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Elser H, Kruse CFG, Schwartz BS, Casey JA. The Environment and Headache: a Narrative Review. Curr Environ Health Rep 2024; 11:184-203. [PMID: 38642284 DOI: 10.1007/s40572-024-00449-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/12/2024] [Indexed: 04/22/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW In this narrative review, we summarize the peer-reviewed literature published between 2017 and 2022 that evaluated ambient environmental risk factors for primary headache disorders, which affect more than half of the population globally. Primary headache disorders include migraine, tension-type headache (TTH), and trigeminal and autonomic cephalalgias (TAC). RECENT FINDINGS We identified 17 articles that met the inclusion criteria via PubMed or Google Scholar. Seven studies (41%) relied on data from US populations. The remaining studies were conducted in China, Taiwan, Germany, Ghana, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, and Turkey. Air pollution was the most frequently assessed environmental risk factor. Most studies were cross-sectional and focused on all-cause or migraine headaches; one study included TTH, and none included TAC. Short-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) was not consistently associated with headache endpoints, but long-term exposure to PM2.5 was associated with migraine headache prevalence and severity across multiple studies. Elevated ambient temperature, changes in weather, oil and gas well exposure, and less natural greenspace, but not noise pollution, were also associated with headache. No studies considered water pollution, metal exposure, ultrafine particulate matter, or wildfire smoke exposure. There is a need for ongoing research focused on headache and the environment. Study designs with the greatest explanatory power may include longitudinal studies that capture the episodic nature of headache and case-crossover analysis, which control for time-invariant individual-level confounders by design. There is also a clear need for research that considers comorbid psychiatric illness and socioeconomic position as powerful modifiers of the effect of the environment on headache.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
| | - Caroline F G Kruse
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Brian S Schwartz
- Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Joan A Casey
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, WA, USA
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Casey JA, Kioumourtzoglou MA, Padula A, González DJX, Elser H, Aguilera R, Northrop AJ, Tartof SY, Mayeda ER, Braun D, Dominici F, Eisen EA, Morello-Frosch R, Benmarhnia T. Measuring long-term exposure to wildfire PM 2.5 in California: Time-varying inequities in environmental burden. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2306729121. [PMID: 38349877 PMCID: PMC10895344 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2306729121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/13/2024] [Indexed: 02/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Wildfires have become more frequent and intense due to climate change and outdoor wildfire fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations differ from relatively smoothly varying total PM2.5. Thus, we introduced a conceptual model for computing long-term wildfire PM2.5 and assessed disproportionate exposures among marginalized communities. We used monitoring data and statistical techniques to characterize annual wildfire PM2.5 exposure based on intermittent and extreme daily wildfire PM2.5 concentrations in California census tracts (2006 to 2020). Metrics included: 1) weeks with wildfire PM2.5 < 5 μg/m3; 2) days with non-zero wildfire PM2.5; 3) mean wildfire PM2.5 during peak exposure week; 4) smoke waves (≥2 consecutive days with <15 μg/m3 wildfire PM2.5); and 5) mean annual wildfire PM2.5 concentration. We classified tracts by their racial/ethnic composition and CalEnviroScreen (CES) score, an environmental and social vulnerability composite measure. We examined associations of CES and racial/ethnic composition with the wildfire PM2.5 metrics using mixed-effects models. Averaged 2006 to 2020, we detected little difference in exposure by CES score or racial/ethnic composition, except for non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native populations, where a 1-SD increase was associated with higher exposure for 4/5 metrics. CES or racial/ethnic × year interaction term models revealed exposure disparities in some years. Compared to their California-wide representation, the exposed populations of non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native (1.68×, 95% CI: 1.01 to 2.81), white (1.13×, 95% CI: 0.99 to 1.32), and multiracial (1.06×, 95% CI: 0.97 to 1.23) people were over-represented from 2006 to 2020. In conclusion, during our study period in California, we detected disproportionate long-term wildfire PM2.5 exposure for several racial/ethnic groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joan A. Casey
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY10032
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, WA98195
| | | | - Amy Padula
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA94143
| | - David J. X. González
- Department of Environmental Policy, Science, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA94720
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA94704
| | - Holly Elser
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | - Rosana Aguilera
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA92037
| | | | - Sara Y. Tartof
- Department of Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Pasadena, CA91101
| | - Elizabeth Rose Mayeda
- Department of Epidemiology, University of California Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA90095
| | - Danielle Braun
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA02115
- Department of Data Science, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA02215
| | - Francesca Dominici
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA02115
| | - Ellen A. Eisen
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA94704
| | - Rachel Morello-Frosch
- Department of Environmental Policy, Science, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA94720
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA94704
| | - Tarik Benmarhnia
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA92037
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Shaik NF, Law CA, Elser H, Schneider ALC. Trends in Traumatic Brain Injury Mortality in the US. JAMA Neurol 2024; 81:194-195. [PMID: 38048122 PMCID: PMC10696510 DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2023.4618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023]
Abstract
This cohort study characterizes US trends in traumatic brain injury–related mortality by age, sex, and race and ethnicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noor F. Shaik
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Connor A. Law
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Holly Elser
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Andrea L. C. Schneider
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Hunzinger KJ, Law CA, Elser H, Walter AE, Windham BG, Palta P, Juraschek SP, Hicks CW, Gottesman RF, Schneider ALC. Associations Between Head Injury and Subsequent Risk of Falls: Results From the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. Neurology 2023; 101:e2234-e2242. [PMID: 37816634 PMCID: PMC10727209 DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000207949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/12/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Falls are a leading cause of head injury among older adults, but the risk of fall occurring after a head injury is less well-characterized. We sought to examine the association between head injury and subsequent risk of falls requiring hospital care among community-dwelling older adults. METHODS This analysis included 13,081 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study enrolled in 1987-1989 and followed through 2019. The association of head injury (time-varying exposure, self-reported and/or ICD-9/10 code identified) with the risk of subsequent (occurring >1-month after head injury) falls requiring hospital care (ICD-9/10 code defined) was modeled using Cox proportional hazards regression. Secondary analyses included Fine and Gray proportional hazards regression to account for the competing risk of death, analysis of head injury frequency and severity, and formal testing for interaction by age, sex, and race. Models were adjusted for age, sex, race/center, education, military service, alcohol consumption, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and psychotropic medication use. RESULTS The mean age of participants at baseline was 54 years, 58% were female, 28% were Black, and 14% had at least one head injury occurring over the study period. Over a median 23 years of follow-up, 29% of participants had a fall requiring medical care. In adjusted Cox proportional hazards models, individuals with head injury had 2.01 (95% CI 1.85-2.18) times the risk of falls compared with individuals without head injury. Accounting for the competing risk of mortality, individuals with head injury had 1.69 (95% CI 1.57-1.82) times the risk of falls compared with individuals without head injury. We observed stronger associations among men compared with women (men: hazard ratio [HR] = 2.60, 95% CI 2.25-3.00; women: HR = 1.80, 95% CI 1.63-1.99, p-interaction <0.001). We observed evidence of a dose-response association for head injury number and severity with fall risk (1 injury: HR = 1.68, 95% CI 1.53-1.84; 2+ injuries: HR = 2.37, 95% CI 1.92-2.94 and mild: HR = 1.97, 95% CI 1.78-2.18; moderate/severe/penetrating: HR = 2.50, 95% CI 2.06-3.02). DISCUSSION Among community-dwelling older adults followed over 30 years, head injury was associated with subsequent falls requiring medical care. We observed stronger associations among men and with increasing number and severity of head injuries. Whether older individuals with head injury might benefit from fall prevention measures should be a focus of future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine J Hunzinger
- From the Department of Exercise Science (K.J.H.), Thomas Jefferson University; Department of Neurology (C.A.L., A.E.W., A.L.S.), University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; Department of Neurology (H.E.), Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center (B.G.W.), University of Mississippi Medical Center; Department of Neurology (P.P.), University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; Department of Medicine (S.P.J.), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Department of Surgery (C.W.H.), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R.F.G.); Department of Biostatistics (A.L.S.), Epidemiology, and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; and Penn Injury Science Center (A.L.S.), University of Pennsylvania.
| | - Connor A Law
- From the Department of Exercise Science (K.J.H.), Thomas Jefferson University; Department of Neurology (C.A.L., A.E.W., A.L.S.), University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; Department of Neurology (H.E.), Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center (B.G.W.), University of Mississippi Medical Center; Department of Neurology (P.P.), University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; Department of Medicine (S.P.J.), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Department of Surgery (C.W.H.), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R.F.G.); Department of Biostatistics (A.L.S.), Epidemiology, and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; and Penn Injury Science Center (A.L.S.), University of Pennsylvania
| | - Holly Elser
- From the Department of Exercise Science (K.J.H.), Thomas Jefferson University; Department of Neurology (C.A.L., A.E.W., A.L.S.), University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; Department of Neurology (H.E.), Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center (B.G.W.), University of Mississippi Medical Center; Department of Neurology (P.P.), University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; Department of Medicine (S.P.J.), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Department of Surgery (C.W.H.), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R.F.G.); Department of Biostatistics (A.L.S.), Epidemiology, and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; and Penn Injury Science Center (A.L.S.), University of Pennsylvania
| | - Alexa E Walter
- From the Department of Exercise Science (K.J.H.), Thomas Jefferson University; Department of Neurology (C.A.L., A.E.W., A.L.S.), University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; Department of Neurology (H.E.), Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center (B.G.W.), University of Mississippi Medical Center; Department of Neurology (P.P.), University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; Department of Medicine (S.P.J.), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Department of Surgery (C.W.H.), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R.F.G.); Department of Biostatistics (A.L.S.), Epidemiology, and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; and Penn Injury Science Center (A.L.S.), University of Pennsylvania
| | - B Gwen Windham
- From the Department of Exercise Science (K.J.H.), Thomas Jefferson University; Department of Neurology (C.A.L., A.E.W., A.L.S.), University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; Department of Neurology (H.E.), Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center (B.G.W.), University of Mississippi Medical Center; Department of Neurology (P.P.), University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; Department of Medicine (S.P.J.), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Department of Surgery (C.W.H.), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R.F.G.); Department of Biostatistics (A.L.S.), Epidemiology, and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; and Penn Injury Science Center (A.L.S.), University of Pennsylvania
| | - Priya Palta
- From the Department of Exercise Science (K.J.H.), Thomas Jefferson University; Department of Neurology (C.A.L., A.E.W., A.L.S.), University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; Department of Neurology (H.E.), Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center (B.G.W.), University of Mississippi Medical Center; Department of Neurology (P.P.), University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; Department of Medicine (S.P.J.), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Department of Surgery (C.W.H.), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R.F.G.); Department of Biostatistics (A.L.S.), Epidemiology, and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; and Penn Injury Science Center (A.L.S.), University of Pennsylvania
| | - Stephen P Juraschek
- From the Department of Exercise Science (K.J.H.), Thomas Jefferson University; Department of Neurology (C.A.L., A.E.W., A.L.S.), University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; Department of Neurology (H.E.), Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center (B.G.W.), University of Mississippi Medical Center; Department of Neurology (P.P.), University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; Department of Medicine (S.P.J.), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Department of Surgery (C.W.H.), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R.F.G.); Department of Biostatistics (A.L.S.), Epidemiology, and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; and Penn Injury Science Center (A.L.S.), University of Pennsylvania
| | - Caitlin W Hicks
- From the Department of Exercise Science (K.J.H.), Thomas Jefferson University; Department of Neurology (C.A.L., A.E.W., A.L.S.), University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; Department of Neurology (H.E.), Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center (B.G.W.), University of Mississippi Medical Center; Department of Neurology (P.P.), University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; Department of Medicine (S.P.J.), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Department of Surgery (C.W.H.), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R.F.G.); Department of Biostatistics (A.L.S.), Epidemiology, and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; and Penn Injury Science Center (A.L.S.), University of Pennsylvania
| | - Rebecca F Gottesman
- From the Department of Exercise Science (K.J.H.), Thomas Jefferson University; Department of Neurology (C.A.L., A.E.W., A.L.S.), University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; Department of Neurology (H.E.), Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center (B.G.W.), University of Mississippi Medical Center; Department of Neurology (P.P.), University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; Department of Medicine (S.P.J.), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Department of Surgery (C.W.H.), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R.F.G.); Department of Biostatistics (A.L.S.), Epidemiology, and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; and Penn Injury Science Center (A.L.S.), University of Pennsylvania
| | - Andrea L C Schneider
- From the Department of Exercise Science (K.J.H.), Thomas Jefferson University; Department of Neurology (C.A.L., A.E.W., A.L.S.), University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; Department of Neurology (H.E.), Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center (B.G.W.), University of Mississippi Medical Center; Department of Neurology (P.P.), University of North Carolina Chapel Hill; Department of Medicine (S.P.J.), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Department of Surgery (C.W.H.), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R.F.G.); Department of Biostatistics (A.L.S.), Epidemiology, and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; and Penn Injury Science Center (A.L.S.), University of Pennsylvania
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Elser H, Schneider ALC. Traumatic Brain Injury and Cognitive Decline: New Insights and Considerations From a Twin Study Design. Neurology 2023; 101:771-772. [PMID: 37673686 DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000207928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 08/18/2023] [Indexed: 09/08/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- From the Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania.
