Medical debt is associated with higher sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among U.S. adults.

Background: Medical debt is associated with poor mental and physical health outcome among US adults. Extant evidence also suggests an association between psychological distress and sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption. Building on these two strands of literature, this paper aimed to assess whether medical debt, defined as inability to pay medical bills, was associated with higher SSB consumption in US adults.

Depressive disorder among gynecologic cancer survivors in the US: Evidence from the 2020 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey.

Objective: Patients with gynecologic cancers demonstrate different psychosocial outcomes based on their cancer site, which may affect treatment effectiveness and survivorship. Demographic differences and the relation with depression (DP) among women who have a gynecologic cancer diagnosis are not well understood.

Methods: To assess whether survivors of gynecologic cancer had a greater risk of DP compared with women with and without a history of cancer, 2020 BRFSS data was utilized.

Psychosocial wellbeing and short sleep duration among U.S. adults.

Purpose: Short sleep duration (SSD), defined as less than 7 h of sleep per day, can lead to various health problems. This study aims to assess whether psychosocial wellbeing is associated with short sleep duration in a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States.

Methods: Data (N = 272,472) were from the 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey.

Association Between Abdominal Obesity, Body Mass Index, and Hypertension in India: Evidence From a Large Nationally Representative Data.

Hypertension prevalence is rising among individuals with abdominal obesity in Southeast Asia, including India, but the relationship between abdominal obesity, body mass index (BMI), and hypertension remains underexplored. This study examines the association between these factors in a nationally representative Indian population aged 20-54 years (males: N = 78 832; females: N = 559 059). We analyzed data from the National Family Health Survey 2019-21 (NFHS-5).

Rurality Status and Cardiovascular Events/Survival in Older Men With Prostate Cancer.

Background: Rural areas have higher cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence and age-adjusted mortality rates in the general population. However, the impact of rurality on CVD development and outcomes in patients with prostate cancer (PC) remains unclear.

Patients And Methods: This retrospective cohort study used the SEER-Medicare database to analyze males aged ≥65 years diagnosed with PC between 2009 and 2017.

Disparities in Preventive Care Utilization at the Intersection of Socioeconomic and Demographic Characteristics: A Survival Analysis of COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake in the United States.

Context: Vaccination coverage against COVID-19 varied across populations. While previous studies primarily documented disparities at a point of time, how uptake rates evolved over time across categories of socioeconomic status (SES) is less visited.

Objective: This study utilizing timing (month and year) of the first dose of COVID-19 vaccination, assessed the differences in vaccination progress by different categories of SES across demographic groups in the United States (US).

Long COVID and financial hardship: A disaggregated analysis at income and education levels.

Objectives: To examine how long COVID is associated with financial hardship (food insecurity, inability to pay bills, or threat of losing service) across income and education levels, and to assess the role of employment loss or reduced work hours in this hardship.

Data Source And Study Setting: We used nationally representative data on 271,076 adults from the 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).

Study Design: We used multivariable binomial logistic regression models to estimate the average marginal effect of long COVID on financial hardships across multiple income and education groups.

A Survival Analysis of Rural-Urban Disparities in COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake in the United States.

Purpose: Though urban-rural disparities in COVID-19 vaccination coverage was documented at a point of time, little is known on the evolution of vaccination uptake over time. This study, using individual level time-to-event data, intend to assess the differences in monthly progression of vaccination uptake among U.S.

Relationship between social support, life satisfaction, and smoking status among US adults with cardiovascular risks.

Social support and life satisfaction are important determinants of health behaviors and health outcomes. Cigarette smoking, a health risk behavior that increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, is deemed to have association with perceived social support and life satisfaction. This study assessed this relationship among US adults with one or more cardiovascular (CV) risks, namely, hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity.

Spousal age difference and risk of hypertension in women: evidence from India.

There has been steady progress in documenting the psychosocial risk factors of hypertension. However, most of the extant evidence is based on population from the developed countries. Using nationally representative data from India, this cross-sectional study explores whether spousal age gap is associated with risk of hypertension in married women aged 20 to 49 years.

Role of Child Marriage and Adolescent Childbearing on Hysterectomy Among Married Women in India: A Cross-Sectional and Time-to-Event Analysis.

Objective: Child marriage forces a girl into adult roles before physical and psychological maturity, which can take a toll on women's health over the life course. This article aims to assess whether child marriage and adolescent childbearing are associated with elevated risk of gynaecologic disorders leading to hysterectomy.

Design: Cross-sectional and time-to-event analysis.

Medical financial hardship in the Southern United States: the struggle continues across generations pre- and post- the Affordable Care Act.

Introduction: Medical financial hardship in the United States is a growing public health concern. This study aims to assess the south vs. non-south disparities in medical financial hardship among US adults of different generations - Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980), and the Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) across periods pre- and post- Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Hysterectomy and medical financial hardship among U.S. women.

Objective: Hysterectomy is one of the common surgical procedures for women in the United States. Studies show that hysterectomy is associated with elevated risk of developing chronic conditions, whichmay cause financial toxicity in patients. This study aimed to assess whether women who underwent hysterectomy had a higher risk of experiencing medical financial hardship compared to women who didn't.

