Search

Background: We explored associations between neighborhood deprivation and tumor characteristics, treatment, and 5-year survival among primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients in Ohio diagnosed between 2008 and 2016. Methods: We used data from the Ohio Cancer Incidence Surveillance System and limited our analysis to adult (>18 years of age) HCC patients with known census tract information based on address at diagnosis. Using principal components analysis, we created a neighborhood deprivation index (NDI) using 9 census tract-level variables. We examined associations between tumor characteristics (stage and tumor size) and NDI quintile using chi-square tests and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Associations between guideline-concordant care and NDI using log-binomial regression adjusted for sex, race, age at diagnosis, metropolitan status, cancer stage, and year of diagnosis were conducted. For 5-year survival, we utilized Cox proportional hazards models with a similar adjustment set. Results: Neighborhood deprivation index was not associated with stage or tumor size. Individuals living in the most deprived neighborhoods were 16% less likely to receive guideline-concordant care as compared to individuals living in the least deprived neighborhoods (adjusted prevalence ratio [PR]: 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.74-0.94). Similarly, individuals living in the most deprived neighborhoods were 15% less likely to survive 5 years compared to individuals living in the least deprived neighborhoods (adjusted Hazard Ratio: 1.15; 95% CI: 1.01-1.29). Conclusion: Our results suggest a negative association between neighborhood deprivation on guideline-concordant care and survival among HCC patients. Interventions targeting disparities of HCC should focus not only on individual-level factors but address larger neighborhood level factors as well.

Background: The impact of rural–urban residence on stroke risk and poor stroke outcomes among postmenopausal women is unknown. Methods: We used data from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) (1993–2014; n = 155,186) to test the hypothesis that women who live in rural compared with urban areas have higher stroke risk and worse stroke outcomes than urban women. We used rural–urban commuting area codes to categorize geocoded participant addresses into urban, large rural, or small rural areas. Incident strokes during follow-up were adjudicated by neurologists who used standardized criteria for reviewing brain imaging reports and other medical records and determining stroke subtype. Stroke functional recovery was measured with the Glasgow Stroke Outcomes Scale ascertained from the hospital record. We used univariable and multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models as well as logistic regression models to test whether rural–urban residence predicted stroke risk and odds of poor stroke outcome. Results: Among the 155,186 women in our cohort, 2.3% (n = 3514) had an incident stroke. We observed a modest reduction in risk of incident stroke among women who lived in urban (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]: 0.86, confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.71–1.05) and large rural areas (aHR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.60–1.04) compared with women who lived in small rural areas. In contrast, women who lived in urban compared with large rural areas had a similarly modest increased risk of stroke (aHR: 1.09, 95% CI: 0.89–1.32). Women who lived in urban compared with large rural areas were more likely to have poor stroke outcome (odds ratio [OR]: 1.41, 95% CI: 1.06–1.88), but the association was attenuated after adjustment for covariates (adjusted OR [aOR]: 1.27, 0.93–1.74). Conclusions: Future studies should confirm and examine the potential pathways of the reported associations among postmenopausal women.

Background: Obesity-related cancers disproportionately affect the Black community. We assessed the relationship between diet quality, physical activity, and their combined effect on obesity-related cancer risk and mortality in Black women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI). Methods: Data from postmenopausal (50–79 years of age) Black women enrolled in WHI clinical trials or observational studies were analyzed. Exposure variables included baseline physical activity [metabolic equivalent of tasks (MET)-hours/week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA)] and diet quality [Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015]. Outcomes included adjudicated obesity-related cancer incidence and mortality. Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate the association between MVPA and HEI-2015 and obesity-related cancer risk and mortality. Results: The analytical sample included 9,886 Black women, with a baseline mean body mass index (BMI) of 31.1 kg/m2 (SD = 6.8); mean HEI-2015 score of 63.2 (SD = 11.0, possible range 0 to 100); and mean MVPA of 5.0 (SD = 9.4) MET-hours/week. Over an average of 13 years of follow-up, 950 (9.6%) obesity-related cancer cases were observed, with 313 (32.9%) resulting in death. Physical activity [HR, 1.05; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.86–1.30], diet quality (HR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.92–1.08), and their combination (HR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.85–1.29) were not associated with risk for any or site-specific obesity-related cancers. Similarly, these health behaviors had no association with mortality. Conclusions: Diet quality, physical activity and their combined effect, as measured, were not associated with obesity-related cancer risk and mortality in Black women enrolled in WHI. Impact: Other social, behavioral, and biological factors may contribute to racial disparities observed in obesity-related cancer rates.

Longitudinal studies can help us understand the effects of long-term neighborhood changes, as these can capture individual self-appraisal of current and future circumstances. We analyzed the association between neighborhood changes and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes among older women from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study. We used a subset (n = 49,254) of the longitudinal WHI dataset of female participants, aged 50–79 at baseline, recruited from 40 clinical centers across the U.S. beginning in 1993. Two HRQoL outcomes were explored: self-rated quality of life (SRQoL), and physical functioning-related quality of life (PFQoL). We used U.S. census tract-level changes in median household income between the 2000 census and 2007–2011 American Community Survey to classify neighborhoods as “upgrading,” “declining,” or “stable.” Multi-level models were used to identify significant associations between neighborhood change and HRQoL outcomes over time. Compared to participants residing in upgrading neighborhoods, participants in stable and declining neighborhoods reported significantly lower PFQoL. A significant interaction was observed with income such that the effect of neighborhood change was greater at lower levels of income.

BACKGROUND: Health outcomes, risk factors, and policies are complexly related to the reproductive health system. Systems-level frameworks for understanding and acting within communities through community-engaged research are needed to mitigate adverse reproductive health outcomes more effectively within the community. OBJECTIVES: To describe and share lessons learned from an ongoing application of a participatory modeling approach (community-based system dynamics) that aims to eliminate racial inequities in Black-White reproductive health outcomes. METHODS: The community-based system dynamics approach involves conducting complementary activities, workshops, modeling, and dissemination. We organized workshops, co-developed a causal loop diagram of the reproductive health system with participants from the community, and created materials to disseminate workshop findings and preliminary models. LESSONS LEARNED: Many opportunities exist for cross-fertilization of best practices between community-based system dynamics and community-based participatory research. Shared learning environments offer benefits for modelers and domain experts alike. Additionally, identifying local champions from the community helps manage group dynamics. CONCLUSIONS: Community-based system dynamics is well-suited for understanding complexity in the reproductive health system. It allows participants from diverse perspectives to identify strategies to eliminate racial inequities in reproductive health outcomes.

