Socioeconomic Disparities and Self-reported Substance Abuse-related Problems

Background: It is not well understood whether the self-reported experience of substance abuse-related problems differs by socioeconomic status.Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis using the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) on participants who reported ever using illicit drugs or used illicit drugs in the past year.Findings: Among those reporting ever using illicit drugs (n = 4701), 71% were Non-Hispanic White, 37% had a family income ≥ $75000, and 3% reported having substance abuse-related problems in the past year. After adjustment for age, race, marital status, and education, individuals in the lowest income group were more likely to report having problems related to their substance abuse compared to individuals in the highest income group [odds ratio (OR) = 1.36, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.08-1.72] among those who reported ever using illicit drugs. There was no evidence of interaction with race or gender.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that poverty may be associated with self-identification of substance abuse-related problems among those who report ever using illicit drugs. Appropriate intervention should be targeted toward the low-income group to address identified substance abuse-related problems

Pregravid Physical Activity, Dietary Intake, and Glucose Intolerance During Pregnancy

To ascertain prepregnancy physical activity and dietary intake from a sample of women in early pregnancy and estimate the effect of prepregnancy lifestyle behaviors on the 1-hour glucose challenge test (GCT)

Religious Beliefs, Treatment Seeking, and Treatment Completion among Persons with Substance Abuse Problems

Background: Religious beliefs can assist with the success of treatment in persons with substance abuseproblems by providing social support, confidence, and hope.Methods: As such, a secondary analysis using 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), of20219 participants with self-identified illicit substance use problems was conducted. Survey was weightedbivariate and multivariate regression analysis was used to adjust for potential confounders.Findings: Approximately, 15.0% of the study sample were between ages of 18-25 years and 71.5% wereNon-Hispanic Black, 11.3% were Non-Hispanic White, and 12.1% were Hispanic. About 10.3% had less than ahigh school education, 28.0% graduated high school, 30.0% had some college education, and 32.0% werecollege graduates. Only 1.3% reported receiving substance abuse treatment in the past 12 months and5.4% perceived a need for substance abuse treatment in the last 12 months. 65.0% reported that religiousbeliefs were an important part of their life and 62.5% reported that their religious beliefs influenced theirdecision making. After adjustment for sociodemographic factors, both the importance of religious beliefs andthe influence of religious beliefs on decision making were associated with increased odds of having treatment[odds ratio (OR) = 1.56, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.14-2.14 and OR = 1.51, 95% CI: 1.11-2.05, respectively].However, there was no association between the importance of religious beliefs or the influence of religiousbeliefs on decision making and perceived need for substance abuse treatment.Conclusion: These findings suggest that religious beliefs may be an important determinant in receiving treatmentamong substance abusers and also have implications for exploration of faith-based and faith-placed intervention

Gestational Diabetes and Subsequent Growth Patterns of Offspring: The National Collaborative Perinatal Project

Our objective was to test the hypothesis that intrauterine exposure to gestational diabetes [GDM] predicts childhood growth independent of the effect on infant birthweight. We conducted a prospective analysis of 28,358 mother-infant pairs who enrolled in the National Collaborative Perinatal Project between 1959 and 1965. The offspring were followed until age 7. Four hundred and eighty-four mothers (1.7%) had GDM. The mean birthweight was 3.2 kg (range 1.1–5.6 kg). Maternal characteristics (age, education, race, family income, pre-pregnancy body mass index and pregnancy weight gain) and measures of childhood growth (birthweight, weight at ages 4, and 7) differed significantly by GDM status (all P < 0.05). As expected, compared to their non-diabetic counterparts, mothers with GDM gave birth to offspring that had higher weights at birth. The offspring of mothers with GDM were larger at age 7 as indicated by greater weight, BMI and BMI z-score compared to the offspring of mothers without GDM at that age (all P < 0.05). These differences at age 7 persisted even after adjustment for infant birthweight. Furthermore, the offspring of mothers with GDM had a 61% higher odds of being overweight at age 7 compared to the offspring of mothers without GDM after adjustment for maternal BMI, pregnancy weight gain, family income, race and birthweight [OR = 1.61 (95%CI:1.07, 1.28)]. Our results indicate that maternal GDM status is associated with offspring overweight status during childhood. This relationship is only partially mediated by effects on birthweight

Association Between Adiponectin and Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Levels at Eight to Fourteen Weeks Gestation and Maternal Glucose Tolerance: The Parity, Inflammation, and Diabetes Study

Inflammation may influence gestational hyperglycemia, but to date, the data from observational studies is largely limited to results from the third trimester of pregnancy. Our objective was to evaluate first trimester adipocytokine levels. We sought to determine whether first trimester adiponectin and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF)-alpha concentrations were independently associated and predictive of maternal glucose tolerance, as measured by the 1-hour glucose challenge test (GCT), after adjustment for maternal lifestyle behaviors and body mass index (BMI)

Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status, Depression, and Health Status in the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) Study

Depression and diminished health status are common in adults with diabetes, but few studies have investigated associations with socio-economic environment. The objective of this manuscript was to evaluate the relationship between neighborhood-level SES and health status and depression. Individual-level data on 1010 participants at baseline in Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes), a trial of long-term weight loss among adults with type 2 diabetes, were linked to neighborhood-level SES (% living below poverty) from the 2000 US Census (tracts). Dependent variables included depression (Beck Inventory), and health status (Medical Outcomes Study (SF-36) scale). Multi-level regression models were used to account simultaneously for individual-level age, sex, race, education, personal yearly income and neighborhood-level SES. Overall, the % living in poverty in the participants' neighborhoods varied, mean = 11% (range 0-67%). Compared to their counterparts in the lowest tertile of neighborhood poverty (least poverty), those in the highest tertile (most poverty) had significantly lower scores on the role-limitations(physical), role limitations(emotional), physical functioning, social functioning, mental health, and vitality sub-scales of the SF-36 scale. When evaluating SF-36 composite scores, those living in neighborhoods with more poverty had significantly lower scores on the physical health (β-coefficient [β] = -1.90 units, 95% CI: -3.40,-0.039), mental health (β = -2.92 units, -4.31,-1.53) and global health (β = -2.77 units, -4.21,-1.33) composite scores. In this selected group of weight loss trial participants, lower neighborhood SES was significantly associated with poorer health status. Whether these associations might influence response to the Look AHEAD weight loss intervention requires further investigation

Maternal risk factors for abnormal placental growth: The national collaborative perinatal project

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous studies of maternal risk factors for abnormal placental growth have focused on placental weight and placental ratio as measures of placental growth. We sought to identify maternal risk factors for placental weight and two neglected dimensions of placental growth: placental thickness and chorionic plate area.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted an analysis of 24,135 mother-placenta pairs enrolled in the National Collaborative Perinatal Project, a prospective cohort study of pregnancy and child health. We defined growth restriction as < 10^thpercentile and hypertrophy as > 90^thpercentile for three placental growth dimensions: placental weight, placental thickness and chorionic plate area. We constructed parallel multinomial logistic regression analyses to identify (a) predictors of restricted growth (vs. normal) and (b) predictors of hypertrophic growth (vs. normal).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Black race was associated with an increased likelihood of growth restriction for placental weight, thickness and chorionic plate area, but was associated with a reduced likelihood of hypertrophy for these three placental growth dimensions. We observed an increased likelihood of growth restriction for placental weight and chorionic plate area among mothers with hypertensive disease at 24 weeks or beyond. Anemia was associated with a reduced likelihood of growth restriction for placental weight and chorionic plate area. Pre-pregnancy BMI and pregnancy weight gain were associated with a reduced likelihood of growth restriction and an increased likelihood of hypertrophy for all three dimensions of placental growth.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Maternal risk factors are either associated with placental growth restriction or placental hypertrophy not both. Our findings suggest that the placenta may have compensatory responses to certain maternal risk factors suggesting different underlying biological mechanisms.</p

Neighborhood and weight-related health behaviors in the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) Study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous studies have shown that neighborhood factors are associated with obesity, but few studies have evaluated the association with weight control behaviors. This study aims to conduct a multi-level analysis to examine the relationship between neighborhood SES and weight-related health behaviors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this ancillary study to Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) a trial of long-term weight loss among individuals with type 2 diabetes, individual-level data on 1219 participants from 4 clinic sites at baseline were linked to neighborhood-level data at the tract level from the 2000 US Census and other databases. Neighborhood variables included SES (% living below the federal poverty level) and the availability of food stores, convenience stores, and restaurants. Dependent variables included BMI, eating patterns, weight control behaviors and resource use related to food and physical activity. Multi-level models were used to account for individual-level SES and potential confounders.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The availability of restaurants was related to several eating and weight control behaviors. Compared to their counterparts in neighborhoods with fewer restaurants, participants in neighborhoods with more restaurants were more likely to eat breakfast (prevalence Ratio [PR] 1.29 95% CI: 1.01-1.62) and lunch (PR = 1.19, 1.04-1.36) at non-fast food restaurants. They were less likely to be attempting weight loss (OR = 0.93, 0.89-0.97) but more likely to engage in weight control behaviors for food and physical activity, respectively, than those who lived in neighborhoods with fewer restaurants. In contrast, neighborhood SES had little association with weight control behaviors.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this selected group of weight loss trial participants, restaurant availability was associated with some weight control practices, but neighborhood SES was not. Future studies should give attention to other populations and to evaluating various aspects of the physical and social environment with weight control practices.</p

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead