RTI International Research Publications

Ringeisen, H., Casanueva, C., Urato, M., & Cross, T. (2008). Pediatrics, 122 (1):e232-e241.

SRD

Minnis, A.M., Moore, J.G., Doherty, I.A., Rodas, C., Auerswald, C., Shiboski, S., & Padian, N.S. (2008). American Journal of Epidemiology, 167 (9):1102-1109.

Teenage girls whose boyfriends are gang members are nearly twice as likely to become pregnant as those not dating boys involved with gangs, according a study by researchers at RTI International, the University of California San Francisco and the University of North Carolina.

The study looked at 237 sexually active females 14 to 19 years of age from predominately Latino neighborhoods in San Francisco and examined the relationship between gang exposure and pregnancy for a two-year period between 2001 and 2004. The results showed that pregnancy intentions, particularly those of male partners, played a significant role in the incidence of pregnancies.

Nelson, D.E., Mowery, P., Asman, K., Pederson, L.L., O'Malley, P.M., et al. (2008). American Journal of Public Health, 98 (5):905-915.

Patterns in youth and young adult smoking have shown a rollercoaster pattern in the past 40 years, according to a new study. The researchers found that smoking among these groups generally declined during the second half of the 1970s and early 1980s, leveled off by the mid- to late 1980s, increased through the mid- to late 1990s, and then again declined through 2005.

The authors suggest that given the great success in reducing smoking among adolescents and young adults in recent years and the strong evidence base for effective interventions, there is a continuing need to support broad tobacco-use prevention efforts.

Adams-Chapman, I., Hansen, N.I., Stoll, B.J., & Higgins, R. (2008). Pediatrics, 121 (5):E1167-E1177.

A new study found that extremely low birth-weight children with severe intraventricular hemorrhage that requires a shunt insertion are at greatest risk for adverse neurodevelopmental and growth outcomes at 18 to 22 months compared to children with severe intraventricular hemorrhage and no shunt and children without severe intraventricular hemorrhage.

The study looked at more than 6,000 infants born in 1993-2002 with birth weights of 401 to 1000 grams who participated in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network.

Finkelstein, E.A., Trogdon, J.G., Brown, D.S., Allaire, B.T., Dellea, P.S., et al. (2008). Obesity, 16 (8):1843-1848.

According to a new study by researchers at RTI International and Merck & Co., even with shorter life expectancies, the lifetime medical costs for obese individuals are greater than costs for non-obese individuals. However, those costs are unlikely to spur obesity prevention efforts because with individuals switching jobs every four to five years, employers are unlikely to reap the financial benefits of successful obesity interventions.

The study found Medicare has the greater incentive to invest in obesity prevention than does the private sector because many of the diseases that obesity promotes are more likely to occur at older ages.

Krishnan, S., Dunbar, M.S., Minnis, A.M., Medlin, C.A., Gerdts, C.E., & Padian, N.S. (2008). Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1136:101-110.

Entrenched economic and gender inequities together are driving a globally expanding, increasingly female, HIV/AIDS epidemic, according to a new report. In this review, the authors identify the structural pathways that stem from the interactions between poverty and entrenched gender inequities and recommend strategies to address and potentially modify those pathways.

The authors highlight a need for HIV/AIDS interventions that enhance women's access to education, training, employment, and HIV/STI prevention information and tools; minimize migration; and work with men and communities to promote gender equitable norms.

Niederdeppe, J., Farrelly, M.C., Hersey, J.C., & Davis, K.C. (2008). Tobacco Control, 17 (3):205-210.

Budget cuts to tobacco control programs significantly reduce their effectiveness, according to a new report by researchers at the University of Wisconsin and RTI International.

The study assessed the effects of dramatic reductions in funding for the Florida Tobacco Control Program in June 1999. The researchers found that those budget reductions had immediate effects on program exposure as well as teens' thoughts about starting to smoke. After budget reductions, fewer teens were opposed to initiating smoking.

Ringeisen, H., Casanueva, C., Urato, M., & Cross, T. (2008). Pediatrics, 122 (1):e232-e241.

Half of the children in the nation's child welfare system have a history of special health care needs, according to a new study by researchers at RTI International and the University of Illinois.

The study used data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. The survey, conducted by RTI, which followed approximately 5,500 children over the course of five to seven years. The researchers found that during a three-year period, half of the children involved in the Child Welfare System had special health care needs that included chronic health conditions, such as asthma, as well as behavioral, emotional and developmental problems.

Shih, Y.C.T., & Halpern, M.T. (2008). Economic evaluations of medical care interventions for cancer patients: How, why, and what does it mean? CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 58 (4):231-244.

The growing number of cancer treatment options and their widely varying costs suggest an increased need for oncologists to understand economic issues in cancer care and be able to discuss these issue with their patients, according to a study by researchers at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and RTI International.

The study found that rising health care costs as well as health care budget constraints have made it necessary for clinicians to be aware of the relative costs and benefits of new interventions used in cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment and support services for patients.