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Elser H, Vijayaraghavan M, Kasner SE. E-Cigarettes and Stroke Risk-Present Uncertainties and Future Directions. JAMA Neurol 2023; 80:883-884. [PMID: 37428484 DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2023.2050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/11/2023]
Abstract
This Viewpoint describes the need for epidemiological studies of the association between e-cigarette use and risk of stroke to inform decision-making among patients, health care practitioners, and policy makers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
| | | | - Scott E Kasner
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
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Elser H, Horváth-Puhó E, Gradus JL, Smith ML, Lash TL, Glymour MM, Sørensen HT, Henderson VW. Association of Early-, Middle-, and Late-Life Depression With Incident Dementia in a Danish Cohort. JAMA Neurol 2023; 80:949-958. [PMID: 37486689 PMCID: PMC10366950 DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2023.2309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2023] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023]
Abstract
Importance Late-life depressive symptoms are associated with subsequent dementia diagnosis and may be an early symptom or response to preclinical disease. Evaluating associations with early- and middle-life depression will help clarify whether depression influences dementia risk. Objective To examine associations of early-, middle-, and late-life depression with incident dementia. Design, Setting, and Participants This was a nationwide, population-based, cohort study conducted from April 2020 to March 2023. Participants included Danish citizens from the general population with depression diagnoses who were matched by sex and birth year to individuals with no depression diagnosis. Participants were followed up from 1977 to 2018. Excluded from analyses were individuals followed for less than 1 year, those younger than 18 years, or those with baseline dementia. Exposure Depression was defined using diagnostic codes from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) within the Danish National Patient Registry (DNPR) and Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register (DPCRR). Main Outcomes and Measure Incident dementia was defined using ICD diagnostic codes within the DPCRR and DNPR. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to examine associations between depression and dementia adjusting for education, income, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, anxiety disorders, stress disorders, substance use disorders, and bipolar disorder. Analyses were stratified by age at depression diagnosis, years since index date, and sex. Results There were 246 499 individuals (median [IQR] age, 50.8 [34.7-70.7] years; 159 421 women [64.7%]) with diagnosed depression and 1 190 302 individuals (median [IQR] age, 50.4 [34.6-70.0] years; 768 876 women [64.6%]) without depression. Approximately two-thirds of those diagnosed with depression were diagnosed before the age of 60 years (684 974 [67.7%]). The hazard of dementia among those diagnosed with depression was 2.41 times that of the comparison cohort (95% CI, 2.35-2.47). This association persisted when the time elapsed from the index date was longer than 20 to 39 years (hazard ratio [HR], 1.79; 95% CI, 1.58-2.04) and among those diagnosed with depression in early, middle, or late life (18-44 years: HR, 3.08; 95% CI, 2.64-3.58; 45-59 years: HR, 2.95; 95% CI, 2.75-3.17; ≥60 years: HR, 2.31; 95% CI, 2.25-2.38). The overall HR was greater for men (HR, 2.98; 95% CI, 2.84-3.12) than for women (HR, 2.21; 95% CI, 2.15-2.27). Conclusions and Relevance Results suggest that the risk of dementia was more than doubled for both men and women with diagnosed depression. The persistent association between dementia and depression diagnosed in early and middle life suggests that depression may increase dementia risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
| | - Erzsébet Horváth-Puhó
- Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Jaimie L. Gradus
- Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Meghan L. Smith
- Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Timothy L. Lash
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - M. Maria Glymour
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco
| | - Henrik Toft Sørensen
- Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
- Clinical Excellence Research Center, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
| | - Victor W. Henderson
- Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
- Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
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Andres W, Rothstein A, Elser H, Sloane KL, Gottesman RF, Kasner SE, Schneider ALC. Trends in the Prevalence of Stroke Among Community-Dwelling Individuals in the US, 1999-2018. JAMA Neurol 2023; 80:646-648. [PMID: 37094376 PMCID: PMC10126939 DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2023.0742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2023] [Indexed: 04/26/2023]
Abstract
This cross-sectional study estimates trends in stroke prevalence representative of the noninstitutionalized civilian population of US adults 20 years and older using data from the 1999 to 2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wells Andres
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
| | - Aaron Rothstein
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
| | - Holly Elser
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
| | - Kelly L. Sloane
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
| | - Rebecca F. Gottesman
- Stroke Branch, National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke Intramural Research Program, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Scott E. Kasner
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
- Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
| | - Andrea L. C. Schneider
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
- Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
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Elser H, Gottesman RF, Walter AE, Coresh J, Diaz-Arrastia R, Mosley TH, Schneider ALC. Head Injury and Long-term Mortality Risk in Community-Dwelling Adults. JAMA Neurol 2023; 80:260-269. [PMID: 36689218 PMCID: PMC9871946 DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2022.5024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2022] [Accepted: 11/18/2022] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Importance Head injury is associated with significant short-term morbidity and mortality. Research regarding the implications of head injury for long-term survival in community-dwelling adults remains limited. Objective To evaluate the association of head injury with long-term all-cause mortality risk among community-dwelling adults, with consideration of head injury frequency and severity. Design, Setting, and Participants This cohort study included participants with and without head injury in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, an ongoing prospective cohort study with follow-up from 1987 through 2019 in 4 US communities in Minnesota, Maryland, North Carolina, and Mississippi. Of 15 792 ARIC participants initially enrolled, 1957 were ineligible due to self-reported head injury at baseline; 103 participants not of Black or White race and Black participants at the Minnesota and Maryland field centers were excluded due to race-site aliasing; and an additional 695 participants with missing head injury date or covariate data were excluded, resulting in 13 037 eligible participants. Exposures Head injury frequency and severity, as defined via self-report in response to interview questions and via hospital-based International Classification of Diseases diagnostic codes (with head injury severity defined in the subset of head injury cases identified using these codes). Head injury was analyzed as a time-varying exposure. Main Outcomes and Measures All-cause mortality was ascertained via linkage to the National Death Index. Data were analyzed between August 5, 2021, and October 23, 2022. Results More than one-half of participants were female (57.7%; 42.3% men), 27.9% were Black (72.1% White), and the median age at baseline was 54 years (IQR, 49-59 years). Median follow-up time was 27.0 years (IQR, 17.6-30.5 years). Head injuries occurred among 2402 participants (18.4%), most of which were classified as mild. The hazard ratio (HR) for all-cause mortality among individuals with head injury was 1.99 (95% CI, 1.88-2.11) compared with those with no head injury, with evidence of a dose-dependent association with head injury frequency (1 head injury: HR, 1.66 [95% CI, 1.56-1.77]; 2 or more head injuries: HR, 2.11 [95% CI, 1.89-2.37]) and severity (mild: HR, 2.16 [95% CI, 2.01-2.31]; moderate, severe, or penetrating: HR, 2.87 [95% CI, 2.55-3.22]). Estimates were similar by sex and race, with attenuated associations among individuals aged 54 years or older at baseline. Conclusions and Relevance In this community-based cohort with more than 3 decades of longitudinal follow-up, head injury was associated with decreased long-term survival time in a dose-dependent manner, underscoring the importance of measures aimed at prevention and clinical interventions to reduce morbidity and mortality due to head injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
| | - Rebecca F. Gottesman
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Alexa E. Walter
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
| | - Josef Coresh
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Ramon Diaz-Arrastia
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
| | - Thomas H. Mosley
- The MIND Center, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson
| | - Andrea L. C. Schneider
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
- Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia
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10
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Elser H, Caunca M, Rehkopf DH, Andres W, Gottesman RF, Kasner SE, Yaffe K, Schneider ALC. Trends and inequities in the diagnosis and treatment of poststroke depression: a retrospective cohort study of privately insured patients in the USA, 2003-2020. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2023; 94:220-226. [PMID: 36400454 PMCID: PMC9931658 DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2022-330179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2022] [Accepted: 11/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Depression is a common neuropsychiatric consequence of stroke, but there is little empiric evidence regarding clinical diagnosis and management of poststroke depression. METHODS Retrospective cohort study among 831 471 privately insured patients with first stroke in the USA from 2003 to 2020. We identified diagnoses of poststroke depression using codes from the International Classification of Diseases. We identified treatment based on prescriptions for antidepressants. We used Cox proportional hazards regression analysis to examine rates of poststroke depression diagnosis by gender, age and race/ethnicity. Among individuals who received a diagnosis of poststroke depression, we estimated treatment rates by gender, race/ethnicity and age using negative binomial regression analysis. RESULTS Annual diagnosis and treatment rates for poststroke depression increased from 2003 to 2020 (both p for trend<0.001). Diagnosis rates were higher in women than men (HR 1.53, 95% CI 1.51 to 1.55), lower among members of racial/ethnic minorities (vs white patients: Asian HR 0.63, 95% CI 0.60 to 0.66; Black HR 0.76, 95% CI 0.74 to 0.78; Hispanic HR 0.88, 95% CI 0.86 to 0.90) and varied by age. Among individuals diagnosed with poststroke depression, 69.8% were prescribed an antidepressant. Rates of treatment were higher in women vs men (rate ratio, RR=1.19, 95% CI: 1.17 to 1.21), lower among members of racial/ethnic minorities (vs white patients: Asian RR 0.85, 95% CI 0.80 to 0.90; Black RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.89 to 0.94; Hispanic RR 0.96, 95% CI 0.93 to 0.99) and higher among older patients. CONCLUSIONS In this insured population, we identify potential inequities in clinical management of poststroke depression by gender, race/ethnicity and age that may reflect barriers other than access to healthcare.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA .,Center for Population Health Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Michelle Caunca
- Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - David H Rehkopf
- 4. Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Wells Andres
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Rebecca F Gottesman
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Scott E Kasner
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Kristine Yaffe
- Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology and Epidemiology, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Andrea L C Schneider
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.,Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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11
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Elser H, Bergquist JR, Li AY, Visser BC. Determinants, Costs, and Consequences of Common Bile Duct Injury Requiring Operative Repair Among Privately Insured Individuals in the United States, 2003-2020. Ann Surg Open 2023; 4:e238. [PMID: 37600869 PMCID: PMC10431520 DOI: 10.1097/as9.0000000000000238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2022] [Accepted: 12/30/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective Characterize the determinants, all-cause mortality risk, and healthcare costs associated with common bile duct injury (CBDI) following cholecystectomy in a contemporary patient population. Background Retrospective cohort study using nationwide patient-level commercial and Medicare Advantage claims data, 2003-2019. Beneficiaries ≥18 years who underwent cholecystectomy were identified using Current Procedure Terminology (CPT) codes. CBDI was defined by a second surgical procedure for repair within one year of cholecystectomy. Methods We estimated the association of common surgical indications and comorbidities with risk of CBDI using logistic regression; the association between CBDI and all-cause mortality using Cox proportional hazards regression; and calculated average healthcare costs associated with CBDI repair. Results Among 769,782 individuals with cholecystectomy, we identified 894 with CBDI (0.1%). CBDI was inversely associated with biliary colic (odds ratio [OR] = 0.82; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.71-0.94) and obesity (OR = 0.70, 95% CI: 0.59-0.84), but positively associated with pancreas disease (OR = 2.16, 95% CI: 1.92-2.43) and chronic liver disease (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.05-1.49). In fully adjusted Cox models, CBDI was associated with increased all-cause mortality risk (hazard ratio = 1.57, 95% CI: 1.38-1.79). The same-day CBDI repair was associated with the lowest mean overall costs, with the highest mean overall costs for repair within 1 to 3 months. Conclusions In this retrospective cohort study, calculated rates of CBDI are substantially lower than in prior large studies, perhaps reflecting quality-improvement initiatives over the past two decades. Yet, CBDI remains associated with increased all-cause mortality risks and significant healthcare costs. Patient-level characteristics may be important determinants of CBDI and warrant ongoing examination in future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- From the Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - John R. Bergquist
- Department of General Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
| | - Amy Y. Li
- Department of General Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
| | - Brendan C. Visser
- Department of General Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
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12
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Elser H, Humphreys K, Kiang MV, Mehta S, Yoon JH, Faustman WO, Matthay EC. State Cannabis Legalization and Psychosis-Related Health Care Utilization. JAMA Netw Open 2023; 6:e2252689. [PMID: 36696111 PMCID: PMC9925044 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.52689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Importance Psychosis is a hypothesized consequence of cannabis use. Legalization of cannabis could therefore be associated with an increase in rates of health care utilization for psychosis. Objective To evaluate the association of state medical and recreational cannabis laws and commercialization with rates of psychosis-related health care utilization. Design, Setting, and Participants Retrospective cohort design using state-level panel fixed effects to model within-state changes in monthly rates of psychosis-related health care claims as a function of state cannabis policy level, adjusting for time-varying state-level characteristics and state, year, and month fixed effects. Commercial and Medicare Advantage claims data for beneficiaries aged 16 years and older in all 50 US states and the District of Columbia, 2003 to 2017 were used. Data were analyzed from April 2021 to October 2022. Exposure State cannabis legalization policies were measured for each state and month based on law type (medical or recreational) and degree of commercialization (presence or absence of retail outlets). Main Outcomes and Measures Outcomes were rates of psychosis-related diagnoses and prescribed antipsychotics. Results This study included 63 680 589 beneficiaries followed for 2 015 189 706 person-months. Women accounted for 51.8% of follow-up time with the majority of person-months recorded for those aged 65 years and older (77.3%) and among White beneficiaries (64.6%). Results from fully-adjusted models showed that, compared with no legalization policy, states with legalization policies experienced no statistically significant increase in rates of psychosis-related diagnoses (medical, no retail outlets: rate ratio [RR], 1.13; 95% CI, 0.97-1.36; medical, retail outlets: RR, 1.24; 95% CI, 0.96-1.61; recreational, no retail outlets: RR, 1.38; 95% CI, 0.93-2.04; recreational, retail outlets: RR, 1.39; 95% CI, 0.98-1.97) or prescribed antipsychotics (medical, no retail outlets RR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.88-1.13; medical, retail outlets: RR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.87-1.19; recreational, no retail outlets: RR, 1.13; 95% CI, 0.84-1.51; recreational, retail outlets: RR, 1.14; 95% CI, 0.89-1.45). In exploratory secondary analyses, rates of psychosis-related diagnoses increased significantly among men, people aged 55 to 64 years, and Asian beneficiaries in states with recreational policies compared with no policy. Conclusions and Relevance In this retrospective cohort study of commercial and Medicare Advantage claims data, state medical and recreational cannabis policies were not associated with a statistically significant increase in rates of psychosis-related health outcomes. As states continue to introduce new cannabis policies, continued evaluation of psychosis as a potential consequence of state cannabis legalization may be informative.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
