Public Health Commons^™

Venue-Based Recruitment Of Women At Elevated Risk For Hiv: An Hiv Prevention Trials Network Study, Danielle F. Haley, Carol E. Golin, Wafaa M. El-Sadr, James P. Hughes, Jing Wang, Irene Kuo, +13 Additional Authors

Epidemiology Faculty Publications

Background: The challenge of identifying and recruiting U.S. women at elevated risk for HIV acquisition impedes prevention studies and services. HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 064 was a U.S. multisite, longitudinal cohort study designed to estimate HIV incidence among women living in communities with prevalent HIV and poverty. Venue-based sampling (VBS) methodologies and participant and venue characteristics are described.

Methods: Eligible women were recruited from 10 U.S. communities with prevalent HIV and poverty using VBS. Participant eligibility criteria included age 18–44 years, residing in a designated census tract/zip code, and self-report of at least one high-risk personal and/or male sexual …

The Impact Of Salsalate Treatment On Serum Levels Of Advanced Glycation End Products In Type 2 Diabetes., Joshua I Barzilay, Kathleen A. Jablonski, Vivian Fonseca, Steven E Shoelson, Allison B Goldfine, Christopher Strauch, Vincent M Monnier, Tinsal-T2d Research Consortium.

GW Biostatistics Center

OBJECTIVE Salsalate is a nonacetylated salicylate that lowers glucose levels in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Here we examined whether salsalate also lowered serum-protein-bound levels of early and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) that have been implicated in diabetic vascular complications. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Participants were from the Targeting Inflammation Using Salsalate for Type 2 Diabetes (TINSAL-T2D) study, which examined the impact of salsalate treatment on hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and a wide variety of other parameters. One hundred eighteen participants received salsalate, 3.5 g/day for 48 weeks, and 109 received placebo. Early glycation product levels (HbA1c and fructoselysine …

Genetic Risk Of Progression To Type 2 Diabetes And Response To Intensive Lifestyle Or Metformin In Prediabetic Women With And Without A History Of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus., Shannon D Sullivan, Kathleen A. Jablonski, Jose C Florez, Dana Dabelea, Paul W Franks, Sam Dagogo-Jack, Catherine Kim, William C Knowler, Costas A Christophi, Robert Ratner, Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group.

GW Biostatistics Center

OBJECTIVE The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) trial investigated rates of progression to diabetes among adults with prediabetes randomized to treatment with placebo, metformin, or intensive lifestyle intervention. Among women in the DPP, diabetes risk reduction with metformin was greater in women with prior gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) compared with women without GDM but with one or more previous live births.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We asked if genetic variability could account for these differences by comparing β-cell function and genetic risk scores (GRS), calculated from 34 diabetes-associated loci, between women with and without histories of GDM.

RESULTS β-Cell function was …

Metabolic Syndrome Components And Their Response To Lifestyle And Metformin Interventions Are Associated With Differences In Diabetes Risk In Persons With Impaired Glucose Tolerance, H. Florez, M. Temprosa, Trevor J. Orchard, Kieren J. Mather, Santica M. Marcovina, Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, Edward Horton, C. D. Saudek, F. X. Pi-Sunyer, R. E. Ratner, R. B. Goldberg

GW Biostatistics Center

Aims

To determine the association of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components with diabetes risk in participants with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and whether intervention-related changes in MetS lead to differences in diabetes incidence.

Methods

We used the National Cholesterol Education Program/Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP/ATP III) revised MetS definition at baseline and intervention-related changes of its components to predict incident diabetes using Cox models in 3234 Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) participants with IGT over an average follow-up of 3.2 years.

