Geographic Elevation, Car Driving, and Depression among Elderly Residents in Rural Areas: The Shimane CoHRE Study.

Given that public transportation networks are often worse in rural areas than in urban areas, it is difficult for elderly non-drivers to access health-promoting goods, services, and resources related to mental health. Moreover, geographical location, assessed by elevation, could modify this association in a rural area. The aim of this study was to test whether the association between car driving (being a driver or not) and depression, as measured by the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), varied by elevation.

Associations with E-cigarette use among Asian American and Pacific Islander young adults in California.

With attention to the rapidly growing market of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS/e-cigarettes) and the fastest growing US ethnic minority group, the current study explored associations between awareness, perceived risks, and use of ENDS among Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) young adults. AAPI young adults (ages 18-25) in California were recruited via social media, college classes, listservs for AAPI-serving non-profits, and snowball sampling to complete an anonymous survey between 2014 and 2015. The sample (N = 501) was 57% women, 15% LGBTQIA; with a mean age of 21; 26% foreign-born; identifying as Filipino (29%), Chinese (24%), Vietnamese (14%), mixed-AAPI heritage (13%), or 21% other.

Comparative rates of harms in randomized trials from more developed versus less developed countries may be different.

Objectives: We set up to evaluate the relative risk of harms in trials performed in less developed vs. more developed countries.

Study Design And Setting: Meta-epidemiologic evaluation using the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

Integrated Palliative Care and Oncologic Care in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.

Palliative care integrated into standard medical oncologic care will transform the way we approach and practice oncologic care. Integration of appropriate components of palliative care into oncologic treatment using a pathway-based approach will be described in this review. Care pathways build on disease status (early, locally advanced, advanced) as well as patient and family needs.

Health-related quality of life among veterans in addictions treatment: identifying behavioral targets for future intervention.

Background: US veterans report lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL) relative to the general population. Identifying behavioral factors related to HRQoL that are malleable to change may inform interventions to improve well-being in this vulnerable group.

Purpose: The current study sought to characterize HRQoL in a largely male sample of veterans in addictions treatment, both in relation to US norms and in association with five recommended health behavior practices: regularly exercising, managing stress, having good sleep hygiene, consuming fruits and vegetables, and being tobacco free.

Caring for Children in Immigrant Families: Vulnerabilities, Resilience, and Opportunities.

Demographics indicate that pediatricians increasingly care for children in immigrant families in routine practice. Although these children may be at risk for health disparities relating to socioeconomic disadvantage and cultural or linguistic challenges, immigrant families have unique strengths and potential for resilience. Adaptive and acculturation processes concerning health and well-being can be mediated by cultural media.

Social disparities in dietary habits among women: Geographic Research on Wellbeing (GROW) Study.

Objective: Relationships among race/ethnicity, individual socio-economic status (SES), neighbourhood SES and acculturation are complex. We sought to answer whether: (i) race/ethnicity, individual SES and neighbourhood SES have independent effects on women's fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC); (ii) SES modifies the effects of race/ethnicity on FVC; and (iii) nativity modifies the effect of Latina ethnicity on FVC.

Design: Cross-sectional surveys from the population-based Geographic Research on Wellbeing (GROW) Study were linked with census-tract level data.

Geographic Elevation and Cognitive Function among Elderly Residents in Rural Mountainous Areas: Shimane CoHRE Study.

The aim of this study was to test whether there is an association between elevation and cognitive function among elderly residents in rural mountainous areas. Data were collected in 2012 from a cross-sectional study conducted in Ohnan Town, which is located in a rural mountainous area in the southern part of Shimane Prefecture, Japan. Cognitive function was evaluated using CADi (Cognitive Assessment for Dementia, iPad version) and elevation was estimated by using Geographic Information Systems according to the participant's address.

Assessment of vibration of effects due to model specification can demonstrate the instability of observational associations.

Objectives: Model specification-what adjusting variables are analytically modeled-may influence results of observational associations. We present a standardized approach to quantify the variability of results obtained with choices of adjustments called the "vibration of effects" (VoE).

Study Design And Setting: We estimated the VoE for 417 clinical, environmental, and physiological variables in association with all-cause mortality using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data.

Accessible Transportation, Geographic Elevation, and Masticatory Ability Among Elderly Residents of a Rural Area.

Given that public transportation networks are often worse in rural areas than in urban areas, rural residents who do not drive can find it difficult to access health-promoting goods, services, and resources related to masticatory ability. Moreover, geographical location, assessed by elevation, could modify this association. The aim of this study was to test whether the association between access to transportation and masticatory ability varied by elevation.

Tapping Underserved Students to Reshape the Biomedical Workforce.

Low-income and underrepresented minority students remain a largely untapped source of new professionals that are increasingly needed to diversify and strengthen the biomedical workforce. Precollege enrichment programs offer a promising strategy to stop the "leak" in the biomedical pipeline. However, in the era of highly competitive science education funding, there is a lack of consensus about the elements that predict the long-term viability of such programs.

Perinatal risk factors for acute myeloid leukemia.