| | - Keith Humphreys
- Center for Innovation to Implementation, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California
| | - Mathew V. Kiang
- Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California
| | - Swapnil Mehta
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California
| | - Jong H. Yoon
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California
- Division of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California
| | - William O. Faustman
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California
- Division of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California
| | - Ellicott C. Matthay
- Department of Population Health, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York
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13
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Elser H, Rowland ST, Marek MS, Kiang MV, Shea B, Do V, Benmarhnia T, Schneider ALC, Casey JA. Wildfire smoke exposure and emergency department visits for headache: A case-crossover analysis in California, 2006-2020. Headache 2023; 63:94-103. [PMID: 36651537 PMCID: PMC10066880 DOI: 10.1111/head.14442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2022] [Revised: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 11/02/2022] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To evaluate the association of short-term exposure to overall fine particulate matter of <2.5 μm (PM2.5 ) and wildfire-specific PM2.5 with emergency department (ED) visits for headache. BACKGROUND Studies have reported associations between PM2.5 exposure and headache risk. As climate change drives longer and more intense wildfire seasons, wildfire PM2.5 may contribute to more frequent headaches. METHODS Our study included adult Californian members (aged ≥18 years) of a large de-identified commercial and Medicare Advantage claims database from 2006 to 2020. We identified ED visits for primary headache disorders (subtypes: tension-type headache, migraine headache, cluster headache, and "other" primary headache). Claims included member age, sex, and residential zip code. We linked daily overall and wildfire-specific PM2.5 to residential zip code and conducted a time-stratified case-crossover analysis considering 7-day average PM2.5 concentrations, first for primary headache disorders combined, and then by headache subtype. RESULTS Among 9898 unique individuals we identified 13,623 ED encounters for primary headache disorders. Migraine was the most frequently diagnosed headache (N = 5534/13,623 [47.6%]) followed by "other" primary headache (N = 6489/13,623 [40.6%]). For all primary headache ED diagnoses, we observed an association of 7-day average wildfire PM2.5 (odds ratio [OR] 1.17, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.95-1.44 per 10 μg/m3 increase) and by subtype we observed increased odds of ED visits associated with 7-day average wildfire PM2.5 for tension-type headache (OR 1.42, 95% CI 0.91-2.22), "other" primary headache (OR 1.40, 95% CI 0.96-2.05), and cluster headache (OR 1.29, 95% CI 0.71-2.35), although these findings were not statistically significant under traditional null hypothesis testing. Overall PM2.5 was associated with tension-type headache (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.03-1.62), but not migraine, cluster, or "other" primary headaches. CONCLUSIONS Although imprecise, these results suggest short-term wildfire PM2.5 exposure may be associated with ED visits for headache. Patients, healthcare providers, and systems may need to respond to increased headache-related healthcare needs in the wake of wildfires and on poor air quality days.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.,Center for Population Health Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Sebastian T Rowland
- Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, New York, New York, USA.,PSE Healthy Energy, Oakland, New York, USA
| | - Maksym S Marek
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Mathew V Kiang
- Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Brittany Shea
- Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, New York, New York, USA
| | - Vivian Do
- Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, New York, New York, USA
| | - Tarik Benmarhnia
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Andrea L C Schneider
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.,Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Joan A Casey
- Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, New York, New York, USA
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14
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Elser H, Rowland ST, Tartof SY, Parks RM, Bruxvoort K, Morello-Frosch R, Robinson SC, Pressman AR, Wei RX, Casey JA. Ambient temperature and risk of urinary tract infection in California: A time-stratified case-crossover study using electronic health records. Environ Int 2022; 165:107303. [PMID: 35635960 PMCID: PMC9233468 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2022] [Revised: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 05/14/2022] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND In the United States (US), urinary tract infections (UTI) lead to more than 10 million office visits each year. Temperature and season are potentially important risk factors for UTI, particularly in the context of climate change. METHODS We examined the relationship between ambient temperature and outpatient UTI diagnoses among patients followed from 2015 to 2017 in two California healthcare systems: Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC) and Sutter Health in Northern California. We identified UTI diagnoses in adult patients using diagnostic codes and laboratory records from electronic health records. We abstracted patient age, sex, season of diagnosis, and linked community-level Index of Concentration at the Extremes (ICE-I, a measure of wealth and poverty concentration) based on residential address. Daily county-level average ambient temperature was assembled from the Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM). We implemented distributed lag nonlinear models (DLNM) to assess the association between UTI and lagged daily temperatures. Main analyses were confined to women. In secondary analyses, we stratified by season, healthcare system, and community-level ICE-I. RESULTS We observed 787,186 UTI cases (89% among women). We observed a threshold association between ambient temperature and UTI among women: an increase in daily temperature from the 5th percentile (6.0 ˚C) to the mean (16.2 ˚C) was associated with a 3.2% (95% CI: 2.4, 3.9%) increase in same-day UTI diagnosis rate, whereas an increase from the mean to 95th percentile was associated with no change in UTI risk (0.0%, 95% CI: -0.7, 0.6%). In secondary analyses, we observed the clearest monotonic increase in the rate of UTI diagnosis with higher temperatures in the fall. Associations did not differ meaningfully by healthcare system or community-level ICE-I. Results were robust to alternate model specifications. DISCUSSION Increasing temperature was related to higher rate of outpatient UTI, particularly in the shoulder seasons (spring, autumn).
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Sebastian T Rowland
- Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, United States
| | - Sara Y Tartof
- Research & Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Pasadena, CA, United States; Health Systems Science, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, Pasadena, CA, United States
| | - Robbie M Parks
- Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, United States; Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Katia Bruxvoort
- Research & Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Pasadena, CA, United States; Department of Epidemiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
| | - Rachel Morello-Frosch
- Department of Environment, Science, Policy, and Managmeent, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States; School of Public Helath, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
| | - Sarah C Robinson
- Sutter Health Center for Health Systems Research, Walnut Creek, CA, United States
| | - Alice R Pressman
- Sutter Health Center for Health Systems Research, Walnut Creek, CA, United States; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Rong X Wei
- Research & Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Pasadena, CA, United States
| | - Joan A Casey
- Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, 722 West 168th Street, Room 1206, New York, NY 212-304-5502, United States.
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Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic redemonstrated the importance of work as a determinant of health. Extant disparities were accentuated, as the workforce was divided into the roughly 50% who could safely work from home and those who could not. With the spotlight on work, one might wonder where all the occupational epidemiologists have gone. To answer, we point to diminished research support and more limited workplace access that have led many to shift away from a focus on workers towards other vulnerable populations. We build on the renewed interest in work as a driver of health and inequality during the pandemic to highlight contributions of occupational epidemiology to public health. Consider: (1) etiologic studies of chronic disease based on employment records to define cohorts and reconstruct long-term exposure; (2) studies of hypothetical interventions particularly appropriate for evaluating potential regulations to reduce workplace exposures; and (3) studies of disparities that take advantage of work as a potential source of social stratification and economic opportunity. As we have learned during COVID-19, workplaces can become venues for public health messaging and delivering interventions to enumerated populations of adults. By starting with COVID-19 prevention policies, we have a chance to protect public health and rethink work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellen A Eisen
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
- Correspondence to Dr. Ellen A Eisen, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California Berkeley, 2121 Berkeley Way, Berkeley CA 94720 (e-mail: )
| | - Holly Elser
- Department of Neurology, 3 Gates Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce St, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Sally Picciotto
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
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16
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Elser H, Chen KT, Arteaga D, Reimer R, Picciotto S, Costello S, Eisen EA. Metalworking Fluid Exposure and Stroke Mortality Among US Autoworkers. Am J Epidemiol 2022; 191:1040-1049. [PMID: 35029630 PMCID: PMC9393063 DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwac002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Revised: 11/26/2021] [Accepted: 01/05/2022] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Although air pollution is an important risk factor for stroke, few studies have considered the impact of workplace exposure to particulate matter (PM). We examined implications of exposure to PM composed of metalworking fluids (MWFs) for stroke mortality in the United Autoworkers-General Motors cohort. Cox proportional hazards models with age as the timescale were used to estimate the association of cumulative straight, soluble, and synthetic MWF exposure with stroke mortality, controlling for sex, race, plant, calendar year, and hire year. Among 38,553 autoworkers followed during 1941-1995, we identified 114 ischemic stroke deaths and 113 hemorrhagic stroke deaths. Overall stroke mortality risk was increased among workers in the middle exposure category for straight MWF (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.31, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.87, 1.98) and workers in the highest exposure category for synthetic MWF (HR = 1.94, 95% CI: 1.13, 3.16) compared with workers who had no direct exposure. Ischemic stroke mortality risk was increased among workers in the highest exposure categories for straight MWF (HR = 1.45, 95% CI: 0.83, 2.52) and synthetic MWF (HR = 2.39, 95% CI: 1.39, 4.50). We observed no clear relationship between MWF exposure and hemorrhagic stroke mortality. Our results support a potentially important role for occupational PM exposures in stroke mortality and indicate the need for further studies of PM exposure and stroke in varied occupational settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- Correspondence to Dr. Holly Elser, Department of Neurology, 3 Gates, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (e-mail: )
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17
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Elser H, Skajaa N, Ehrenstein V, Fuglsang C, Farkas DK, Sørensen H. Cancer risk in patients with migraine: A population‐based cohort study in Denmark. Headache 2022; 62:57-64. [DOI: 10.1111/head.14251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Revised: 10/04/2021] [Accepted: 10/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- Department of Neurology Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA
| | - Nils Skajaa
- Department of Clinical Epidemiology Aarhus University Hospital Aarhus Denmark
- National Institute of Public Health University of Southern Denmark Copenhagen Denmark
| | - Vera Ehrenstein
- Department of Clinical Epidemiology Aarhus University Hospital Aarhus Denmark
| | | | | | - Henrik Toft Sørensen
- Department of Clinical Epidemiology Aarhus University Hospital Aarhus Denmark
- Clinical Excellence Research Center Stanford University Stanford California USA
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18
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Mayne NR, Elser H, Lin BK, Raman V, Liou D, Li X, D'Amico TA, Yang CFJ. The Impact of Extended Delayed Surgery for Indolent Lung Cancer or Part-solid Ground Glass Nodules. Ann Thorac Surg 2021; 113:1827-1834. [PMID: 34329603 PMCID: PMC8604629 DOI: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2021.05.099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2020] [Revised: 04/04/2021] [Accepted: 05/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND During the COVID-19 pandemic, patients with lung cancer may experience treatment delays. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of extended treatment delays on survival among patients with stage I typical bronchopulmonary carcinoid (BC), lepidic predominant adenocarcinoma (LPA) or invasive adenocarcinoma with a lepidic component (ADL). METHODS Using National Cancer Data Base data (2004-2015), multivariable Cox regression analysis with penalized smoothing splines was performed to examine the association between treatment delay and all-cause mortality for stage I BC, LPA and ADL. Propensity score-matched analyses compared the overall survival in patients who received "early" versus "delayed" surgery (i.e. 0-30 versus 90-120 days following diagnosis) across the different histologic subtypes. RESULTS During the study period, patients with stage I BC (n=4,947), LPA (n=5,340) and ADL (n=6,816) underwent surgery. Cox regression analysis of these cohorts showed a gradual steady increase in the hazard ratio the longer treatment is delayed. However, in propensity score-matched analyses which created cohorts of patients who underwent early and delayed surgery that were well-balanced in patient characteristics, no significant differences in 5-year survival were found between early and delayed surgery for stage I BC (87% [95% CI:77-93] vs 89% [95% CI:80-94]), stage I LPA (73% [95% CI:64-80] vs 77% [95% CI:68-83]) and stage I ADL (71% [95% CI:64-76] vs 69% [95% CI:60-76]). CONCLUSIONS During the COVID-19 pandemic, for early-stage indolent lung tumors and part-solid ground glass lung nodules, a delay of surgery by 3-4 months following diagnosis can be considered.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Holly Elser
- Stanford School of Medicine; Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics - UC Berkeley School of Public Health
| | - Belle K Lin
- University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix
| | | | - Douglas Liou
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery - Stanford University; Stanford Health Care ValleyCare
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Goodman JM, Elser H, Dow WH. Among Low-Income Women In San Francisco, Low Awareness Of Paid Parental Leave Benefits Inhibits Take-Up. Health Aff (Millwood) 2021; 39:1157-1165. [PMID: 32634354 DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Paid family leave policies have the potential to reduce health disparities, yet access to paid leave remains limited and unevenly distributed in the United States. Using California administrative claims data, we examined the impact of the San Francisco Paid Parental Leave Ordinance, the first in the US to provide parental leave with full pay. We found that the law increased parental leave uptake in San Francisco by 13 percent among fathers, but there was little change in leave among mothers. Data from a survey of mothers suggest that the limited impact may be partly a result of low understanding of benefits. Lower-income mothers reported even less knowledge of their maternity leave benefits than other mothers, and fewer than 2 percent of lower-income mothers had accurate information about the policy. The San Francisco policy also excludes small employers, which further limits its reach among low-income workers. A simpler universal policy may be more effective in expanding parental leave among vulnerable workers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia M Goodman
- Julia M. Goodman is an assistant professor at the School of Public Health, Oregon Health & Science University and Portland State University, in Portland, Oregon
| | - Holly Elser
- Holly Elser is a medical student at the Stanford University School of Medicine, in Stanford, California
| | - William H Dow
- William H. Dow is a professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, University of California Berkeley, in Berkeley, California
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Elser H, Morello-Frosch R, Jacobson A, Pressman A, Kioumourtzoglou MA, Reimer R, Casey JA. Correction to: Air pollution, methane super-emitters, and oil and gas wells in Northern California: the relationship with migraine headache prevalence and exacerbation. Environ Health 2021; 20:57. [PMID: 33971885 PMCID: PMC8111896 DOI: 10.1186/s12940-021-00745-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences, Stanford, USA
| | - Rachel Morello-Frosch
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management and School of Public Health, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Alice Jacobson
- Research, Development and Dissemination, Sutter Health, Sacramento, USA
| | - Alice Pressman
- Research, Development and Dissemination, Sutter Health, Sacramento, USA
| | - Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W 168th St, Rm 1206, New York, NY, 10032-3727, USA
| | - Richard Reimer
- Department of Neurology and Neurological Science, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, USA
| | - Joan A Casey
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W 168th St, Rm 1206, New York, NY, 10032-3727, USA.
