Project description:Rationale: Black adults have worse health outcomes compared with white adults in certain chronic diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).Objectives: To determine to what degree disadvantage by individual and neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) may contribute to racial disparities in COPD outcomes.Methods: Individual and neighborhood-scale sociodemographic characteristics were determined in 2,649 current or former adult smokers with and without COPD at recruitment into SPIROMICS (Subpopulations and Intermediate Outcome Measures in COPD Study). We assessed whether racial differences in symptom, functional, and imaging outcomes (St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire, COPD Assessment Test score, modified Medical Research Council dyspnea scale, 6-minute-walk test distance, and computed tomography [CT] scan metrics) and severe exacerbation risk were explained by individual or neighborhood SES. Using generalized linear mixed model regression, we compared respiratory outcomes by race, adjusting for confounders and individual-level and neighborhood-level descriptors of SES both separately and sequentially.Measurements and Main Results: After adjusting for COPD risk factors, Black participants had significantly worse respiratory symptoms and quality of life (modified Medical Research Council scale, COPD Assessment Test, and St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire), higher risk of severe exacerbations and higher percentage of emphysema, thicker airways (internal perimeter of 10 mm), and more air trapping on CT metrics compared with white participants. In addition, the association between Black race and respiratory outcomes was attenuated but remained statistically significant after adjusting for individual-level SES, which explained up to 12-35% of racial disparities. Further adjustment showed that neighborhood-level SES explained another 26-54% of the racial disparities in respiratory outcomes. Even after accounting for both individual and neighborhood SES factors, Black individuals continued to have increased severe exacerbation risk and persistently worse CT outcomes (emphysema, air trapping, and airway wall thickness).Conclusions: Disadvantages by individual- and neighborhood-level SES each partly explain disparities in respiratory outcomes between Black individuals and white individuals. Strategies to narrow the gap in SES disadvantages may help to reduce race-related health disparities in COPD; however, further work is needed to identify additional risk factors contributing to persistent disparities.
Project description:Friendship is a common and essential social relationship in daily life. Various works of literature have described friendship including how it is experienced in various contexts, yet limited studies have focused on the neighborhood context. This study aimed to investigate the relevance of neighborhood friendship and the characteristics of friendship that make it still relevant, especially in Indonesia. This study was conducted in two phases: 1) an online survey with an open-ended questionnaire and 2) in-depth interviews. A total of 222 participants completed the questionnaire and among those, 15 participants were interviewed to further understand the relevance of neighborhood friendship based on the emerging themes from the open-ended responses. This study found that neighborhood friendship is still relevant despite physical distance. Those relevancies are perceived in the three main characteristics of friendship: support, closeness, and history of relations. This study also found that the essence of friendship is not only discussed in a romantic view which highlights intimacy and closeness, but also in an instrumental view. However, support as an instrumental process may indicate the expressions of closeness, especially in close friendships. Furthermore, this study also suggests that although proximity characterized by physical interaction is crucial in the formation and maintenance of neighborhood friendship, physical distance and social mobility did not dissolve the relationship, due to the history of relations. In the neighborhood context, the history of relations bond people to a certain place and the social relationship formed in that particular place, stimulating certain feelings of belonging which encourage the maintenance of neighborhood friendship. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42087-022-00283-w.
Project description:BackgroundRacial disparities in childhood asthma outcomes result from a complex interplay of individual- and neighborhood-level factors.ObjectivesWe sought to examine racial disparities in asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits between African American (AA) and European American (EA) children.MethodsThis is a retrospective study of patients younger than 18 years who visited the ED at Cincinnati Children's for asthma from 2009 to 2018. The outcome was number of ED visits during a year. We assessed 11 social, economic, and environmental variables. Mediation and mixed-effects analyses were used to assess relationships between race, mediators, and number of ED visits.ResultsA total of 31,114 children (46.1% AA, 53.9% EA) had 186,779 asthma-related ED visits. AA children had more visits per year than EA children (2.23 vs 2.15; P < .001). Medicaid insurance was associated with a 7% increase in rate of ED visits compared with commercial insurance (1.07; 95% CI, 1.03-1.1). Neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation was associated with an increased rate of ED visits in AA but not in EA children. Area-level particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 μm, pollen, and outdoor mold were associated with an increased rate of ED visits for both AA and EA children (all P < .001). Associations between race and number of ED visits were mediated by insurance, area-level deprivation, particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 μm, and outdoor mold (all P < .001), altogether accounting for 55% of the effect of race on ED visits. Race was not associated with number of ED visits (P = .796) after accounting for mediators.ConclusionsRacial disparities in asthma-related ED visits are mediated by social, economic, and environmental factors, which may be amenable to interventions aimed at improving outcomes and eliminating inequities.
