Neighborhood economic segregation and cognitive decline among midlife women: Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation.

Background: Neighborhood context includes conditions of the environment where people spend their time (e.g., work, play, seek health care) and it may affect residents’ cognitive health.

Religious and Spiritual Experiences, Discrimination, and Stress Among Midlife Women in the USA: The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation.

The harmful effects of perceived discrimination for physical and mental health are well documented. Evidence identifies how dimensions of religious/spiritual (R/S) involvement may reduce these harmful effects. This study examined how R/S experiences are associated with the effects of discrimination on perceived stress.

The Association Between Hypothyroidism and Cognitive Function Change in Women across the Menopause Transition: The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation.

Patients treated for hypothyroidism with levothyroxine (LT4) monotherapy may present with persistent hypothyroidism symptoms, including cognitive symptoms, despite having a normal thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level. It remains unclear whether LT4 monotherapy is sufficient to normalize cognitive function outcomes over time. This is a multisite longitudinal study of a diverse group of women during midlife representing 5 ethnic/racial groups from 7 enrollment sites across the United States in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation.

Longitudinal Exposure to Neighborhood Concentrated Poverty Contributes to Differences in Adiposity in Midlife Women.

Neighborhood poverty is associated with adiposity in women, though longitudinal designs, annually collected residential histories, objectively collected anthropometric measures, and geographically diverse samples of midlife women remain limited. To investigate whether longitudinal exposure to neighborhood concentrated poverty is associated with differences in body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) among 2,328 midlife women (age 42-52 years at baseline) from 6 U.S.

Neighborhood physical environments and change in cardiometabolic risk factors over 14 years in the study of Women's health across the nation.

Background: Neighborhood physical environments may influence cardiometabolic health, but prior studies have been inconsistent, and few included long follow-up periods.

Methods: Changes in cardiometabolic risk factors were measured for up to 14 years in 2830 midlife women in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation, a multi-ethnic/racial cohort of women from seven U.S.

Cardiovascular Health, Race, and Decline in Cognitive Function in Midlife Women: The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation.

Background: Cognitive decline may progress for decades before dementia onset. Better cardiovascular health (CVH) has been related to less cognitive decline, but it is unclear whether this begins early, for all racial subgroups, and all domains of cognitive function. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of CVH on decline in the 2 domains of cognition that decline first in White and Black women at midlife.

Low-density lipoprotein subclasses over the menopausal transition and risk of coronary calcification and carotid atherosclerosis: the SWAN Heart and HDL ancillary studies.

Objective: Perimenopausal women experience a steep increase in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) that is related to a higher risk of carotid plaque later in life. Low-density lipoprotein subclasses have been linked to cardiovascular diseases beyond LDL-C, promising a better risk stratification. We aim to characterize changes in LDL subclasses and assess their associations with presence of coronary artery calcium (CAC score ≥10) and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) over the menopausal transition (MT) and by menopause stage.

The quantity and quality of cardiovascular fat at mid-life and future cognitive performance among women: The SWAN cardiovascular fat ancillary study.

Introduction: Cardiovascular fat is a novel risk factor that may link to dementia. Fat volume and radiodensity are measurements of fat quantity and quality, respectively. Importantly, high fat radiodensity could indicate healthy or adverse metabolic processes.

Longitudinal profiles of neighborhood socioeconomic vulnerability influence blood pressure changes across the female midlife period.

Purpose: To examine whether longitudinal exposure to neighborhood socioeconomic vulnerability influences blood pressure changes throughout midlife in a racially, ethnically, and geographically-diverse cohort of women transitioning through menopause.

Methods: We used longitudinal data on 2738 women (age 42-52 at baseline) living in six United States cities from The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation. Residential histories, systolic blood pressures (SBP), and diastolic blood pressures (DBP) were collected annually for ten years.

Childhood Sexual Abuse and Pelvic Floor Dysfunction in Midlife Women in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation.

Research has shown a link between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and lower urinary tract and sexual disorders in clinical settings. We examined whether CSA was associated with two specific aspects of high tone, elevated resting tension pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) in community-dwelling women. Data were from 2068 participants (25.

The independent associations of anti-Müllerian hormone and estradiol levels over the menopause transition with lipids/lipoproteins: The Study of Women's health Across the Nation.

Background: The menopause transition (MT) is linked to adverse changes in lipids/lipoproteins. However, the related contributions of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) and estradiol (E2) are not clear.

Objective: To evaluate the independent associations of premenopausal AMH and E2 levels and their changes with lipids/lipoproteins levels [total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), apolipoprotein B (apoB) and apolipoprotein A-1 (apoA-1)] over the MT.

Menopause hormone therapy and complementary alternative medicine, quality of life, and racial/ethnic differences: the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN).

