Harvard School of Public Health

BACKGROUND: Despite lifelong and detrimental effects, the co-occurrence of health risk behaviors (HRBs) during adolescence remains understudied in low- and middle-income countries. This study examines the co-occurrence of HRBs and its correlates among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa, China, and India. METHODS: A multi-country cross-sectional study was conducted in 2021-2022, involving 9697 adolescents (aged 10-19 years) from eight countries, namely Burkina Faso, China, Ethiopia, India, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda...

Objectives: As there is no ranking designed for schools of Public Health, the aim of this project was to create one. Methods: To design the Public Health Academic Ranking (PHAR), we used the InCites Benchmarking and Analytics™ software and the Web Of Science™ Core Collection database. We collected bibliometric data on 26 schools of Public Health from each continent, between August and September 2022. We included 11 research indicators/scores, covering four criteria (productivity, quality, accessibility for readers, international collaboration), for the period 2017-2021...

BACKGROUND: Naloxone is an effective and safe opioid reversal medication now approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use with or without a prescription. Despite this, naloxone dissemination lags at a time when U.S. opioid-related mortality expands. The authors proposed distributing naloxone to all U.S. medical students using established statewide standing prescription orders for naloxone, eliminating the financial burden of over-the-counter costs on students and streamlining workflow for the pharmacy...

In the chronicles of medical advancement, Dr Paul Farmer stands out as a transformative figure whose unwavering commitment to healthcare equity has reshaped treatments for the disenfranchised. An American anthropologist and physician, Farmer has had a profound impact on global health which encapsulates a legacy driven by the steadfast belief that healthcare is an inalienable human right. This article explores Farmer's monumental contributions, showcasing how his dedication has revolutionized the landscape of healthcare, particularly for those marginalized and underserved...

IMPORTANCE: Food insecurity on college campuses has emerged as an urgent public health priority; however, there has been a lack of studies focused on graduate students or postdoctoral trainees, particularly those enrolled at private academic institutions. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of and factors associated with food insecurity among graduate students and postdoctoral trainees at a private academic university in Boston, Massachusetts. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: In this cross-sectional survey study, a survey on food insecurity was sent to graduate students and postdoctoral trainees at 3 health-focused graduate schools at Harvard University during the end of the spring 2023 academic term (April to June)...

Born in a wealthy family with a tradition in science, Henry Ingersoll Bowditch (1808-1882) with studies at Harvard Medical School and in Europe had succeeded in leaving his mark in the American history of medicine. He had been a pioneer in the stethoscope's use, which was promoted and suggested to all physicians of his era. He had widely used thoracentesis, an ancient procedure, for pleuritic effusions, diagnosed with a stethoscope. Inside his most popular treatise "The Young Stethoscopist," he had given a plethora of data concerning the auscultation of the lungs, heart, and vessels; obstetrics; and veterinary...

A recent Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that TikTok floods child and adolescent users with videos of rapid weight loss methods, including tips on how to consume less than 300 calories a day and promoting a "corpse bride diet," showing emaciated girls with protruding bones. The investigation involved the creation of a dozen automated accounts registered as 13-year-olds and revealed that TikTok algorithms fed adolescents tens of thousands of weight-loss videos within just a few weeks of joining the platform...

BACKGROUND: The Supreme Court's decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc., v. Harvard College is likely to result in the matriculation of fewer students from historically excluded racial/ethnic groups at more selective colleges and universities and matriculation of more students at less selective colleges and universities. Because of this, it is important to understand how resources for pre-health advising, a modifiable factor that can help increase the diversity of the health workforce, vary across institutions with differing levels of selectivity...

INTRODUCTION: Health-related physical fitness, which includes body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular endurance, flexibility, power, and strength are associated with risks of chronic diseases and promote good health and wellness. There have been reports of increasing levels of physical inactivity among children and adolescents, leading to increasing rates of obesity and decreased physical fitness. The present study was conducted among school going adolescents to estimate the levels and correlates of PF for timely intervention...

