BackgroundSocial media public health campaigns have the advantage of tailored messaging at low cost and large reach, but little is known about what would determine their feasibility as tools for inducing attitude and behavior change.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to test the feasibility of designing, implementing, and evaluating a social media–enabled intervention for skin cancer prevention.MethodsA quasi-experimental feasibility study used social media (Twitter) to disseminate different message “frames” related to care in the sun and cancer prevention. Phase 1 utilized the Northern Ireland cancer charity’s Twitter platform (May 1 to July 14, 2015). Following a 2-week “washout” period, Phase 2 commenced (August 1 to September 30, 2015) using a bespoke Twitter platform. Phase 2 also included a Thunderclap, whereby users allowed their social media accounts to automatically post a bespoke message on their behalf. Message frames were categorized into 5 broad categories: humor, shock or disgust, informative, personal stories, and opportunistic. Seed users with a notable following were contacted to be “influencers” in retweeting campaign content. A pre- and postintervention Web-based survey recorded skin cancer prevention knowledge and attitudes in Northern Ireland (population 1.8 million).ResultsThere were a total of 417,678 tweet impressions, 11,213 engagements, and 1211 retweets related to our campaign. Shocking messages generated the greatest impressions (shock, n=2369; informative, n=2258; humorous, n=1458; story, n=1680), whereas humorous messages generated greater engagement (humorous, n=148; shock, n=147; story, n=117; informative, n=100) and greater engagement rates compared with story tweets. Informative messages, resulted in the greatest number of shares (informative, n=17; humorous, n=10; shock, n=9; story, n=7). The study findings included improved knowledge of skin cancer severity in a pre- and postintervention Web-based survey, with greater awareness that skin cancer is the most common form of cancer (preintervention: 28.4% [95/335] vs postintervention: 39.3% [168/428] answered “True”) and that melanoma is most serious (49.1% [165/336] vs 55.5% [238/429]). The results also show improved attitudes toward ultraviolet (UV) exposure and skin cancer with a reduction in agreement that respondents “like to tan” (60.5% [202/334] vs 55.6% [238/428]).ConclusionsSocial media–disseminated public health messages reached more than 23% of the Northern Ireland population. A Web-based survey suggested that the campaign might have contributed to improved knowledge and attitudes toward skin cancer among the target population. Findings suggested that shocking and humorous messages generated greatest impressions and engagement, but information-based messages were likely to be shared most. The extent of behavioral change as a result of the campaign remains to be explored, however, the change of attitudes and knowledge is promising. Social media is an inexpensive, effective method for delivering public health messages. How...

More infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) now survive to adulthood, but little is known regarding persisting respiratory impairment. We report respiratory symptoms, lung function and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adult BPD survivors compared with preterm (non-BPD) and fullterm controls.Respiratory symptoms (European Community Respiratory Health Survey) and HRQoL (EuroQol (EQ)-5D) were measured in 72 adult BPD survivors (mean¡SD study age 24.1¡4.0 years; mean¡SD gestational age 27.1¡2.1 weeks; and mean¡SD birth weight 955¡256 g) cared for in the regional neonatal intensive care unit, Royal Maternity Hospital, Belfast, UK (between 1978 and 1993). These were compared with 57 non-BPD controls (mean¡SD study age 25.3¡4.0 years; mean¡SD gestational age 31.0¡2.5 weeks; and mean¡SD birth weight 1238¡222 g) and 78 full-term controls (mean¡SD study age 25.7¡3.8 years; mean¡SD gestational age 39.7¡1.4 weeks; and mean¡SD birth weight 3514¡456 g) cared for at the same hospital. Spirometry was performed on 56 BPD, 40 non-BPD and 55 full-term participants.BPD subjects were twice as likely to report wheeze and three times more likely to use asthma medication than controls. BPD adults had significantly lower forced expiratory volume in 1 s and forced expiratory flow at 25-75% of forced vital capacity than both the preterm non-BPD and full-term controls (all p,0.01). Mean EQ-5D was 6 points lower in BPD adults compared to full-term controls (p,0.05).BPD survivors have significant respiratory and quality of life impairment persisting into adulthood.@ERSpublications Adult BPD survivors are more likely to have more respiratory symptoms, impaired health status and airflow obstruction than controls

Adult preterm birth survivors, especially those who developed BPD, continue to experience respiratory symptoms and exhibit clinically important levels of pulmonary impairment.

