Perceived Experiences of racism in Relation to Genome-Wide DNA Methylation and Epigenetic Aging in the Black Women's Health Study.

Background: African American women have a disproportionate burden of disease compared to US non-Hispanic white women. Exposure to psychosocial stressors may contribute to these health disparities. Racial discrimination, a major stressor for African American women, could affect health through epigenetic mechanisms.

Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy and Risk of Stroke in U.S. Black Women.

BACKGROUND: Black women have a disproportionately higher burden of both preeclamptic pregnancy and stroke compared with White women, but virtually all existing evidence on this possible association has been generated from women of European ancestry. METHODS: In the Black Women’s Health Study, a prospective cohort of U.S.

Perceived Interpersonal Racism in Relation to Incident Coronary Heart Disease Among Black Women.

Background: Racism is highly prevalent in the United States. Few data exist about whether perceived interpersonal racism is associated with risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).

Methods: We followed 48 305 participants in the Black Women's Health Study through biennial mailed and Internet-based health questionnaires from 1997, when they provided information on perceived interpersonal racism and were free of cardiovascular disease and cancer, until the end of 2019.

Perceived Interpersonal Racism and Incident Stroke Among US Black Women.

Importance: Black individuals in the US experience stroke and stroke-related mortality at younger ages and more frequently than other racial groups. Studies examining the prospective association of interpersonal racism with stroke are lacking.

Objective: To examine the association of perceived interpersonal racism with incident stroke among US Black women.

Menopausal hormone therapy use and risk of ovarian cancer by race: the ovarian cancer in women of African ancestry consortium.

Background: Most studies examining post-menopausal menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) use and ovarian cancer risk have focused on White women and few have included Black women.

Methods: We evaluated MHT use and ovarian cancer risk in Black (n = 800 cases, 1783 controls) and White women (n = 2710 cases, 8556 controls), using data from the Ovarian Cancer in Women of African Ancestry consortium. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association of MHT use with ovarian cancer risk, examining histotype, MHT type and duration of use.

Hair relaxer use and risk of uterine cancer in the Black Women's Health Study.

Background: Chemical hair relaxers, use of which is highly prevalent among Black women in the US, have been inconsistently linked to risk of estrogen-dependent cancers, such as breast cancer, and other reproductive health conditions. Whether hair relaxer use increases risk of uterine cancer is unknown.

Methods: In the Black Women's Health Study, 44,798 women with an intact uterus who self-identified as Black were followed from 1997, when chemical hair relaxer use was queried, until 2019.

Developing a culturally tailored digital health intervention for insomnia in Black women.

Insomnia disorder is highly prevalent among Black women. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is considered the optimal treatment, but very little efficacy research has been conducted in minority populations. Culturally tailoring intervention content may increase participant engagement and improve treatment outcomes.

Aspirin and nonaspirin nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug use and occurrence of colorectal adenoma in Black American women.

Evidence suggests that aspirin use reduces the occurrence of colorectal neoplasia. Few studies have investigated the association among Black Americans, who are disproportionately burdened by the disease. We assessed aspirin use in relation to colorectal adenoma among Black women.

Perceived racism associated with declines in self-rated oral health among U.S. Black women.

Purpose: Racial disparities in oral health are well-documented. Stress has been associated with both perceived racism and oral health, yet little research has directly investigated the association between perceived racism and oral health.

Methods: We used data from the Black Women's Health Study, a longitudinal cohort study that includes a geographically diverse sample of Black women across the United States.

Racial Differences in the Association of Endometriosis and Uterine Leiomyomas With the Risk of Ovarian Cancer.

Objective: To evaluate associations between endometriosis and uterine leiomyomas with ovarian cancer risk by race and the effect of hysterectomy on these associations.

Methods: We used data from four case-control studies and two case-control studies nested within prospective cohorts in the OCWAA (Ovarian Cancer in Women of African Ancestry) consortium. The study population included 3,124 Black participants and 5,458 White participants, of whom 1,008 Black participants and 2,237 White participants had ovarian cancer.

Vitamin D and risk of hypertension among Black women.

Evidence of an association between plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels and risk of hypertension, predominantly from studies of White individuals, suggests an inverse relationship. Limited data are available on Black individuals, who are more likely to have vitamin D deficiency. In the Black Women's Health Study (BWHS), a prospective study of 59 000 self-identified Black women from across the US, we assessed levels of a validated predicted vitamin D score in relation to incident hypertension.

Risk factors for endometrial cancer in Black women.

Purpose: The incidence of endometrial cancer (EC) has been increasing faster among Black women than among other racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Although the mortality rate is nearly twice as high among Black than White women, there is a paucity of literature on risk factors for EC among Black women, particularly regarding menopausal hormone use and severe obesity.

