News by Subject Social & Behavior

People who trust science are more likely to believe and disseminate false claims containing scientific references than people who do not trust science, a study finds. Reminding people of the value of critical evaluation reduces belief in false claims, but reminding them of the value of trusting science does not.

Lonely, older adults are nearly twice as likely to use opioids to ease pain and two-and-a-half times more likely to use sedatives and anti-anxiety medications, putting themselves at risk for drug dependency, impaired attention, falls and other accidents, and further cognitive impairment, according to a study by researchers at UC San Francisco.

What The Study Did: Survey data were used to investigate the relationship between loneliness and high-risk medication use in adults older than age 65.

What The Study Did: The association between Medicare eligibility at age 65 and changes in racial and ethnic disparities in access to care and self-reported health was evaluated in this study.

What The Study Did: Researchers examined the safety of the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines in patients who experienced an allergic reaction to the first dose.

Survival rates for adolescents and young adults diagnosed with cancer have varied considerably depending on cancer type. A new study indicates that survival for multiple cancer types in such patients has improved in recent years, but some patients diagnosed with common cancer types still show limited survival improvements. The results are published by Wiley early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

Drinking up to 105 grams of alcohol per week - equivalent to 13 UK units of alcohol, less than six pints of medium-strength beer or just over a bottle of wine - may be associated with a decreased risk of heart attack, stroke, angina or death among those with cardiovascular disease (CVD). The findings are published in the open access journal BMC Medicine.

Adolescents who set goals for their future and those with strong parental support are less likely to use e-cigarettes and other tobacco products, according to a new survey of nearly 2,500 high school students. The findings suggests that strategies to prevent youth vaping may be different from what works to dissuade youth from smoking cigarettes.