Social media (SM) offer huge potential for public health research, serving as a vehicle for surveillance, delivery of health interventions, recruitment to trials, collection of data, and dissemination. However, the networked nature of the data means they are riddled with ethical challenges, and no clear consensus has emerged as to the ethical handling of such data. This article outlines the key ethical concerns for public health researchers using SM and discusses how these concerns might best be addressed. Key issues discussed include privacy; anonymity and confidentiality; authenticity; the rapidly changing SM environment; informed consent; recruitment, voluntary participation, and sampling; minimizing harm; and data security and management. Despite the obvious need, producing a set of prescriptive guidelines for researchers using SM is difficult because the field is evolving quickly. What is clear, however, is that the ethical issues connected to SM-related public health research are also growing. Most importantly, public health researchers must work within the ethical principles set out by the Declaration of Helsinki that protect individual users first and foremost.

Background Maximal expiratory airflow peaks early in the third decade of life, then gradually declines with age. The pattern of airflow through adulthood for individuals born very preterm (at <32 weeks' gestation) or with very low birthweight (<1501 g) is unknown. We aimed to compare maximal expiratory airflow in these individuals during late adolescence and early adulthood with that of control individuals born with normal birthweight (>2499 g) or at term. MethodsWe did a meta-analysis of individual participant data from cohort studies, mostly from the pre-surfactant era. Studies were identified through the Adults born Preterm International Collaboration and by searching PubMed and Embase (search date May 25, 2016). Studies were eligible if they reported on expiratory flow rates beyond 16 years of age in individuals born very preterm or with very low birthweight, as well as controls born at term or with normal birthweight. Studies with highly selected cohorts (eg, only participants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia) or in which fewparticipants were born very preterm or with very low birthweight were excluded. De-identified individual participant data from each cohort were provided by the holders of the original data to a central site, where all the data were pooled into one data file. Any data inconsistencies were resolved by discussion with the individual sites concerned. Individual participant data on expiratory flow variables (FEV₁, forced vital capacity [FVC], FEV₁/FVC ratio, and forced expiratory flow at 25-75% of FVC [FEF 25-75% ]) were converted to Z scores and analysed with use of generalised linear mixed models in a one-step approach. Findings Of the 381 studies identified, 11 studies, comprising a total of 935 participants born very preterm or with very low birthweight and 722 controls, were eligible and included in the analysis. Mean age at testing was 21 years (SD 3·4; range 16-33). Mean Z scores were close to zero (as expected) in the control group, but were reduced in the very preterm or very low birthweight group for FEV₁ (-0·06 [SD 1·03] vs -0·81 [1·33], mean difference -0·78 [95% CI -0·96 to -0·61], p<0·0001), FVC (-0·15 [0·98] vs -0·38 [1·18], -0·25 [-0·40 to -0·10], p=0·0012), FEV₁/FVC ratio (0·14 [1·10] vs -0·64 [1·35], -0·74 [-0·85 to -0·64], p<0·0001), and FEF 25-75% (-0·04 [1·10] vs -0·95 [1·47], -0·88 [-1·12 to -0·65], p<0·0001). Similar patterns were observed when we compared the proportions of individuals with values below the fifth percentile.Interpretation Individuals born very preterm or with very low birthweight are at risk of not reaching their full airway growth potential in adolescence and early adulthood, suggesting an increased risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in later adulthood.