Comparative effectiveness of first-line nab-paclitaxel versus paclitaxel monotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer.

This observational study evaluated the effectiveness of nab-paclitaxel versus paclitaxel monotherapy as first-line (1L) treatment for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (mTNBC). 200 patients from the US Flatiron Health electronic health record-derived database (mTNBC diagnosis, January 2011-October 2016) who received 1L nab-paclitaxel (n = 105) or paclitaxel (n = 95) monotherapy were included. Overall survival and time to next treatment were evaluated.

Predictors of incident epilepsy in older adults: The Cardiovascular Health Study.

Objective: To determine the prevalence, incidence, and predictors of epilepsy among older adults in the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS).

Methods: We analyzed data prospectively collected in CHS and merged with data from outpatient Medicare administrative claims. We identified cases with epilepsy using self-report, antiepileptic medication, hospitalization discharge ICD-9 codes, and outpatient Medicare ICD-9 codes.

The Changing Epidemiology of Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 Infection in Peruvian Female Sex Workers, 1993-2010.

Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) was the first human retrovirus to be reported and is associated with neoplastic, neurological, autoimmune, and infectious complications. HTLV-1 is endemic in Peru, with the highest prevalence reported among commercial sex workers. Seroprevalence data collected from Peruvian female sex workers (FSWs) working in Callao over three study periods between 1993 and 2010 were used to examine the secular trend in HTLV-1 prevalence.

Value of improved lipid control in patients at high risk for adverse cardiac events.

Objectives: Lipid-lowering therapy (LLT) is suboptimally used in patients with hyperlipidemia in the 2 highest statin benefit groups (SBGs), as categorized by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. This study estimated the social value of reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels by 50% for patients in SBGs 1 and 2 who have been treated with standard LLT but have not reached LDL-C goal, as well as the potential value of PCSK9 inhibitors for patients in these groups.

Study Design: Simulation model.

Assessing Needs for Cancer Education and Support in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities in the Northwestern United States.

American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) experience significant cancer disparities. To inform future public health efforts, a web-based needs assessment survey collected quantitative and qualitative data from AI/AN community health workers and cancer survivors in the northwestern United States. Content analysis of qualitative responses identified themes to contextualize quantitative results.

The burden of mental health in lymphatic filariasis.

Background: Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) afflict around one billion individuals in the poorest parts of the world with many more at risk. Lymphatic filariasis is one of the most prevalent of the infections and causes significant morbidity in those who suffer the clinical conditions, particularly lymphedema and hydrocele. Depressive illness has been recognised as a prevalent disability in those with the disease because of the stigmatising nature of the condition.

The development and implementation of a competency-based curriculum for training in global health research.

The Fogarty International Center (FIC) Global Health Fellows Program provides trainees with the opportunity to develop research skills through a mentored research experience, increase their content expertise, and better understand trends in global health research, funding organizations, and pathways to generate support. The Northern Pacific Global Health Fellows Research and Training Consortium, which hosts one of the FIC Global Health Programs, sought to enhance research training by developing, implementing, and evaluating a competency-based curriculum that uses a modular, asynchronous, web-based format. The curriculum has 8 core competencies, 36 learning objectives, and 58 assignments.

Formulations of hormone therapy and risk of Parkinson's disease.

Hormone therapy (HT) is a class of medications widely prescribed to women in the Western world. Evidence from animal models and in vitro studies suggests that estrogen may protect against nigrostriatal system injury and increase dopamine synthesis, metabolism, and transport. Existing epidemiologic research indicates a possible reduced risk of Parkinson's disease (PD) associated with HT use.

Narcolepsy and the Sickness Impact Profile: A general health status measure.

Objective: We characterized functional impact of narcolepsy on patients using a general health status measure, the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP). It has 136 items grouped into 12 categories and 2 dimensions.

Methods: We ascertained patients with physician-diagnosed narcolepsy in King County, Washington using multiple overlapping methods over four years starting July 2001.

Enhancing case ascertainment of Parkinson's disease using Medicare claims data in a population-based cohort: the Cardiovascular Health Study.

Purpose: We sought to improve a previous algorithm to ascertain Parkinson's disease (PD) in the Cardiovascular Health Study by incorporating additional data from Medicare outpatient claims. We compared our results to the previous algorithm in terms of baseline prevalence and incidence of PD, as well as associations with baseline smoking characteristics.

Methods: Our original case ascertainment used self-reported diagnosis, antiparkinsonian medication, and hospitalization discharge International Classification of Diseases-Ninth version code.

Symptoms and risk factors for stroke in a community-based observational sample in Viet Nam.

Background: Viet Nam is experiencing a health transition from infectious to chronic disease. Data on cardiovascular diseases, including strokes, are limited.

Methods: Data were randomly collected from six communities in Da Nang, Viet Nam, on participant demographics, medical history, blood pressure, anthropometrics and health behavior using World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.

Predictors of functional outcome among stroke patients in Lima, Peru.

Background: Because of the aging population in low- and middle-income countries, cerebrovascular disease is expected to remain a leading cause of death. Little has been published about stroke in Peru. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of hospitalized stroke patients at a referral center hospital in Lima, Peru to explore factors associated with functional outcome among stroke patients.