Project description:BackgroundProstate cancer (PCa) is the second most leading cause of death in men worldwide. African-American men (AA) represent more aggressive form of the disease compared to Caucasian (CA) counterparts. Several lines of evidences suggest that biological factors are responsible for the observed racial disparity.AimThis study was aimed at identifying the epigenetic variation among AA and CA PCa patients and whether DNA methylation differences have an association with clinical outcomes in the two races.Methods and resultsThe cancer genome atlas (TCGA) dataset (2015) was used to identify existing epigenetic variation in AA and CA PCa patients. Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing (RRBS) was performed to identify global DNA methylation changes in a small cohort of AA and CA PCa patients. The RRBS data were then used to identify survival and recurrence outcomes in AA and CA PCa patients using publicly available datasets. The TCGA data analysis revealed epigenetic heterogeneity, which could be categorized into four classes. AA associated primarily to methylation cluster 1 (p = 0.048), and CA associated to methylation cluster 3 (p = 0.000146). Enrichment of the Wnt signaling pathway was identified in both the races; however, they were differentially activated in terms of canonical and non-canonical Wnt signaling. This was further validated using the Decipher Genomics Resource Information Database (GRID). The RRBS data also identified discrete methylation patterns in AA compared with CA and, in part, validated our TCGA findings. Survival analysis using the RRBS data suggested hypomethylated genes to be significantly associated with recurrence of PCa in CA (p = 6.07 × 10-6) as well as in AA (p = 0.0077).ConclusionOverall, we observed epigenetic-based racial disparity in PCa which could affect survival and should be considered during prognosis and treatment.
Project description:ObjectivePublicly funded mental health services play an important role in caring for children with mental health needs, including children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study assessed the associations between individual family- and neighborhood-level sociodemographic factors and baseline family functioning and long-term outcomes when community therapists were trained to deliver An Individualized Mental Health Intervention for ASD (AIM HI).MethodParticipants included 144 children with ASD (ages 5 to 13 years; 58.3% Latinx) and their caregivers whose therapists received AIM HI training within a cluster-randomized effectiveness-implementation trial in publicly funded mental health services. Sociodemographic strain (e.g., low income, less education, single-parent status, minoritized status) was coded at the individual family and neighborhood level, and caregivers rated caregiver strain at baseline. Child interfering behaviors and caregiver sense of competence were assessed at baseline and 6-, 12- and 18-months after baseline.ResultsHigher caregiver strain was associated with higher intensity of child behaviors (B = 5.17, p < .001) and lower caregiver sense of competence (B = -6.59, p < 001) at baseline. Child and caregiver outcomes improved over time. Higher caregiver strain (B = 1.50, p < .001) and lower family sociodemographic strain (B = -0.58, p < .01) were associated with less improvements in child behaviors. Lower caregiver strain (B = -2.08, p < .001) and lower neighborhood sociodemographic strain (B = -0.51, p < .01) were associated with greater improvements in caregiver sense of competence.ConclusionsFindings corroborate the importance of considering both family and neighborhood context in the community delivery of child-focused EBIs.Trial registrationClinical Trials NCT02416323.
Project description:We have demonstrated that the miR-182 level, in addition to being significantly increased in colon cancer compared to adjacent normal colon tissue, is also significantly increased in African American(AA) compared to Caucasian American (CA) colon cancer. Since miR-182 has been previously associated with decreased survival in colon cancer patients and with increased liver metastases, this observation supports the concept that biological differences between AA and CA colon cancers may contribute to AA disparities in colon cancer survival. We aimed to identify miRNAs that were associated with effects of both tumor and race by generating Agilent miRNA expression profiles on paired colon cancer and adjacent normal colon collected from AA and CA colon cancer subjects. For the 30 paired Stony Brook University (SBU) colon cancer and adjacent normal colon samples, attempts were made to control for other covariates such as age, colon cancer location, stage, BMI and smoking in the selection of the CA samples . However no attempt was made to control for the other covariates in the 30 paired Washington University (WU) colon cancer and adjacent normal colon samples.
Project description:Recent studies have demonstrated that racial differences can influence breast cancer incidence and survival rate. African American (AA) women are at two to three fold higher risk for breast cancer than other ethnic groups. AA women with aggressive breast cancers show worse prognoses and higher mortality rates relative to Caucasian (CA) women. Over the last few years, effective treatment strategies have reduced mortality from breast cancer. Unfortunately, the breast cancer mortality rate among AA women remains higher compared to their CA counterparts. The focus of this review is to underscore the racial differences and differential regulation/expression of genetic signatures in CA and AA women with breast cancer. Moreover, immune cell infiltration significantly affects the clinical outcome of breast cancer. Here, we have reviewed recent findings on immune cell recruitment in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and documented its association with breast cancer racial disparity. In addition, we have extensively discussed the role of cytokines, chemokines, and other cell signaling molecules among AA and CA breast cancer patients. Furthermore, we have also reviewed the distinct genetic and epigenetic changes in AA and CA patients. Overall, this review article encompasses various molecular and cellular factors associated with breast cancer disparity that affects mortality and clinical outcome.
