Read all about it: the over-representation of breast cancer in popular magazines.

BACKGROUND: While women are far more likely to develop and die from cardiovascular disease (CVD) than breast cancer, research has shown that they markedly overestimate their personal risks of breast cancer and underestimate their CVD risks. The source of this disparity is not yet known, although increased media attention to breast cancer relative to CVD has been suggested to play a role. The purpose of the present study was to provide a first critical test of this possibility. Two hypotheses were tested: (a) the number of breast cancer articles would be greater than the number of CVD articles; and (b) this disparity in coverage would increase over the years. METHODS: A web-based search engine was used to quantify all breast cancer and cardiovascular disease articles (keyword search) in 73 popular magazines on a annual basis for a 10-year interval (1990-1999). RESULTS: Consistent with study hypotheses, breast cancer articles outnumbered CVD articles, and this disparity widened over the years (P < 0.0001). This disparity was not limited to specific magazine categories (e.g., women's interest). CONCLUSIONS: Over-representation of breast cancer vis-a-vis CVD is pervasive in popular magazines. Future research should investigate how such disparities in the media may influence risk perceptions, adoption of preventive health behaviors, and compliance with screening guidelines.

Persistence of posttraumatic stress in violently injured youth seen in the emergency department.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if symptoms of posttraumatic stress, initially evaluated in the emergency department (ED) setting, persist over time. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Two urban, academic medical center EDs. PATIENTS: Sixty-nine injured patients, aged 12 to 24 years, were assessed for acute posttraumatic stress symptoms at the time of their enrollment in an ongoing ED-based study of intentional youth violence, and assessed for posttraumatic stress symptoms up to 5 months later. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Immediate Stress Reaction Checklist, administered during the ED visit, and the Symptom Checklist of the Child and Adolescent Trauma Survey, administered during routine telephone follow-up. RESULTS: Patients in the emergency department reported a range of acute stress symptoms on the Immediate Stress Reaction Checklist, with 25% reporting clinically significant distress. On follow-up assessment, 15% reported significant posttraumatic stress symptoms. The severity of acute stress symptoms was strongly associated with the severity of posttraumatic stress symptoms at follow-up (r = 0.55, P<.005). Age, sex, injury type, and time from injury to follow-up were not associated with the degree of acute stress or posttraumatic stress symptom severity at initial or follow-up assessment. CONCLUSION: This study provides preliminary evidence that acute stress symptoms, assessed in the ED in the immediate aftermath of a traumatic injury, are useful indicators of risk for later posttraumatic stress.