Despite multidisciplinary efforts to control the nation's obesity epidemic, obesity has persisted as one of the U.S.'s top public health problems, particularly among African Americans. Innovative approaches to address obesity that are sensitive to the unique issues of African Americans are needed. Thus, a faith-based weight-loss intervention using a community-based participatory research approach was developed, implemented, and evaluated with a rural African American faith community. A two-group, quasi-experimental, delayed intervention design was used, with church as the unit of assignment (treatment n=2, control n=2) and individual as the unit of observation (treatment n=36, control n=37). Weekly small groups led by trained community members met for 8 weeks and emphasized healthy nutrition, physical activity, and faith's connection with health. The mean weight loss of the treatment group was 3.60+/-0.64 lbs. compared to the 0.59+/-0.59-lb loss of the control group.

Objectives To assess and compare the 5‐year success rate of resin‐bonded fixed partial dentures (RBFPDs) fabricated from different materials. Methods An electronic search on 3 databases from January 1965 to March of 2017 was done for human randomized clinical trials (RCTs), and prospective and retrospective cohort studies. The key words used in the search were: Bridge OR bridges OR fixed partial OR fixed dental AND resin bonded OR Maryland OR ceramic bonded. Quality assessment was done using the Newcastle‐Ottawa scale. Success was defined as the RBFPDs remaining in situ and not having experienced debonding, biological failures, or mechanical failures at the examination visit. Results Meta analyses of the included studies showed an estimated 5‐year success rate of 88.18% for the metal framework RBFPDs and 84.41% for the nonmetal framework RBFPDs. The estimated 5‐year success rate for each nonmetal material category was 92.07% for zirconia, 94.26% for In‐Ceram alumina, and 84.83% for fiber‐reinforced composite. The failure rate was not statistically significant among the single, double, and multiple retainers RBFPDs (P > .05). Technical complications were the main reason for failures. Conclusion The 5‐year clinical performance of RBFPDs is similar to the performance of conventional fixed partial dentures (FPDs) and implant‐supported crowns. Clinical Significance Clinicians should consider using RBFPDs more often because their clinical performance is similar to the performance of conventional FPDs and implant‐supported crowns.

Latent class analysis (LCA) is a statistical tool for evaluating the error in categorical data when two or more repeated measurements of the same survey variable are available. This paper illustrates an application of LCA for evaluating the error in self-reports of drug use using data from the 1994, 1995 and 1996 implementations of the US National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. In our application, the LCA approach is used for estimating classification errors which in turn leads to identifying problems with the questionnaire and adjusting estimates of prevalence of drug use for classification error bias. Some problems in using LCA when the indicators of the use of a particular drug are embedded in a single survey questionnaire, as in the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, are also discussed.

A pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted to examine the effectiveness of adherence-coping-education (ACE) therapy. Twenty-four individuals with early psychosis were randomized to receive 14 sessions of either ACE therapy in addition to treatment as usual, or supportive therapy in addition to treatment as usual. Participants were assessed at baseline, midtreatment, and posttreatment on measures of medication attitudes, psychotic and depressive symptoms, and social functioning. ACE therapy was well tolerated and was associated with significant decrease in symptoms, as well as trend-level improvements in attitudes toward treatment. These results lend initial support for the feasibility of ACE Therapy, and suggest that it may have promise in facilitating recovery for individuals recovering from an initial psychotic episode.

Introduction Some, but not all, studies suggest that menthol cigarette smokers have more difficulty quitting than non-menthol cigarette smokers. Inconsistent findings may be a result of differences in smoker characteristics (e.g. daily vs. non-daily smokers) across studies. This study examines the relationship between menthol cigarette use, cessation and relapse in a longitudinal, nationally representative study of tobacco use in the United States. Methods Data come from four waves of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study. Waves 1-4 were conducted approximately annually from September 2013 to January 2018. Generalized estimating equation models were used to prospectively examine the relationship between menthol cigarette use, cessation, and relapse in non-daily and daily adult (18+) smokers. Cessation was defined as smokers who had not used cigarettes within the past 30 days at their subsequent assessment. Relapse was defined as cessation followed by past 30-day smoking in the next assessment. Results Among daily smokers (n=13,710), 4.0% and 5.3% of menthol and non-menthol smokers quit after one year, respectively. In an adjusted model, menthol smokers were less likely to quit compared to non-menthol smokers (OR=0.76 [0.63, 0.91]). When the sample was stratified by race/ethnicity, African-American (OR=0.58 [0.34, 0.99]) and White (OR=0.58 [0.34, 0.99]) daily menthol users were less likely to have quit. Among non-daily smokers (n=3,608), there were no significant differences in quit rates. Among daily and non-daily former smokers, there were also no differences in relapse rates between menthol and non-menthol smokers. Conclusions Menthol cigarette use is associated with lower odds of cessation. Implications Findings from this study suggest that menthol cigarette use is associated with lower odds of cessation, but not relapse. Removing menthol cigarettes from the market may improve cessation rates.