A spatially dynamic agent-based model for assessing the effect of gentrification-induced migration and HIV transmission among heterosexual African American/Black women.

Purpose: Develop a spatially dynamic agent-based model to assess the impact of gentrification-induced migration on HIV transmission among heterosexual African American/Black women.

Methods: We simulated a population of heterosexual African American/Black adults diagnosed with or at risk for HIV in a spatially dynamic agent-based model. We included behavioral and HIV-related probabilities based on neighborhood of residence, distance to healthcare facilities from their neighborhood, and neighborhood disadvantage status.

Practice-Level Severity Case Mix and Treatment Patterns for Premenopausal Noncancerous Hysterectomy.

Hysterectomy for noncancerous conditions is a patient-preference-sensitive procedure. Therefore, gynecological practices may provide hysterectomy at varying levels of symptom severity. We assess whether practice-level severity case mix associates with segregation of patients by race and ethnicity or insurance status.

Association between pre-pandemic wealth and material hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic: how racial and ethnic wealth inequities shape household vulnerability to national crises.

The COVID-19 pandemic was characterized by large racial and ethnic inequities in acute material hardships. Pre-pandemic economic conditions, including household wealth, may have contributed to these disparities. We used longitudinal data from the Understanding America Study surveys to (1) describe racial and ethnic differences in pre-pandemic household wealth; and to (2) evaluate the association between pre-pandemic household wealth and acute material hardships during the pandemic.

Defining methodologic and other core competencies for PhD-level training in epidemiology.

In this manuscript, we present the results of a series of workshops convened in conjunction with the 2023 Society for Epidemiologic Research (SER) annual meeting. The overall objective of the workshops was to develop a set of core competencies for PhD students in epidemiology. The topics presented in the lists of competencies are organized using a framework similar to many graduate programs in epidemiology, proceeding from basic to advanced topics.

Exacerbation of racial disparities in COVID-19 outcomes by Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias among nursing home residents.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disproportionately impacted Black nursing home (NH) residents. Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) may exacerbate disparities, however little empirical evidence exists on the degree to which race and ADRD intersect to impact COVID-19-related outcomes. We conducted a cohort study (April-December 2020) leveraging electronic health records from 12 United States NH corporations.

Multilevel Resilience and Appointment Attendance Among African American/Black Adults with HIV: A Prospective Multisite Cohort Study.

Background: Attending clinic appointments supports HIV viral suppression, yet racial disparities are documented. We assessed whether multilevel resilience resources were associated with appointment attendance among African American/Black (AA/B) adults living with HIV in the United States.

Methods: We ascertained data from 291 AA/B clinical cohort participants from 2018 to 2021.

The evolution of selection bias in the recent epidemiologic literature-a selective overview.

Selection bias has long been central in methodological discussions across epidemiology and other fields. In epidemiology, the concept of selection bias has been continually evolving over time. In this issue of American Journal of Epidemiology, Mathur and Shpitser (Am J Epidemiol.

A data harmonization project of 3 large prospective cardiovascular health-focused cohorts.

Few prospective studies examine multilevel resilience resources and psychosocial factors in relation to cardiovascular health and disease. Recent research indicates that resilience resources are associated with a reduction in the incidence of cardiovascular disease-related events, but few studies have examined this relationship across different racial/ethnic populations or in large cohorts. Harmonization may address these limitations because it allows data from several cohorts to be analyzed together, potentially increasing sample size and in turn power overall and in minority populations.

Examining the Relationship Between Multilevel Resilience Resources and Cardiovascular Disease Incidence, Overall and by Psychosocial Risks, Among Participants in the Jackson Heart Study, the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, and the Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (MASALA) Study.

We examined relationships between resilience resources (optimism, social support, and neighborhood social cohesion) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence and assessed potential effect-measure modification by psychosocial risk factors (e.g., stress, depression) among adults without CVD in 3 cohort studies (2000-2018): the Jackson Heart Study, the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, and the Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (MASALA) Study.

Predicting Seasonal Influenza Hospitalizations Using an Ensemble Super Learner: A Simulation Study.

Accurate forecasts can inform response to outbreaks. Most efforts in influenza forecasting have focused on predicting influenza-like activity, with fewer on influenza-related hospitalizations. We conducted a simulation study to evaluate a super learner's predictions of 3 seasonal measures of influenza hospitalizations in the United States: peak hospitalization rate, peak hospitalization week, and cumulative hospitalization rate.