Objective: We hypothesized that, among midlife women with vasomotor and/or genitourinary symptoms of menopause, (1) hormone therapy (HT) compared with complementary alternative medicine (CAM) will be associated with higher quality of life (QoL), and (2) race/ethnicity would modify associations of HT and CAM with QoL.

Methods: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of QoL in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation participants using HT, CAM, or both. Women ( n = 2,514) completed a CAM use questionnaire and QoL assessments at baseline and every 1 to 2 years from 2002 to 2013.

Pre- and Early Peri-menopausal Physical Function and Risk of Cardiovascular Events: The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation.

Objectives: To determine whether physical function (PF) before menopause is related to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.

Methods: Participants were = 2950 pre-/early peri-menopausal women (median age 46, (25th-75th percentile: 43-48 years). Physical function was assessed at baseline using the Physical Function subscale of the SF-36 and scores were trichotomized (no, some, or substantial limitations).

Lipoprotein subfractions and subclinical vascular health in middle aged women: does menopause status matter?

Objective: During midlife, women experience changes in lipoprotein profiles and deterioration in vascular health measures. We analyzed the associations of groups of lipoprotein subfractions as determined by principal component analysis (PCA) with subclinical vascular health measures in midlife women and tested if these associations were modified by menopause status.

Methods: PCA was used to generate principal components (PCs) from 12 lipoprotein subfractions quantified among 545 midlife women.

Infertility, recurrent pregnancy loss, and risk of stroke: pooled analysis of individual patient data of 618 851 women.

Objective: To examine the associations of infertility, recurrent miscarriage, and stillbirth with the risk of first non-fatal and fatal stroke, further stratified by stroke subtypes.

Design: Individual participant pooled analysis of eight prospective cohort studies.

Setting: Cohort studies across seven countries (Australia, China, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States) participating in the InterLACE (International Collaboration for a Life Course Approach to Reproductive Health and Chronic Disease Events) consortium, which was established in June 2012.

Longitudinal associations of mid-life employment status with impaired physical function in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation.

Purpose: This study examined whether employment status during mid-life and older adulthood is associated with physical function impairment.

Methods: Participants were 2700 women in the multiracial/multiethnic Study of Women's Health Across the Nation. Time-varying, lagged, and cumulative exposure analyses modeled associations between self-reported employment status and the likelihood of severe physical function impairment across 19 years of follow-up.

The relative contributions of adiposity and activity levels to physical performance in children with excess weight.

Objective: This study examined predictors of physical performance, a key aspect of quality of life, in children with excess weight.

Methods: Participants were 269 children aged 6-12 years with a body mass index above the 85th percentile. Children completed a standardized physical performance task capturing lower extremity strength, balance, and gait speed.

Interpersonal Trauma and Risk of Incident Cardiovascular Disease Events Among Women.

Background Traumatic experiences have been linked to risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Interpersonal violence is a trauma that is prevalent in women. Among midlife women followed up for 2 decades, we examined whether interpersonal violence (childhood abuse, adulthood abuse, or intimate partner violence [IPV]) was related to increased risk of subsequent clinical CVD events.

Associations of Abdominal and Cardiovascular Adipose Tissue Depots With HDL Metrics in Midlife Women: the SWAN Study.

Context: The menopause transition is accompanied by declines in the atheroprotective features of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), which are linked to deleterious cardiovascular (CV) outcomes.

Objective: This work aimed to assess the relationship between abdominal and CV visceral adipose tissues (VAT) with future HDL metrics in midlife women, and the role of insulin resistance (IR) on these associations.

Methods: Temporal associations compared abdominal and CV fat with later measures of HDL metrics.

Psychosocial Well-Being and Progression of Coronary Artery Calcification in Midlife Women.

Background Prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a public health priority. The combination of physical activity, a healthy diet, and abstaining from tobacco plays an important role in prevention whereas aspects of psychosocial well-being have largely been examined separately with conflicting results. This study evaluated whether the combination of indices of psychosocial well-being was associated with less progression of coronary artery calcium (CAC).

Attenuated efficacy of pediatric obesity treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: This study examined whether the efficacy of a standard-of-care pediatric obesity treatment was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Analyses leveraged data from an ongoing pediatric obesity treatment trial involving 230 lower-income, urban children aged 6 to 12 years. Mixed-effects regression models compared children who participated in a 12-month weight-management intervention before versus during the COVID-19 pandemic on change from baseline in BMI z score (ΔzBMI) at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months.

Associations of HDL metrics with coronary artery calcium score and density among women traversing menopause.

The cardioprotective association of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) may vary by menopause stage or estradiol level. We tested whether associations of comprehensive HDL metrics (HDL subclasses, phospholipid and triglyceride content, and HDL cholesterol efflux capacity [HDL-CEC]) with coronary artery calcium (CAC) score and density vary by menopause stage or estradiol level in women transitioning through menopause. Participants (N = 294; mean age [SD]: 51.