Results

In an intention-to-treat analysis, the demographic-adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) for diabetes in those with MetS (vs. …

Epidemiology News, Georgia Southern University

Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Environmental Health Sciences: News & Publications (2011-2018)

• HPV Vaccine

Forecasting The Spread Of Raccoon Rabies Using A Purpose-Specific Group Decision-Making Process., Aaron M. Anderson, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Richard B. Chipman, Todd C. Atwood, Tyler Cozzens, Frank Fillo, Robert Hale, Brody Hatch, Joanne Maki, Olin E. Rhodes Jr., Erin E. Rees, Charles E. Rupprecht, Rowland Tinline, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Dennis Slate

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and USDA Wildlife Services (WS) have been involved in an oral rabies vaccination (ORV) program for raccoons (Procyon lotor) that has slowed the westward spread of raccoon rabies. The objective of this study was to forecast the spread of the disease if an ORV zone was not maintained. A group decision-making process was designed to address the forecasting problem and was implemented using a group of 15 experts and 4 support personnel at a meeting at the USDA National Wildlife Research Center. Ten expansion regions were constructed that described the spread of …

Heterogeneity, Not Randomness, Sets Challenges For Quantitative Genetics And Epidemiology: A Response To Davey Smith’S “Gloomy Prospect”, Peter J. Taylor

Working Papers on Science in a Changing World

Social epidemiologist Davey Smith (2011) argues that epidemiologists should accept a gloomy prospect: considerable randomness at the individual level means that they should keep their focus on modifiable causes of disease at the population level. The difficulty epidemiology has had in moving from significant population-level risk factors to improved prediction of cases at an individual level is analogous to the lack of success in the search for systematic aspects of the non-shared environmental influences that human quantitative genetics claims overshadow common environmental influences (e.g., the family’s socioeconomic status which siblings have in common). This article responds to the argument and …

Elective Early Term Delivery And Adverse Infant Outcomes In A Population-Based Multiethnic Cohort, Jason Lee Salemi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The length of human pregnancy, arguably the most natural of physiological processes, is undergoing subtle but consequential modification in order to adapt to modern societal demands. The gestational age distribution of births in the United States has been shifting to lower gestational ages over the past two decades, parallel to a concomitant rise in obstetrical intervention in pregnancy. The result has been an increase in elective deliveries at 37-38 weeks (early term).

A population-based retrospective cohort study of over 616,000 live-born full-term singleton infants was conducted to investigate the association between elective early term delivery and subsequent infant morbidity, mortality, …

Epidemiology News, Georgia Southern University

Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Environmental Health Sciences: News & Publications (2011-2018)

• Diabetes and Colorectal Cancer Screening

A Unification Of Mediation And Interaction: A Four-Way Decomposition, Tyler J. Vanderweele

Harvard University Biostatistics Working Paper Series

It is shown that the overall effect of an exposure on an outcome, in the presence of a mediator with which the exposure may interact, can be decomposed into four components: (i) the effect of the exposure in the absence of the mediator, (ii) the interactive effect when the mediator is left to what it would be in the absence of exposure, (iii) a mediated interaction, and (iv) a pure mediated effect. These four components, respectively, correspond to the portion of the effect that is due to neither mediation nor interaction, to just interaction (but not mediation), to both mediation …

Patterns And Predictors Of Self-Medication In Northern Uganda., Moses Ocan, Freddie Bwanga, Godfrey S. Bbosa, Danstan Bagenda, Paul Waako, Jasper Ogwal-Okeng, Celestino Obua

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

Self-medication with antimicrobial agents is a common form of self-care among patients globally with the prevalence and nature differing from country to country. Here we assessed the prevalence and predictors of antimicrobial self-medication in post-conflict northern Uganda. A cross-sectional study was carried out using structured interviews on 892 adult (≥18 years) participants. Information on drug name, prescriber, source, cost, quantity of drug obtained, and drug use was collected. Households were randomly selected using multistage cluster sampling method. One respondent who reported having an illness within three months in each household was recruited. In each household, information was obtained from only …

New Malignancies After Squamous Cell Carcinoma And Melanomas: A Population-Based Study From Norway, Trude E. Robsahm, Margaret R. Karagas, Judy R. Rees, Astri Syse

Dartmouth Scholarship

Skin cancer survivors experience an increased risk for subsequent malignancies but the associated risk factors are poorly understood. This study examined the risk of a new primary cancer following an initial skin cancer and assessed risk factors associated with second primary cancers.

