Re: “holocaust experience and mortality patterns: 4-decade follow-up in a population-based cohort”
In the article “Holocaust Experience and Mortality Patterns: 4-Decade Follow-up in a Population-Based Cohort” by Youssim et al. (1), there was an error in the corrected proof that was published online ahead of print on May 5, 2021. In the Acknowledgements section, the grant by Israel Science Foundation was incorrectly omitted. The original sentence read, “This work was supported by US National Institutes of Health grant R01-CA80197.” The correct sentence is, “This work was supported by US National Institutes of Health grant R01-CA80197 and Israel Science Foundation grant 1065/16.” This has been updated in the p...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - June 14, 2021 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Invited Commentary: Is the Long Shadow of Childhood Disadvantage on Lifelong Health Getting Worse Over Time?
AbstractSocial inequalities in health and their early-life origins have been extensively documented. Although the complex direct and intermediate mechanisms linking early-life disadvantage to later health are not yet fully understood, new findings on biological markers distinctly related with early-life experiences suggest a causal relationship. In this issue, Fuller-Rowell et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2021:190(11):2284 –2293) step back to examine the role of childhood disadvantage in the United States in different periods, observing that the relationship with later health seems to have strengthened over time. The main explan...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - June 8, 2021 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Gestational Exposure to Organophosphate Pesticides and Longitudinally Assessed Behaviors Related to Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Executive Function
AbstractThe brain ’s prefrontal cortex directs higher-order cognitive and behavioral processes that are important for attention, working memory, and inhibitory control. We investigated whether gestational exposure to organophosphate (OP) pesticides was associated with these abilities in childhood and early adolesce nce. Between 1999 and 2000, we enrolled pregnant women in a birth cohort drawn from an agricultural region of California. We measured dialkyl phosphate (DAP) metabolites of OP pesticides in maternal pregnancy urine samples (13 and 26 weeks) and estimated associations with behaviors related to attent ion-defici...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - June 8, 2021 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Fuller-Rowell et al. Respond to “The Long Shadow of Childhood Disadvantage”
We thank Melchior for her insightful commentary (1) on our article examining secular trends in the association between childhood socioeconomic disadvantage and adult health (2). We applaud Melchior ’s emphasis on the role of education and employment opportunities in shaping the association between childhood socioeconomic status and adult health, and agree that the accumulation of disadvantage across the life course should be a central consideration in understanding the reported trends. We ar e also in agreement on the importance of considering the direct and lasting biological impacts of childhood experiences on subseque...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - June 8, 2021 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Re: ``an innovative, prospective, hybrid cohort-cluster study design to characterize dengue virus transmission in multigenerational households in kamphaeng phet, thailand''
In the article “An Innovative, Prospective, Hybrid Cohort-Cluster Study Design to Characterize Dengue Virus Transmission in Multigenerational Households in Kamphaeng Phet, Thailand” by Anderson et al. (1), there was an error in the initial publication. On page 655, the legend for Figure 4 incorrectly assigned strata of dengue virus (DENV) serostatus by color as dark gray for DENV-naive individuals, light gray for individuals with multitypic DENV immunity, and white for individuals with monotypic DENV immunity. The correct order is dark gray, multitypic; light gray, monotypic; and white, naive. This has been updated in ...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - June 8, 2021 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Assortativity and Bias in Epidemiologic Studies of Contagious Outcomes: A Simulated Example in the Context of Vaccination
AbstractAssortativity is the tendency of individuals connected in a network to share traits and behaviors. Through simulations, we demonstrated the potential for bias resulting from assortativity by vaccination, where vaccinated individuals are more likely to be connected with other vaccinated individuals. We simulated outbreaks of a hypothetical infectious disease and vaccine in a randomly generated network and a contact network of university students living on campus. We varied protection of the vaccine to the individual, transmission potential of vaccinated-but-infected individuals, and assortativity by vaccination. We ...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - June 4, 2021 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Strengthening Health Services Research Using Target Trial Emulation: An Application to Volume-Outcomes Studies
AbstractThe number of operations that surgeons have previously performed is associated with their patients ’ outcomes. However, this association may not be causal, because previous studies have often been cross-sectional and their analyses have not considered time-varying confounding or positivity violations. In this paper, using the example of surgeons who perform coronary artery bypass grafting, we d escribe (hypothetical) target trials for estimation of the causal effect of the surgeons’ operative volumes on patient mortality. We then demonstrate how to emulate these target trials using data from US Medicare claims ...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - June 4, 2021 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Will Podcasting and Social Media Replace Journals and Traditional Science Communication? No, but...
