Publications by authors named "Rebecca C Woodruff"

Article Synopsis
  • Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) adults have historically been grouped with Asian adults in mortality data, but since 2018, they've been reported separately, allowing better insights into their health statistics.
  • From 2018 to 2022, NHPI adults experienced 10,870 deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD), with a mortality rate of 369.6 deaths per 100,000, which is significantly higher than the rate for Asian adults (243.9 per 100,000).
  • The study highlights the need for further research into NHPI health issues since their high CVD mortality rate was previously obscured when grouped with Asian populations.
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Introduction: Age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMR) for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) increased in 2020 and 2021, and provisional data indicated an increase in 2022, resulting in substantial excess CVD deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. Updated estimates using final data for 2022 are needed.

Methods: The National Vital Statistics System's final Multiple Cause of Death files were analyzed in 2024 to calculate AAMR from 2010 to 2022 and excess deaths from 2020 to 2022 for U.

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Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, national cardiovascular disease (CVD) death rates increased, especially among younger adults. County-level variation has not been documented. Using county-level CVD deaths (ICD-10 codes: I00-I99) from the US National Vital Statistics System, we developed a Bayesian multivariate spatiotemporal model to estimate excess CVD death rates in 2020 based on trends from 2010-2019 for adults aged 35-64 and ≥65 years.

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Purpose: To examine rural and urban disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) death rates by poverty level and region.

Methods: Using 2021 county-level population and mortality data for CVD deaths listed as the underlying cause among adults aged 35-64 years, we calculated age-standardized CVD death rates and rate ratios (RR) for 4 categories of counties: high-poverty rural, high-poverty urban, low-poverty rural, and low-poverty urban (referent). Results are presented nationally and by US Census region.

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Article Synopsis
  • People with HIV have a higher prevalence of hypertension (66%) compared to those without HIV (54%), with a statistically significant adjusted prevalence ratio of 1.14.
  • Among those with hypertension, people with HIV are more likely to have controlled hypertension compared to those without, indicating better management of the condition.
  • The study also highlights geographic and racial disparities, showing that Black individuals with HIV are less likely to have controlled hypertension and those from the Southern U.S. have higher hypertension rates compared to those from the Northeast.
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Article Synopsis
  • - The study focuses on how respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) affects cardiac health in adults aged 50 and older, highlighting that there's less awareness of these complications compared to those associated with influenza and SARS-CoV-2.
  • - Using data from hospitalized RSV patients over several years, the research aimed to assess the prevalence and severity of acute cardiac events, finding that about 22.4% of patients experienced such events during their hospitalization.
  • - Among the 6,248 patients analyzed, around 15.8% had acute heart failure, while 7.5% dealt with acute ischemic conditions, suggesting significant cardiac risks associated with RSV infection in this age group.
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Article Synopsis
  • Cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, reversing previous declines in death rates and leading to over 228,000 excess deaths from 2020 to 2022.
  • An analysis of national mortality data from 2010 to 2022 revealed a 9.3% increase in age-adjusted mortality rates for CVD, despite earlier declines from 2010 to 2019.
  • The findings highlight the significant setback in CVD progress and emphasize the need for enhanced prevention and management strategies to improve health outcomes moving forward.
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Introduction: Hypertension is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, a leading cause of death among women of reproductive age (women aged 18-44 years). This study estimated hypertension prevalence and control among women of reproductive age at the national and state levels using electronic health record data.

Methods: Nonpregnant women of reproductive age were included in this cross-sectional study using 2019 IQVIA Ambulatory Electronic Medical Records - U.

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Background Hypertension and diabetes are associated with increased COVID-19 severity. The association between level of control of these conditions and COVID-19 severity is less well understood. Methods and Results This retrospective cohort study identified adults with COVID-19, March 2020 to February 2022, in 43 US health systems in the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network.

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Background: COVID-19 is associated with cardiac complications.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence, risk factors, and outcomes associated with acute cardiac events during COVID-19-associated hospitalizations among adults.