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Elser H, Morello-Frosch R, Jacobson A, Pressman A, Kioumourtzoglou MA, Reimer R, Casey JA. Air pollution, methane super-emitters, and oil and gas wells in Northern California: the relationship with migraine headache prevalence and exacerbation. Environ Health 2021; 20:45. [PMID: 33865403 PMCID: PMC8053292 DOI: 10.1186/s12940-021-00727-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2020] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Migraine-an episodic disorder characterized by severe headache that can lead to disability-affects over 1 billion people worldwide. Prior studies have found that short-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone increases risk of migraine-related emergency department (ED) visits. Our objective was to characterize the association between long-term exposure to sources of harmful emissions and common air pollutants with both migraine headache and, among patients with migraine, headache severity. METHODS From the Sutter Health electronic health record database, we identified 89,575 prevalent migraine cases between 2014 and 2018 using a migraine probability algorithm (MPA) score and 270,564 frequency-matched controls. Sutter Health delivers care to 3.5 million patients annually in Northern California. Exposures included 2015 annual average block group-level PM2.5 and NO2 concentrations, inverse-distance weighted (IDW) methane emissions from 60 super-emitters located within 10 km of participant residence between 2016 and 2018, and IDW active oil and gas wells in 2015 within 10 km of each participant. We used logistic and negative binomial mixed models to evaluate the association between environmental exposures and (1) migraine case status; and (2) migraine severity (i.e., MPA score > 100, triptan prescriptions, neurology visits, urgent care migraine visits, and ED migraine visits per person-year). Models controlled for age, sex, race/ethnicity, Medicaid use, primary care visits, and block group-level population density and poverty. RESULTS In adjusted analyses, for each 5 ppb increase in NO2, we observed 2% increased odds of migraine case status (95% CI: 1.00, 1.05) and for each 100,000 kg/hour increase in IDW methane emissions, the odds of case status also increased (OR = 1.04, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.08). We found no association between PM2.5 or oil and gas wells and migraine case status. PM2.5 was linearly associated with neurology visits, migraine-specific urgent care visits, and MPA score > 100, but not triptans or ED visits. NO2 was associated with migraine-specific urgent care and ED visits, but not other severity measures. We observed limited or null associations between continuous measures of methane emissions and proximity to oil and gas wells and migraine severity. CONCLUSIONS Our findings illustrate the potential role of long-term exposure to multiple ambient air pollutants for prevalent migraine and migraine severity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences, Stanford, USA
| | - Rachel Morello-Frosch
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management and School of Public Health, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA USA
| | - Alice Jacobson
- Research, Development and Dissemination, Sutter Health, Sacramento, USA
| | - Alice Pressman
- Research, Development and Dissemination, Sutter Health, Sacramento, USA
| | - Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W 168th St, Rm 1206, New York, NY 10032-3727 USA
| | - Richard Reimer
- Department of Neurology and Neurological Science, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, USA
| | - Joan A. Casey
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W 168th St, Rm 1206, New York, NY 10032-3727 USA
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Elser H, Parks RM, Moghavem N, Kiang MV, Bozinov N, Henderson VW, Rehkopf DH, Casey JA. Anomalously warm weather and acute care visits in patients with multiple sclerosis: A retrospective study of privately insured individuals in the US. PLoS Med 2021; 18:e1003580. [PMID: 33901187 PMCID: PMC8109782 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2020] [Revised: 05/10/2021] [Accepted: 03/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND As the global climate changes in response to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, weather and temperature are expected to become increasingly variable. Although heat sensitivity is a recognized clinical feature of multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system, few studies have examined the implications of climate change for patients with this disease. METHODS AND FINDINGS We conducted a retrospective cohort study of individuals with MS ages 18-64 years in a nationwide United States patient-level commercial and Medicare Advantage claims database from 2003 to 2017. We defined anomalously warm weather as any month in which local average temperatures exceeded the long-term average by ≥1.5°C. We estimated the association between anomalously warm weather and MS-related inpatient, outpatient, and emergency department visits using generalized log-linear models. From 75,395,334 individuals, we identified 106,225 with MS. The majority were women (76.6%) aged 36-55 years (59.0%). Anomalously warm weather was associated with increased risk for emergency department visits (risk ratio [RR] = 1.043, 95% CI: 1.025-1.063) and inpatient visits (RR = 1.032, 95% CI: 1.010-1.054). There was limited evidence of an association between anomalously warm weather and MS-related outpatient visits (RR = 1.010, 95% CI: 1.005-1.015). Estimates were similar for men and women, strongest among older individuals, and exhibited substantial variation by season, region, and climate zone. Limitations of the present study include the absence of key individual-level measures of socioeconomic position (i.e., race/ethnicity, occupational status, and housing quality) that may determine where individuals live-and therefore the extent of their exposure to anomalously warm weather-as well as their propensity to seek treatment for neurologic symptoms. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that as global temperatures rise, individuals with MS may represent a particularly susceptible subpopulation, a finding with implications for both healthcare providers and systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Robbie M. Parks
- Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of America
- Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Nuriel Moghavem
- Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Mathew V. Kiang
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Nina Bozinov
- Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Victor W. Henderson
- Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - David H. Rehkopf
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Joan A. Casey
- Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of America
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Abstract
Importance State cannabis laws are changing rapidly. Research is inconclusive about their association with rates of self-harm and assault. Existing studies have not considered variations in cannabis commercialization across states over time. Objective To evaluate the association of state medical and recreational cannabis laws with self-harm and assault, overall and by age and sex, while considering varying degrees of commercialization. Design, Setting, and Participants Using a cohort design with panel fixed-effects analysis, within-state changes in claims for self-harm and assault injuries before and after changes in cannabis laws were quantified in all 50 US states and the District of Columbia. Comprehensive claims data on commercial and Medicare Advantage health plan beneficiaries from January 1, 2003, to December 31, 2017, grouped by state and month, were evaluated. Data analysis was conducted from January 31, 2020, to January 21, 2021. Exposures Categorical variable that indexed the degree of cannabis legalization in each state and month based on law type (medical or recreational) and operational status of dispensaries (commercialization). Main Outcomes and Measures Claims for self-harm and assault injuries based on International Classification of Diseases codes. Results The analysis included 75 395 344 beneficiaries (mean [SD] age, 47 [22] years; 50% female; and median follow-up, 17 months [interquartile range, 8-36 months]). During the study period, 29 states permitted use of medical cannabis and 11 permitted recreational cannabis. Point estimates for populationwide rates of self-harm and assault injuries were higher in states legalizing recreational cannabis compared with states with no cannabis laws, but these results were not statistically significant (adjusted rate ratio [aRR] assault, recreational dispensaries: 1.27; 95% CI, 0.79-2.03;self-harm, recreational dispensaries aRR: 1.15; 95% CI, 0.89-1.50). Results varied by age and sex with no associations found except for states with recreational policies and self-harm among males younger than 40 years (aRR <21 years, recreational without dispensaries: 1.70; 95% CI, 1.11-2.61; aRR aged 21-39 years, recreational dispensaries: 1.46; 95% CI, 1.01-2.12). Medical cannabis was generally not associated with self-harm or assault injuries populationwide or among age and sex subgroups. Conclusions and Relevance Recreational cannabis legalization appears to be associated with relative increases in rates of claims for self-harm among male health plan beneficiaries younger than 40 years. There was no association between cannabis legalization and self-harm or assault, for any other age and sex group or for medical cannabis. States that legalize but still constrain commercialization may be better positioned to protect younger male populations from unintended harms.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mathew V. Kiang
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California
| | - Holly Elser
- Medical student, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California
| | - Laura Schmidt
- Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies and Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of California, San Francisco
| | - Keith Humphreys
- Center for Innovation to Implementation, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California
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Elser H, Kiang MV, John EM, Simard JF, Bondy M, Nelson LM, Chen WT, Linos E. The Impact of the first COVID-19 shelter-in-place announcement on social distancing, difficulty in daily activities, and levels of concern in the San Francisco Bay Area: A cross-sectional social media survey. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0244819. [PMID: 33444363 PMCID: PMC7808609 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2020] [Accepted: 12/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The U.S. has experienced an unprecedented number of orders to shelter in place throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to ascertain whether social distancing; difficulty with daily activities; and levels of concern regarding COVID-19 changed after the March 16, 2020 announcement of the nation's first shelter-in-place orders (SIPO) among individuals living in the seven affected counties in the San Francisco Bay Area. METHODS We conducted an online, cross-sectional social media survey from March 14 -April 1, 2020. We measured changes in social distancing behavior; experienced difficulties with daily activities (i.e., access to healthcare, childcare, obtaining essential food and medications); and level of concern regarding COVID-19 after the March 16 shelter-in-place announcement in the San Francisco Bay Area versus elsewhere in the U.S. RESULTS In this non-representative sample, the percentage of respondents social distancing all of the time increased following the shelter-in-place announcement in the Bay Area (9.2%, 95% CI: 6.6, 11.9) and elsewhere in the U.S. (3.4%, 95% CI: 2.0, 5.0). Respondents also reported increased difficulty obtaining hand sanitizer, medications, and in particular respondents reported increased difficulty obtaining food in the Bay Area (13.3%, 95% CI: 10.4, 16.3) and elsewhere (8.2%, 95% CI: 6.6, 9.7). We found limited evidence that level of concern regarding the COVID-19 crisis changed following the announcement. CONCLUSION This study characterizes early changes in attitudes, behaviors, and difficulties. As states and localities implement, rollback, and reinstate shelter-in-place orders, ongoing efforts to more fully examine the social, economic, and health impacts of COVID-19, especially among vulnerable populations, are urgently needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- Stanford Medical School, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
| | - Mathew V. Kiang
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
| | - Esther M. John
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
| | - Julia F. Simard
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
| | - Melissa Bondy
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
| | - Lorene M. Nelson
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
| | - Wei-ting Chen
- Office of Community Engagement, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
| | - Eleni Linos
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
- Department of Dermatology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States of America
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Abstract
BACKGROUND Populations experiencing homelessness have high rates of tobacco use and experience substantial barriers to cessation. Tobacco-caused conditions are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among people experiencing homelessness, highlighting an urgent need for interventions to reduce the burden of tobacco use in this population. OBJECTIVES To assess whether interventions designed to improve access to tobacco cessation interventions for adults experiencing homelessness lead to increased numbers engaging in or receiving treatment, and whether interventions designed to help adults experiencing homelessness to quit tobacco lead to increased tobacco abstinence. To also assess whether tobacco cessation interventions for adults experiencing homelessness affect substance use and mental health. SEARCH METHODS We searched the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group Specialized Register, MEDLINE, Embase and PsycINFO for studies using the terms: un-housed*, homeless*, housing instability, smoking cessation, tobacco use disorder, smokeless tobacco. We also searched trial registries to identify unpublished studies. Date of the most recent search: 06 January 2020. SELECTION CRITERIA We included randomized controlled trials that recruited people experiencing homelessness who used tobacco, and investigated interventions focused on the following: 1) improving access to relevant support services; 2) increasing motivation to quit tobacco use; 3) helping people to achieve abstinence, including but not limited to behavioral support, tobacco cessation pharmacotherapies, contingency management, and text- or app-based interventions; or 4) encouraging transitions to long-term nicotine use that did not involve tobacco. Eligible comparators included no intervention, usual care (as defined by the studies), or another form of active intervention. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS We followed standard Cochrane methods. Tobacco cessation was measured at the longest time point for each study, on an intention-to-treat basis, using the most rigorous definition available. We calculated risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for smoking cessation for each study where possible. We grouped eligible studies according to the type of comparison (contingent reinforcement in addition to usual smoking cessation care; more versus less intensive smoking cessation interventions; and multi-issue support versus smoking cessation support only), and carried out meta-analyses where appropriate, using a Mantel-Haenszel random-effects model. We also extracted data on quit attempts, effects on mental and substance-use severity, and meta-analyzed these outcomes where sufficient data were available. MAIN RESULTS We identified 10 studies involving 1634 participants who smoked combustible tobacco at enrolment. One of the studies was ongoing. Most of the trials included participants who were recruited from community-based sites such as shelters, and three included participants who were recruited from clinics. We judged three studies to be at high risk of bias in one or more domains. We identified low-certainty evidence, limited by imprecision, that contingent reinforcement (rewards for successful smoking cessation) plus usual smoking cessation care was not more effective than usual care alone in promoting abstinence (RR 0.67, 95% CI 0.16 to 2.77; 1 trial, 70 participants). We identified very low-certainty evidence, limited by risk of bias and imprecision, that more intensive behavioral smoking cessation support was more effective than brief intervention in promoting abstinence at six-month follow-up (RR 1.64, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.69; 3 trials, 657 participants; I2 = 0%). There was low-certainty evidence, limited by bias and imprecision, that multi-issue support (cessation support that also encompassed help to deal with other challenges or addictions) was not superior to targeted smoking cessation support in promoting abstinence (RR 0.95, 95% CI 0.35 to 2.61; 2 trials, 146 participants; I2 = 25%). More data on these types of interventions are likely to change our interpretation of these data. Single studies that examined the effects of text-messaging support, e-cigarettes, or cognitive behavioral therapy for smoking cessation provided inconclusive results. Data on secondary outcomes, including mental health and substance use severity, were too sparse to draw any meaningful conclusions on whether there were clinically-relevant differences. We did not identify any studies that explicitly assessed interventions to increase access to tobacco cessation care; we were therefore unable to assess our secondary outcome 'number of participants receiving treatment'. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS There is insufficient evidence to assess the effects of any tobacco cessation interventions specifically in people experiencing homelessness. Although there was some evidence to suggest a modest benefit of more intensive behavioral smoking cessation interventions when compared to less intensive interventions, our certainty in this evidence was very low, meaning that further research could either strengthen or weaken this effect. There is insufficient evidence to assess whether the provision of tobacco cessation support and its effects on quit attempts has any effect on the mental health or other substance-use outcomes of people experiencing homelessness. Although there is no reason to believe that standard tobacco cessation treatments work any differently in people experiencing homelessness than in the general population, these findings highlight a need for high-quality studies that address additional ways to engage and support people experiencing homelessness, in the context of the daily challenges they face. These studies should have adequate power and put effort into retaining participants for long-term follow-up of at least six months. Studies should also explore interventions that increase access to cessation services, and address the social and environmental influences of tobacco use among people experiencing homelessness. Finally, studies should explore the impact of tobacco cessation on mental health and substance-use outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya Vijayaraghavan
- Division of General Internal Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Holly Elser
- Epidemiology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Kate Frazer
- School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Nicola Lindson
- Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Dorie Apollonio
- Clinical Pharmacy, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
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Elser H, Goldman-Mellor S, Morello-Frosch R, Deziel NC, Ranjbar K, Casey JA. Petro-riskscapes and environmental distress in West Texas: Community perceptions of environmental degradation, threats, and loss. Energy Res Soc Sci 2020; 70:101798. [PMID: 33072520 PMCID: PMC7566653 DOI: 10.1016/j.erss.2020.101798] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Unconventional oil and gas development (UOGD) expanded rapidly in the United States between 2004-2019 with resultant industrial change to landscapes and new environmental exposures. By 2019, West Texas' Permian Basin accounted for 35% of domestic oil production. We conducted an online survey of 566 Texans in 2019 to examine the implications of UOGD using three measures from the Environmental Distress Scale (EDS): perceived threat of environmental issues, felt impact of environmental change, and loss of solace when valued environments are transformed ("solastalgia"). We found increased levels of environmental distress among respondents living in counties in the Permian Basin who reported a 2.75% increase in perceived threat of environmental issues (95% CI = -1.14, 6.65) and a 4.21% increase in solastalgia (95% CI = 0.03, 8.40). In our subgroup analysis of women, we found higher EDS subscale scores among respondents in Permian Basin counties for perceived threat of environmental issues (4.08%, 95% CI= -0.12, 8.37) and solastalgia (7.09%, 95% CI= 2.44, 11.88). In analysis restricted to Permian Basin counties, we found exposure to at least one earthquake of magnitude ≥ 3 was associated with increases in perceived threat of environmental issues (4.69%, 95% CI = 0.15, 9.23), and that county-level exposure to oil and gas injection wells was associated with increases in felt impact (4.38%, 95% CI = -1.77, 10.54) and solastalgia (4.06%, 95% CI = 3.02, 11.14). Our results indicate increased environmental distress in response to UOGD-related environmental degradation among Texans and highlight the importance of considering susceptible sub-groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- Stanford Medical School, Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences
| | | | - Rachel Morello-Frosch
- Department of Environment, Science, Policy and Management & School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Nicole C Deziel
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health
| | - Kelsey Ranjbar
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Joan A Casey
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W 168th St, Rm 1206, New York NY 10032-3727
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Elser H, Lin W, Catalano RA, Brown TT. Does the Implementation of Reference Pricing Result in Reduced Utilization? Evidence From Inpatient and Outpatient Procedures. Med Care Res Rev 2020; 79:58-68. [PMID: 33174511 DOI: 10.1177/1077558720971117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Reference pricing (RP) is an insurance design that can be used to incentivize patients to use low-price settings. While RP is not intended to affect overall utilization, it could unintentionally reduce utilization. We examined whether utilization was reduced when a large employer adopted RP for selected elective surgeries, including inpatient joint replacement surgery and outpatient cataract surgery, colonoscopy, and arthroscopic surgery. Data included a treatment group subject to RP implementation and a comparison group that was not. We applied autoregressive integrated moving average analysis as comparison-population interrupted time-series analysis to determine whether there were procedure reductions following RP implementation. We find no evidence of short-term decreases (within 3 months of RP implementation). However, we find very modest declines of approximately 14 (20%) fewer arthroscopic knee surgeries 6 months after RP implementation and 129 (17.2%) fewer colonoscopies 8 months after RP implementation. There were no declines in the other procedures examined.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Wei Lin
- University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
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Alizaga NM, Nguyen T, Petersen AB, Elser H, Vijayaraghavan M. Developing Tobacco Control Interventions in Permanent Supportive Housing for Formerly Homeless Adults. Health Promot Pract 2020; 21:972-982. [PMID: 30971139 PMCID: PMC6788936 DOI: 10.1177/1524839919839358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Smoke-free policies are effective population-based strategies to reduce tobacco use yet are uncommon in permanent supportive housing (PSH) for formerly homeless individuals who have high rates of smoking. In this study, we partnered with six supportive housing agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area to examine the implementation of smoke-free policies and cessation services. We administered a questionnaire and conducted in-depth, semistructured interviews with agency directors (n = 6), property management staff (n = 23), and services staff (n = 24) from 23 PSH sites on the barriers to implementing tobacco control interventions. All properties restricted smoking in indoor shared areas, but only two had policies restricting smoking in living areas. While there was staff consensus that smoke-free policies were important to reduce tobacco-related harm, participants disagreed on whether smoke-free policies were aligned with PSH's harm reduction framework. Residents' comorbid mental illness and substance use and the lack of appropriate enforcement tools were barriers to implementation. Using these formative findings, we present a framework for a toolkit of strategies to increase implementation of smoke-free policies and cessation interventions in PSH. Successful implementation of indoor smoke-free policies in PSH will require concurrent cessation services to support smoking cessation efforts and address the mental health and substance use needs of residents.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Tram Nguyen
- University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | | | - Holly Elser
- University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
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Eisen EA, Chen KT, Elser H, Picciotto S, Riddell CA, Combs MA, Dufault SM, Goldman-Mellor S, Cohen J. Suicide, overdose and worker exit in a cohort of Michigan autoworkers. J Epidemiol Community Health 2020; 74:907-912. [PMID: 32641405 PMCID: PMC7576581 DOI: 10.1136/jech-2020-214117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2020] [Revised: 06/01/2020] [Accepted: 06/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND In recent decades, suicide and fatal overdose rates have increased in the US, particularly for working-age adults with no college education. The coincident decline in manufacturing has limited stable employment options for this population. Erosion of the Michigan automobile industry provides a striking case study. METHODS We used individual-level data from a retrospective cohort study of 26 804 autoworkers in the United Autoworkers-General Motors cohort, using employment records from 1970 to 1994 and mortality follow-up from 1970 to 2015. We estimated HRs for suicide or fatal overdose in relation to leaving work, measured as active or inactive employment status and age at worker exit. RESULTS There were 257 deaths due to either suicide (n=202) or overdose (n=55); all but 21 events occurred after leaving work. The hazard rate for suicide was 16.1 times higher for inactive versus active workers (95% CI 9.8 to 26.5). HRs for suicide were elevated for all younger age groups relative to those leaving work after age 55. Those 30-39 years old at exit had the highest HR for suicide, 1.9 (95% CI 1.2 to 3.0). When overdose was included, the rate increased by twofold for both 19- to 29-year-olds and 30- to 39-year-olds at exit. Risks remained elevated when follow-up was restricted to 5 years after exit. CONCLUSIONS Autoworkers who left work had a higher risk of suicide or overdose than active employees. Those who left before retirement age had higher rates than those who left after, suggesting that leaving work early may increase the risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellen A Eisen
- School of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Kevin T Chen
- School of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Holly Elser
- School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Sally Picciotto
- School of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Corinne A Riddell
- School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Mary A Combs
- School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Suzanne M Dufault
- School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Sidra Goldman-Mellor
- School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts, Department of Public Health, University of California Merced, Merced, California, USA
| | - Joshua Cohen
- Apple University, Apple Inc, Cupertino, California, USA
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Dixit AA, Elser H, Chen CL, Ferschl M, Manuel SP. Language-Related Disparities in Pain Management in the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit for Children Undergoing Laparoscopic Appendectomy. Children (Basel) 2020; 7:E163. [PMID: 33020409 PMCID: PMC7600632 DOI: 10.3390/children7100163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2020] [Revised: 09/28/2020] [Accepted: 09/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Race and ethnicity are associated with disparities in pain management in children. While low English language proficiency is correlated with minority race/ethnicity in the United States, it is less frequently explored in the study of health disparities. We therefore investigated whether English language proficiency influenced pain management in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) in a cohort of children who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy at our pediatric hospital in San Francisco. Our primary exposure was English language proficiency, and our primary outcome was administration of any opioid medication in the PACU. Secondary outcomes included the amount of opioid administered in the PACU and whether any pain score was recorded during the patient's recovery period. Statistical analysis included adjusting for demographic covariates including race in estimating the effect of language proficiency on these outcomes. In our cohort of 257 pediatric patients, 57 (22.2%) had low English proficiency (LEP). While LEP and English proficient (EP) patients received the same amount of opioid medication intraoperatively, in multivariable analysis, LEP patients had more than double the odds of receiving any opioid in the PACU (OR 2.45, 95% CI 1.22-4.92). LEP patients received more oral morphine equivalents (OME) than EP patients (1.64 OME/kg, CI 0.67-3.84), and they also had almost double the odds of having no pain score recorded during their PACU recovery period (OR 1.93, CI 0.79-4.73), although the precision of these estimates was limited by small sample size. Subgroup analysis showed that children over the age of 5 years, who were presumably more verbal and would therefore undergo verbal pain assessments, had over triple the odds of having no recorded pain score (OR 3.23, CI 1.48-7.06). In summary, English language proficiency may affect the management of children's pain in the perioperative setting. The etiology of this language-related disparity is likely multifactorial and should be investigated further.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anjali A. Dixit
- Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Seattle Children’s Hospital, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA;
| | - Holly Elser
- School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94309, USA;
| | - Catherine L. Chen
- Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; (C.L.C.); (M.F.)
