REPRINT OF: Racism, Sexism, and Social Class: Implications for Studies of Health, Disease, and Well-being.

Editor's Note: This article is a reprint of a previously published article. For citation purposes, please use the original publication details: Krieger N, Rowley DL, Herman AA, Avery B, Phillips MT. Racism, sexism, and social class: implications for studies of health, disease, and well-being.

Enhancing the Therapeutic Efficacy of Cancer Treatment With Cannabinoids.

Over the years, many and studies have shown the antineoplastic effects of cannabinoids (CBDs), with reports advocating for investigations of combination therapy approaches that could better leverage these effects in clinical translation. This study explores the potential of combination approaches employing CBDs with radiotherapy (RT) or smart biomaterials toward enhancing therapeutic efficacy during treatment of pancreatic and lung cancers. In studies, clonogenic assay results showed greater effective tumor cell killing, when combining CBDs and RT.

Nanoparticle Drones to Target Lung Cancer with Radiosensitizers and Cannabinoids.

Nanotechnology has opened up a new, previously unimaginable world in cancer diagnosis and therapy, leading to the emergence of cancer nanomedicine and nanoparticle-aided radiotherapy. Smart nanomaterials (nanoparticle drones) can now be constructed with capability to precisely target cancer cells and be remotely activated with radiation to emit micrometer-range missile-like electrons to destroy the tumor cells. These nanoparticle drones can also be programmed to deliver therapeutic payloads to tumor sites to achieve optimal therapeutic efficacy.

Perceived discrimination and psychological well-being in the U.S.A. and South Africa.

Objective: To explore levels of perceived racial and non-racial discrimination and their associations with self-esteem and mastery in the U.S.A.

Community health workers and integrated primary health care teams in the 21st century.

Community health workers are an integral part of many healthcare systems. Their roles vary and include both the socially oriented tasks of natural helpers and specific constrained tasks of health extenders. As natural helpers, community health workers play an important role in connecting public and primary care to the communities that they serve.

Race and psychological distress: the South african stress and health study.

We analyze data from the South African Stress and Health Study, a nationally representative in-person psychiatric epidemiologic survey of 4,351 adults conducted as part of the World Mental Health Survey Initiative between January 2002 and June 2004. All blacks (Africans, Coloreds, and Indians) initially report higher levels of non-specific distress and anger/hostility than whites. Access to socioeconomic resources helps explain differences in non-specific distress between Coloreds and whites and Indians and whites.

Adversities in childhood and adult psychopathology in the South Africa Stress and Health Study: associations with first-onset DSM-IV disorders.

Extensive epidemiologic research from the United States demonstrates that childhood adversities (CAs) are predictive of several psychiatric outcomes, including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and externalizing disorders. To date, this has not been explored in a national sample of adults in South Africa. The present study examined the joint predictive effects of 11 retrospectively reported CAs on the first onset of DSM-IV disorders in the South Africa Stress and Health Study (SASH), a nationally representative sample of adults.

DSM-IV-defined common mental disorders: association with HIV testing, HIV-related fears, perceived risk and preventive behaviours among South African adults.

Background: There are few reports from South Africa on how common mental disorders may be associated with HIV-related perceptions and behaviours.

Methods: Between 2002 and 2004, 4351 South African adults were interviewed. Psychiatric diagnoses of depression, anxiety and substance abuse disorders were based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 4th edition (DSM-IV).

Perpetration of gross human rights violations in South Africa: association with psychiatric disorders.

Background: A nationally representative study of psychiatric disorders in South Africa provided an opportunity to study the association between perpetration of human rights violations (HRVs) during apartheid and psychiatric disorder. Prior work has suggested an association between perpetration and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but this remains controversial.

Methods: Subjects reported on their perpetration of human rights violations, purposeful injury, accidental injury and domestic violence.

Perceived discrimination and mental health disorders: the South African Stress and Health study.

Objectives: To describe the demographic correlates of perceived discrimination and explore the association between perceived discrimination and psychiatric disorders.