Double burden: a cross-sectional survey assessing factors associated with underweight and overweight status in Danang, Vietnam.

Background: Many low- to middle-income countries are faced with an increasing prevalence of overweight/obesity while that for underweight remains high, a duality termed "double burden"; both are key risk factors for chronic diseases. This cross-sectional study assesses the prevalence and factors for underweight and overweight/obesity among adults in Danang, Vietnam, using WHO standard and suggested Asian-specific BMI cut-offs.

Methods: In 2010, 1713 residents age ≥ 35 years from 900 households in 6 of 56 urban, rural and mixed urban-rural communes in Danang were selected using multistage-cluster sampling methodology to participate; 1621 qualified adults enrolled.

A prospective cohort study of stroke characteristics, care, and mortality in a hospital stroke registry in Vietnam.

Background: As low and middle-income countries such as Vietnam experience the health transition from infectious to chronic diseases, the morbidity and mortality from stroke will rise. In line with the recommendation of the Institute of Medicine's report on "Promoting Cardiovascular Health in the Developing World" to "improve local data", we sought to investigate patient characteristics and clinical predictors of mortality among stroke inpatients at Da Nang Hospital in Vietnam.

Methods: A stroke registry was developed and implemented at Da Nang Hospital utilizing the World Health Organization's Stroke STEPS instrument for data collection.

Cardiovascular physiology in premotor Parkinson's disease: a neuroepidemiologic study.

Changes in cardiovascular physiology in Parkinson's disease (PD) are common and may occur prior to diagnostic parkinsonian motor signs. We investigated associations of electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormalities, orthostasis, heart rate variability, and carotid stenosis with the risk of PD diagnosis in the Cardiovascular Health Study, a community-based cohort of older adults. ECG abnormality, orthostasis (symptomatic or asymptomatic), heart rate variability (24-hour Holter monitoring), and any carotid stenosis (≥1%) by ultrasound were modeled as primary predictors of incident PD diagnosis using multivariable logistic regression.

Human papillomavirus infection in men who have sex with men in Lima, Peru.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection among men who have sex with men (MSM) is the primary risk factor for anal cancer. Of 105 Peruvian MSM examined, 77.1% were infected with HPV; of these 79.

Effect of tribal language use on colorectal cancer screening among American Indians.

American Indians have one of the lowest colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates for any racial/ethnic group in the U.S., yet reasons for their low screening participation are poorly understood.

Birth order and narcolepsy risk among genetically susceptible individuals: a population-based case-control study.

Background: Birth order may play a role in autoimmune diseases and early childhood infections, both factors implicated in the etiology of narcolepsy. We investigated the association between birth order and narcolepsy risk in a population-based case-control study in which all study subjects were HLA-DQB1*0602 positive.

Methods: Subjects were 18-50 years old, residents of King County, Washington, and positive for HLA-DQB1*0602.

Markers of inflammation in prevalent and incident Parkinson's disease in the Cardiovascular Health Study.

Background: Studies demonstrate existence of inflammation in prevalent Parkinson's disease (PD). We assessed associations of baseline levels of inflammatory markers with prevalent PD at baseline (1989) and incident PD identified over 13 years of follow-up of the Cardiovascular Health Study.

Methods: Blood samples at baseline were measured for fibrinogen, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, C-reactive protein, albumin, and white blood cells.

Perceived cancer risk among American Indians: implications for intervention research.

Objective: Perceived risk of disease plays a key role in health behaviors, making it an important issue for cancer-prevention research. We investigate associations between perceived cancer risk and selected cancer risk factors in a population-based sample of American Indians. STUDY DESIGN AND POPULATION: Data for this cross-sectional study come from a random sample of 182 American Indian adults, aged > or = 40 years, residing on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona.

Common variants in P2RY11 are associated with narcolepsy.

Growing evidence supports the hypothesis that narcolepsy with cataplexy is an autoimmune disease. We here report genome-wide association analyses for narcolepsy with replication and fine mapping across three ethnic groups (3,406 individuals of European ancestry, 2,414 Asians and 302 African Americans). We identify a SNP in the 3' untranslated region of P2RY11, the purinergic receptor subtype P2Y₁₁ gene, which is associated with narcolepsy (rs2305795, combined P = 6.

Using photovoice to understand cardiovascular health awareness in Asian elders.

Photovoice, a qualitative methodology using photography by study participants, is an ideal tool for collecting information on awareness of cardiovascular health from the perspective of persons of different cultural backgrounds and English-speaking abilities who are often subject to health disparities. Participants of Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean ethnicity were provided disposable cameras to photograph their perceptions of scenes promoting or acting as barriers to cardiovascular health. After the pictures were developed, they returned for a discussion in their native languages to contextualize the stories told in their photographs.

Do-not-attempt-resuscitation orders and prognostic models for intraparenchymal hemorrhage.

Objectives: Statistical models predicting outcome after intraparenchymal hemorrhage include patients irrespective of do-not-attempt-resuscitation orders. We built a model to explore how the inclusion of patients with do-not-attempt-resuscitation orders affects intraparenchymal hemorrhage prognostic models.

Design: Retrospective, observational cohort study from May 2001 until September 2003.