AbstractThe digital world in which we live is changing rapidly. The evolving media environment is having a direct impact on traditional forms of communication and knowledge translation in public health and epidemiology. Openly accessible digital media can be used to reach a broader and more diverse audience of trainees, scientists, and the lay public than can traditional forms of scientific communication. The new digital landscape for delivering content is vast, and new platforms are continuously being added. In this article, we focus on several, including Twitter and podcasting, and discuss their relevance to epidemiology...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - June 4, 2021 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
The authors reply
We thank Dr. Kawada for his observations (1). As Kawada correctly points out, a limitation of our analysis was the use of different questions for proxy reporters compared with self-reporters. As we noted in our article (2), the subjective question administered to proxy reporters asked about the amount of time spent in bed each night, while the question administered to self-reporters asked about time spent asleep. Although it would have been preferable to have had proxy reporters queried about time spent asleep rather than time spent in bed, it is not clear whether the phrasing of the question substantially affected subject...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - June 3, 2021 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Zheng and Echave Respond to “Population Health in Peril”
We thank Fuller-Rowell for his careful reading of our paper (1) and very insightful commentary (2). We also appreciate him pointing out an error and now present findings based on the corrected measurement. Further, we answer some key points raised in Fuller-Rowell ’s commentary. (Source: American Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - June 3, 2021 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Invited Commentary: Population Health in Peril —Needed US Science and Public Policy Action
AbstractWith unprecedented increases, mortality trends in the United States have received significant attention in recent years. To date, research on this topic has emphasized specific causes of death and proximal behavioral or physiological determinants. In this commentary, I consider novel contributions of Zheng and Echave (Am J Epidemiol. 2021;190(11):2242 –2255) in examining trends in mental health, health behaviors, and physiological dysregulation. I then discuss broader developments in related research and make a case for: 1) not allowing recent health trends among Whites to overshadow the urgent work that needs to...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - June 3, 2021 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Re: “a comparison of self- and proxy-reported subjective sleep durations with objective actigraphy measurements in a survey of wisconsin children 6–17 years of age”
Holzhausen et al. (1) assessed the association between subjective sleep duration and objective actigraphy measures with special reference to age and proxy effects in children aged 6 –17 years. Proxy reporters and self-reporters overestimated sleep duration by 2.3 hours and 1.0 hours, respectively, which was not influenced by age. I have 3 comments regarding Holzhausen et al.’s study. (Source: American Journal of Epidemiology)
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - June 3, 2021 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Effect of Delays in Concordant Antibiotic Treatment on Mortality in Patients With Hospital-Acquired Acinetobacter Species Bacteremia: Emulating a Target Randomized Trial With a 13-Year Retrospective Cohort
AbstractDelays in treating bacteremias with antibiotics to which the causative organism is susceptible are expected to adversely affect patient outcomes. Quantifying the impact of such delays to concordant treatment is important for decision-making about interventions to reduce the delays and for quantifying the burden of disease due to antimicrobial resistance. There are, however, potentially important biases to be addressed, including immortal time bias. We aimed to estimate the impact of delays in appropriate antibiotic treatment of patients withAcinetobacter species hospital-acquired bacteremia in Thailand on 30-day mo...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - May 27, 2021 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Associations of Reduced Ambient PM2.5 Level With Lower Plasma Glucose Concentration and Decreased Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in Adults: A Longitudinal Cohort Study
In this study, we investigated the associations between dynamic changes in long-term exposure to ambient fine particulate matter, defined as particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5), and changes in fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels and incidence of type 2 diabetes. A total of 151,398 adults (ages ≥18 years) were recruited in Taiwan between 2001 and 2014. All participants were followed up for a mean duration of 5.0 years. Change in PM2.5 ( ΔPM2.5) was defined as the value at a follow-up visit minus the corresponding value at the immediately preceding visit. The PM2.5 concentration in Taiwan in...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - May 27, 2021 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Seroprevalence and Incidence and Growth of Ultrasound-Diagnosed Uterine Fibroids in a Large Population of Young African-American Women
AbstractReproductive tract infections have long been hypothesized to be risk factors for development of uterine fibroids, but few studies have investigated the issue. In our 2016 cross-sectional analysis from the Study of Environment, Lifestyle and Fibroids (2010 –2018), a large Detroit, Michigan, community-based cohort study of 23- to 35-year-old African-American women with ultrasound fibroid screening, we found no association between a very prevalent reproductive tract infection, herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), and fibroids. With prospective data fr om the cohort (ultrasounds performed every 20 months over 5 years...
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - May 27, 2021 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
