SSM - Population Health

ObjectiveTo characterize associations between tattooing and health status. MethodsWe used data from [~]27,000 respondents to the 2020-2022 Utah Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Multivariable Poisson regression was used to calculate prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) associating ever receiving a tattoo with physical/mental health status. ResultsIn this cross-sectional study, ever receiving a tattoo was associated with self-reported "poorer" vs. "excellen...

ObjectiveTo examine racial and ethnic inequities in wealth and health among New York City adults. MethodsWe conducted the 2024 NYC Racial Wealth and Health Gap Survey using a stratified quota sample of 2,866 adults across 11 racial and ethnic groups. Wealth was measured through self-reported assets and debts, and health through self-reported status and psychological distress. We calculated descriptive statistics across groups and used quantile regression to test for significant differences in a...

BackgroundEarly life social determinants of health, such as childhood trauma, have implication on adverse health outcomes later in the life course. Our objective was to develop a childhood trauma measure within the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) - a large, diverse, U.S.-based aging cohort. MethodsData from the HRS Psychosocial and Lifestyle Questionnaire [2006-2016] and Life History Survey [2015-2017]) surveys collected thirteen binary items measuring self-reported exposure to early life adv...

ObjectiveTo re-estimate and re-validate the Area Deprivation Index to address recent criticism of the existing index, which is calculated and distributed by Neighborhood Atlas. Data SourcesTo calculate the updated Area Deprivation Index (ADI), we obtained 17 census measures from the 2018-2022 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year data that reflected poverty, housing, employment, and education within census block groups, census tracts, and counties. To validate the association of the updated in...

BackgroundCardiometabolic disease risk is disproportionately high in rural U.S. communities, where behavioral and metabolic determinants often intersect. However, relationships between sleep, psychological distress, and blood pressure variability remain understudied in rural communities. ObjectiveTo assess how sleep, depressive symptoms, and metabolic indicators influence blood pressure outcomes in rural adults. MethodsIn this exploratory descriptive cross-sectional study, survey and clinical ...

Many Asian American (AA) subgroups experience disproportionate rates of cardiometabolic (CMB) conditions, yet the contextual drivers of these disparities remain unclear. Little is known about the role of Asian residential segregation, often conceptualized as Asian enclaves, with limited prior work largely ignoring region of origin and nativity. Using six years of population-based survey data from New York City (N>6,000 AAs) linked with multiple sources of community data, we examine how residence...

ObjectivesTo examine associations between cardiometabolic conditions and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and to evaluate whether condition-associated HRQoL changed from 2001 to 2022. MethodsWe analyzed nationally representative data from U.S. adults aged [≥]18 years in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2001-2022. Survey years without BMI data (2017, 2019, 2021) were excluded. EQ-5D utilities were mapped from SF-12 scores using a validated algorithm. For each survey year, survey-we...

Perinatal depression (PD) is common and disabling, yet its longitudinal comorbidity patterns and predictability remain poorly understood. This study leveraged 8,804 women with delivery records in the All of Us cohort, including 438 with clinically diagnosed postpartum depression (PPD), to characterize multimorbidity trajectories and develop integrated prediction models. Comorbidities were grouped into 38 conditions across psychiatric, autoimmune, metabolic, neurological/pain, and reproductive/gy...

ObjectivesGrowth Mindset and Grit have been proposed as key psychological resources for resilience and adaptation, yet their manifestation and social distribution in later life remain underexplored. This study examines the structure, distribution, and correlates of Growth Mindset and Grit in older adulthood using proxy indicators in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). MethodsProxy indicators reflecting learning behaviour, personality traits, affect, and beliefs were used to derive ...

Nurses represent the largest segment of the United States healthcare workforce and played an instrumental role in the countrys response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, little attention has been given to the contribution of this component of the U.S. medical personnel in the nations ability to face public health crisis. We present a cross-sectional, ecological analysis using cumulative annual reports from different national databases to assess the relationship between registered nurse (RN) density...

