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Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine the influences of sex and acculturation on dietary behaviors, macronutrient intake, and dietary quality in participants enrolled in a diabetes prevention initiative in Starr County, Texas. Methods: Baseline data from the Starr County diabetes prevention study (N = 300) were analyzed—acculturation (country of origin, years in Starr County, language and food preferences), depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), healthy eating self-efficacy (Weight Efficacy Lifestyle Questionnaire-Short Form), diet quality (USDA Healthy Eating Index), fat avoidance (Fat Avoidance Scale, Spanish version), and macronutrients. Descriptive statistics and univariate analysis of covariance were used to examine differences based on acculturation, controlling for sex. Results: Participants were predominantly female (73%) and, on average, 51 years of age. Language and food preferences favored Spanish language and Hispanic foods, respectively. The majority (71%) was born in Mexico but had resided in Starr County for 33 years, on average. Depressive symptoms were moderate, and eating self-efficacy scores suggested low confidence in making healthy food choices, particularly for saturated fats. Spanish language preference was associated with worse dietary habits. The mean dietary quality score was lower than the national average (54 vs 59 nationally); females had slightly higher dietary quality than males and a higher mean fat avoidance score, although differences were not clinically significant. Intakes of carbohydrate, saturated fats, and cholesterol were higher than recommended daily allowances. Conclusions: The overall preference for speaking Spanish and the influence of language on dietary intake should inform future dietary interventions. Accommodating cultural norms and food preferences remain major challenges to improving dietary quality among the diverse Hispanic ethnic groups.

High ambient temperatures and strenuous physical activity put workers at risk for a variety of heat-related illnesses and injuries. Through primary prevention, secondary prevention, and treatment, OEM health providers can protect workers from the adverse effects of heat. This statement by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine provides guidance for OEM providers who serve workers and employers in industries where heat exposure occurs.

Objectives This study evaluated the effectiveness of an outreach program which included safety training and the distribution of personal protection kits in the Houston area in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Methods Outreach: 71 volunteers conducted training sessions at 19 different sites and distributed a total of 1187 kits. Follow-up study: We conducted telephonic interviews to collect data on respiratory symptoms and obtain perceptions of the quality of the safety training provided among 83 participants. Results Participants reported an increase in airway symptoms four weeks after Hurricane Harvey. Outreach efforts were felt to be effective by a majority of participants. Conclusion Future studies may adopt some of the best practices from our training efforts in terms of utilizing a combination of verbal demonstrations and written training guidelines on proper respirator usage.

Objectives Examine acculturation and psychological, lifestyle, and physiological factors based on gender and country of origin (U.S. vs. Mexico). Methods Baseline data from the Starr County diabetes prevention study ( N = 300) were analyzed – acculturation ( language), psychological factors ( depression), lifestyle factors ( sedentary behaviors), and diabetes-related physiological outcomes ( insulin resistance). MANOVA and linear regression were used to examine variable relationships based on gender and country of origin and identify predictors of depression and insulin resistance. Results Participants were: predominantly female (73%); 51 years of age, on average; born in Mexico (71%); and Spanish-speaking. Individuals spent 11 of their waking hours (range = 0–18 h) in sedentary activities. Compared to females, more males spoke English and reported fewer hours in sedentary activities. Compared to participants born in Mexico, those born in the U.S. were more likely to: speak English; report depressive symptoms; and exhibit elevated BMI and insulin resistance rates. Two distinct models significantly predicted depression (R2 = 14.5%) and insulin resistance (R2 = 26.8%), with acculturation-language entering into both models. Discussion Significant gender and country-of-origin differences were found. Future research on diabetes prevention should examine other Hispanic subgroups and strategies for addressing individual differences, while employing cost-effective group interventions that incorporate these differences and reach more at-risk individuals.