BACKGROUND: Sexual victimisation and peer victimisation are pervasive and increase risk for mental illness. Longitudinal studies that compare their unique and cumulative effects are scarce and have been done predominantly in high-income countries. The aims of this study were to examine the prevalence, prospective associations, and gender differences in sexual and peer victimisation and mental health in a low-income, African setting. METHODS: In this prospective cohort study, data were obtained from the 2017 ARISE Adolescent Health Study, a population-representative, two-wave, prospective study of adolescents (aged 12-20 years) from Burkina Faso...

PROBLEM: Climate change is a public health and health equity crisis. Health professionals are well positioned to advance solutions but may lack the training and self-efficacy needed to achieve them. APPROACH: The Center for Health Equity Education and Advocacy at Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School Teaching Hospital, developed a novel, longitudinal fellowship that taught health professionals about health and health equity effects of climate change, as well as community organizing practices that may help them mitigate these effects...

BACKGROUND: Insulin resistance, a condition in which cells do not respond adequately to insulin, plays a crucial role in diabetes and related metabolic disorders. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) explore interventions to manage insulin resistance, contributing to evidence-based medical progress. The current study aimed to analyze the global research landscape and trends in RCTs targeting insulin resistance. METHODS: This study used bibliometric analysis and data visualization to examine RCT publications on insulin resistance from 2003 to 2022...

Schools of public health often serve both as public health advocacy organizations and as academic units within a university. These two roles, however, can sometimes come into conflict. I experienced this conflict directly at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in holding and expressing unpopular minority viewpoints on certain moral controversies. In this essay I describe my experiences and their relation to questions of academic freedom, population health promotion, and efforts at working together across differing moral systems...

INTRODUCTION: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has been a global public health issue. This study aimed to characterize global nursing research on SARS-CoV-2. METHODOLOGY: Nursing-related publications through December 31, 2022, were identified using Scopus. The number of studies, study types, countries, institutions, journals, authors, h-index, total confirmed cases, total deaths, and the highest-cited studies were investigated...

BACKGROUND: The presence of residual cardiovascular risk is an important cause of cardiovascular events. Despite the significant advances in our understanding of residual cardiovascular risk, a comprehensive analysis through bibliometrics has not been performed to date. Our objective is to conduct bibliometric studies to analyze and visualize the current research hotspots and trends related to residual cardiovascular risk. This will aid in understanding the future directions of both basic and clinical research in this area...

BACKGROUND: Beginning in 1977, the U.S. Government began formally issuing dietary advice, a main objective of which was to reduce and prevent the prevalence of obesity in the American population. Concurrently, the Harvard School of Public Health began conducting dietary intake surveys and collecting Body Mass Index (BMI) data on female nurses in the Nurses' Health Study I (NHSI) and II (NHSII). OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess whether compliance with the nutrition guidance from the U...

The Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare the challenges of public health leadership. Faced with criticism, threats, and even violence, many public health leaders have left the field. A healthier future for the nation may well rest on training aspiring public health leaders to build deeper capacity for perseverance, healing, and resilience. Reflecting the growing experience of a team of public health educators at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Harvard Chan), this article offers recommendations for public health schools to recognize, and incorporate into leadership education, themes of spirituality-ie, the way people seek ultimate meaning and purpose and deep connectedness to something larger than themselves...

BACKGROUND: Machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques are gaining popularity as effective tools for coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) research. These strategies can be used in diagnosis, prognosis, therapy, and public health management. Bibliometric analysis quantifies the quality and impact of scholarly publications. ML in COVID-19 research is the focus of this bibliometric analysis. METHODS: A comprehensive literature study found ML-based COVID-19 research...

BACKGROUND: Motor impairment is a significant health concern among post-stroke patients. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is considered as an emerging rehabilitation therapy for various neurological conditions, and the effects of excitatory TMS on post-stroke have received much attention in past decade. However, the future hotspots and content analysis on the growth trends have not been studied. This bibliometric and content analysis aimed to study the global developmental history and current status of TMS for motor function of post-stroke from January 2004 to July 2023...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s Division of Reproductive Health and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH) Program Evaluation Practicum (CDC/HSPH Practicum) is a mutually beneficial workforce development partnership formed to provide state, local, and tribal public health organizations with an evaluation plan for a maternal and child health (MCH) program. State, local, and tribal public health organizations submit an MCH program in need of evaluation for inclusion consideration...