Infectious etiologies have been hypothesized for acute leukemias because of their high incidence in early childhood, but have seldom been examined for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We conducted the first large cohort study to examine perinatal factors including season of birth, a proxy for perinatal infectious exposures, and risk of AML in childhood through young adulthood. A national cohort of 3,569,333 persons without Down syndrome who were born in Sweden in 1973-2008 were followed up for AML incidence through 2010 (maximum age 38 years).

Calcium and vitamin D supplementation do not influence menopause-related symptoms: Results of the Women's Health Initiative Trial.

Background: It is unknown whether supplementation with calcium and vitamin D has an impact on menopause-related symptoms.

Methods: As part of the Women's Health Initiative Calcium/Vitamin D Supplementation Trial (CaD), women were randomized at 40 clinical sites to elemental calcium carbonate 1000 mg with vitamin D 400 IU daily or placebo. At the CaD baseline visit (year 1 or year 2) and during a mean follow-up of 5.

Engaging veterans with substance abuse disorders into a research trial: success with study branding, networking, and presence.

Recruiting and retaining clients in health interventions can be challenging especially when targeting multiple behavior change in high-risk populations. To inform the methods of trials working with similarly complex clinical populations, we describe multi-pronged efforts to recruit and retain a representative sample. In a two-group RCT, veterans were recruited from a Veteran Affairs Medical Center.

Meta-analyses triggered by previous (false-)significant findings: problems and solutions.

Background: Meta-analyses are typically triggered by a (potentially false-significant) finding in one of the preceding primary studies. We studied consequences of meta-analysis investigating effects when primary studies that triggered such meta-analysis are also included.

Methods: We analytically determined the bias of the treatment effect estimates obtained by meta-analysis, conditional on the number of included primary and false-significant studies.

Smoking cessation abstinence goal in treatment-seeking smokers.

Introduction: Baseline abstinence goal is a robust predictor of cigarette abstinence. However, important questions about goal remain unanswered. These include variables correlating with goal, changes in goal, relationship of goal and abstinence status over time, and predictors of change.

Prevalence and correlates of electronic-cigarette use in young adults: findings from three studies over five years.

Background: We aimed to examine prevalence and correlates of past-month electronic cigarette ("e-cigarette") use and use of e-cigarettes to aid a cessation attempt in three samples of young adult smokers recruited online in 2009-2010 (Study 1), 2010-2011 (Study 2), and 2013 (Study 3).

Methods: Participants were young adults aged 18 to 25 who smoked at least one cigarette in the previous month (Study 1, N=1987 and Study 2, N=570) or smoked 3 or more days each week and used Facebook 4 or more days per week (Study 3, N=79). We examined both past-month e-cigarette use and ever use of e-cigarettes to quit conventional cigarettes.

Relationships between dog ownership and physical activity in postmenopausal women.

Background: Positive associations between dog ownership and physical activity in older adults have been previously reported.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to examine cross-sectional associations between dog ownership and physical activity measures in a well-characterized, diverse sample of postmenopausal women.

Methods: Analyses included 36,984 dog owners (mean age: 61.

A CONTROLLED EVALUATION OF A HIGH SCHOOL BIOMEDICAL PIPELINE PROGRAM: DESIGN AND METHODS.

Given limited funding for school-based science education, non-school-based programs have been developed at colleges and universities to increase the number of students entering science- and health-related careers and address critical workforce needs. However, few evaluations of such programs have been conducted. We report the design and methods of a controlled trial to evaluate the Stanford Medical Youth Science Program's Summer Residential Program (SRP), a 25-year-old university-based biomedical pipeline program.

Network geometry shows evidence sequestration for medical vs. surgical practices: treatments for basal cell carcinoma.

Objectives: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common cancer with 2 million treatments per year with little evidence-based guidelines for treatment. There are three classes of interventions (surgical, destructive, and topical) for BCC, and this study aimed to determine whether there are preferences or avoidances in comparisons of different types of treatments for BCC in randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

Study Design And Setting: PubMed, Cochrane Central Registry of Clinical Trials, and ClinicalTrials.

Evidence-based de-implementation for contradicted, unproven, and aspiring healthcare practices.

Abandoning ineffective medical practices and mitigating the risks of untested practices are important for improving patient health and containing healthcare costs. Historically, this process has relied on the evidence base, societal values, cultural tensions, and political sway, but not necessarily in that order. We propose a conceptual framework to guide and prioritize this process, shifting emphasis toward the principles of evidence-based medicine, acknowledging that evidence may still be misinterpreted or distorted by recalcitrant proponents of entrenched practices and other biases.

Turn off the TV and dance! Participation in culturally tailored health interventions: implications for obesity prevention among Mexican American girls.

Our evaluation study identifies facilitators and barriers to participation among families participating in the treatment arm of Stanford ECHALE. This culturally tailored obesity prevention trial consisted of a combined intervention with two main treatment components: 1) a folkloric dance program; and 2) a screen time reduction curriculum designed for 7-11 year old Latinas and their families. We conducted 83 interviews (40 parents and 43 girls) in participant homes after 6 months of enrollment in the ECHALE trial.