Studying the Digital Intervention Engagement-Mediated Relationship Between Intrapersonal Measures and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Adherence in Sexual and Gender Minority Youth: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Improving adherence to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) via digital health interventions (DHIs) for young sexual and gender minority men who have sex with men (YSGMMSM) is promising for reducing the HIV burden. Measuring and achieving effective engagement (sufficient to solicit PrEP adherence) in YSGMMSM is challenging.

Objective: This study is a secondary analysis of the primary efficacy randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Prepared, Protected, Empowered (P3), a digital PrEP adherence intervention that used causal mediation to quantify whether and to what extent intrapersonal behavioral, mental health, and sociodemographic measures were related to effective engagement for PrEP adherence in YSGMMSM.

Evaluating an ICD-10 Based Proxy for Date of Birth in Electronic Health Record Data.

Purpose: To comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule, many real-world data providers mask a patient's date of birth by supplying only year of birth to data users. The lack of granularity around patient age is a challenge when using RWD, especially for pediatric research studies. In this study, a proxy for patient date of birth is evaluated using electronic health record (EHR) data.

Agreement between child self-report and parent-proxy report for functioning in pediatric chronic pain.

Purpose: Accurate assessment of chronic pain and functional disability in children and adolescents is imperative for guiding pain management interventions. Parents have multifaceted roles in their child's pain experience and frequently provide parent-proxy reports of pain-related functioning. However, cross-informant variance is often observed with limited understanding of contributing factors.

Metabolomic data presents challenges for epidemiological meta-analysis: a case study of childhood body mass index from the ECHO consortium.

Introduction: Meta-analyses across diverse independent studies provide improved confidence in results. However, within the context of metabolomic epidemiology, meta-analysis investigations are complicated by differences in study design, data acquisition, and other factors that may impact reproducibility.

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify maternal blood metabolites during pregnancy (> 24 gestational weeks) related to offspring body mass index (BMI) at age two years through a meta-analysis framework.

Frailty Among Sexual and Gender Minority Older Adults: The All of Us Database.

Background: Despite known disparities in health status among older sexual and gender minority adults (OSGM), the prevalence of frailty is unknown. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a deficit-accumulation frailty index (AoU-FI) for the All of Us database to describe and compare frailty between OSGM and non-OSGM participants.

Methods: Developed using a standardized approach, the AoU-FI consists of 33 deficits from baseline survey responses of adults aged 50+.

Reprint of "Using multiple imputation by super learning to assign intent to nonfatal firearm injuries".

The number of nonfatal firearm injuries in the US by intent (e.g., due to assault) is not reliably known: First, although the largest surveillance system for hospital-treated events, the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (HCUP-NEDS), provides accurate data for the number of nonfatal firearm injuries, injury intent is not coded reliably.

A Machine Learning Approach to Identify Predictors of Severe COVID-19 Outcome in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients have a lowered immune response to infection, potentially due to the use of corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs. Predictors of severe COVID-19 outcomes within the RA population have not yet been explored in a real-world setting.

Objectives: To identify the most influential predictors of severe COVID-19 within the RA population.

MISL: Multiple imputation by super learning.

Multiple imputation techniques are commonly used when data are missing, however, there are many options one can consider. Multivariate imputation by chained equations is a popular method for generating imputations but relies on specifying models when imputing missing values. In this work, we introduce multiple imputation by super learning, an update to the multivariate imputation by chained equations method to generate imputations with ensemble learning.

A Secure and Reusable Software Architecture for Supporting Online Data Harmonization.

Retrospective data harmonization across multiple research cohorts and studies is frequently done to increase statistical power, provide comparison analysis, and create a richer data source for data mining. However, when combining disparate data sources, harmonization projects face data management and analysis challenges. These include differences in the data dictionaries and variable definitions, privacy concerns surrounding health data representing sensitive populations, and lack of properly defined data models.

Categorizing Comorbid Risk for People Living With HIV: A Latent Profile Analysis.

Background: Categorizing clinical risk amidst heterogeneous multimorbidity in older people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) may help prioritize and optimize health care engagements.

Methods: PLWH and their prevalent conditions in 8 health domains diagnosed before January 1, 2015 were identified using 2014-2016 Medicare claims and the Chronic Conditions Data Warehouse. Latent profile analysis identified 4 distinct clinical subgroups based on the likelihood of conditions occurring together [G1: healthy, G2: substance use (SU), G3: pulmonary (PULM), G4: cardiovascular conditions (CV)].

The impact of Long-Term PM constituents and their sources on specific causes of death in a US Medicare cohort.

Background: Our understanding of the impact of long-term exposures to PM constituents and sources on mortality is limited.

Objectives: To examine associations between long-term exposures to PM constituents and sources and cause-specific mortality in US older adults.

Methods: We obtained demographic and mortality data for 15.

Long-term nitrogen dioxide exposure and cause-specific mortality in the U.S. Medicare population.

Background: Since 1971, the annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for nitrogen dioxide (NO) has remained at 53 ppb, the impact of long-term NO exposure on mortality is poorly understood.

