Greater engagement in valued activities is associated with less barriers to quitting smoking among smokers with mobility impairments.

Background: Individuals with mobility impairments (MI; use equipment to ambulate) have a high prevalence of both smoking and depression. Behavioral activation (BA) purports that depressed mood is remediated through valued activity engagement and may facilitate smoking cessation in MI populations.

Objective: We examined cross-sectional associations between activity engagement and variables important for smoking cessation among a high-risk group of smokers (people with MIs) and also describe a smoking cessation intervention based on BA, given the lack of studies on smokers with MIs.

SisterTalk: final results of a culturally tailored cable television delivered weight control program for Black women.

Background: Obesity among Black women continues to exceed that of other women. Most weight loss programs created without reference to specific cultural contexts are less effective for Black than White women. Weight control approaches accessible to Black women and adapted to relevant cultural contexts are important for addressing this problem.

Correlates of weight patterns during middle age characterized by functional principal components analysis.

Purpose: Describing weight trajectories using functional methods may further our understanding of how weight impacts health. We characterize weight patterns and describe correlates of these patterns.

Methods: Using a subset of the Framingham Heart Study original cohort limited-access data set (n=1,429), we conducted a functional principal components analysis (PCA) of body mass index from 40 to 55 years of age.

Incident diabetes in relation to weight patterns during middle age.

The authors examined the association between weight patterns during middle age and incident type 2 diabetes mellitus using a subset (n = 1,476) of the Framingham Heart Study original cohort limited-access data set (1948-2003). Participants diagnosed with diabetes before age 50 years were excluded. A functional principal components analysis of body mass index from age 40 years to age 50 years was used to define weight patterns in terms of overall weight status (normal weight, overweight, or obese), weight change (weight loss, stable weight, or weight gain), and weight cycling.

Dietary behaviors and portion sizes of black women who enrolled in SisterTalk and variation by demographic characteristics.

Objective: To describe the dietary behaviors of black women who enrolled in the SisterTalk weight control study.

Design: Baseline data collected via telephone survey and in-person screening.

Setting: Boston, Massachusetts and surrounding areas.

Feasibility, cost, and cost-effectiveness of a telephone-based motivational intervention for underserved pregnant smokers.

This study reports on the evaluation of the feasibility, cost, and cost-effectiveness of a proactively provided telephone-based motivational smoking cessation intervention to an underserved population of pregnant smokers who may or may not receive ongoing prenatal care. As part of the New England SCRIPT randomized clinical trial comparing the efficacy of three types of smoking cessation interventions for pregnant smokers, one-third of the women (n = 358) received a motivational telephone counseling intervention (MI) delivered by trained counselors using a semistructured protocol. Although this population was very mobile, the MI counselors were able to reach 86% of the women with at least one call and 46% received all three calls.

Cost-effectiveness of minimal contact education strategies for cholesterol change.

Objectives: To compare the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of minimal contact nutrition interventions that varied in intensity on lowering total blood cholesterol (BC) levels.

Design: A randomized trial in which public, work, religious, and medical sites were randomly assigned to one of six minimal-contact nutrition interventions for lowering total BC.

Setting: 36 public, work, religious, and medical sites in southern New England (total sites = 144).

Assessing fat-related dietary behaviors among black women: reliability and validity of a new Food Habits Questionnaire.

Objective: To describe the development of the SisterTalk Food Habits Questionnaire (STFHQ).

Design: Formative research was conducted to adapt previous tools for the study's target population. A pilot tool (168 questions) was tested.

Melanoma early detection with thorough skin self-examination: the "Check It Out" randomized trial.

Background: Monthly thorough skin self-examination (TSSE) is an important practice for early melanoma detection that is performed by a small minority of the population.

Design: A randomized trial was conducted to determine whether a multicomponent intervention can increase TSSE performance and to describe the effects on performance of skin surgeries compared with a similar control intervention focused on diet.

Setting/participants: One thousand three hundred fifty-six patients attending a routine primary care visit in southeastern New England participated in this trial.

Reliability of assessment and circumstances of performance of thorough skin self-examination for the early detection of melanoma in the Check-It-Out Project.

Background: Thorough skin self-examination (TSSE) has substantial potential to reduce melanoma mortality by early detection.

Methods: We interviewed 2,126 patients before a scheduled routine visit with a primary care physician, at which participation in a randomized trial was offered as part of the Check-It-Out Project. We asked about skin examination behavior and related issues.

The development of SisterTalk: a cable TV-delivered weight control program for black women.

Overweight and obesity have reached epidemic proportions in the United States, with black women disproportionately affected. SisterTalk is a weight control program designed specifically for delivery to black women via cable TV. The theoretical and conceptual frameworks and formative research that guided the development and cultural tailoring of SisterTalk are described.

Baseline fat-related dietary behaviors of white, Hispanic, and black participants in a cholesterol screening and education project in New England.

Objective: To examine baseline fat-related dietary behaviors of white, Hispanic, and black participants in Minimal Contact Education for Cholesterol Change, a National Institutes for Health-funded cholesterol screening and education project conducted in New England.

