Publications by authors named "John McKinlay"

Background: Statins have demonstrated protection against aggressive/late-stage and/or lethal prostate cancer (PC), but prior studies are limited by small populations, short follow-up and unequal health-care access. Research has not demonstrated that non-statin lipid-lowering medications (NSLLMs) provide a similar benefit, which would support a cholesterol-based mechanism. We sought to rigorously test the hypothesis that cholesterol-lowering drugs affect PC incidence and severity.

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Ocean acidification (OA) is predicted to alter benthic marine community structure and function, however, there is a paucity of field experiments in benthic soft sediment communities and ecosystems. Benthic diatoms are important components of Antarctic coastal ecosystems, however very little is known of how they will respond to ocean acidification. Ocean acidification conditions were maintained by incremental computer controlled addition of high fCO seawater representing OA conditions predicted for the year 2100.

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Objective: To investigate the use of 5α-reductase inhibitors (5ARIs) and α-blockers among men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in relation to prostate cancer (PCa) incidence, severity and mortality.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective 20-year cohort study in men residing in Saskatchewan, aged 40-89 years, with a BPH-coded medical claim between 1995 and 2014, was conducted. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to compare incidence of PCa diagnosis, metastatic PCa, Gleason score 8-10 PCa, and PCa mortality among 5ARI users (n = 4 571), α-blocker users (n = 7 764) and non-users (n = 11 677).

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Most seafloor communities at depths below the photosynthesis zone rely on food that sinks through the water column. However, the nature and strength of this pelagic-benthic coupling and its influence on the structure and diversity of seafloor communities is unclear, especially around Antarctica where ecological data are sparse. Here we show that the strength of pelagic-benthic coupling along the East Antarctic shelf depends on both physical processes and the types of benthic organisms considered.

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Background: Pain complaints are common, but clinicians are increasingly concerned about overuse of opioid pain medications. This may lead patients with actual pain to be stigmatized as "drug-seeking," or attempting to obtain medications they do not require medically. We assessed whether patient requests for specific opioid pain medication would lead physicians to classify them as drug-seeking and change management decisions.

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This study assessed the effect of acculturation on type 2 diabetes and whether health literacy may mediate this association. The Boston Area Community Health cohort is a multi-stage stratified random sample of adults from Boston including 744 Latinos. We defined dysglycemia as a HbA1c ≥5.

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Seabirds are considered to be useful and practical indicators of the state of marine ecosystems because they integrate across changes in the lower trophic levels and the physical environment. Signals from this key group of species can indicate broad scale impacts or response to environmental change. Recent studies of penguin populations, the most commonly abundant Antarctic seabirds in the west Antarctic Peninsula and western Ross Sea, have demonstrated that physical changes in Antarctic marine environments have profound effects on biota at high trophic levels.

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To examine whether behavioral risk factors associated with diabetes (diet, BMI, waist circumference, physical activity, and sleep duration) are also related to both prediabetes and insulin resistance (IR), we used data from Boston Area Community Health (BACH) Survey (2010-2012, n = 3155). Logistic and linear regression models were used to test the association of lifestyle factors with prediabetes status, insulin resistance, and prediabetes or insulin resistance. All regression models were stratified by education and income levels (to examine whether risk factors had differential effects across socioeconomic factors) and adjusted for age, gender, race/ethnicity, family history of diabetes, and smoking status.

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Objectives: Numerous studies continue to report poorer glycaemic control, and a higher incidence of diabetes-related complications among African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans as compared with non-Hispanic Caucasians with type 2 diabetes. We examined racial/ethnic differences in receipt of hypoglycaemic medications and glycaemic control in a highly insured Massachusetts community sample of individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Setting: Community-based sample from Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

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Seabirds and other land-breeding marine predators are considered to be useful and practical indicators of the state of marine ecosystems because of their dependence on marine prey and the accessibility of their populations at breeding colonies. Historical counts of breeding populations of these higher-order marine predators are one of few data sources available for inferring past change in marine ecosystems. However, historical abundance estimates derived from these population counts may be subject to unrecognised bias and uncertainty because of variable attendance of birds at breeding colonies and variable timing of past population surveys.

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Objectives: The prevalence of obesity is disproportionately higher among African-Americans and Hispanics as compared to whites. We investigated the role of biogeographic ancestry (BGA) on adiposity and changes in adiposity in the Boston Area Community Health Survey.

Methods: We evaluated associations between BGA, assessed via Ancestry Informative Markers, and adiposity (body mass index (BMI), percent body fat (PBF), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR)) and changes in adiposity over 7 years for BMI and WHR and 2.

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Racial/ethnic disparities in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are well documented and until recently, research has focused almost exclusively on individual-based determinants as potential contributors to these disparities (health behaviors, biological/genetic factors, and individual-level socio-demographics). Research on the role of neighborhood characteristics in relation to racial/ethnic disparities in T2DM is very limited. Therefore, the aim of this research is to identify and estimate the contribution of specific aspects of neighborhoods that may be associated with racial/ethnic disparities in T2DM.

