Mapping gentrification, segregation, rental cost burden and sexually transmitted infections in Atlanta, Georgia, 2005-2018.

Racial disparities in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the United States have been linked to social inequities. Gentrification instigates population-level shifts in housing markets and neighborhood racial/ethnic composition in ways that may impact the spatial distribution of STIs. This study assessed overlap in clusters of STIs, gentrification, social and economic disadvantage, and rental cost burden in Atlanta, Georgia, between 2005 and 2018.

Geospatial Food Environment Exposure and Obesity Among Low Income Baltimore City Children: Associations Differ by Data Source and Processing Method.

Due to the high prevalence of childhood obesity, it is imperative to assess the relationship children's access to food retailers and obesity. However, the influence of methodological decisions on these associations has been understudied. We examined relationships between different measures of geospatial food environment (using 4 data sources, and 2 data processing methods), and BMI in a sample of low-income children in Baltimore, Maryland.

Neighborhood physical activity facilities predict risk of incident mixed and vascular dementia: The Cardiovascular Health Cognition Study.

Introduction: Neighborhood environments may promote neurocognitive health in part by providing amenities that encourage physical activity. We examined associations between quantity of walkable facilities, including specifically physical activity facilities (e.g.

Identifying the geographic leading edge of Lyme disease in the United States with internet searches: A spatiotemporal analysis of Google Health Trends data.

Background: The geographic footprint of Lyme disease is expanding in the United States, which calls for novel methods to identify emerging endemic areas. The ubiquity of internet use coupled with the dominance of Google's search engine makes Google user search data a compelling data source for epidemiological research.

Objective: We evaluated the potential of Google Health Trends to track spatiotemporal patterns in Lyme disease and identify the leading edge of disease risk in the United States.

Disparities in Cancer Stage Outcomes by Catchment Areas for a Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Importance: The National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer centers (CCCs) lack spatial and temporal evaluation of their self-designated catchment areas.

Objective: To identify disparities in cancer stage at diagnosis within and outside a CCC's catchment area across a 10-year period using spatial and statistical analyses.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional, population-based study conducted between 2010 and 2019 utilized cancer registry data for the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel CCC (SKCCC).

Low Dose Radiation and Solid Tumors Mortality Risk.

Background: US nuclear capable shipyard workers have increased potential for occupational radiation exposure.

Objective: The aim of the study is to examine solid tumor mortality risks at low doses.

Method: 437,937 workers working from 1957 to 2004 at eight US shipyards were studied.

Agreement in extreme precipitation exposure assessment is modified by race and social vulnerability.

Epidemiologic investigations of extreme precipitation events (EPEs) often rely on observations from the nearest weather station to represent individuals' exposures, and due to structural factors that determine the siting of weather stations, levels of measurement error and misclassification bias may differ by race, class, and other measures of social vulnerability. Gridded climate datasets provide higher spatial resolution that may improve measurement error and misclassification bias. However, similarities in the ability to identify EPEs among these types of datasets have not been explored.

A Novel Approach for Conducting a Catchment Area Analysis of Breast Cancer by Age and Stage for a Community Cancer Center.

Background: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently issued an updated draft recommendation statement to initiate breast cancer screening at age 40, reflecting well-documented disparities in breast cancer-related mortality that disproportionately impact younger Black women.

Mapping Cumulative Risk in Delaware: Approach and Implications for Health Equity.

Background: Addressing health equity requires attention to upstream determinants of health, including environmental and social factors that act in tandem to increase communities' exposure to and vulnerability to toxicants. Cumulative risk assessment, which evaluates combined risks from environmental and social factors, is a useful approach for estimating potential drivers of health disparities. We developed a cumulative risk score of multiple indices of environmental and social conditions and assessed block group-level differences in New Castle County, Delaware.

Geographic Disparities in Potential Accessibility to Gynecologic Oncologists in the United States From 2001 to 2020.

Objective: To use a spatial modeling approach to capture potential disparities of gynecologic oncologist accessibility in the United States at the county level between 2001 and 2020.

Methods: Physician registries identified the 2001-2020 gynecologic oncology workforce and were aggregated to each county. The at-risk cohort (women aged 18 years or older) was stratified by race and ethnicity and rurality demographics.

Geographic variation in HCV treatment penetration among people who inject drugs in Baltimore, MD.

We evaluated geographic heterogeneity in hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment penetration among people who inject drug (PWID) across Baltimore, MD since the advent of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) using space-time clusters of HCV viraemia. Using data from a community-based cohort of PWID, the AIDS Linked to the IntraVenous Experience (ALIVE) study, we identified space-time clusters with higher-than-expected rates of HCV viraemia between 2015 and 2019 using scan statistics. We used Poisson regression to identify covariates associated with HCV viraemia and used the regression-fitted values to detect adjusted space-time clusters of HCV viraemia in Baltimore city.

