Feasibility of precision smoking treatment in a low-income community setting: results of a pilot randomized controlled trial in The Southern Community Cohort Study.

Background: The feasibility of precision smoking treatment in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities has not been studied.

Methods: Participants in the Southern Community Cohort Study who smoked daily were invited to join a pilot randomized controlled trial of three smoking cessation interventions: guideline-based care (GBC), GBC plus nicotine metabolism-informed care (MIC), and GBC plus counseling guided by a polygenic risk score (PRS) for lung cancer. Feasibility was assessed by rates of study enrollment, engagement, and retention, targeting > 70% for each.

Dispositional optimism and optimistic bias: Associations with cessation motivation, confidence, and attitudes.

Objective: To test whether 2 conceptually overlapping constructs, dispositional optimism (generalized positive expectations) and optimistic bias (inaccurately low risk perceptions), may have different implications for smoking treatment engagement.

Method: Predominantly Black, low-income Southern Community Cohort study smokers (n = 880) self-reported dispositional optimism and pessimism (Life Orientation Test-Revised subscales: 0 = neutral, 12 = high optimism/pessimism), comparative lung cancer risk (Low/Average/High), and information to calculate objective lung cancer risk (Low/Med/High). Perceived risk was categorized as accurate (perceived = objective), optimistically-biased (perceived < objective), or pessimistically-biased (perceived > objective).

Evaluating breast cancer predisposition genes in women of African ancestry.

Purpose: Studies conducted primarily among European ancestry women reported 12 breast cancer predisposition genes. However, etiologic roles of these genes in breast cancer among African ancestry women have been less well-investigated.

Methods: We conducted a case-control study in African American women, which included 1117 breast cancer cases and 2169 cancer-free controls, and a pooled analysis, which included 7096 cases and 8040 controls of African descent.

A pooled case-only analysis of obesity and breast cancer subtype among Black women in the southeastern United States.

Purpose: To evaluate the association between obesity and the relative prevalence of tumor subtypes among Black women with breast cancer (BC).

Methods: We conducted a pooled case-only analysis of 1,793 Black women with invasive BC recruited through three existing studies in the southeastern US. Multivariable case-only polytomous logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between obesity, measured by pre-diagnostic body mass index (BMI), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 + (HER2 +) and triple negative BC (TNBC) subtype relative to hormone receptor (HR) + /HER2- status (referent).

Discovery of structural deletions in breast cancer predisposition genes using whole genome sequencing data from > 2000 women of African-ancestry.

Single germline nucleotide pathogenic variants have been identified in 12 breast cancer predisposition genes, but structural deletions in these genes remain poorly characterized. We conducted in-depth whole genome sequencing (WGS) in genomic DNA samples obtained from 1340 invasive breast cancer cases and 675 controls of African ancestry. We identified 25 deletions in the intragenic regions of ten established breast cancer predisposition genes based on a consensus call from six state-of-the-art SV callers.

A Pooled Case-only Analysis of Reproductive Risk Factors and Breast Cancer Subtype Among Black Women in the Southeastern United States.

Background: We investigated the association between reproductive risk factors and breast cancer subtype in Black women. On the basis of the previous literature, we hypothesized that the relative prevalence of specific breast cancer subtypes might differ according to reproductive factors.

Methods: We conducted a pooled analysis of 2,188 (591 premenopausal, 1,597 postmenopausal) Black women with a primary diagnosis of breast cancer from four studies in the southeastern United States.

Attitudes toward Precision Treatment of Smoking in the Southern Community Cohort Study.

Background: Precision interventions using biological data may enhance smoking treatment, yet are understudied among smokers who are disproportionately burdened by smoking-related disease.

Methods: We surveyed smokers in the NCI-sponsored Southern Community Cohort Study, consisting primarily of African-American, low-income adults. Seven items assessed attitudes toward aspects of precision smoking treatment, from undergoing tests to acting on results.

Lack of validity of self-reported mammography data.