Is Sickle Cell Trait As Benign As Is Usually Assumed?, Carroll Nicole Flansburg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Introduction Sickle cell trait carriers may experience sickling events, which can cause severe health problems. Some sickle cell haplotypes contain genetic modifiers that are associated with increased levels of fetal hemoglobin, which is resistant to sickling. The aim of this study is to determine if sickle cell trait individuals who do not carry these modifiers are more likely to experience sickling episodes than those who do carry the modifiers.

Methods: Participants were eligible for inclusion in this study if they were male, 18 years of age or older, a sickle cell trait carrier, and had previously played any level …

Epidemiology News, Georgia Southern University

Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Environmental Health Sciences: News & Publications (2011-2018)

• Cholera Transmission Dynamic Models

Epidemiology News, Georgia Southern University

Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Environmental Health Sciences: News & Publications (2011-2018)

• Impaired Verbal Memory

The Association Of Calcium Intake And Other Risk Factors With Cardiovascular Disease Among Obese Adults In Usa, Yang Chen, Sheryl Strasser, Katie Callahan, David Blackley, Yan Cao, Liang Wang, Shimin Zheng

ETSU Faculty Works

In this study, we used a cross-sectional study design to examine the relationship between the calcium intake and risk factors for CVD among obese adults by using continuous waves of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data 1999-2010. The association between calcium intake and risk factors of CVD (hypertension, total cholesterol, HDL, glycohemoglobin), CRP, albuminuria) is assessed among obese adults in USA. The incidence of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is high among obese people. The potential effects of inadequate calcium intake on CVD are receiving increased epidemiologic attention. Understanding the association between risk factors for CVD and calcium intake among …

Epidemiology News, Georgia Southern University

Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Environmental Health Sciences: News & Publications (2011-2018)

• Cost-Effectiveness of Alternate Strategies

Troubled By Heterogeneity? Control, Infrastructure & Participation In Social Epidemiology And Life Course Development, Peter J. Taylor

Working Papers on Science in a Changing World

This working paper presents the panels of a poster prepared for a conference, “Complex Systems, Health Disparities, and Population Health: Building Bridges,” held at NIH in Bethesda, MD in February 2014. Just as poster presenters hope viewers stop and talk, my aim in sharing the panels as a working paper is to elicit more conversation about different kinds of heterogeneity and the ways they are addressed or suppressed in social epidemiology and life course development. The thinking behind this concern is as follows. The two foundational developments of modern biology—the theories of evolution by natural selection and the genetic basis …

Cholera Transmission Dynamic Models For Public Health Practitioners, Isaac Chun-Hai Fung

Epidemiology: Faculty Publications (2002-2018)

Great progress has been made in mathematical models of cholera transmission dynamics in recent years. However, little impact, if any, has been made by models upon public health decision-making and day-to-day routine of epidemiologists. This paper provides a brief introduction to the basics of ordinary differential equation models of cholera transmission dynamics. We discuss a basic model adapted from Codeço (2001), and how it can be modified to incorporate different hypotheses, including the importance of asymptomatic or inapparent infections, and hyperinfectious V. choleraeand human-to-human transmission. We highlight three important challenges of cholera models: (1) model misspecification and parameter uncertainty, …

Epidemiology News, Georgia Southern University

Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Environmental Health Sciences: News & Publications (2011-2018)

• Perceptions of Child Overweight and Obesity

Type And Dose Of Radiotherapy Used For Initial Treatment Of Non-Metastatic Prostate Cancer, Dian Wang, Alex Ho, Ann S. Hamilton, Xiao-Cheng Wu, Mary Lo, Steven Fleming, Michael Goodman, Trevor Thompson, Jean Owen

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: We sought to describe patterns of initial radiotherapy among non-metastatic prostate cancer (PC) patients by recurrence risk groups.