Objective: Psychological traits such as optimism and hostility affect coronary heart disease (CHD) risk, but mechanisms for this association are unclear. We hypothesized that optimism and hostility may affect CHD risk via changes in heart rate variability (HRV).Methods: We conducted a longitudinal analysis using data from the Women's Health Initiative Myocardial Ischemia and Migraine Study. Participants underwent 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiogram monitoring 3 years after enrollment. Optimism (Life Orientation Test-Revised), cynical hostility (Cook-Medley), demographics, and coronary risk factors were assessed at baseline. HRV measures included standard deviation of average N-N intervals (SDNN); standard deviation of average N-N intervals for 5 minutes (SDANN); and average heart rate (HR). CHD was defined as the first occurrence of myocardial infarction, angina, coronary angioplasty, and bypass grafting. Linear and Cox regression models adjusted for CHD risk factors were used to examine, respectively, associations between optimism, hostility, and HRV and between HRV and CHD risk.Results: Final analyses included 2655 women. Although optimism was not associated with HRV, hostility was inversely associated with HRV 3 years later (SDANN: adjusted β = -0.54; 95% CI = -0.97 to -0.11; SDNN: -0.49; 95% CI = -0.93 to -0.05). HRV was inversely associated with CHD risk; for each 10-millisecond increase in SDNN or SDANN, there was a decrease in CHD risk of 9% (p = .023) and 12% (p = .006), respectively.Conclusions: HRV did not play a major role in explaining why more optimistic women seem to be somewhat protected from CHD risk. Although hostility was inversely associated with HRV, its role in explaining the association between hostility and CHD risk remains to be established.

Introduction: Housing stability is an impor­tant determinant of health, but no studies to our knowledge have examined the spill-over effects of neighborhood eviction rates on individual risk of preterm birth (PTB) among African American women. Objective: We assessed whether living in a neighborhood with high eviction rates was associated with risk of PTB among African American women, and whether marital/co­habiting status modified the association. Methods: We spatially linked interview, medical record, and current address data from the Life-course Influences on Fetal Environments Study (2009-2011, N=1386) of postpartum African American women from Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan, to publicly available data on block-group level rates of eviction filings and judgements. PTB was defined as birth before 37 completed weeks of gestation and occurred in 16.3% of the sample (n=226). Eviction rate vari­ables were rescaled by their interquartile ranges (75th vs 25th percentiles). Women self-reported whether they were married to, or cohabiting with, the father of their baby during the in-person interview. We used Modified Poisson regression with robust er­ror variance to estimate relative risks of PTB associated with each eviction variable sepa­rately and included an interaction term with marital/cohabiting status (P

Nearly every introductory epidemiology course begins with a focus on person, place, and time, the key components of descriptive epidemiology. And yet in our experience, introductory epidemiology courses were the last time we spent any significant amount of training time focused on descriptive epidemiology. This gave us the impression that descriptive epidemiology does not suffer from bias and is less impactful than causal epidemiology. Descriptive epidemiology may also suffer from a lack of prestige in academia and may be more difficult to fund. We believe this does a disservice to the field and slows progress towards goals of improving population health and ensuring equity in health. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak and subsequent coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic have highlighted the importance of descriptive epidemiology in responding to serious public health crises. In this commentary, we make the case for renewed focus on the importance of descriptive epidemiology in the epidemiology curriculum using SARS-CoV-2 as a motivating example. The framework for error we use in etiological research can be applied in descriptive research to focus on both systematic and random error. We use the current pandemic to illustrate differences between causal and descriptive epidemiology and areas where descriptive epidemiology can have an important impact.

Importance Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) may have unique risk factors in women. Most women have a history of pregnancy; common adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs) appear to be associated with ASCVD, but prior studies have limitations. Objective To assess whether APOs are associated with increased ASCVD risk independently of traditional risk factors. Design, Setting, and Participants The APO history among participants in the Women’s Health Initiative, a large multiethnic cohort of postmenopausal women, was assessed. The associations of 5 self-reported APOs (gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, low birth weight [ie, birth weight less than 2.49 kg], high birth weight [ie, birth weight greater than 4.08 kg], and preterm delivery by 3 weeks or more) with ASCVD were analyzed, adjusting for traditional ASCVD risk factors. Data were collected and analyzed in 2017. Exposures APOs (gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, low birth weight, high birth weight, and preterm delivery). Main Outcomes and Measures Adjudicated ASCVD. Results A total of 48 113 Women’s Health Initiative participants responded to the survey; the median (interquartile range) age at time of enrollment was 60.0 (55.0-64.0) years. A total of 13 482 participants (28.8%) reported 1 or more APOs. Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease was more frequent in women who reported an APO compared with those without APOs (1028 of 13 482 [7.6%] vs 1758 of 30 522 [5.8%]). Each APO, analyzed separately, was significantly associated with ASCVD, and gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, low birth weight, and preterm delivery remained significant after adjustment for traditional ASCVD risk factors. When all APOs were analyzed together, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (odds ratio, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.15-1.40) and low birth weight (odds ratio, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.00-1.26) remained independently associated with ASCVD. All findings were materially unchanged by additional adjustment for parity, body mass index, and socioeconomic factors. Conclusions and Relevance In this large multiethnic cohort of women, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and low birth weight were independently associated with ASCVD after adjustment for risk factors and other APOs.

