PRECIS-2 used as an implementation science tool for global environmental health: A cross-sectional evaluation of the Ecolectivos study protocol to reduce burning of household plastic waste in rural Guatemala.

Background: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluate the efficacy of an intervention remain underutilized in community-based environmental health research. RCTs that use a pragmatic design emphasize the effectiveness of interventions in complex, real world settings. Pragmatic trials may be especially relevant when community-based interventions address social and environmental determinants that threaten health equity.

Western Diet and Inflammatory Mechanisms in African American Adults With Heart Failure.

Background: Black adults have a higher risk for heart failure (HF) than others, which may be related to higher cardiovascular risk factors and also inflammatory dietary patterns. The Western diet is associated with inflammation and contributes to HF. Trimethylamine N-oxide is a diet-linked metabolite that contributes to inflammation and is associated with higher tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) levels, especially in HF populations.

Effects of early maternal care on anxiety and threat learning in adolescent nonhuman primates.

Early life adverse experiences, including childhood maltreatment, are major risk factors for psychopathology, including anxiety disorders with dysregulated fear responses. Consistent with human studies, maltreatment by the mother (MALT) leads to increased emotional reactivity in rhesus monkey infants. Whether this persists and results in altered emotion regulation, due to enhanced fear learning or impaired utilization of safety signals as shown in human stress-related disorders, is unclear.

Sexual Satisfaction and Associated Factors Among Older Cancer Survivors.

As little is known about sexual satisfaction among older (≥ 65 years) cancer survivors, this study examined sexual satisfaction defined as physical pleasure and emotional satisfaction in sexual relationships, including associated factors. This secondary analysis of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project round 3 data set included 173 partnered older cancer survivors. The data included ratings of physical pleasure, emotional satisfaction, importance of sexual activity, mental and physical health, and scores of sexual function (the presence of problems; if any, the extent of related bother) and social support and strain from partners.

Comorbid Diabetes Is Associated With Dyspnea Severity and Cardiometabolic Biomarkers in Black Adults With Heart Failure.

Background: Comorbidities such as Type 2 diabetes mellitus significantly and adversely influence heart failure outcomes, especially in Black adult populations. Likewise, heart failure has a negative effect on diabetes and cardiometabolic outcomes. Dyspnea, a common symptom of heart failure, often correlates with disease severity and prognosis.

Metabolic Pathways Associated With Obesity and Hypertension in Black Caregivers of Persons Living With Dementia.

Background: In the United States, Black adults have the highest prevalence of obesity and hypertension, increasing their risk of morbidity and mortality. Caregivers of persons with dementia are also at increased risk of morbidity and mortality due to the demands of providing care. Thus, Black caregivers-who are the second largest group of caregivers of persons with dementia in the United States-have the highest risks for poor health outcomes among all caregivers.

Leverage pre-requisite courses to teach bachelor of science in nursing students about social determinants of health.

Background: Nurses have frequent opportunities to address social determinants of health (SDOH) in practice. However, many nurses graduate without completing coursework in SDOH, and there remain barriers to incorporating SDOH content into nursing curricula.

Purpose: We propose the revision of nursing pre-requisites to include substantive, introductory coursework on SDOH.

Effects of acute hippocampal stimulation in the nonhuman primate penicillin model of temporal lobe seizures.

Asynchronous distributed multielectrode stimulation (ADMES) is a novel approach to deep brain stimulation for medication resistant temporal lobe epilepsy that has shown promise in rodent and seizure models. To further evaluate its effects on a pre-clinical model, we characterized the effect of unilateral ADMES in an NHP model of temporal lobe seizures induced by intra-hippocampal injection of penicillin (PCN). Four non-human primates were used for this study in two contemporaneous cohorts.

Black-White Differences in Chronic Stress Exposures to Predict Preterm Birth: Interpretable, Race/Ethnicity-Specific Machine Learning Models.

We developed Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) machine learning models of chronic stressors using the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System data (2012-2017) to predict preterm birth (PTB) more accurately and identify chronic stressors driving PTB among non-Hispanic (N-H) Black and N-H White pregnant women in the U.S. We trained the MARS models using 5-fold cross-validation, whose performance was evaluated with AUC.

Feasibility of In-Home Virtual Reality for Chronic Pain in Sickle Cell Disease.

Purpose: This study assessed the feasibility of an in-home virtual reality intervention for chronic pain in adults with sickle cell disease.

Design: Two-group, parallel, randomized, multiple methods design with surveys, and interviews.

Methods: Participants were randomized to virtual reality or audio control, with 2-16-minute daily modules for 8 weeks, a daily pain diary survey, and a post study interview.

Pre- and Post-Treatment Quality of Life Among Patients with Advanced Stage Cervical Cancer at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia.

Background: The development of health concepts beyond traditional markers of illness and death has made the evaluation of quality of life (QoL) crucial to patient care. Yet, there is little research evaluating the pre- and post-treatment QoL of cervical cancer survivors in Ethiopia.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the pre- and post-treatment QoL of women diagnosed with advanced-stage cervical cancer.

Survival Status and Predictors Among Women with Advanced Stage of Cervical Cancer.

Background: Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death in women, even though it is a preventable disease. Most deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. In addition to early detection and receipt of standard treatments, survivorship is an important component of high quality of care across the cancer continuum.

Associations between Child Opportunity Index and Pediatric Cardiac Surgical Outcomes.

Objective: To assess the relationship between the Child Opportunity Index (COI), a comprehensive measurement of social determinants of health, and specific COI domains on patient-specific outcomes following congenital cardiac surgery in the metropolitan region of Atlanta, Georgia.

Study Design: In this retrospective chart review, we included patients who underwent an index operation for congenital heart disease between 2010 and 2020 in a single pediatric health care system. Patients' addresses were geocoded and mapped to census tracts.

Measures of Patient and Surrogate Preparedness for End-of-Life Decision-Making.

Context: Reliable and valid measures are critical in accurately assessing outcomes of advance care planning interventions (ACP) for end-of-life (EOL) decision-making.

Objectives: To develop measures of preparedness for EOL decision-making for patients with end-stage renal disease and their surrogates (an exemplar population).

Methods: In this 3-phase study, Phases 1 and 2 included a cross-discipline concept analysis of the preparedness construct, item generation for patient and surrogate scales (82 items), evaluation of content validity and readability, cognitive interviewing, and item reduction.

Caregiving While Black: A Novel, Online Culturally Tailored Psychoeducation Course for Black Dementia Caregivers.

Background And Objectives: Psychoeducation interventions using distance learning modalities to engage caregivers in active learning environments have demonstrated benefits in enhancing caregiving mastery. However, few of these programs have been specifically adapted to develop mastery in Black caregivers.

Research Design And Methods: A multimethod approach was carried out to assess Caregiving While Black (CWB), including pre-post surveys and in-depth interviews.

Yoga vs Cognitive Processing Therapy for Military Sexual Trauma-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: First-line treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), ie, trauma-focused therapy, while effective, is limited by low treatment initiation, high dropout, and high treatment refraction.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) vs first-line cognitive processing therapy (CPT) in women veterans with PTSD related to military sexual trauma (MST) and the hypothesis that PTSD outcomes would differ between the interventions.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This multisite randomized clinical trial was conducted from December 1, 2015, to April 30, 2022, within 2 VA health care systems located in the southeast and northwest.