Abstract/SummaryFinancial exploitation of older adults is an increasingly prevalent public health concern, yet few have characterized fraud prevalence longitudinally or evaluated whether financial exploitation vulnerability measures prospectively predict fraud outcomes. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, we examined fraud prevalence across a 14-year period and tested whether the Perceived Financial Vulnerability Scale (PFVS) predicts subsequent fraud victimization among older adult...

BackgroundLongitudinal evidence on the association between temperature fluctuations and psychological wellbeing remains limited, particularly in ageing populations of Southeast Asia. This study examines how heat exposure affects multiple wellbeing outcomes among older adults in Thailand. MethodsWe linked longitudinal data from 16,002 observations in the Health, Aging, and Retirement in Thailand (HART) study (2015-2023) with province-level meteorological data. Using a multilevel mixed-effects mo...

BackgroundSmoking, unhealthy nutrition, alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity (SNAP behaviours) are major risk factors for multimorbidity but are often studied in isolation. Using longitudinal data, Suhag et al. identified clusters of older adults (aged [≥]50) with common SNAP behaviour patterns and distinct sociodemographic profiles and multimorbidity prevalence; whether and how these patterns generalise across adulthood remains unclear. AimTo conceptually replicate Suhag et al. acro...

BackgroundSynthetic cohorts created by combining two cohorts can be useful when no single data set includes both the exposure and outcome data of interest. We estimate the effects of depression in early adulthood on later-life memory outcome using two nationally representative cohorts separately and in a synthetic sample. MethodsWe used the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1979 (NLSY; N=5,747) and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS; N=6,846) and a synthetic cohort combining exposure data ...

BackgroundVitamin D supplementation has been investigated for potential associations with cardiometabolic risk factors related to cardiovascular disease (CVD); however, findings from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) remain inconsistent. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the effects of vitamin D supplementation on cardiometabolic risk factors--including lipid profile, blood pressure, and glycaemic parameters--and to explore whether age and baseline serum vitamin D concentrations modify these ...

IMPORTANCEAdverse childhood experience (ACE) scores mask substantial heterogeneity within the 2-, 3-, and [≥]4-ACE exposure categories. The magnitude of this heterogeneity has not been sufficiently quantified. OBJECTIVETo quantify and visualise the heterogeneity of ACE scores. DESIGNCross-sectional analysis of the 2023 National Survey of Childrens Health, an address-based, nationally representative survey. SETTINGUS households. PARTICIPANTSA national sample of 385,000 addresses was drawn....

BackgroundHigher childhood (pre-morbid) cognitive function (IQ) appears to confer a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) episodes in adulthood, however, the underpinning mechanisms are uncertain. We tested the association between childhood cognitive ability and later CVD risk factors that may underpin this gradient. MethodsWe used data from two well-characterized prospective birth cohort studies initiated in the United Kingdom in 1958 (N=10870) and 1970 (N=9278). Cognitive function was qu...

In death certificates Entity Axis reflects reported death causes in their original order, and Record Axis reflects standardized re-classifications processed with expert rules. Additionally, while conventional mortality statistics consider a single underlying cause ignoring multiple contributing conditions, weighting schemes may consider all listed causes. We evaluated the impact of re-classification and weighting schemes across all 56,986,831 US death certificates from 2003-2023. ICD-10 codes we...

IntroductionDepression is highly prevalent among young adults worldwide. While research links health behaviours, such as dietary intake, to depression, few studies have examined these associations among young adults in low- and middle-income countries, including South Africa. This study investigated whether dietary intake was associated with an increased risk of depression in a cohort of young South African adults, aged 20-30 years, as part of the Global burden of disease Lifestyle And mental Di...

Background and objectiveCardiovascular disease (CVD) is highly prevalent affecting one in six Australians. Tooth loss has consistently been associated with an increased risk of CVD, influenced by social determinants of health as well as effects on chewing function and diet. However, there is little evidence regarding the role of diet on the relationship between tooth loss and CVD. This study aimed to determine the impact of retaining a functional dentition (minimum of 20 teeth) on the risk of in...