Project description:Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly fatal disease with mortality running parallel to its incidence. For HCC patients, there is a statistically significant increase in incidence and mortality and a decrease in 5-year survival rates in African American (AA)/Black patients compared to non-Hispanic (white) patients. There is a gap of knowledge in our understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying the HCC racial disparity between AA/Black and white patients. To address this issue, we analyzed existing RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) data from HCC patients in the TCGA database, and performed RNA-seq in 14 white and 19 AA/Black HCC patients from Virginia Commonwealth University. In both analysis the only pathway which showed statistically significant activation in AA/Black patients, compared to white patients, was type I interferon (IFN-I) signaling. A four gene signature of IFN-I-stimulated genes (ISGs) showed increased expression in AA/Black HCC tumors compared to their white counterparts. HCC is a disease of chronic inflammation and IFN-I function as a pro-inflammatory and immunosuppressive cytokine. These findings suggest a potential role of IFN-I in conferring disparity in AA/Black HCC patients.
Project description:IntroductionDiabetes incidence differs by race in the U.S., with a persistent reported Black-White disparity. However, the factors that contribute to this excess risk in middle-aged and older adults are unclear.MethodsThis prospective cohort study included 7,171 Black and White adults aged ≥45 years without diabetes at baseline (2003‒2007) who completed a follow-up examination (2013‒2016). Modified Poisson regression was used to obtain sex-stratified RRs for diabetes. Mediation analyses using a change in β coefficient assessed individual and neighborhood factors that contribute to the racial disparity in diabetes incidence. Statistical analyses were conducted in 2018-2019.ResultsThe cumulative incidence of diabetes was higher for Black men (16.2%) and women (17.7%) than for White men (11.0%) and women (8.1%). Adjusting for age and prediabetes, diabetes risk was higher for Black women than for White women (RR=1.75, 95% CI=1.47, 2.07) and for Black men than for White men (RR=1.33, 95% CI=1.09, 1.64). The individual factors that attenuated the racial disparity the most were Southern dietary pattern (change in β=42.8%) and neighborhood socioeconomic environment (change in β=26.3%) among men and BMI (change in β=34.4%) and waist circumference (change in β=32.4%) among women. When including all factors collectively, the racial disparity in diabetes incidence was similar for men (RR=1.38, 95% CI=1.04, 1.83) and was attenuated for women (RR=1.41, 95% CI=1.11, 1.81).ConclusionsThe racial disparity in diabetes incidence remained after accounting for individual and neighborhood factors. Further investigation of additional factors underlying this racial disparity is needed to inform multilevel strategies for diabetes prevention.
Project description:BackgroundPeripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) disproportionately affects women of African ancestry. Additionally, clinical outcomes are worse in this subpopulation compared to White women with PPCM. The extent to which socioeconomic parameters contribute to these racial disparities is not known.MethodsWe aimed to quantify the association between area-based proxies of socioeconomic status (SES) and clinical outcomes in PPCM, and to determine the potential contribution of these factors to racial disparities in outcomes. A retrospective cohort study was performed at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, a tertiary referral center serving a population with a high proportion of Black individuals. The cohort included 220 women with PPCM, 55% of whom were Black or African American. Available data included clinical and demographic characteristics as well as residential address georeferenced to US Census-derived block group measures of SES. Rates of sustained cardiac dysfunction (defined as persistent LVEF <50%, LVAD placement, transplant, or death) were compared by race and block group-level measures of SES, and a composite neighborhood concentrated disadvantage index (NDI). The contributions of area-based socioeconomic parameters to the association between race and sustained cardiac dysfunction were quantified.ResultsBlack race and higher NDI were both independently associated with sustained cardiac dysfunction (relative risk [RR] 1.63, confidence interval [CI] 1.13-2.36; and RR 1.29, CI 1.08-1.53, respectively). Following multivariable adjustment, effect size for NDI remained statistically significant, but effect size for Black race did not. The impact of low neighborhood education on racial disparities in outcomes was stronger than that of low neighborhood income (explaining 45% and 0% of the association with black race, respectively). After multivariate adjustment, only low area-based education persisted as significantly correlating with sustained cardiac dysfunction (RR 1.49; CI 1.02-2.17).ConclusionsBoth Black race and NDI independently associate with adverse outcomes in women with PPCM in a single center study. Of the specific components of NDI, neighborhood low education was most strongly associated with clinical outcome and partially explained differences in race. These results suggest interventions targeting social determinants of health in disadvantaged communities may help to mitigate outcome disparities.