Methods: We pooled questionnaire data on 811 EC cases and 3,124 controls from eight studies with data on self-identified Black women (4 case-control and 4 cohort studies).

Racial differences in the association of body mass index and ovarian cancer risk in the OCWAA Consortium.

Background: Obesity disproportionately affects African American (AA) women and has been shown to increase ovarian cancer risk, with some suggestions that the association may differ by race.

Methods: We evaluated body mass index (BMI) and invasive epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) risk in a pooled study of case-control and nested case-control studies including AA and White women. We evaluated both young adult and recent BMI (within the last 5 years).

What Are the Factors Underlying Colorectal Cancer Health Disparities?

Black Americans have the highest colorectal cancer incidence and mortality rates of any U.S. racial/ethnic group.

Racial and Sex Disparities in Gout Prevalence Among US Adults.

Importance: Emerging data suggest gout and hyperuricemia may now be more frequent among Black adults in the US than White adults, especially Black women. However, national-level, sex-specific general population data on racial differences in gout prevalence and potential socioclinical risk factors are lacking.

Objective: To identify sex-specific factors driving disparities between Black and White adults in contemporary gout prevalence in the US general population.

Race Differences in the Associations between Menstrual Cycle Characteristics and Epithelial Ovarian Cancer.

Background: Menstrual cycle characteristics-including age at menarche and cycle length- have been associated with ovarian cancer risk in White women. However, the associations between menstrual cycle characteristics and ovarian cancer risk among Black women have been sparsely studied.

Methods: Using the Ovarian Cancer in Women of African Ancestry (OCWAA) Consortium that includes 1,024 Black and 2,910 White women diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and 2,325 Black and 7,549 White matched controls, we investigated associations between menstrual cycle characteristics (age at menarche, age at menstrual regularity, cycle length, and ever missing three periods) and EOC risk by race and menopausal status.

Racial disparities in epithelial ovarian cancer survival: An examination of contributing factors in the Ovarian Cancer in Women of African Ancestry consortium.

Black women diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer have poorer survival compared to white women. Factors that contribute to this disparity, aside from socioeconomic status and guideline-adherent treatment, have not yet been clearly identified. We examined data from the Ovarian Cancer in Women of African Ancestry (OCWAA) consortium which harmonized data on 1074 Black women and 3263 white women with ovarian cancer from seven US studies.

Effect of Culturally Tailored, Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia in Black Women: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Black women are at risk for insomnia disorder. Despite interest in addressing sleep health disparities, there is limited research investigating the efficacy of criterion-standard treatment (cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia [CBT-I]) among this racial minority population.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of a standard version of an internet-delivered CBT-I program, a culturally tailored version, and a sleep education control at improving insomnia symptoms.

Sodium-containing acetaminophen and cardiovascular outcomes in individuals with and without hypertension.

Aims: Previous studies have found high sodium intake to be associated with increased risks of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality among individuals with hypertension; findings on the effect of intake among individuals without hypertension have been equivocal. We aimed to compare the risks of incident CVD and all-cause mortality among initiators of sodium-containing acetaminophen with the risk of initiators of non-sodium-containing formulations of the same drug according to the history of hypertension.

Methods And Results: Using The Health Improvement Network, we conducted two cohort studies among individuals with and without hypertension.

Research on Health Disparities: Strategies and Findings From the Black Women's Health Study.

The American Journal of Epidemiology has been a platform for findings from the Black Women's Health Study (BWHS) that are relevant to health disparities. Topics addressed have included methods of follow-up of a large cohort of Black women, disparities in health-care delivery, modifiable risk factors for health conditions that disproportionately affect Black women, associations with exposures that are highly prevalent in Black women, and methods for genetic research. BWHS papers have also highlighted the importance of considering social context, including perceived experiences of racism, in understanding health disparities.

Maximum and Time-Dependent Body Mass Index and Breast Cancer Incidence Among Postmenopausal Women in the Black Women's Health Study.

While excess weight is an established risk factor for postmenopausal breast cancer, consideration of maximum body mass index (maxBMI; BMI is calculated as weight (kg)/height (m)2) or BMI at a point in time relevant for breast carcinogenesis may offer new insights. We prospectively evaluated maxBMI and time-dependent BMI in relation to breast cancer incidence among 31,028 postmenopausal women in the Black Women's Health Study. During 1995-2015, a total of 1,384 diagnoses occurred, including 787 estrogen-receptor (ER)-positive (ER+) cases and 310 ER-negative (ER-) cases.

Admixture mapping of anthropometric traits in the Black Women's Health Study: evidence of a shared African ancestry component with birth weight and type 2 diabetes.

Prevalence of obesity, type 2 diabetes (T2D), and being born with low birth weight are much higher in African American women compared to U.S. white women.