Background: Non-adherence to antihypertensive medication treatment (AHM) is a complex health behavior with determinants that extend beyond the individual patient. The structural and social determinants of health (SDH) that predispose populations to ill health and unhealthy behaviors could be potential barriers to long-term adherence to AHM. However, the role of SDH in AHM non-adherence has been understudied. Therefore, we aimed to define and identify the SDH factors associated with non-adherence to AHM and to quantify the variation in county-level non-adherence to AHM explained by these factors. Methods: Two cross-sectional datasets, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke (2014&ndash, 2016 cycle) and the 2016 County Health Rankings (CHR), were linked to create an analytic dataset. Contextual SDH variables were extracted from the CDC-CHR linked dataset. County-level prevalence of AHM non-adherence, based on Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries&rsquo, claims data, was extracted from the CDC Atlas dataset. The CDC measured AHM non-adherence as the proportion of days covered (PDC) with AHM during a 365 day period for Medicare Part D beneficiaries and aggregated these measures at the county level. We applied confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to identify the constructs of social determinants of AHM non-adherence. AHM non-adherence variation and its social determinants were measured with structural equation models. Results: Among 3000 counties in the U.S., the weighted mean prevalence of AHM non-adherence (PDC &lt, 80%) in 2015 was 25.0%, with a standard deviation (SD) of 18.8%. AHM non-adherence was directly associated with poverty/food insecurity (&beta, = 0.31, P-value &lt, 0.001) and weak social supports (&beta, = 0.27, P-value &lt, 0.001), but inversely with healthy built environment (&beta, = &minus, 0.10, P-value = 0.02). These three constructs explained one-third (R2 = 30.0%) of the variation in county-level AHM non-adherence. Conclusion: AHM non-adherence varies by geographical location, one-third of which is explained by contextual SDH factors including poverty/food insecurity, weak social supports and healthy built environments.

BackgroundNon-adherence to antihypertensive medication treatment (AHM) is a complex health behavior with determinants that extend beyond the individual patient. The structural and social determinants of health (SDH) that predispose populations to ill health and unhealthy behaviors could be potential barriers to long-term adherence to AHM. However, the role of SDH in AHM non-adherence have been understudied.Therefore, we aimed to define and identify the SDH factors associated with non-adherence to AHM and to quantify the variation in county-level non-adherence to AHM explained by these factors.MethodsTwo cross-sectional datasets, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke (2014-2016 cycle) and the 2016 County Health Rankings (CHR), were linked to create an analytic dataset. Contextual SDH variables were extracted from both the CDC-CHR linked dataset. County-level prevalence of AHM non-adherence, based on Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries’ claims data, was extracted from the CDC Atlas dataset. The CDC measured AHM non-adherence as the Proportion of Days Covered (PDC) with AHM during a 365-day period for Medicare Part D beneficiaries and aggregated these measures at the county-level. We applied Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to identify the constructs of social determinants of AHM non-adherence. AHM non-adherence variation and its social determinants were measured with structural equation models.ResultsAmong 3,000 counties in the US, the weighted mean prevalence of AHM non-adherence (PDCR2=30.0%) of the variation in county-level AHM non-adherence.ConclusionAHM non-adherence varies by geographical location, a third of which is explained by contextual SDH factors including poverty/food insecurity, weak social supports and healthy built environments.

Objectives We studied associations between social support, social network size, social strain or stressful life events and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes. Research Design and Methods From the Women’s Health Initiative, 5,262 postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes at baseline were included. Cox proportional hazards regression models adjusted for demographics, depressive symptom, anthropometric variables, and lifestyle factors were used to examine associations between social factors and CHD. Results A total of 672 cases of CHD were observed during an average 12.79 (SD 6.29) years of follow-up. There was a significant linear trend toward higher risk of CHD as number of stressful life events increased (p for trend=0.01; HR [95% CI] for the third and fourth quartiles compared with first quartile = 1.27 [1.03-1.56] and 1.30 [1.04-1.64]). Being married or in an intimate relationship was related to decreased risk of CHD [HR and 95% CI 0.82 (0.69-0.97)]. Conclusion Among postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes, higher levels of stressful life events were associated with higher risk of CHD. Experience of stressful life events might be considered as a risk factor for CHD among women with type 2 diabetes.

Author(s): Shikany, James M; Manson, JoAnn E; Shadyab, Aladdin H; Garcia, Lorena; Lewis, Cora E; Neuhouser, Marian L; Tinker, Lesley F; Beasley, Jeannette M; Beresford, Shirley AA; Zaslavsky, Oleg; Vitolins, Mara Z; Sealy-Jefferson, Shawnita; Bae, Sejong | Abstract: ObjectiveThis analysis examined whether specific social, physical, and financial factors were associated with diet quality among older, community-dwelling women.MethodsThis cross-sectional analysis was conducted in a subset of 6,094 community-dwelling Women's Health Initiative participants who completed a food frequency questionnaire, administered from 2012 to 2013, and a self-administered supplemental questionnaire, administered approximately 1 year later. The supplemental questionnaire included five questions assessing social, physical, and financial factors related to eating. Diet quality was assessed with the Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010; range of 0-100; higher score indicates a higher quality diet). The total HEI-2010 score was calculated by summing individual scores representing the intake of nine adequacy components (beneficial food groups) and three moderation components (food groups to limit). Associations of responses to the five questions on the supplemental questionnaire with HEI-2010 scores were examined with multiple linear regression, adjusting for relevant covariates.ResultsMean ± standard deviation age of participants was 78.8 ± 6.7 years. Reporting eating fewer than two meals per day, having dental or other mouth problems causing problems with eating, and not always being able to shop, cook, or feed oneself were associated with statistically significantly lower HEI-2010 scores, compared with those not reporting these issues, after multivariable adjustment: 5.37, 2.98, and 2.39 lower scores, respectively (all P values l0.0001). Reporting eating alone most of the time and not always having enough money to buy food were not associated with HEI-2010 scores.ConclusionsAmong older, community-dwelling women, eating fewer than two meals per day, dental and other mouth problems, and diminished ability to shop for food, prepare meals, and feed oneself were associated with lower diet quality. These are potential targets for interventions to improve diet quality in older women. : Video Summary:http://links.lww.com/MENO/A561.

Background Few studies have identified modifiable risk factors that are associated with the prevention of preterm delivery (PTD). This study examined the relationship between PTD and physical activity during pregnancy. Methods Data were obtained by medical record review and postpartum questionnaires from a cohort of African American women (N = 1,410) delivering singleton infants. Physical activity was self-reported and analyses compared any and none. Additional analyses classified leisure time physical activity (LTPA) and walking for a purpose as 0, 1 to 19, 20 to 39, and 40 minutes per day or more and stair climbing as 0, 1 to 5, 6 to 9, and 10 or more times per day. Log-Poisson models adjusted for previous PTD, pregnancy complications, and income were used to examine the association between PTD and physical activity during pregnancy across body mass index categories. Results Overall, 16.4% of deliveries were preterm. LTPA was associated with a decreased prevalence of PTD (prevalence ratio [PR], 0.73; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.55–0.96), but stratification by maternal prepregnancy body mass index suggested that LTPA was only protective against PTD among women with normal weight (PR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.23–0.79). Stair climbing 10 or more times per day was associated with a decreased prevalence of PTD among women with normal weight (PR, 0.32; 95% CI, 0.11–0.94) and women with overweight (PR, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.07–0.80) only. Walking for a purpose (e.g., to the store, the bus stop, or to work) was not associated with PTD. Conclusions African American women who participate in either LTPA or stair climbing during pregnancy have a decreased prevalence of PTD, but the protective effect varied by maternal body mass index.

