A pilot pragmatic randomized controlled trial of a nicotine metabolite ratio-guided smoking cessation intervention in a lung health and screening program.

Introduction: Patients with pulmonary nodules detected through lung cancer screening or as incidental findings are often followed in lung health and screening programs. The use of personalized pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation informed by the nicotine metabolite ratio (NMR), a measure of nicotine metabolism, has not yet been evaluated in this setting. This pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluated the feasibility of conducting a larger trial.

Reducing Breast Cancer Disparities with Precision Public Health: A New Strategy to Improve Prevention and Advance Health Equity in Delaware Hotspots.

While Black and White women are diagnosed with breast cancer (BC) at similar rates, Black women die from BC at a 40% higher rate. This disparity is even more pronounced for younger Black women, who die from BC at nearly twice the rate as younger White women. Black-White differences in BC mortality are largely attributable to health care and tumor biology factors.

Anxiety, depression, and fear of cancer recurrence in head and neck cancer.

Objective: Patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) report some of the highest levels of psychological distress amid managing their disease as well as debilitating and disfiguring treatment side effects. Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is a top unmet need and concern of patients with HNC. Prior research suggests elevated symptoms of anxiety and depression are potential antecedents to FCR, but findings have been limited in HNC populations.

Fear of cancer recurrence and change in hair cortisol concentrations in partners of breast cancer survivors.

Purpose: Partners of breast cancer (BC) survivors report high rates of psychological distress including fear of cancer recurrence (FCR). Research suggests that partners may have poorer physical health outcomes than the general population, but little research has examined the physiological biomarkers by which distress may impact partner health outcomes. The current study examined the associations between FCR and changes in hair cortisol among BC partners.

Romantic relationships and type 2 diabetes: The role of invisible social control.

Objective: This study aimed to determine whether invisible social control provided by a romantic partner is associated with improved objective glucose outcomes for patients with Type 2 diabetes. Social control reflects a partner's attempt to modify or influence a patient's health behaviors. We hypothesized that the best outcome for all continuous glucose monitoring measures would be captured by an interaction condition reflecting invisible social control.

A Novel Approach for Conducting a Catchment Area Analysis of Breast Cancer by Age and Stage for a Community Cancer Center.

Background: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently issued an updated draft recommendation statement to initiate breast cancer screening at age 40, reflecting well-documented disparities in breast cancer-related mortality that disproportionately impact younger Black women.

Predictors of improved clinician screening, assessment, and treatment for tobacco use for clients in community mental healthcare following training.

Introduction: People with mental illness (MI) are more likely to smoke cigarettes and less likely to receive treatment for tobacco use than the general population. Understanding factors associated with improved staff treatment of tobacco use in community mental health settings has received limited study.

Methods: We used data from a completed cluster-randomized clinical trial that tested two interventions designed to increase treatment for tobacco use in mental health clinics.

"I Think There's Only Two Fields for That": Hospital Registrar Attitudes and Practices for Collecting Patient Gender Identity Data.

Purpose: This study aimed to understand the experiences of hospital registrars in collecting gender identity data.

Methods: A qualitative study that thematically analyzed key informant interviews with 37 registrars regarding their attitudes and practices in collecting gender identity data.

Results: Collection of gender identity is influenced by (1) system-level barriers, (2) discrepancies in source of truth for documentation, and (3) registrars' underlying attitudes and behaviors.

The use of biomarkers to guide precision treatment for tobacco use.

This review summarizes the evidence to date on the development of biomarkers for personalizing the pharmacological treatment of combustible tobacco use. First, the latest evidence on FDA-approved medications is considered, demonstrating that, while these medications offer real benefits, they do not contribute to smoking cessation in approximately two-thirds of cases. Second, the case for using biomarkers to guide tobacco treatment is made based on the potential to increase medication effectiveness and uptake and reduce side effects.

A randomized clinical trial testing two implementation strategies to promote the treatment of tobacco dependence in community mental healthcare.

Introduction: People with serious mental illness (SMI) are more likely to smoke and less likely to receive tobacco treatment. Implementation strategies may address clinician and organizational barriers to treating tobacco in mental healthcare.

Methods: A cluster-randomized trial (Clinic N=13, Client N=610, Staff N=222) tested two models to promote tobacco treatment in community mental healthcare: standard didactic training vs.

Neighborhood factors and triple negative breast cancer: The role of cumulative exposure to area-level risk factors.

