Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Breastfeeding Continuation Among U.S. Hispanic Mothers: Identification of Mechanisms.

We examined the extent to which social, maternal, and infant factors and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) domains-attitudes, perceived control, and subjective norms-mediate the relationship between maternal race and ethnicity and birth country, and breastfeeding continuation. A nationally representative cohort of 2,810 mothers with self-reported race, ethnicity, and birth country was used. Main outcomes included any and exclusive breastfeeding at 2-6 months of infant age.

Influenza vaccination during pregnancy and risk of selected major structural congenital heart defects, National Birth Defects Prevention Study 2006-2011.

Background: Although results from studies of first-trimester influenza vaccination and congenital heart defects (CHDs) have been reassuring, data are limited for specific CHDs.

Methods: We assessed associations between reported maternal influenza vaccination, 1 month before pregnancy (B1) through end of third pregnancy month (P3), and specific CHDs using data from a multisite, population-based case-control study. Analysis included 2,982 case children diagnosed with a simple CHD (no other cardiac involvement with or without extracardiac defects) and 4,937 control children without a birth defect with estimated delivery dates during 2006-2011.

Association between Immunologic Markers and Cirrhosis in Individuals from a Prospective Chronic Hepatitis C Cohort.

Background: Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection can affect immune response and inflammatory pathways, leading to severe liver diseases such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: In a prospective cohort of chronically HCV-infected individuals, we sampled 68 individuals who developed cirrhosis, 91 controls who did not develop cirrhosis, and 94 individuals who developed HCC. Unconditional odds ratios (ORs) from polytomous logistic regression models and canonical discriminant analyses (CDAs) were used to compare categorical (C) baseline plasma levels for 102 markers in individuals who developed cirrhosis vs.

National Prevalence of Social Determinants of Health Screening Among US Neonatal Care Units.

Objectives: The extent that universal social determinants of health (SDH) screening in clinical encounters, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, has been implemented in inpatient pediatric settings is unknown. We aimed to determine the national prevalence and predictors of standardized SDH screening in US level 2 to 4 neonatal care units (NICUs), describe characteristics of SDH screening programs, and ascertain beliefs of clinical leaders about this practice in the NICU setting.

Methods: We randomly selected 100 hospitals with level 2 to 4 NICUs among each of 5 US regions (n = 500) and surveyed clinical leaders from January to November 2021 regarding standardized SDH screening.

A prospective analysis of red blood cell membrane polyunsaturated fatty acid levels and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Published studies report inconsistent associations of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) intake with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) risk. We conducted a nested case-control study in Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study participants to evaluate a hypothesis of inverse association of pre-diagnosis red blood cell (RBC) membrane PUFA levels with risk of NHL endpoints. We confirmed 583 NHL cases and matched 583 controls by cohort/sex, age, race and blood draw date/time.

Racial differences in the association of body mass index and ovarian cancer risk in the OCWAA Consortium.

Background: Obesity disproportionately affects African American (AA) women and has been shown to increase ovarian cancer risk, with some suggestions that the association may differ by race.

Methods: We evaluated body mass index (BMI) and invasive epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) risk in a pooled study of case-control and nested case-control studies including AA and White women. We evaluated both young adult and recent BMI (within the last 5 years).

Neighborhood disadvantage and lung cancer risk in a national cohort of never smoking Black women.

Background: Compared to women of other races who have never smoked, Black women have a higher risk of lung cancer. Whether neighborhood disadvantage, which Black women experience at higher rates than other women, is linked to never-smoking lung cancer risk remains unclear. This study investigates the association of neighborhood disadvantage and lung cancer risk in Black never-smoking women.

Different loneliness types, cognitive function, and brain structure in midlife: Findings from the Framingham Heart Study.

Background: It remains unclear whether persistent loneliness is related to brain structures that are associated with cognitive decline and development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study aimed to investigate the relationships between different loneliness types, cognitive functioning, and regional brain volumes.

Methods: Loneliness was measured longitudinally, using the item from the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale in the Framingham Heart Study, Generation 3, with participants' average age of 46·3 ± 8·6 years.

What Are the Factors Underlying Colorectal Cancer Health Disparities?

Black Americans have the highest colorectal cancer incidence and mortality rates of any U.S. racial/ethnic group.