| | - Marla Ferschl
- Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; (C.L.C.); (M.F.)
| | - Solmaz P. Manuel
- Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA; (C.L.C.); (M.F.)
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Goodman JM, Elser H, Dow WH. Employer-Reported Access to Paid Parental Leave: A study of San Francisco's Paid Parental Leave Ordinance. SSM Popul Health 2020; 11:100627. [PMID: 32715078 PMCID: PMC7371918 DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2020.100627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2019] [Revised: 06/24/2020] [Accepted: 06/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
A growing body of research finds that paid leave policies have significant population health benefits for workers and their families, but the lack of a national paid leave policy in the United States leaves most workers without access to any paid leave. In 2017 San Francisco implemented the nation's first fully paid leave policy, mandating that covered employers provide up to six weeks of leave to care for a new child. The objective of our study is to examine how the San Francisco Paid Parental Leave Ordinance (PPLO) affected paid leave access, including among workers in low-wage industries. Methods: We surveyed Bay Area employers in 2018, the year after PPLO took effect. We estimated difference-in-differences models of changes in access to paid leave before versus after implementation of the PPLO in San Francisco compared to surrounding counties. Results: Availability of paid leave in San Francisco firms increased from 45% in 2016 to 79% following implementation of the PPLO. This is significantly more (p < 0.05) than the increase from 32% to 47% in surrounding counties. Compliance was lowest (67%) among low-wage firms. We found minimal evidence of self-reported negative effects on employers. Overall, 82% of firms supported the PPLO. Conclusions: San Francisco's experience demonstrates the feasibility of using local policy to increase parental leave access. San Francisco recently enacted the first fully paid parental leave policy in the U.S. Access to paid leave increased in San Francisco relative to surrounding counties. Compliance was lowest among low-wage employers. Employers reported minimal negative impacts and high support for the policy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia M Goodman
- Oregon Health & Science University-Portland State University School of Public Health, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Holly Elser
- University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - William H Dow
- University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
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Elser H, Gemmill A, Casey JA, Karasek D, Bruckner T, Mayo JA, Lee HC, Stevenson DK, Shaw GM, Catalano R. Stillbirths and live births in the periviable period. Ann Epidemiol 2020; 49:8-12. [PMID: 32648545 DOI: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2020.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2020] [Revised: 06/13/2020] [Accepted: 07/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE We use data from California, where 13% of US births occur, to address two questions arising from efforts in the first decade of this century to avoid stillbirths before 25 6/7 weeks of gestation (i.e., in the periviable period). First, did stillbirths decline in the first decade of this century? Second, if stillbirths did decline, did periviable live births increase simultaneously? Answering these questions is important given that periviable infants represent less than 1% of live births but account for roughly 40% of infant mortality and 20% of hospital-based obstetric costs in the United States. METHODS We constructed 240 monthly conception cohorts, starting with that conceived in January 1991, from 9,880,536 singleton pregnancies that reached the 20 0/7 week of gestation. We used time-series design and Box-Jenkins methods that address confounding by autocorrelation, including secular trends and seasonality to answer our questions. RESULTS We detected a downward shift in stillbirths in April 2007 that coincided with an upward shift in periviable live births. CONCLUSIONS Our findings imply that, since 2007, fewer Californians than expected from history and from the size of conception cohorts reaching 20 0/7 weeks of gestation have had to contend with the sequelae of stillbirths, but more than expected likely have had to contend with those of periviable births.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- Division of Epidemiology, UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA; Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA.
| | - Alison Gemmill
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Baltimore, MD
| | - Joan A Casey
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY
| | - Deborah Karasek
- Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco
| | - Tim Bruckner
- Program in Public Health, University of California Irvine, Irvine
| | - Jonathan A Mayo
- Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
| | - Henry C Lee
- Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
| | - David K Stevenson
- Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
| | - Gary M Shaw
- Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
| | - Ralph Catalano
- Division of Epidemiology, UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA
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Elser H, Kiang MV, John EM, Simard JF, Bondy M, Nelson LM, Chen WT, Linos E. Implications of the COVID-19 San Francisco Bay Area Shelter-in-Place Announcement: A Cross-Sectional Social Media Survey. medRxiv 2020:2020.06.29.20143156. [PMID: 32637974 PMCID: PMC7340200 DOI: 10.1101/2020.06.29.20143156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The U.S. has experienced an unprecedented number of shelter-in-place orders throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. There is limited empirical research that examines the impact of these orders. We aimed to rapidly ascertain whether social distancing; difficulty with daily activities (obtaining food, essential medications and childcare); and levels of concern regarding COVID-19 changed after the March 16, 2020 announcement of shelter-in-place orders for seven counties in the San Francisco Bay Area. METHODS We conducted an online, cross-sectional social media survey from March 14 - April 1, 2020. We measured changes in social distancing behavior; experienced difficulties with daily activities (i.e., access to healthcare, childcare, obtaining essential food and medications); and level of concern regarding COVID-19 after the March 16 shelter-in-place announcement in the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere in the U.S. RESULTS The percentage of respondents social distancing all of the time increased following the shelter-in-place announcement in the Bay Area (9.2%, 95% CI: 6.6, 11.9) and elsewhere in the U.S. (3.4%, 95% CI: 2.0, 5.0). Respondents also reported increased difficulty with obtaining food, hand sanitizer, and medications, particularly with obtaining food for both respondents from the Bay Area (13.3%, 95% CI: 10.4, 16.3) and elsewhere (8.2%, 95% CI: 6.6, 9.7). We found limited evidence that level of concern regarding the COVID-19 crisis changed following the shelter-in-place announcement. CONCLUSION These results capture early changes in attitudes, behaviors, and difficulties. Further research that specifically examines social, economic, and health impacts of COVID-19, especially among vulnerable populations, is urgently needed. =.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- Stanford Medical School, Stanford University, CA, USA
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Stanford University, CA, USA
| | - Mathew V Kiang
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Stanford University, CA, USA
| | - Esther M John
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, CA, USA
| | - Julia F Simard
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, CA, USA
| | - Melissa Bondy
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, CA, USA
| | - Lorene M Nelson
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, CA, USA
| | - Wei-Ting Chen
- Office of Community Engagement, Stanford University, CA, USA
| | - Eleni Linos
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, CA, USA
- Department of Dermatology, Stanford University, CA, USA
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Elser H, Neophytou AM, Tribett E, Galusha D, Modrek S, Noth EM, Meausoone V, Eisen EA, Cantley LF, Cullen MR. Cohort Profile: The American Manufacturing Cohort (AMC) study. Int J Epidemiol 2020; 48:1412-1422j. [PMID: 31220278 DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyz059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- Division of Epidemiology, UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA, USA.,Center for Population Health Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Andreas M Neophytou
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA, USA.,Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Erika Tribett
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Deron Galusha
- Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Sepideh Modrek
- Department of Economics, San Francisco State University, College of Business, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Elizabeth M Noth
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Valerie Meausoone
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Ellen A Eisen
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Linda F Cantley
- Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Mark R Cullen
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
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Ferguson JM, Costello S, Elser H, Neophytou AM, Picciotto S, Silverman DT, Eisen EA. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease mortality: The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study (DEMS). Environ Res 2020; 180:108876. [PMID: 31711661 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2019.108876] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2019] [Revised: 10/24/2019] [Accepted: 10/28/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Miners are highly exposed to diesel exhaust emissions from powered equipment. Although biologically plausible, there is little evidence based on quantitative exposure assessment, that long-term diesel exposure increases risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). To fill this gap, we examined COPD mortality and diesel exhaust exposure in the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study (DEMS). METHODS We fit Cox models to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) for COPD mortality and cumulative exposure (μg/m3-years) to respirable elemental carbon (REC), a key metric for diesel exhaust exposure. Separate models were fit for ever-underground and surface-only miners to allow for effect modification. Exposure was lagged by 0, 10 and 15 years. In a secondary analysis, we addressed the healthy worker survivor effect by applying the parametric g-formula to handle time-varying confounding affected by prior exposure among ever-underground workers. RESULTS Based on 140 cases, the HRs for COPD mortality increased as categories of lagged REC exposure increased for all workers. Among surface-only workers, those in the middle exposure category (0 lag) had a significantly elevated hazard ratio of 2.34 (95% CI: 1.11-4.61) relative to those in the lowest category. Among the ever-underground, that ratio was 1.35, with wide confidence intervals. Using the g-formula, we estimated that the lifetime cumulative risk of COPD mortality would have been reduced from the observed 5.0%-3.1% under a hypothetical intervention where all ever-underground workers were always unexposed. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest long term exposure to diesel exhaust may increase risk of COPD in miners, though power was limited.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacqueline M Ferguson
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
| | - Sadie Costello
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, USA
| | - Holly Elser
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, USA
| | - Andreas M Neophytou
- Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Sally Picciotto
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, USA
| | - Debra T Silverman
- Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Ellen A Eisen
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, USA
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Saxton KB, Gemmill A, Casey JA, Elser H, Karasek D, Catalano R. Reproductive suppression and longevity in human birth cohorts. Am J Hum Biol 2019; 32:e23353. [PMID: 31808608 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2019] [Revised: 09/06/2019] [Accepted: 10/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Reproductive suppression refers to, among other phenomena, the termination of pregnancies in populations exposed to signals of death among young conspecifics. Extending the logic of reproduction suppression to humans has implications for health including that populations exposed to it should exhibit relatively great longevity. No research, however, has tested this prediction. METHODS We apply time-series methods to vital statistics from Sweden for the years 1751 through 1800 to test if birth cohorts exposed in utero to reproductive suppression exhibited lifespan different from expected. We use the odds of death among Swedes age 1 to 9 years to gauge exposure. As the dependent variable, we use cohort life expectancy. Our methods ensure autocorrelation cannot spuriously induce associations nor reduce the efficiency of our estimates. RESULTS Our findings imply that reproductive suppression increased the lifespan of 24 annual birth cohorts by at least 1.3 years over the 50-year test period, and that 12 of those cohorts exhibited increases of at least 1.7 years above expected. CONCLUSIONS The best available data in which to search for evidence of reproductive suppression in humans support the argument that populations subjected to environments dangerous for children yield birth cohorts that exhibit unexpectedly great longevity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine B Saxton
- Department of Biology and Public Health Program, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California
| | - Alison Gemmill
- Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York
| | - Joan A Casey
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California
| | - Holly Elser
- Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California
| | - Deborah Karasek
- Preterm Birth Initiative, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - Ralph Catalano
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California
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Elser H, Ben-Michael E, Rehkopf D, Modrek S, Eisen EA, Cullen MR. Layoffs and the mental health and safety of remaining workers: a difference-in-differences analysis of the US aluminium industry. J Epidemiol Community Health 2019; 73:1094-1100. [PMID: 31533963 PMCID: PMC10443429 DOI: 10.1136/jech-2018-211774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2018] [Revised: 05/31/2019] [Accepted: 08/31/2019] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Relatively few studies have examined the effects of layoffs on remaining workers, although the effects of layoffs and downsizing events may extend beyond those employees who lose their jobs. METHODS We examined the effects of layoffs on mental healthcare utilisation and injury risk among workers at 30 US plants between 2003 and 2013. We defined layoffs as reductions in the hourly workforce of 20% or more at each plant. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we compared the change in outcomes during layoffs versus the same 3-month period 1 year previously, accounting for secular trends with control plants. RESULTS Our study population included 15 502 workers and 7 layoff events between 2003 and 2013. Layoffs were associated with only minor decreases in injuries (-0.006, 95% CI -0.013 to 0.001). The probability of outpatient visits related to mental health increased by 1% during layoffs (0.010, 95% CI 0.003 to 0.017), and the probability of mental health-related prescriptions increased by 1.4% (0.014, 95% CI -0.0006 to 0.027). Among women, the increase in outpatient visits was more pronounced (0.017, 95% CI 0.003 to 0.031). Increased prescription utilisation appeared attributable primarily to opioid use (0.016, 95% CI 0.005 to 0.027). CONCLUSION Our results indicate an association between layoffs and remaining workers' mental health and safety, although changes mental healthcare utilisation may reflect both changes in underlying mental health and changes in care-seeking. Future research on concordance of service utilisation and underlying health may yield valuable insight into the experiences employed workers in the wake of layoffs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Eli Ben-Michael
- Department of Statistics, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - David Rehkopf
- Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Sepideh Modrek
- Department of Economics, San Francisco State University, Health Equity Institute, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Ellen A Eisen
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Mark R Cullen
- Department of Population Health Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
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Casey JA, Goin DE, Rudolph KE, Schwartz BS, Mercer D, Elser H, Eisen EA, Morello-Frosch R. Unconventional natural gas development and adverse birth outcomes in Pennsylvania: The potential mediating role of antenatal anxiety and depression. Environ Res 2019; 177:108598. [PMID: 31357155 PMCID: PMC6726131 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2019.108598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2019] [Revised: 07/18/2019] [Accepted: 07/19/2019] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Studies have reported associations between unconventional natural gas development (UNGD) and adverse birth outcomes. None have evaluated potential mediating mechanisms. OBJECTIVES To evaluate associations between (1) UNGD and antenatal anxiety and depression and (2) antenatal anxiety and depression and preterm birth (<37 weeks gestation) and reduced term birth weight, (3) stochastic direct and indirect effects of UNGD on preterm birth and term birth weight operating through antenatal anxiety and depression, and (4) effect modification by family-level socioeconomic status. METHODS This retrospective cohort study included mothers without prevalent anxiety or depression at time of conception, who delivered at Geisinger in Pennsylvania between January 2009-January 2013. We assembled phase-specific UNGD activity data from public sources. Mothers were categorized as exposed (quartile 4) or unexposed (quartiles 1-3) based on average daily inverse distance-squared UNGD activity metric between conception and the week prior to anxiety or depression (cases) or the pregnancy-average daily metric (non-cases). We estimated associations with a doubly robust estimator (targeted minimum loss-based estimation) and adjusted for potential individual- and community-level confounding variables. RESULTS Analyses included 8,371 births to 7,715 mothers, 12.2% of whom had antenatal anxiety or depression. We found 4.3 additional cases of antenatal anxiety or depression per 100 women (95% CI: 1.5, 7.0) under the scenario where all mothers lived in the highest quartile of UNGD activity versus quartiles 1-3. The risk difference appeared larger among mothers receiving Medical Assistance (indicator of low family income) compared to those who did not, 5.6 (95% CI: 0.5, 10.6) versus 2.9 (95% CI: -0.7, 6.5) additional cases of antenatal anxiety or depression per 100 women. We found no relationship between antenatal anxiety or depression and adverse birth outcomes and no mediation effect either overall or when stratifying by Medical Assistance. CONCLUSION We observed a relationship between UNGD activity and antenatal anxiety and depression, which did not mediate the overall association between UNGD activity and adverse birth outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joan A Casey