Methods: During January 2021 to November 2021, medical chart abstraction was conducted on a probability sample of adults hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection identified from 99 U.

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Introduction: Almost one third of U.S. adults have elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, increasing their risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

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Objectives: Describe population-based rates and risk factors for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (ie, ICU admission, invasive mechanical ventilation, or death) among hospitalized children.

Methods: During March 2020 to May 2021, the COVID-19-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network identified 3106 children hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection in 14 states. Among 2293 children primarily admitted for COVID-19, multivariable generalized estimating equations generated adjusted risk ratios (aRRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of the associations between demographic and medical characteristics abstracted from medical records and severe COVID-19.

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Background Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a severe, chronic complication of acute rheumatic fever, triggered by group A streptococcal pharyngitis. Centralized patient registries are recommended for RHD prevention and control, but none exists in American Samoa. Using existing RHD tracking systems, we estimated RHD period prevalence and the proportion of people with RHD documented in the electronic health record.

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Objective: Population reductions in Na intake could prevent hypertension, and current guidelines recommend that clinicians advise patients to reduce intake. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of taking action and receiving advice from a health professional to reduce Na intake in ten US jurisdictions, including the first-ever data in New York state and Guam.

Design: Weighted prevalence and 95 % CI overall and by location, demographic group, health status and receipt of provider advice using self-reported data from the 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System optional Na module.

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Background And Purpose: Healthy People establishes objectives to monitor the nation's health. Healthy People 2020 included objectives to reduce national stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality by 20% (to 34.8 and 103.

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Snacking occasions have increased in frequency and energy density in recent decades, with considerable implications for diet. Studies have linked presence of foods in the home with intake of those foods. This study examines home snack food inventories among a large sample of U.

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Background The American Heart Association and Healthy People 2020 established objectives to reduce coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke death rates by 20% by the year 2020, with 2007 as the baseline year. We examined county-level achievement of the targeted reduction in CHD and stroke death rates from 2007 to 2017. Methods and Results Applying a hierarchical Bayesian model to National Vital Statistics data, we estimated annual age-standardized county-level death rates and the corresponding percentage change during 2007 to 2017 for those aged 35 to 64 and ≥65 years and by urban-rural classification.

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Objective: To determine whether residence in a US Department of Agriculture-designated food desert is associated with perceived access to healthy foods, grocery shopping behaviours, diet and BMI among a national sample of primary food shoppers.

Design: Data for the present study came from a self-administered cross-sectional survey administered in 2015. Residential addresses of respondents were geocoded to determine whether their census tract of residence was a designated food desert or not.

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Objective: Estimate Healthy Homes/Healthy Families (HHHF) intervention efficacy for improving dietary quality.

Methods: Low-income overweight and obese women (n = 349) recruited from rural community health centers were randomized to receive HHHF, a 16-week home environment-focused coaching intervention or health education materials by mail. Healthy Eating Index-2010 scores were calculated from 2 24-hour dietary recalls collected at baseline and 6- and 12-month follow-up.

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Objective: To investigate the potential dietary impact of the opening of new retailers of healthy foods.

Design: Systematic review of the peer-reviewed research literature.

Setting: References published before November 2015 were retrieved from MEDLINE, EMBASE and Web of Science databases using keyword searches.

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Although young adult women consume the majority of their total daily energy intake from home food sources, the decision-making processes that shape their home food environments have received limited attention. Further, how decision-making may be affected by the transformative experience of motherhood is unknown. In this study, we explore the factors that influence two key decision-making processes-food choices while grocery shopping and the use of non-home food sources-and whether there are differences by motherhood status.

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Young adulthood is a period of pronounced weight gain, though few weight management interventions exist for this population. This qualitative study explored how young adult women feel about their weight, what kinds of weight-related advice they have received, and concerns about future weight gain to inform the adaptation of a weight gain prevention intervention. Forty women completed semistructured, in-depth interviews, which were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed using thematic analysis.

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