The goal of this review is to describe how a woman’s exposures and experiences lead to Black-white disparities in preterm. Studies in the last 10 years have increased knowledge in areas that may explain disparities, in particular social factors such as racism and stress, as well as how social factors at the neighborhood level may intersect with those at the individual level. The biologic pathways linking the social environment to disparities in preterm birth is also becoming better understood. Study designs and measures may need to adapt to effectively study disparities. While there is much greater appreciation for the potential importance of the social environment across the life course, more research is needed on methods to best study these factors, particularly in measurement, as well as pathways linking these factors to preterm birth in Black women.

Supplemental material, Supplemental_Table_1 for Women’s Occupational Patterns and Later Life Physical Functioning by Aimee J. Palumbo, Carolyn Cannuscio, Anneclaire J. De Roos, Lucy Robinson, Jana Mossey, Robert Wallace, Lorena Garcia, Aladdin H. Shadyab, Shawnita Sealy-Jefferson and Yvonne Michael in Journal of Aging and Health

Laboratory and animal studies suggest an inverse association between chocolate consumption and the risk of cancer. Epidemiological studies have yielded inconsistent evidence.To assess the association of chocolate candy consumption with incident, invasive total, breast, colorectal, and lung cancers in a large cohort of postmenopausal American women.Prospective cohort study with a mean 14.8-year follow-up. Chocolate candy intake was assessed by food frequency questionnaire. Invasive cancer events were assessed by physician adjudication.The Women's Health Initiative Study enrolled 161,808 postmenopausal women at 40 clinical centers nationwide between 1993 and 1998. Of these women, 114,281 with plausible food frequency or biometric data and no missing data on chocolate candy exposure were selected for analysis.Cancer risk in quartiles of chocolate candy consumption with the first quartile as referent.Multivariable Cox regression was used to calculate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals.There were 16,164 documented incident invasive cancers, representing an incidence rate of 17.0 per 100 participants and 12.3 per 1000 person years during follow-up among participants without any preexisting cancers or missing outcome data. There were no statistically significant associations for total invasive cancer (P-linear = .47, P-curvature = .14), or invasive breast cancer (P-linear = .77, P-curvature = .26). For colorectal cancer P-linear was .02, P-curvature was .03, and compared with women eating a 1 oz (28.4 g) chocolate candy serving1 time per month, the hazard ratio for ≥1.5 times/wk was 1.18 (95% confidence interval: 1.04-1.35). This result may be attributable to the excess adiposity associated with frequent chocolate candy consumption.In the Women's Health Initiative, there was no significant association between chocolate candy consumption and invasive total or breast cancer. There was a modest 18% higher risk of invasive colorectal cancer for women who ate chocolate candy at least 1.5 times/wk. These results require confirmation.

To examine associations among parity, breastfeeding history, and risk of developing type 2 diabetes among postmenopausal women.A prospective cohort study was conducted. One hundred thirty-six thousand six hundred fifty-two postmenopausal women aged 50-79 years participating in the Women's Health Initiative recruited from 40 clinical centers throughout the United States between 1993 and 1998, without baseline cancer or diabetes were followed for 14.2 years. Parity and breastfeeding data were collected by questionnaires administrated to all participants at baseline. Incident diabetes was assessed via validated self-report of physician-diagnosed diabetes treated with insulin or other hypoglycemic medications. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to assess associations between parity, breastfeeding and diabetes incidence, and racial-ethnic differences in the associations.During follow-up, 18,812 cases of incident diabetes were identified. Overall, a greater number of term pregnancies was associated with increased risk of diabetes (P for trend=.002), and longer duration of breastfeeding was associated with lower risk of diabetes (P for trend.01). After further adjusting for adult weight gain among a subset of the cohort (n=75,558) with 9,110 cases, the association between parity and risk of diabetes were attenuated and became nonsignificant. Also, parous women with fewer than five term pregnancies did not have increased diabetes risk when breastfeeding for 3 months or more per child, which was associated with less weight gain.The results of this large, prospective study showed that the association between parity and risk of type 2 diabetes was most likely confounded by adult weight gain among postmenopausal women.

Background: Adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs) occur in up to 15% of all pregnancies, and are associated with an increased risk of long-term atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) in the mother. However, it is unclear if this association is independent of standard ASCVD risk factors or is present in multiethnic populations with adjudicated CVD events. Methods: Participants in the Women’s Health Initiative were asked to complete a retrospective survey in 2017 about APOs, [gestational diabetes, birthweight < 5 pounds, birth weight > 9 pounds, delivery > 3 weeks pre-term, and hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (gestational hypertension or preeclampsia)]. Cox models were used to assess the hazard for developing incident ASCVD (defined as adjudicated stroke, myocardial infarction, peripheral artery disease, coronary revascularization). Follow up began at the baseline study exam. Hazard ratios were assessed using the Cox model. Two primary models were employed for each individual APO: 1) univariate, and 2) adjusted for the baseline ASCVD risk factors of age, smoking, use of cholesterol lowering drugs, hypertension and diabetes. Results: The 50,679 respondents were 89.1% White, 5.2% Black, 2.4% Hispanic, 2.1% Asian-Pacific Islander, and 1.2% Other race. There were 12,499 (25%) women who reported an APO: 1041 (2.1%) had gestational diabetes, 6282 (12.4%) had low birth weight, 2970 (5.9%) had high birth weight, 7365 (14.5%) had a premature birth, and 3238 (6.4%) had preeclampsia or gestational hypertension. Over 1,020,899 person-years of follow up, 3569 (7.0%) adjudicated CVD events occurred. In univariate models, each APO was associated with ASCVD (Figure). In multivariable models adjusting for standard risk factors, all APOs were associated with a significantly increased risk of CVD (Figure), with the exception of high birth weight. There was no significant effect modification by race on these associations. Conclusion: Adverse pregnancy outcomes were associated with increased risk of late ASCVD in a multiethnic population of post-menopausal women, independent of ASCVD risk factors. Associations between APO and ASCVD were consistent across racial groups. APOs should be considered in CVD risk assessment in women.