Background: Despite similar incidence rates among Black and White women, breast cancer mortality rates are 40% higher among Black women. More than half of the racial difference in breast cancer mortality can be attributed to triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), an aggressive subtype of invasive breast cancer that disproportionately affects Black women. Recent research has implicated neighborhood conditions in the etiology of TNBC.

A Catchment and Location-Allocation Analysis of Mammography Access in Delaware, US: Implications for disparities in geographic access to breast cancer screening.

Background: Despite a 40% reduction in breast cancer mortality over the last 30 years, not all groups have benefited equally from these gains. A consistent link between later stage of diagnosis and disparities in breast cancer mortality has been observed by race, socioeconomic status, and rurality. Therefore, ensuring equitable geographic access to screening mammography represents an important priority for reducing breast cancer disparities.

Reducing Exposure to Tobacco Retailers with Residential Zoning Policy: Insights from a Geospatial Analysis of Wilmington, Delaware.

Cigarette use remains the leading preventable cause of premature mortality in the US, with declines in smoking rates slowing in recent years. One promising target for improved tobacco control is the expanded regulation of tobacco retailers. Evaluations of such policy attempts have largely produced mixed results to date.

Policy Recommendations for Reducing Tobacco Exposure for Youth and Adults in Wilmington, Delaware.

Objective: To highlight and recommend policies that can be projected to reduce disproportionate tobacco exposure for youth and adults in Wilmington, Delaware's densest and most disadvantaged neighborhoods. Four policy options were drawn from the literature: pharmacy tobacco bans, zoning-based tobacco retailer reductions, residential density caps, and buffers around K-12 schools.

Method: Changes in tobacco retailer density and resident-to-retailer distance in Wilmington's medium- and high- density residentially zoned neighborhoods were projected using GIS analysis of current conditions and projections for each of the four policies.

Aggregated spatial intensity as a method for estimating point-level exposures within area-level units: The case of tobacco retailer exposure in census tracts.

Background: Aggregating point-level events to area-level units can produce misleading interpretations when displayed via choropleth maps. We developed the aggregated intensity method to share point-level location information across unit boundaries prior to aggregation. This method was applied to tobacco retailers among census tracts in New Castle County, DE.

Daily partner responsiveness and everyday sleep outcomes in breast cancer survivors and their partners.

Purpose: Breast cancer (BC) survivors and their intimate partners face several adverse consequences from the cancer experience, including sleep disturbance, which is a common side effect of BC and its treatment. Sleep has been conceptualized and examined as an individual phenomenon despite most adults sharing a bed/room with a partner. Limited research has examined the associations between daily relationship processes and sleep in couples coping with cancer.

Racial disparities in triple negative breast cancer: toward a causal architecture approach.

Background: Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype of invasive breast cancer that disproportionately affects Black women and contributes to racial disparities in breast cancer mortality. Prior research has suggested that neighborhood effects may contribute to this disparity beyond individual risk factors.

Methods: The sample included a cohort of 3316 breast cancer cases diagnosed between 2012 and 2020 in New Castle County, Delaware, a geographic region of the US with elevated rates of TNBC.

Fear of Cancer Recurrence and Sleep in Couples Coping With Early-Stage Breast Cancer.

Background: Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) and sleep disturbance are common in cancer survivors. Yet, little research has examined their relationship, and even less is known about what links may exist between these variables among the intimate partners of cancer survivors.

Purpose: This study examines the relationship between FCR and sleep disturbance in breast cancer survivors and their partners.

The longitudinal course of emotional and cognitive factors of fear of cancer recurrence in breast cancer patients and their partners.

Objective: Although fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) has been conceptualized as a multidimensional construct with emotional and cognitive components, little work has distinguished or assessed both components. Further, most existing research has not included intimate partners of cancer patients, although they also experience FCR. This study aimed to (1) determine whether FCR is better conceptualized as a singular or multidimensional construct at the within-person level over time and (2) model the corresponding trajectories in patients and their partners.

A Population Health Assessment in a Community Cancer Center Catchment Area: Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, Alcohol Use, and Obesity in New Castle County, Delaware.

Background: The NCI requires designated cancer centers to conduct catchment area assessments to guide cancer control and prevention efforts designed to reduce the local cancer burden. We extended and adapted this approach to a community cancer center catchment area with elevated rates of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

Methods: Cancer registry data for 462 TNBC and 2,987 "Not-TNBC" cases diagnosed between 2012 and 2020 at the Helen F.