Coffee consumption and risk of endometrial cancer: a pooled analysis of individual participant data in the Epidemiology of Endometrial Cancer Consortium (E2C2).

Background: Epidemiologic studies suggest that coffee consumption may be inversely associated with risk of endometrial cancer (EC), the most common gynecological malignancy in developed countries. Furthermore, coffee consumption may lower circulating concentrations of estrogen and insulin, hormones implicated in endometrial carcinogenesis. Antioxidants and other chemopreventive compounds in coffee may have anticarcinogenic effects.

Results and lessons from dual extraction of DNA and RNA from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded breast tumor tissues for a large Cancer epidemiologic study.

Background: The use of archived formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor tissues has become a common practice in clinical and epidemiologic genetic research. Simultaneous extraction of DNA and RNA from FFPE tissues is appealing but can be practically challenging. Here we report our results and lessons learned from processing FFPE breast tumor tissues for a large epidemiologic study.

White matter hyperintensities in former American football players.

Introduction: The presentation, risk factors, and etiologies of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in people exposed to repetitive head impacts are unknown. We examined the burden and distribution of WMH, and their association with years of play, age of first exposure, and clinical function in former American football players.

Methods: A total of 149 former football players and 53 asymptomatic unexposed participants (all men, 45-74 years) completed fluid-attenuated inversion recovery magnetic resonance imaging, neuropsychological testing, and self-report neuropsychiatric measures.

Enterohepatic Shunt-Driven Cholemia Predisposes to Liver Cancer.

Background & Aims: Pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which kills millions annually, is poorly understood. Identification of risk factors and modifiable determinants and mechanistic understanding of how they impact HCC are urgently needed.

Methods: We sought early prognostic indicators of HCC in C57BL/6 mice, which we found were prone to developing this disease when fed a fermentable fiber-enriched diet.

Racial and Sex Disparities in Gout Prevalence Among US Adults.

Importance: Emerging data suggest gout and hyperuricemia may now be more frequent among Black adults in the US than White adults, especially Black women. However, national-level, sex-specific general population data on racial differences in gout prevalence and potential socioclinical risk factors are lacking.

Objective: To identify sex-specific factors driving disparities between Black and White adults in contemporary gout prevalence in the US general population.

Perceived experiences of racism linked to dental fear and anxiety among Black women.

Objectives: Dental fear and anxiety are known determinants of delaying or avoiding dental care and vary considerably based on factors such as age and gender. However, little is known about dental fear and anxiety in racial/ethnic minority populations, which bear a disproportionate burden of poor oral health outcomes. Structural and social pathways responsible for producing these disparities are also understudied.

Body mass index trajectories, weight gain and risks of liver and biliary tract cancers.

Background: Little is known about the role of early obesity or weight change during adulthood in the development of liver cancer and biliary tract cancer (BTC).

Methods: We investigated the associations of body mass index (BMI) and weight trajectories with the risk of liver cancer and BTC in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO). BMI was self-reported at ages 20, 50, and at enrollment.

Anthropometric traits and risk of multiple myeloma: a pooled prospective analysis.

Background: Obesity is a risk factor for multiple myeloma (MM), yet results of prior studies have been mixed regarding the importance of early and/or later adult obesity; other measures of body composition have been less well studied.

Methods: We evaluated associations of early adult (ages 18-21) and usual adult body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and predicted fat mass with MM by pooling data from six U.S.

The association of age at menarche and adult height with mammographic density in the International Consortium of Mammographic Density.

Background: Early age at menarche and tall stature are associated with increased breast cancer risk. We examined whether these associations were also positively associated with mammographic density, a strong marker of breast cancer risk.

Methods: Participants were 10,681 breast-cancer-free women from 22 countries in the International Consortium of Mammographic Density, each with centrally assessed mammographic density and a common set of epidemiologic data.

Depression, religiosity, and telomere length in the Study on Stress, Spirituality, and Health (SSSH).

Prospective studies on the association between depression and telomere length have produced mixed results and have been largely limited to European ancestry populations. We examined the associations between depression and telomere length, and the modifying influence of religion and spirituality, in four cohorts, each representing a different race/ethnic population. Relative leukocyte telomere length (RTL) was measured by a quantitative polymerase chain reaction.