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Purpose: Increasing evidence suggests a possible link between lower urinary tract symptoms and chronic illnesses. We determined whether lower urinary tract symptoms are associated with incident type 2 diabetes and heart disease in a population based study.

Materials And Methods: BACH is a population based epidemiological survey of urological symptoms.

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Purpose: Racial/ethnic disparities in the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are well documented, and many researchers have proposed that biogeographical ancestry (BGA) may play a role in these disparities. However, studies examining the role of BGA on T2DM have produced mixed results to date. Therefore, the objective of this research was to quantify the contribution of BGA to racial/ethnic disparities in T2DM incidence controlling for the mediating influences of socioeconomic factors.

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The candidate division TM7 is ubiquitous and yet uncultured phylum of the Bacteria that encompasses a commonly environmental associated clade, TM7-1, and a "host-associated" clade, TM7-3. However, as members of the TM7 phylum have not been cultured, little is known about what differs between these two clades. We hypothesized that these clades would have different environmental niches.

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Aims/hypothesis: To test among diabetes-free urban community-dwelling adults the hypothesis that the proportion of African genetic ancestry is positively associated with glycaemia, after accounting for other continental ancestry proportions, BMI and socioeconomic status (SES).

Methods: The Boston Area Community Health cohort is a multi-stage 1:1:1 stratified random sample of self-identified African-American, Hispanic and white adults from three Boston inner city areas. We measured 62 ancestry informative markers, fasting glucose (FG), HbA1c, BMI and SES (income, education, occupation and insurance status) and analysed 1,387 eligible individuals (379 African-American, 411 Hispanic, 597 white) without clinical or biochemical evidence of diabetes.

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Background: Because of internet searches, advice from friends, and pharmaceutical advertising, especially direct-to-consumer advertising, patients are increasingly activated to request medications during a physician encounter.

Objectives: To estimate the effect of patient requests for medications on physician-prescribing behavior, unconfounded by patient, physician, and practice-setting factors.

Research Design: Two experiments were conducted among 192 primary care physicians, each using different video-based scenarios: an undiagnosed "patient" with symptoms strongly suggesting sciatica, and a "patient" with already diagnosed chronic knee osteoarthritis.

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This article explores the implications of how US family physicians make decisions about ordering diagnostic tests for their patients. Data is based on a study of 256 physicians interviewed after viewing a video vignette of a presenting patient. The qualitative analysis of 778 statements relating to trustworthiness of evidence for their decision making, the use of any kind of technology and diagnostic testing suggests a range of internal and external constraints on physician decision making.

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Despite decreasing costs, generating large-scale, well-replicated and multivariate microbial ecology investigations with sequencing remains an expensive and time-consuming option. As a result, many microbial ecology investigations continue to suffer from a lack of appropriate replication. We evaluated two fingerprinting approaches - terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA) against 454 pyrosequencing, by applying them to 225 polar soil samples from East Antarctica and the high Arctic.

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Objective: To examine whether reproductive history and related conditions are associated with the development and persistence of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) other than urinary incontinence in a racially and/or ethnically diverse population-based sample of women.

Materials And Methods: The Boston Area Community Health Survey enrolled 3201 women aged 30-79 years of black, Hispanic, or white race and/or ethnicity. Baseline and 5-year follow-up interviews were completed by 2534 women (conditional response rate, 83.

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Purpose: Health care reform was introduced in Massachusetts (MA) in 2006 and serves as a model for what was subsequently introduced nationally as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Boston Area Community Health survey collected data before (2002-2005) and after (2006-2010) introduction of the MA health insurance mandate, providing a unique opportunity to assess its effects in a large, epidemiologic cohort.

Methods: We report on the apparent effects of the mandate on the same participants over time, focusing specifically on the vulnerable working poor (WP).

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Introduction And Hypothesis: The objective of this analysis was to describe urinary incontinence (UI) incidence and persistence over 5 years in association with treatment status, sociodemographic, medical, and lifestyle factors, in a racially/ethnically diverse population-based female sample.

Methods: The Boston Area Community Health Survey enrolled 3,201 women aged 30-79 years of black, Hispanic, and white race/ethnicity. Five-year follow-up was completed by 2,534 women (conditional response rate 83.

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Objective: To examine the association between long-term dietary vitamin C intake and recent use of vitamin C supplements with the progression and severity of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS).

Participants And Methods: Baseline and 5-year follow-up interviews were completed by 2825 black, Hispanic or white men and women aged 30-79 years in the Boston Area Community Health survey. Dietary and supplemental vitamin C intake was assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire.

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Rationale Aims And Objectives: Variation in physician decisions may reflect personal styles of decision-making, as opposed to singular clinical actions and these styles may be applied differently depending on patient complexity. The objective of this study is to examine clusters of physician decision-making for type 2 diabetes, overall and in the presence of a mental health co-morbidity.

Method: This randomized balanced factorial experiment presented video vignettes of a "patient" with diagnosed, but uncontrolled type 2 diabetes.

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