Background: Empirical data on the link between stress and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among black women is limited. We examined associations of stressful life events and social strain with incident CVD among black women and tested for effect modification by resilience. Methods and Results: Our analysis included 10 785 black women enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study and Clinical Trials cohort. Participants were followed for CVD for up to 23 years (mean, 12.5). Multivariable Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios and 95% CIs for associations between stress-related exposures and incident CVD. We included interactions between follow-up time (age) and stressful life events because of evidence of nonproportional hazards. Effect modification by resilience was examined in the sub-cohort of 2765 women with resilience and stressful life events measures. Higher stressful life events were associated with incident CVD at ages 55 (hazard ratio for highest versus lowest quartile=1.80; 95% CI, 1.27–2.54) and 65 (hazard ratio for highest versus lowest quartile=1.40; 95% CI, 1.16–1.68), but not at older ages. Adjustment for CVD risk factors attenuated these associations. Similar associations were observed for social strain. In the sub-cohort of women with updated stressful life events and resilience measures, higher stressful life events were associated with incident CVD in multivariable-adjusted models (hazard ratio=1.61; 95% CI, 1.04–2.51). Resilience did not modify this association nor was resilience independently associated with incident CVD. Conclusions: In this cohort of older black women, recent reports of stressful life events were related to incident CVD. Resilience was unrelated to incident CVD. Clinical Trials Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier: NCT00000611.

Background and Purpose— In the United States, black Americans exhibit a greater risk of stroke and burden of stroke risk factors than whites; however, it is unclear whether these stroke risk factors influence stroke risk differently across racial groups. Methods— In total, 126 018 participants of the Women’s Health Initiative (11 389 black and 114 629 white women), free of stroke and coronary heart disease at baseline (1994–1998), were followed through 2010. Participants completed baseline clinical exams with standardized measurements of blood pressure and anthropometrics, medication inventory and self-reported questionnaires on sociodemographics, behaviors/lifestyle, and medical history. Incident total, ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes were updated annually through questionnaires with medical record confirmation. Rate differences (per 100 000 person-years) and hazard ratios (HR) based on multivariable Cox models and were estimated. Results— Over a median of 13 years, 4344 stroke events were observed. Absolute incidence rates were higher in black than white women in each age group. In age-adjusted analyses, the risk of stroke was significantly higher among black compared with white women (HR=1.47, 95% CI, 1.33–1.63); adjustment for stroke risk factors, which may be on the causal pathway, attenuated the estimate. Racial disparities were greatest among women 50 to P interaction Conclusions— There was a moderately greater risk of total stroke among black compared with white women; however, racial disparities were greatest among women aged 50 to

Ecological evidence suggests that neighborhoods with more tax foreclosures also have more adverse birth outcomes. However, whether neighborhood-level tax foreclosures impact individual-level risk for adverse birth outcomes is unknown. We assessed whether living in a neighborhood with high tax foreclosures is associated with a woman&rsquo, s preterm birth (PTB) risk and tested for effect modification by educational attainment, among urban African American women from the Life Influence on Fetal Environments Study (2009&ndash, 2011, n = 686). We linked survey and medical record data to archival, block-group level tax foreclosure data from the county treasurer. We used Modified Poisson regression with robust error variance and included a foreclosure X education interaction in adjusted models. In the overall sample, neighborhood tax foreclosures did not predict PTB (adjusted relative risk: 0.93, CI: 0.74, 1.16), but the association was modified by educational attainment (interaction p = 0.01). Among women with lower education (n = 227), neighborhood tax foreclosures did not predict PTB risk. The association for women with higher education (n = 401) was statistically significant for a reduction in risk for PTB (adjusted relative risk: 0.74, CI: 0.55, 0.98) among those who lived in neighborhoods with high versus low tax foreclosures. Future studies should seek to identify the mechanisms of this association.

Background: Although social exposures have complex and dynamic relationships and interactions, the existing literature on the impact of rural–urban residence on stage at breast cancer diagnosis does not examine heterogeneity of effect. We examined the joint effect of social support, social relationship strain, and rural–urban residence on stage at breast cancer diagnosis. Methods: Using data from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) (n = 161,808), we describe the distribution of social, behavioral, and clinical factors by rural–urban residence among postmenopausal women with incident breast cancer (n = 7,120). We used rural–urban commuting area (RUCA) codes to categorize baseline residential addresses as urban, large rural city/town, or small rural town, and the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results staging system to categorize breast cancer stage at diagnosis (dichotomized as early or late). We then used univariable and multivariable logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and associated 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for the relationship between rural–urban residence and stage at breast cancer diagnosis. We included separate interaction terms between rural–urban residence and social strain and social support to test for statistical interaction. Results: Of the social, behavioral, and clinical factors we examined, only younger age at WHI enrollment screening was significantly associated with late stage at breast cancer diagnosis (p = 0.003). Contrary to our hypothesis, rural–urban residence was not significantly associated with stage at breast cancer diagnosis among postmenopausal women ([adjusted OR, 95% CI] for urban compared with small town: 1.08 [0.76–1.53]; large town compared with small town: 1.16 [0.74–1.84]; and urban compared with large town: 0.93 [0.68–1.26]).The associations did not vary by social support or social strain (p for interaction between RUCA and social strain and social support, respectively: 0.99 and 0.17). Conclusions: Future studies should examine other potential effect modifiers to identify novel factors predictive or protective for late stage at breast cancer diagnosis associated with rural–urban residence.

Preterm delivery (PTD), or birth before 37 completed weeks of gestation, is a serious public health issue, and racial disparities persist. In a recently published study, perceptions of the residential environment (or neighborhood context) were associated with PTD rates among urban African American women with low educational attainment (≤12 years); however, the mechanisms of these associations are unknown. Given this gap in the literature, we used data from the Life Influences on Fetal Environments Study of postpartum African American women from Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan (2009–2011; n = 399), to examine whether psychosocial factors (depressive symptomology, psychological distress, and perceived stress) mediate associations between perceptions of the neighborhood context and PTD. Validated scales were used to measure women’s perceptions of their neighborhood safety, walkability, healthy food availability (higher=better), and social disorder (higher=more disorder). The psychosocial indicators were measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, Kessler’s Psychological Distress Scale (K6), and Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale. Statistical mediation was assessed using an unadjusted logistic regression-based path analysis for estimating direct and indirect effects. The associations between perceived walkability, food availability, and social disorder were not mediated by psychosocial factors. However, perceptions of neighborhood safety were inversely associated with depressive symptoms which were positively associated with PTD rates. Also, higher perceived neighborhood social disorder was associated with higher PTD rates, net of the indirect paths through psychosocial factors. Future research should identify other mechanisms of the perceived neighborhood context-PTD associations, which would inform PTD prevention efforts among high-risk groups.

