Association between gastrointestinal symptoms and specialty care utilization among colon cancer survivors: a cohort study.

Purpose: Persistent gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are frequently experienced by colon cancer survivors and may help identify patients with higher utilization of healthcare services. To assess the relationship between GI symptoms and specialty care utilization among colon cancer survivors.

Methods: A prospective longitudinal cohort study at an academic medical center of 126 adults surgically treated for stage I-IV colon cancer between February 2017 and June 2022.

Variety of Fruit and Vegetables and Alcohol Intake are Associated with Gut Microbial Species and Gene Abundance in Colorectal Cancer Survivors.

Background: Adherence to the American Cancer Society (ACS) guidelines of avoiding obesity, maintaining physical activity, and consuming a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains is associated with longer survival in colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors. Dietary components of the ACS guidelines may act in part by changing the microbiome, which is implicated in CRC outcomes.

Objectives: We conducted a pilot cross-sectional study to explore associations between ACS guidelines and the gut microbiome.

Assessing Unique Risk Factors for COVID-19 Complications Among Cancer Patients: A Multi-ethnic Cohort Study.

A myriad of organ-specific complications have been observed with COVID-19. While racial/ethnic minorities have been disproportionately burdened by this disease, our understanding of the unique risk factors for complications among a diverse population of cancer patients remains limited. This is a multi-institutional, multi-ethnic cohort study evaluating COVID-19 complications among cancer patients.

Association between adherence to the American Cancer Society Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines and stool frequency among colon cancer survivors: a cohort study.

Purpose: We sought to determine whether adherence to the American Cancer Society (ACS) Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines was associated with better bowel function among colon cancer survivors.

Methods: This prospective cohort study included patients surgically treated for stage I-IV colon cancer enrolled in the Lifestyle and Outcomes after Gastrointestinal Cancer (LOGIC) study between February 2017 and May 2021. Participants were assigned an ACS score (0-6 points) at enrollment.

COVID-19 Outcomes Among Patients With Cancer: Observations From the University of California Cancer Consortium COVID-19 Project Outcomes Registry.

Background: The risks associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its associated illness, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), among patients with a cancer diagnosis have not been fully characterized. This study leverages data from a multi-institutional cohort study, the University of California Cancer COVID Consortium, to evaluate outcomes associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection among patients with cancer.

Methods: Clinical data were collected from March to November 2020 and included patient demographics, cancer history and treatment, SARS-CoV-2 exposure and testing, and COVID-19 clinical management and outcomes.

Cross-sectional and longitudinal reliability of semiquantitative osteoarthritis assessment at 1.0T extremity MRI: Multi-reader data from the MOST study.

Objective: To determine reliability among four experienced and calibrated readers in cross-sectional and longitudinal semi-quantitative MRI assessments of knee osteoarthritis (OA) in the Multicenter Osteoarthritis (MOST) study.

Design: From all MOST participants with at least one knee with readable 60-month and 84-month paired knee MRIs (1.0 ​T extremity systems), we selected 10 subjects having a spectrum of baseline disease severity of cartilage, bone marrow lesions, and meniscal damage and a spectrum of longitudinal changes in severity at 24 months follow-up.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Assessed Subchondral Cysts and Incident Knee Pain and Knee Osteoarthritis: Data From the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study.

Objective: To examine whether knee subchondral cysts, measured on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are associated with incident knee osteoarthritis (OA) outcomes.

Methods: We used longitudinal data from the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study, a community-based cohort of subjects with risk factors for knee OA. Participants without a history of knee surgery and/or inflammatory arthritis (i.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Defined Osteoarthritis Features and Anterior Knee Pain in Individuals With, or at Risk for, Knee Osteoarthritis: A Multicenter Study on Osteoarthritis.

Objective: The lack of strong association between knee osteoarthritis (OA) structural features and pain continues to perplex researchers and clinicians. Evaluating the patellofemoral joint in addition to the tibiofemoral joint alone has contributed to explaining this structure-pain discordance, hence justifying a more comprehensive evaluation of whole-knee OA and pain. The present study, therefore, was undertaken to evaluate the association between patellofemoral and tibiofemoral OA features with localized anterior knee pain (AKP) using 2 study designs.