Neighborhood factors and triple negative breast cancer: The role of cumulative exposure to area-level risk factors.

Background: Despite similar incidence rates among Black and White women, breast cancer mortality rates are 40% higher among Black women. More than half of the racial difference in breast cancer mortality can be attributed to triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), an aggressive subtype of invasive breast cancer that disproportionately affects Black women. Recent research has implicated neighborhood conditions in the etiology of TNBC.

Geospatial analysis of firearm injuries in an urban setting: Individual rather than community characteristics affect firearm injury risk.

Background: The relationship between individual/socioeconomic characteristics and firearm injury risk in an urban center was evaluated.

Methods: A hospital registry was used to identify individuals in Baltimore City who experienced interpersonal firearm injury in 2019 (FA). Injuries that did not satisfy this criterion were used as a comparison group (NF).

Reducing Exposure to Tobacco Retailers with Residential Zoning Policy: Insights from a Geospatial Analysis of Wilmington, Delaware.

Cigarette use remains the leading preventable cause of premature mortality in the US, with declines in smoking rates slowing in recent years. One promising target for improved tobacco control is the expanded regulation of tobacco retailers. Evaluations of such policy attempts have largely produced mixed results to date.

Low-Dose Radiation Risks of Lymphohematopoietic Cancer Mortality in U.S. Shipyard Workers.

The linear, non-threshold (LNT) hypothesis of cancer induction derived from studies of populations exposed to moderate-to-high acute radiation doses may not be indicative of cancer risks associated with lifetime radiation exposures less than 100 mSv. The objective of this study was to examine risks and dose-response patterns of lymphohematopoietic cancer (LHC) and its types associated with low radiation exposure while adjusting for possible confounding factors. A retrospective cohort of 437,937 U.

The association between vacant housing demolition and safety and health in Baltimore, MD.

We measured the association between vacant housing demolitions and changes in crime and emergency department (ED) visits in Baltimore, MD. We included 646 block groups in Baltimore, 224 of which experienced at least one demolition from 2012 to 2019. The exposure was the number of demolitions completed in a block group during the previous quarter.

Temporal and Spatial Differences between Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Malaria Infections in the Chittagong Hill Districts, Bangladesh.

Mapping asymptomatic malaria infections, which contribute to the transmission reservoir, is important for elimination programs. This analysis compared the spatiotemporal patterns of symptomatic and asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum malaria infections in a cohort study of ∼25,000 people living in a rural hypoendemic area of about 179 km2 in a small area of the Chittagong Hill Districts of Bangladesh. Asymptomatic infections were identified by active surveillance; symptomatic clinical cases presented for care.

The Most Common Type, Severity, and Expected Frequency of Injuries Vary by Defensive Position in Professional Baseball Players.

Background: Location, frequency, and severity of in-game injuries by defensive position played have never been determined in professional baseball players.

Hypothesis: Catchers would have a higher frequency of hip and knee injuries; infielders and outfielders would have a higher frequency of general lower extremity injuries; and pitchers would have a higher frequency and severity of shoulder and elbow/forearm injuries.

Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study.

Aggregated spatial intensity as a method for estimating point-level exposures within area-level units: The case of tobacco retailer exposure in census tracts.

Background: Aggregating point-level events to area-level units can produce misleading interpretations when displayed via choropleth maps. We developed the aggregated intensity method to share point-level location information across unit boundaries prior to aggregation. This method was applied to tobacco retailers among census tracts in New Castle County, DE.

Food Desert Status of Family Child Care Homes: Relationship to Young Children's Food Quality.

Family child care homes (FCCHs) are a favored child care choice for parents of young children in the U.S. Most FCCH providers purchase and prepare foods for the children in their care.

Racial disparities in triple negative breast cancer: toward a causal architecture approach.

Background: Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype of invasive breast cancer that disproportionately affects Black women and contributes to racial disparities in breast cancer mortality. Prior research has suggested that neighborhood effects may contribute to this disparity beyond individual risk factors.

Methods: The sample included a cohort of 3316 breast cancer cases diagnosed between 2012 and 2020 in New Castle County, Delaware, a geographic region of the US with elevated rates of TNBC.

Nested Spatial and Temporal Modeling of Environmental Conditions Associated With Genetic Markers of in Washington State Pacific Oysters.

The Pacific Northwest (PNW) is one of the largest commercial harvesting areas for Pacific oysters () in the United States. , a bacterium naturally present in estuarine waters accumulates in shellfish and is a major cause of seafood-borne illness. Growers, consumers, and public-health officials have raised concerns about rising vibriosis cases in the region.