Objectives. To measure the associations between access to paid sick leave (PSL) and COVID-19 vaccination status in the United States, both overall and stratified by occupation and industry of employment. Methods. We extracted data on employed adults aged 18 to 64 years from the 2021 and 2022 US Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. We assessed associations between PSL and COVID-19 vaccination status using

Climate change poses profound threats to human safety, health, and well-being. Public health agencies, especially state, territorial, local, and Tribal health departments, can play an essential role in climate change adaptation and mitigation. Public health climate action can protect health, promote health equity, and increase climate change resilience. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Objectives. To determine whether the minimum legal age (MLA) for cannabis purchases is associated with reductions in cannabis-related hospitalizations in youths. Methods. We performed a population-based study examining all hospitalizations for cannabis use in Canada for individuals aged 15 to 44 years (n = 14.6 million in 2018) between January 1, 2015, and March 31, 2022. MLAs varied across Canada

Sexuality and reproduction are central to people's life experiences and their ability to thrive. Existing frameworks and measurements related to sexuality and reproduction are predominantly focused on the presence or absence of adverse outcomes, neglecting the critical question of whether people experience positive outcomes and have the sexual and reproductive lives they wish to have. The increased

Objective. To enumerate crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) in the United States in 2024 and examine changes before and after Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization and associations with selected state characteristics. Methods. Repeated cross-sectional analyses used CPC Map data to describe the number of CPCs in the United States after Dobbs and examine changes since 2021. We used negative binomial

Objectives. To create a comprehensive, publicly available data set of state-level nonfatal firearm injury inpatient hospitalizations (NFIIHs) in the United States from 2000 to 2021. Methods. We used Bayesian modeling to impute missing NFIIH rates for 334 state-year observations and correct for incomplete injury mechanism coding in 766 observations. Results. NFIIH rates increased nationally, with the

Objectives. To assess the effect of the vaccination mandate on COVID-19 vaccination rates and identify independent factors associated with lack of postmandate vaccination among service members. Methods. We assessed all active component service members for COVID-19 vaccination status from December 11, 2020, to January 1, 2022. We used comparative interrupted time series analysis and logistic regression

HIV criminalization statutes continue to disproportionately impact Black queer and trans individuals, particularly Black transgender and gender-expansive people and sex workers, and have historically served as a way to inequitably punish communities for a disease that affects them because of inequitable systems rooted in the legacy of slavery. To achieve the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's

Determining whether an allocation is equitable requires ethical and empirical analyses, specifically answers to 3 questions: (1) What is the ethical standard for fair allocation? (2) What is the quantitative equity metric for this standard? and (3) What do the empirical data demonstrate? Two ethical standards for assessing the fair allocation of scarce medical resources have been delineated: the COVID-19

Objectives. To assess the association between World Trade Center (WTC) exposures, cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs), and trajectories of glucose and systolic blood pressure (SBP) among WTC Health Program general responders (WTHPGR). Methods. We included monitoring visits (2003-2021) of WTHPGR who participated in the operations in New York City after the September 11, 2001, attack (n = 47 795). The WTC

Objectives. To provide population-representative estimates of US high school students' exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), separately by sexual orientation, gender identity, and 3 demographic moderators: sex assigned at birth, race/ethnicity, and age. Methods. Using data from the 2023 US National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (n = 12 131), this cross-sectional study calculated descriptive

Neocolonial US right-wing actors have targeted sexual and reproductive health and rights and sexual and gender minority rights in Kenya, influencing support for the Family Protection Bill, which is currently sitting in the Kenyan parliament and, if enacted, would further criminalize sexual and gender minority persons. We focus on how sexual and gender minority persons assigned female sex at birth in

To explore the capabilities of race/ethnicity and gender prediction algorithms in uncovering patterns of authorship distribution in scientific paper submissions to a major peer-reviewed scientific journal (AJPH), we analyzed 17 667 manuscript submissions from the United States between 2013 and 2022. We used machine-learning algorithms to predict corresponding authors' race/ethnicity (Asian, Black,

Measles is a potentially deadly viral infection spread via respiratory droplets from infected individuals. Outbreaks occur when vaccine coverage drops below the threshold of herd, or community, immunity. Using a sequencing-based approach, we report the prospective (January 7, 2025) detection of measles in nucleic acid extracts from 2 wastewater treatment plants in Houston, Texas, with a population

The prevalence of HIV among transgender women (TGW) in India is disproportionately high, estimated at 4% to 8% in comparison with the national average of 0.2%. Despite free antiretroviral therapy (ART) provided by the government, TGW encounter multilevel barriers-including stigma, poverty, and lack of gender-affirming care-that hinder HIV care access and retention. Existing behavioral frameworks fail

This article examines the history of risk assessments of the organophosphate pesticide chlorpyrifos at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), especially after a ban on household uses in 2000. Federal funding enabled more noncorporate and place-based scientific investigations of this pesticide's harms, including child-cohort epidemiology of populations impacted through environmental injustices

Objectives. To examine associations between adolescent dating violence (ADV) and suicide planning among girls and differences by race/ethnicity. Methods. Data were from the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), a cross-sectional, nationally representative study of 9th- to 12th-grade adolescents from US high schools (n = 3886). We used weighted logistic regression to examine associations between ADV

In the current study, we explored barriers to accessing gender-affirming care among transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) people in Nigeria. Between February and September 2021, we conducted focus group discussions with 25 adult TGD individuals residing in Nigeria. We found (1) a lack of trans-competent health care providers, (2) high medical costs, (3) limited access to accurate health information

Consistent data have demonstrated the harms of punitive laws criminalizing same-sex sexual intimacy in the context of both public health and human rights. However, as of January 2025, 61 United Nations member states criminalize consensual same-sex sexual acts among adults, with varying degrees of enforcement and severity. We used 6 legal challenges across former British colonies in Africa, the Caribbean

Objectives. To measure concordance between postpartum people's self-reported residence in rural, urban, or suburban areas and county-based measurement of rurality. Methods. We used survey data (collected January 2021-March 2022) from a representative sample of postpartum people with a live birth in 2020 in 6 US states (n = 3225), comparing respondents' self-report to county designations based on Rural‒Urban

Objectives. HIV preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use has increased since its US Food and Drug Administration approval in 2012. Our objective was to describe trends in PrEP use by US women. Methods. Using national pharmacy and HIV surveillance data, we calculated the PrEP-to-diagnosis ratio (PDR), a measure of PrEP prescriptions each year compared with HIV diagnoses the previous year, for women from 2017

In this article, we describe and present evaluation data for an innovative initiative and approach that integrate a wellness program into a summer pathway program for underrepresented undergraduate students in public health to address the students' mental health needs. This collaborative partnership and integrated wellness approach provide opportunities for summer programs at academic institutions

We explored the challenges facing abortion providers after Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization was decided in 2022. We conducted six focus groups with 26 abortion providers between October 2023 and April 2024. Two themes emerged: (1) there was a lack of comprehensive patient care, and (2) we must forge a collective future for reproductive health. Our findings demonstrate that abortion bans

Objectives. To understand the landscape of the nonfederal governmental public health workforce and to identify replicable methods for future enumerations. Methods. This enumeration of the state and local public health workforce was conducted from 2023 to 2024 and triangulated the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Profile 2022 and the Association of State and Territorial

Increasing numbers of individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness and substance use disorder are living in tent encampments in cities across the United States. In response, the City of Boston, Massachusetts employed a public health approach comprising four implementation components: centralized leadership with cross-agency collaboration, creation of low-threshold spaces, person-centered engagement