Prevalence of smoking associated with pregnancy in three Southern Ontario Health Units.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of pregnancy-associated smoking among women residing in three Southern Ontario Health Units and to examine potential risk factors for smoking during pregnancy, using an existing data collection mechanism. METHODS: During May 2001, questions about pregnancy-associated smoking were asked during the telephone follow-up of postpartum women living in the three health units in Southern Ontario; this follow-up is routinely conducted by public health nurses. Sociodemographic data were also obtained. Data from 1,134 women were analyzed concerning smoking before and after the occurrence of the pregnancy was known, during each trimester, and immediately postpartum. RESULTS: The rates of smoking before and after the pregnancy was known, in the first, second, and third trimesters, and immediately postpartum were 17.8%, 10.4%, 9.6%, 8.7%, 8.1%, and 7.9%, respectively. For all six estimates of smoking, Canadian-born women had rates 2.5 to 4 times higher than those of women born outside Canada. Age less than 25 years and lower educational attainment were also independent risk factors for smoking during pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: The Ontario Tobacco Strategy goal of eliminating smoking in pregnancy has not yet been realized. Ongoing smoking cessation programs among pregnant women are needed as part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce the overall prevalence of smoking. In planning such programs, particular attention should be paid to the needs of women who are Canadian-born, have lower educational attainment, and are under the age of 25.

Prevalence of psoriasis among adults in the U.S.: 2003-2006 and 2009-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.

BACKGROUND: A 2010 CDC-sponsored consultation of psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and public health experts developed a public health agenda for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis indicating that additional population-based research is needed to better characterize psoriasis in the population. PURPOSE: To better characterize the burden of psoriasis in the U.S. using recent population-based, cross-sectional data in this 2012 analysis. METHODS: A subset of 10,676 adults aged 20-59 years from the 2003-2006 and 2009-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys was used to examine psoriasis prevalence, severity, disparities, health-related quality of life, and selected comorbidities. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of psoriasis was 3.1% (95% CI=2.6, 3.6); extrapolating to older adults suggests that 6.7 million adults aged ≥20 years are affected. Psoriasis was significantly more prevalent among non-Hispanic whites than other race/ethnicity subgroups, as well as among those with arthritis. Approximately 82% reported no/little or mild disease; the impact of psoriasis on daily life increased with disease severity (p=0.0001 for trend). Those with psoriasis reported significantly more frequent mental distress or mild to severe depression than those without psoriasis. Psoriasis was also significantly associated with obesity and former smoking status. CONCLUSIONS: Psoriasis is a large public health problem. Further characterizing psoriasis from a public health perspective will require better survey questions and inclusion of these questions in national surveys.