METHODS: Medical records were abstracted for a sample of 9017 PC cases diagnosed in 2004 as a part of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Prostate and Breast Patterns of Care Study in seven states. Non-metastatic PC cases are categorized as low-risk (LR), intermediate-risk (IR) or high-risk (HR) groups based on pretreatment PSA, tumor stage, and Gleason score per 2002 NCCN guidelines. Univariate and multivariate analyses were employed to determine factors associated with the type and dose of radiotherapy by …

Human Papillomavirus Genotype Prevalence In Invasive Penile Cancers From A Registry-Based United States Population, Brenda Y. Hernandez, Marc T. Goodman, Elizabeth R. Unger, Martin Steinau, Amy Powers, Charles F. Lynch, Wendy Cozen, Maria Sibug Saber, Edward S. Peters, Edward J. Wilkinson, Glenn Copeland, Claudia Hopenhayn, Youjie Huang, Meg Watson, Sean F. Altekruse, Christopher Lyu, Mona Saraiya, The Hpv Typing Of Cancer Workgroup

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is estimated to play an etiologic role in 40-50% of penile cancers worldwide. Estimates of HPV prevalence in U.S. penile cancer cases are limited.

METHODS: HPV DNA was evaluated in tumor tissue from 79 invasive penile cancer patients diagnosed in 1998-2005 within the catchment areas of seven U.S. cancer registries. HPV was genotyped using PCR-based Linear Array and INNO-LiPA assays and compared by demographic, clinical, and pathologic characteristics and survival. Histological classification was also obtained by independent pathology review.

RESULTS: HPV DNA was present in 50 of 79 (63%) of invasive penile cancer cases. Sixteen viral …

Computational Model For Survey And Trend Analysis Of Patients With Endometriosis : A Decision Aid Tool For Ebm, Salvo Reina, Vito Reina, Franco Ameglio, Mauro Costa, Alessandro Fasciani

COBRA Preprint Series

Endometriosis is increasingly collecting worldwide attention due to its medical complexity and social impact. The European community has identified this as a “social disease”. A large amount of information comes from scientists, yet several aspects of this pathology and staging criteria need to be clearly defined on a suitable number of individuals. In fact, available studies on endometriosis are not easily comparable due to a lack of standardized criteria to collect patients’ informations and scarce definitions of symptoms. Currently, only retrospective surgical stadiation is used to measure pathology intensity, while the Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) requires shareable methods and correct …

Factors Associated With Tuberculin Skin Test Positivity Prevalence In U.S. Medical Laboratory Microbiologists, Julie Ann West

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Prior research has indicated that healthcare personnel (HCP) who work in areas where Mycobacterium tuberculosis poses an occupational hazard are at high risk of tuberculin skin test (TST) positivity and subsequent conversion to active tuberculosis (TB). U.S. medical laboratory microbiologists confront similar hazards but have not been studied outside of the HCP aggregate. The purpose of this study was to fill this gap by examining the relationships between the predictor variables of self-reported history of bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) immunization, place of birth, and years of laboratory experience and the outcomes of self-reported lifetime TST positivity, preventive treatment noninitiation, and barriers …

Adaptive Pair-Matching In The Search Trial And Estimation Of The Intervention Effect, Laura Balzer, Maya L. Petersen, Mark J. Van Der Laan

U.C. Berkeley Division of Biostatistics Working Paper Series

In randomized trials, pair-matching is an intuitive design strategy to protect study validity and to potentially increase study power. In a common design, candidate units are identified, and their baseline characteristics used to create the best n/2 matched pairs. Within the resulting pairs, the intervention is randomized, and the outcomes measured at the end of follow-up. We consider this design to be adaptive, because the construction of the matched pairs depends on the baseline covariates of all candidate units. As consequence, the observed data cannot be considered as n/2 independent, identically distributed (i.i.d.) pairs of units, as current practice assumes. …