Phenylalanine Is a Novel Marker for Radiographic Knee Osteoarthritis Progression: The MOST Study.

Objective: To identify plasma markers associated with an increased risk of radiographic knee osteoarthritis(OA) progression using a metabolomics approach.

Methods: Study participants were from the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST) and were categorized into 2 groups based on the presence of baseline radiographic OA. Subjects in group 1 had unilateral knee OA and subjects in group 2 had bilateral knee OA.

The Association of Parity with Greater Dynamic Pronation of the Feet.

Background: Postpartum women are at increased risk for lower limb musculoskeletal disorders. Foot arch collapse following pregnancy has been reported as a mechanism for this increased risk. However, dynamic changes during gait in postpartum women have not been reported.

Relation of Patellofemoral Joint Alignment, Morphology, and Radiographic Osteoarthritis to Frequent Anterior Knee Pain: Data from the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study.

Objective: Patellofemoral (PF) alignment and trochlear morphology are associated with PF osteoarthritis (OA) and knee pain, but whether they are associated with localized anterior knee pain is unknown, which is believed to be a symptom specific to PF joint pathology. We therefore aimed to evaluate the relation of PF alignment and morphology, as well as PFOA and tibiofemoral OA, to anterior knee pain.

Methods: The Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study is a cohort study of individuals with, or at risk for, knee OA.

Association of Diabetes Mellitus and Biomarkers of Abnormal Glucose Metabolism With Incident Radiographic Knee Osteoarthritis.

Objective: The association of diabetes mellitus (DM) with increased risk of knee osteoarthritis (OA) is uncertain. We evaluated associations of DM and biomarkers of abnormal glucose metabolism with incident radiographic knee OA, controlling for body mass index (BMI).

Methods: Participants (mean ± SD age 60.

Association of Varus Knee Thrust During Walking With Worsening Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index Knee Pain: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Objective: To investigate the 2-year association of varus knee thrust observed during walking to the odds of worsening Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) knee pain in older adults with or at risk of osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods: Video recordings of self-paced walking trials of Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study participants were assessed for the presence of varus thrust at baseline. Knee pain was assessed using the WOMAC questionnaire at baseline and at 2 years.

Brief Report: Leg Length Inequality and Hip Osteoarthritis in the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study and the Osteoarthritis Initiative.

Objective: Studies suggest that persons with a leg length inequality (LLI) of ≥2 cm have an increased risk of developing knee osteoarthritis (OA) in that limb. The present study was undertaken to examine whether LLI also confers an increased risk of hip OA.

Methods: Using long limb radiographs from subjects in the Multicenter Arthritis Study (MOST) and the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI), we measured LLI and scored hip radiographs that were obtained at baseline and 3-5-year follow-up.

Symptoms of Knee Instability as Risk Factors for Recurrent Falls.

Objective: Whether knee instability contributes to the increased risk of falls and fractures observed in persons with knee osteoarthritis (OA) has not been studied. We examined the association of knee buckling with the risk of falling and fall-related consequences in older adults with, or at high risk for, knee OA.

Methods: At the 60-month visit of the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study, men and women ages 55-84 years were asked about knee buckling in the past 3 months and whether they fell when a knee buckled.

Association of hip pain with radiographic evidence of hip osteoarthritis: diagnostic test study.

Study Question: Is there concordance between hip pain and radiographic hip osteoarthritis?

Methods: In this diagnostic test study, pelvic radiographs were assessed for hip osteoarthritis in two cohorts: the Framingham Osteoarthritis Study (community of Framingham, Massachusetts) and the Osteoarthritis Initiative (a multicenter longitudinal cohort study of osteoarthritis in the United States). Using visual representation of the hip joint, participants reported whether they had hip pain on most days and the location of the pain: anterior, groin, lateral, buttocks, or low back. In the Framingham study, participants with hip pain were also examined for hip pain with internal rotation.

Risk adjustment for health care financing in chronic disease: what are we missing by failing to account for disease severity?

Background: Adjustment for differing risks among patients is usually incorporated into newer payment approaches, and current risk models rely on age, sex, and diagnosis codes. It is unknown the extent to which controlling additionally for disease severity improves cost prediction. Failure to adjust for within-disease variation may create incentives to avoid sicker patients.