This qualitative literature review aimed to describe the totality of peer-reviewed scientific evidence from 1990 to 2017 concerning validity of self-reported mammography. This review included articles about mammography containing the words accuracy, validity, specificity, sensitivity, reliability or reproducibility; titles containing self-report, recall or patient reports, and breast or 'mammo'; and references of identified citations focusing on evaluation of 2-year self-reports. Of 45 publications meeting the eligibility criteria, 2 conducted in 1993 and 1995 at health maintenance organisations in Western USA which primarily served highly educated whites provided support for self-reports of mammography over 2 years.

Improving Community Advisory Board Engagement in Precision Medicine Research to Reduce Health Disparities.

Community Advisory Boards (CABs) are used in efforts to reduce health disparities; however, there is little documentation in the literature regarding their use in precision medicine research. In this case study, an academic-CAB partnership developed a questionnaire and patient educational materials for two precision smoking cessation interventions that involved use of genetic or genetically-informed information. The community-engaged research (CEnR) literature provided a framework for enhancing benefits to CAB members involved in developing research documents for use with a low-income, ethnically diverse population of smokers.

Pragmatic trial of an intervention to increase human papillomavirus vaccination in safety-net clinics.

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection has been causally linked to six cancers, and many disproportionately affect minorties. This study reports on the development and effectiveness of an intervention aimed at increasing HPV vaccine uptake among African American and Hispanic pediatric patients in safety-net clinics.

Methods: Formative research, community engagement, and theory guided development of the intervention.

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Diabetes Quality of Care: the Role of Healthcare Access and Socioeconomic Status.

Introduction: Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians are disproportionately affected by diabetes. We assessed the state of racial/ethnic disparities in diabetes quality of care in the USA.

Methods: We analyzed cross-sectional data of adults diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in the nationally representative 2013 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

Time from Screening Mammography to Biopsy and from Biopsy to Breast Cancer Treatment among Black and White, Women Medicare Beneficiaries Not Participating in a Health Maintenance Organization.

Purpose: There is a breast cancer mortality gap adversely affecting Black women in the United States. This study assessed the relationship between number of days between abnormal mammogram, biopsy, and treatment among Medicare (Part B) beneficiaries ages 65 to 74 and 75 to 84 years, accounting for race and comorbidity.

Methods: A cohort of non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White women residing in the continental United States and receiving no services from a health maintenance organization was randomly selected from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services denominator file.

Results of a Health Education Message Intervention on HPV Knowledge and Receipt of Follow-up Care among Latinas Infected with High-risk Human Papillomavirus.

A clinic-based intervention study was conducted among high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV)-infected Latinas aged 18-64 years between April 2006 and May 2008 on the Texas-Mexico border. Women were randomly assigned to receive a printed material intervention (n=186) or usual care (n=187) and were followed at three months, six months, and 12 months through telephone surveys and review of medical records. The HPV knowledge of nearly all women had increased greatly, but only two-thirds of women reported they had received follow-up care within one year of diagnosis regardless of additional health education messaging.

Mammography Screening Among the Elderly: A Research Challenge.

Background: Randomized trials demonstrate clear benefits of mammography screening in women through age 74 years. We explored age- and race-specific rates of mammography screening and breast cancer mortality among women aged 69 to 84 years.

Methods: We analyzed Medicare claims data for women residing within Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results geographic areas from 1995 to 2009 from 64,384 non-Hispanic women (4886 black and 59,498 white) and ascertained all primary breast cancer cases diagnosed between ages 69 and 84 years.

The role of fat mass index in determining obesity.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to compare body mass index (BMI), percent body fat (PBF), and fat mass index (FMI) and to investigate the accuracy of FMI as a convenient tool for assessing obesity.

Design: Anthropometric measurements and bioelectrical impedance analyses were performed on 538 Mexican Americans (373 women and 165 men). Correlations between BMI and PBF and between FMI and PBF were investigated.

Diabetes, physical activity and breast cancer among Hispanic women.

Purpose: We assessed the association between diabetes and breast cancer and whether physical activity modified the effect of diabetes on breast cancer in Hispanic women.