Objectives: We examined associations between long-term NO exposure (12-month moving average of NO) below the annual NAAQS and cause-specific mortality among the older adults in the U.S.

Associations Between Work-Related Factors and Psychological Distress Among Construction Workers.

Objective: Identify work-related factors associated with the mental health and well-being of construction workers.

Methods: We completed eight key informant interviews, six worker focus groups, and a survey, informed by the interviews and focus groups, of 259 construction workers on five construction sites. Negative binomial regressions examined associations between psychological distress and work-related factors including safety climate, work-to-family conflict, psychological demands, social support, harassment, and job security.

Preterm birth and PM in Puerto Rico: evidence from the PROTECT birth cohort.

Background: Preterm birth (PTB, birth before 37 weeks of gestation) has been associated with adverse health outcomes across the lifespan. Evidence on the association between PTB and prenatal exposure to air pollutants is inconsistent, and is especially lacking for ethnic/racial minority populations.

Methods: We obtained data on maternal characteristics and behaviors and PTB and other birth outcomes for women participating in the Puerto Rico Testsite for Exploring Contamination Threats (PROTECT) cohort, who lived in municipalities located along the North Coast of Puerto Rico.

Associations of gestational phthalate exposure and non-nutritive suck among infants from the Puerto Rico Testsite for Exploring Contamination Threats (PROTECT) birth cohort study.

Background: Infant non-nutritive suck (NNS), or sucking on a pacifier with no nutrients being delivered, has been used as in index of brain function and has been linked to subsequent neurodevelopment. Yet, no data are available connecting NNS to environmental exposures in utero. The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between gestational exposure to phthalates (a group of chemicals found in personal care products, PVC plastics, and other products) and NNS among infants in a birth cohort study in Puerto Rico.

Measuring Criterion Validity of Microinteraction Ecological Momentary Assessment (Micro-EMA): Exploratory Pilot Study With Physical Activity Measurement.

Background: Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is an in situ method of gathering self-report on behaviors using mobile devices. In typical phone-based EMAs, participants are prompted repeatedly with multiple-choice questions, often causing participation burden. Alternatively, microinteraction EMA (micro-EMA or μEMA) is a type of EMA where all the self-report prompts are single-question surveys that can be answered using a 1-tap glanceable microinteraction conveniently on a smartwatch.

Comparison of censoring assumptions to reduce bias in tuberculosis treatment cohort analyses.

Objective: Observational tuberculosis cohort studies are often limited by a lack of long-term data characterizing survival beyond the initial treatment outcome. Though Cox proportional hazards models are often applied to these data, differential risk of long-term survival, dependent on the initial treatment outcome, can lead to violations of model assumptions. We evaluate the performance of two alternate censoring approaches on reducing bias in treatment effect estimates.

Cohort profile: Center for Research on Early Childhood Exposure and Development in Puerto Rico.

Purpose: Puerto Rican children experience high rates of asthma and obesity. Further, infants born in Puerto Rico are more at risk for being born prematurely compared with infants on the mainland USA. Environmental exposures from multiple sources during critical periods of child development, potentially modified by psychosocial factors, may contribute to these adverse health outcomes.

Designing a Participatory Total Worker Health Organizational Intervention for Commercial Construction Subcontractors to Improve Worker Safety, Health, and Well-Being: The "ARM for Subs" Trial.

Evidence supports organizational interventions as being effective for improving worker safety, health and well-being; however, there is a paucity of evidence-based interventions for subcontracting companies in commercial construction. A theory-driven approach supplemented by formative research through key stakeholder interviews and focus groups and an iterative vetting process with stakeholders, resulted in the development of an intervention for subcontractors in the commercial construction industry. We piloted the intervention in one subcontracting commercial construction company.

Associations between a safety prequalification survey and worker safety experiences on commercial construction sites.

Background: While assessment of subcontractors' safety performance during project bidding processes are common in commercial construction, the validation of organizational surveys used in these processes is largely absent.

Methods: As part of a larger research project called Assessment of Contractor Safety (ACES), we designed and tested through a cross-sectional study, a 63-item organizational survey assessing subcontractors' leading indicators of safety performance. We administered the ACES Survey to 43 subcontractors on 24 construction sites.

Low birth weight and PM in Puerto Rico.

Background: Low birth weight (LBW) has been associated with adverse health outcomes across the lifespan. Among ethnic/racial minority populations, few studies have examined the association between LBW (<2,500 or ≥2,500 g) and prenatal exposure to air pollution, a key modifiable environmental risk factor.

Methods: We examined the association between LBW and prenatal exposure to PM in a Hispanic and black population in Puerto Rico between 1999 and 2013, adjusting for individual and municipality-level confounders.

The impact of long-term PM exposure on specific causes of death: exposure-response curves and effect modification among 53 million U.S. Medicare beneficiaries.

Background: The shape of the exposure-response curve for long-term ambient fine particulate (PM) exposure and cause-specific mortality is poorly understood, especially for rural populations and underrepresented minorities.

Methods: We used hybrid machine learning and Cox proportional hazard models to assess the association of long-term PM exposures on specific causes of death for 53 million U.S.