Vitamin K deficiency is associated with incident knee osteoarthritis.

Background: Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, with knee osteoarthritis being the leading cause of lower extremity disability among older adults in the US. There are no treatments available to prevent the structural pathology of osteoarthritis. Because of vitamin K's role in regulating skeletal mineralization, it has potential to be a preventative option for osteoarthritis.

Adult asthma and risk of coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and heart failure: a prospective study of 2 matched cohorts.

Asthma has been associated with increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. The authors ascertained the association of asthma with CVD and the roles that sex, concurrent allergy, and asthma medications may play in this association. They assembled a cohort of 203,595 Northern California adults with asthma and a parallel asthma-free referent cohort (matched 1:1 on age, sex, and race/ethnicity); both cohorts were followed for incident nonfatal or fatal CVD and all-cause mortality from January 1, 1996, through December 31, 2008.

Asthma and the prospective risk of anaphylactic shock and other allergy diagnoses in a large integrated health care delivery system.

Background: The association between asthma and anaphylaxis remains poorly understood.

Objective: To ascertain, in a managed care organization in northern California, the association of asthma and asthma severity with future risk of anaphylactic shock and other selected allergy diagnoses.

Methods: Using electronic data and validated algorithms, we assembled a cohort of 526,406 patients who met the criteria for asthma between 1996 and 2006 and a referent cohort (with no utilization for asthma) individually matched on age, sex, and race/ethnicity.

Socioeconomic status, race and COPD health outcomes.

Background: Although chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common cause of death and disability, little is known about the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) and race-ethnicity on health outcomes.

Methods: The aim of this study is to determine the independent impacts of SES and race-ethnicity on COPD severity status, functional limitations and acute exacerbations of COPD among patients with access to healthcare. Data were used from the Function, Living, Outcomes and Work cohort study of 1202 Kaiser Permanente Northern California Medical Care Plan members with COPD.

Risk factors for death in adults with severe asthma.

Background: Mortality risk in adult asthma is poorly understood, especially the interplay among race, disease severity, and health care access.

Objective: To examine mortality risk factors in adult asthma.

Methods: In a prospective cohort study of 865 adults with severe asthma in a closed-panel managed care organization, we used structured interviews to evaluate baseline sociodemographics, asthma history, and health status.

COPD as a systemic disease: impact on physical functional limitations.

Purpose: Although chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has a major impact on physical health, the specific impact of COPD on physical functional limitations has not been characterized clearly. We aimed to elucidate the physical functional limitations that are directly attributable to COPD compared to a matched referent group without the condition.

Methods: We used the Function, Living, Outcomes, and Work (FLOW) cohort study of adults with COPD (n=1202) and referent subjects matched by age, sex, and race (n=302) to study the impact of COPD on the risk of a broad array of functional limitations using validated measures: lower extremity function (Short Physical Performance Battery [SPPB]), submaximal exercise performance (Six Minute Walk Test [SMWT]), standing balance (Functional Reach Test), skeletal muscle strength (manual muscle testing with dynamometry), and self-reported functional limitation (standardized item battery).

Pulmonary function and the risk of functional limitation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The authors' objective was to analyze the impact of respiratory impairment on the risk of physical functional limitations among adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). They hypothesized that greater pulmonary function decrement would result in a broad array of physical functional limitations involving organ systems remote from the lung, a key step in the pathway leading to overall disability. The authors used baseline data from the Function, Living, Outcomes, and Work (FLOW) study, a prospective cohort study of adults with COPD recruited from northern California in 2005-2007.

Community-level social capital and recurrence of acute coronary syndrome.

Social capital has been shown to be associated with reduced mortality due to cardiovascular disease. Our aim was to determine the association of time-varying community-level social capital (CSC) with recurrence of acute coronary syndrome using a retrospective cohort study design. A total of 34,752 men and women were identified, aged 30-85 years, who were hospitalized for acute coronary syndrome between January 1, 1998 and December 31, 2002 in Kaiser Permanente Northern California, USA, an integrated health care delivery system.