Association of leisure-time physical activity with perceived general health status among hypertensive people: an analysis of NHANES 2015-18

Changes in Self-Reported Adult Health and Household Food Security With the 2021 Expanded Child Tax Credit Monthly Payments

Importance

The 2021 Expanded Child Tax Credit (ECTC) provided families with children monthly payments from July 2021 to December 2021. The association of this policy with adult health is understudied.

Objective

To examine changes in adult self-reported health and household food security before and during ECTC monthly payments.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This repeated cross-sectional study used multivariable regression with a difference-in-differences estimator to assess adult health and food security for 39 479 respondents to the National Health Interview Survey (January 2019 to December 2021) before vs during monthly payments. Analyses were stratified by income to focus on low-income vs middle-income and upper-income households.

Exposure

Eligibility for ECTC monthly payments from July 2021 to December 2021.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Overall self-reported adult health and household food security as binary outcomes (excellent or very good health vs good, fair, or poor health; food secure vs food insecure).

Results

In this nationally representative cross-sectional study of 39 479 US adults (mean [SD] age, 41.0 [13.0] years; 7234 [21.7%] Hispanic, 321 [0.9%] non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native, 2205 [5.7%] non-Hispanic Asian, 5113 [13.7%] non-Hispanic Black, and 23 704 [55.8%] White individuals), respondents were predominantly female (21 511 [52.4%]), employed (33 035 [86.7%]), and married (19 838 [55.7%]). Before disbursement of ECTC monthly payments, 7633 ECTC-eligible adults (60.1%) reported excellent or very good health, and 10 950 (87.8%) reported having food security. Among ECTC-ineligible adults, 10 778 (54.9%) reported excellent or very good health and 17 839 (89.1%) reported food security. Following disbursement of monthly payments, ECTC-eligible adults experienced a 3.0 percentage point (pp) greater adjusted increase (95% CI, 0.2-5.7) in the probability of reporting excellent or very good health compared with ECTC-ineligible adults. Additionally, ECTC-eligible adults experienced a 1.9 pp greater adjusted increase (95% CI, 0.1-3.7) in the probability of food security than ECTC-ineligible adults. In income-stratified analyses, the association between ECTC eligibility and overall health was concentrated among middle-income and upper-income households (3.7-pp increase in excellent or very good health; 95% CI, 0.5-6.9). Conversely, the association between ECTC eligibility and food security was concentrated among low-income adults (3.9-pp increase in food security; 95% CI, 0-7.9).

Conclusions and Relevance

The results of this cross-sectional study suggest that monthly ECTC payments were associated with improved adult overall health and food security. Cash transfer programs may be effective tools in improving adult health and household nutrition.

Effect of leisure-time physical activity in controlling hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

INTRODUCTION

Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. In 2015, over 1.13 billion individuals worldwide had hypertension. Globally, it results in 10.8 million deaths every year. Around half of the individuals do not continue treatment with medicine to control blood pressure. Physical activity, a non-pharmacological option of treatment, reduces blood pressure. We aim in this research to examine the effect of leisure-time physical activity in controlling blood pressure.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

We will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses to conduct this study. We will perform a systematic search in Medline/PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Physical Education Index (ProQuest) and CENTRAL (the Cochrane Library). Both experimental and observational studies will be included. The study population would be people with hypertension. Two reviewers will perform screening of the articles, bias assessment and data extraction independently. We will use the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Tools to assess the risk of bias. We will conduct a meta-analysis if it is applicable.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at relevant scientific seminars and conferences. Ethical approval is not applicable.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42021260751.