Introduction: Evidence shows a positive correlation between work hour (WH) duration and incident hypertension (HTN). However, little is known about the association between longitudinal WH patterns and the risk of incident HTN. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that the greatest risk of HTN would be observed in consistently long WH patterns and that age, sex, and ethnicity would modify the relationship between WH patterns and incident HTN. Methods: We utilized a representative sample of 10,338 U.S. adults from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics who reported weekly WH for a minimum of five years between 1985-2017 and did not have a history of HTN prior to reporting five years of WH data. Latent class linear mixed modeling was used to identify distinct longitudinal WH trajectory patterns. Weighted Cox proportional hazards model was used to examine the association between WH patterns and incident HTN, adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, education, number of children, BMI, and smoking status after backwards step-down selection. We also tested for statistical interactions between WH patterns and baseline age, sex, and ethnicity. Results: Over a mean follow-up of 18.6 years, four WH trends were identified: steady (66.1%), increasing (12.1%), quickly decreasing (8.7%), and gradually decreasing (13.0%). Only age (p Conclusion: Compared to individuals working steady WH over many years, non-constant WH patterns were associated with a lower risk of incident HTN.

Climate change is an urgent challenge amplified by socioeconomic factors that demands thoughtful public health responses from OEM professionals. This guidance statement from the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine focuses on the different strategies that these health professionals can implement to protect workers from health impacts associated with climate change hazards, foster workplace resilience in the face of rapidly changing environments, and take the necessary steps to mitigate the effects of global climate change.

Objectives:The aim of this study was to provide insights learned from disaster research response (DR2) efforts following Hurricane Harvey in 2017 to launch DR2 activities following the Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) fire in Deer Park, Texas, in 2019.Methods:A multidisciplinary group of academic, community, and government partners launched a myriad of DR2 activities.Results:The DR2 response to Hurricane Harvey focused on enhancing environmental health literacy around clean-up efforts, measuring environmental contaminants in soil and water in impacted neighborhoods, and launching studies to evaluate the health impact of the disaster. The lessons learned after Harvey enabled rapid DR2 activities following the ITC fire, including air monitoring and administering surveys and in-depth interviews with affected residents.Conclusions:Embedding DR2 activities at academic institutions can enable rapid deployment of lessons learned from one disaster to enhance the response to subsequent disasters, even when those disasters are different. Our experience demonstrates the importance of academic institutions working with governmental and community partners to support timely disaster response efforts. Efforts enabled by such experience include providing health and safety training and consistent and reliable messaging, collecting time-sensitive and critical data in the wake of the event, and launching research to understand health impacts and improve resiliency.

Mucosal surfaces like those present in the lung, gut, and mouth interface with distinct external environments. These mucosal gateways are not only portals of entry for potential pathogens but also homes to microbial communities that impact host health. Secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) is the single most abundant acquired immune component secreted onto mucosal surfaces and, via the process of immune exclusion, shapes the architecture of these microbiomes. Not all microorganisms at mucosal surfaces are targeted by SIgA; therefore, a better understanding of the SIgA-coated fraction may identify the microbial constituents that stimulate host immune responses in the context of health and disease. Chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes are associated with altered microbial communities (dysbiosis) that in turn affect immune-mediated homeostasis. 16S rRNA gene sequencing of SIgA-coated/uncoated bacteria (IgA-Biome) was conducted on stool and saliva samples of normoglycemic participants and individuals with prediabetes or diabetes (n = 8/group). These analyses demonstrated shifts in relative abundance in the IgA-Biome profiles between normoglycemic, prediabetic, or diabetic samples distinct from that of the overall microbiome. Differences in IgA-Biome alpha diversity were apparent for both stool and saliva, while overarching bacterial community differences (beta diversity) were also observed in saliva. These data suggest that IgA-Biome analyses can be used to identify novel microbial signatures associated with diabetes and support the need for further studies exploring these communities. Ultimately, an understanding of the IgA-Biome may promote the development of novel strategies to restructure the microbiome as a means of preventing or treating diseases associated with dysbiosis at mucosal surfaces.

The incidence of type 2 diabetes among children and adolescents has sharply increased, highly influenced by prevalence of obesity in youth. Here, we provide an overview of the pathogenesis of diabetes, and summarize recent dietary interventions investigating effects of diet on metabolic risk factors in overweight and obese youth. Seven dietary interventions were identified randomly assigning participants to weekly or bi-weekly dietary counseling sessions over 12–24-week period, with mixed results. Four interventions showed significant reductions in fasting insulin and insulin resistance levels relative to baseline concentrations ranging from 26 to 50%. Recent evidence is mixed, with four studies showing improvements to insulin concentrations and insulin resistance in obese children and adolescents associated with energy restriction and/or change to carbohydrate consumption. Further work is needed to investigate long-term effects of dietary factors including carbohydrate quality and energy restriction on metabolic health and diabetes prevention early in life.