Concomitant Socioeconomic, Behavioral, And Biological Factors Associated With The Disproportionate Hiv Infection Burden Among Black Men Who Have Sex With Men In 6 U.S. Cities, Kenneth H. Mayer, Lei Wang, Beryl A. Koblin, Sharon B. Mannheimer, Manya Magnus, +13 Additional Authors

Epidemiology Faculty Publications

Background

American Black men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately affected by HIV, but the factors associated with this concentrated epidemic are not fully understood.

Methods

Black MSM were enrolled in 6 US cities to evaluate a multi-component prevention intervention, with the current analysis focusing on the correlates of being newly diagnosed with HIV compared to being HIV-uninfected or previously diagnosed with HIV.

Results

HPTN 061 enrolled 1553 Black MSM whose median age was 40; 30% self-identified exclusively as gay or homosexual, 29% exclusively as bisexual, and 3% as transgender. About 1/6th(16.2%) were previously diagnosed with HIV (PD); …

Cost-Effectiveness Of Alternative Strategies For Annual Influenza Vaccination Among Children Aged 6 Months To 14 Years In Four Provinces In China, Lei Zhou, Sujian Situ, Zijian Feng, Charisma Y. Atkins, Isaac Chun-Hai Fung, Zhen Xu, Ting Huang, Shixiong Hu, Xianjun Wang

Epidemiology: Faculty Publications (2002-2018)

Background: To support policy making, we developed an initial model to assess the cost-effectiveness of potential strategies to increase influenza vaccination rates among children in China.

Methods: We studied on children aged 6 months to 14 years in four provinces (Shandong, Henan, Hunan, and Sichuan), with a health care system perspective. We used data from 2005/6 to 2010/11, excluding 2009/10. Costs are reported in 2010 U.S. dollars.

Results: In comparison with no vaccination, the mean (range) of Medically Attended Cases averted by the current self-payment policy for the two age groups (6 to 59 months and 60 …

Epidemiology News, Georgia Southern University

Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Environmental Health Sciences: News & Publications (2011-2018)

• Chinese Social Media Reactions

Relationship Between Altitude And Lithium In Groundwater In The United States Of America: Results Of A 1992–2003 Study, Rebekah S. Huber, Namkug Kim, Carl E. Renshaw, Perry F. Renshaw, Douglas Kondo

Dartmouth Scholarship

Therapeutic dosages of lithium are known to reduce suicide rates, which has led to investigations of confounding environmental risk factors for suicide such as lithium in groundwater. It has been speculated that this might play a role in the potential relationship between suicide and altitude. A recent study in Austria involving geospatial analysis of lithium in groundwater and suicide found lower levels of lithium at higher altitudes. Since there is no reason to suspect this correlation is universal given variation in geology, the current study set out to investigate the relationship between altitude and lithium in groundwater in the United …

The Relationship Between Area Poverty Rate And Site-Specific Cancer Incidence In The United States, Francis P. Boscoe, Christopher J. Johnson, Recinda L. Sherman, David G. Stinchcomb, Ge Lin, Kevin A. Henry

Epidemiology & Biostatistics Faculty Scholarship

BACKGROUND

The relationship between socioeconomic status and cancer incidence in the United States has not traditionally been a focus of population-based cancer surveillance systems.

METHODS

Nearly 3 million tumors diagnosed between 2005 and 2009 from 16 states plus Los Angeles were assigned into 1 of 4 groupings based on the poverty rate of the residential census tract at time of diagnosis. The sex-specific risk ratio of the highest-to-lowest poverty category was measured using Poisson regression, adjusting for age and race, for 39 cancer sites.

RESULTS

For all sites combined, there was a negligible association between cancer incidence and poverty; however, …