Cumulative Exposure to Unconventional Natural Gas Development and the Risk of Childhood Cancer: A Registry-Based Case-Control Study.

The rapid growth of unconventional natural gas development (UNGD), also known as hydraulic fracturing, has raised concerns of potential exposures to hazardous chemicals. Few studies have examined the risk of childhood cancer from exposure to UNGD. A case-control study included 498 children diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma, central nervous system neoplasms, and malignant bone tumors during the period 2010-2019 identified through the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry.

What Characteristics Modify the Relation of Neighborhood Walkability and Walking Behavior in Older Adults?

Background And Objectives: Neighborhood walkability can influence walking behaviors in older adults. However, its associations of walkability with walking may differ by demographic, socioeconomic, health, social, and residential characteristics due to factors such as increased vulnerability to environmental factors or increased resilience.

Research Design And Methods: In a sample of older adults ( = 493, median age = 82 [range 78-89], 56% female, 31% Black), a walkability index was derived from audits of Google Street View images of participants' immediate neighborhoods.

International survey on invasive lobular breast cancer identifies priority research questions.

There is growing awareness of the unique etiology, biology, and clinical presentation of invasive lobular breast cancer (ILC), but additional research is needed to ensure translation of findings into management and treatment guidelines. We conducted a survey with input from breast cancer physicians, laboratory-based researchers, and patients to analyze the current understanding of ILC, and identify consensus research questions. 1774 participants from 66 countries respondents self-identified as clinicians (N = 413), researchers (N = 376), and breast cancer patients and advocates (N = 1120), with some belonging to more than one category.

Disaggregation of Green Space Access, Walkability, and Behavioral Risk Factor Data for Precise Estimation of Local Population Characteristics.

Background: Social and Environmental Determinants of Health (SEDH) provide us with a conceptual framework to gain insights into possible associations among different human behaviors and the corresponding health outcomes that take place often in and around complex built environments. Developing better built environments requires an understanding of those aspects of a community that are most likely to have a measurable impact on the target SEDH. Yet data on local characteristics at suitable spatial scales are often unavailable.

Case-control study of environmental toxins and risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis involving the national ALS registry.

Objective: Neurotoxic chemicals are suggested in the etiology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We examined the association of environmental and occupational risk factors including persistent organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and ALS risk among cases from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National ALS Registry and age, sex, and county-matched controls.

Methods: Participants completed a risk factor survey and provided a blood sample for OCP measurement.

Release of reclassified VUS results of now deceased patients to family members: Practices and opinions.

Variants of uncertain significance (VUS) are commonly identified in genetic testing. The rate at which a VUS is reclassified depends on multiple factors. However, as the amount of time it might take for a VUS to be reclassified varies, some patients with a VUS genetic testing result might have passed away before the VUS is reclassified.

Exposure to ambient air toxicants and the risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): A matched case control study.

Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder with few risk factors identified and no known cure. Gene-environment interaction is hypothesized especially for sporadic ALS cases (90-95%) which are of unknown etiology. We aimed to investigate risk factors for ALS including exposure to ambient air toxics.

Barriers to Care Among Glaucoma Patients With a Missed Appointment and Interest in a Navigator Program.

Prcis: Most glaucoma patients with missed appointments report barriers to care and social risk factors. One third expressed interest in engaging with a patient navigator program. Most expressed interest in rescheduling.

Work Attendance with Acute Respiratory Illness Before and During COVID-19 Pandemic, United States, 2018-2022.

Both SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus can be transmitted by asymptomatic, presymptomatic, or symptomatic infected persons. We assessed effects on work attendance while ill before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States by analyzing data collected prospectively from persons with acute respiratory illnesses enrolled in a multistate study during 2018-2022. Persons with previous hybrid work experience were significantly less likely to work onsite on the day before through the first 3 days of illness than those without that experience, an effect more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic than during prepandemic influenza seasons.

Medications for opioid use disorder in rural primary care practices: Patient and provider experiences.

Introduction: The opioid epidemic has exacted a significant toll in rural areas, yet adoption of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) lags. The Rural Access to Medication Assisted Treatment in Pennsylvania (RAMP) Project facilitated adoption of MOUD in rural primary care clinics. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the barriers and facilitators operating at multiple levels to access or provide MOUD in rural Pennsylvania.