Multilevel Resilience and HIV Virologic Suppression Among African American/Black Adults in the Southeastern United States.

Objective: To assess overall and by neighborhood risk environments whether multilevel resilience resources were associated with HIV virologic suppression among African American/Black adults in the Southeastern United States.

Setting And Methods: This clinical cohort sub-study included 436 African American/Black participants enrolled in two parent HIV clinical cohorts. Resilience was assessed using the Multilevel Resilience Resource Measure (MRM) for African American/Black adults living with HIV, where endorsement of a MRM statement indicated agreement that a resilience resource helped a participant continue HIV care despite challenges or was present in a participant's neighborhood.

Endometrial Cancer Surgery With or Without Concomitant Stress Urinary Incontinence Surgery.

Objective: To compare quality of life (QOL) among patients with endometrial intraepithelial neoplasia or early-stage endometrial cancer and stress urinary incontinence (SUI) who chose to have concomitant surgery with cancer surgery alone.

Methods: A multicenter, prospective cohort study was conducted across eight U.S.

Characterizing the neighborhood risk environment in multisite clinic-based cohort studies: A practical geocoding and data linkages protocol for protected health information.

Background: Maintaining patient privacy when geocoding and linking residential address information with neighborhood-level data can create challenges during research. Challenges may arise when study staff have limited training in geocoding and linking data, or when non-study staff with appropriate expertise have limited availability, are unfamiliar with a study's population or objectives, or are not affordable for the study team. Opportunities for data breaches may also arise when working with non-study staff who are not on-site.

Change talk subtypes as predictors of alcohol use following brief motivational intervention.

Objective: To examine the relative importance of client change language subtypes as predictors of alcohol use following motivational interviewing (MI).

Method: Participants were 164 heavy drinkers (57.3% female, = 28.

Social support, psychosocial risks, and cardiovascular health: Using harmonized data from the Jackson Heart Study, Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America Study, and Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

Purpose: Social support may have benefits on cardiovascular health (CVH). CVH is evaluated using seven important metrics (Life's Simple 7; LS7) established by the American Heart Association (e.g.

Examining relationships between perceived neighborhood social cohesion and ideal cardiovascular health and whether psychosocial stressors modify observed relationships among JHS, MESA, and MASALA participants.

Background: Psychosocial stressors increase the risks for cardiovascular disease across diverse populations. However, neighborhood level resilience resources may protect against poor cardiovascular health (CVH). This study used data from three CVH cohorts to examine longitudinally the associations of a resilience resource, perceived neighborhood social cohesion (hereafter referred to as neighborhood social cohesion), with the American Heart Association's Life's Simple 7 (LS7), and whether psychosocial stressors modify observed relationships.

Toward a Clearer Definition of Selection Bias When Estimating Causal Effects.

Selection bias remains a subject of controversy. Existing definitions of selection bias are ambiguous. To improve communication and the conduct of epidemiologic research focused on estimating causal effects, we propose to unify the various existing definitions of selection bias in the literature by considering any bias away from the true causal effect in the referent population (the population before the selection process), due to selecting the sample from the referent population, as selection bias.

Illustrating How to Simulate Data From Directed Acyclic Graphs to Understand Epidemiologic Concepts.

Simulation methods are a powerful set of tools that can allow researchers to better characterize phenomena from the real world. As such, the ability to simulate data represents a critical set of skills that epidemiologists should use to better understand epidemiologic concepts and ensure that they have the tools to continue to self-teach even when their formal instruction ends. Simulation methods are not always taught in epidemiology methods courses, whereas causal directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) often are.

Is overweight or obesity associated with anemia in children? Follow-up of Samoans in the Ola Tuputupua'e "Growing Up" study.

Objectives: Globally, there is growing evidence of a double burden of malnutrition with obesity coexisting alongside micronutrient deficiencies across the life course. An emergent double burden poses a threat to health during childhood in Samoa: among 2-4-year-olds with overweight/obesity, 42.9% were anemic.

Development of Long and Short Forms of the Multilevel Resilience Resource Measure for African American/Black Adults Living with HIV.

Understanding resilience in relation to HIV-related outcomes may help address racial/ethnic disparities, however, significant gaps in its measurement preclude in-depth study. Thus, this research aims to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of long and short forms of the Multilevel Resilience Resource Measure for African American/Black Adults Living with HIV. To develop the items, we conducted a mixed methods study (N = 48) and reviewed published resilience measures.