Subjects: A sample of 9,803 participants who joined the study at baseline (n=7,817 white; n=1,425 Hispanic; and n=561 black).

Methods: Participants completed baseline questionnaires that included demographic and psychosocial items as well as the Food Habits Questionnaire, a dietary assessment tool measuring fat-related dietary behaviors.

Comparison of baseline fat-related eating behaviors of Puerto Rican, Dominican, Colombian, and Guatemalan participants who joined a cholesterol education project.

Objective: The objective is to compare baseline fat-related eating behaviors among Hispanic subgroups who joined a cholesterol education research project in New England.

Design: Participants attended baseline screenings as part of the study. They had their height, weight, and blood cholesterol measured and completed baseline surveys with demographic, risk factor, dietary, and psychosocial questions.

The accuracy of self-reported smoking status assessed by cotinine test strips.

We evaluated a new cotinine test strip to assess smoking status. Urine cotinine was measured using cotinine test strips and also by gas chromatographic techniques (GC) (as the reference criterion). Smoking status was assessed with a self-administered questionnaire.

Thorough skin examination for the early detection of melanoma.

Background: Melanoma is a major public health problem for which early detection may reduce mortality. Since melanoma is generally asymptomatic, this requires skin examination. We sought to evaluate the extent to which the general public has their skin examined by themselves, their partners, or health care providers and the frequency of these examinations.

Effects of a community-based intervention on physical activity: the Pawtucket Heart Health Program.

Objectives: The effect of a community-based physical activity program in Pawtucket, RI, was evaluated relative to one in a comparison community.

Methods: Cross-sectional surveys of 7529 residents of Pawtucket, RI, and 7732 residents of the comparison city were conducted at 2-year intervals during 7 years of intervention.

Results: There were no differences in self-reported knowledge of the benefits of physical activity, attempts to increase exercise, or prevalence of physical inactivity between Pawtucket and the comparison community.

Knowledge of cardiovascular disease prevention: an analysis from two New England communities.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality has been decreasing in the United States, possibly due in part to educational programs about CVD prevention. This study investigates CVD risk-reduction knowledge among demographic subgroups in two New England cities and how the level of knowledge changed in these subgroups over time.

Methods: Six independent cross-sectional surveys including a series of open-ended recall CVD knowledge questions were conducted biennially from 1981 to 1993 as part of the outcome evaluation for the Pawtucket Heart Health Program.

The effect of physician office visits on CHD risk factor modification as part of a worksite cholesterol screening program.

Background: Elevated serum cholesterol is a major risk factor for CHD. Primary prevention through behavioral modification has been designated first-line treatment for patients with elevated cholesterol. In this study, we assessed the impact of a physician office visit after a worksite cholesterol screening on self-reported changes in diet, weight loss, exercise, and smoking.

Short stature and cardiovascular disease among men and women from two southeastern New England communities.

Background: Short stature has been associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), although the reason for the association remains unclear. Data on the relation between stature and stroke is more limited. We examined the association between stature and CHD as well as between stature and stroke in men and women from two communities in southeastern New England.

Impact of receiving blood cholesterol test results on dietary change.

Introduction: The study objective was to determine the impact of receiving results of a blood cholesterol test on changes in dietary behaviors among individuals participating in a Health Risk Appraisal Program.

Methods: This randomized trial of maintenance employees at six hospitals included two groups: Group 1 received their blood cholesterol test results at the pretest; Group 2 received results only at the posttest (16-20 weeks later). The pretest interview included (1) a 24-hour dietary recall; (2) an evaluation of dietary behaviors and suggestions on how to change; (3) height, weight, and blood cholesterol measurement.

Dietary factors in relation to weight change among men and women from two southeastern New England communities.

Objective: Dietary factors, independent of total energy, may be important in promoting obesity. We examined prospectively the relationship between baseline diet composition and weight gain among adult men and women from southeastern New England.

Design: The prospective association of nutrient consumption and weight change was examined in a randomly selected cohort examined four years apart.

High-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and types of alcoholic beverages consumed among men and women.

Objectives: Differences by sex in the relationship between high-density-lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and consumption of alcoholic beverages were examined in 1516 individuals.

Methods: Questionnaires and blood-sample data from cross-sectional surveys were analyzed.

Results: Both beer and liquor were independently associated with increased HDL cholesterol in the total group, in men, and in women after covariates were controlled for.

A strategy for accurate collection of incremental cost data for cost-effectiveness analyses in field trials. Pawtucket's minimal contact cholesterol education intervention.

With many community field trials or education interventions, the cost-effectiveness analyses are not given a high priority. However, this type of evaluation is important for purposes of future adoption of the intervention. The accurate measurement of costs can best be served by prospective collection of data.

Is a history of depressive symptoms associated with an increased risk of infertility in women?

Researchers have reported an association between self-reported antidepressant use and increased risk of ovulatory infertility but could not control for confounding by the drug indication. We evaluated the role of depressive symptoms in the development of infertility. We recontacted a population-based sample of Pawtucket Heart Health Program (PHHP) health survey respondents to perform this case-control study.