Background: Income inequality has been associated with greater mortality and lower life expectancy in many ecologic studies, particularly at the national level. At the neighborhood level, the influence of income inequality on individual health is less clear. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Recent studies suggest that neighborhood social and built environments are associated with outcomes across the CRC continuum, including screening, risk, and survival. Few studies of neighborhood factors have examined income inequality in relation to CRC survival. Methods: We examined the association of census tract-level income inequality with survival among women who participated in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) and were diagnosed with incident invasive CRC between 1994-2014 (N=2,595). Based on geocoded residence at diagnosis and year of diagnosis, we linked each participant to census tract-level data from the US Census and American Community Survey (ACS). Within each tract, income inequality was assessed using the ratio of the 95th and 20th percentiles for household income. Quartiles for 95/20 ratio were constructed from the distribution of 95/20 ratios across all U.S. census tracts with more than 50 households. We used Cox proportional hazards regression models to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for overall and disease-specific survival. Models were adjusted for age at diagnosis, year of diagnosis, individual household income, and tract-level percent of households in poverty; subsequent models also adjusted for tumor stage at diagnosis. To explore whether the relationship between income inequality and survival differed by individual or tract-level sociodemographic characteristics, we conducted analyses stratified by race/ethnicity, individual household income, and tract-level poverty. Results: Compared to women residing in low-income-inequality census tracts, women living in tracts with the highest income inequality had modestly poorer overall survival (HR=1.24, 95% CI: 1.01-1.51, comparing highest and lowest quartiles). However, this association was not significant after adjustment for stage at diagnosis. No associations were detected for disease-specific survival. The associations between income inequality and overall or disease-specific survival were not modified by tract-level poverty, individual household income, or race/ethnicity. Conclusion: There was no association between census tract-level income inequality and CRC survival in our study. Our results suggest that the association may be confounded or even mediated by disparities in stage at diagnosis. Citation Format: Kelsey A. Chun, Jamaica R. Robinson, Candace H. Kroenke, Dorothy S. Lane, Giselle Corbie-Smith, Theresa Hastert, Shawnita Sealy-Jefferson, Manali I. Patel, Kathy Pan, Shirley A.A. Beresford, Polly A. Newcomb. Census tract-level income inequality and colorectal cancer survival [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2018 Nov 2-5; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl):Abstract nr C068.

Objective: Timing and accumulation of work-related exposures may influence later life health. This study evaluates the association between women’s work patterns and physical functioning. Method: Work history and physical functioning information was collected at baseline for U.S. women ages 50 to 79 years in the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study ( N = 75,507). We estimated life course workforce participation patterns using latent class analysis. Associations between work patterns and physical limitations were explored using modified Poisson regression. Results: Compared with working continuously, women who left the workforce early had 8% increased risk and women who worked intermittently had 5% reduced risk of physical limitations later in life. The negative association with intermittent workforce participation was stronger for women with substantively complex work (9% reduced risk) than for women with nonsubstantively complex work (2% reduced risk). Discussion: Life course work patterns and characteristics may contribute to physical functioning later in life among women.

Women with history of pregnancy loss (PL) have higher burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) later in life, yet it is unclear whether this is attributable to an association with established CVD risk factors (RFs). We examined whether PL is associated with CVD RFs and biomarkers in parous postmenopausal women in the Women's Health Initiative, and whether the association between PL and CVD RFs accounted for the association between PL and incident CVD. Linear and logistic regressions were used to estimate associations between baseline history of PL and CVD RFs. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate the associations between baseline history of PL and incident CVD after adjustment for baseline RFs. Of 79,121 women, 27,272 (35%) had experienced PL. History of PL was associated with higher body mass index (p0.0001), hypertension (p0.0001), diabetes (p = 0.003), depression (p0.0001), and lower income (p0.0001), physical activity (p = 0.01), poorer diet (p0.0001), smoking (p0.0001), and alcohol use (p0.0001). After adjustment for CVD RFs, PL was significantly associated with incident CVD over mean follow up of 16 years (hazard ratio 1.11, 95% confidence interval 1.06 to 1.16). In conclusion, several CVD RFs are associated with PL, but they do not entirely account for the association between PL and incident CVD.

Purpose To investigate associations between past-year verbal and/or physical abuse (VA/PA) and sexual (dis)satisfaction, that is, global or frequency-related (dis)satisfactions with sexual activity, among postmenopausal women in the Women's Health Initiative. Procedures A cross-sectional analysis of archival data was performed from the subset of 83,329 Women's Health Initiative participants (clinical trial and/or observational study components) who reported sexual activity in the year before baseline. Associations between VA/PA and global frequency (dis)satisfactions were modeled using logistic regression. Main Findings Most participants reported sexual satisfaction (global, 77%; frequency related, 66%). Disappointment with sexual frequency, specifically a desire for more frequent sex, was the most common dissatisfaction expressed. Past-year VA/PA exposure was reported by 9,410 participants (11%). In regression models adjusted for sociodemographic, health and health risk, and menopausal symptom variables, VA/PA was associated with higher rates of global (35% VA/PA exposed vs. 22% non-exposed; adjusted odds ratio, 1.66; 95% confidence interval, 1.53–1.80) and frequency-related dissatisfactions (50% of VA/PA exposed vs. 32% of non-exposed; adjusted odds ratio, 1.73; 95% confidence interval, 1.57–1.90). Conclusions Sexual satisfaction was common, but not universally reported by study participants. Sexual dissatisfactions were overrepresented in VA/PA-exposed participants and associated with a desire for more frequent sexual activity. Opportunities for postmenopausal women to receive clinician-led education about safe and healthy ways to increase sexual activity are needed. Further research on this topic, particularly efforts to characterize safety concerns as well as modifiable barriers to satisfying sexual activity among postmenopausal women with recent VA/PA, would ensure that these interventions are evidence based.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to describe how a community-academic partnership developed and implemented a shared goal of evaluating the impact of a large community-based diabetes self-management program on diabetes care and mental health outcomes. Methods Data came from the YMCA of Greater Richmond Diabetes Control Program (DCP), a 12-week, group-format self-management program led by lay health coaches. Adults with type 2 diabetes (N = 312) completed baseline assessments of sociodemographic characteristics, diabetes history, and mental health. Four outcomes were assessed pre- and post-DCP on 141 participants who completed the program: hemoglobin A1C (A1C), weight, depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire–8), and glucose monitoring. The team worked with a Community Advisory Board throughout the research process. Results The DCP had wide geographic reach, including lower-income neighborhoods. The average age of the participants was 53.9 years, 71.4% were female, and 69% were African American. During the DCP, A1C declined from 8.4% to 7.6% (P < .001), but weight was unchanged (229.2 vs 227.9, P < .282). During the DCP, the proportion of participants with clinically significant depressive symptoms declined from 32.4% to 15.5% (P < .001), and frequency of glucose monitoring significantly increased. Conclusions The YMCA of Greater Richmond DCP has wide reach into underserved populations throughout the metropolitan area. This program is effective at improving diabetes self-management and mental health. Findings have implications for supporting academic-community partnerships to address diabetes disparities.