Workers are uniquely susceptible to the health hazards imposed by environmental changes. Occupational and environmental medicine (OEM) providers are at the forefront of emerging health issues pertaining to working populations including climate change, and must be prepared to recognize, respond to, and mitigate climate change-related health effects in workers. This guidance document from the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine focuses on North American workers health effects that may occur as a result of climate change and describes the responsibilities of the OEM provider in responding to these health challenges.

A growing body of evidence demonstrates that home-based, multicomponent interventions can effectively reduce exposures to asthma triggers and decrease asthma symptoms. However, few of these studies have targeted adults. To address this and other research gaps, we designed and implemented a pragmatic randomized clinical trial, the Houston Home-based Integrated Intervention Targeting Better Asthma Control (HIITBAC) for African Americans, to assess the effectiveness of a home-based intervention to improve asthma control and quality of life in African-American adults-a population disproportionately affected by asthma. The primary goals were to help participants reduce allergens and irritants in their homes and better manage their disease through knowledge, improved medication use, and behavior change. HIITBAC had two groups: clinic-only and home-visit groups. Both groups received enhanced clinical care, but the home-visit group also received a detailed home assessment and four additional home visits spaced over roughly one year. We recruited 263 participants. Of these, 152 (57.8%) were recruited through electronic health record data, 51 (19.4%) through Emergency Medical Services data, and 60 (22.8%) through other efforts (e.g., emergency departments, community events, outreach). Seventy participants (26.6%) were lost to follow up, substantially more in the home-visit than in the clinic-only group. We describe the HIITBAC methodology and cohort, discuss lessons learned about recruitment and retention, and highlight adaptations we implemented to address these lessons.

Purpose The purpose of the study was to conduct focus groups with Mexican Americans in an impoverished rural community on the Texas-Mexico border to identify current barriers to adopting healthier lifestyles and to obtain recommendations for diabetes prevention. Methods Three separate 2-hour focus groups were led by an experienced bilingual Mexican American moderator. Interviews included questions about cultural factors and barriers that influence lifestyle behaviors, aspects of previous diabetes self-management interventions that were helpful for motivating behavioral change, and recommendations for diabetes prevention. Results Twenty-seven participants attended a focus group session; each session involved 7 to 12 informants. Individuals were diagnosed with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes mellitus; most were female, foreign born, and Spanish speaking. Interviews documented the cultural importance of food. Informants raised priority issues for diabetes prevention, including the need to learn how to prepare healthier foods and track caloric intake. Major barriers to healthier lifestyles included high costs of healthy foods, fatigue from busy schedules and working multiple jobs, a cultural view that exercise is a waste of valuable time, and fear of deportation. Conclusions Cultural influences and barriers to implementing healthy lifestyles should be assessed regularly and strategies implemented to overcome them. Such factors may change as environmental, sociocultural, and political environments change.

OBJECTIVE This study evaluated the cardiometabolic, behavioral, and psychosocial factors associated with weight status among hospital employees. METHODS A total of n = 924 employees across the six hospitals in Texas participated in this cross-sectional study, 2012 to 2013. Association between weight status and waist circumference, blood pressure, biomarkers, diet, physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and psychosocial factors was assessed. RESULTS About 78.1% of employees were overweight/obese. Obese participants (body mass index [BMI] ≥30.0 kg/m) had higher consumption of potatoes, fats, sugary beverages, and spent more time watching television, playing computer games, and sitting than those having normal weight. Being obese was positively associated with blood pressure, blood glucose, low-density lipoprotein, and negatively associated with high-density lipoprotein. Finally, 78.8% of workers were dissatisfied with their worksite wellness with dissatisfaction being higher among obese employees. Being overweight (BMI 25.0 to 29.9 kg/m) was positively associated with blood pressure, but not other variables. CONCLUSION Understanding the risk profile of hospital workers is critical to developing effective interventions.