The Association Between Risk Behaviors and Vaping Among Youth in New Mexico.

CONTEXT: Electronic-cigarette use, or vaping, among youth has increased substantially in recent years. Tobacco smoking shows a strong association with other risk behaviors, but the association between vaping and other risk behaviors has rarely been explored. We examine the relationship between youth vaping and substance use, risky driving behaviors, and lack of bicycle helmet use. PROGRAM: Data from the 2015 and 2017 New Mexico Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey were analyzed to evaluate the association between the use of e-cigarettes and other youth risk behaviors. Study participants were high school students, grades 9 to 12. Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). EVALUATION: A majority of students reported ever using e-cigarettes (54%). In 2015, e-cigarette users were more likely than nonusers to be Hispanic (65% vs 54%, P ≤ .001) and 16 years of age or older (58% vs 42%, P = .018). We found strong, statistically significant associations between e-cigarette use and not wearing a bicycle helmet (OR = 2.62, 95% CI: 1.95-3.51), texting while driving (OR = 2.18, 95% CI: 1.79-2.66), driving after drinking (OR = 2.95, 95% CI: 1.61-5.40), current marijuana use (OR = 6.38, 95% CI: 4.65-8.76), current painkiller use (OR = 2.47, 95% CI: 1.63-3.77), and current heroin use (OR = 0.15, 95% CI: 0.06-0.33). Driving after drinking was not significantly associated with e-cigarette use in 2017. DISCUSSION: E-cigarette use is associated with multiple other risk behaviors among youth. Further research should focus on environmental and policy efforts to reduce access to e-cigarettes by youth as well as interventions that address the underlying causes of the constellation of risk behaviors.

Assimilating Traditional Healing Into Preventive Medicine Residency Curriculum.

Comprehensive cultural competency includes knowledge and awareness of culturally based healing and wellness practices. Healthcare providers should be aware of the individual patient's beliefs, culture, and use of culturally based health practices because patients may adopt such practices for general wellness or as adjunct therapies without the benefit of discussion with their healthcare provider. This article describes the culturally based traditional healing curriculum that has been implemented in the University of New Mexico Public Health and General Preventive Medicine Residency Program in order to fulfill this knowledge necessity. Curricular elements were added in a stepwise manner starting in 2011, with the full content as described implemented starting in 2013. Data were collected annually with evaluation of the full curriculum occurring in 2015. New Mexico has a diverse population base that includes predominantly Hispanic and Native American cultures, making the inclusion of curriculum regarding traditional healing practices very pertinent. Residents at the University of New Mexico were educated through several curricular components about topics such as Curanderismo, the art of Mexican Folk Healing. An innovative approach was used, with a compendium of training methods that included learning directly from traditional healers and participation in healing practices. The incorporation of this residency curriculum resulted in a means to produce physicians well trained in approaching patient care and population health with knowledge of culturally based health practices in order to facilitate healthy patients and communities.

Occupational injury mortality: New Mexico 1998-2002.

BACKGROUND: The current study characterizes patterns of occupational injury fatalities in New Mexico for the 5-year period 1998-2002. METHODS: The study applied methods developed by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (CSTE/NIOSH) Occupational Health Indicator Work Group and compared the relative strength and weakness of two different datasets (CFOI and NMVRHS) for occupational injury fatality surveillance. RESULTS: Annual occupational injury mortality rates ranged from 4.4 to 7.6 per 100,000 employed persons aged 16 and over compared to annual US rates of 4.0-4.6 per 100,000. Risk factors for higher mortality rates included age over 65 years, self-employment, non-US citizenship, being African-American or Hispanic, and occurrence in rural counties. The top industry for fatality rate was mining followed by transportation, public utilities, agriculture, and construction. CONCLUSIONS: Applying CSTE/NIOSH Occupational Health Indicator protocol and using both CFOI and NMVRHS data improved the characterization of occupational injury mortality and the setting of priorities for prevention intervention.