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, USA; Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Dana E Goin
- Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, USA
| | - Kara E Rudolph
- Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA
| | - Brian S Schwartz
- Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA; Department of Epidemiology and Health Services Research, Geisinger, Danville, PA, USA; Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Dione Mercer
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Services Research, Geisinger, Danville, PA, USA
| | - Holly Elser
- Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, USA
| | - Ellen A Eisen
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, USA
| | - Rachel Morello-Frosch
- Division of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, USA; College of Natural Resources Department of Environmental Science, Policy, & Management, University of California, Berkeley, USA
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Petersen AB, Elser H, Nguyen T, Alizaga NM, Vijayaraghavan M. Smoke-Free or Not: Attitudes Toward Indoor Smoke-Free Policies Among Permanent Supportive Housing Residents. Am J Health Promot 2019; 34:32-41. [DOI: 10.1177/0890117119876763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Purpose: Interventions for tobacco dependence are most effective when combined with smoke-free policies, yet such policies are rare in permanent supportive housing (PSH) for formerly homeless adults. We aimed to provide in-depth analysis of attitudes and barriers to and facilitators of implementing smoke-free policies in PSH. Approach: Current smokers living in PSH completed a questionnaire and participated in in-depth, semistructured interviews on smoking history, attitudes toward smoke-free policies, and perceived barriers to cessation. Setting: We collaborated with 6 San Francisco Bay Area PSH agencies. Participants: Thirty-six residents in PSH. Methods: Interviews, conducted by trained interviewers, were digitally recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using content analysis methods. Participants were recruited until we reached thematic saturation, or no new themes emerged from the interviews. Results: Over half of participants (52.8%, n = 19) reported depression, and 97.2% (n = 35) reported current substance use. Support for indoor smoking bans in living areas was modest (33.1%), although most residents anticipated cutting down (61%) and reported they would not move because of a smoking ban (77.8%). There was interest in quitting smoking, although co-use of tobacco with other substances was a major barrier. Conclusion: This study is the first to explore attitudes toward smoke-free policies in PSH. We found that residents in PSH support smoke-free policies and consider them feasible if implementation processes are sound. Our findings underscore the need to address barriers to adopting smoke-free policies and accessing smoking cessation services. In particular, interventions must address the co-use of tobacco with other substances and the impact of smoking on financial and housing stability.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Holly Elser
- University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Tram Nguyen
- University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | | | - Maya Vijayaraghavan
- Division of General Internal Medicine, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya Vijayaraghavan
- University of California, San Francisco; Division of General Internal Medicine; San Francisco California USA
| | - Holly Elser
- University of California, Berkeley; Epidemiology; Berkeley California USA
| | - Dorie Apollonio
- University of California San Francisco; Clinical Pharmacy; 3333 California Street Suite 420 San Francisco CA USA 94143-0613
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Abstract
IMPORTANCE The circumstances surrounding the 2016 US presidential election have been proposed as a significant stressor in the lives of the US Latino population. Few studies to date, however, have evaluated the population health implications of the election for Latina mothers and their children. OBJECTIVE To determine whether preterm births (gestational age, <37 weeks) among US Latina women increased above expected levels after the 2016 US presidential election. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In this national population-based study, an interrupted time series design, used to evaluate whether policies or other population-level changes interrupt a trend in an outcome, compared monthly counts of preterm births to Latina women after the 2016 presidential election with the number expected had the election not taken place. Women residing in the United States who had singleton births during the study period were included. Counts of singleton term and preterm births by month and race/ethnicity from January 1, 2009, through July 30, 2017 (32 860 727 live births), were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wonder online database. These methods were applied separately to male and female births. Data were analyzed from November 8, 2018, through May 7, 2019. EXPOSURES Pregnancy in the 2016 US presidential election. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The number of male and female preterm births based on the last menstrual period. RESULTS Among the 32 860 727 live births recorded during the study period, 11.0% of male and 9.6% of female births to Latina women were preterm compared with 10.2% and 9.3%, respectively, to other women. In the 9-month period beginning with November 2016, an additional 1342 male (95% CI, 795-1889) and 995 female (95% CI, 554-1436) preterm births to Latina women were found above the expected number of preterm births had the election not occurred. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The 2016 US presidential election appears to have been associated with an increase in preterm births among US Latina women. Anti-immigration policies have been proposed and enforced in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election; future research should evaluate the association of these actions with population health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison Gemmill
- Program in Public Health, Department of Family, Population and Prevention Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York
- currently affiliated with Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Ralph Catalano
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Joan A. Casey
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Deborah Karasek
- Preterm Birth Initiative, University of California, San Francisco
| | - Héctor E. Alcalá
- Program in Public Health, Department of Family, Population and Prevention Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York
| | - Holly Elser
- School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Jacqueline M. Torres
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco
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Elser H, Hartman-Filson M, Alizaga NM, Vijayaraghavan M. Exposure to pro- and anti-tobacco messages online and off-line among people experiencing homelessness. Prev Med Rep 2019; 15:100944. [PMID: 31338285 PMCID: PMC6627028 DOI: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2019.100944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2019] [Revised: 05/30/2019] [Accepted: 06/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The prevalence of cigarette smoking among people experiencing homelessness is 70%. The internet is a common mode of exposure to tobacco-related messaging, yet little is known about these exposures among people experiencing homelessness. Using time-location sampling, we recruited a sample of adults experiencing homelessness who were current cigarette smokers (i.e. smoked in the past 30 days) from shelters and service sites in San Francisco. We administered a survey to explore self-reported use of the internet and online streaming services; and exposure to tobacco messaging online and offline. Of the 470 participants, 75.5% reported using the internet and 67.2% reported using online streaming video in a typical week. Many participants had seen online advertisements for tobacco products (N = 197, 41.7%) or anti-tobacco industry messages (N = 215, 45.6%), although participants reported seeing both advertisements and warnings related to tobacco more frequently offline than online. Respondents who reported using the internet for more than 4 h in a typical week were more likely to recall seeing tobacco-related warnings or advertisements online. Respondents who reported seeing tobacco-related warnings and advertisements were more likely to have attempted to quit smoking within the past year. These findings suggest an opportunity to use the internet to communicate the harms of tobacco products with messages tailored towards adults experiencing homelessness. Our results suggest further that now is the time to saturate the internet and online streaming services with anti-tobacco industry messages before advertisements for tobacco products become as ubiquitous online as they are elsewhere.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology, 2121 Berkeley Way West, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA
| | - Marlena Hartman-Filson
- University of California, San Francisco, Division of General Internal Medicine, 1001 Potrero Ave. Room 1311E, UCSF Box 1364, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA
| | - Natalie M Alizaga
- Cañada College, Humanities and Social Sciences Division, Department of Psychology, Building 03-205, 4200 Farm Hill Blvd., Redwood City, CA 94061, USA
| | - Maya Vijayaraghavan
- University of California, San Francisco, Division of General Internal Medicine, 1001 Potrero Ave. Room 1311E, UCSF Box 1364, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA
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Casey JA, Elser H, Goldman-Mellor S, Catalano R. Increased motor vehicle crashes following induced earthquakes in Oklahoma, USA. Sci Total Environ 2019; 650:2974-2979. [PMID: 30373073 PMCID: PMC6214370 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2018] [Revised: 10/02/2018] [Accepted: 10/03/2018] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Anxiety-inducing life events increase the risk of motor vehicle crashes. We test the hypothesis that earthquakes, known to increase anxiety in the population, also increase the incidence of motor vehicle crashes. Our study took place in Oklahoma, USA where wastewater injection resulted in increased induced seismicity between 2010 and 2016. We identified dates of earthquakes ≥ magnitude 4 (a level felt by most people) with data from the U.S. Geologic Survey. The Oklahoma Highway Safety Office provided county-level monthly vehicle crash counts. We defined high, medium, and low earthquake exposure counties based on the location of earthquake epicenters. Using time-series analyses, we evaluated the association between monthly counts of ≥magnitude 4 earthquakes and motor vehicle crashes by exposure group. Earthquakes ≥ magnitude 4 took place in 38 of 84 study months, and a monthly average of 5813 (SD = 384) crashes occurred between 2010 and 2016. In high-exposure counties, we observed an additional 39.2 motor vehicle crashes per each additional ≥ magnitude 4 earthquake in the prior month (SE = 11.5). We found no association between the timing of ≥magnitude 4 earthquakes and motor vehicle crashes in the medium or low exposure counties. With a binary earthquake exposure variable, we found a 4.6% (SE = 1.4%) increase in motor vehicle crashes in the high exposure counties in the month following 1 or more ≥magnitude 4 earthquakes. Consistent with our hypothesis, there was no association between earthquakes of magnitude ≤ 2.5 and motor vehicle crashes in the high-exposure counties. This novel evidence of an association between induced earthquakes in Oklahoma and motor vehicle crashes warrants future research given the high economic and social costs of such vehicle crashes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joan A Casey
- School of Public Health, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
| | - Holly Elser
- School of Public Health, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Sidra Goldman-Mellor
- School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts, University of California at Merced, Merced, CA 95343, USA
| | - Ralph Catalano
- School of Public Health, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
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Elser H, Falconi AM, Bass M, Cullen MR. Blue-collar work and women's health: A systematic review of the evidence from 1990 to 2015. SSM Popul Health 2018; 6:195-244. [PMID: 30417066 PMCID: PMC6215057 DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2018.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2018] [Revised: 08/06/2018] [Accepted: 08/13/2018] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite the implications of gender and sex differences for health risks associated with blue-collar work, adverse health outcomes among blue-collar workers has been most frequently studied among men. The present study provides a "state-of-the-field" systematic review of the empiric evidence published on blue-collar women's health. We systematically reviewed literature related to the health of blue-collar women published between January 1, 1990 and December 31, 2015. We limited our review to peer-reviewed studies published in the English language on the health or health behaviors of women who were presently working or had previously worked in a blue-collar job. Studies were eligible for inclusion regardless of the number, age, or geographic region of blue-collar women in the study sample. We retained 177 studies that considered a wide range of health outcomes in study populations from 40 different countries. Overall, these studies suggested inferior health among female blue-collar workers as compared with either blue-collar males or other women. However, we noted several methodological limitations in addition to heterogeneity in study context and design, which inhibited comparison of results across publications. Methodological limitations of the extant literature, alongside the rapidly changing nature of women in the workplace, motivate further study on the health of blue-collar women. Efforts to identify specific mechanisms by which blue-collar work predisposes women to adverse health may be particularly valuable in informing future workplace-based and policy-level interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly Elser
- School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology, University of California, Berkeley, 50 University Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
| | - April M. Falconi
- Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences, Stanford University, 1070 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304, United States
| | - Michelle Bass
- Population Research Librarian, Lane Medical Library & Knowledge Management Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Dr L109, Stanford, CA 94305, United States
| | - Mark R. Cullen
- Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences, Stanford University, 1070 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304, United States
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Hamad R, Elser H, Tran DC, Rehkopf DH, Goodman SN. How and why studies disagree about the effects of education on health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies of compulsory schooling laws. Soc Sci Med 2018; 212:168-178. [PMID: 30036767 PMCID: PMC6209316 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.07.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2018] [Revised: 07/06/2018] [Accepted: 07/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Rich literatures across multiple disciplines document the association between increased educational attainment and improved health. While quasi-experimental studies have exploited variation in educational policies to more rigorously estimate the health effects of education, there remains disagreement about whether education and health are causally linked. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to characterize this literature, with a focus on quasi-experimental studies of compulsory schooling laws (CSLs). Articles from 1990 to 2015 were obtained through electronic searches and manual searches of reference lists. We searched for English-language studies and included manuscripts if: (1) they involved original data analysis; (2) outcomes were health-related; and (3) the primary predictor utilized variation in CSLs. We identified 89 articles in 25 countries examining over 25 health outcomes, with over 600 individual point estimates. We systematically characterized heterogeneity on key study design features and conducted a meta-analysis of studies with comparable health outcome and exposure variables. Within countries, studies differed in terms of birth cohorts included, the measurement of health outcomes within a given category, and the type of CSL variation examined. Over 90% of manuscripts included multiple analytic techniques, such as econometric and standard regression methods, with as many as 31 "primary" models in a single study. A qualitative synthesis of study findings indicated that educational attainment has an effect on the majority of health outcomes-most beneficial, some negative-while the meta-analysis demonstrated small beneficial effects for mortality, smoking, and obesity. Future work could focus on inconsistent findings identified by this study, or review the health effects of other types of educational policies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rita Hamad
- University of California San Francisco, Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, Department of Family & Community Medicine, 995 Potrero Avenue, Building 80, Ward 83, San Francisco, CA, 94110, USA.