Persistent racial and ethnic health disparities exist in the USA, despite decades of research and public health initiatives. Several factors contribute to health disparities, including (but not limited to) implicit provider bias, access to health care, social determinants, and biological factors. Disparities in health by race/ethnicity are unacceptable and correctable. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a comprehensive legislation that is focused on improving health care access, quality, and cost control. This health care reform includes specific provisions which focus on preventive care, the standardized collection of data on race, ethnicity, primary language and disability status, and health information technology. Although some provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act have not been implemented, such as funding for the U.S. Public Health Sciences track, which would have addressed the shortage of medical professionals in the USA who are trained to use patient-centered, interdisciplinary, and care coordination approaches, this legislation is still poised to make great strides toward eliminating health disparities. The purpose of this manuscript is to highlight the unprecedented opportunities that exist for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health in the USA.

Living in a lower-quality neighborhood is associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms in the general population as well as among pregnant and postpartum women. However, little is known of the important pathways by which this association occurs. We proposed a model in which perceived stress and social support mediated the effects of neighborhood quality on depressive symptoms during pregnancy (measured by the 20-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression, CES-D, scale) in a sample of 1383 African American women from the Detroit metropolitan area interviewed during their delivery hospitalization. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), we built a latent variable of neighborhood quality using 4 measures (neighborhood disorder, neighborhood safety/danger, walking environment, overall rating). We then tested two SEM mediation models. We found that lower neighborhood quality was associated with higher prevalence of depressive symptoms during pregnancy (standardized total effect = .16, p = .011). We found that perceived stress partially mediated the neighborhood quality association with depressive symptoms. Although the association of social support with depressive symptoms was negligible, social support mediated associations of neighborhood quality with perceived stress [standardized path coefficient = .38 (.02), p = .009]. Our results point to the need for public health, health care, as well as non-health related interventions (e.g. crime prevention programs) to decrease overall exposure to stressors, as well as stress levels of women living in poor quality neighborhoods. Interventions that increase the levels of social support of women during pregnancy are also needed for their potential to decrease stress and ultimately improve mental health at this important time in the life course.

Supplemental material, Supplemental_Figure_1_DSMP_3.16.18 for Successfully Managing Diabetes in a Community Setting: Evidence From the YMCA of Greater Richmond Diabetes Control Program by Briana Mezuk, William Thornton, Shawnita Sealy-Jefferson, Joshua Montgomery, Jana Smith, Evanise Lexima, Maria Jose Mejia Ruiz and Jeannie B. Concha in The Diabetes Educator

Background Associations between a history of cancer and higher subsequent stroke risk have been established. However, whether a history of stroke is associated with higher subsequent cancer risk, especially for cancers with overlapping risk factors for stroke, is unknown. Therefore, we examined whether a history of stroke was associated with subsequent cancer risk and tumor site, by race/ethnicity, among postmenopausal women. Methods Using data from 145,075 participants in the Women's Health Initiative observational study and clinical trials (1993–2014), we used Cox proportional hazards models to predict cancer risk, comparing women with and without a history of stroke. Bivariate and multivariate models were estimated, accounting for potential confounders and death as a competing risk. Results Women with a history of stroke survived roughly 3 fewer years than women without such history. The average time between incident stroke and incident cancer was 4.8 years. In adjusted competing risk models, women with a history of stroke had a lower cancer risk compared with women without such a history (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.75–0.88). The magnitude of the association between a history of stroke and time to incident cancer was similar across racial/ethnic groups. Discussion Postmenopausal women with a history of stroke had a significantly lower risk of subsequent cancer compared with women with no history of stroke. Although the risk of certain cancers were greater for African American compared with White women, the association between a stroke history and cancer risk did not vary by race/ethnicity. Conclusions Postmenopausal women with a history of stroke, who survive long enough to develop cancer, have a lower risk of cancer than women without such a history. Future studies should examine whether behavioral or clinical characteristics explain and/or mediate this association.

Background: Black American adults exhibit a greater risk of stroke and disproportionate burden of stroke risk factors; however, it is unclear whether these stroke risk factors differentially impact stroke risk by race. Methods: In total, 126,018participants of the Women’s Health Initiative (11,389 black women and 114,629 white women), free of stroke and coronary heart disease at baseline (1993-1998), were followed for up to 17 years through 2010. Participants completed baseline clinical exams with standardized measurements of blood pressure and anthropometrics, medication inventory and self-reported questionnaires on socio-demographic, lifestyle/behaviors, diet and medical history. Incident total strokes were updated annually by questionnaire and confirmed by medical records. Multivariable Cox models estimated racial disparities in stroke overall and by across stroke risk factors. Results: We observed 4,344 stroke events over 1,496,314 person-years (py). In age-adjusted analyses, black women exhibited a 47% greater risk of total stroke compared to white women (hazard ratio [HR]=1.47, 95% CI: 1.33-1.63), which was attenuated toward the null (HR=1.05, 95% CI: 0.94-1.17) by further adjustment for stroke risk factors, which may be considered to be on the biological causal pathway. Disparities in stroke were two-fold higher for younger black (50- Conclusions: Black women exhibited a significantly greater risk of total stroke compared to white women. Importantly, racial disparities were greatest among younger women aged 50