Design: A national household survey was conducted between 2002 and 2004 using the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) to generate diagnoses of psychiatric disorders. Additional instruments provided data on perceived discrimination and related variables.

Impact of common mental disorders during childhood and adolescence on secondary school completion.

There are few data from South Africa and other low- and middle-income countries on how mental disorders in childhood and adolescence may influence different aspects of socio-economic position, including educational attainment. We examined the association between early-onset disorders and subsequent educational achievement in a nationally representative sample of 4 351 South African adults. After adjusting for participant demographic characteristics and traumatic life events, post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder and substance-related disorders were each associated with increased odds of failing to complete secondary education (odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals 2.

Mental health service use among South Africans for mood, anxiety and substance use disorders.

Background: Europe and North America have low rates of mental health service use despite high rates of mental disorder. Little is known about mental health service use among South Africans.

Design: A nationally representative survey of 4351 adults.

The South African Stress and Health (SASH) study: 12-month and lifetime prevalence of common mental disorders.

Background: The South African Stress and Health (SASH) study is the first large-scale population-based study of common mental disorders in the country. This paper provides data on the 12-month and lifetime prevalence of these conditions.

Methods: Data from a nationally representative sample of 4351 adults were analysed.

The impact of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on psychological distress and forgiveness in South Africa.

Background: Legislation to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was passed soon after election of South Africa's first democratic government. Discourse around the TRC focused on the importance of bearing witness to the past, and on the healing powers of forgiveness. However, there was also a concern that individuals with TRC relevant experience would simply be re-traumatized by participation in the process.

Lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorders in South Africa.

Background: Data on the lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorders in South Africa are of interest, not only for the purposes of developing evidence-based mental health policy, but also in view of South Africa's particular historical and demographic circumstances.

Method: A nationally representative household survey was conducted between 2002 and 2004 using the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) to generate diagnoses. The data-set analysed included 4351 adult South Africans of all ethnic groups.

Mental disorders among adults with asthma: results from the World Mental Health Survey.

Objective: Our objectives were (a) to determine which common mental disorders are associated with asthma in the general population after controlling for age and sex, and (b) to assess whether the associations of mental disorders with asthma are consistent across diverse countries.

Method: Eighteen population surveys of household-residing adults were carried out in 17 countries (N=85,088). Mental disorders were assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview 3.

The South Africa Stress and Health Study: rationale and design.

The South Africa Stress and Health Study (SASH) is a large psychiatric epidemiological survey that is currently underway in South Africa. It is a part of the World Health Organization's World Mental Health (WMH) 2000 initiative and seeks to complete interviews with a nationally representative sample of 5000 adults. The WMH initiative is obtaining population-based data on the prevalence and severity of specific psychiatric disorders, demographic and psychosocial correlates of these diagnoses, and the levels and adequacy of mental health service utilization.

Ethics and the AIDS pandemic in the developing world.

Traditional ethics provide insight, but often fall short of guiding the complex biomedical ethical concerns of research conducted in developing countries. The need to create research within a framework that is appropriate to the social, medical, and political context of developing countries is examined through the current AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa. A specific case study focuses on this issue.

Prenatal care reduces the impact of illicit drug use on perinatal outcomes.

Objective: To estimate the extent that prenatal care (PNC) retains its protective influence against prematurity, low birth weight (LBW), and small for gestational age (SGA) status in infants exposed to illicit drug use (IDU) in pregnancy.

Study Design: This was a prospective cohort analysis including 6673 women residents of the District of Columbia (Washington, DC, USA) delivering at four city hospitals. Women were screened in the immediate postpartum period.

The effect of a parenting education program on the use of preventive pediatric health care services among low-income, minority mothers: a randomized, controlled study.

Objective: To determine if a community-based intervention program focusing on parenting education will have an impact on preventive health care utilization behaviors among low-income, minority mothers in Washington, DC.

Design: The experimental design was a randomized, controlled study in which 286 mother-infant dyads were assigned to either the standard social services (control) group or to the intervention group. Women and their newborn infants were recruited during the immediate postpartum period in 4 Washington, DC, hospital sites from April 1995 to April 1997.