Optimally combining propensity score subclasses.

Propensity score methods, such as subclassification, are a common approach to control for confounding when estimating causal effects in non-randomized studies. Propensity score subclassification groups individuals into subclasses based on their propensity score values. Effect estimates are obtained within each subclass and then combined by weighting by the proportion of observations in each subclass.

The experience of electroconvulsive therapy and its impact on associated stigma: A meta-analysis.

Background: Despite its efficacy and safety, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is underutilized, in part due to stigma associated with the treatment.

Aims: The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that experiencing ECT has an impact on associated stigma, as measured by patient and family knowledge of and attitudes toward ECT.

Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, EMBASE and PsycINFO.

Sleep Habits and Susceptibility to Upper Respiratory Illness: the Moderating Role of Subjective Socioeconomic Status.

Background: Sleep is a predictor of infectious illness that may depend on one's socioeconomic status (SES).

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the moderating effects of objective and subjective SES on sleep-clinical cold risk link and test whether nasal inflammation serves as a plausible biological pathway.

Methods: This study combined data (n = 732) from three viral challenge studies.

States' Influences on Medicaid Investments to Address Patients' Social Needs.

Introduction: Relationships between socioeconomic adversity and poor health have been well documented. Given these associations, Medicaid MCOs (MMCOs) have shown increasing interest in addressing social determinants of health (SDH) to improve health and decrease healthcare costs. The authors sought to better understand how contractual relationships with State Medicaid Agencies influence MMCO investments in addressing members' SDH.

Institute of Medicine Measures of Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health: A Feasibility Study.

Introduction: Social and behavioral factors are known to affect health but are not routinely assessed in medical practice. To date, no studies have assessed a parsimonious panel of measures of social and behavioral determinants of health (SBDs). This study evaluated the panel of SBD measures recommended by the Institute of Medicine and examined the effect of question order.

Transnational ties and the health of sub-Saharan African migrants: The moderating role of gender and family separation.

Recent scholarship has focused on the role that cross-border social and economic ties play in shaping health outcomes for migrant populations. Nevertheless, the extant empirical work on this topic has paid little attention to the health impacts of cross-border separation from close family members. In this paper we examine the association between cross-border ties-and cross-border separation-with the health of sub-Saharan African (SSA) migrant adults living in metropolitan France using data from the nationally representative "Trajectoire et Origines" survey (n = 1980 SSA migrants).

Police-Recorded Crime and Perceived Stress among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: the Diabetes Study of Northern California (DISTANCE).

While stress has been linked to poor health outcomes, little is known about the impact of objective measures of neighborhood crime on stress in patients with chronic disease. Using the Kaiser Permanente Diabetes Study of Northern California (DISTANCE), we examined associations between police-recorded crime (2005-2007) and stress (Perceived Stress Scale-4) in four large Northern California cities (Oakland, Sacramento, San Francisco, and San Jose). We performed stratified analysis by gender and race/ethnicity using generalized linear regression models.

Effects of Social Needs Screening and In-Person Service Navigation on Child Health: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Social determinants of health shape both children's immediate health and their lifetime risk for disease. Increasingly, pediatric health care organizations are intervening to address family social adversity. However, little evidence is available on the effectiveness of related interventions.

Household Food Insecurity Is Not Associated with Overall Diet Quality Among Pregnant Women in NHANES 1999-2008.

Objective: Analyze the association between household food security status and diet quality during pregnancy.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of pregnant women from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999 to 2008. Of the 1158 pregnant women with complete household food security information, we analyzed 688 women who had complete dietary information and household incomes ≤300 % of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).

Sugary beverage and food consumption, and leukocyte telomere length maintenance in pregnant women.

Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) has been inversely associated with sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption in cross-sectional studies, but no studies have examined whether dietary intake influences LTL over time. This study examined longitudinal associations between sugary foods and beverages and LTL. Participants were 65 overweight and obese pregnant women, aged 18-45 years, from a mindfulness intervention study conducted from early pregnancy (⩽16 weeks gestation) and followed through 9 months postpartum.