Role of Perceived Physical and Mental Fatigability Severity on Prospective, Recurrent, and Injurious Fall Risk in Older Men.

Background: Falls occur annually in 25% of adults aged ≥65 years. Fall-related injuries are increasing, highlighting the need to identify modifiable risk factors.

Methods: Role of fatigability on prospective, recurrent, and injurious fall risk was examined in 1 740 men aged 77-101 years in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study.

Relationship between Telework Experience and Presenteeism during COVID-19 Pandemic, United States, March-November 2020.

Persons with COVID-19-like illnesses are advised to stay home to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2. We assessed relationships between telework experience and COVID-19 illness with work attendance when ill. Adults experiencing fever, cough, or loss of taste or smell who sought healthcare or COVID-19 testing in the United States during March-November 2020 were enrolled.

Vaccine-associated attenuation of subjective severity among outpatients with influenza.

Influenza vaccines can mitigate illness severity, including reduced risk of ICU admission and death, in people with breakthrough infection. Less is known about vaccine attenuation of mild/moderate influenza illness. We compared subjective severity scores in vaccinated and unvaccinated persons with medically attended illness and laboratory-confirmed influenza.

Employing Position Generators to Assess Social Capital and Health: A Scoping Review of the Literature and Recommendations in Future Population Health Surveillance.

Beneficial social connections are critical to individual-level health. These connections increase access to social support/resources that can be used to avoid or minimize the risks and consequences associated with diseases. How to best measure beneficial social connections to inform social network-level health interventions remains poorly understood.

Provider and Patient-panel Characteristics Associated With Initial Adoption and Sustained Prescribing of Medication for Opioid Use Disorder.

Objectives: Limited information is available regarding provider- and patient panel-level factors associated with primary care provider (PCP) adoption/prescribing of medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD).

Methods: We assessed a retrospective cohort from 2015 to 2018 within the Pennsylvania Medicaid Program. Participants included PCPs who were Medicaid providers, with no history of MOUD provision, and who treated ≥10 Medicaid enrollees annually.

Recruitment of population-based controls for ALS cases from the National ALS Registry.

In 2010, the United States Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) created the National ALS Registry (Registry) to examine the epidemiology of ALS and potential risk factors. We are currently recruiting population-based controls for an epidemiologic case-control study to examine ALS environmental risk factors using this Registry. To date, we have recruited 181 non-diseased, population-based controls for comparison to Registry cases ( = 280).

Expectations and beliefs: How single young gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men envision romantic relationships.

We developed measures of relational beliefs and expectations among single young gay and bisexual men (YGBM). Data come from an online cross-sectional study YGBM, which ran from July 2012 until January 2013. There were 50 items on relational beliefs and 25 items on relational expectations.

Validation of Perceived Mental Fatigability Using the Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale.

Objectives: Establish reliability, concurrent and convergent validity of the Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale (PFS) Mental subscale.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Older adults from two University of Pittsburgh registries, Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA), and Long Life Family Study (LLFS).

Home- and Community-Based Provider Preparation for Pennsylvania's Managed Long-term Services and Supports.

As Pennsylvania implements its managed long-term services and supports program, we explore how home- and community-based providers are preparing for and perceiving the transition through an online survey. We summarize responses and conduct chi-square analysis to measure differences between select provider groups. Despite high levels of uncertainty about program impact, over 84% of respondents plan to participate.

Higher Fatigue Prospectively Increases the Risk of Falls in Older Men.

Background And Objectives: Fatigue is a common complaint and shares many risk factors with falls, yet the independent contribution of fatigue on fall risk is unclear. This study's primary aim was to assess the association between fatigue and prospective fall risk in 5642 men aged 64-100 enrolled in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study (MrOS). The secondary aim was to examine the association between fatigue and recurrent fall risk.

Proposed clinical indicators for efficient screening and testing for COVID-19 infection using Classification and Regression Trees (CART) analysis.

The introduction and rapid transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States resulted in methods to assess, mitigate, and contain the resulting COVID-19 disease derived from limited knowledge. Screening for testing has been based on symptoms typically observed in inpatients, yet outpatient symptoms may differ. Classification and regression trees recursive partitioning created a decision tree classifying participants into laboratory-confirmed cases and non-cases.