| | - Holly Elser
- University of California Berkeley, School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology, Berkeley, CA, USA; Stanford University, School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Duy C Tran
- Stanford University, School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
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Henze M, Hermann C, Eckert W, Mende U, Elser H. 99mTc-MIBI zur Rezidiv- und Metastasensuche bei differenzierten Schilddrüsenkarzinomen. Nuklearmedizin 2018. [DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1629725] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Zusammenfassung
Ziel: Bestimmung der diagnostischen Wertigkeit der MIBI-Szintigraphie bei Lokalrezidiven oder Metastasen von differenzierten Schilddrüsenkarzinomen nach totaler Thyreoidektomie und ablativer Radiojodtherapie. Methoden: Eine Indikation zur Szintigraphie bestand bei 85 Patienten aufgrund von ansteigenden Thyreoglobulinspiegeln oder sonographischem Rezidivverdacht. Die Befunde wurden zytologisch, histologisch oder durch Sonographie, CT und konventionelles Röntgen sowie mit der 131I-Szintigraphie verifiziert. Ergebnisse: Die MIBI-Szintigraphie war bei 32 von 40 Metastasen positiv (80%). Neunzehn Metastasen konnten mittels 131l dargestellt werden. Am effektivsten konnten Lokalrezidive nachgewiesen werden (94%). Hinsichtlich der Spezifiät gab es keine Unterschiede zwischen MIBI und 131 Jod (100%). Eine Differenzierung zwischen entzündlich veränderten Lymphknoten und einem Tumorbefall war möglich. Schlußfolgerung: Die MIBI-Szintigraphie kann empfohlen werden bei V. a. Lokalrezidiv und negativem Radiojodszintigramm. Es ist vorteilhaft, daß die MIBI-Szintigraphie unter Beibehaltung der Levothyr-oxinmedikation durchgeführt werden kann.
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Herbig J, Elser H, Georgi P, Lange D. Methodische Untersuchung zur immunoluminometrischen Bestimmung von Thyreoperoxidase im Serum. Nuklearmedizin 2018. [DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1629835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
ZusammenfassungNach Identifizierung der Schilddrüsenperoxidase (TPO) als spezifisches Antigen der Autoantikörper bei Autoimmungeschehen der Schilddrüse wurde nun ein kommerzielles Assay zur Bestimmung von TPO im Humanserum entwickelt. Die diagnostische Wertigkeit dieser neuen Nachweismethode wurde bei einem Kollektiv von 194 Patienten mit verschiedenen Schilddrüsenfunktionsstörungen untersucht. Ein mit jedem Serumansatz parallel durchgeführter Wiederfindeversuch ermöglichte es, die Anfälligkeit des verwendeten Assays gegenüber endogenen Störeinflüssen einzuschätzen. So war erwartungsgemäß eine exakte quantitative Bestimmung der TPO-Konzentration vor allem bei hohen TPO-Autoantikörpertitern (anti-TPO-Ak) nur selten gegeben. War ein exakter Nachweis möglich, konnte eine Korrelation der gemessenen TPO-Konzentrationen zu keinem der untersuchten Krankheitsbilder (autonomes Adenom, multifokale Autonomie, Autoimmunhyper-thyreose, Thyreoditis de Quervain, Hashimoto-Thyreoditis) dargestellt werden. Des weiteren konnte keine Eignung von TPO als Tumormarker in der Nachsorge bei differenzierten Schilddrüsenkarzinomen nachgewiesen werden. Ein routinemäßiger Einsatz der TPO-Bestimmung in der Diagnostik erscheint anhand dieser Ergebnisse demnach vorerst nicht gegeben.
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Elser H, Haufe S, Ziegler R, Georgi P, Pfeilschifter J. Einfluß prätherapeutischer Variablen auf die Wirkung einer standardisierten 131J-Therapie mit 150 Gray beim Morbus Basedow. Nuklearmedizin 2018. [DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1629865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Zusammenfassung
Ziel: Bei 61 Patienten mit einem Morbus Basedow haben wir den Einfluß prätherapeutischer Variablen auf die Funktion und das Volumen der Schilddrüse ein Jahr nach einer 131J-Therapie mit 150 Gray untersucht. Methoden: FT3, FT4, und TSH wurden vor Therapie und eineinhalb, 3, 6 und 12 Monate nach Therapie gemessen. Das Schilddrüsenvolumen wurde vor Therapie und ein Jahr nach Therapie sonographisch und szin-tigraphisch bestimmt. Ergebnisse: Ein Jahr nach Therapie waren 30% der Patienten latent oder manifest hyperthyreot, 24% euthyreot, und 46% latent oder manifest hypothyreot. Lebensalter und Ausgangsvolumen der Schilddrüse waren die Hauptprädiktoren der posttherapeutischen Schilddrüsenfunktion. Der Anteil an persistierenden Hyperthyreosen war bei älteren Patienten mit einem Schilddrüsenvolumen größer 50 ml mit über 70% besonders hoch. Bei fast allen Patienten kam es zu einer deutlichen Verkleinerung der Schilddrüse. Ausgangsvolumen und Lebensalter waren auch hier die Hauptprädiktoren der posttherapeutischen Schilddrüsengröße. Bei allen Patienten jünger als 50 Jahre kam es sogar unabhängig von der Ausgangsgröße zu einer Normalisierung des Schilddrüsenvolumens. Schlußfolgerung: Eine Radiojodtherapie mit 150 Gray führt bei den meisten Patienten mit einem Morbus Basedow zu einer deutlichen Verkleinerung der Schilddrüse. Alter und initiales Volumen haben einen wesentlichen Einfluß auf die Funktion und Größe der Schilddrüse nach Therapie und sollten bei der Dosisfestlegung berücksichtigt werden.
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Henze M, Spierer FJ, Georgi P, Elser H. Semiquantitative 99mTc-HMPAO-SPECT bei Demenz vom Alzheimer-Typ: Auswirkungen der Wahl von Rekonstruktionsfilter und Referenzregion. Nuklearmedizin 2018. [DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1629783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Zusammenfassung
Ziel der Studie war es, zu klären, ob die Wahl der Referenzregion und/oder des Rekonstruktionsfilters einen Einfluß auf das Ergebnis der semiquantitativen Analyse einer zur Diagnose der Demenz vom Alzheimer-Typ (DAT) durchgeführten 99mTc-HMPAO-SPECT ausübt. Methoden: Untersucht wurden 19 DAT-Patienten gemäß der Kriterien des NINCDS-ADRDA sowie des DSM-III-R und eine Vergleichsgruppe (n = 14) mit normaler zerebraler Perfusion. Es wurden drei Referenzregionen (Zerebellum, Gesamtschicht, Okzipitalregion) und vier Rekonstruktionsfilter (Hanning fc = 0,7 und 1,0 Nyquist; Butterworth (n = 8) mit fc = 0,5 und 0,9 Nyquist) auf jeweils 12 standardisierte ROI (pro Patient) angewendet. Die Datenauswertung erfolgte mit Hilfe einer ROC-Analyse. Ergebnisse: Es zeigte sich eine Abhängigkeit der bei DAT als charakteristisch beschriebenen bilateralen parieto-temporalen Perfusionsreduktion von den verwendeten Filtern und Referenzregionen. Ein Butterworth-Filter (n = 8; fc = 0,5) kombiniert mit dem Zerebellum als Referenzregion ermöglichte die sicherste Trennung beider Patientengruppen. Schlußfolgerung: Die Wahl der Referenzregion und des Rekonstruktionsfilters hat einen großen Einfluß auf die Ergebnisse einer Semiquantifizierung. Es bedarf daher einer Standardisierung in Abhängigkeit von der jeweiligen Fragestellung.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE To examine the relation between hepatic reticuloendothelial system (RES) dysfunction and the development of acute biliary pancreatitis. In an opossum model, the authors tested the hypothesis that RES blockade can turn the mild pancreatitis seen after pancreatic duct obstruction (PDO) into the severe form. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA Biliary obstruction is considered the decisive event in gallstone pancreatitis. Suppression of the RES occurs during biliary obstruction. METHODS Eighteen opossums were placed into three groups of six animals each: group A, RES blockade with lambda-carrageenan; group B, PDO; and group C, PDO and RES blockade with carrageenan. The severity of pancreatitis was evaluated by enzyme serum levels and percentage of pancreatic tissue necrosis. RES capacity was measured by dynamic liver scintigraphy, and hepatic blood flow was documented using the hydrogen clearance technique. RESULTS No changes in hepatic blood flow occurred in groups A to C. RES capacity was suppressed in groups A and C; in group B, RES function remained unchanged. In group A, amylase and lipase levels remained normal, 3 +/- 1.9% of pancreatic tissue were necrotic. The animals in group B developed mild edematous pancreatitis with an increase in amylase and lipase levels and 15 +/- 10% of pancreatic necrosis. In group C, amylase and lipase increased significantly and histology revealed severe necrotizing pancreatitis, with 72 +/- 11% of necrotic areas. CONCLUSIONS Artificial RES blockade can promote the progression from mild pancreatitis as observed after PDO to the severe necrotizing form of the disease. Thus, RES dysfunction resulting from biliary obstruction might be an important cofactor in the pathogenesis of bile-induced pancreatitis.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Schleicher
- Department of General Surgery, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany.
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