ObjectiveTo describe the pattern and frequency of oncogene mutations in white and African American women with endometrial cancer and to determine if racial differences in oncogene mutations exist among women with pathologically similar tumors.MethodsPatients with endometrial cancer from a large urban hospital were identified through medical records, and representative formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor blocks were retrieved. The study sample included 150 patients (84 African Americans) who underwent total abdominal hysterectomy for endometrial cancer. The Sequenom MassARRAY system and the OncoCarta Assay version 1.0 (Sequenom) were used to test for 238 mutations in 19 common oncogenes. The χ2test and the Fisher exact test were used to assess differences in distribution of variables by race and oncogene mutation status.ResultsThere were 20 mutations identified in 2 oncogenes (PIK3CAandKRAS) in tumors from 19 women (12.7%). Most of the mutations were found inPIK3CA(16/20). Thirteen percent of endometrioid tumors harbored mutations (11PIK3CAand 2KRAS) as did 29% of the malignant mixed Mullerian tumors (3PIK3CAand 1KRAS). There were no observed mutations in serous, clear cell, or mucinous tumor types. Among low-grade endometrioid cancers, tumors from African American patients were significantly associated with harboring either aKRASorPIK3CAmutation (P= 0.04), with 7PIK3CAmutations and all 4KRASmutations identified in African American women.ConclusionsThis study provides preliminary evidence that oncogene mutation frequency of some subtypes of histologically similar endometrial carcinoma differ by race. Additional studies are needed to further explore this phenomenon in patients with endometrial carcinoma.

Background and Purpose— Mechanistic and human studies suggest a role for arsenic in ischemic stroke; however, risks from chronic, low-level exposures are uncertain and US studies are lacking. The objective was to investigate the association between low-level arsenic exposure in drinking water and ischemic stroke hospital admissions in Michigan. Methods— Ischemic stroke hospital admissions among those aged ≥45 years were identified (1994 to 2006). Population-weighted average arsenic concentrations were estimated for each Michigan county (n=83) and for zip codes in Genesee County (n=27) where there is greater variation in arsenic concentrations. US Census data provided age- and sex-specific population counts and other county- and zip code-level variables (race, income), which were adjusted for in multilevel negative binomial regression models of arsenic and stroke admissions. Hospital admissions for duodenal ulcer and hernia, not hypothesized to be associated with arsenic, were also evaluated. Results— Adjusted county-level analyses suggested a relationship between arsenic and ischemic stroke hospital admissions, although similar associations were observed for duodenal ulcer and hernia. In zip code-level analysis, arsenic was associated with an increased risk of stroke admission (relative risk, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.05 per μg/L increase in arsenic) after adjustment for confounders, and null or negative associations were found between arsenic and nonvascular outcomes. Conclusions— Findings from this study suggest that exposure to even low levels of arsenic in drinking water may be associated with a higher risk of incident stroke. Given the ecological nature of the analysis, further epidemiological study with individual-level data on arsenic exposure and incident stroke is warranted.

Introduction Neighborhood environments may play a role in the rising prevalence of obesity among older adults. However, research on built environmental correlates of obesity in this age group is limited. The current study aimed to explore associations of Walk Score, a validated measure of neighborhood walkability, with BMI and waist circumference in a large, diverse sample of older women. Methods This study linked cross-sectional data on 6,526 older postmenopausal women from the Women's Health Initiative Long Life Study (2012–2013) to Walk Scores for each participant's address (collected in 2012). Linear and logistic regression models were used to estimate associations of BMI and waist circumference with continuous and categorical Walk Score measures. Secondary analyses examined whether these relationships could be explained by walking expenditure or total physical activity. All analyses were conducted in 2015. Results Higher Walk Score was not associated with BMI or overall obesity after adjustment for sociodemographic, medical, and lifestyle factors. However, participants in highly walkable areas had significantly lower odds of abdominal obesity (waist circumference >88 cm) as compared with those in less walkable locations. Observed associations between walkability and adiposity were partly explained by walking expenditure. Conclusions Findings suggest that neighborhood walkability is linked to abdominal adiposity, as measured by waist circumference, among older women and provide support for future longitudinal research on associations between Walk Score and adiposity in this population.

This study sought to examine whether perceived interpersonal racism in the form of racial micro aggressions was associated with preterm birth (PTB) and whether the presence of depressive symptoms and perceived stress modified the association.Data stem from a cohort of 1410 black women residing in Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan, enrolled into the Life-course Influences on Fetal Environments (LIFE) study. The Daily Life Experiences of Racism and Bother (DLE-B) scale measured the frequency and perceived stressfulness of racial micro aggressions experienced during the past year. Severe past-week depressive symptomatology was measured by the Centers for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D) dichotomized at ≥ 23. Restricted cubic splines were used to model nonlinearity between perceived racism and PTB. We used the Perceived Stress Scale to assess general stress perceptions.Stratified spline regression analysis demonstrated that among those with severe depressive symptoms, perceived racism was not associated with PTB. However, perceived racism was significantly associated with PTB among women with mild to moderate (CES-D score ≤ 22) depressive symptoms. Perceived racism was not associated with PTB among women with or without high amounts of perceived stress.Our findings suggest that racism, at least in the form of racial micro aggressions, may not further impact a group already at high risk for PTB (those with severe depressive symptoms), but may increase the risk of PTB for women at lower baseline risk.

We aimed to determine the association between self-reported birth weight and incident cancer in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study cohort, a large multiethnic cohort of postmenopausal women.65,850 women reported their birth weight by category (6 lbs, 6-7 lbs 15 oz, 8-9 lbs 15 oz, and ≥10 lbs). All self-reported, incident cancers were adjudicated by study staff. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate crude and adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) for associations between birth weight and: (1) all cancer sites combined, (2) gynecologic cancers, and (3) several site-specific cancer sites.After adjustments, birth weight was positively associated with the risk of lung cancer (p=0.01), and colon cancer (p=0.04). An inverse trend was observed between birth weight and risk for leukemia (p=0.04). A significant trend was not observed with breast cancer risk (p=0.67); however, women born weighing ≥10 lbs were less likely to develop breast cancer compared to women born between 6 lbs-7 lbs 15 oz (aHR 0.77, 95% CI 0.63, 0.94).Birth weight category appears to be significantly associated with the risk of any postmenopausal incident cancer, though the direction of the association varies by cancer type.