Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Healthcare Utilization in People with Diabetes: A Time-Segmented Longitudinal Study of Alberta's Tomorrow Project.

Objective: The objective is to characterize the impact of COVID-19 on major healthcare for diabetes, including hospitalization, emergency department (ED) visits and primary care visits in Alberta, Canada.

Methods: Participants from Alberta's Tomorrow Project (ATP) with pre-existing diabetes prior to 1 April 2018 were included and followed up to 31 March 2021. A time-segmented regression model was used to characterize the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare utilization after adjusting for seasonality, socio-demographic factors, lifestyle behaviors and comorbidity profile of patients.

Association Between Diabetes and Risk of Prostate Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.

Purpose: Metabolic diseases such as diabetes mellitus may play a role in the development and progression of prostate cancer (PC); however, this association remains to be explored in the context of specific PC stages. The objective of this study was to systematically review the evidence for an association between diabetes and overall, early, or advanced PC risk.

Materials And Methods: A systematic review with meta-analysis was performed (MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL) from inception until September 2023.

Advances in methods for characterizing dietary patterns: A scoping review.

There is a growing focus on better understanding the complexity of dietary patterns and how they relate to health and other factors. Approaches that have not traditionally been applied to characterize dietary patterns, such as machine learning algorithms and latent class analysis methods, may offer opportunities to measure and characterize dietary patterns in greater depth than previously considered. However, there has not been a formal examination of how this wide range of approaches has been applied to characterize dietary patterns.

Reduced incidence of diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta: A time-segmented longitudinal study of Alberta's Tomorrow Project.

Aim: To characterize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on diabetes diagnosis using data from Alberta's Tomorrow Project (ATP), a population-based cohort study of chronic diseases in Alberta, Canada.

Materials And Methods: The ATP participants who were free of diabetes on 1 April 2018 were included in the study. A time-segmented regression model was used to compare incidence rates of diabetes before the COVID-19 pandemic, during the first two COVID-19 states of emergency, and in the period when the state of emergency was relaxed, after adjusting for seasonality, sociodemographic factors, socioeconomic status, and lifestyle behaviours.

Development of the Canadian Eating Practices Screener to assess eating practices based on 2019 Canada's Food Guide recommendations.

In 2019, Health Canada released a new iteration of Canada's Food Guide (2019-CFG), which, for the first time, highlighted recommendations regarding eating practices, i.e., guidance on where, when, why, and how to eat.

Factors associated with mental health service use during the pandemic: Initiation and barriers.

Background: Scarce are the studies focusing on initiation of new mental health service use (MHSU) and distinguishing individuals who have sought services but have been unsuccessful in accessing these.

Aims: Assessing the factors associated with initiating new MHSU as compared to no MHSU due to self-reported no need, no MHSU due to health system and personal barriers and MHSU using resources already in place.

Methods: The sample included participants ( = 16,435) in the five established regional cohorts of the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow's Health (CanPath) who responded to the CanPath COVID-19 health surveys (May-December 2020 and January-June 2021).

Nonfasting remnant cholesterol and cardiovascular disease risk prediction in Albertans: a prospective cohort study.

Background: European studies have shown that nonfasting remnant cholesterol can be a strong predictor of cardiovascular disease risk and may contribute to identifying residual risk; however, Canadian data are lacking on nonfasting remnant cholesterol. In this study, we aimed to determine the relation between nonfasting remnant cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and cardiovascular disease among people in Alberta.

Methods: In this retrospective analysis, we used data from Alberta's Tomorrow Project, a large prospective cohort that enrolled Albertans aged 35-69 years (2000-2015).

An ecological analysis of walkability and housing affordability in Canada: Moderation by city size and neighbourhood property type composition.

The neighbourhood built environment can support the physical activity of adults regardless of their individual-level socioeconomic status. However, physical activity supportive (walkable) neighbourhoods may not be accessible to those with lower incomes if homes in walkable neighbourhoods are too expensive. The objectives of this study were: 1) to estimate the associations between neighbourhood walkability and home values in Canadian cities, and 2) to test whether these associations differ by city size and residential property type composition within neighbourhoods.

Impact of Comorbidity on Hospitalization and Emergency Room Visits in Adults With Diabetes: A Longitudinal Study of Alberta's Tomorrow Project.

Objective: Our aim in this study was to characterize the impact of comorbidities, including number and types, on hospitalization and emergency room (ER) visits in people with diabetes.

Methods: Incident cases of diabetes from Alberta's Tomorrow Project with >24 months of follow-up were included. Comorbidities, classified by Elixhauser conditions, were updated every 12 months after diagnosis.

Non-fasting lipids and cardiovascular disease in those with and without diabetes in Alberta's Tomorrow Project: A prospective cohort study.

Aims: Non-fasting remnant cholesterol (RC) is a novel marker of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, however, data on this relationship in Canadians with diabetes (at high risk of CVD) is lacking. The objective of this analysis was to determine the relationship of RC with CVD in individuals with and without diabetes in the Alberta's Tomorrow Project (ATP) cohort.

Methods: Non-fasting lipid data collected as part of the ATP was linked to administrative health records (October 2000-March 2015) to ascertain incident CVD and prevalent diabetes.

The Canadian Food Intake Screener for assessing alignment of adults' dietary intake with the 2019 Canada's Food Guide healthy food choices recommendations: scoring system and construct validity.