Association Between Obesity and Risk of Total and Obesity-Related Cancer in People With Incident Cardiovascular Disease.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer frequently co-occur due to shared risk factors such as obesity, which is linked to CVD and 14 cancer types. This study explores whether CVD pathophysiologies, combined with obesity, increase cancer risk, impacting clinical management.

Methods And Results: Data from the ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) study, spanning 28 years, were analyzed.

Health disparity at the intersection of religion and caste: Evidence from India.

Objective: The provisions and recognition of Schedule Castes (SCs), the constitutional term for the Dalits in India, have been exclusively extended to Hindus, Buddhists, and Sikhs (HBS). Omission of Dalit Muslims and Christians (MC) from the SC category stripped them of the affirmative action benefits tied with the SC status. This study aimed to explore how such differential treatment might play a role in differential health outcomes in Dalit women in India.

Long COVID and the Higher Risk of Food Insecurity Among Participants and Nonparticipants of Food Assistance Programs in the United States.

Background: In the aftermath of the COVID-19 public health emergency, it is important to understand the extent of socioeconomic burdens of long COVID, defined as continuation of symptoms after initial infection, including food insecurity.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the association between long COVID and family food insecurity among low-income individuals (or any of their family members living with them) who were participants and nonparticipants in public food assistance programs (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program [SNAP], Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children [WIC], and National School Lunch Program [NSLP]) in the United States.

Design: The study used an observational cross-sectional design.

Religious minority status and risk of hypertension in women: Evidence from Bangladesh.

Discrimination based on religion and communal violence against religious minorities have been on the rise worldwide. Despite growing incidences of violence against religious minorities, little is known on the relationship between minority status and population health outcomes in the low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). This study intends to fill this gap by assessing the prevalence of hypertension among religious minority women in Bangladesh, a South Asian country with high levels of social hostilities involving religion.

Role of Social Support in Screening Colonoscopy/Sigmoidoscopy Uptake among U.S. Adults.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major clinical and public health burden. Screening has been shown to be effective in preventing CRC. In 2021, less than 72% of adult Americans had received CRC screening based on the most recent guidelines.

Child Marriage and Cardiovascular Risk: An Application of the Non-laboratory Framingham Risk Score.

Introduction: Child marriage, defined as marriage before the age of 18 years, is a precocious transition from adolescence to adulthood, which may take a long-term toll on health.

Aim: This study aims to assess whether child marriage was associated with added risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes in a nationally representative sample of Indian adults.

Methods: Applying the non-laboratory-based Framingham algorithm to data on 336,953 women aged 30-49 years and 49,617 men aged 30-54 years, we estimated individual's predicted heart age (PHA).

Role of life satisfaction, emotional support, and feeling of social isolation on adherence to breast cancer screening recommendations among US women.

Background: Psychosocial factors can play important roles in promoting preventive health behaviors. This study aimed to assess how life satisfaction, receipt of emotional support, and feeling of social isolation were associated with adherence to the USPSTF recommendation of breast cancer screening in a nationally representative US population.

Methods: Using data on 71,583 women aged 50 to 74 years, from the 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey, we estimated multivariable logistic regressions to assess the odds of adherence across different categories of the respective psychosocial constructs.

COVID-19 and health care-related financial toxicity in the United States: Evidence from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey.

Background: Despite the common perception of the socioeconomic burden of the COVID-19 pandemic, quantification of the relationship between COVID-19 and indicators of health care-related financial toxicity in the general population has been limited. This study aimed to provide estimates of these relationships in a nationally representative sample of the US adult population.

Methods: Using the data on 27,480 adults from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey, we fitted multivariable logistic regression models to assess the differential risks of financial toxicity as manifested by the financial hardship in paying medical bills, delayed and forgone medical care, and medication nonadherence, by COVID-19 diagnosis, severity, and duration of symptoms.

Perceived Social Support and Cardiovascular Risk Among Nonelderly Adults in the United States.

Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and obesity are major risk factors of cardiovascular diseases. A recent study projected a marked surge in these cardiometabolic conditions in the United States by the year 2060, posing a challenge for cardiovascular disease management in the coming years. This study aimed to explore and quantify the relation of a key psychosocial factor, social support, with the cardiovascular risk factors among nonelderly US adults (aged 18 to 64 years).

Preventive behaviors and behavioral risk factors among gynecologic cancer survivors: Results from the 2020 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey.

Background: Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is an important factor in promoting positive outcomes for gynecologic cancer survivors.

Methods: We examined preventive behaviors among gynecologic cancer survivors (n = 1824) and persons without a history of cancer in a cross-sectional analysis, using data from the 2020 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey (BRFSS). BRFSS is a cross-sectional telephone-based survey of U.

Inequities in routine preventive care utilization among persons with overweight/obesity in the United States: An analysis of nativity, racial and ethnic identity, and socioeconomic status.

Extant literature documented various health disparities among immigrants and racial and ethnically marginalized individuals in the United States. However, health disparities in the intersection of nativity and race are generally less visited. This cross-sectional study assessed utilization of routine preventive care among adults with overweight/obesity at the junction of their nativity, racial/ethnic identity, and socioeconomic status (i.