, or 2.6 million, US children aged 6-17 had a current diagnosis of anxiety or depression, by parent report, in 2011-12. We also found an increase of diagnosed anxiety in these children from 1 in 28 in 2007 to 1 in 24 in 2011-12.

Further, in 2011-12, approximately 1 in 5 children with current anxiety or depression did not receive mental health treatment in the past year.

Children with current anxiety or depression were more likely than those without to have:

  • Another mental, behavioral, or developmental disorder such as ADHD, learning disability, or speech or language problems
  • School problems
  • Parents who report high levels of stress and frustration with parenting
  • Unmet medical and mental health service needs

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