Tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) remain leading causes of preventable disease, disability, and mortality in the United States. Rural populations are among those being left behind in the recent declining smoking rates and have become a focus of discussions on tobacco-related disparities. This article describes tobacco-related disparities in rural populations including tobacco use, exposure to SHS, smoke-free policies, and tobacco taxes. Nurses, as social justice and tobacco control policy advocates, are needed especially at the local level, where much of the policy work occurs and where nursing’s voice is respected and can be powerful.

Our study demonstrates the positive value that a PGY1 pharmacy resident has on an assisted living-based MTM program, with respect to a positive drug-related cost-benefit and drug therapy recommendation acceptance.

Depression screening rates among individuals with diabetes and no history of MDD were remarkably low. Patients with diabetes but no MDD diagnosis who sought health care at a FQHC clinic had more depressive symptoms than those with a history of MDD at both sites. Individuals with diabetes and who have a MDD diagnosis are much more likely to receive regular depression screening than those without MDD, which leaves a substantial proportion of patients with undetected depression. Depression screening must be enhanced for all individuals with diabetes, particularly for low-income individuals and those without a previous diagnosis of MDD.

Objective: Major depressive disorder and type 2 diabetes commonly co-occur and disease control tends to be poorer when both conditions are present. However, little research has examined the disease characteristics of patients with diabetes and more severe depressive symptoms. Methods: We report a retrospective observational study of 517 patients with diabetes from 2 primary care centers. Patients with diabetes and moderately-severe/severe depression symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire [PHQ-9] score >15) were compared with patients with diabetes without moderate or severe depression symptoms (PHQ-9 score <15; the comparison group) with regard to control of diabetes, blood pressure, and lipid parameters. Frequency of HbA1c and PHQ-9 testing were also examined. Results: Patients with diabetes and moderately severe/severe depressive symptoms had higher HbA1c (7.56% vs 7.09%), diastolic blood pressure (78.43 vs 75.67 mm Hg), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (109.12 vs 94.22 mg/dL) versus the comparison group. Patients with diabetes and moderately-severe/severe depression underwent HbA1c and PHQ-9 testing with similar frequency to the comparison group. Conclusions: The presence of moderately severe/severe depressive symptoms was associated with poorer glucose, lipid, and blood pressure control among patients with diabetes. Further research should prospectively examine whether a targeted depression treatment goal (PHQ-9 score <15) in patients with diabetes results in improved control of these important disease parameters.

The purpose of the current study was to assess the frequency and distribution of the 9-Item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) among individuals with type 2 diabetes with and without depression. The current case-control study used electronic medical record data from two primary care institutions. The sample was divided into cases with coexisting depression and type 2 diabetes and controls without depression. Data included demographics, biomarkers, number of services delivered, and clinic visits in 2013. Similar PHQ-9 use was seen between unique primary care practices. However, less than one third of patients at either site received depression screening with the PHQ-9 in 2013. Male and older adult patients were less likely to receive assessment. Guideline ambiguity and lack of accountability in primary care practice has made the use of depression metrics arbitrary in diabetic populations at risk for depression. To assure adequate care provision, it is imperative that proven tools for assessing depressive symptoms are used.

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These culture-specific findings, showing unique tobacco use characteristics and increased cessation among the Bhutanese refugee population, provide novel information helpful to professionals identifying and treating these individuals for tobacco cessation. More research is needed to confirm our results and findings.

BackgroundTobacco use remains a leading cause of death and disability in the United States. Health professionals need to address the use of tobacco products by their patients, but chiropractic clinical systems often remain unsupported and underappreciated in their role to facilitate tobacco use cessation.MethodsThis pilot study tested an intervention to assist a chiropractic community to implement sustainable health systems changes for tobacco use based on U.S. Public Health Service guidelines. Chiropractors were educated on the Ask, Advise, Refer (AAR) approach, provided with ongoing guidance, and followed for six months to assess systems change. The study was conducted from March 2016 to July 2017.ResultsEvidence of a systematic process in place to conduct AAR was present in all clinics by the end of the fourth month of the intervention period. Although no clinic had sustained health system change for full AAR, all six of the clinics made progress in the individual AAR components. Furthermore, five clinics achieved sustained system change for the Ask component, as after systems change was achieved, the rate of tobacco user identifications did not drop below 50%. For the Advise component, five clinics succeeded in having individual months of ≥50% of tobacco users being advised, and three clinics achieved the formal definition of systems change. For the Refer component, no clinic achieved system change, although four had individual months of ≥50% of tobacco users being referred. The patient quit rate was 13.3% (n = 15) for the 30-day follow-up and 16.7% (n = 6) for the three-month follow-up.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates the feasibility of implementing a health systems change in the chiropractic setting to identify tobacco users, to advise them to quit, and to refer users for cessation services.