The Canadian Food Intake Screener was developed to rapidly assess alignment of dietary intake with the Canada's Food Guide-2019 healthy food choices recommendations. Scoring is aligned with the Healthy Eating Food Index-2019 to the extent possible. Among a sample of adults, reasonable variation in screener scores was noted, mean screener scores differed between some subgroups with known differences in diet quality, and a moderate correlation between screener scores and total Healthy Eating Food Index-2019 scores based on repeat 24 h dietary recalls was observed.

Mental health service use and associated predisposing, enabling and need factors in community living adults and older adults across Canada.

Objectives: Using Andersen's model of health care seeking behavior, we examined the predisposing, enabling, and need factors associated with mental health service use (MHSU) during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic across Canada.

Methods: The sample included n = 45,542 participants in the 5 established regional cohorts of the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow's Health (CanPath) and who responded to the CanPath COVID-19 health survey (May-December 2020), with complete data on MHSU. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were carried out to study MHSU as a function of predisposing, enabling, and need factors.

Associations between neighborhood walkability and walking following residential relocation: Findings from Alberta's Tomorrow Project.

Introduction: Cross-sectional studies consistently find that the neighborhood built environment (e.g., walkability) is associated with walking.

Associations between neighbourhood street connectivity and sedentary behaviours in Canadian adults: Findings from Alberta's Tomorrow Project.

Evidence suggests that neighbourhood street connectivity is positively associated with physical activity, yet few studies have estimated its associations with sedentary behaviour. We estimated the associations between space syntax derived street integration, a novel measure of street connectivity, and sedentary behaviours among Canadian adults. Data were sourced from a population-based study-Alberta's Tomorrow Project (n = 14,758).

Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between the built environment and walking: effect modification by socioeconomic status.

Background: Although socioeconomic status (SES) has been shown to modify associations between the neighborhood built environment and physical activity, contradictory results exist. Objectives of this cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis were to: 1) examine whether overall neighborhood walkability and specific built characteristics were associated with walking among adults at a single point in time and after they relocate neighborhoods, and 2) test for effect modification of these associations by SES.

Methods: We linked longitudinal data from 703 adults who relocated urban neighborhoods between two waves of Alberta's Tomorrow Project (2008-2015) to neighborhood built environment data.

Anti-Hyperglycemic Medication Adherence and Health Services Utilization in People with Diabetes: A Longitudinal Study of Alberta's Tomorrow Project.

Background: Little is known about the long-term (>2 years) relationship between the time-varying drug adherence and healthcare utilization for patients with diabetes.

Objective: To characterize the relationship between time-varying anti-hyperglycemic medication adherence and healthcare utilization in patients with diabetes, using data from Alberta's Tomorrow Project, a population-based cohort study in Alberta, Canada.

Methods: Incident cases of diabetes with at least 24 months of follow-up were included in the study.

Chronic disease surveillance in Alberta's tomorrow project using administrative health data.

Introduction: Alberta's Tomorrow Project (ATP) is the largest population-based prospective cohort study of cancer and chronic diseases in Alberta, Canada. The ATP cohort data were primarily self-reported by participants on lifestyle behaviors and disease risk factors at the enrollment, which lacks sufficient and accurate data on chronic disease diagnosis for longer-term follow-up.

Objectives: To characterize the occurrence rate and trend of chronic diseases in the ATP cohort by linking with administrative healthcare data.

Effect of Cognitive Reserve on the Association of Vascular Brain Injury With Cognition: Analysis of the PURE and CAHHM Studies.

Background And Objectives: To determine whether cognitive reserve attenuates the association of vascular brain injury with cognition.

Methods: Cross-sectional data were analyzed from 2 harmonized studies: the Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Healthy Minds (CAHHM) and the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study. Markers of cognitive reserve were education, involvement in social activities, marital status, height, and leisure physical activity, which were combined into a composite score.

Associations between neighbourhood built characteristics and sedentary behaviours among Canadian men and women: findings from Alberta's Tomorrow Project.

Evidence of associations between neighbourhood built characteristics and sedentary behaviours is mixed. The study aim was to investigate the associations between objectively-derived neighbourhood built characteristics and self-reported sedentary behaviours among Canadian men and women. This study sourced survey data from Alberta's Tomorrow Project (2008; n = 14,785), in which sitting and motor vehicle travel times during the last 7 days was measured.

A Prospective Analysis of Plasma Phospholipid Fatty Acids and Breast Cancer Risk in 2 Provinces in Canada.

Background: Studies suggest that fatty acid status influences breast cancer etiology, yet the roles of individual fatty acids in breast cancer risk are unclear, specifically when central adiposity and menopausal status are considered.

Objectives: This study examined the associations of fatty acid status with breast cancer risk including location, menopausal status, and waist-to-hip ratio as key variables.

Methods: Prediagnostic plasma phospholipid fatty acids were measured in women with breast cancer (= 393) and age-matched controls (= 786) from a nested case-control prospective study within Alberta's Tomorrow Project (ATP) and British Columbia Generations Project (BCGP) cohorts.

A longitudinal residential relocation study of changes in street layout and physical activity.

Few longitudinal residential relocation studies have explored associations between urban form and physical activity, and none has used the Space Syntax theory. Using a Canadian longitudinal dataset (n = 5944), we estimated: (1) differences in physical activity between non-movers, and those relocating to neighbourhoods with less or more integrated street layouts, and; (2) associations between changes in street layout integration exposure and differences in physical activity. Adjusting for covariates, we found relative to non-movers, those who moved to more integrated neighbourhoods undertook significantly (p < .