Methods: We used data from a case-control study of breast cancer among Hispanic women aged 30-79 conducted between 2003 and 2008 on the Texas-Mexico border. In-person interviews were completed with 190 incident breast cancer cases ascertained through surgeons and oncologists, and 979 controls who were designated as both high-risk (n=511) and low-risk (N=468) for breast cancer (with respective response rates of 97%, 83% and 74%).

HPV vaccine acceptance among Latina mothers by HPV status.

Objective: We investigated whether Latina mothers who were and were not human papillomavirus (HPV) positive differed in their knowledge and acceptance of the HPV vaccine for their children.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among women aged 18-64 years between April 2007 and April 2008. Data collectors conducted in-person interviews in community clinics with 215 HPV-negative women and 190 HPV-positive women (with respective response rates of 64% and 84%).

Frequency and types of partner violence among Mexican American college women.

Objective And Participants: The authors studied the prevalence of partner violence, by type, among Mexican American college women aged 18 to 35 years (N = 149; response rate = 85%).

Results: Twelve percent of women who reported a dating partner in the past year were physically or sexually assaulted, 12.1% were stalked, and 9.

Serum leptin concentration, adiposity, and body fat distribution in Mexican-Americans.

Background: Leptin is strongly associated with adiposity and few studies have investigated its role in Mexican-Americans. The aims of this study were to examine the association of serum leptin concentration with adiposity and body fat distribution in Mexican-Americans and to develop a predictive model of serum leptin concentration for this ethnic group.

Methods: Three hundred fifty-two college students (242 women, 110 men; age 18-30 years) were evaluated in this cross-sectional study.

Partner violence screening in rural health care clinics.

Objectives: We sought to determine the frequency of intimate partner violence by type in a large, clinic-based, nurse-administered screening and services intervention project.

Methods: A brief intimate partner violence screen, which included items to measure sexual and physical assaults and psychological battering (using the Women's Experience With Battering scale) was administered to consenting women receiving care at 1 of 8 rural clinics in South Carolina.

Results: Between April 2002 and August 2005, 4945 eligible women were offered intimate partner violence screening, to which 3664 (74.

Intimate partner violence incidence and continuation in a primary care screening program.

There are few longitudinal estimates of intimate partner violence (IPV) incidence and continuation. This report provides estimates of IPV incidence and continuation in women receiving health care in clinics participating in an IPV assessment and services intervention study. The Women's Experience with Battering Scale was used in combination with questions addressing physical and sexual assault to annually screen women for IPV.

Stress, coping, social support, and prostate cancer risk among older African American and Caucasian men.

Objectives: While psychosocial stress and high effort coping have been associated with reduced immune function, no epidemiologic study has addressed psychological stress and risk of prostate cancer. The purpose of this analysis was to investigate the association between stress, coping, social support, and risk of prostate cancer among older men (age 65-79 years).

Design: Population-based case-control study in South Carolina.

A multilevel analysis of socioeconomic status and prostate cancer risk.

Purpose: We investigated whether prostate cancer was associated with socioeconomic status (SES) at the individual level, area level, or a combination of both levels.

Methods: This population-based case-control study of prostate cancer in men aged 65 to 79 years was conducted between 2000 and 2002 in South Carolina. Complete interviews were available for 407 incident prostate cancer cases and 393 controls (with respective response rates of 61% and 64%).

Intimate partner violence and disabilities among women attending family practice clinics.

Purpose: To estimate the frequency and type of disabilities preventing work among those experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) compared with those never experiencing IPV.

Methods: We used a large cross-sectional survey of women, ages 18-65, attending family practice clinics from 1997 through 1998. Participation included a 5-10-minute in-clinic survey assessing IPV experience and a longer telephone survey assessing health status and chronic disabilities that prevented work outside the home or housework.

Physical partner violence and medicaid utilization and expenditures.

Objectives: Little research has addressed differences in health care expenditures among women who are currently experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) compared with those who are not. The purpose of this work is to provide estimates of direct medical expenditure for physician, drug, and hospital utilization among Medicaid-eligible women who screened as currently experiencing IPV compared with those who are not currently experiencing IPV.

Methods: In this family practice-based cross-sectional study, women were screened for current IPV using a 15-item Index of Spouse Abuse-Physical (ISA-P) between 1997 and 1998.