Clinical interventions addressing nonmedical health determinants in Medicaid managed care.

Objectives: We aimed to examine how interventions addressing social determinants of health (SDH) have been adopted in the context of Medicaid managed care organizations (MMCOs), which serve a large proportion of patients with social and economic barriers to good health.

Study Design: We designed a systematic literature review to examine how SDH interventions have been adopted in MMCOs.

Methods: The review included published articles from PubMed, Scopus, and Business Source databases, as well as review articles published in the gray literature and articles recommended by the study's National Advisory Committee to identify interventions describing how MMCOs have invested in interventions that address patients' SDH.

Validation of the Japanese Version of the Body Vigilance Scale.

The Body Vigilance Scale is a self-report measure of attention to bodily sensations. The measure was translated into Japanese and its reliability, validity, and factor structure were verified. Participants comprised 286 university students (age: 19 ± 1 years).

Lifetime Socioeconomic Status and Late-life Health Trajectories: Longitudinal Results From the Mexican Health and Aging Study.

Objective: This article examines the association between childhood and adult socioeconomic status (SES) and late-life health trajectories for older adults in Mexico.

Method: Data are from the Mexican Health and Aging Study, a panel survey that began with a nationally representative sample of Mexican adults 50 years and older at baseline (2001), with follow-up in 2003 and 2012. We use a hierarchical repeated measures model to estimate the relationship between SES and depressive symptoms, functional limitations, and self-rated health, respectively.

Communication Barriers and the Clinical Recognition of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy in a Diverse Cohort of Adults: The DISTANCE Study.

The purpose of this study was to explore communication barriers as independent predictors and potential mediators of variation in clinical recognition of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). In this cross-sectional analysis, we estimated the likelihood of having a DPN diagnosis among 4,436 patients with DPN symptoms. We controlled for symptom frequency, demographic and clinical characteristics, and visit frequency using a modified Poisson regression model.

Associations of perceived neighborhood safety and crime with cardiometabolic risk factors among a population with type 2 diabetes.

Little is known about how neighborhood crime may relate to health in diabetes patients. We examined associations between individuals' perceptions of neighborhood safety or violent crime and stress, physical activity, body mass index (BMI) or hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in a sample (n=721) of adults (mean age:63) with diabetes. Self-reported neighborhood safety, violent crime, physical activity, and stress were collected and linked to clinical measures of BMI and HbA1c.

Optimizing matching and analysis combinations for estimating causal effects.

Matching methods are common in studies across many disciplines. However, there is limited evidence on how to optimally combine matching with subsequent analysis approaches to minimize bias and maximize efficiency for the quantity of interest. We conducted simulations to compare the performance of a wide variety of matching methods and analysis approaches in terms of bias, variance, and mean squared error (MSE).

Species discovery and validation in a cryptic radiation of endangered primates: coalescent-based species delimitation in Madagascar's mouse lemurs.

Implementation of the coalescent model in a Bayesian framework is an emerging strength in genetically based species delimitation studies. By providing an objective measure of species diagnosis, these methods represent a quantitative enhancement to the analysis of multilocus data, and complement more traditional methods based on phenotypic and ecological characteristics. Recognized as two species 20 years ago, mouse lemurs (genus Microcebus) now comprise more than 20 species, largely diagnosed from mtDNA sequence data.

Dyslipidemia and Food Security in Low-Income US Adolescents: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2003-2010.

Introduction: Low levels of food security are associated with dyslipidemia and chronic disease in adults, particularly in women. There is a gap in knowledge about the relationship between food security among youth and dyslipidemia and chronic disease. We investigated the relationship between food security status and dyslipidemia among low-income adolescents.

Association between circulating CD34-positive cells and serum alkaline phosphatase in relation to body mass index for elderly Japanese men.

Background: Recent studies have confirmed an association between bone metabolism and vascular homeostasis. However, no study has examined the relationship between serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (a marker of bone metabolism) and circulating immature cell such as CD34-positive cells (a marker of vascular homeostasis).

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of this association in 272 elderly Japanese men (60-79 years).