The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) is published by the Centers for
ID: 285225 • Letter: T
Question
The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) is published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The MMWR includes “timely, reliable, authoritative, accurate, objective, and useful public health information and recommendations.” Public health professionals rely on the MMWR to inform their practice.
Select a common cause of morbidity or mortality in the US that is of interest to you. Search the MMWR series (use search box in upper right hand corner of: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/index.html) and select a recent MMWR that focuses on your disease or condition of interest.
Answer the following questions:
Describe the key information included in the publication.
What is the public health significance of the information?
How might public health professionals utilize the information in practice?
Note whether or not the selected disease or condition is a “notifiable condition” and what that means for public health professionals.
Explanation / Answer
The MMWR chosen is 'Tobacco Product Use Among Military Veterans — United States, 2010–2015'
(Page address'https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6701a2.htm?s_cid=mm6701a2_w')
The key information given is:
In 2015, an estimated 18.8 million U.S. adults were military veterans. Close to three in 10 U.S. veterans were current users of any tobacco products.
To monitor tobacco product use among veterans, CDC analyzed self-reported current (i.e., past 30-day) use of five tobacco product types (cigarettes, cigars [big cigars, cigarillos, or little cigars], roll-your-own tobacco, pipes, and smokeless tobacco [chewing tobacco, snuff, dip, or snus]) from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).
29.2% of veterans reported current use of any of the assessed tobacco products.
Cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco product (21.6%), followed by cigars (6.2%), smokeless tobacco (5.2%), roll-your-own tobacco (3.0%), and pipes (1.5%).
Within subgroups of veterans, current use of any of the assessed tobacco products was higher among persons aged 18–25 years (56.8%), Hispanics (34.0%), persons with less than a high school diploma (37.9%), those with annual family income <$20,000 (44.3%), living in poverty (53.7%), reporting serious psychological distress (48.2%), and with no health insurance (60.1%).
It also has a significant financial impact. During 2010, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) spent an estimated $2.7 billion on smoking-related ambulatory care, prescription drugs, hospitalization, and home health care for the segment of the veteran population receiving VHA services
Public health significance of the information:
This information is very important for public health, because veterans are also a part of citizens. Tobacco use poses a great threat to them as well as to their family members and especially children as they are more prone to the smoke. Chain smoking can cause serious diseases like mouth and lung cancer which is fatal as well as their treatment has significant financial burden.
How might public health professionals utilize the information in practice:
Public health professional can use this information to spread awarenss among veterans as well as other citizens about the ill effects of tobacco use. Childrens should also be made aware about the health and financial ill effects of smoking.
Yes, this is a “notifiable condition” because it is dangerous to the health of people. A “notifiable condition” means any condition or any disease that is required by law to be reported to government authorities. This information allows the authorities to monitor the disease, and provides early warning of possible outbreaks.
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